November 2, 2012 8:30 PM-9:30 PM PhillyBloco at the Barnes Foundation

PhillyBloco sets a raucous mashup of samba, funk, reggae, and more, to irresistible Brazilian carnival rhythms. November 2, 2012 8:30–9:30 pm 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway Included with gallery admission or Friday night ticket($10.) Michael Stevens will be playing percussion with singer/songwriter Jeremy Dyen from 6pm-7pm, so come early and check that out as well! First Friday is generously sponsored by Wells Fargo. For tickets: 888.616.0277

November 2, 2012 9:00 PM Salsa Caliente with HECTOR RIOS LATIN FLAVOR and FOTO Y PUPI LEGARETTA CON LA UNICA at the Painted Bride

Friday, November 2 | Salsa Lesson: 8pm | Party: 9pm Salsa Caliente – Concert – Cabaret – Dance Party Featured bands: HECTOR RIOS LATIN FLAVOR and FOTO Y PUPI LEGARETTA CON LA UNICA $20 in advance/$25 day of show | Members: $15/$18.75 BUY TICKETS NOW “If you have never danced to a live Latin band, you have never danced salsa.” - Jesse Bermudez, Salsa Caliente co-producer Center City’s only nightlife scene featuring two Latin big bands at each event returns for its third season offering everyone a special opportunity to immerse themselves in tropical flavors. Before the party swings into full action, maestro Flaco of Flaco’s Dance Factory is standing by to guide beginners through their first instructional dance steps. THE VISION / HOW IT ALL GOT STARTED Looking to shake things up, the Bride’s programming team scheduled a sit down with long-time community partner Jesse Bermudez, founder of La Asociación de Músicos Latino Americanos (AMLA). Known for championing cultural and educational commitments within the Latino community and his extensive regional network of Latin musicians/orquesta, Jesse proposed creating a nightlife scene where Latin music and culture could be shared with people from all walks of life. Jesse’s vision recalls the hot salsa nights during the golden era of Latin dancing at the Palladium Ballroom in the 50’s where bands were both the sticky factor and driving force of the social scene. While plenty of nightclubs in the tri-state have a Latin night, today’s dominating trend surrounds the DJ. As national television programs continue to highlight Latin dance styles (Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance), the love for salsa music and dancing gains mainstream popularity once again. Alongside Bermudez, the Bride is pleased to present the third dynamic season of Salsa Caliente. Come join the party! Center City’s only nightlife scene featuring two Latin big bands at each event returns for its third season offering everyone a special opportunity to immerse themselves in tropical flavors. Before the party swings into full action, maestro Flaco of Flaco’s Dance Factory is standing by to guide beginners through their first instructional dance steps. Never been to Salsa Caliente? Check out the video above of last month's event. Did you attend last month? You might see yourself on camera!

November 2, 2012 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM Conjunto Philadelphia at Chris' Jazz Cafe

Want to hear Cuban Music??? Conjunto Philadelphia will be performing at Chris' Jazz Café NEXT Friday evening, November 2nd, at 8PM. Please join us for a show of Cuban music from the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's. Dancing is encouraged, but not required! We'll be performing music made famous by the Buena Vista Social Club as well as other Cuban musicians. The venue is located at: 1421 Sansom Street Philadelphia, PA. 19110 215-568-3131 (For Reservations) Parking is available on the street or for a discounted rate in the Midtown Garage next door to the club. The cover charge is $15. It would be great to see you. Please feel free to contact me with questions. Jeff Torchon 215-450-1349

October 31, 2012 CANCELLED 10/30/12 Noon to 2:00 PM Lunch Beat Philly - Halloween Edition - at the Painted Bride Art Center

Cancelled while the city cleans up from Tropical Storm Sandy.

Dance with the Bride/ Jazz on Vine/ Performance in the Present Tense/ Visual Arts/ World Music/ On The Vine Upcoming Event on Wed., October 31 - noon - 2pm Lunch Beat Philly - Halloween Edition Wednesday, October 31st – It’s Halloween and costumes are encouraged ;-) Noon to 2pm | Entrance fee is Pay What You Can We’ll be dancing for 2 hours – come whenever suits you :-D #lunchbeatphilly Rule #1 of Lunch Beat: If it’s your first time, you have to dance. Lunch Beat is a chance for you and your co-workers to take a break during a long work week and dance the stress out. Take your mind off your job, come as you are, and dance the afternoon away. Groove to the sounds of DJ NAJ Pick up food from the Foo Truck Lunch Beat is a lunchtime disco craze sweeping Europe and the US. Workers take a break from their day to let loose with their co workers and make new friends on the dance floor. Lunch Beat is an alcohol and drug free environment and a fantastic alternative to eating lunch at your desk. Come be a part of Lunch Beat Philly! 230 Vine St. Philadelphia Pa 19106

October 27, 2012 9:30 PM PhillyBloco Halloween Dance Party at The Blockley

PhillyBloco Halloween Dance Party On October 27th PhillyBloco returns to The Blockley for our annual Halloween Bash!! Grab your friends, your costumes and your dancing shoes and come have ridiculous amounts of fun with the entire PhillyBloco family. -Saturday, October 27th -Doors: 8:00pm/Show 9:30pm -Tickets $12/$15 (adv/door) -Ages 21+ -Costumes encouraged but not required 3801 Chestnut Street, Philly, 19104 www.theblockley.com 215-222-1234

