The Ashford Hollow Foundation—founded by the late Larry Griffis, Jr. and stewarded by his children—has given the city’s arts community many great gifts in its 40 years. The Griffis Sculpture Park was the first and remains the largest sculpture park in the country; the foundation’s Essex Street complex has been a cradle for organizations like Hallwalls and CEPA and for artists like Cindy Sherman and Robert Longo. Furthermore, the foundation has earned a flawless record for party-giving, to be perpetuated at Saturday’s Flash party, a benefit for the foundation and a hell of a good deal. The $35 ticket buys you beer, wine and food (including offerings from the Bijou Grille). The fabled Ifs play 8-10pm, followed by a DJ spinning tripped-out platters from the 1960s. The aesthetic is, in fact, swinging and psychedelic, according to Mark Griffis: “It has this mid-1960s, Peter Sellers, happening look to it,” he says. Janet Reed and her dancers will take to platforms in full go-go mode, descending into the crowd throughout the evening to bring the dancing to the people. There are three bars, multiple hangout spaces—and you’ll take home a sculpture made from your own sketch, cut from sheets of steel by some of the very students in the educational programs the proceeds benefit. The foundation offers hands-on arts education at local high schools, at Essex Street and at Boys and Girls Clubs in the city’s most disenfranchised neighborhoods—and takes their students out to the sculpture park in the summer. “Ninety-seven percent of these kids have never been outside their neighborhoods, so this is an incredible and unique opportunity,” says Simon Griffis, who won the Baird Award last year for the foundation’s work with at-risk kids. It will surely be an incredible and unique party as well.

The freak blizzard that ripped through Buffalo just a few weeks ago damaged property and vehicles and caused major disruptions to the lives of most Buffalonians. But the biggest impact of the storm was the veritable “Arborgeddon”—countless trees, many of which had been a part of Buffalo’s characteristically tree-heavy landscape for decades, were destroyed and many more were cut down as a result of storm damage. That’s why this year’s “Think Green Tree Party,” sponsored by the Buffalo Green Fund, is more important than ever. Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Buffalo Green Fund has helped raise $191,774 and planted 1,412 trees. Organizers are hoping that this year’s party will only increase those numbers and help replenish the foliage lost in this October’s storm, as well as help plant mature saplings in the Elmwood Village and Buffalo’s West Side neighborhoods. Along with the tree-planting initiative, a portion of the event’s proceeds will go to First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo’s Fight Back Program, aimed to assist inner-city children—many of whom are refugees from Somalia and Sudan—and provide school tutoring, martial arts training and conflict-resolution classes. This charitable event includes food and drinks catered by Quaker Bonnet, Ambrosia, Brodo, Casa di Pizza, Off the Wall, Allen Street Hardware, Sweet Tooth, Nektar and Try-It Distributing, as well as church tours and entertainment.

When portable recording equipment became available in the early 20th century, a handful of people set about traveling through rural America to document the music played by simple folk. Two such collectors were Anne and Frank Warner, who were responsible for capturing the song “Tom Dooley” in the southern Appalachian mountains. The Kingston Trio later performed the ballad, starting the “Folk Revival” in 1958. Jeff Warner is the son of these early folk music archivists, and he will combine talents with local folk musician Dave Ruch for “Banjos, Bones and Ballads—A Family Concert.” Both performers are widely respected as talented and engaging conduits to this music from the past. Employing jaw harps, concertina, banjos, hambone, bones, limberjack and more, the energy of these fun and funny songs will be enough to satisfy kids of all ages on a Saturday afternoon. (Later, at 7pm, Jeff Warner will perform solo at 141 Parkside Avenue—a private residence in North Buffalo. Reservations for that show are recommended. Call 833-6288 for info.)

Niagara Falls native Bobby Previte is one of the most successful local boys made good this area can boast about. Hailed by the Village Voice as “A serious composer with the heart of a roadhouse rocker,” Previte has been part of New York City’s downtown music scene for more than 25 years, since moving to Greenwich Village in 1979. An international player who has released more than 15 records in his long and varied career, he is a graduate of UB’s Music Department where he studied alongside John Cage and under the tutelage of the esteemed Jan Williams. Having composed for films, operas and countless collaborations, Previte is currently involved in a number of projects: Dialed In, a solo electronic drum show; Constellations Ensemble, a chamber group; Strike, a new quartet that includes Marco Benevento; and the Coalition of the Willing, which features guitar great Charlie Hunter, saxophonics whiz Skerik (of Critters Buggin’), organist Robert Walter and of course Previte on drums. The next venture for the legendary percussionist is a co-production with playwright/director Andrea Kleine called The Separation. An examination of religion and society, The Separation is a multimedia work that is scheduled to be performed at Hallwall’s in February 2007.