Bunny Up For Gabrielle

Sunday, February 14

I got a phone call late on Friday, January 29, letting me know that an old friend of mine, Gabrielle Bouliane (pictured right), had lost her fight with cancer down in Austin, TX. I’d known her for well over 20 years, though the last contact I had with her was to send her the lyrics to a Loretta Lynn song on Facebook as she traveled through Tennessee on her way to Texas last year. She was a Steam Donkeys insider from way back, with all the benefits and liabilities such a position imposes. But then, she was a lot of things to a lot of people, and her circle of friends was huge. A passionate and compassionate soul who spread a lot of love from her hometown in Buffalo to her adopted homes in Seattle and Austin, Gabrielle really hit her stride as a slam poet whose performances left audiences spellbound. She was always a champion of other artists, too, and a fervent promoter of the form. Plus, she had a discerning eye for a good cowboy boot. Her sad passing has left a hole in many people’s hearts. Circle this Valentine’s Day (Sunday, Feb. 14) for the tribute/benefit being held in her honor at Nietzsche’s, from 2-8pm, with music by the Irving Klaws, Blue Rocket Trio, the Steam Donkeys, Geno McManus, Joe Rozler, John Lombardo, Shaky Stage, Emile Latimer, Noa Bursie, Kilissa Cissoko, John & Mary, and an appearance by Scott Carpenter with Fleuron Rouge Bellydance Troupe. There will be poetry readings by Patricia Smith, Rachel McKibbens, Jacob Rakovan, and others. The minimum donation at the door is $5; maximum donation unlimited. All funds will go directly to Gabrielle’s parents, and a new fund will be announced in Gabrielle’s honor to assist an emerging leader in cancer survival or one wishing to pursue the field of arts.

—buck quigley

2-8pm. Nietzsche's, 248 Allen St. (886-8539 / nietzsches.com

Thursday, February 11

18th Street Park Project

Last year, architect Brad Wales and his UB students joined forces with Wales’s regular cohort of collaborators to begin the transformation of a small park on 19th Street and Rhode Island on the city’s West Side. Together they raised a fence made of concrete totems adorned with plates of steel and handpainted tiles. Tonight (Thursday, Feb. 11) Wales and a new crop of students will present their plans for phase two of the project, at Gallery 164 on Allen St. at 7pm. This multimedia presentation is a fundraiser—they’ll be passing a hat for money to cover the cost of materials—but don’t be surprised if you’re talked into contributing more than just your money. Wales has a knack for drawing folks into his projects.

—geoff kelly

7pm. Gallery 164, 164 Allen St. (883-7539)

Friday, February 12

Valentine's Day Massacre

“Another Friggin’ VD Massacre” starring Anal Pudding marks the eight-year anniversary of the band, and what better way to celebrate it than on this romantic holiday occasion? Nothing says “date night” better than an AP concert, especially one featuring special guests like Psychodelic Ghetto Pimpz, the Next Syphilis, and DJ Whorehey. Fun facts about this exciting and fun-filled night: (1). It’s a reunion show for the Next Syphilis, whose members include Jack Topht and Velvet Al in their first show in ages. (2). Anal Pudding’s very first show was with the Next Syphilis, at the Tudor Lounge back in 2002. (3). Anal Pudding has recently expanded its horn section. (4). Joining the Psychodelic Ghetto Pimpz for their set is Andre Foxxe from P-Funk (pictured in wedding dress, below). Foxxe is a veteran member of the Parliament/Funkadelic crew, after starting a band with George Clinton’s son Tracey Lewis when he was a teenager. He’ll make an excellent addition to the V-D Massacre line-up. For AP-style humor and raunchy entertainment, who could ask for anything more?

—alan victor

10pm. Nietzsche's, 248 Allen St. (886-8539 / nietzsches.com). $5

Friday, February 12

Preservation Hall Jazz Band

The 3rd Annual Big Easy in Buffalo Mardi Gras Jam is importing the world-renowned Preservation Hall Jazz Band direct from the French Quarter of New Orleans to Buffalo’s venerated Kleinhans concert hall on Friday (Feb. 12), just days before Fat Tuesday. No trip to N.O. is complete without visiting the battered exterior of Preservation Hall, and making the effort to crowd inside, where listeners are transported to a different time. Many of the band members are a living link to jazz pioneers like Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong, and their appearance here is an incredible treat not to be missed by fans of American music. The event is an outgrowth of Music Is Art, and the whole program includes performances by Six String Circus—the student battle of the bands winners from Hutch Tech—and singer/guitarist/banjo player Carl LeBlanc, plus an after party in the Mary Seaton Room with homegrown second line stompers the 12/8 Path Band. With the whole country (except, maybe, Indianapolis) behind New Orleans’ stunning victory in the Super Bowl last Sunday, it’s a great night to go out and be a Saint.

—buck quigley

7pm. Kleinhans Music Hall, Symphony Circle (885-5000 / bpo.org) $27 advance/$30 day of show.

