This Week in Milwaukee: March 18, 2010

 Thursday, March 18

GeorgeLopez’s self-titled sitcom was often praised for doing for Hispanicswhat “The Cosby Show” did for African Americans, even if a Hispanic“According to Jim” might have been a more fair point of comparison.Lopez’s stand-up routine pairs the family-based humor of his sitcomwith gentle satire and frank discussions of race relations, with plentyof nods to Latino culture. No doubt his routine has been sharpened inrecent months by his time hosting “George Lopez Tonight,” the rowdy TBStalk show he modeled closely after the old “Arsenio Hall Show” format.

Shooter Jennings @ Potawatomi Bingo Casino, 8 p.m.

ShooterJennings shares not only a familial resemblance to his father,WaylonShooter even depicted his dad in the movie Walk the Linebutalso his father’s love of tightly wound, rock-inflected country, makinghim one of the young torch carriers of the outlaw country movement. Hetouted his outlaw ties on his 2005 debut, Put the “O” Back in Countryas well as its follow-ups, 2006’s Electric Rodeo and 2007’s The Wolf.In 2009, after releasing just those three albums, he received his own,perhaps premature compilation, Bad Magick: The Best of ShooterJennings. His latest album is his most outside the box. Recorded withhis new band, Hierophant, Black Ribbons is analternative-rockinfluenced concept album featuring narration writtenand recorded by Stephen King, who plays a conspiracy-minded talk radiohost.

Friday, March 19

NorahJones emerged in the early 2000s as one of jazz’s biggest crossoverstars in ages, thanks to a style of jazz-pop that was both inviting(hence the title to her blockbuster debut, Come Away With Me) andfamiliar (hence the title of its follow-up, Feels Like Home). Jones hasstretched out a bit on more recent albums, though, filteringsophisticated, adult-contemporary pop through the spirit of ’70ssinger-songwriter records on 2007’s Not Too Late and last year’s TheFall. That newest record pairs her with producers and backing playersbetter known for rock records than jazz ones, and features songwritingfrom unlikely collaborators Ryan Adams and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff.The result is an album that’s thematically more cynical andworld-weary, but is as easy on the ears as any other Norah Jonesrelease.

The Big Pink w/ A Place to Bury Strangers @ Turner Hall Ballroom, 8 p.m.

Oneof the more worthwhile products of Britain’s sometimes overzealous,NME-driven hype machine, The Big Pink parlayed the buzz around theirearly singles into a glowingly reviewed debut album last year, A BriefHistory of Love. It’s a large-scale indierock album that looks to thespirit of shoegaze and the towering, oversized guitars and beat-heavyproduction of late-’90s alternative rock. The Big Pink shares this billwith another indie-rock band that looks toward alternative eras past: APlace to Bury Strangers, who channeled psychedelic shoegaze and “120Minutes”-era college rock on their 2009 sophomore album, ExplodingHead. The Big Pink

Saturday, March 20

TheChicago ensemble Cornmeal labels itself “progressive bluegrass,” thoughthey aren’t nearly as iconoclastic as that tag might suggest. While thegroup isn’t immune to occasional jammy digressions into jazz and rockterritory, they stay more closely within the realm of traditionalbluegrass than their tie-dyed peers, mercifully resisting banjo-drivennovelty covers of Snoop Dogg raps. What most sets them apart from theirauthentic, mountain-band predecessors is their playing, which tends tobe much flashier and faster. They’re touring behind their latest album,Live in Chicago, IL Vol. I.

David Gray w/ Phosphorescent @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.

Spicingup his folk-rock with some timely electronic production and broadeninghis American reach with the backing of Dave Matthews, who signed theBritish singer-songwriter to his ATO Records, David Gray hit it bigwith his 1999 album White Ladder and its hit “Babylon.” Over the pastdecade, though, Gray has seemed less interested in scoring another bighit than simply pleasing his loyal fan base with decidedly less-flashyrecords. His latest is the folky, relatively stripped down Draw theLine.

Sunday, March 21

Someof the biggest names in blues have grouped together to form the mostoverqualified Jimi Hendrix cover band of all time. This year’sExperience Hendrix tour features nextgeneration blues icons Jonny Langand Kenny Wayne Shepherd, as well as Joe Satriani, Aerosmith’s BradWhitford, Ernie Isley, Robert Randolph, Susan Tedeschi, Doyle BramhallII, Living Colour, Hubert Sumlin and Chris Layton, as well as JimiHendrix Experience bassist Billy Cox. In various permutations, they’llblaze through Hendrix’s signature songs, like “Purple Haze,” “LittleWing” and “The Wind Cries Mary.”

Monday, March 22

Australia’sTemper Trap began, like so many other mid-century groups, as post-punkrevivalists, but they know how to pull off a big moment better thanmost of their peers. Their 2009 debut album, Conditions, has emerged asa modest hit, largely on the back of its shimmering single “SweetDisposition,” a flashy, U2-styled skyscraper that has memorablyappeared in commercials for (500) Days of Summer, Rhapsody.com, severalTV shows and, most recently, Diet Coke, on an ad that aired during theAcademy Awards and has given the song additional tail wind on thedigital charts.

Tuesday, March 23

There’sa great book to be written about how Sept. 11 changed American culture.The trauma had a particularly profound, albeit short-lived, effect onthe pop charts, as the country briefly embraced feel-good singles asthey tried to cope with the tragedy. Five for Fighting’s 2000 ballad“Superman (It’s Not Easy)” helped soundtrack those healing sessions,peaking on the charts a couple of months after the Sept. 11 attacks. Inthe years since, the group--really just singer-pianist John Ondrasik--hasbecome a go-to source for TV producers looking to soundtrackmelodramatic moments with baleful tunes sung in plaintive falsetto.Five for Fighting’s latest album, Slice, adds grandiose orchestralarrangements to the mix, suggesting Ondrasik is now aiming tosoundtrack not just TV shows, but also movies.

Vampire Weekend w/ Abe Vigoda @ The Riverside Theater, 8 p.m.

Courtinga generation that grew up listening to Graceland with their parents byadding an agreeable African jangle to otherwise tried-and-true,guitar-based indie-rock, Vampire Weekend sprouted from virtual unknownsto a hip buzz band to a bona fide phenomenon all before they evenreleased their debut album. Many bands crack under the pressure ofreleasing a follow-up to such a smash debut, but Vampire Weekend’s newContra suggests New York’s favorite Ivy Leaguers aren’t going anywheresoon. It’s a similarly poppy, pleasant record that expands the band’ssonic palette to include more keyboards, clatter and