WEEKEND FORECAST

FRIDAY

MUSIC

Render your own verdict on Galas

Critics have heralded the music of vocal artist, pianist and reigning dark diva Diamanda Galas as more of an in-your-face challenge than easy listening, more primal howl than honey. During her concert, “Guilty, Guilty, Guilty” at UCLA’s Royce Hall, the avant-garde performance artist will lend her emotionally charged and highly personal style to an appropriately ominous number (13) of “tragic and homicidal love songs,” including Ralph Stanley’s “O Death,” Johnny Cash’s “Long Black Veil,” O.V. Wright’s “Eight Men, 4 Women” and Edith Piaf’s “Heaven Have Mercy.” Original songs by Galas include “Baby’s Insane” and “Tony.”

Diamanda Galas, Royce Hall, UCLA, Westwood, 8 p.m. Friday. $25 to $45. (310) 825-2101.

JAZZ

A suite life and more

Acclaimed jazz vibraphonist-composer Stefon Harris’ latest CD, “African Tarantella: Dances With Duke,” was released earlier this month. The album features Harris and company’s re-orchestrations of selections from Duke Ellington’s “New Orleans Suite” and “The Queen’s Suite” as well as Harris’ own compositions. At Jazz Bakery this weekend, Harris will be joined by pianist Marc Cary, bassist Earl Travis, drummer Terreon Gully and sax man Casey Benjamin.

Stefon Harris Quintet, Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City, 8 and 9:30 p.m. Friday. $30. (310) 271-9039.

* Also 8 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

MOVIES

Story lines of ‘Babel’

Language barriers and the tragic consequences of miscommunication and irrational behavior figure prominently in director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s topical “Babel,” which like his earlier films “Amores Perros” and “21 Grams” weaves together disparate but intricately connected and frequently tragic story lines. With Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael Garcia Bernal.

Rated R for violence, some graphic nudity, sexual content, language and some drug use. Opens Friday exclusively at Pacific’s Grove, 189 The Grove Drive, (323) 692-0829; ArcLight 6360 W. Sunset Blvd. (at Ivar Avenue), (323) 464-4226; AMC Century City, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd. (inside Westfield mall), (310) 289-4AMC; Loews Broadway, 1441 Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, (310) 458-1506, Ext. 706.

SATURDAY

POP MUSIC

A hybrid for him and her

Evanescence has gone through a series of upheavals since its 2003 debut album, “Fallen,” became a huge hit, but the band is back, with singer Amy Lee unmistakably in charge of their hybrid of masculine hard-rock and feminine sensibility. And so far, so good. Their new album, “The Open Door,” entered the national sales chart at No. 1 earlier this month.

Evanescence, Wiltern LG, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., 8 p.m. Saturday. $25. (213) 380-5005.

EVENTS

Mask of the reveler

The Venice Beach Carnevale, the costumed celebration by the sea, returns Saturday. Modeled after the famed masked festival of Venice, Italy, this free party will feature three stages of eclectic music, plus costume contests, a car show, DJs, Burning Man-themed art installations, food, vendors and other attractions. Musical acts include the Bonedaddys, Chloe Day and Incendio. The theme of this year’s event is “Into the Future.” Jason Bentley from KCRW-FM (89.9) will be on hand for the festival finale provided by the fire performance ensemble Inferno Inc.

Venice Beach Carnevale, Windward Circle, Windward Avenue and Main Street, Venice, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday. Free. (310) 439-1702.

ART

Many ways to say it all

Artist Daniel Douke’s career has spanned more than 30 years, touching upon various methods of representation, including Photorealist paintings, early 20th century collage and Minimalist metal works. “Endless Instant” is a survey of his oeuvre, including paintings inspired by Southern California swimming pools, cardboard box pieces and steel paintings.

“Daniel Douke: Endless Instant,” Luckman Gallery, Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Cal State L.A., 5151 State University Drive, L.A. (323) 343-6604. Opens Saturday.

