Great news for Cedar Park residents – Friday Night Jazz series, an annual mid-summer tradition, is returning to the park in June and July, thanks to the support from local businesses and contributions from community members. Everyone is invited to come out and join their neighbors for the following live jazz performances every Friday night from 6-8 p.m. in the park (Baltimore Ave. between 49th and 50th Sts).

June 7 – Ronin Ali and Friends
June 14 – Dr. Ketchup
June 21 – Rich Tucker & The Universal Koncept
June 28 – Elena’s Usual Suspects Jam Session
July 5 – Glenn Bryan & Reference Point
July 12 – Perseverance Jazz Band
July 19 – The Jazz Doctors
July 26 – Lucky Thompson and The Crew

To support the series please contact Algernong Allen at algernong@gmail.com or visit http://www.cedarparkneighbors.org/.

Malcolm X Park at 51st and Pine started hosting its annual summer jazz series last week. Performances are every other Thursday, from 7 to 9 p.m. until September (next performance is June 13). Read more about this music series here and visit the Malcolm X Park Neighbors Facebook page for more information on the upcoming performances.

Proposed draft drawing of Babylon Bistro’s storefront.

Although West Philly’s home to several excellent ethnic restaurant spots, there’s still a void of one menu offering plates that satisfy a broad range of palates. And that’s a gap Aksum Cafe and Seeds Gallery owner Saba Tedla plans to close when she opens her second eatery, Babylon Bistro at 5021-5023 Baltimore Avenue in Spring 2014.

According to Tedla, Babylon Bistro will cater to neighborhood folk who like ethnic fare but also want their “basic American food” (think specialty sandwiches). The contemporary menu as envisioned will offer small and large plate portions much like Aksum, but will cover an eclectic variety of regions and concepts that serve a diverse community.

While a lack of a “range of selection of menu” was a common complaint Tedla heard in two community discussion forums she held in developing the bistro’s concept, another was the lack of brunch and breakfast options. To that end, she plans to open Babylon Bistro for breakfast daily, as well as offer brunch on the weekends. As for serving alcohol, Tedla said the idea is to operate a BYOB spot on the onset, and that pursing a liquor license is “a long-term objective.”

“As a resident of the neighborhood, I am focused on the business void of the community and the advantage is having a better understanding of the neighborhood business needs,” she said.

But Babylon Bistro won’t only check off the food boxes. The combined lower area of 5021 and 5023 Baltimore Aves will come to a sprawling 2,000 square feet, making the bistro the second largest restaurant in the immediate neighborhood and the first largest on the Baltimore corridor, said Tedla. She plans to implement an open floor plan in Babylon’s scheme with floor-to-ceiling bi-fold doors that’ll serve as windows—a chic décor that “completely opens the space” and can comfortably sit 75-100 patrons without much of a wait.

Although Tedla has a strong vision in mind for Babylon Bistro, she does note the menu and concept are still in the development stages, and will be fully fleshed out once a chef is identified. She is currently interviewing potential candidates, as well as pursuing other options.

Craig King of Ventures Abby Real Estate also plans to operate a restaurant at 5037 Baltimore Avenue, not far from Babylon’s pending home. While King hasn’t returned interview requests, we do know from Cedar Park Neighbors it will possibly be a 75-seat sit-down restaurant with weekend music entertainment.

–Annamarya Scaccia

Two cool things are coming back this summer beginning Thursday, June 6. Firstly, the Heart & Soul project that debuted last year and that features artfully decorated pianos installed in public spaces for anyone to play, is launching tomorrow in Clark Park (43rd & Baltimore) at 3 p.m. This time there will be four pianos, all decorated by artist Joe Boruchow and all placed in Clark Park, two in the northern section of the park (Clark Park “A”) and two in the southern section (Clark Park “B”).

The pianos will stay in the park only until June 16, so don’t miss the opportunity to check them out and play them (if you can). Joe’s work may be familiar to many locals. This spring we snapped a photo of his art piece, called Valentine 2013, pasted at the corner of 44th and Spruce:

More information about Joe Boruchow and his work is available here.

