Most people steer clear of prickly desert succulents, but not Paul Rudy. Rudy, an award-winning composer and music professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, is well-known among aficionados for, among other things, his cactus playing. Yes, Paul Rudy coaxes music from cacti. The specifics aren't important here; suffice to say that the man has no shortage of imagination when it comes to sound.Rudy and several other musicians, including Mauricio Salguero (of local salsa outfit Makuza), Jay Batzner, Christopher Biggs, Jorge Sosa, Andrew Colella and Zhou Juan, perform tonight in a Kansas City Electronic Music Alliance show, presented with the Urban Culture Project, titled "I See the Cat." The program features electronic music, video and live performance. Multicultural highlight: Zhou Juan will play an amplified Chinese zither. Doors at La Esquina (1000 West 25th Street, 816-994-7731) open at 7:30 p.m. The show begins at 8. A $5 suggested donation also gets you beer.
Fri., Oct. 24, 8 p.m., 2008
