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  • Riding on the Tail of a Cloud

    Charles Lloyd Quartet
    Rabo de Nube
    ECM

    I’m not a diehard Lloyd acolyte.
    There’s some stuff in his huge catalog that is deliriously good, like
    Flowering     and Journey Within from the ’60s, and Voice In
    The Night     with Dave Holland, John Abercrombie, and Billy Higgins
    from the late ’90s. But his last one, Sangam, left me cold—a
    saxophone wankfest through a thicket of beats, laden with faux spirituality
    that was too pretentious (or perhaps too profound) for me to fathom.

    But I’ll gush about Rabo
    de Nube    , a live quartet album (something Lloyd used to do regularly
    four decades ago) in which the 70-year-old sensei may be the most staid
    and least creative member of his band. The fusillade-oriented approach
    drummer Eric Harland used in tandem with tabla player Zakir Hussain
    on Sangam is more effectively propulsive (like Billy Kilson sounded
    in Holland’s band) coupled with bassist Ruben Rogers. Harland steals
    the show on "Prometheus," supporting Lloyd with a plush density
    of beats that, like gusts of wind in sails, carries instead of shoves
    the rhythm. Rogers complements him with enthusiasm and delivers noteworthy
    solos on the first three songs to boot.

    But the best thing about
    Rabo     is how well pianist Jason Moran fits in, and enriches, Lloyd’s
    somewhat ethereal aesthetic. His glancing harmonies on "Prometheus"
    and inspired blues turn on "Migration of Spirit" are the prelude
    for his two-part tour de force on "Booker’s Garden." His first
    solo begins regally, but just when it appears headed for cocktail piano
    clichés, Moran drops in some slightly dissonant, modal phrases, then
    winds the pace down to a near-standstill, his elegiac moments of near-silence
    (the piece is a Lloyd’s tribute to the late trumpeter Booker Little)
    slightly upturned at the end. His second solo is the pinnacle of
    Rabo    , an audacious juggling of the offhand funk and boogie woogie
    (built up from single-note vamps) you might expect from Jaki Byard,
    and the sort of spectral leaps and resonant flurries that characterize
    the work of former Lloyd pianists Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau, and
    Harland’s superb accompaniment is pomade, glistening the luster.

    Lloyd varies between tenor,
    flute, and, for "Ramanujan," taragato, on which he sounds like Coltrane
    playing soprano sax. I’ve generally preferred it when he harkens to
    his Memphis roots or otherwise plays straight ahead, so his lively variation
    on "Sweet Georgia Brown" (entitled "Sweet Georgia Bright") is
    a favorite, along with the lone cover song of the concert, a closing
    rendition of the title track by Silvio Rodriguez that makes for a soft,
    lyrical landing.

    **** (Four stars)

     

  • Charles Lloyd Quartet: Rabo de Nube

    Lloyd’s last album, Sangam, was nothing more than a
    saxophone wankfest through a thicket of beats, laden with faux spirituality
    that was too pretentious (or perhaps too profound). But the 70-year-old sensei may be the most staid
    and least creative member of his band in Rabo
    de Nube    , his latest live quartet album (something Lloyd used to do regularly
    four decades ago). The fusillade-oriented approach
    drummer Eric Harland used in tandem with tabla player Zakir Hussain
    on Sangam is more effectively propulsive (like Billy Kilson sounded
    in Holland’s band) coupled with bassist Ruben Rogers. Harland steals
    the show on "Prometheus," supporting Lloyd with a plush density
    of beats that, like gusts of wind in sails, carries instead of shoves
    the rhythm. Rogers complements him with enthusiasm and delivers noteworthy
    solos on the first three songs to boot.

