These heart doctors keep the beat

How many pediatric cardiologists does it take to get a funky rhythm going?

More than 30, if you're talking about the pediatric cardiology doctors and surgeons, not to mention nurses and therapists, in the Baby Blue Sound Collective - at least when they're not making actual hearts beat.

"The band has enough doctors, surgeons, and nurses to diagnose, prep, operate, and give full post-op treatment to a patient . . . and then some," says pianist and band cofounder Gil Wernovsky, associate chief of pediatric cardiology at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The Philly native will dish out a mix of blues, rock, and jazz with the band at a benefit show Monday at 6 p.m. at World Cafe Live in University City. (The band will donate $19 of the $20 door fee to six organizations that offer support to families affected by congenital heart disease.)

The Baby Blue Sound Collective, which features musicians from as far afield as Costa Rica, London, and Australia, was founded in '03 as a way for doctors to blow off steam at medical conferences. They began using their beat for good at the urging of Mona Barmash, founder of the Congenital Heart Information Network (www.tchin.org).

A Northeast Philly native, Barmash founded the nonprofit in 1996, shortly after her son, Seth, then 14, had his third surgery for congenital heart defects known as the tetralogy of Fallot. "He had a fourth when he was 17," she says. She recruited the band for benefit events last year after seeing it on YouTube.

"I knew Gil [Wernovsky] played piano, but I had no idea how amazing he was," she says.

Barmash helped the band record a benefit CD, Songs for Spencer, and organize their first World Cafe Live concert last spring.

Monday's show will feature three patients, including Seth Barmash, now 28, a music producer and guitarist whose doctor, Dick Donner, plays saxophone in the band.

"I consider it an honor to be asked to join these guys," Seth says.

Another featured player, singer Marla Defusco, 29, was treated by Wernovsky as a child - and now works with him as a pediatric cardiac intensive-care nurse. Her experiences have come in handy, especially with patients' post-operative blues.

"After having your chest cracked open, it's so hard to take a breath, to get out of bed. It's terrible," she says. "Having been that whiny brat myself, I know I can help them."

The Baby Blue Sound Collective