Hallwalls Artist in Residence Project (HARP) guest Douglas R. Ewart has started his week long residency here in Buffalo. The acclaimed Chicago master musician is working with students from the Buffalo Academy of Visual & Performing Arts (BAVPA), helping them build their own instruments and push the boundaries of musical creativity. Ewart is known for his experimental tactics, with self-crafted instruments that double as artwork, a theatrical musical style, and the use of dramatic props and costuming during live performances. A bamboo artist, leatherworker, lecturer, and workshop director, this acclaimed musician is also a cultural leader who has shared his disciplines with students around the world. His residency culminates with a concert on Friday (May 16), where he will be joined by an ensemble of local musicians. Douglas R. Ewart & Orchestra Inventions begins at 8pm, at Halwalls at Babeville.

The international collective the Evolutionary Girls Club will perform in Buffalo on Friday (May 16), with a multi-media art extravaganza and live show at Squeaky Wheel. Made up of artists and activists from around the globe, the Evolutionary Girls Club nevertheless boasts a significant number of Buffalonians among its members—thanks largely to the efforts of progressive media organizations like Squeaky Wheel and SUNY Buffalo’s prestigious Department of Media Studies. Performers include Mel Kozakiewicz, the Anti-racist Political Poet with an Attitude; David Poznanter (AKA Genius Theater); Lu Highsmith (spoken word artist and wife of jazz musician Jimmie Highsmith, Jr.); BASICs, Chan McKenzie; and Buffalo’s own MC Vendetta. Art and installations will feature work by Fuad Arif, Paloma Ayala, Tammy Renee Bracket, Rachel Hetzel, Hettie Kaufmann, Felice Koenig, Michael Lent, Kris Neely, Genevieve Waller, Jared Pappas-Kelley, Tara Smelt, Colleen Melitz, Missy Carr, Jax Deluca (pictured here with Siew-wai Kok), Erica Eaton and more. The performances start at 8:30pm.

Former Fugazi bassist Joe Lally comes to Soundlab on Wednesday (May 21), on a solo tour backed by experimental musicians Ricardo Lagomasino and Jonathan Morris. His career since Fugazi has been busy, if not as high profile, with Lally playing in the groups Ataxia and Decahedron before going solo and releasing two albums in the last two years. Both solo efforts, 2006’s There to Here and the following year’s Nothing Is Underrated, were produced by Fugazi bandmate Ian MacKaye at Dischord Studios. MacKaye also contributed on both albums, along with fellow ex-Fugazi member Guy Picciotto, lending a distinct Fugazi-esque element to the endeavors. By and large, Lally’s still giving the people what they want. The show starts at 9pm, with opening sets by prog-metal bands Thrones and Orthrelm .

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