    But the best thing about
    Rabo     is how well pianist Jason Moran fits in, and enriches, Lloyd’s
    somewhat ethereal aesthetic. His glancing harmonies on "Prometheus"
    and inspired blues turn on "Migration of Spirit" are the prelude
    for his two-part tour de force on "Booker’s Garden." His first
    solo begins regally, but just when it appears headed for cocktail piano
    clichés, Moran drops in some slightly dissonant, modal phrases, then
    winds the pace down to a near-standstill, his elegiac moments of near-silence
    (the piece is a Lloyd’s tribute to the late trumpeter Booker Little)
    slightly upturned at the end. His second solo is the pinnacle of
    Rabo    , an audacious juggling of the offhand funk and boogie woogie
    (built up from single-note vamps) you might expect from Jaki Byard,
    and the sort of spectral leaps and resonant flurries that characterize
    the work of former Lloyd pianists Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau, and
    Harland’s superb accompaniment is pomade, glistening the luster.

    Lloyd varies between tenor,
    flute, and, for "Ramanujan," taragato, on which he sounds like Coltrane
    playing soprano sax. I’ve generally preferred it when he harkens to
    his Memphis roots or otherwise plays straight ahead, so his lively variation
    on "Sweet Georgia Brown" (entitled "Sweet Georgia Bright") is
    a favorite, along with the lone cover song of the concert, a closing
    rendition of the title track by Silvio Rodriguez that makes for a soft,
    lyrical landing.

  • Brian Blade Fellowship: Season of Changes

    Blade’s ensemble seems heavily
    influenced by his membership in Wayne Shorter’s magnificent but overtly
    cerebral quartet, which isn’t always a good thing. The frequently
    lethargic pace and finely crafted harmonic and melodic nuances occasionally
    feel like music that must be listened to for your own good, like a meal
    fortified with fiber but not very tasty. Praise be, then, to bust-outs
    like Melvin Butler’s gnarly tenor saxophone solo on "Return of the
    Prodigal Son," which also benefits from guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel,
    whose tone and groove are reminiscent of Skunk Baxter on "Reeling
    In The Years." Like the rest of the disc, the title track is a hit-and-miss
    magnum opus, which does take advantage of Blade’s masterful ability
    to turn the temperature up and down as a timekeeper. There are some
    things here I’ll want to revisit: Myron Walden’s bass clarinet
    on "Rubylou’s Lullaby;" the way "Most Precious One (Prodigy)"
    apes The Bad Plus, of all people; the found-beauty of "Improvisation,"
    with its pump organ undertow; and the slow build and crescendo of the
    closer, "Omni." But there’s not enough sugar or caffeine to make
    it addictive in the slightest.

  • Keep Them Rakes Comin'!

    The people in
    this photo were impressed by The Rake’s depth and breadth of subject
    matter. Some of them are Twin Citians on vacation; two spend their
    time now between Tucson and Puerto Vallarta (the Rake began publishing after they
    left Minnesota, and they have enjoyed their copies so much they are
    passing them on to other folks, including Canadians); one is a
    California dress designer who created gowns worn at the Oscars this
    year and last; one is a painter who spent eight years sailing around
    the world, and authored a book about her adventures. There’s a former
    school teacher who recently played to sell-out crowds in the musical Those Sassy Sixties, at the Santa Barbara Theater in Puerto Vallarta, a nurse
    practitioner, a yoga teacher from San Diego, a psychotherapist/wood
    carver, and a former advertising agency owner who is writing his first
    detective novel. Can you tell who’s who??

    The
    photo was taken on the veranda of a condo overlooking the Bay of
    Banderas. Whales have been spotted from this spot, and pelicans sail
    by in stately groups to spend their evenings at Los Arcos, the rock
    arches near Mismaloya Beach south of Puerto Vallarta. Most of the
    people in the photo had not seen The Rake before, and all clamored to
    keep at least one copy. Favorite article: Jeannine Ouellette’s
    feature about imagination in the November 2007 Rake. The request from
    the former Minnesotans: Keep them Rakes comin’ our way!

    I
    was glad to hand over the copies of The Rake, as I find I am loathe to
    put them in recycling; I want to keep them all! If The Rake publishes
    for many more years, as I hope it will, I could become one of those
    people who can only walk in small paths through their residences, as The Rakes will be piled up to the ceilings.

