Have you noticed that more and more people are drinking beer in cans these days? We’re not talking about the usual cheap swill either. The canned beer revolution unofficially began in 1990s Colorado with Dale’s Pale Ale — released exclusively in cans. Overcoming perceptions that canned beer tasted bad was…
In every musical idiom there are performers who transcend the genre and, at times, the music itself. Jazz guitarist Bill Frisell ranks among them. In fact, to call him a jazz musician is in itself limiting, as Frisell — who began playing surf music as a teen and later worked…
Presenting Shakespeare is always a tricky thing. Does the famous bard’s centuries-old work get updated, or is a prim and proper approach best? In the case of Class 6 Theatre’s vision, Shakespeare merely acts as guide and jumping off place. Believed to have been written in 1599, Julius Caesar gets…
In Fahrenheit 451, books get a bad rap as items capable of corrupting the mind and stirring unrest. In reality, many books are capable of doing this. But beyond that, adept storytelling and creative flare can also spark the boundless imagination inside ourselves. As modernity removes the pages in place…
A strong friendship should be able to overcome any obstacles, especially distance and cultural differences. Sometimes, something ever-lasting develops. Hopi Summer: Life, Friendship, and Survival on the Hopi Mesas is a book by Carolyn O’Bagy Davis based on one such enduring friendship that began in 1927 when Maud and Carey…
Nikki Lane is raw, unabashed, and commanding — and alluringly soft. Her music hardly follows the stereotypical country blueprint, which is part of what makes it so refreshing. Another part is the intensity packed into each song, from ferocious growls to sexy whispers, sneering jeers to quiet laments — it’s…
Holy paperback, Batman! Yes, that time has come. Time to clear off the coffee table, empty out the closet and reorganize the laundry room, because you’re going to need all that space. Why? Another Friends of the Phoenix Public Library Spring Book Sale is upon us. Even if you haven’t…
The weather’s slowly warming up and before we know what happened — wham! Another burning summer is here. So, before it gets too hot to realistically spend time sitting around outside (except poolside, of course), get your butt over to the Biltmore Fashion Park for Movies in the Park. The…
I have never been to Mali, my toes have only touched the edge of the mighty Sahara sands, and yet the connection to these Tuareg desert nomads was instantaneous and moving. The entire audience was transported to another world, where Tamashek is spoken and the pace of live is slower…
Summer in the Phoenix Valley doesn’t wait for any official proclamation — it just comes on hard in early May. With that in mind, the Musical Instrument Museum’s summer concert series officially begins May 1. “We get some of the greatest [musicians in the world] here,” MIM music director Lowell…
Dave Mason was disappointing. That’s the bottom line, though many in the audience would say otherwise — particularly during the “Dave set,” which would be telling enough in itself. Billed as Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam, the idea of Mason playing Traffic tunes — the band he was a founding member…
Geoffrey Chaucer was England’s greatest poet, a celebrated author best known for The Canterbury Tales, but also for promoting the English language at a time Latin and French predominated the British Isles. That said, joy to the man who gave us speech at the fourth biennial Chaucer Celebration. The event…
Omar “Bombino” Moctar is a Tuareg nomad from Agadez, Niger, and while his music is rooted in the deepest traditions of desert life, Bombino is also deeply indebted to the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton — maybe even Jerry Garcia. I went to the Musical Instrument Museum to…
Katsina dolls — sometimes called kachina dolls by non-Hopis — are a frequent sight around the Southwest. These dolls represent hundreds of Hopi spiritual beings special to religious practices. The dolls are typically colorful and ornate, with or without masks, capes, and other accoutrements such as spears, knives or instruments,…
Linda Ingraham has a long history of exhibiting her work in the Valley. Her last major solo exhibit (Mesa, 2013) featured an unusual array of still-life images, including flying lemons. Her current exhibit at Vision Galley is a career-spanning affair, covering more than 25 years creating mixed media photography, an…
You’re out and about and yet another cloned strip mall clogs the view, raising the question: “Why do these malls need to exist every couple miles?” Amid the Valley’s sprawl, some are trying to make a difference. The third annual Phoenix Urban Design Week is a gathering of urban planners,…
Those able to picture Axl Rose adorned in an ornate, oversize sombrero or a bandanna-wearing Bret Michaels strumming a fat guitarrón or Mötley Crüe wearing rivet-edged chaps, vests, and pointy boots and eyeliner possibly can envision the spectacle that is Metalachi. Made up of five brothers and half-brothers, Metalachi combines…
Those able to picture Axl Rose adorned in an ornate, oversized sombrero, or a bandanna-wearing Bret Michaels strumming a fat guitarrón, or Motley Crue wearing rivet-edged chaps, vests and pointy toed boots among the eyeliner, then it’s also possible envision the spectacle that is Metalachi. Made up of five half-brothers,…
Immigration is a hot-button issue in the Southwest — and in Arizona in particular. With hundreds of miles of borderland, crossing into America is tempting, but also challenging. Every day scores of people attempt the perilous journeys across blistering deserts, and every day many are left for dead. Those who…
The nice thing about art, as compared to, say, some music, is that one can travel back in time and typically find modern relevance in older works. That is especially true if the works are tied to a particular venue, such as the Mesa Arts Center. “M8k Marks” showcases drawings,…
Charlie Musselwhite is no stranger to the blues. In fact, that’s where the harmonica master spent most of his career, from Mississippi to Memphis to Chicago to Northern California, where he makes his home — Musselwhite’s career in the blues has spanned 50 years. Along the way, however, he’s also…
It’s hard to find anybody who doesn’t know something about Muhammad Ali, as the retired boxer still manages to keep a fairly high profile. Still, there’s a lot to learn about the man oft-considered the greatest boxer of all time. The Trials of Muhammad Ali captures many of the details…
