ALL WEEKEND
Swing town
Swing dancers from 24 states will converge on Pittsburgh for PittStop Lindy Hop 15, a festival of seven dances over three days.
The event will feature six bands playing a variety of venues. Among the dances:
Friday: The Boilermaker Jazz Band swing dance at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall, Oakland, 8 p.m. to midnight; Miss Freddye’s Blue Band Blues at Pittsburgh Opera in the Strip, 1-5 a.m.
Saturday: Afternoon dance from 1 to 5 p.m., evening dance from 8 p.m. to midnight, with Gordon Webster and a nine-piece band from New York. It continues again at 1 a.m. at Pittsburgh Opera.
Sunday: PittStop All-Stars at Carnegie Mellon University Rangos Ballroom, Oakland, from 1 to 5 p.m. and Rick Matt Project swing dance at CMU from 8-11 p.m.
For pricing and registration, go to www.pittstoplindyhop.com.
ALL WEEKEND
Choreographers showcase
Point Park University’s Conservatory Dance Company is back in action with “Contemporary Choreographers” at the George R. White Dance Complex, Downtown. Check out a showcase of choreography by Septime Webre, Gregory Dolbashian, Ori Flomin and Jessica Hendricks.
Times are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets: $10-$24 at www.pittsburghplayhouse.com or 412-392-8000.
TONIGHT
Sanborn at MCG
MCG Jazz has a concert tonight that’s been circled for a long time on the calendars of smooth jazz fans.
David Sanborn will play two sold-out shows at 7 and 9:30 p.m. The 70-year-old alto saxophonist has been one of the great jazz-rock crossover artists, having performed with everyone from James Brown to Jack DeJohnette, Paul Simon to the Grateful Dead.
He’s been equally comfortable with jazz fusion and straight-ahead jazz in a career that has spanned 25 albums and earned him six Grammy Awards. His most recent album, “Time and the River,” was his first collaboration with producer/bassist Marcus Miller in more than 15 years.
The show is at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild theater on the North Side. See page W-4.
TONIGHT
Warped bands
A pair of Warped Tour veterans, Silverstein and Senses Fail, turn up at Mr. Smalls in Millvale tonight on a co-headlining tour that reunites them after more than a decade.
“I think the last time Silverstein and Senses Fail did a run together was back in 2004 when we were very new bands and just getting our feet wet,” Silverstein vocalist Shane Told said in a statement. “I think that youth energy will still be present, but this time with the experience our bands have, we’re able to put together an amazing, extremely high-energy show for both the old school and new school fans.”
Post-hardcore/emo band Silverstein, from Ontario, Canada, is touring on its eighth album, “I Am Alive in Everything I Touch.” Senses Fail, which formed in 2002 in New Jersey, is touring behind its latest release, “Pull the Thorns From Your Heart,” and is fresh off of its summer run on Warped and shows celebrating its 2004 debut, “Let It Enfold You.”
Also on the 7 p.m. all-ages bill are Hundredth and Capsize. Tickets are $22; ticketweb.com.
FRIDAY
Poinsettias and Pointes
You can get into the holiday spirit Friday with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Enjoy vignettes from “The Nutcracker” performed by PBT pre-professional dancers and a meet-and-greet with the Sugar Plum Fairy and other costumed characters. The 4:30 p.m. session is still open.
Tickets are $26, $13 for children, at pbt.org or 412-454-9107. Ticket purchase includes a 50 percent off admission to a full-length PBT “Nutcracker” performance at Benedum Center next month.
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
Epic poetry
Spoken-word artist Ursula Rucker performs her epic poem “My Father’s Daughter” at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, 5941 Penn Ave., East Liberty, at 8 p.m.
Featuring live accompaniment by guitarist Tim Motzer, “My Father’s Daughter” charts Ms. Rucker’s life journey and the struggles that have shaped her into the woman she is today. This is a pay-what-makes-you-happy event. There’s a preshow mixer at 7 p.m. both nights and a postshow discussion Friday night.
For tickets and more info: www.kelly-strayhorn.org or 412-363-3000.
SATURDAY
Livingston live
The Calliope series continues Saturday with Livingston Taylor, younger brother of James, playing the Carnegie Lecture Hall in Oakland.
Mr. Taylor hit the Boston coffeehouse circuit as a teenager and recorded his first album when he was 19. He enjoyed some modest success with the songs “Get Out of Bed,” “I Will Be in Love With You” and “I’ll Come Running.”