    Thanks for the consistently excellent publication. It’s one of the few I read from cover to cover.

    Catherine Mora Cleary, Minneapolis
    Red Handed

  • Guess Who's Cooking at the James Beard House

    Guess which local chef is going to be cooking at the James
    Beard House     in New York City in May?

    Scott McKee of La Belle Vie?

    Nope. Been there, done that.

    Doug Flicker of Mission American Kitchen.

    Nope.

    Give up? It’s Christian Ticarro.

    Christian who?

    Christian Ticarro, executive chef at the Canyon Grille in
    Coon Rapids and Eden Prairie.

    Coon Rapids? Eden Prairie?

    Turns out this is Ticarro’s third trip to the fabled
    emporium of gastronomy.

    His first trip was in 2003, as part of a team from
    Goodfellows, and he returned in March 2006, as a featured "Great Regional
    Chef."

    The menu for his May 17 dinner begins with an assortment of
    passed tapas that includes a Vietnamese pork belly sandwich, fried polenta
    balls with foie gras and bing cherry sauce, Alaskan king crab spring rolls, lamb tenderloin crostini,
    bluefin tuna in mustard oil dressing, wrapped in radish, and fried sushi
    lobster rolls.

    And that’s just for starters. Highlights of the main event
    include Alaskan halibut cheeks topped with a wasabi panko crust; cognac cured
    and seared Muscovy duck breast with blow torched foie gras, honey and rosemary
    poached pears, port reduction and candied pecans; and veal tenderloin stuffed with asparagus, spring leeks, and Maytag
    blue cheese, topped with a morel mushroom demi-glace. Cost including
    accompanying wines is $125 for JBH members, $150. Reservations are required – call 212-627-2308, or go here. 

    The event is a benefit for the James Beard House, so Ticarro
    and his will crew have to cover most of the costs of the dinner – for up to 80
    guests – themselves, including hotel and airfare. (Restaurants usually try to
    get their vendors to donate wine and ingredients.)

  • 2008 Major League Baseball Forecast—American League

    AP Photo by David J. Phillip

    American League East

    1. Boston Red Sox

    It’s more interesting (or at least less conventional) playing Devil’s Advocate about why the Sox *won’t* repeat as pennant winners. Practically everything went right last season: Papelbon’s shoulder held firm and Beckett’s blisters didn’t grow, and every rookie was off-the-charts good, from spunky Pedroia to no-hit Bucholtz to speedy Ellersby to the supreme set-ups of Okajima. Okay, so Dice-K was shaky and Ortiz was one-legged, and Manny couldn’t always be Manny at the plate and Drew was horribly inconsistent. The odds of those negatives repeating are greater than a reprise of the positives. I mean, Manny is 36, Papi can’t hit any better than last year even with two good knees, and Dice-K and Drew aren’t the kind of performers you entrust with the mortgage money. And Curt Schilling is toast, Mike Lowell is old…Okay, back to reality. They have the best balance of pitching depth and hitting depth in all of baseball. Their Vegas odds are the lowest on the board. As April dawns, they are the team to beat.

    2. Toronto Blue Jays

    Yup, the Jays will overtake the Yankees this season. Their starting rotation stacks up with anybody–Halladay a legit ace, Marcum and McGowan a pair of live arms coming into their own, and AJ Burnett an injury-prone stud at #4. Closer BJ Ryan’s elbow injury in early May actually fortified the bullpen for this season as Accardo, Downs and Janssen all stepped up–and now Ryan is fast on the mend. Meanwhile, outfielder Alex Rios is a budding star, Vernon Wells is due for a big comeback, and snagging the left side of Cards’ 2006 champion infield–3B Scott Rolen and SS David Eckstein–to go with great glove man Aaron Hill at 2B will make all those ground-ball pitchers on the staff happy and wealthy. The Blue Jays are ready to compete with the big boys.