October 26, 2012 9:00 PM Alo Brasil " The Underground Sessions" at Underground Arts

Alo Brasil The Underground Sessions

The first installment of Alo Brasil's musical transcendence. Come and enjoy all the energy and passion of one of the most dynamic musical groups in the Philadelphia area in a new streamlined lineup! Food and drink specials designed for the night! $10 cover / 21+ Underground Arts 1200 Callowhill St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19123

October 26, 2012 6:00-8:00 PM Venissa Santi at the Barnes Foundation

Venissa Santi: Afro-Cuban Jazz One of the 21st century’s new breed of vocalists, Santi sings an exciting blend of American and Cuban standards, folkloric songs, and original compositions that reflect influences ranging from Billie Holliday and Betty Carter to Celia Cruz. October 26, 2012 6-8 pm 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway Included with gallery admission or Friday night ticket For tickets: 888.616.0277

October 19, 2012 5:00-7:00 PM Opening Reception for "Illuminate Me", a multimedia exhibition by Las Gallas artist collective in collaboration with Alex Shaw

Illuminate Me A multimedia exhibition by Las Gallas artist collective in collaboration with Alex Shaw October 17 - December 7, 2012 Presented by Asian Arts Initiative | 1219 Vine Street | Philadelphia, PA Opening Reception: Friday October 19, 5 p.m. First Friday Receptions: Friday November 2, 6 p.m. Friday December 7, 6 p.m. Highlighting the shared stories and struggles of immigration and migration within the Asian and Latino communities, Illuminate Me is the multi-sensory culmination of a cross-cultural exploration through a series of community workshops in which participants shared personal histories and journeys through a range of text, sound, and image-based storytelling activities. Lanterns created by workshop participants are featured in the exhibition alongside new mixed-media artwork by Las Gallas members Julia Lopez, Magda Martinez, and Michelle A. Ortiz accompanied by an original soundscape by Alex Shaw. Illuminate Me is made possible with generous support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge, The PNC Foundation’s PNC Arts Alive grant initiative and the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC). Asian Arts Initiative 1219 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107 Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Friday, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. (215) 557-0455 or www.asianartsinitiative.org

October 19, 2012 5:00-8:45 PM Johnny Cruz Latin Jazz Ensemble at Art After Five

Latin Dance Party Friday, October 19, 2012 5:00 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. Free after admission The Johnny Cruz Latin Jazz Ensemble hails from the Centro de Oro, or Golden Block District, in North Philadelphia. Dance the night away or try free dance lessons! This program is supported by Raíces Culturales Latinoamericanas.

October 17, 2012 9:00 PM Wednesday Latin Jazzy Jam at Underground Arts hosted by Josh Robinson

Open Jam session with members of Alo Brazil and the top musicians of the Philadelphia music scene! Come early and sign up to get down! Hosted by percussionist Josh Robinson.Comedy set at 8:00 PM, followed by music from 9 to 11 PM. All are welcome; come early to sign up to participate. With your support this can become a regular night to listen to or perform great music with great musicians. the venue has food, drink, and people running it that understand what it's all about. Please spread the word and support something great starting up here in the city. World music and other styles welcome!!!! See you there........ 1200 Callowhill St. No cover!

October 18, 2012 7:30 PM Step Afrika! at Temple Performing Arts Center

Step Afrika! is the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Founded in December 1994, the company is critically-acclaimed for its efforts to promote an understanding of and appreciation for stepping and the dance tradition's use as an educational tool for young people worldwide. Step Afrika! reaches tens of thousands of Americans each year and has performed on many stages in North & South America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. Performance in Lew Klein Hall Doors open at 6:30 pm Temple Performing Arts Center, 1837 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19122. For tickets, call 1.800.298.4200.

October 16, 2012 8:00 PM Tinariwen at World Cafe Live PHL

TINARIWEN are poet-guitarists and soul rebels from the Southern Sahara desert. Their music expresses the aspirations of their people, the Kel Tamashek or 'Touareg' of the southern Sahara desert. The guitar is their weapon. Simplicity is Freedom. The soundtrack of the Touareg revolution in Saharan North Africa was created by electric guitars. Plaintive rhythms created a unique 'desert blues' whose lyrics raged against world indifference and evoked a longing for disappearing freedoms. On their enthralling new album entitled Tassili (a 2012 Grammy Award winner), the renowned band have set down their electric guitars and returned to the very essence of their art. Recorded in a protected region of the South-Eastern Algerian desert, the group returned to the roots of their music, with only acoustic guitars and unamplified percussion. During recording, the band was joined by Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone of the band TV On The Radio. Later on, guitarist Nels Cline (Wilco) and the horns of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band contributed to create an album that reaches deep into the essence of TINARIWEN’s sound while simultaneously opening itself to the surrounding world. Tuesday, October 16, 2012 Doors 7 pm | Show 8 pm | Downstairs Live Leana Song will also perform Advance Tickets: $20 - $30 + processing fees Day of Show Tickets: $22 - $32 + processing fees