If you like singers who sound like James Taylor, Livingston, who teaches stage performance at Berklee College of Music, certainly fits the bill.
The show begins at 7:30 p.m. with Eva. Tickets are $25 to $49; calliopehouse.org.
SUNDAY
Dramatics soul
The legendary soul group the Dramatics headline the Donald Patterson Jr. Keeping Soul Music Alive Awards at the Westin Convention Center, 1000 Penn Ave., Downtown, at 7 p.m. Sunday.
The group, which formed in Detroit in 1964, is best known for the hits “In the Rain,” “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get,” “Me and Mrs. Jones” and a 1993 collaboration, “Doggy Dogg World,” with Snoop Dogg.
Pittsburgh soul legends to be honored include Stephanie Wellons, Calvin Stemley, Shane Plummer, Johnny Angel, Bill Neal and the Legends of WAMO — Brother Matt, Sly Jock and Frank Greenlee.
Proceeds from the benefit will go toward the creation of the African American Music Wax Museum Hall of Fame.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. For tickets, $40, 412-377-4681 or email dantessoul@aol.com. Tickets also are available at Dorsey’s Records in Homewood, Stedeford’s Record Shop, North Side, and The Attic Record Store in Millvale.
SUNDAY
Mansion tour
If you’ve ever looked at those historic Shadyside mansions and wondered what they’re like inside, Shadyside Splendor is a chance to get a peek.
Four Shadyside Gilded Age mansions will be “bedecked and beribboned” on Sunday for a walking tour to benefit The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Adding Yuletide spirit, 55 musicians — including some from the PSO — and carolers will be entertaining at each home.
It runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tax-deductible tickets are $50 in advance or $60 day of at the kiosk at the corner of Fifth and Amberson, Shadyside. Go to www.showclix.com/event/ShadysideSplendor or call 1-888-718-4253.
Optional brunches, specially priced for ticketholders, will be available at The Twentieth Century Club (412-621-2353) from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and and the Mansions on Fifth (412-381-5105) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations are required. The Mansions will also offer a small plates menu from 4 to 11 p.m.
SUNDAY
Steinway recital
The Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania presents pianist Christopher Guzman, who is on the faculty at Penn State University, in a 3 p.m. recital at Kresge Theatre, Carnegie Mellon University, Oakland. The pianist, a prize winner of several piano competitions, will perform Schumann’s “Davidbundlertanze” Op. 6 and Scriabin’s Etudes Op. 8.
Tickets are $20, $10 for students, free for CMU students and society members, at the door. Additional information is available at www.sswpa.org or 412-371-7447.
SUNDAY
Black Metal Warfare II
Darkness, of the ear-shattering variety, descends upon the former church in Millvale now known as Mr. Smalls with the Black Metal Warfare Tour Pt. II led by Norwegian black metal pioneers Mayhem and Sweden’s like-minded Watain.
This is the second leg of a tour that began in January, coinciding with Mayhem’s “Esoteric Warfare” and Watain’s “The Wild Hunt.”
“While Black Metal Warfare Part II is of course a continuation of the first one,” Watain vocalist Erik said in a statement, “quite a few surprises can be expected, both in terms of the setlists as well as on the stage itself. All that is certain is that November shall wail and reek of burning, blistering, banging, bloody Black Metal War.”
Rotting Christ opens the show at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25; www.ticketweb.com.
ALL WEEKEND
Holiday bazaar
Holiday shopping is made easy at the 18th annual Greater Pittsburgh Arts & Crafts Holiday Spectacular, which takes over the Monroeville Convention Center this weekend with more than 280 booths in two exhibit halls.
Vendors from a dozen states will offer holiday decorations, clothing, paintings, photography, ornaments, jewelry, dolls, toys and more. Visitors will also be able to sample and purchase jellies and jams, baked goods, kettle korn, cinnamon roasted almonds, fudge, etc.
Santa will be there for photos, and the clowns Glitter Dot and Dapper will be painting faces and creating balloon animals.
It runs 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Admission is $6; $1 kids; under 6 free. Go to familyfestivals.com.
ALL WEEKEND
Sweet zoo deal
It’s a little chilly but not too chilly for a trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. This is a great weekend to go, because kids under 13 get in free with a $15 adult admission (up to eight kids per adult).
That offer is good through Nov. 29 (except for Thanksgiving Day, when the zoo will be closed).
Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (gates close at 4 p.m.). For details, call 412-665-3640 or go to www.pittsburghzoo.org.
First Published: November 19, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