* Hours: noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Saturday. Ends Dec. 16.

DANCE

Movement milestones

Two acclaimed, locally based companies celebrate their 25th anniversaries in different theaters Saturday. Rhapsody in Taps performs at the Aratani/Japan America Theatre in downtown L.A., presenting such jazz-tap specialties as “Laughing With Tears,” “Stroke of the Oarsmen” and “Dark Eyes.” Meanwhile the Francisco Martinez Dancetheatre appears at the James R. Armstrong Theatre in Torrance in such contemporary repertory as “Cinnamon Flower,” “Miniatures” and “Te Verde.” Only God can see both, so where are you going to be that night?

* Rhapsody in Taps, Aratani/Japan America Theatre, 244 S. San Pedro St., downtown L.A., 8 p.m. Saturday. $24 to $40. (213) 680-3700.

* Francisco Martinez Dancetheatre, James R. Armstrong Theatre, 3350 Civic Center Drive, Torrance, 8 p.m. Saturday. $10 (children) to $20. (818) 988-2192. www.fmdt.org.

SUNDAY

MUSIC

Hungary appetites

Pacific Symphony’s weeklong Hungarian Festival concert series, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hungary’s anti-communist uprising of 1956, concludes with Sunday afternoon’s “Gypsy Soul” program at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The concert, conducted by Carl St.Clair, music director of the center’s resident orchestra, will showcase not the Pacific Symphony but the Carpathian Folk Quartet of Hungary. Playing traditional instruments including the cimbalom (a dulcimer-like instrument that is the national instrument of Hungary), the guest artists will perform Brahms’ Hungarian Dances No. 1, 5 and 6, as well as Kodaly’s “Hary Janos” Suite.

Carpathian Folk Quartet, Segerstrom Concert Hall, 615 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, 3 p.m. Sunday. $20 to $77. (714) 755-5799.

MUSEUMS

Wander into history

The Tuareg wandered the Sahara desert for more than 2,000 years as camel caravan traders, but many have now settled in tribes across the African countries of Niger, Mali and Algeria. Their handmade goods, which were commonly seen along the trans-Sahara trading route, can be found at art fairs and luxury goods boutiques in Europe and the U.S. “Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World” examines the culture and history of these semi-nomadic people through first-person accounts of artisans, examples of leather and silverwork designs, jewelry, clothing and other crafted items.

“Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World,” Fowler Museum, Sunset Boulevard and Westwood Plaza, Westwood. Free. Opens Sunday. (310) 825-4361.

* Hours: noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, except noon to 8 p.m. Thursday. Ends Feb. 25.

WEDNESDAY

WORDS

On the TV frontier

Robert Penn Warren protege David Milch is one of the guiding lights of our current TV renaissance (see “The Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” heck, even “Lost” counts), equally at home scripting Elizabethan riddle-dialogue for his now-defunct HBO show “Deadwood” as he is stringing together the foulest necklace of curse words that prime time has ever heard. No stranger to internally imposed demons, Milch will talk with USC history professor William Deverell about TV, addictions, gold, betrayal and whatever else crosses his mind.

Aloud presents David Milch: Stories of the Black Hills, Mark Taper Auditorium at the Central Library, 630 W. 5th St. 7 p.m. Wednesday. (213) 228-7025.

THEATER

These genes travel well

In her solo show, “Surfing DNA,” Broadway veteran Jodi Long relates her journey from her birth to vaudevillian parents (a Chinese Aussie tap dancer and a Japanese American showgirl) on the Chop Suey circuit to “The Ed Sullivan Show,” feudal Japan and the Scottish Highlands, inescapably steered by forces embedded in her DNA. A world premiere, directed by Lisa Peterson.

“Surfing DNA,” East West Players, David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts, Little Tokyo, 120 Judge John Aiso St., L.A. Opens 8 p.m. Wednesday. $30 and $35. (213) 625-7000, www.eastwestplayers.org.

* Runs 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; ends Nov. 19.