Thursday 12.27

Jeni Jones Comedian Richard Jeni has starred in his own sitcom, Platypus Man, and several HBO comedy specials. But for those still looking to make plans for New Year's Eve, you may be interested to know he's also hosted Fox's New Year's Eve Live. Jeni performs at the Improv through Dec. 31, with two special New Year's Eve shows. The early one (at 7 p.m.) includes dinner and champagne, and the later one (at 9:30 p.m.) includes champagne and a party featuring the Velvet Jones Band until 3 a.m. Regular show tickets cost between $18 and $22, depending on the night. Tickets to the New Year's Eve shows cost $65 and $70. The Improv is at 1600 E. Eighth Ave., Ybor City (813-864-2200).

Friday 12.28

Classic Christmas Composition Born the son of a barber-surgeon, Georg Friederich Handel first practiced music clandestinely, until his father, who intended him for the law, was encouraged to allow him to study. What might choruses perform around the holidays had Handel not gone on to compose his master oratorio, Messiah? The Florida Orchestra plays highlights from Messiah at 7:30 p.m. at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and again at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 29, at the Mahaffey Theater. Boris Brott guest conducts, with vocal soloists and The Master Chorale of Tampa Bay. Tickets cost $20, $29, $35 and $38. TBPAC is at 1010 N. MacInnes Place, downtown Tampa (813-229-7827). The Mahaffey Theater is at 400 First St. S., St. Petersburg (727-892-5767).

Teeny Bopper Trumpeter Jonathan Powell, 19, leads his jazz-based septet, the Jonathan Powell Group, a young bunch of musicians already sporting credible resumes. Powell, of Largo, has played locally with Tibetan Sound Orgy (among a half-dozen other bands) and lately has been honing his chops in New York City. The band interweaves Indian, hip-hop and elements of electronic music in a free-form manner, with Powell making use of a sampler, turntables and effect pedals. Older brother Jeremy Powell, 22, is featured on sax, and Yayoi Ikawa, 24, originally from Tokyo (where she began playing classical piano at age 3) is on keyboards. The JPG is rounded out by singer-songwriter Jim Beckwith at the mic, Jonathan Priest on drums and Philip Booth on bass. They play Skipper's Smokehouse at 8 p.m. Admission costs $6. Skipper's is at 910 Skipper Road, Tampa (813-971-0666).

Saturday 12.29

Unprofessional Behavior Improv troupe The Unprofessionals are better at making up instant nonsense than a cheating husband on Springer. Virginia Adams, Harry Chittenden, Pat Garrabrant, Laurie LoPinto, Tracy Parker and Paul Soleo solicit ideas, genres, emotions, etc., and craft scenes with solid comedic punch from the weakest of suggestions. The Unprofessionals perform at 7:30 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday at The Garden restaurant. There's no cover, but drinks ain't free. The Garden is at 217 Central Ave., St. Petersburg (727-896-3800).

Artistic Self-Examination The Tampa Museum of Art's latest educational exhibit has paired 24 at-risk high school students with a half-dozen anthropologists and a group of psychoanalysts. The students are engaged as junior curators in the exhibit, which explores why people adorn themselves, how it reflects an individual's self-image and what it states about their self-esteem. Self Adornment/Self Esteem covers cultural traditions and explores contemporary practices, such as body piercing, scarification, plastic surgery and tattooing. The students researched the subject, wrote wall copy and planned the arrangement of the exhibit, which serves as a backdrop for youth groups and museum visitors to enter into a dialogue examining one's self. Numerous community organizations, the USF Anthropology Department and the Tampa Bay Psychoanalytic Society have joined forces to implement this ambitious project. The exhibit runs through Jan. 13. Admission ranges from $3 to $5; free 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays and 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday. The Tampa Museum of Art is at 600 N. Ashley Drive, Tampa (813-274-8130).

Sunday 12.30

The King of Blues After more than five decades of performing the blues, guitar legend B.B. King has released his first-ever holiday album, A Christmas Celebration of Hope. King's dramatic vocals and signature tremolo guitar style put a classic blues spin on the album's 13-tracks, which include Please Come Home For Christmas and Back Door Santa. Hopefully he'll play a few of these tunes post Christmas, when he performs (i.e., makes love to his guitar, Lucille) at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Tickets cost $35 and $43 ($75 Limited VIP seating). The show starts at 7 p.m. Ruth Eckerd Hall is at 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater (727-791-7400).

Monday 12.31

5! 4! 3! 2! 1! As the year passes into twilight and dawns anew, lose yourself amid costumed dancers, conga percussionists and fire-breathers at Carnival, Club Fun's New Year's Eve party. The first 500 people receive feathery, Carnival-style masks, and resident DJ Jason Perez is spinning a night of high-energy dance music to complement the atmosphere. Partygoers are also in store for a couple nice surprises, but club management wants to keep them surprises (understandable). Cover costs $40 per person or $70 per couple. Fun is at 1507 E. Seventh Ave., Ybor City (813-247-4225).

Tuesday 1.1

The Flim-Flam Man Let's hear it for all-American marching band music, romance and fast-talking shystering. The Music Man is the endearing story of traveling salesman Harold Hill and his visit to a small Iowa town in 1912, whereupon he meets and falls in love with the willful, spinster librarian, Marian Paroo. With his fast-talking style, Professor Hill convinces the town that unless they adopt his revolutionary music program, The Think System, the morale of the youngsters of River City will be forever doomed. The musical runs through Jan. 6, at TBPAC's Carol Morsani Hall, with show times at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday; at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets cost $20.50-$62.50. TBPAC is at 1010 N. MacInnes Place, downtown Tampa (813-229-7827).

Wednesday 1.2

Chamber in the Sun The Dali Museum hosts a 3 p.m. concert, a Dali-theme afternoon of chamber music, as part of Eckerd College's Winter Sun Music Festival. Under the direction of professor Joan Epstein, Eckerd College's music department chair, this year's festival theme is Giving Voice to Poetry. New York conductor Paul Hostetter directs a group of top musicians from around the country in works connected to the art of Salvador Dali. Included in the program are Manuel DeFalla's El Amor Brujo, featuring mezzo soprano Anna Tonna, Martin Matalon's La Siete Vidas un Gato and a screening of Luis Buñuel's classic surrealist film Un Chien Andalou. Tickets cost $10 at the door, $5 for students and Dali Museum members. Admission to the concert is free for those who hold a Winter Sun Festival Pass (available through Eckerd College; call 727-867-1166, or visit: www.eckerd.edu/news/wintersun). The Salvador Dali Museum is at 1000 Third St. S., St. Petersburg (727-823-3767).

This article appears in Dec 27, 2001 – Jan 2, 2002.