Friday, February 12

The Chocolate Revolution

The idea of fair-trade chocolate has been melting into public consciousness over the past several years, and here’s why: the small West African nation of Ivory Coast supplies over 40 percent of the world’s cocoa, which is gobbled up by huge corporations like Hershey’s and Mars. The problem is that in order to offer the ingredient at the lowest possible price, the US Department of State has estimated that over 100,000 children work there under “the worst forms of child labor,” including outright slavery, complete with beatings. During the week building up to Valentine’s Day, over 50 million pounds of chocolate is expected to be sold. That’s the third-highest sales spike all year, behind Halloween and Easter. This Friday (2/12), the Ninth Ward at Babeville hosts a show sponsored by Michael Meldrum’s Buffalo Song Project, featuring NYC folk duo Left on Red (pictured below), Mary Ramsey, Joe Donahue, and Jimmie Gilliam. It’s all designed to raise consciousness about the importance of buying only certified fair-trade chocolate. Attendees will receive a fair-trade cup of hot cocoa and fair-trade chocolate samples, and you don’t even need to find a golden ticket to get in.

—buck quigley

8pm. Ninth Ward at Babeville, 431 Delaware Ave. (852-3835 / www.babevillebuffalo.com). $8 advance / $10 door.

Monday, February 15

Bravo Sierra

Described by its maker as “a political satire masquerading in the clothes of an action adventure comedy,” Bravo Sierra is the second film by UB grad Jason Aupperle, who grew up on “Miami Vice” and the movies of Sam Peckinpah, Michael Mann, and William Friedkin. His first movie, Raw Hell, about a power struggle between a Detroit mobster and a Buffalo drug lord, played here in 2005. Sending up the Rambo movies of the 1980s, Aupperle’s tongue-in-cheek movie stars musician Kent Weber as a rebel leader in a fictitious middle Asian country, battling imperialist forces of the United States, Canada and the UN for control of the country’s sod fields. The movie co-stars Kristin Gilmet of the band Global Village Idiots, and features a score by local musicians Dave McCreery (Paper Faces, Crawlspace) and Sakura Paterniti (Global Village Idiots). Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Roswell Park. Visit www.BravoSierraTheMovie.com, or check out a preview on Artvoice TV.

—m.faust

8pm. Market Arcade Film & Arts Center, 639 Main St. (855-3022 / www.dipsontheatres.com)

Sunday, February 14

A Musical Feast: Cage-Less Coda

Given the interest of John Cage in the infinite number of permutations possible through the use of chance compositional methods based on the I Ching, there is a remote possibility that future performances of Cage’s music might eventually produce works that sound exactly like the works on the program by Satie, Martinu, Druckman, and Felder. Luckily, Sunday’s (Feb. 14) audience at the final peformance in the Burchfield’s 23-day-long John Cage retrospective doesn’t have to wait for that possibility to materialize. Violinist Charles Haupt, founder of a Musical Feast and retired concertmaster of the BPO, will be joined by cellist Jonathan Golove in a performance of the Duo Nr.2 for violin and cello by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu. Pianist Claudia Hoca will perform three piano pieces, Sarabande No.3, Je te veux, and Le Piccadilly by the colorfully eccentric French pianist and composer Erik Satie. Clarinetist Jean Kopperud will perform Animus III for clarinet and tape by Jacob Druckman. The event concludes with the premiere screening of Shamayim (2009), a film by cinematographer Elliot Caplan and composer David Felder. Admission is free, and though the program will be simulcast in the art museum’s reception area, seating in the 156-seat Tower Auditorium is limited; to reserve a seat call 878-6011.

—jan jezioro

2pm. Peter and Elizabeth Tower Auditoriam, Burchfield-Penney Art Center, 1300 Elmwood Avenue. (878-6011 / yournewburchfieldpenny.com) Free.

Monday, February 15

Halverson / Pavone Duo

Free-jazz? Folk? Classical? The ongoing collaboration between guitarist Mary Halvorson and violist Jessica Pavone is as difficult to classify as any in the genre-defying NYC improvisational scene. Notably affiliated with composer Anthony Braxton—both as former students and members of his ensemble—the two Brooklynites have their fingers in multiple musical pies with numerous projects. They split writing/composing duties and produce simple melodies injected with bursts of free-form dissonant bits, seemingly uncontrived yet impeccably arranged. Their debut, Prairies, came in 2005 (Lucky Kitchen), followed by 2007’s On and Off (Skirl Records). Last year saw the Thirsty Ear release Thin Air, the duo’s latest effort, showing them working at a steady rate of an album every two years. This kind of predictability belies their musical temperament, which is anything but. Listen at www.myspace.com/maryandjess. Local sound improviser Poverty Hymns opens this show on Monday (Feb. 15), which starts early for Soundlab. Doors are at 7:30pm.

—k. o’day

7:30pm. Soundlab, 110 Pearl St. (bigorbitgallery.org/soundlab) Free.