Night and Day

Wednesday • 3
Taste of the Nation Benefit Dinner
FUN FOR ALL

There’s something deliciously ironic about stuffing one’s face to raise money for the hungry. But it’s nothing short of scrumptious when more than 100 of metro Detroit’s finest chefs, restaurateurs and wine distributors take over the beautiful Wintergarden atrium in downtown’s Renaissance Center for a benefit to fight hunger and poverty. From 5:30 to 10 p.m., guests can enjoy a strolling bacchanalia of food, drink and live music. Tickets are $150 VIP and $100 general admission. All proceeds go directly to local (70 percent), national (20 percent) and international (10 percent) anti-hunger and anti-poverty efforts. At the Renaissance Center, Detroit. Call the Matt Prentice Restaurant Group at 248-646-0370, ext. 200, for tickets.

Suffering scribes with writer’s block need not apply to the Unstuck Writers’ Society (UWS) — it’s just bad luck. The UWS is designed for working and novice writers determined to speed up their productivity and publishing success. The bi-weekly meetings provide the inspiration to get pen to paper, and the networking to help with publishing. Each meeting features a conversation with a well-known member of the local literary scene. 7 p.m. at Shaman Drum Bookshop, 311 S. State St., Ann Arbor; 734-662-7407.

Thursday • 4
Tribute to Larry Nozero
MUSIC

A dozen or so of his contemporaries have gone online to register their memories of saxophonist Larry Nozero, who died in February. At larrynozero.com, there’s a recollection of Nozero’s way of handling an unruly crowd (“Are we playing too loud for your talking?”), a note from a musician who’d just written a ballad in his memory (“Only the Noze Knows”), and this from trumpeter Louis Smith: “He was not only a great musician and arranger, he was also so very kind, gentle and understanding with his fellow musicians.” Saxophonist George Benson also remembers Nozero and his manner, and this Thursday is to dedicate a night of Music on the Plaza at the Village, Kercheval Avenue, between Neff and Cadieux, Grosse Pointe; 313-886-7474.

Miguel Depedro is one seriously dedicated sonic lunatic. In his guise as Kid 606, the Venezuelan/Californian creates a kind of patchwork electronica made up of noise pop, thrash metal, sampled strings and vocal cutups — all somehow held together with deliciously crazed broken beats. You can shake to Depedro’s music, or you can fold up and keep still, allowing the vibrations to work on your body with more subtlety. Call Kid 606’s music anything you want, just don’t call it “intelligent dance music,” a term Depedro has ridiculed his LPs Down with the Scene and P.S. I Love You. Kid 606 takes over Detroit as part of the Paws Across America tour. Also appearing is Toronto’s Knifehandchop (Billy Pollard), another ferocious multitasker. With Eats Tapes and local wild youth the Genders at the Magic Stick. 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-9700.

Friday • 5
Homegrown
ART

“Ann Arbor is a smart town, the very best of two worlds,” says Amanda Krugliak, exhibition director for the Ann Arbor Art Center. “Tree-lined streets and closely knit neighborhoods mix with the influx of new ideas and energy from the University to create endless possibilities.” This month’s exhibit at the art center focuses on the talents of Ann Arbor-born and -educated artists. The multimedia exhibit will feature works from Johanna Paas, Mark Eisendrath and Matthew Daniel Price. 117 W. Liberty St., Ann Arbor; 734-994-8004.

Saturday • 6
David & Roselyn
MUSIC

A serendipitous trip to a Corktown diner last weekend introduced Night & Day to the impromptu talents of David & Roselyn, a New Orleans-by-way-of-Detroit musical duo. The twosome’s traditional folk music-cum-blues fare is punctuated with charming banter and a bona fide hippie élan. Not to mention, the sonic poets bear a vexing resemblance to literary greats Mark Twain and Toni Morrison. At Motor City Brewing Works, 470 W. Canfield, Detroit; 313-832-2700.

Saturday • 6
The 313
COMEDY

Local actor gone Hollywood, Larry Joe Campbell, is still in touch with his “south of Eight Mile” roots. Campbell, who now stars as the zany brother-in-law on ABC’s According to Jim, returns to the D for yet another offering from his homegrown theater troupe, The 313. The eclectic group of comedians includes Andy Cobb, Joshua Funk, Nyima Funk, Marc Evan Jackson and Keegan-Michael Key, and is a hysterical blend of live improvised Detroit-themed comedy and video shorts. Magic Stick, 4120 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-833-9700.

Saturday • 6
Jeanne Poulet
ART

Local artist Jeanne Poulet has been chosen Artist of the Month at the newly updated Corktown restaurant, Shelley’s on Michigan Avenue. Poulet’s works are vivid and colorful; two-dimensional suggestions of art’s healing powers. Point of interest: This month’s installation includes a painting Poulet created with the help of her granddaughter, Sisi (pictured below). There will be an artist reception 7-9 p.m., as well as a “lunch with the artist” series from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. the following Wednesdays in August. At 1460 Michigan Ave., Detroit; 313-963-1266.

Sunday • 7
Holistic Expo!
FUN FOR ALL

Recent reports from the American Medical Association finding that the herbal supplement Echinacea offers no help in preventing colds has the herbalist set up in arms. But talk to any die-hard in the holistic health community and they’ll tell you natural approaches to wellness are still the way to go. Likeminded folks should make their way to the Center for Integrative Well Being’s Holistic Expo in Plymouth. The event will provide resources to anyone looking to expand their consciousness and improve their physical or spiritual lives. Many of the nation’s top practitioners and suppliers from such areas as cranial-sacral therapy, nutrition, naturopathy, acupuncture and yoga, among many others, will be there. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Judea Ballroom in the St. John’s Conference Center, 44045 Five Mile Rd., Plymouth; 248-756-4072.

Come celebrate the recent opening of the Bohemian National House with three very original finger-style guitar players. Nick Schillace, whose unique six-string style has gotten him scads of local attention, will perform; as will Mike Tambora from New Kensington, Penn.; and there’ll be experimental steel guitar from Louisville, Ky.’s Keenan Lawler. At 3008 Tillman, one block north of Michigan Avenue between I-96 and West Grand Boulevard, Detroit; 313-737-6606.