01.27-02.03.2016 Sustained

01.27-02.03.16
Sustained

This is how winners do it. Not a lucky strike, but a constant, continuous, uninterrupted streak of hard work and nose-to-the-stone dedication.

Brunch With Bowie is held over after 2 sold out shows last week. You might want to get your tix now for Sunday’s brunch featuring a rare look at the artist’s life and work, plus the glam-punk stylings of Vanity Crash.

LaureLive is an idea whose time has come. Cleveland’s director of sustainability tells us why everyone needs to be careful when taking selfies. Bill Rudman preserves the music of the Cotton Club. Clevelander Jean Bowers sustains hope in Uganda with the Pink Polka Dot Project. The Cleveland Seed Bank hosts a seed swap. The Capitol launches their Happy Hour classic film series. TCO’s Joshua Smith plays 20th-century pieces in Rocky River. Solon & Shaker Hts boy Kid Cudi returns, Trinity Cathedral’s Brownbag Concerts are back, and Mansfield laments the racism of the Oscars. Some things just go on and on. –Thomas Mulready

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Photo by Elisa Vietri

LaureLive Music Festival Debuts

People have griped for years that, while cities around the country have big summer music festivals with name headliners, Cleveland doesn’t. Now it does. Elevation Group, the people behind the Cathedral Concerts at Trinity Cathedral, have hooked up with the Laurel School to create a two-day festival with both national names and top local performers.

Writer Kendall Embrescia-Hridel talks with Elevation’s Denny Young and Laurel headmistress Ann V. Klotz to share how it came about and why it’s more than just a music festival. Tickets are on sale now! Sat 6/11 & Sun 6/12.

Traveling Lightly

As the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 initiative rolls toward its conclusion, it’s adding another year-long focus to the pile: 2016 is the Year of Sustainable Transportation. Groups and individuals will be put their heads together to encourage walking, carpooling, public transportation use and bicycling with programs such as the new bike share set to launch in Cleveland in the spring.

Come down to City Hall to help celebrate the kickoff and met some of the people involved. John Benson talked to city director of sustainability Matt Gray to find out what’s going on. Fri 1/29.

Ready for a sustainable online advertising partner? Consider CoolCleveland Sponsored Links, Sponsored Features and Sponsored Videos. Info@CoolCleveland.com

SPONSORED: ONLY @ OBERLIN February opens with three stirring performances at Finney Chapel: NPR Favorite New Artist Nicholas Phan, tenor, sings Britten, Schumann’s Dichterliebe, and more on Wed 2/3; history meets artistry in the riveting opera Harriet Tubman on Sat 2/6; and legendary pianist András Schiff plays ”Last Sonatas” (Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart & Schubert) on Fri 2/12. Oberlin.edu/artsguide

Recalling a Magic Musical Era

The name “Cotton Club” evokes a time in the 20s and 30s when the NYC jazz scene was red-hot. The Harlem club was home for some of the genre’s greatest talents: Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Lena Horne and many more. Sadly, they played to whites-only audiences.

Bill Rudman’s Musical Theater Project and the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra are co-presenting “Curtain Up at the Cotton Club,” which will not only feature some of the era’s memorable music, but also tell the story of both the brilliant artists and the racism. Kevin Kelly previews the concerts which take place at PlayhouseSquare’s Hanna Theatre. Sat 1/30 & Sun 1/31.

SPONSORED: The Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra returns to Severance Hall on Wed 2/3 at 8PM. The evening begins with Elgar’s triumphant Violin Concerto in B minor, Op. 61 followed by Stravinsky’s spectacular ballet suite, The Firebird. Free tickets are required. Contact the Severance Hall Box Office at 216.231.1111 or ClevelandOrchestra.com.

Brunch With Bowie Held Over to Sun 1/31

Why such an outpouring of interest and passion for David Bowie that we sold out two brunches this past Sunday? Maybe because it’s hard to imagine a world without him.

David Bowie has made a career of pushing the boundaries in music, film, live theatre, fashion and style, sexuality, business, design, performance and what it means to be a star. Join CoolCleveland’s Thomas Mulready in a multi-media exploration featuring the BOP STOP’s new audiophile high fidelity sound system, including video, film, and slides, along with selected needle drops of vinyl selections from Bowie’s deep musical legacy and his latest release, 2016’s ★ (Blackstar). Select the BOP STOP brunch if you wish, served a la carte, and enjoy a Sunday afternoon on the shores of Lake Erie with one of the most important artists of the past 50 years, on Sun 1/31 at 11:30AM.

