Get over those cabin fever blues and see a bit of the world at the Arab American National Museum (AANM) in Dearborn, Michigan, as it kicks off the winter/spring season of Global Thursdays with a performance from world-renowned multi-instrumentalist Bassam Saba on January 28.

The concert is also a release party for Saba's debut album, The Wonderful Land, described on his Web site as a mix of Arabic and gypsy Turkish music with hints of Western-style classical arrangement.
The winter/spring season of Global Thursdays continues through April with an eclectic schedule of film and concerts representing diverse cultures from around the world. Each program begins at 6:30 p.m.
"Global Thursdays is an extension of the annual Concert of Colors," says museum director of communications Kim Silarski. "Musical acts and films are selected to represent diverse cultures from around the world."
Global Thursdays, like the Concert of Colors summer festival, brings talent from around the world to metro Detroit with the idea of celebrating diversity and fostering unity through the arts.
The season kick-off for Global Thursdays coincides with the opening of "From Mocha to Latte: Coffee, the Arab World and the $4 Cup" at the AANM. This exhibit explores the history of coffee, from its origins in the Arab world as a crop first cultivated in Yemen, through the preeminence of Yemen's port city of Mocha as a major coffee marketplace, to the amazing popularity of coffee-based drinks and the rise of coffeehouse culture throughout the world.
Be sure to go to the AANM for a free opening reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Museum's Community Courtyard area and grab a complimentary Arabic coffee and sweet before the concert, where you can check out Bassam Saba's virtuosity with the nay, an open-ended cane flute.

The nay traces its origins back to antiquity in the Near East and may look deceptively simple to play, but it is one of the most difficult Arabic instruments to master. Saba's skill with Arabic instruments like the nay, oud, buxuq, saz, as well as violin and western classical flute, create high demand for him as a musician, conductor and music educator.
The other concerts scheduled for Global Thursdays also sound intriguing. You can check out the jazzy, high-energy fusion of the Chicago Afrobeat Project on February 25; enjoy a night of flamenco dancing and music with metro Detroit's La Chispa & Company featuring flamenco artists from around the country on March 25; and hear the fusion of Chinese and Western classical music with Xiao Dong Wei, featuring Yang Wei and Yuki Mack, on April 22.
Film fans will want to mark their calendars for Global Thursday programs featuring films you won't find at the local multiplex. February 11 brings the Michigan premiere of All About Dad, the story of a Vietnamese American family and their sometimes conflicting paths to each finding their own way in life. The 1983 film El Norte follows the story of Mayan Indians through a brutal civil war and the tale of two teenagers who flee to the North to escape the violence, screening on March 11. The series' films wrap with another Michigan premiere on April 8 with the showing of Children of Invention, an official selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival that tells the story of two homeless children orphaned by the disappearance of their mother.
Global Thursday concert tickets are $10 and tickets for films in the series are $6. You can purchase tickets at the door, or order advance tickets online (online sales end at 5 p.m. the day prior to the show).
Note: "Where I live" posts are part of a series of periodic stories about special events and people in, and around, metro Detroit. "Where I live" posts are stories I'll post in addition to my regular schedule of stories about attractions around the larger Midwestern region. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
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