    3. New York Yankees

    The George Steinbrenner-Joe Torre era is over, yet the roster looks distressingly similar. There’s a hell of a lot of pressure on young pitchers Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy to produce, because it’s hard to see how the Yankees improve enough to surmount the Red Sox and not get overtaken by the Blue Jays otherwise. Two-thirds of their batting order is in decline: Damon, Giambi, Abreu, Matsui, Posada, and yes, even Jeter (now 34). Ditto starters Andy Pettite and Mike Mussina and Mariano The Great in the pen. So, what, A-Rod is supposed to knock in *more* than 156 runs this year to make up the difference?

    4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays

    Even after jettisoning hot prospects Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes, their lineup is no longer a joke. Carl Crawford and BJ Upton are five-tool players, Carlos Pena can lose a third of his long-ball production and still hit 30 dingers, and there is some potent old (Cliff Floyd) and young (Evan Longoria) help on the way. But the starting rotation needs to quicken: Would-be ace Scott Kazmir is still teasing out his upside, Jamie Shields needs to show he can put together back-to-back solid seasons, and the Twins’ scouting staff isn’t in the habit of giving up someone like Matt Garza unless there’s a significant flaw in his makeup. Even so, you throw in former Dodgers hot prospect Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine as your #5 and that’s a talented rotation with nobody over age 25. The Rays are emerging.

    5. Baltimore Orioles

    Finally they rebuild in earnest, although trading Eric Bedard to Seattle was lunacy even if they did pluck a potentially great center fielder in Adam Jones out of the deal. Aside from nascent star outfielder Nick Markakis and Jones, there aren’t any uber-talented kids shoving the likes of Kevin Millar and Melvin Mora and Ramon Hernandez out of the way. And their pitching is wretched. When you can’t sell out Camden Yards any longer, you know you’ve been doing something very wrong for a pretty long time.

     

    American League Central

    1. Cleveland Indians

    The Indians-Tigers and Red Sox-Blue Jays-Yankees both should be hotly contested races from wire to wire. While the Tigers retooled in a major way, the Tribe stood pat with a dignity and wisdom Twins fans will recognize. Their homegrown beef brothers CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona are the league’s best 1-2 mound tandem, their bullpen took a quantum leap forward last season with the emergence of Betancourt and Perez, and back-of-the-rotation vets Westbrook and Cliff Lee will be healthier (physically and mentally, respectively) this year. At the plate, Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez should be close to their glorious primes, Garko and Asdrubal Cabrera represent a promising new right side of the infield, and Casey Blake is unsung but effective. Even so, the Indians’ hope of outlasting Detroit may rely on Travis Hafner not imploding.

    2, Detroit Tigers

    Miguel Cabrera is a stone-cold hitter who might give A-Rod a run for his money in the power categories this year, but the other plum from Florida, pitcher Dontrelle Willis, is less of a sure thing. Too bad, because after certifiable ace Justin Verlander, the rotation is iffy. Jeremy Bonderman broke down last season, Kenny Rogers is on his third installment of borrowed time, and Nate Robertson is an innings-eating mediocrity (not that there is anything wrong with that). Oh, and the bullpen is weak, from middle relief right through to closer Todd Jones. Nevertheless, the Tigers will win a lot of 9-7 and 11-9 games. Pudge Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield are aging, and another 139 ribbies from Magglio Ordonez is unlikely, but with Cabrera and SS Edgar Renteria on board and Carlos Guillen moving to first base, there are no weaknesses in theTigers’ batting order.

    3. Minnesota Twins

    Although many pundits are picking the hometown nine 4th or 5th, I don’t think I’m drinking the local kool-aid. Morneau and Cuddyer should find a productive mean between their last two seasons and Mauer should be healthy enough for a career-best OPS–and if he’s not, let’s play him at 3B finally, okay Gardy? Delmon Young replaces Torii Hunter’s bat at a fraction of the price and is going to get better a lot faster than he gets more expensive. Yes, the staples of pitching and defense have taken a hit, even with the second coming of Mark Belanger, Adam Everett, taking over at short. Baker, Slowey and Bonser sounds better as a law firm than as the top half of a starting rotation–I haven’t forgotten about Livan Hernandez; I just don’t expect much beyond his workhorse capabilities yielding mediocre results. If the vegan might of Pat Neshek can hold until autumn and Dennis Reyes is more than a one-year wonder (two years ago) the bullpen will be a strength. But mostly I’m picking the Twins third because the White Sox are still dysfunctional and the Royals are ready to ascend yet.