October 12, 2012 8:00-10:00 PM Minas Duo at the Psalm Salon

PSALM Salon Sat. Oct 13 8 PM $16 advance, $20 at door The PSALM Salon is Philadelphia's coolest intimate venue for great music listening. The Salon invites music lovers to experience the finest in live music from the world over, all in the cozy comfort of home, but with the impeccable production values of a high end professional concert hall. 5841 Overbrook Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19131

October 13, 2012 7:30PM and 9:30 PM JUXT[a]POSE! (la deuxieme partie)

JUXT[a]POSE! (la deuxieme partie) is the sequel to the inaugural event that premiered in April 2012 at Studio 34. The performance series will feature the work of six dynamic female artists including Marjani Forte (NYC), Jasmine Hearn (PIT), Lela Aisha Jones (PHL), Deneane Richburg (PHL), Liana Conyers (ATL), and Danielle Currica (PHL). This special event will also feature a post performance discussion moderated by scholar, author, activist, and artists Brenda Dixon Gottschild. The conversation will center around themes of Contemporary Feminist Thought, Movement based Performance Practices, and American vs Africanist Aesthetics in Dance. Hosted by Saroya Corbett Curated by Jaamil Olawale Kosoko James Peniston (Producing Director) Zachary Svoboda (Technical Director) Studio 34 Yoga | Healing | Arts 4522 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19143 Tickets: $17.

October 12, 2012 5:00 PM-8:45 PM Manuel Valera and the New Cuban Express at Art After Five

Manuel Valera and the New Cuban Express Friday, October 12, 2012 5:00 p.m. - 8:45 p.m.Deeply influenced by the experiments of Cuban musicians from the 1970s and ‘80s, Manuel Valera and the New Cuban Express mix elements of jazz, R & B, fusion, and funk with Cuban music styles.

October 12, 2012 7:15 PM and 9:00 PM "We Are" " Somos" at Taller Puertorriqueño

Friday October 12th The final and concluding event of this series will be award winning dancer, Merián Soto, presents her new multi-dimensional work, “We Are”, a new development for the series of Branch Dances that include critically acclaimed staged works, and the performance/installation Postcards from the Woods (2009). Audiences will be free to wander about as they are asked to participate by slowing down and maintaining relative silence./Evento que concluye la serie de Café bajo las estrellas presenta a la galardonada coreografa Merian Soto en este trabajo multi-dimensional, “Somos”. 2600-2624 Nth 5th Street 2 performances: 7:15pm and 9:00p.m.

Raices Culturales Latinoamericanas Announces Class Schedule for 2012 / 2013

SALSA DANCE By Fuego Dance Company When:Every Thursday 7:00PM Price: $10 per class WHO: Must be 21 years or older CONTACT: Hector Serrano, fuegodancegroup@aol.com Fuego Dance Company

October 6, 2012 7:30 PM Crossroads Music presents Sorie Kondi : Virtuoso street music from Freetown, Sierra Leone

Sorie Kondi is a virtuosic folk musician from the small West African country of Sierra Leone. He plays the Sierra Leonean version of a thumb piano called the Kondi, an instrument he has taken as his last name, and sings in four different languages (his mother tongue Loko, Temne, Krio, and English). He is also an innovator who has developed both a new type of electrified kondi and a unique playing style. Sorie was born blind in the city of Makeni around 1968. He never went to school but began to play the kondi, a traditional instrument of Sierra Leone as a teenager. It was soon apparent that he had a special talent for music, and by 1984 he started earning some small money by playing at ceremonies and travelling to nearby villages. In 1996, civil war forced him to leave his home and seek refuge in the capital of Freetown. He began recording his first album there in 1998, and finished it just before the war reached the city and nearly all the inhabitants fled. Abandoned, Kondi hid inside his house for 5 days while much of the city was looted and burned down. When the dust settled, the master tapes had been lost and his career plans derailed. Having lost his chance to commercially release a cassette, Sorie Kondi made a name for himself as a street musician. His daily busking on the streets of Freetown made him familiar to many residents in Sierra Leone’s capital city, but Sorie Kondi’s popularity was not enough to bring him out of the grinding poverty that many of the country’s citizens experience. A trip in 2006 to the Lungi region, across the bay from Freetown would provide Mr. Kondi with a golden opportunity to put his career back on track. By chance, an American recording engineer spotted him playing his kondi, and asked to include him in the anthology of Sierra Leonean music he was working on. In February 2007, a prominent local businessman heard this recording and sponsored Kondi’s first album, “Without Money, No Family.” While all of these recording opportunities have boosted his morale, but he continues to live in destitute poverty, struggling to find his daily bread. (In 2010, his daily struggle for survival, the reality of poverty, and the struggle to raise school fees for his children was chronicled in a short BBC documentary). In Sierra Leone, artists earn most of their money from album launchings and live performances in foreign countries as cassete manufacturers and distributors pay very low royalties and Crossroads is very pleased to welcome Sorie Kondie on his first American tour.