Get out of your comfort zone and out of your box to meet/mingle/network and brainstorm with new people who also work in the arts, entertainment or nonprofit/NGO communities.

Tuesday, Dec. 9, 6-8 pm but you can stay as long as you want.

El Toro Cantina/Busby's has the best margaritas, 20 draft beers, good food and happy hour specials. No cover and no RSVPs needed, really, but you can call us anyway if you feel like it (questions welcome): 310.657.5511.

More at levantinecenter.org and busbysonline.com.

Hosted by Noora Elkoussy/Levantine Cultural Center the second Tuesday of every month in a different location around L.A.

Bridges LA: third in the monthly series

Kiosk at the ReyKiosk is known as an Iranian Blues/Rock/Jazz band, established by a few friends in a basement in Iran, now all living abroad. The band members are Arash Sobhani (guitar & vocals), Ali Kamali (bass guitar), Ardalan Payvar (keyboards), Babak Khiavchi (guitar), Shahrouz Molaei (drums). Kiosk is often noted for its biting critical social and political, but humorous lyrics.

This month the band releases their third album, “Global Zoo” or “Bagh e Vahsh e Jahani.”

The new album features ten tracks varying in music style from Gypsy Jazz to Waltz and from Argentinean Tango to Blues. Although the music of the album is a big departure from the Underground Blues/Rock soun of the previous two Kiosk albums, the lyrics of Arash Sobhani (lead vocalist , songwriter and guitarist) continue the social commentary on a wide variety of issues affecting the daily lives of Iranians all over the world.

No Borders: by Anna-Marie Lopez de LeonThis eclectic event benefitting Doctors Without Borders includes a silent art auction with work by dozens of contributing artists including Anna-Marie Lopez de Leon, and performances by the Middle Eastern-jazz fusion group Saffron Parade Arabesque Band, Tehran’s heavy metal band TarantisT, belly dancers, deejays and much more. Pic Vicious and Killsonic will perform later in the soirée.

Shams Ensemble with Whirling Dervishes: photo by John MontgomeryIranian composer Kaykhosro Pournazeri and his classical Shams Ensemble are touring the United States this month, with concerts in San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

The Shams Ensemble performs traditional Persian, mystic Sufi, and Kurdish music with the tanbour, daf (frame drum), and percussion instruments. The vocals feature the poetry of Rumi and other Iranian bards. Shams features Kaykhosro Pournazeri, Sohrab Pournazeri and Tahmores Pournazeri.

Before the 1979 Iranian revolution, which ushered in more conservative guidelines regulating music, the Iranian composer enjoyed a career in traditional Persian music. Even when the incoming Islamic regime thwarted his musical aspirations, Pournazeri said he never gave up hope.

From October 24-26 in Hollywood, Arpa International Film Festival will screen 50 films from 21 nations, including Armenia, Australia, Canada, China, Congo, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Tobago, Trinidad, Turkey, UK, and Venezuela.

Arpa International Film Festival, which goes green in 2008, is produced by Arpa Foundation for Film, Music, and Art (AFFMA), a non-profit organization dedicated to artists exploring identity, multi-culturalism, war, exile, genocide and global empathy.

Cairo in Hollywood, the MESTO experienceAn orchestra selection of Egyptian and world music featuring Nabil Azzam, conductor, Lilit Khojayan, qanun virtuoso and Anna-Suzette Eblen, vocalist.

MESTO, the Multi-Ethnic Star Orchestra, was established to combine the traditions of many ethnic musical genres and those of Western classical traditions. Los Angeles lends itself as one of the most logical choices of cities to host this unique orchestra.

Best of Natacha Atlas: your purchase benefits LCC programmingNatacha Atlas has long been one of our favorite Arab fusion artists, though it’s been several years since we’ve seen her in Los Angeles. The London-based singer was born in Belgium of Egyptian and Moroccan heritage. She sings in Arabic, French and English. Natacha cut her teeth singing with the Transglobal Underground and has more than half a dozen solo albums to her credit. She’s also served as Good Will Ambassador for the United Nations and has always been an outspoken peace advocate.

The Silk Road Music & Dance Ensemble and the iST-West Ensemble will perform live with special guest vocalist Serpil Borazan. Featuring Rowan Storm on percussions, with Nyofu Tyson on saz, Neil Seigel on Azeri tar, Ergun Tamer on kanun and Robyn Friend performing dances of Turkey and Central Asia, plus additional musicians.

Zarbang and Banafsheh with Namah Dancers at the Wilshire Ebell. Enjoy an evening of exquisite contemporary mystical Persian music and dance. An evening of wild and whirling dance, ground-breaking drums and Rumi's evocative poetry. A collection of masters, seasoned from years together, Mirror features the Sufi dance innovator Banafsheh, her dance company NAMAH and music from the world renowned ZARBANG.

Merging contemporary dance with Sufi ritual, Persian dance & Flamenco, Banafsheh and ZARBANG take the audience on a journey into the mysteries of being alive and living from the heart, featuring Pejman Hadadi, Behnam & Reza Samani, Javid Afsari, Kelly Archbold and Bahareh Ebrahimzadeh. At the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 W. 8th St., Los Angeles 90005. Tickets & Information: 818.887.7878, 818.908.0808.

Zarbang and Banafsheh: concert of contemporary mystical music and dance

Zarbang and Banafsheh with Namah Dancers at the Wilshire Ebell. Enjoy an evening of exquisite contemporary mystical Persian music and dance. An evening of wild and whirling dance, ground-breaking drums and Rumi's evocative poetry. A collection of masters, seasoned from years together, Mirror features the Sufi dance innovator Banafsheh, her dance company NAMAH and music from the world renowned ZARBANG.

Merging contemporary dance with Sufi ritual, Persian dance & Flamenco, Banafsheh and ZARBANG take the audience on a journey into the mysteries of being alive and living from the heart, featuring Pejman Hadadi, Behnam & Reza Samani, Javid Afsari, Kelly Archbold and Bahareh Ebrahimzadeh. At the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 W. 8th St., Los Angeles 90005. Tickets & Information: 818.887.7878, 818.908.0808.

Zarbang and Banafsheh: concert of contemporary mystical music and dance