A World of Difference

Probably the last thing a Cleveland girl would think of is dropping out of school and marrying at a young age because of her period. But that’s a reality in Uganda, where many girls have no access to the sanitary products American women take for granted. That’s why Clevelander Jeanne Bowers started the Pink Polka Dot Project in 2014.

Initially she shipped handmade reusable kits to women there. Now she’s working with village officials to create sustainable programs where African women make their own pads from locally sourced material. CoolCleveland’s Kendall Embrescia talks to the enterprising Bowers to learn how a small thing can make a big difference.

* Ready to join the CoolCleveland team as an intern? We’ve been waiting for you.

Looking for a Shadow

It’s said that on February 2 the groundhog peers out from his burrow and if he sees his shadow, it means another six weeks of winter. That’s probably not true, but kids (and parents) can learn a lot of fun groundhog facts and meet live groundhogs at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Groundhog Fun Day. Sat 1/30.

* A new traveling exhibit at the Great Lakes Science Center reveals the science behind the oddities of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Sat 1/30-Sun 4/24.

Click here for more CoolCleveland Kids events

Even before the snow melts, for many home farmers, it will be time to start their seeds. So the Cleveland Seed Bank is holding its first seed swap of the year. If you save seeds, bring them. If you don’t, come anyway and learn what it’s all about. There’ll be extra seeds for newcomers. Sat 1/30.

* Local Food Mondays kick off an east side series at Shaker Heights’ LaunchHouse. They’ll now alternate between LaunchHouse and their old location at the Great Lakes Tasting Room in Ohio City. This month high tunnels and season extension are the discussion topic. Mon 2/1.

Read more of CoolCleveland’s picks for Eats and Drinks.

SPONSORED: The Stars Shine at The Kent Stage with performances like Phil Vassar, Ana Popovic, Red Wanting Blue, Eric Burden, Pure Prairie League, Bill Frisell – When You Wish Upon A Star w/ Petra Haden, Eyvind Kang, Thomas Morgan & Kenny Wollesen, The Wailers, Cabin Fever Meltdown, Hard Day’s Night, David Cook, Lucinda Williams, and Ani DeFranco. TheKentStage.com.

Tom Adams was active in Cleveland’s poetry scene throughout the 90s, gradually adding a musical element to his performances. A little over a year ago he formed Tom Adams & the Last Resort to record an album, which they’ll perform at the Happy Dog. Fri 1/29.

* Opera about Harriet Tubman, written by Oberlin grad, gets midwest premier at Oberlin & area churches. Fri 1/29, Sun 1/3, Fri 2/5-Sun 2/7.

* The Grog Shop hosts “Band Practice” open mic series. Tue 2/2.

* Local duo Mossom debuts their first EP at the Beachland Tavern. Fri 1/29.

* If you missed Brunch With Bowie at the BOP STOP, you have another shot this weekend. Sun 1/31.

Read more of CoolCleveland’s picks for Cool Events.

WED 1/27
The Capitol Theatre launches its Happy Hour classic film series with the Coen brothers’ 1996 crime film Fargo.

* Do drinking & drawing mix? They will when Wine & Design comes to the Music Box Supper Club..

* Area guitarists Bob Frank and Austin Walkin’ Cane host two-man “blues summit” at Nighttown.

Click here for more events on Wed 1/27

THU 1/28
Las Vegas-based TSTMRKT has been purveying its offbeat brand of avant-garde comedic performance art for nearly 15 years. The much-travelled group will be returning to the BOP STOP for a performance.

* Country songwriter/performer Phil Vassar comes to the Kent Stage.

* Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Nile opens at Akron’s Coach House Theatre. Through Sun 2/21.

* Akron jazz pianist Roland Paolucci plays BluJazz Akron with his quartet.

* Rising pop star Elle King performs at the Masonic Auditorium.

* Indie rock darlings Yo La Tengo do an evening of music at the Beachland Ballroom.