The Thursday edition of Clark Park’s Farmers’ Market also returns tomorrow. It will be open 3-7 p.m. The Thursday market will operate through November. For more information on vendors at Clark Park Farmers’ Market visit: http://universitycity.org/clark-park-farmers-market

A serious fire was reported this afternoon at a junkyard in Southwest Philadelphia. West Philly Local readers reported seeing lots of dark smoke in that area and some smoke was visible in the sky from as far as 42nd and Walnut Streets. The fire broke out around 4 p.m. at Automated Waste Solutions Inc. at 1620 South 49th Street (near 49th St and Grays Ave), 6ABC reports. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

A film crew from the documentary project El Sistema USA records Play On, Philly! students performing at Saint Francis De Sales last year. (Photo by West Philly Local)

Play On, Philly!, the vaunted, tuition-free after school music education program that takes students with no musical training and teaches them over a school year to perform classical music, will host a year-end concert on Wednesday, June 5, at the Please Touch! Museum (4321 Avenue of the Republic). The concert will feature 250 students from around the city, including many from West Philly’s Saint Francis de Sales School (917 S. 47th), Freire Charter School (2027 Chestnut St.) and West Philadelphia Catholic High School (45th and Chestnut).

This year’s show, entitled Beethoven Alive!, begins at 6 p.m.

The year-end gala is one of several Play On, Philly! concerts scheduled for the coming weeks. The others include:

St. Francis de Sales Choir Concert  – A salute to music from popular films.
Sunday, June 9, 2013 • 3:00 p.m.
Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church (5620 Wyalusing Avenue)

St. Francis de Sales Large Ensemble Concert  (final concert of the year)
Saturday, June 15, 2013 • 2:00 p.m.
West Philadelphia Catholic High School (4501 Chestnut Street)

Play On, Philly! began in 2010 at the Saint Francis de Sales School with 110 kids ages 6-13. The idea was to bring enrichment to their lives through music. Last spring renown jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis stopped by Saint Francis de Sales to talk to students in the program. Students go through a rigorous training program that includes three hours daily of after school instruction by some of the city’s best teaching musicians. Play On, Philly! hopes to establish a program in every city neighborhood.

– Mike Lyons

Folks who’ve strolled through Clark Park’s north circle on Sunday are probably wondering why people were whipping and rolling around shiny orbs. Well, we have your answer: they’re playing pétanque.

Every Sunday, players from West Philly to as far as Harrisburg gather to try their hand at the French sport of “boules” (or “balls”) as members of the new Philadelphia Pétanque Meetup group, the first of its kind in the city. Originated in 1900s, pétanque (pronounced ‘pay-tonk’) is a teamed game in which players toss metal globes in hopes of landing it as close to the “cochonnet”—a smaller wooden ball—as possible. According to Bill Craig, one of the Meetup’s organizers, pétanque is a “growing phenomenon” at the park, with the group sometimes drawing nearly 20-30 athletes a game.

“Pétanque is a game that appeals to men and women, old and young, all races and ethnic backgrounds, [and] professional backgrounds,” said the 43-year-old architect who launched the Meetup with West Philly residents Delphine Dahan and Matt Pagett in December. “The game is a bridge of sorts that links a very wide variety of people who would otherwise probably not interact with each other.”

Photos by Annamarya Scaccia/West Philly Local

When West Philly Local stopped by Clark Park on May 26 to check out the game, we found a diverse clutch of 12 pétanque players sectioned into three games laughing and engaging in light-hearted repartee while focused keenly on their next move. The social banter—meets—competitive spirit is due in large part to the sport’s pace and close proximity, said Craig, allowing a “nice sense of friendship and community” to form.

“I haven’t really been able to pinpoint why, but pétanque has a beguiling ability to relieve stress and allow one to relax,” he said. “It seems to be the perfect combination of cerebral and physical, not excessively taxing in either way but sufficiently engaging and demanding to be consistently stimulating and enjoyable.”

According to Craig, the organizers hope to establish an official Philadelphia pétanque club in the near future, joining other large metropolises like New York, Austin and Portland—all of which have clubs listed as members of Federation of Pétanque U.S.A, the game’s official governing body. There are also plans in the works to host a weekend-long local pétanque tournament in the fall, said Craig.

Philadelphia Pétanque meets every Sunday at 11 a.m. in Clark Park’s north circle, and every Wednesday or Thursday evening at 6 p.m. on University of Pennsylvania’s campus at 40^th and Walnut Streets. To join or RSVP for a game, visit https://www.philadelphiapetanque.com/.

– Annamarya Scaccia