DJ Rahsaan has been called “Philly’s Best World-ly DJ” by the Philadelphia City Paper. Through his AfroTaino Productions, he has presented numerous world music acts and continues to produce music, arts, and culture-friendly campaigns nationwide. For this performance, he channels the hot pulse of Middle Eastern nightlife with hypnotic bedouin dance beats and seductive melodies.

 

Location: Great Stair Hall

Relâche creates an evening highlighting Cage’s interest in connecting the listener with their immediate environment. Using projected visuals and live commentary, and featuring recordings of Cage himself, Relâche and guests will perform Cage composition including Hymnkus, co-commissioned by Relâche in 1986. The program will also include selections from Litany for the Whale, Apartment House 1776, and Lecture on the Weather. Performances will feature the unique ideas regarding amplification and usage of space that Cage explored throughout his artistic life

 

Founder of the Center City Jazz Festival, Ernest Stuart stud- ied jazz at Temple University in Philadelphia, where he began to make a name for himself as a versatile trombonist of jazz, salsa, R & B, neo-soul, and hip-hop with such artists as The Roots, Jaguar Wright, and Orrin Evans. Since moving to New York, he has played at the Village Vanguard, the Iridium, and Blue Note, and has shared the stage with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, among others. Stuart is also a member of the New York–based bhangra funk band Red Baraat.

 

Punjabi vocalist and performer Bikram Singh is well known in the bhangra scene, especially in North America, where he is the reigning “King of Bhangra.” Singh takes listeners on an incredible musical journey to India grounded in authentic folk beats. His heartfelt, imaginative lyrics and masterful vocals allow each song to reach beyond the realm of bhangra. This program is supported by NetIP (Network of Indian Professionals–North America).

 

Orrin Evans has been recognized as one of the most distinctive and inventive pianist of his generation. Described by the New York Times as “a poised artist with an impressive template of ideas at his command,” he is at the forefront of the music scene.

 

One of the top party DJs, Cosmo Baker is able to bring hip- hop, disco, soul, rock, reggae, and electronic music together in a cohesive and funky manner. This Philadelphia native cut his chops alongside contemporaries ?uestlove of The Roots and Rich Medina. In Brooklyn he helped found the DJ/remix collective The Rub. Now as a solo performer, he is bringing his show to larger audiences around the globe.

 

Razia Said is a Malagasy musician who lived in Madagascar until the age of seven. Her critically acclaimed songs, often performed with her musical collective Zebu Nation, center around a call-for-action against the plundering of Madagascar’s environment. Inspired by a return visit to her country, she has crafted a mixture of western and Malagasy rhythms and sounds.

 

Proclaimed a “standout on the indie front” by Billboard Magazine and “one to watch” by Essence, Ethiopian- born musician and singer Wayna is a chart-topper. She garnered a Grammy nomination in the Best Urban/ Alternative Performance category (2009) with her musical style, a blend of Minnie Riperton, Lauryn Hill, and Billie Holiday. Her soulful voice and dynamic stage show continue to wow critics and audiences, including the legendary Stevie Wonder, who has exclaimed, “She’s incredible.”

 

$10 Admission


Stick around following Art After 5 for a chance to preview "Great and Mighty Things": Outsider Art from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Collection. Help celebrate the opening and keep the international sounds flowing into the weekend with a late night dance party featuring renowned World Music selector, DJ Rahsaan (of AfroTaino Productions). Shake your Friday blues to the sounds of AfroPop, French-Caribbean Rhythms, and more. From the dancehalls of Dakar to the nightclubs of Nairobi, with a touch of island life, DJ Rahsaan and his global soundtrack will keep you dancing into the night.

 

The Japan Times describes Praha Depart’s music as “irrepressibly danceable gypsy punk.” The Tokyo band’s swirling, almost psychedelic, postpunk groove signature sound is created by rich vocals, intense drumming, and multilayered guitars. This program is supported by the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia.

 

Larry McKenna is one of Philadelphia’s premier jazz tenor saxophonists. Aside from a few lessons from Anthony DiBenedetto early in his career, McKenna is essentially a self-taught musician. He has performed and recorded with countless bands and musicians, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Tony Bennett, and Rosemary Clooney.

 

Especially for Art After 5, cellist-composer-singer Melora Creager has created an “outsider” collection of music: songs about characters usually unnoticed on the edges. She founded the alternative/historical cello ensemble Rasputina in 1991. In nineteen recordings and countless public performances, Creager has led a twenty-year explo- ration in cello amplification, recording, and performance.

