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A cool break from the heat gave us a pleasant evening making the walk to and from the museum a pleasure. On Fridays after 5PM, The Philadelphia Museum of Art at 26th and the Parkway presents a variety of music, wine, food, and, of course, Art.

Everyone seems to start out with a glass of wine. There are also food snacks available ranging from eight to eighteen dollars. Most drinks are eight dollars.

The Great Stair Hall is filled with little round tables covered in white table cloths. There are never enough tables to seat the crowd so people sit on both sides of the steps. For the record, marble is very hard. The steps are not meant for sitting. We went to the 2nd floor gallery where there are more tables, all empty. Of course at these tables you cannot see the band. That is okay, we came to listen to the band.

We suspect the sound might be better on the 2nd floor than on the stairs, which is counterintuitive. It seemed to us the sound was messed up during the first two songs, with the drums overwhelming any melody. The sound man was back and forth making adjustments and whether it was his tinkering or our reaching the second floor, they sounded much better by the time they went into their third song.

As billed, The Fractals and Meg & the ClifTones, consisting of a guitarist, vibes, bass, drums and Meg the singer, base their jazz on the melodies of 60’s rock tunes. ‘What a Day for a Daydream’, ‘Here Comes the Sun’, and other familiar songs. The two we liked best and where everyone stood out were soaring renditions of, ‘Sunshine Superman’ and a suprising choice, ‘In A Gadda Da Vida’ which may have gone longer than the original.

Hearing these old songs in a new way, from a different perspective, makes them interesting again. Meg has a lovely voice and uses it as another instrument in the band, innovative and at times sultry. I would like to hear them again in a different setting. If you know their schedule or website let me know.

During the second set we wandered through the William Ranney exhibit. Some interesting images. I suspect he is important more because of his pre-civil war renditions of the West and other images, whose ideas became iconic to the American identity, than his skills as a painter. Which is the sub-title of the exhibit, ‘Forging an American Identity’.

Next Friday night is Philly Jazz Jam.