Shifting Gears Bike Path Dance Festival, Monday, Sept. 2, Brittingham, McPike and Wirth Court parks, noon-6 p.m.: This outdoor, multi-site dance festival has fast become a Madison Labor Day tradition. Isthmus Dance Collective organizes dance programs in parks along bike paths and encourages biking from spot to spot — Brittingham Park, McPike Park and Wirth Court Park. In addition to performances from many local dancers and dance groups there will be mini-lessons in folk and social dances and other art and family-friendly activities. Find who’s performing where at isthmusdancecollective.org.
LaborFest, Monday, Sept. 2, Madison Labor Temple, noon-5:30 p.m.: Labor is having a moment, with union issues front and center in the 2024 presidential contest. Celebrate this unofficial end to summer and say thanks to laborers and unions with this annual party at the Madison Labor Temple grounds on South Park Street. Music from Cris Plata with Extra Hot (noon) and the Chris O’Leary Band (3 p.m.) will entertain the adults while the kids bounce in the bounce house and are amazed by magic shows. And yes, there will be face painting. Food carts will be on hand for a little nosh, too. It’s hosted by the South Central Federation of Labor, which is also collecting gift cards and personal care items for students whose families are facing housing instability.
Brian Reisinger, Tuesday, Sept. 3, Mystery to Me, 6 p.m.: If you grew up on a Wisconsin family farm, you already know it’s a way of life that has been disappearing at an ever faster rate of speed in recent decades. To many others, it’s a situation that is all but invisible despite the fact that farmers feed the nation — and everyone needs to eat. Brian Reisinger grew up on a Sauk County family farm, and in his new book Land Rich, Cash Poor: My Family’s Hope and the Untold History of the Disappearing American Farmer examines why the disappearance of small farms is a problem that will eventually touch everyone, not just farmers. Reisinger will discuss the book with Doug Moe. An RSVP is recommended, and a livestream is also available; find links at mysterytomebooks.com.
Jazz at Five, Wednesdays, through Sept. 4, Capitol Square, 4 p.m.: As it turns out, the return of Jazz at Five to its traditional home at the top of State Street was short-lived. However, this time the summer concert series moved just a couple blocks counterclockwise on the Square, to the South Hamilton Street corner. Concerts begin with a youth band at 4 p.m., and the final date on Sept. 4 features the DB Orchestra and All That Jazz Big Band. Find more info at jazzatfive.org.
Feel the Beat: Felted Textiles, Sept. 4-Dec. 1, UW Nancy Nicholas Hall-Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery: Get the feels for felt this fall. Felt happens when one accidentally or on purpose agitates wool, creating a dense mat of fabric (as anyone who has mistakenly washed a wool sweater in the machine can attest). It’s one of the oldest “constructed” textiles. The UW-Madison’s textile program takes a closer look at felt in physical and sociological terms with this exhibit, which highlights the communal nature of creating felt in some cultures, with felt pieces from the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, along with new works from makers in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Iluman, Ecuador. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday and Friday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday; and noon-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
Hanif Abdurraqib, Thursday, Sept. 5, Goodman Community Center-Brassworks, 6 p.m.: Essayist and poet Hanif Abdurraqib’s last book, 2021’s A Little Devil In America, was a National Book Award finalist and bestseller. In his latest, Abdurraqib again casts a keen eye on American culture, this time with a focus on basketball and his native Ohio. There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension of course features fellow Ohioan LeBron James, but is about much more than James or basketball; NPR’s Michael Schaub calls it “a piercing look at how we consider others, as well as ourselves.” Abdurraqib will discuss the book in a free talk hosted by A Room of One’s Own.
Ann Garvin, Thursday, Sept. 5, Mystery to Me, 6 p.m.: If you didn’t grab a copy of Ann Garvin’s Bummer Camp when it was featured as an Amazon “First Reads” selection in August, here’s your chance to purchase an actual print copy from a local indie bookstore. Bummer Camp — the sixth novel from the witty Madison-based USA Today bestselling author — focuses on two adult sisters sucked into the family business: a run-down Wisconsin theater camp overtaken by a crackpot life coach who converts it into a camp for anxious and depressed adults. Garvin will be joined in conversation by another Madison novelist, Christina Clancy, whose third novel (The Snowbirds) will be published in February. This event is free, but reservations are requested, and it also will be livestreamed; find links at mysterytomebooks.com.
The Stolen Sea album release, Thursday, Sept. 5, Gamma Ray, 7 p.m.: The members of the music and art collective The Stolen Sea have been busy in recent times, with at least four new albums out or on the way soon. The latest Stolen Sea release is C-Sides: How to Generate Power, the second album in a three-part song cycle called “The Stolen Sea Tell Tall Tales” (the first, The Voyager’s Companion, emerged in July). C-Sides features the folk-rockers’ current lineup and was tracked live in the studio; while the album is currently only available for streaming, an art and lyric companion book will be available at the release party. Find links for streaming music and more projects at facebook.com/storiesofthestolensea. With Jonathan Millionaire.
King Lear, through Sept. 28, American Players Theatre, Spring Green: As usual, Shakespeare manages to fit right into the contemporary zeitgeist. The tale is of an elderly king who is not making the wisest choices any more. He seeks to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, giving the most money and land to the one who flatters him the most. Themes of familial love, devotion and betrayal run throughout, along with the lust for power, the quest for sincerity, and the difficulty of dealing with grandpa after the car keys get taken away. While King Lear has often been seen as depressing, it’s also one of the Bard’s most insightful works. As Lear says, “Who is it that can tell me who I am?” Read Linda Falkenstein’s review here. Shows this week at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 5 and 2 p.m. on Sept. 7; tickets at americanplayers.org
The Levitations album release, Thursday, Sept. 5, Rigby, 8 p.m.: During his time studying sound geography at UW-Madison, keyboardist and composer Luke Leavitt also kept very busy playing in a musically diverse array of bands (Cop Circles, Feestet, Laminal Animil and more) along with recording solo projects. Two long-awaited recordings featuring Leavitt are emerging this week as both streaming and physical releases. First, on Sept. 1, was Cruel Optimism, a jazz-ambient-free music collaboration by Leavitt, bassist Ari Smith and drummer Devin Drobka. And Sept. 5 at the Rigby, The Levitations unveil the new album Hold Me, featuring more music demolishing genre boundaries. Opening is earmuffs for strangers.
Daughters of Saint Crispin + Noun, Thursday, Sept. 5, Mickey’s Tavern, 10 p.m.: Noun is a longtime project led by Marissa Paternoster, former Screaming Females lead singer and guitarist. The new single, “Wanted” / “Consumed” is a return to heavy rock following the quieter sounds of the 2021 Noun album, Peace Meter. Madison duo Daughters of Saint Crispin has released a string of intriguing singles and EPs in recent times, and also returned to their usual heavy doom mode (after a brief dance party interlude) with Beauty Slips Away. This one should be a ripper of a show, also including sets by Cincinnati cello punk duo Lung (on tour with Noun) and Frozen Charlotte, a spiky new project by Madison multimedia artist Sigra DeWeese.
Find the individual Picks collected here, and as part of the full calendar of events.
