Music
Brass with a bit of hop
Hip-hop and brass bands might seem to occupy different musical universes, but don't tell that to the Pitchblak Brass Band.
Hip-hop doesn't require much in the way of learned musicianship, but it doesn't hurt. All that matters are the beats, really. The Brooklyn 10-piece unit lets its components do what they do best — trombones blast, trumpets and alto-sax wail, snare-hits snap into the pocket, and an emcee grabs the mic — and soon, everybody's rowing in the same direction. Somehow, it works.
Pitchblak Brass Band will perform at Cattivo in Lawrenceville Oct. 25.
Pandemic and Beauty Slap will start it off at 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 to $20.
Details: 412-687-2157 or cattivo.biz.
Theater
‘Love' and other garments
Unfortunate prom dresses, fitting-room traumas and the puzzle of having an overflowing closet but nothing to wear are up for discussion in Little Lake Theatre Company's “Love, Loss and What I Wore.”
Sisters Nora and Delia Ephron transferred Ilene Beckerman's collection of stories for the stage as a readers' theater piece with the actors reading from music stands.
Little Lake's artistic director Sunny Disney Fitchett has restaged these tales so that six actresses — Sara Barbisch, Annette Bassett, Leah Hillgrove, Joyce Miller, Jena Oberg and Mary Quinlan — create a more intimate evening of storytelling.
Fashion becomes an entry point to consider matters of the heart in tales that are comic, often powerful and compelling.
The show will continue at 8 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays through Nov. 1 at 500 Lakeside Drive South, North Strabane.
Admission is $12 to $20. Details: 724-744-6300 or littlelake.org
Dance
‘Thoughts' from Kyiv
The Kyiv Ukrainian Dance Ensemble will present “My Thoughts,” an exploration of how Ukrainians in America think and feel about Ukraine at 2 p.m. Oct. 25, at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.
More than 50 dancers will join special guest Ridna Schkola of Pittsburgh in this multimedia dance production. A Ukrainian Market Place with cultural items and traditional foods including soups, sandwiches and pastries will open at noon.
The performance will explore love, faith, family, youth and spirit in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Ukraine's Poet Laureate, Taras Shevchenko, who wrote, “My thorny thoughts, my thorny thoughts, You bring me only woe! ... So welcome them, my Motherland, Ukraine, into your home! Accept my guileless, simple brood and take them for your own!”
The music hall is at 300 Beechwood Ave., Carnegie. Cost is $12 to $15. Details: 412-527-5359 or kyivdance.net
Jazz
Don and the band
Don Aliquo Jr., professor of saxophone and director of jazz studies at Middle Tennessee State University, will be back in Pittsburgh this week. The visit will culminate with a CD-release party Oct. 24 at the James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy on the North Side.
The album, “Chicken on the Hill With Will,” is the latest release by drummer Roger Humphries, the area's jazz mentor. Its title, a reference to Pirates baseball legend Willie Stargell, is as Pittsburgh-oriented as its musical lineup.
Aliqou, who did much of the work putting it together, says it is a “collaborative effort” of Humphries and three area players the drummer guided: Aliqou, bassist Dwayne Dolphin and pianist Dave Budway, all of whom will be at the club.
Music at James Street will begin at 8 p.m. Admission is $10. Details: 412-904-3335 or jamesstreetgastropub.com.
Halloween
Mayhem in East Liberty
Family-friendly Halloween mayhem is planned for Oct. 25 at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty.
The sixth-annual Halloween Mayhem will feature activities that include a costume parade, puppets, live performances, games and zombies.
Performances from noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 25 will include guest DJ Vex, with emcee Lauren Bethea; the dance groups Alumni Theater Company, Trevor C. Dance Collective and IAS Christian Contemporary Dance Company; and Soundwaves, the Kelly Strayhorn Theater's resident steel band ensemble.
Patrons are encouraged to dress in their favorite costume and join the onstage costume parade. Admission is free, but register online at kelly-strayhorn.org/events.
Details: 412-363-6000
Jazz
Twist of sound
Cecile McLorin Salvant brings a new twist to the tradition of jazz. She takes classic standards, such as “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” and gives it a sound that is rooted in her distinct voice but also shows the work of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Then, she adds a touch of theater and dramatics in her facial expression and presentation.
That style will make its first visit to Pittsburgh on Oct. 25 at the Manchester Craftsman's Guild on the North Side.
The Miami native, 25, fell in love with music early, studying piano at age 5 and voice at age 8. She took that interest to France, where she went in 2007 to study law and classical voice at the Darius Milhaud Conservatory. Within two years, she recorded her first album, “Cecile,” in Paris and, in 2010, won the Thelonious Monk Competition in Washington, D.C.
She has become a mainstay at festivals and concert appearances, and her 2014 album, “WomanChild,” was nominated for a Grammy.
Concerts will be at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Admission is $49.50 or $45 for seniors and $27 for students. Details: 412-322-0800 or mcgjazz.org.
Art
An award-winning end
As the saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.” That's so for the Pittsburgh Society of Artists' 49th annual Member Juried Art Show.
From 1 to 3 p.m. Oct. 25 at Panza Gallery in Millvale, the group will host an afternoon of presentations by three of the award-winning artists — Cristina Saucedo, Janice Schuler and Wessley Smith — at the exhibit's closing reception.
Each was chosen an award winner by juror Paul Rosenblatt, owner of Springboard Design, who selected 53 pieces for exhibit from the 181 works of art submitted by 98 members working in a range of media.
The event is free and open to the public. Regular gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays; and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. Panza is at 115 Sedgwick St. in Millvale.
Details: 412-821-0959 or panzagallery.com
