ARTS Pick: Randy Johnston Trio

Having toured with several acclaimed jazz musicians, including Houston Person, Etta Jones and Lonnie Smith, Randy Johnston has garnered global recognition as both a guitarist and a vocalist. He is joined by his trio and organist Jonah Kane-West to perform a varied set of jazz and blues classics as well as originals. Saturday 1/16. 21-plus. Free, […]

Album reviews: Cage the Elephant, Arielle LaGuette, GIVERS

Cage the Elephant Tell Me I’m Pretty/RCA Continuing the exodus from the brash alternative rock that typified Cage the Elephant’s first few releases, Tell Me I’m Pretty continues the artistic evolution that started on its last release, Melophobia. Classic rock fills every nook and cranny of this record from the thrumming bass and massive drums […]

ARTS Pick: Lesole’s Dance Project

Using education and a mix of traditional and modern dance, Washington, D.C.’s Lesole’s Dance Project has been presenting high-quality performances for more than 10 years. With “Dancing Through South Africa,” the touring troupe focuses on the historic preservation of South African dance and drumming by showcasing Indlamu, Gumboot and Pantsula styles, while giving equal consideration […]

Film review: Carol frames same-sex relationships with color and focus

When does admiration become infatuation? When does infatuation become love? Are there clear, definable lines between any of the three? What is a good, respectable person to do with feelings that come entirely naturally, yet are overlooked, misunderstood and maligned by the world around us? These are the questions that are never fully stated yet […]

ARTS Pick: Positive Collective

Positive Collective formed, in part, due to a chance encounter at Walnut Creek Park between Greg Ward and Chris Leva that resulted in a few jam sessions and the discovery of a mutual love of good-time, get movin’ tunes. The band is currently made up of seasoned musicians (whose combined musical experience totals more than […]

Thrown together: City Clay potters team up to help IRC refugees

“Creativity can make a positive and welcoming impact on families right here in Charlottesville,” says Katie Bercegeay, volunteer coordinator for Charlottesville’s International Rescue Committee. Though this applies to us all, she’s specifically referring to the refugees who are welcomed in Charlottesville through the ongoing efforts of IRC staff and volunteers. Since it was established in […]

ARTS Pick: Taarka

Prism Coffeehouse presents Taarka, a husband-and-wife-led team formed in 2001 in Portland, Oregon, by David and Enion Pelta-Tiller. The band, whose name is derived from a term in Indian cooking used to describe the sound of spices roasting, blends Virginia-rooted bluegrass and jazz with classical elements to form an eclectic and energetic gypsy-jazz. Sunday 1/10. $15-17, […]

ARTS Pick: Marian McLaughlin

Experimental folk musician Marian McLaughlin has a trance-like effect on her audiences thanks to her stream-of-consciousness delivery that is at once delicate and multilayered. Her exploratory approach to music is inspired by French social revolutionary Guy Debord’s concept of dérive (also the name of her first release), where an individual sets out on a spontaneous […]

Film review: DiCaprio suffers beautifully in The Revenant

It may seem sarcastic or strange to praise a movie for having an unengaging story to tell, but in the case of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant, its lack of reliance on narrative is precisely its saving grace. Thanks to unnecessary yet spectacular attention to detail, unrelenting technical perfectionism and a pathological commitment to discarding […]