David Fulmer reads and signs Jass 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25 Beaucoup Books, 5414 Magazine St., 895-2663

Paul Dorrell reads and signs Living the Artist's Life 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27 Garden District Book Shop, The Rink, 2727 Prytania St., 895-2266; www.livingtheartistslife.com With a bibliography that sports entries such as a Vincent van Gogh biography, F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night and Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, Paul Dorrell clearly swings for the fences in his book Living the Artist's Life (Hillstead). Beginning his foreword with artist Robert Henri's quote, 'Art is a terrible way to make a living, but a wonderful way to live,' Dorrell matches his work's ambition with a conversational tone that makes the book succeed as an animated, how-to resource for everyone from starving artists to gallery owners to general free thinkers. A fun and engaging read, Living the Artist's Life includes plenty of anecdotes from Dorrell's life that entertain as well as set examples. Passages range from dealing with depression and substance abuse to how best to solicit a gallery with postcards. -- Etheridge

The Bad Plus 10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29 TwiRoPa Mills, 1544 Tchoupitoulas St., 232-9503; www.twiropa.com The Bad Plus adds rock to jazz on Friday at TwiRoPa Mills. The Bad Plus is one of those lightning-rod ensembles in the jazz world. The trio has two albums out on Columbia Records and can play the Village Vanguard in New York City for a week, but bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer David King come out of rock 'n' roll, so 2004's Give includes Black Sabbath and Pixies covers alongside Ornette Coleman's 'Science Fiction.' On paper, the group sounds too clever and too novel for real jazz. As its take on 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' illustrates, though, there's a lot more to it than that. Iverson's piano is often delicate, but slight alterations to the chords of the chorus produce a dissonance that articulates unease better than a distorted guitar, which is by now a rock 'n' roll convention. Similarly, King's drumming becomes progressively aggressive, though dialing it back at the start of verses suggests the sense of frustration in Nirvana's original. Tickets $12-$15. -- Alex Rawls

Krewe of Endymeow 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Jan. 29 The Cat Practice, 1809 Magazine St., 525-MEOW; www.catpractice.com After no celebration in 2003 and a 2004 Mardi Gras held at an interim location, the Krewe of Endymeow returns this Carnival with what Captain Mark Cousins, DVM, calls a 'milestone' Mardi Gras. Back in its proper home in the restored Cat Practice, Endymeow's theme this year is 'The Whiskers of Oz -- There's No Place Like Home,' paying tribute to cats of every breed and background in their full quirky, subversive and loving glory. Costuming by cats and humans alike is encouraged, with traditional krewe favors, pet photos and refreshments for all offered. A royal court is selected, with awards bestowed for costumes and floats. All cats are invited to join Endymeow; membership is free. To enroll, submit the cat's name and photo to The Cat Practice before Friday, either in person or email to endymeow@catpractice.com. -- Etheridge

Carter Coleman reads and signs Cage's Bend 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29 Garden District Book Shop, The Rink, 2727 Prytania St., 895-2266 Emerging author Carter Coleman sows familiar and fertile Southern literary ground with Cage¹s Bend (Warner), a story that spans 40 years in the life of a traditional, yet utterly dysfunctional, Southern family. Coleman, who has written articles for magazines including Rolling Stone and Esquire, made his debut as a novelist with The Volunteer. In his second novel, Coleman details the story of the Rutledge family from Tennessee. Parents Franklin and Margaret Rutledge, a minister and housewife, respectively, raise three boys in a tight-knit family besieged by typical generation gaps, but little else. That is until their perfect world is wrecked when eldest son Nick is killed in a drunk driving accident. The rest of the book covers the plunge into mental illness, substance abuse, hope and promise that binds the family together. -- Etheridge

Le Paradis des Chats 7:30 Saturday, Jan. 29; 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30 Jefferson Performing Arts Center, 400 Phlox Ave., Metairie, 885-2000; www.jpas.org The children's opera Le Paradis des Chats makes its U.S. premiere Saturday-Sunday at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center in Metairie. Better known in English as ³a paradise just for cats,² Le Paradis des Chats is also the U.S. premiere of an opera for children (based on a Japanese folk tale) with a little parable about loyalty and feline intuition. The story revolves around a cat and her mistress, an orphaned servant who is being mistreated by her rich boss. The disgusted cat finally bolts the scene for the cat¹s paradise in question, with the little girl in hot pursuit. We don¹t want to spoil the ending, except to reassure that kitty litter is not a plot device here. Vladimir Kojoukharvo conducts the JPAS Chamber Orchestra, with Kris Shaw serving as stage director and Lauren Buckley conducting the Jefferson Children¹s Choir. The opera is sung in French and narrated in English, and the event is sponsored by the Consulate General de France and the Consul General of Japan. Tickets $25 orchestra, $20 parquet and balcony (adults), $15 students. (Note: All online ticket orders must be made by Thursday.) -- David Lee Simmons