    4. Chicago White Sox

    Ozzie Guillen doesn’t seem like a great manager for encores, The Pale Hose are a ballclub that need to tear it down to close to the studs, but instead they’re sticking with the Konerkos and Credes and Dyes and AJs and Thomes in order to have their foolish dreams rudely abused by the Indians and Tigers. Nick Swisher was a nice pickup from Oakland, and sooner or later room has to be made for Josh Fields at third over Crede, and the Cuban kid at second, Alexei Ramirez, could be exciting. But acquiring Orlando Cabrera for shortstop and keeping Javy Vazquez and Jose Contreras in the rotation means that the profane Guillen and company are in it to win it–and when they don’t, things will get ugly.

    5. Kansas City Royals

    The ceiling on erstwhile prospects like OF David DeJesus and C John Buck and P Zack Grinke seems to be lower than anticipated, but the Royals finally seem to be headed in the right direction anyway, thanks to former Atlanta exec Dayton Moore, a GM who is building for the long haul from the ground up. In Alex
    Gordon and Billy Butler, KC has two dangerous young hitters, and Tony Pena Jr. flashes the sort of leather than can anchor an infield defense at shortstop. Until Moore can choose and develop a few more quality pieces, the Royals will rely too heavily on dime-store "stars" like pitcher Gil Meche and outfielder Jose Guillen to carry them. But it is not hopeless any more–or at least not for long.

    American League West

    1. Seattle Mariners

    Casual fans may be surprised by this pick, but the Mariners are due. They’ve got one of the top five payrolls in the league, one of the 5 oldest rosters, won 88 games last year, and added arguably the best pitcher remaining in the AL, Eric Bedard, to their staff. Paired with King Felix Hernandez, 16-game winner Miguel Batista, and veterans Jarrod Washburn and Carlos Silva, the rotation is among the league’s elite–and their closer, JJ Putz, stands alongside Joe Nathan as the best in the game today. On offense, the M’s still have Ichiro, an underrated if aging hitter in Raul Ibanez, and decent run producers for their positions in C Kenji Johjima, 2B Jose Lopez (who will bounce back closer to his 2006 breakout) and 3B Adrian Beltre. Even middling seasons from 1B Richie Sexson and DH Jose Vidro would help. The bugaboo is defense, especially in the spacious outfield, where Ichiro will go on his own WeightWatchers plan trying to cover ground between Ibanez and pudgy Brad Wilkerson.

    2. Los Angeles Angels

    It seems every year some promising contender is snakebit by injuries, and having their top two starters, John Lackey and Kelvin Escobar, go down with ailments this spring points toward the Halos as this year’s hard luck story. Mike Scioscia is the best manager in the game at manufacturing runs, and with the signing of Torii Hunter to protect Vlad Guerrero in the batting order and the acquisition of Jon Garland for the rotation, the Angels clearly mean to go for it all in 2008. But can the likes of Jered Weaver, Garland and Ervin Santana hold the fort until Lackey and Escobar return?

    3. Oakland Athletics

    Oakland will exceed expectations and approach last year’s 76-86 mark despite a massive rebuilding campaign because, as usual, the front office can identify talent. Outfielder Travis Buck, 1B Daric Barton and C Kurt Suzuki are ready now, and OFs Chris Denorfia and Carlos Gonzalez aren’t far away. As placeholders go, 2B Mark Ellis and OF Emil Brown aren’t too shabby, and sooner or later the left side of the infield, Crosby and Chavez, have to be healthy on the same day–don’t they? More to the point, a rotation led by Rich Harden and Joe Blanton with lefty Dana Eveland coming over from Arizona in the Dan Haren deal is miles better than Texas, enough to keep the A’s out of last place.

