Leana Song playing live at PM at the Penn Museum

Lately I’ve been idealizing country living, but life in the city does have it pluses. Take for example the University of Pennsylvania’s PM @ Penn Museum on Wednesday nights during the summer. It’s basically  music and happy-hour together. I saw Leana Song, a drum and music ensemble specializing in Afro-Cuban and West African drumming. Because of weather conditions the concert had to be moved from the courtyard into the Egyptian gallery containing the huge red granite sphinx (By the way, he tweets! @PhilTheSphinx). This created a surreal atmosphere—the bands rhythms pulsating out from in front of the illuminated 3,000 + year old sphinx standing proudly among hieroglyphic-carved pillars from the Palace of Pharaoh Merenptah.

P.M. @ Penn Museum Summer Nights continues through the rest of the summer with three dates left: Bohemian Sunrise on August 10, Bell Blake Duo on August 17, and Timi Tanzania Reggae Band on August 24^th.

Admission is $5 which includes the Museum entry fee (the museum stays open late on these days). Music lasts from about 5-8pm. Location: Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia.

If you’ve never been to the Penn Museum before check out the Chinese Rotunda on the third floor—it’s one of the largest unsupported masonry domes in the country and houses one of the finest collections of monumental Chinese art. The Egyptian Mummy room is also a highlight. Newly finished is the exhibit: Iraq’s Ancient Past, rediscovering Ur’s Royal Cemetery.

For more information visit Penn Museum on the web.