It’s called a walking, talking art contest, but Art Alive could just as easily be called a living, breathing art contest. The yearly contest at the Alright-Knox has very few rules: create a living tableau, through costumes and props, of your favorite artwork from the gallery or any other major art collection. The loose rules routinely encourage wild creativity, as does $1,000 in cash prizes for categories like best craftsmanship and most unusual entry. In fact, contestants have been known to sing, dance, perform skits and, in less extreme cases, stand really still for a really long time.

Some of the region’s best jazz performers and internationally recognized names in the field will be playing on the front lawn of the West Side Rowing Club in a fundraiser benefiting construction of the proposed Frank Lloyd Wright designed boathouse at the rowing club. Performers will include Jackie Jocko, Joe Peters, Marilyn Mann, Jimmy Gomes and the Jazz Example with Dodo Greene, Dan Hull & The Bobby McGee’s Allstars, Phil Sims & The Buffalo Brass Big Band, Bobby Militello Quartet and Heather Bambrick with Quartet. Wright himself regarded the boathouse as an important unbuilt work, and the plan to make it real has been gaining a lot of positive support among many prominent Buffalonians past and present. Along with the Blue Sky Mausoleum in Forest Lawn that was designed by Wright in 1928 but constructed in 2004, and the proposed Wright-designed filling station and greasing station at the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum, the boathouse will further expand Wright’s presence in a city that already boasts fine examples of private residences he designed. This flurry of construction based on the great architect’s plans might even be fitting penance for the city that shamefully tore down his landmark Larkin Building only forty-six years after its completion—and replaced it with an empty lot. The Rotary Club of Buffalo will donate all proceeds from the event plus an additional 25 percent in matching funds toward the boathouse project, making this a great way to enjoy a full day of jazz while supporting a worthy cause.

Fans of Serge Gainsbourg and Mellow’s soundtrack to the movie CQ unite! It’s not often that an event seems tailor-made for you, but the presentation of “A Night of French Avant-Pop and Neo-Loungecore,” featuring seductive brooder Naïm Amor, postmodern chanteuse Marianne Dissard, and American brother/sister duo Eux Autres, channeling sixties French pop with songs about soccer and Spanish imperialism, should certainly fit the bill. Known primarily for collaborations with John Parish and Joey Burns of Calexico, Amor and Dissard craft lovely Franco-pop gems that evoke the seductive essence of a mythical Paris, awash in dark romance. On the flip side, Eux Autres, whose first record, Hell is Eux Autres, was recorded by Jeff Stuart Saltzman and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney, approach garage rock with an addictive, light-hearted, AM-pop sensibility infused with precious French lyrics and call-and-response vocals. All three acts are stylized and urbane, but never rely on gimmicky tricks learned in the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy school of retro-futurism. As they may say in France,“allez-y!”

From their early beginnings in the late ‘60s —when they were considered to be the British answer to harmony and guitar-based folk-rock groups like the Byrds—Fairport Convention has survived the things that movies like Spinal Tap are made of—lineup changes, tragic deaths, but luckily no puppet shows (that we know of). Founding member Simon Nicol is joined by Chris Leslie and Ric Sanders for their first show in Buffalo in over ten years on Wednesday, June 21 at Mohawk Place. Fairport’s longevity can be partially attributed to the outstanding talents of former members Richard Thompson, Iain Matthews and the late Sandy Denny, not only through original material, but also through their ability to expose audiences to then-overlooked young contemporaries like Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan. The band continues to reinvent and redefine their sound with their latest release, Over The Next Hill (Compass Records), merging contemporary folk-rock originals with decidedly new and unique interpretations of familiar songs including “The Wassail Song” and their own hit from 1969, “Si Tu Dois Partir” (which samples original Fairport drummer Martin Lamble). Fairport’s greatest strength has always been their live show. Their appearance at Mohawk Place is an up-close and personal acoustic affair, an unrivaled evening of folk, jazz, rock and swing. It’s an early night—doors are at 7pm. Ohioan singer/songwriter Tim Wallace opens with his incisive and humorous songs.