New Year's Eve? Long gone. Mardi Gras? A blur. Jazz Fest? Fading away. Are we done now? Have our party juices flowed through our systems enough so that we can now focus on the holiday that truly matters? With holidays of spirituality, reverie and music all set aside, Mother's Day is one of the final rites of spring where we come back to the fold and remember the matriarch of the family. And we can't think of a better way to celebrate Sunday's hallowed holiday with Mom than at the Mother's Day at the Zoo. Speaking of tradition, watching the legendary Irma Thomas (pictured) -- the mother of New Orleans female soul singers -- is about as timeless as it gets. Because as the Soul Queen herself states, time is on her side as she takes her rich alto and warms up such classics as "It's Raining" and "Ruler of my Heart." There's more to this show, however; Mel Roger's Symphonic Band kicks off the morning with an 11 a.m. set titled "Talk to the Animals," an homage to the creature-comfort songs of old. Irma starts growling at 2 p.m., and plenty of lunch items will be available including jambalaya, Cajun-smoked sausage, barbecue chicken sandwiches and bread pudding. Admission is free for moms (of course!), $9 adults, $5.75 seniors 65-up, $4.75 kids ages 2-12, free kids under 2. The Zoo also will feature its First Annual Jewelry Show (perfect timing), as well as its new Treehouse at Monkey Hill -- a five-level edifice with a great view of the grounds. -- David Lee Simmons

The Radiators 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 8 Lafayette Square (across from Gallier Hall) Couldn't score a ticket to the Radiators' sold-out set on the Cajun Queen during Jazz Fest? Too exhausted to make it out to their last club gig after running around at the Fair Grounds? Didn't want to wade through the crowds of tourists at either show? Here's your tonic on all counts, as they play this week's installment of the Downtown Development District's (DDD) Wednesdays at the Square concert series. Besides being one of the band's last local gigs before its summer tour schedule heats up, the 5 p.m. start time offers respite from both the midday sun and traditional late-night starting times. Plus it's hard to beat the square's local ambience, family-friendly environment and, of course, free admission. Remaining Lafayette Square shows this month include the Iguanas on May 15, Irma Thomas on May 22, and John Boutte on May 29. Music lasts until 7:30 p.m. For more information, call the DDD at 561-8927. -- Scott Jordan

ElectraVibe 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 8 735 Nightclub & Bar, 735 Bourbon St., 581-6740 After Jazz Fest inundates the city with two weeks of roots music overload, it's natural for locals to seek a sharp antidote. The timing is perfect to check out ElectraVibe, a new ambient electronic club event that settled into Wednesday nights at the 735 Club last month. Keyboardist Charlie Dennard leads this electro-happening; best known around town for his work with contemporary jazz outfit Quintology and organ combo Moore and More, Dennard has always been a fan of ambient music. Joined by bassist Chris Collins, programmer Nevil DeFelice, and vocalist/percussionist MoanAlyssa, Dennard will deliver a mix of dance-club sub-genres including techno, acid jazz, deep house, trance, drum 'n' bass, jungle, and trip-hop. Jazz cats will make frequent sit-ins to heat up the live energy. Trumpeter Eric Lucero, drummer Doug Belote, sax man Eric Traub, guitarist Jesse Lewis and Los Hombres Calientes keyboardist Victor Atkins will drop in regularly. No cover. -- Cristina Diettinger

Four Temperaments 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 9; 8 p.m. Saturday, May 11 Orpheum Theatre, 129 University Place, 523-6530 For the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra's (LPO) next-to-last installment in this season's Classics series, the group will be led by director Timothy Muffitt, who typically leads the LPO in the decidedly less-formal environs and programs at the Pontchartrain Center in the Casual Classics series. Residing in Klauspeter Seibel's usual role, Muffitt will guide the LPO along with special guest Tanja Becker-Bender. A violinist of great acclaim whose reputation was built primarily in Austria and on the European circuit, Becker-Bender is increasingly familiar to American audiences. For these two performances, the programs are constructed to best suit her talents. The evening begins with Samuel Barber's "Second Essay," followed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Violin Concerto No. 3" and capped off with the program's namesake piece, Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 2 "Four Temperaments." Tickets range from $11 to $52 and are available through the LPO by calling 522-6530 or visiting www.lpomusic.com. -- Frank Etheridge

Brendan Benson 9 p.m. Thursday, May 9 The Parish at House of Blues, 229 Decatur St., 529-2583 Singer-songwriter Brendan Benson named his latest CD Lapalco after the West Bank thoroughfare where he spent his early childhood, but the album has more to do with his return to Detroit, where he was born and spent his angst-filled teenage years. He spent most of his career years in Oakland, Calif., but when that scene began to bore him, he backtracked for inspiration. (Besides, his first album, Mississippi One, had bombed with Virgin Records, leaving Benson high and dry with no tour support.) Now happily perched on the small StarTime label and fresh off tour with the White Stripes -- whose main man, Jack White, has used Benson's producing talents on his solo acoustic sessions -- he brings a wealth of garage power pop introspection to the small-club setting. Songs like "Metairie" offer a glimpse into the past, and Benson delivers acoustic ballads that serve as channels to his psyche. Peter Holsapple opens. Admission $7. -- Diettinger

