All the world takes to the stage this week.

Byline: BUZZWORTHY The Register-Guard

This week brings two examples of the good that can result, musically speaking, from the cross-pollination of cultures and the complicated beast that is American history.

Two band leaders with day jobs will make stops in Lane County, starting today as Guelel Kumba plays a solo set at Papa's Soul Food Kitchen.

Kumba's full band, Afrissippi, will play the Axe and Fiddle on Saturday. As a bonus the West African-born chef with a restaurant in Oxford, Miss., will cook a meal for anyone who ventures to the Axe kitchen in Cottage Grove.

Afrissippi combines Kumba's early musical influences as a member of the nomadic Fulani people with his later appreciation of Mississippi blues.

Similarly, Rupa Marya has found a way to blend the sounds of her family's globetrotting - or call it nomadic - existence. She was born to Indian parents in California, but she spent her formative years exploring three continents.

Kumba may be a chef, here to share his food with locals, but Marya will share her other vocation in a less direct manner. The San Francisco-based physician says her work with patients is a big influence on the music her band, the April Fishes, presents.

Unfortunately, both shows are Saturday. However, if you choose Rupa and the April Fishes at the WOW Hall over Afrissippi, you will have a second chance to see Afrissippi on Sept. 12 as part of the Eugene Celebration.

Also this week: a rare opportunity tonight to see the Eugene Symphony for free.

The symphony is looking for a new director. You might still be able to pick up a ticket today at the Hult Center to see part of conductor Nir Kabaretti's audition process as he leads the orchestra through works by W.A. Mozart, Franz Schubert, P.I. Tchaikovsky and more.