Click here for more events on Thu 1/28

FRI 1/29
It’s a brand-new season at MOCA Cleveland, which opens a new group of shows with a reception tonight. Up-and-coming video artist Xavier Cha whose show, abduct, is one of those opening will do an artist talk and there’ll an open art studio as well.

* Rio Neon plays retro Americana music for the Shaker Historical Society at Loganberry Books.

* Alto sax player Richie Cole leads a quartet at Nighttown.

* The Neil Chastain Trio headlines an eclectic evening at Touch Supper Club.

* Folk rockers Oldboy perform a cozy evening at Cleveland Hts’ Wine Spot.

* Zygote Press hosts a reception for its portion of the three-gallery show Fandom 216.

Click here for more events on Fri 1/29

SAT 1/30
The U.S. now has marriage equality but there’s more to be done in the fight for LGBT rights. So the Human Rights Campaign is hosting its “Rock & Bowl: A Strike for Positive Change” at Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Choose from two shifts of bowling and socializing.

* Noted lutenist Paul O’Dette plays music by John Dowland at Shaker Hts’ Plymouth Church.

* Interlocutors offers an evening of cutting-edge sound and video performances at SPACES Gallery.

* Hardy bicyclists will cycle from Ohio City to Edgewater at the annual Marmots Meander.

* The Standing Rock Short Film Festival @KentStage offers films from the other side of the world – and also Kent.

* The Cleveland Pops Orchestra salutes Star Wars film composer John Williams at Severance Hall.

* Theatrical Cleveland rock legend Paul Fayrewether will command the House of Blues stage.

* Matthew Barney’s five-plus-hour opera film, River of Fundament, screens at the Cinematheque. Also tomorrow.

Click here for more events on Sat 1/30

SUN 1/31
Do you believe Bigfoot is real? Whether you do or not, members of the Southeastern Ohio Society for Bigfoot Investigation should have some intriguing tales of their search of him when they host a discussion at Geauga Parks District’s West Woods Nature Center.

* Hawaii’s Jake Shimabukuro pushes the limits of the ukulele at the Music Box Supper Club.

* CPT’s Ray Bobgan speaks at St. John’s in Ohio City about theater as a form of spirituality.

* After 2 SOLD OUT shows, Brunch With Bowie is held over at the BOP STOP on Sunday. We suggest getting tix soon!

Click here for more events on Sun 1/31

MON 2/1
The Rocky River Chamber Music Society offers free concerts featuring some of the area’s best musicians. Tonight, for instance, Cleveland Orchestra principal flute player Joshua Smith will lead a sextet playing 20th-century pieces by composers such as Britten, Debussy, Varese, Berg and Janacek at the West Shore Unitarian-Universalist Church.

Click here for more events on Mon 2/1

TUE 2/2
Today is National Tater Tot Day. And one place where you know you can always get a big plate of these crisp little golden nuggets is the Happy Dog in Gordon Square, where it’s almost an obligation to order them along with the club’s signature customizable hot dogs.

* While you’re devouring those tater tots, you can catch a discussion on the challenges facing the European Union, part of the Happy Dog Takes on the World series.

Click here for more events on Tue 2/2

WED 2/3
Rapper Kid Cudi, who grew up in Solon and Shaker Heights, had a huge hit with the hypnotic “Day ‘n’ Nite” in 2008. Since then, he’s formed a rock band, put out five albums of distinctively musical hip hop and built an acting career. Come catch him at the House of Blues on his Especial tour.

* Trinity Cathedral’s Brownbag concerts resume this week with CIM & CSU students playing the church’s organs.

Click here for more events on Wed 2/3

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com

Why the Racism of the Oscars Matters

On a recent radio show my co-hosts and I tackled the issue of the (once again) all-white Oscars. The question was raised that, considering all of the problems blacks are beset with, why are we concerning ourselves with who gets – or doesn’t get – nominated…

* Did Someone Drop a Dime? There can be no question that Prosecutor Tim McGinty led the public to believe that the grand jury voted a “no true bill” when in actuality, they voted not to vote…

* Dealing With Political Reality – Or Not The problem for many politicians is they only listen to their base; other voices – even if they are experienced and reasoned – get drowned out in the…

Read other stories from Mansfield Frazier here