Like so many of their generation, 12-year-olds Eric Zyla, Jayson Lamb and Chris Strompolos had a just a minor obsession with Indiana Jones, a character immortalized in American cinema by actor Harrison Ford in 1981. Unlike the other kids, however, these three boys made it their goal to successfully complete a shot-by-shot recreation of Steven Spielberg’s adventure classic in the backyards of their Mississippi homes—only this time with Strompolos underneath that famed fedora. This fan film to end all fan films took seven years of dedication, reimagining Spielberg and George Lucas’ masterpiece. Then it spent another 15 years migrating through the hands of underground fans at New York University’s Film Department, before it premiered in 2004 at Austin’s Alamo Draft House. The film began getting national attention: a story on NPR, a spot on NBC’s the Today show and a 10-page spread in Vanity Fair. Master horror director Wes Craven went so far as to call the film “phenomenal,” and Hollywood producer Scott Rudin (No Country for Old Men) has bought the rights for a feature with Paramount Pictures. For the area screening this weekend, Indiana Jones himself—the Chris Strompolos incarnation, that is—will be in attendance at Springville Center for the Arts, and he will be conducting a Q&A afterwards on his experience making what, according to Wired.com, is “the greatest fan film yet.” With a huge fan base and increasing media attention, the limited supply of tickets is certain to go fast, so make reservations immediately.

One of the most transformative moments of live music performance I have experienced was a tuba solo performed by Allan Jaffe, the late great founder of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who passed away 20 years ago. The band Jaffe founded in 1961 continues going strong, with his son Ben filling his shoes as musical director and playing bass. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band tours incessantly—150 days out of the year—carrying New Orleans jazz to all corners of the earth. (In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when the venue from which the band takes its name was shut down, the band simply stayed on the road.) They bring their rags, marches and blues to Buffalo tonight (December 6), along with a selection of holiday tunes delivered through their traditional jazz filter. Proceeds will be used to buy instruments to donate to the Buffalo and Niagara Falls public school systems. The concert is part of the Big Easy in Buffalo series (bigeasybuffalo.com), which, like all of us at Artvoice, is counting down the days to Mardi Gras. The series culminates in a Mardi Gras Jam at the Town Ballroom, featuring the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Papa Grows Funk, Big Chief Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias, Joe Krown Organ Combo and Buffalo’s own Great Train Robbery.

Since his early days with the popular Atlanta band the Heartfixers in the early 1980s, deep Southern blues-rocker Tinsley Ellis has been cranking out riffs that are hotter than Georgia asphalt, and just as likely to make people’s feet jump. Ellis stepped out as a front man on 1988’s Georgia Blue (Alligator) and began building his reputation as a tireless journeyman whose fan base now stretches to blues clubs and festivals around the globe. While he’s widely respected by fellow Southern blues artists like Gregg Allman and Derek Trucks—even jamming with the latter last New Year’s Eve in Atlanta’s Fox Theater—Ellis’s star is more easily overlooked. Still, his playing burns brighter than ever. This pass through town finds him celebrating a new release on Alligator entitled Moment of Truth. As any long-time fan will attest, the disc is loaded with his signature heavy grooves and blistering licks—the raw blues boogie of a seasoned house rocker. The Tinsley Ellis Blues Band will play two sets at Nietzsche’s (for the price of one), and jazz singer Anne Philippone will open the show .

When one looks at the history of underground music of the last 25 years, it’s easy to find Thalia Zedek’s name sprinkled throughout. After playing in the all girl band Dangerous Birds and the short lived but seminal group Uzi, Zedek joined the renowned New York City noise band Live Skull. Contemporaries of Sonic Youth and Swans, Live Skull was brutally abrasive and often confrontational in their performances. After Live Skull’s demise, Zedek formed the underrated group Come with Chris Brokaw (formerly of Codeine). Scaling back somewhat on the noise, Come focused on its blues roots with jarring guitar work and Velvet Underground-styled rhythms. (Their albums—eleven:eleven and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell—are primal masterpieces). When Come broke up at the end of the 1990s Zedek went out on her own, displaying a much folkier vision of her work, and while quieter than her previous efforts Zedek’s music remains as intense. Aside from the standard guitar, bass and drums lineup, her sound is augmented by multi-instrumentalist David Michael Curry (of Willard Grant Conspiracy) and the piano playing of Mel Lederman (from Victory At Sea), with a vocal delivery reminiscient of Patti Smith or a latter day Leonard Cohen. Like Cohen’s Songs of Love And Hate or Velvet Underground’s self-titled third album, Zedek’s music is melancholic and dark but beautiful all the same. Opening the show is Tracy Morrow And The Magi Chippie, with Cassi Meyerhoffer and Vox Humana.