Music critics' picks

"I want to kiss every pixel on your face . . . but you can't do that on a video chat" suggest groove-centric hipsters Eclectica on "Streaming Video Soul," the title track of their sly and snappy debut album, coming out the day before their local gig. Percussionist/singer/rapper Roy "Futureman" Wooten (of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones), electric violinist Tracy Silverman (ex-Turtle Island String Quartet) and bassist Steve Forrest (also in Wooten Brothers & Friends) comprise this dazzling mashup of funk, jazz, rock, hip-hop and hoedown. Stocked up with playful sonic and lyrical allusions, too, their music is "very organic and the intuitive feeling is strong," assesses Wooten. "We're creating on the spot so it's definitely in the jazz tradition. But it has a little bit of that [Jimi Hendrix] Band of Gypsies feeling too."

World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, $18, 215-222-1400, www.worldcafelive.com, www.ecleticatheband.com.

- Jonathan Takiff

The third annual Global Fusion Festival closes tomorrow, and the five-day celebration will wrap with a stellar five-act lineup from 4-8 p.m. R&B veterans Bel Biv DeVoe headline. The group featuring Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe was one of the most successful to emerge from the 1990s, with more than 4 million records sold worldwide. Joining them will be R&B singer Bobby Valentino. Representing for merengue will be New York-based Oro Solido, a band headed by Dominican-born Raul Acosta, and Amarfis & La Banda de Atakke. Gospel singer James Fortune rounds out this eclectic mix.

Great Plaza at Penn's Landing, 121 N. Columbus Blvd., festival events begin at noon tomorrow, free, 215-636-3322, www.globalfusionfestival.com.

- James Johnson

If there's one line that sums up Jessica Hopper's book "The Girls' Guide to Rocking," it's Patti Smith's quote: "I wasn't born to be a spectator." Hopper, who's played in bands since she was 15 and has written for everyone from Spin to This American Life, wrote the book for all girls who were told that their hands were too small for the bass, who are afraid of music stores, or who just want to write that one rad song. It's not so much about being a rock star as it is about just simply trying to make your own noise. Bring your daughters, sisters and moms to Hopper's reading, which doubles as a meet-and-greet for Girls Rock Philly.

T&P Gallery, 1143 S. 9th St., 6:30 p.m. Sunday, free, all ages, 267-687-7662, www.tandpfineart.com.

- Sara Sherr

Baltimore-based guitarist Carl Filipiak's heroes run the gamut of six-string idols. He leads the Jimi Jazz Band, which takes a jazz approach to the Hendrix catalog, while his tune "One for Wes" pays tribute to Wes Montgomery, including a sly nod to the jazz legend's own rock excursion on the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby." Filipiak navigates the treacherous waters between contemporary bop, smooth jazz and rock, his shimmering cool tying the divergent strands together. He'll be joined by keyboardist Benjie Porecki, saxophonist Paul Hannah, drummer Frank Young and bassist Steve Zerlin.

Chris' Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom St., 8 and 10 tonight, $12, 215-568-3131, www.chrisjazzcafe.com.

- Shaun Brady

Most people first heard orchestral music through lush, symphonic movie scores. Returning to the Mann after two weeks in Vail, Colo., the Philadelphia Orchestra will turn to music by some of the great scorers from Tinseltown. There'll be plenty of familiar cinema chunks, including John Williams' theme-filled suite from "Star Wars." Welshman Grant Llewellyn, holding conducting posts with the North Carolina Symphony and the Handel and Haydn Society, will take the podium for this concert. The major work on the program is the Violin Concerto by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Soloist is the brilliant, Canadian violinist Lara St. John, who since her Curtis Institute days has performed all over the world and issued a host of CDs. For the concerto and this soloist, performing on a 1779 Guadagnini, this one gets thumbs way up.

Mann Center for the Performing Arts, 52nd Street and Parkside Avenue, 8 p.m. Thursday, $30-$50, $10 lawn, 215-893-1999, www.manncenter.org.

- Tom Di Nardo