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If you're a student of musical history, or a writer whose job is to research cultural events, you'll learn that the infectious polyrhythms of Cuban music were influenced by traditions brought to the Caribbean by West African slaves.

And you can hear it for yourself when Congolese-Angolan salsa icon Ricardo Lemvo and his Los Angeles-based band, Makina Loca, perform at the Rosslyn Spectrum this weekend.

The concert is presented by Planet Arlington, a county program designed "to explore issues of immigration, globalization and the environment through the lens of the arts and humanities." The organization's second season kicked off in the fall with the free Planet Arlington World Music Festival at the Netherlands Carillon and continues into May with varied activities, including ticketed performances at the Rosslyn Spectrum.

Lemvo is a true embodiment of the Planet Arlington spirit, equally at home singing in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Lingala, Kikongo and Swahili. He has established himself as an innovative musician who can blend Latin and pan-African styles, sprinkling in rumba, merengue or Afro-Portuguese elements.

Lemvo also has performed at prestigious festivals throughout Europe, the Americas and Australia. His songs have been performed and recorded by Latin stars including Colombia's Joe Arroyo and Cuba's Orquesta Reve. Lemvo and his band appeared in the 1998 movie "Dance With Me," starring Vanessa Williams.

Lemvo, born in Kinshasa, the capital of what then was Zaire, received his first English lessons by learning song lyrics. The first bands he played in covered American R&B tunes. But Cuban music surrounded him, whether on the radio or booming from the bar next to his home. When Lemvo was a teenager, his family moved to Los Angeles, where he ultimately founded Makina Loca (a conscious misspelling of the Spanish words for "crazy machine") in 1990.

Regular gigs in Los Angeles made the group an area favorite. Respected guests, including rumba singer Sam Mangwana, helped launch a self-released debut album, "Tata Masambo," in 1996. Two years later, Lemvo released "Mambo Yo Yo" on the Putumayo label.

Also in 1998, the American World Music Awards honored Lemvo & Makina Loca as Emerging Artist of the Year, and the band moved onto the international music scene. "S¿o Salvador" came next, in 2000, along with extensive touring. "Ay Valeria!" (2003) and last year's "Isabela" round out the Lemvo catalogue.

For the latter, Lemvo learned to sing in Turkish for the track "Elbette," adding yet another language to his musical arsenal. The CD's global repertoire also includes "Lollobrigida," a song written by the late Congolese guitarist Tino Baroza to honor the Italian movie star Gina Lollobrigida, and a duet with Cape Verdean chanteuse Maria de Barros on "Serenata Angolana," a Lemvo-composed tribute to his grandfather's homeland of Angola.

Geography lessons were never this much fun. But with Ricardo Lemvo as musical guide, it is a small, and happier, world after all.

-- MARIANNE MEYER

The Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre is at 1611 N. Kent St. in Arlington. Tickets for general admission seating are $20 and are available throughhttp://www.ticketmaster.comor by calling Ticketmaster at 703-573-7328. For directions and additional info, including a full list of Planet Arlington events, call 703-228-1850 or visithttp://www.planetarlington.com.

Send event suggestions tomariannemeyer@comcast.net. Please ask for the correct mailing address before sending any materials.