Wednesday • 9
Melville: His World and Work
LITERATURE
Critics have called Andrew Delbanco’s Melville: His World and Work remarkable, shrewd, engaging, beautiful and the finest on its subject. Delbanco documents Melville’s arduous life as well as his transformation from sophomoric storyteller to author of such masterpieces as Moby Dick and “Bartleby the Scrivener.” Meet and greet Delbanco at 7 p.m., Shaman Drum Bookshop, 311 S. State St., Ann Arbor: 734-662-7407.
Thursday • 10
Edmund Fitzgerald 30th Anniversary
COMMUNITY
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior, off Michigan’s Whitefish Point. In observance of this tragic event, the Dossin Great Lakes Museum and the Great Lakes Maritime Institute will host two programs: “Night Watch for the Edmund Fitzgerald,” 4:30-8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 10, and “Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald,” noon-4:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 12. Dossin Great Lakes Museum, 100 Strand Dr., on Belle Isle, Detroit; 313-297-8366. $3.50 adults; $2.50 children.
Friday • 11
Ahmad Jamal
MUSIC
The pianist was a profound influence on Miles Davis in the ’50s, giving the Prince of Darkness more than a few tunes and a sense of group dynamics. And if Jamal’s subsequent career hasn’t been characterized by the radical shifts that made Miles — in the long run — Miles, Jamal certainly hasn’t stayed still. He’s a far harder-driving player in his 70s than in his 20s, which isn’t to say that he still can’t deliver a good shiver and tingle when he downshifts for an elegant ballad. At the Max, 3711 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-576-5100.
Friday • 11
Action
THEATER
Sam Shepard’s one-act play, Action, takes a look at the famed playwright’s homeland, the American Southwest, from a curious vantage point. Told with a slightly absurdist bent, Action finds four characters marooned in an undefined wasteland. They survive the boredom by reading, performing daily chores and defining their situation with nonstop, stream-of-consciousness talking. Friday-Sunday, Nov. 11-Dec. 3. Abreact Performance Space, 442 E. Lafayette, Detroit; 313-485-0217.
Friday • 11
Raquey and the Cavemen with Belly Dancer Lana
Dance
Traditional music from Egypt, Turkey, Iran and the Balkans performed by a band of Arab, Israeli and American musicians, backing writhing, scantily draped bodies. If this combination sounds like a fine way to spend a Friday night, join Raquey and the Cavemen with local belly dancer Lana in downtown Hamtramck for an exotic evening of world music and tantalizing dance. Seven veils optional. The New Dodge, 8850 Joseph Campau, Hamtramck; 313-874-5963.
Saturday • 12
I Want to Hurt Fest
MUSIC
Minneapolis-born psych-noise rock guy Michael Yonkers will be in Detroit for a very rare appearance this weekend, his first time playing in the D. Yonkers’ cult album, Microminiature Love, was slated to come out on Sire Records back in 1968, but was lost after he suffered a severe spinal cord injury. The recording was found several years later and put out on De Stijl Records (Sub Pop Records also issued some bonus tracks). This weekend, as part of the “I Want to Hurt Fest,” Yonkers will be joined by other gritty acts such as Chicago’s Magas and the Chromatics, from Seattle. THTX, Terrible Twos, Cotton Museum, Little Claw and other local bands will also perform. Doors at 8 p.m. The Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (CAID), 5141 Rosa Parks Blvd., Detroit; 313-899-2243.
Saturday-Sunday • 12-13
Autumn Harvest Indian Festival
Community
Ottawa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi from across Michigan gather to share Native American traditions with one another and everyone else. The 13th annual celebration of culture encompasses beaded regalia, tepees, storytelling, dance and food, the latter including buffalo burgers and Indian tacos. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday. Southfield Pavilion, 26000 Evergreen Rd., Southfield; 248-398-3400. $7.50 admission, children under 2 free. See autumnharvestindianfestival.com.
Monday • 14
Konono No1
MUSIC
You don’t get stranger grooves, or groovier strangeness. Traditional African music for the sanza — sometimes mislabeled the “thumb piano” — is the centerpiece of a low-tech but amped-up style with microphones made from old car parts and a similarly ad hoc sound system. Add in more makeshift percussion and vocals, let the group embrace the so-called sonic “distortion” as its identity, and let the high-volume, trance-like sound evolve for a quarter-century in Kinshasa, Congo. Then have the sound discovered by the international electronica crowd. The Ark, 316 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; 734-761-1451.
Tuesday • 15
Young Women and Technology
ISSUES & LEARNING
Among those who choose a career in the sciences, the male-to-female ratio is dreadfully out of whack. While there are many hypotheses about the root of this discrepancy, there has yet to be a solid explanation. That’s why this week’s segment of the Emerging Voices Speaker Series at Detroit’s Alternatives for Girls is an important event for XX-chromosomed youngsters. “Young Women in Technology” will feature a discussion panel with Rosemary Bayer, president of the Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation, and explore why young women often lose interest in pursuing science as a career, and propose some strategies to effect change. 7:30 p.m. Alternatives for Girls, 903 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit; 313-361-4000, ext. 223.
Tuesday • 15
Michigan Coalition for Human Rights Film Festival
FILM
Continuing its pledge to be part of the solution, not the problem, the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights brings its annual film fest to Royal Oak next week. The controversial documentary, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, will be screened on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror shows the following Tuesday, Nov. 22. Movies begin at 7 p.m. St. John’s Episcopal Church, 26998 Woodward Ave. Call Kate Bush, 248-930-0316, for information.
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