 

A Lorca Soundscape is a new work by bassist-composer Alexis Cuadrado, reflecting on Federico García Lorca’s book Poeta en Nueva York with a series of jazz pieces that use his poems as lyrics. Cuadrado’s music is a contemporary reflection of Lorca’s themes and cityscape. The lineup for this program features some of today’s most outstanding jazz performers whose original view of “new jazz” creates a unique dialogue across time.

 

Enjoy an evening of Turkish and French music and dance! Begin with a set of Turkish music and belly dancing, followed by French gypsy jazz and a performance by a French chanteuse and accordionist. Finish with a round of cancan. This program is presented in conjunction with the Turkish American Friendship Society of US and the Alliance Française de Philadelphie.

 

The Hot Club of Philadelphia’s style of gypsy jazz takes its inspiration from the music of guitarist Django Reinhardt, violinist Stéphane Grappelli, and their legendary Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Gypsy jazz, which has grown in popularity in the last few years, was featured in Sweet and Lowdown and Midnight in Paris, two films by Woody Allen.

 

Opera meets cabaret in this night of informal performances by vocalists from the Center City Opera Theater, who will be interspersed throughout the crowd and sing from unexpected places. Later on, enjoy a concert by DisCanto, a group of Italian conservatory-trained musicians who reinterpret traditional Abruzzese and ethnic southern Italian songs through contemporary and traditional instrumentation.

 

Sofia Tosello and Yuri Juárez’s album Tangolandó presents the penetrating passion of tango with the sensuality and mischievousness of Afro-Peruvian and creole music. From the bandonion’s melancholic sounds to the rogue beat of the cajón, Tangolandó re-creates timeless tangos through the freshness of Peru’s coastal contemporary music.

 

The queen of Philadelphia drag cabaret brings her campy cultural commentary to the Museum’s Great Stair Hall. Martha, whose vocal range is matched only by her witty banter, will perform with accompanist Victor Fiorillo.

 

Philly’s top young jazz artists gather at the Museum to kick off the Center City Jazz Festival, which spotlights our city’s thriving jazz scene. This evening features Venissa Santi, who will present songs from her exquisite album “Big Stuff” Afro-Cuban Holiday with an ensemble and special guest musician and Grammy Award–nominee Jane Bunnett.

 

The PRISM Quartet, composer and electric guitarist Nick Didkovsky, and sonic alchemist Thomas Dimuzio perform Ice Cream Time, an evening-length work by Didkovsky that explores the boundaries between human-generated and software-generated music. This program is presented in conjunction with PRISM Quartet, Inc.

 

The most-prized music of Portugal, fado (“fate”) is melancholy and often mournful. Fado’s stories of heartache and disappointment wrapped in guitar filigree will be reinterpreted for a special Art After 5 performance. This program is supported by the Philadelphia Portuguese Heritage Commission.

 

Legendary bassist Lee Smith brings together an all-star group of musicians to Art After 5. After forty years as a first-call bassist in the R & B and jazz worlds, Smith released his debut album, Sittin’ on a Secret, last year. The title refers to the compositions that Lee has been writing for decades, a half-dozen of which finally came to light on this record.

 

The Bearded Ladies Cabaret fuses cabaret and theater to tackle the politics of gender, identity, and artistic invention with sparkle and wit. Their presentation Marlene and the Machine combines the music of Marlene Dietrich and Lotte Lenya with the visual language of German Expressionism. Enjoy elaborate cardboard cityscapes, live re-creations of expressionist films, and a host of familiar songs sung just a little off-key.

 

Nina “Lyrispect” Ball is a dynamic award-winning artist, poet, organizer, multicultural teaching artist, and producer whose work has been featured in galleries, documentaries, classrooms, and sold-out concerts. Join Lyrispect and a lively and diverse lineup of performers for an evening of music and poetry.

 

Cuban master percussionist and composer Arturo Stable presents original jazz compositions inspired by the Museum’s collection. His diverse musical experiences and unique sound have allowed him to work in many environments, but he is best known as a Latin jazz percussionist.

 

Peter Beets is a Dutch pianist with impeccable technique and an incisive sense of swing. He has played with Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Elvin Jones, John Clayton, and Dee Dee Bridgewater, among others.