City Week Weekly Picks

Shemekia Copeland and Sugaray Rayford

A Washington Post reviewer called her the greatest blues singer of her generation. Copeland’s emotional range and nuanced delivery freshen the blues repertoire and reveal its many layers. Her passions scream and whimper, her joy explodes. To paraphrase Mavis Staples, she sings with her heart and soul. Grammy nominee and B.B. King Entertainer Award winner Sugaray Rayford opens.

7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress Street, foxtucson.com, tickets start at $38.50


Fort Lowell Fine Art and Jewelry Show and Sale

Quilting, wood art, pottery, glass art, hand-crafted jewelry, photography and paintings in oil, acrylic, watercolor and mixed media are featured in this event at historic San Pedro Chapel. All are by local artists, several of whom live in the Fort Lowell Neighborhood. San Pedro Chapel was reconstructed in 1932 at what had been the center of social life in El Fuerte, the neighborhood that grew around historic Fort Lowell after it was decommissioned.

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, San Pedro Chapel, 5230 E. Fort Lowell Road, oldfortlowellneighborhood.com, free


Brincos Dieras at The Rialto Theatre

Roberto Carlos came a long way out of poverty to become Latin America’s favorite clown. He said (translated from the Spanish), “The key is that I was going to have fun anywhere.” With no training, he dressed himself up, painted his face and started showing up to parties and weddings uninvited. If you are fluent in Spanish, but on the fence about going, visit some of his many YouTube clips to discover Brincos Dieras’ appeal and the sense of community in the audience.

6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress Street, rialtotheatre.com, tickets start at $87


Downtown Shabbat

Congregation Beit Simcha invites the community to join Rabbi Sam Cohon and the Beit Simcha Musicians in a celebration of the Sabbath at the Jewish History Museum. Oneg Shabbat follows. The museum occupies the site of the first synagogue in Arizona Territory.

7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, Jewish History Museum, 564 S. Stone Avenue, beitsimchatucson.org, jewishhistorymuseum.org


Family Festival in the Park

If games, prizes, crafts, inflatables, food vendors, class demonstrations and entertainment throughout the day aren’t enough to keep your family busy, you can visit the Reid Park Zoo for $1 and swim an inflatable obstacle course at the Edith Ball Adaptive Recreation Center. Take some time to check out the Reid Park Reimagined Master Plan. Staff will answer your questions and get your thoughts on priorities for the next planning phase. The Community Food Bank will benefit from a collection of nonperishable food items.

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, Gene C. Reid Park, 900 S. Randolph Way, tucsonaz.gov/parks/GeneCReidPark, free


Virtual Show and Sale of Native Arts

A benefit for Native Seeds/SEARCH offers opportunities to buy original works by indigenous artists including Navajo weavings, Mata Ortiz pottery and Hopi carvings, as well as Tohono O’odham, Rarámuri and Hopi basketry, and Navajo, Zuni and Santo Domingo jewelry. Each item is shown in three-dimensional, rotating images on the sale site. Native Seeds/SEARCH is a nonprofit seed conservation organization that promotes sustainable faming and food security.

Through Nov. 21, online only, nativeseeds.org


‘Pinocchio’

The timeless Italian children’s story, about a kind old toy maker and his puppet that came to life, has charmed children all over the world in every artistic medium. Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro has reimagined it as a musical but in a darker setting — Mussolini’s Italy. The ambiance amps up the stakes for the tale’s ageless messages of love and wisdom. There is rustic beauty in Mark Gustafson’s painstaking stop-motion wizardry, and memorable poignancy in the film’s music and songs.

Various times Friday, Nov. 18, to Thursday, Nov. 24, The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Boulevard, loftcinema.org, $6 to $10, passes not accepted.


‘Music, She Wrote’

The Tucson Masterworks Chorale, Southern Arizona’s oldest chorale organization, presents a celebration of women composers, including “Mass in D” by Ethel Smyth and works by Clara Schumann, Fanny Hensel and more. The Chorale is directed by Luke Diamond and accompanied by organist Mariana Mevans Vidal.

3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams Street, tucsonmasterworkschorale.org, $20, $10 students


Rhythm & Roots: Kevin Pakulis

Thank goodness for Kevin Pakulis, holding down the fort at Borderlands Brewery every Sunday, giving all the best musicians in town something to do to stay out of trouble. It’s been almost 20 years that he’s been among the best guitar pickers in town. But he’s also a masterful writer, and singer, of songs best described as “desert soul.” Sunday, he’ll perform his first two records in their entirety. Had they come out on vinyl, we would have worn through them by now.

7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, Hotel Congress Plaza, 311 E. Congress Street, rhythmandroots.org, $10 to $15.


El Tour de Tucson

Hosted by Banner University Medical Center, El Tour rules the roads on Saturday, Nov. 19. Now in its 39th year, it attracts more than 7,000 cyclists from all over the world. It’s also helped charities raise more than $100 million since 1983.The tour is best known for its challenging, 102-mile route. Its 10-miler is the most popular, though, and there’s even a 1-mile event for kids, families and newbies. Register to ride or volunteer at eltourdetucson.org. You’ll also find route maps there. Drivers take note.

Various activities, times, locations, maps and fees, Saturday, Nov. 19, eltourdetucson.org


Gabriel Evan New York Calypso Orchestra

New York City saxophonist Gabriel Evan recreates the early days of calypso, gypsy jazz and hot jazz in four shows this weekend with Tucson’s Arthur Vint on drums. Evan’s musicianship is inspired by a long-ago era before every genre had its own channel. From the press he’s earned to date, we’re trying to imagine Django Reinhart and Charlie Parker channeling a Lecuana/Tchaikovsky jam.

7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18 ,and Saturday, Nov. 19, The Century Room, 311 E. Congress Street, dice.fm, tickets start at $20.