New Orleans-Helsinki Connection 10 p.m. Thursday, May 9 and May 16 Donna's Bar & Grill, 800 N. Rampart St., 596-6914 New Orleans musicians can be big stars in Europe, where hordes of jazz lovers are ravenous for the funky street beats that emerge from our city. Last summer, local vocalist Tricia Boutte (aka Sista Teedy) spent three months touring Finland with the popular Finnish jazz group the Riverside Rascals, acquiring overseas fans and musical friends along the way. This pair of gigs at Donna's renews that Scandinavian jazz connection and reunites Teedy with some of her Finnish friends, presenting a six-piece band with three New Orleanians and three Helsinkians. Local trumpeter-vocalist and Donna's regular Leroy Jones will co-lead, and pianist Paul Longstreth (of Crönk) will live up to his Bob French-given nickname, "White Lightning." Finnish jazz luminaries Katja Toivola, Jussi Harju, and Thomas Rönnholm will join in on trombone, sousaphone and drums, respectively. The program offers a mix of traditional New Orleans jazz standards, as well as gospel and blues favorites. No cover. -- Diettinger

New Orleans African World Film Festival Friday-Sunday, May 10-12 Downtown Joy Theater, 1200 Canal St., 522-7575 Revered by many, reviled by others, Patrice Lumumba served as the first prime minister of the Congo following the establishment of the African country's independence from Belgium in 1960. His brief reign and subsequent assassination at the hands of rivals spurred on by a spiteful Belgium are wonderfully captured in Raoul Peck's Lumumba. This film and Carlos Diegues' Orfeu are just two of the highlights of this weekend's New Orleans African World Film Festival. Co-sponsored by the Mayor's Economic Development Fund, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and the Downtown Joy, the festival features nine films over 13 days following the opening ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday. Lumumba screens both Friday and Sunday. Tickets are $12 for Friday, $15 all day Saturday or Sunday, or $5 per film. -- Simmons

Trinity Irish Dance Company 8 p.m. Friday, May 10 Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing Arts, Armstrong Park, 522-0996 Displaying an Irish pride that would leave Bono green with envy, the Trinity Dance Company has developed an international reputation since its 1990 inception as a leading forum for progressive Irish dance. Although deeply steeped in Irish tradition, the Trinity Dance Company is a distinctly American creation, with founder Mark Howard describing the troupe as "an amalgam of the very best in traditional Irish movement, mixed with touches of ballet, tap, flamenco and modern dance." Made up of 22 women between the ages of 18-25, all members rose through the ranks of the famed Trinity Academy of Irish Dance, a school based in Chicago and Milwaukee. Having sold out their 2000 New Orleans performance to rave reviews, the group now returns to perform old favorites and new designs. Tickets range from $15 to $70 and can be purchased through New Orleans Ballet Association at 522-0996 or www.nobadance.com. -- Etheridge

John Ellis CD-release party 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday, May 11 Snug Harbor, 626 Frenchmen St., 949-0696 Saxophonist John Ellis now lives in New York and is frequently on the road touring with guitarist Charlie Hunter, but inevitably returns to New Orleans. After studying at UNO and later teaching at Loyola, Ellis decided to ply his craft in the Big Apple. Ellis' new sophomore CD, Roots, Branches, & Leaves, is a musical travelogue of his two homes. The album ranges from chaotic urban-inspired dissonance to melodic Southern folk songs -- the latter of which are informed by recording in New Orleans with drummer Jason Marsalis, bassist Roland Guerin and trumpeter Nicholas Payton. Marsalis and Guerin will be on the bandstand tonight, along with Ellis' New York bandmates. In the midst of his frenetic schedule, Ellis' playing continues to earn new accolades; he recently earned second place in the 2002 Thelonious Monk Competition, from a judging panel that included Wayne Shorter and Joshua Redman. Tickets $15. -- Jordan

Bill Creevy: New York Through May Cole Pratt Gallery, 3800 Magazine St., 891-6789 Mention New Orleans to most Americans and what comes to mind? The French Quarter, Bourbon Street, the Superdome, the streetcar. Such are the stereotypes, but for natives, New Orleans is always home, the neighborhood where you grew up, the schools you attended. For New York artist and native Orleanian Bill Creevy, that means the wide, flat vistas of Gentilly Terrace in the 1940s, the area around Venus and DeMontluzin streets, scrub oaks on Lakeshore Drive. Not your usual tourist meccas, yet such scenes have lingered in memory for a lifetime to finally emerge in these realistic yet subjective landscapes. Better known for his still lifes, Creevy pays homage to his favorite artist, pop-meister Wayne Thiebaud, in some lushly painted local favorites: Sazeracs, Bloody Marys, bourbon doubles and the like. Hmmm -- maybe Bourbon Street figures in this somehow after all. -- D. Eric Bookhardt