Achy Obejas

This week, think about going out for a meal at a place that's, well, different. At the Inspiration Cafe, they don't let just anybody in. A brightly lit Wilson Avenue...

`Stonewall," Nigel Finch's first -- and final -- feature film, is an uplifting, often funny movie about terrifyingly oppressive times and the people who resisted and survived. It manages to...

Think of Tatsu Aoki, who we told you about last fall, as a kind of one-person diplomatic corps. His goal? To inextricably link Asians and jazz in the American mindscape....

Disappear Fear Seed in the Sahara (Philo Records) (star) (star) (star) 1/2 Disappear Fear surprises with "Seed in the Sahara," the group's second release on Philo. The band is a...

Gloria Estefan Destiny (Epic) (star) (star) 1/2 After two Spanish language collections of original material, the After two Spanish language collections of original material, "Mi Tierra" and "Abriendo Puertas," the...

The early morning light dances around the windows of Tres en Uno, a corner storefront that spends most of its days in the shadow of the Metra tracks. Just off...

Thomas Mapfumo Chimurenga Forever (Hemisphere) (star) (star) (star) (star) "Chimurenga" means music of struggle in the Shona language, Thomas Mapfumo's native tongue. And this collection--which includes highlights of Mapfumo's discography...

Transient Theater, which set up shop in a renovated Uptown soup kitchen in 1991, will close its doors at the end of July. "The Bong Show," its last announced production,...

`I'm a big woman," says Dael Orlandersmith. "I'm 5'10" and I wear a size 18. I consider myself big. If I was fat, I'd just say so." That's upfront, right...

There's some very real world harmony going on over at the Cafe Istanbul: a raucous Jewish band fills the house with the soulful, playful sounds of klezmer music while the...