In the new issue of Philadelphia Weekly:
Cyro Baptista
Fri., Mar. 16, 5pm. Free with museum admission. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th St. & the Pkwy. 215.763.8100 www.philamuseum.org
Famed percussionist and São Paolo native Cyro Baptista might be 61 years old, but he’s got more punk energy than your average teen. Leading his flamboyant Beat the Donkey ensemble, he does more than play percussion: he summons entire musical universes, drawing on Brazilian idioms, psychedelia and modern jazz to create shows full of spectacle and abandon. He’s also worked with everyone from Yo-Yo Ma, Herbie Hancock and Paul Simon to the Chieftains and John Zorn, always managing to marry pop accessibility with avant-garde edge. He’ll hit Philly with his Banquet of the Spirits, featuring keyboardist Brian Marsella, bassist Jason Fraticelli, guitarist John Lee and drummer Tim Keiper. — David R. Adler
Gene Coleman/Joo Won Park/Evan Lipson
Sun., Mar. 18, 7:30pm. $6. With Natura Morta. Highwire Gallery, 2040 Frankford Ave. 215.426.2685 www.museumfire.com/events
Originally from Chicago, Gene Coleman is now a mainstay of Philly’s experimental scene, a composer and bass clarinetist merging the worlds of chamber music, free improvisation and multimedia. His recent work, witheringly abstract and yet thoroughly engrossing, involves close study of the instruments and traditions of East Asia. His younger associate Joo Won Park comes at things from a complementary angle: through digital processing he wrings music from such objects as vegetables and umbrellas. Upright bassist Evan Lipson will give some low-end percussive oomph to this anything-can-happen encounter. Sharing the bill is Brooklyn’s Natura Morta, with violist Frantz Loriot, bassist Sean Ali and drummer Carlo Costa. — David R. Adler
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