    4. Texas Rangers

    What a mess. The pitching staff is heaped with underachievers like Millwood and Padilla and Jason Jennings, the vaunted left side of the infield–Young and Blalock–has seen better days, and they are counting on talented but star-crossed outfielders Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley to give them a boost. The good news is that Ian Kinsler is a budding star at 2B and Jarrod Saltalamacchia projects as a Victor Martinez clone at C/1B. Avoiding 90 losses would be an achievement.

  • Monotonix Leaves Its Love Bruises on the Twin Cities

    A wide stance is key to surviving
    a Monotonix show. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms
    ready to brace the incessant shock waves of bodies crashing into you.
    Never lose focus of the strange looking man with a bad perm and pervy
    mustache. He is not a cast-off from a Starsky and Hutch fan club. He
    is the singer—a moving target who neglects social graces, like keeping
    his sweat to himself. The most important rule is to put as much distance
    as possible between you and the danger zone.

    The problem is the danger zone
    comes to you.

    The Israeli trio sets up on
    the bar floor, giving them full access for intra-audience thrashing.
    The rig looks worse for wear. The drum kit seems one cymbal crash away
    from shattering. The guitar looks as if one piece of duct tape was removed
    the whole thing would break into splinters. The singer appears diabolically
    insane, and the whole lot looks like they found their clothes in the
    back alley dumpster. Nevertheless, the perpetually touring band is aching
    to leave its love bruises on the Twin Cities. And bruise they will with
    Monotonix’ one-two punch of low-brow histrionics.

    At a Monotonix show, the slippery
    threads of controlled chaos constantly threaten to blow loose. The guts
    of rock and roll kitsch foam up at the first pounding of the kick drum.
    In the first 30 seconds of Monotonix’s set at the Uptown Bar, singer
    Ami Shalev breaks the first rule of getting a good review: stealing
    the music journalist’s beer and pouring it on the heads of adjacent
    audience members.

    For a half hour they play with disaster and consistently ram into, and on top of, the crowd.
    With his grossed out and glistening ape-man chest fully exposed, Shalev
    plants himself on top of the bar and hikes his sweat pants up to his
    nipples, screaming some nonsense into the microphone no one can decipher.
    His usual act is to stuff gasoline soaked hankies down his trousers
    and flame up like a human pyrotechnic. Due to repercussions of the unfortunate
    2003 Rhode Island club fire, Shalev has been asked to stub out any fiery
    intentions for Minneapolis. Tonight he gets his death-taunting kicks
    by sticking his head into the path of ceiling fan blades. He leaps away
    unscathed, proving his shamanistic powers of invincibility.

    Sounding like a mash up of
    Black Sabbath, Dio, and a slew of third-rate punk bands, the music is
    an after thought. Chord progressions are hazy at best. And forget about
    heartfelt lyrics. They’re just meaningless guttural intonations.
    The three could have had equally mesmerizing careers as magicians or
    fire-spewing carnival freaks. To them, it’s all about the performance.
    They ride on shock value. That’s the genius of their scheme. It takes
    wise men to get paid to make fools of themselves.

  • What! No Oliver?

    Some
    years ago I was stranded at Minneapolis-St Paul airport for 24 hours on
    route from Portland, Oregon back to the UK.  Unfortunately, and admittedly
    completely unfairly — as I did not see anything of the Twin Cities
    themselves — I acquired a distinctly jaundiced view of the area,
    assaulted as I was by the sound of miniature, furry, mechanical pigs and cows
    that barked (the only word I can think of to describe the odd yapping sound
    they made) and Holstein patterned tee shirts extolling the virtues of Mooonnesota. 

