Sometimes when a handful of musicians with similar tastes and passions find each other, magic happens. So it is with The Oscuro Quintet, a collection of musicians who have come together from diverse backgrounds to form what might be Philadelphia’s first tango ensemble. It probably won’t surprise you to know that the group has abundant West Philly connections – four out of five members live here.

Formed in 2006, the quintet includes accordionist Shinjoo Cho, pianist Thomas Lee, violinist June Bender, guitarist Alban Bailly and bassist Ben Blazer. Together they have played a number of performances in recent years while pursuing other things (Lee, for example, is a doctoral student in perceptual science at Penn and Bender studies at Temple).

Now the group is ready to release its first record and it needs a little help. They have decided to try to raise enough money online to cover the costs of mastering the recordings, designing the album and CD manufacturing. This is a rare chance to be a patron of a unique musical ensemble for as little as $5.

Go to Oscuro’s Kickstarter page to contribute. There are premiums as well. For example, a $25 donation gets you a reserved copy of the CD. Fifty bucks gets you a CD and a free tango lesson. There is a bit of urgency. They need to raise $5,000 by June 17. They are already about halfway there.

Here is their Kickstarter video.