Hairy Apes BMX 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29 One Eyed Jacks, 615 Toulouse St., 569-8361 Frenetic multi-instrumentalist Mike Dillon frequently takes time out from his bigger-name, better-paying projects Critters Buggin¹ and Garage A Trois to experiment, record and tour with Hairy Apes BMX (Butt Moving Experience). While his other bands have a jazz-and-jam sensibility, this Austin, Texas-based band gives Dillon a chance to experiment on the musical fringe, incorporating doses of Latin, electronica and even punk. Of course, there is a groove to move to, delivered in a unique instrumentation that features Dillon on vibes, tablas, percussion and vocals, E. Clark on keyboards and electronics, John Speice on drums and percussion, J.J. Richards on bass and vocals, and Brad Houser on saxophone and loops. While the band reveals a slight jam band aesthetic, the dreadlock set was shocked the last time he was in town when Dillon climbed the speakers and shouted, 'How many bitches must I f--k?' Cover $8. -- Etheridge

Royal Crown Revue 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29 The Howlin' Wolf, 828 S. Peters St., 522-WOLF; www.howlin-wolf.com As the original gangsters of the '90s swing fad, Royal Crown Revue provided the template that umpteen other outfits tried to mimic, from its hard-boiled swank image to its manic stage energy and actual jazz chops. Its sound draws from mid-century supper club music including Latin big band, West Coast jump blues, rockabilly, raunchy burlesque and seedy carnival allure, and has proved to have a lasting appeal. The band has made numerous jazz festival, TV and film appearances long after most folks¹ zoot suits were pushed to the back of the closet. Last year's Greetings From Hollywood (Kufala) is a retrospective of the Revue's decade-long career, featuring 15 tracks of unreleased material as well as a CD-ROM of the rarely seen 'Watts Local' video, an homage to West Coast sax legend Big Jay McNeely. Tickets $12. -- Alison Fensterstock

Big Chief Peppy and the Golden Arrows Funk Band 10 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30 Maple Leaf Bar, 8316 Oak St., 866-9359 Big Chief Peppy has been one of the more active Mardi Gras Indian chiefs in recent years. His vocals were one of the high points of the Indians of the Nation's 1998 United We Stand, Divided We Fall (Indians of the Nation), and he's been running Indian practice off and on for the past several years around Dryades Street in Uptown. Peppy's cousin was Mahalia Jackson, and it's easy to tell when his singing cuts through the thunderstorm of Indian percussion. He and fellow members of the Golden Arrows will be in full suits, and they've gathered a killer band behind them, including expert Indian drummer Geetchie Johnson, Kirk Joseph on sousaphone, Kevin O'Day, Troy Andrews, and veteran of the second line/bluegrass project Woody Wood on guitar. Mardi Gras is a special time for everybody, but Indian chiefs like Peppy take it to a whole other level. They will also perform Sunday, Feb. 6. Cover $8. -- David Kunian

Doubly Blessed: The Ibeji Twins of Nigeria Through Feb. 27 Newcomb Gallery, Tulane Campus, 865-5361 In the West, we¹ve had the Bobbsey Twins, the Doublemint Twins, the Minnesota Twins and, more recently, the Bush twins. The list goes on but, clearly, twins are special. The same holds true in Africa, only more so. The Yoruba people of Nigeria believe that twins possess magical powers; if newborn twins die, the parents commission ibeji, little statuettes that represent them as they might appear in the prime of life. Their mothers bathe, feed and clothe them on a daily basis because they have become orishas, little gods who might otherwise lure the living into the spirit world. Treat them right, however, and they ensure joy and prosperity in an unexpected reprise of the old Wrigley gum jingle, 'Double your pleasure, double your fun ... .' Those Doublemint Twins may have been more multicultural than we realized. -- D. Eric Bookhardt