    All that changed, though, when a colleague introduced me to the wonders and joys
    of The Rake a year or so ago, which despite dealing with the cultural goings on
    in a city (sorry, cities) six time zones away, has come to be a regular must
    read    .  In no small part that has been due to Oliver’s column,
    and I look forward avidly each month to my next fix of erudition, wit, and wine — not to mention the pleasure of simply wondering how, for example, he is
    going to leap from King Arthur to a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and by what
    route.

    Imagine,
    therefore, my dismay to discover a gaping hole in the March edition — an Oliver
    shaped absence.  I hope that this is no more than a temporary omission and
    that he will be back in the April issue (and subsequent editions as well) …
    please!

    Great
    mag, by the way, but all the better taken with a sip of wine!

    Mark Robinson, U.K.
    Letter

  • When "No" Should Be "Yes"

    Anybody see Jersey Boys?

    If you did, please let me know what you thought.
    I will pass your feedback along to one of the investors, whom I just happen to know — Mr. M. 🙂

    I may be a little biased, but all of the cast in my opinion have been terrific.

    Here is a little inside scoop that I got from opening night in New York. One of the stars from the Sopranos was asked to invest, and he told me after the show that it was the first time "No" should have been "Yes."

    True story, Friends.

    Melinda Jacobs

  • Good Riddance, March

    FILM & AUTHORS
    Ali Selim and Will Weaver Discuss Sweet Land

    St. Paul filmmaker Ali Selim’s Sweet Land,
    a Minnesota-made indie labor of love that garnered critical acclaim and
    spawned a minor cult, was adapted from Bemidji writer Will Weaver’s
    1989 short story “A Gravestone Made of Wheat.” The Rake’s Cristina Córdova will moderate the latest installment of The Talk of the Stacks
    series, as the auteur and the author discuss the long journey Weaver’s
    story took from the page to the screen. Both Selim and Weaver have
    interesting back stories (Selim has had a high-profile career as a
    director of television commercials, and in recent years Weaver has been
    working on a series of successful young adult novels and teaching at
    Bemidji State), so there should be no shortage of topics for
    discussion. —Brad Zellar

    Friday at 7 p.m., Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis; 612-630-6174; free.

    SOCIAL EVENT
    Grown Up Spelling Bee

    It has probably been quite a while since any of us have actually participated in a spelling bee — and I’m guessing most of us weren’t drinking back then, but maybe I’m wrong. Nonetheless, leave it to the 331 Club to introduce an event like this one. Test your spelling skills, have a beer between each round (or even a shot), and see how you make out. There is great fun to be had by all.

    Friday at 7:00 p.m., 331 Club, 331 NE 13th Ave., Minneapolis; 612-331-1746, $7.

    MUSIC BENEFIT
    Dan Jass and Others Rock the Alex White Plume Family Benefit

    According to Rake writer, John Ervin, Dan Jass is "a walking encyclopedia of the
    rock-and-roll canon. In addition to possessing a record collection that
    would make most DJ’s drool, as a performer he can match the guitar
    stylings of every master from Eddie Cochran to Eddie Van Halen. After
    working a day job for twenty years at Schmitt Music’s warehouse, Dan returned to singing and songwriting full-time." See him this weekend at the Alex White Plume Family Benefit — with John Munson, Nate Dungan, Red Ponie, Dana Thompson, Patches and Gretchen, and Shit-Fi.

    Saturday at 6 p.m., Wolves Den Native Coffee, 1201 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis.

    Also, on Sunday catch Lalgudi Krishnan & Vijayalakshmi at the College of St. Catherine or soprano Kathleen Battle at Orchestra Hall (2 p.m.).

     

    BOOKS & AUTHORS
    Graphic Novel Release Party

    Lars Martinson is leaving for Japan in just a few days, but before he goes he’s due for a little celebration. Join him and his friend Tim Sievert this weekend, for a double book release celebration: Tonoharu: Part One and That Salty Air. Rumor has it there will be an after party of some kind, too

    Saturday from 4-7 p.m., Big Brain Comics, 1027 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis612) 338-4390; free.