Safe House

Denzel's Cool in a Not-so-Hot Film

Denzel Washington is the reason to watch Safe House, an otherwise-by-numbers...

Wisconsin Uprising

From Madison and the World

Scott Walker underestimated the people of Wisconsin. He probably imagined the usual dozen activists, plus a handful of trade unionists already dispirited from a quarter-century of retreat, would gather outside his office with the usual brain dead chant...

The Woman in Black

Daniel Radcliffe moves beyond Harry Potter

The narrow road winds through bleak country, devoid of life for many miles save the squawking sea gulls overhead...

Various Artists

Golden Gate Groove: The Sound of Philadelphia Live in San Francisco 1973 (Legacy/Philadelphia International Records)

The great and even ordinary soul singers of the '60s and '70s trained before live audiences—often in church. Ironically, the recordings they were known for were polished to a bright gleam in studio settings, making it hard to top the emotional heft when...

The Chitlin' Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n' Roll (W.W. Norton), by Preston Lauterbach

Cultural historians usually write off the “chitlin' circuit” that sustained African-American musicians from the 1930s through the '60s as a cruel, exploitative system. Preston Lauterbach thinks otherwise. In his endlessly fascinating and richly evocative account...

Kami Thompson

Love Lies (Warner Music/Naxos)

Musicians with famous musical parents are usually in for a hard time. Just ask Sean and Julian Lennon, who never emerged from the deep shadows of their father. Kami Thompson, daughter of the estranged king and queen of British folk rock, Richard...

Clazz Ensemble & Frank Carlberg

Federico on Broadway (Red Piano Records)

The Netherlands' reputation for supporting a flourishing and venturesome jazz scene is supported by the bracing new album by Amsterdam's Clazz Ensemble of music by Finnish-American pianist-composer Frank Carlberg. Structured improvisation occurs...

Broadway at the Marcus Center

UW-Milwaukee's 2012 Festival of Films in French

'Queen to Play,' 'Father of My Children' among highlights

This year's Festival of Films in French...

MSO Fully Inhabits Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring'

Instead of the catcalls and raised fists that confronted The Rite of Spring at its 1913 premiere, the audience for the Jan. 27 Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) concert rose in a standing ovation. Stravinsky's once revolutionary ballet...