FunTimes Fun: Events & Entertainment!

As we jitterbug into the final sweet refrain of a month that celebrates themes as diverse as jazz and the environment, let’s escape on one last jazz junket and earth adventure this April with the help of holistic food, nature challenges, recycled art, and music that will stir your soul.

Here are some “earth-while” mostly free activities to consider for your wellness, well-being, and your overall entertaining delight. Before venturing out, please check with the event organizers to confirm event hours and inquire about their updated COVID-19 protection protocols regarding mask-wearing and proof of vaccination.

Free Fair Is Guilt-Free, Too

April 30, 2022. Eat until your healthy heart’s content at Get Fresh Daily’s first Black Arts + Wellness Fair on a Saturday in the garden. This is a showcase of Philadelphia’s crop of talented creators, wellness professionals, and small business owners. Enjoy a host of holistic home and wellness goods like jewelry from cool shops like Plants + People and Black Soul Vintage. Immerse yourself in interactive demonstrations. Face-painting for the kids (and non-kids) is always fun as well. Vibe to live entertainment guilt-free with wholesome plant-based treats. Advance registration is encouraged. Check out this list of our featured vendors and click the links to learn more Free, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Freedom Greens + Gardens, 5200 Pine St., 302-898-4545, getfreshdaily.org

Up for the Challenge, Naturally

Now through May 2, 2022. Who can find the most animal species in their very own city? You can! The Philadelphia Nature Challenge pits you against other areas through iNaturalist app or visit the website to play. It gives you a chance to share and discuss your observations and revelations of the natural world. Take this first step and be part of a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists reporting about plants, animals, and other natural organisms. As of this month, 105 million folks just like you have contributed information. Free, inaturalist.org.

An Outlandish Parody of European Music on Arts Access TV

April 29, 2022. Erica Corbo’s original show featuring a wide-ranging American parody of European chamber music morphed into “American Odyssey ft. Space Whale Orchestra – Set 2,” which is as zany as the title. It’s a look at the individual, collective, and historical American experience, through “the lens of the diversity of American music.” Enjoy free-flowing songs, performance art, poetry, and improvisations inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gershwin, the Ramones, Jack Kerouac, Walt Whitman, and other literary and musical giants. 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., free, online, and on TV through the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy at Channel 64 PHLGovTV  (Comcast channels 64 and 1164, Verizon channels 40 and 41) and Arts Access TV.

Artist’s Materials Are Free, and So Is His Exhibit

Now through May 26, 2022.  What could you do with cardboard, glue, and paint? Just ask recycling artist, Kambel Smith who is doing his vital part to save the earth, one installation at a time. Arguably, trash day is his favorite day of the week. And no project is “too big to make small.” His latest solo exhibition, Smith: Building, is a life-like miniature sculptural re-creation of iconic architecture. His supplies are sourced from recycled items commonly found around the house or curbside. Smith, who is self-taught, replicates detailed architectural features. Promotional material for the exhibit explains: “He has an uncanny ability to enlarge scale accurately, basing his sculptures solely on images from the Internet. Before embarking on the architectural sculptures, Smith made paintings of historical buildings on canvas, bucolic landscape paintings as well as other subjects. His painting skills are evident in his three-dimensional work, and are particularly captivating in the LED billboards he has rendered as paintings in Times Square, as well as Philadelphia’s Chinatown Arch; Smith’s palette of primary colors, use of gold leaf, and details that resemble miniature abstract paintings animate his rendition of this Philadelphia landmark.” Smith has used his creativity and resourcefulness to channel his autism.

During the pandemic, the artist has created more than 20 sculptures including a series of works based on the architecture of Milwaukee, made for the Green Gallery in that city earlier this year.

Kambel Smith has had one-person exhibitions nationwide and locally at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia and the West Collection, Oaks, PA. You can see the Smith: Building exhibit on TV, online or by visiting,10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., free, Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, 1216 Arch St., 215-545-7562, fleisher-ollmangallery.com

April 29 & April 30, 2022. This event has a lot of pressure to live up to, calling itself The Crowd Pleasers! Go see if that’s true….investigate organ jazz and find out exactly what “liquor drinkin’ music” is. No cover charge, 9 p.m., Bob & Barbara’s Lounge, 1509 South St., 215-545-4511, https://www.bobandbarbaras.com/

Nicole Henry

Henry Knows a Good Power Ballad

April 30, 2022. Philadelphia has done a stellar job at celebrating its jazz roots this month, and Nicole Henry is a prime example! Henry has a powerhouse emotionally-charged voice in the vein of Patti LaBelle and Jennifer Hudson.
She has received the Soul Train Award for “Best Traditional Jazz Performance” and four Top-10 U.S. Billboard and HMV Japan jazz albums. Her promotional material notes that she “tells real stories through peerless interpretations of repertoire from the American Songbook, classic and contemporary jazz, popular standards, blues and originals.” $25, 7 p.m., SOUTH Jazz Club, 600 N. Broad St., 215-600-0220, https://southjazzkitchen.com
 

 

 

Gimme the Nightlife!

 
May 18 & 30, 2022. Nothing like a free concert. And that’s exactly what you get with Nightlife at the Kimmel -- an ongoing party series -- where bee-bop locks arms with hip-hop, with a generous mix of old-school soul and some neo-soul. This groove-fest is performed by some of Philly’s finest musicians from Jesse Bermudez & AFROTAINO, REC Philly and Jazz Philadelphia. And it’s all happening in The Plaza in the Kimmel Campus under a 150-foot vaulted roof in Center City. The folks at the Kimmel are trying to make their cultural offerings the most diverse and accessible, with live entertainment, anywhere. Register in advance to attend. Free, 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The April events have passed but May offers two prime events. 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999,