Friday 8/17 – thursday 8/23
“It can be anyone’s experience,” says Marcel Townsel about the fate of the unnamed protagonist of his new book, Beneath the Silhouetted Rainbow. The self-published, semiautobiographical tale combines poetry and prose and skips around in time from the days of the Middle Passage to the present. Some of the writings date back to 1986; Townsel was experiencing writer’s block a year and a half ago when he found an outdated Mac that allowed him to pull up his earlier work. “As I did, I got inspired,” he says. He’ll read from the book at a release party tonight from 6 to 8 at HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo. The $7 admission benefits the south side’s New Nation Ministries and includes a signed poster and a discount on a copy of the book; call 312-362-9707.
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20 MONDAY Ravinia’s Martin Theatre plays host to an odd fusion of jazz and classical Indian music with tonight’s East Meets Jazz concert, which features tabla player Sandip Burman, bassist Victor Bailey, drummer Steve Smith, saxophonist Dave Pietro, and others. The concert starts at 8; the theater is on the festival grounds at Lake Cook and Green Bay roads in Highland Park. Tickets range from $25 to $35; it’s $10 to sit on the lawn and listen. Call 847-266-5100 or see www.ravinia.org for tickets and information.
