Category Archives: Cultural Heritage

Advocacy, Cultural Heritage

2019 NEA Jazz Masters

Since 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts has awarded Jazz Masters Fellowships, the nation’s highest honor in jazz, to individuals who have made significant contributions to America’s classical music.

2019 NEA Jazz Masters

The 2019 NEA Jazz Masters are:

  • Bob Dorough — vocalist, composer, arranger, pianist
  • Abdullah Ibrahim – pianist, composer
  • Maria Schneider — composer, arranger, bandleader
  • Stanley Crouch — jazz historian, author, critic, co-founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center

NEA Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter said:

The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to celebrate jazz, an art form born in the United States that has since been embraced worldwide. These four new NEA Jazz Masters have been key players in jazz throughout their lives and careers, ensuring that the music will continue to grow and reach new audiences.

The NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert will be held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Monday April 15, 2019 at 8:00pm ET. Hosted by Kennedy Center Artistic Director Jason Moran, the concert will include remarks by 2019 NEA Jazz Masters and feature performances by, among others, Terence Blanchard, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kurt Elling, Bill Goodwin, Cleave Guyton, Noah Jackson, Sheila Jordan, Grace Kelly and Christian McBride.

The concert will be livestreamed on the National Endowment for the Arts and Kennedy Center websites. For more information, go here.

Advocacy, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Preservation

Philly Jazz Legacy Project Social and Scanning Party

You are invited to the Spring Social and Scanning Party hosted by Documenting & Interpreting the Philly Jazz Legacy Project, Jazz Bridge and Philadelphia Jazz Project on Thursday, April 11, 2019, 6-8 p.m., at the Philadelphia Clef Club for Jazz & Performing Arts.

Please come and share photographs, clippings, posters, concert programs, etc., of the jazz scene back in the day.

Spring Social and Scanning Party Flyer - Clef Club

The event is free but you must register here.

400 Years of African American History, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Preservation

Marvin Gaye Forever

Motown legend Marvin Gaye was born on April 2, 1939. To celebrate what would have been the 80th birthday of the “Prince of Soul,” the United States Postal Service will release the Marvin Gaye Commemorative Forever® Stamp.

Marvin Gaye - Forever Stamp2

In a Facebook post, USPS wrote:

Dear Music Fans,

We’re honoring the life, legend and sound of Marvin Gaye (1939 – 1984) with the newest stamp in our Music Icons series. Pictured here in front of Washington D.C.’s @howardtheatre, where he graced the stage, our stamp features a portrait of Gaye inspired by historic photographs.

With hits like “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” and “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby,” Gaye helped shape the buoyant sound of the Motown record label in the 1960s. Released in 1971, his expansive masterwork, “What’s Going On,” is widely considered one of the greatest recordings in the history of American popular music.

Gaye’s presence and unique sound will live on forever through his music and now through the mail. Send some soul by including the Marvin Gaye stamp on your envelope.

The Marvin Gaye Commemorative Forever® Stamp will be unveiled at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. You can watch the dedication ceremony on the USPS Facebook page at www.facebook.com/USPS on Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at 11 a.m. PDT.

Jazz saxophonist Elan Trotman will be present at the celebration. Later that day, he will drop a tribute album, “Dear Marvin,” a collection of ten of the iconic crooner’s best songs.

Marvin Gaye - Elan Trotman

Trotman told JazzCorner.com:

It’s been an honor to be able to share my interpretations of some of Marvin’s classics. As with all cover projects, I made an extra effort to learn lyrics and storylines for each composition in order to truly understand his interpretations and performances on each song.

You’ve got to give it up for Marvin Gaye who is forever stamped in our hearts and minds.

Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Preservation, Jazz Venues

Club Alabam

Located on the southeast corner of Broad and Bainbridge, Club Alabam opened in 1925 during the Jazz Age.

Club Alabam

Like the famed Harlem nightspots after which it was fashioned, Club Alabam was racially segregated. Black performers played for white audiences; Black patrons were barred.

The club was in business during Prohibition. Also like the Harlem gangsters who owned nightclubs, the owners had repeated brushes with Philadelphia police for liquor law violations.

Club Alabam closed in 1928.

Cultural Heritage

Happy New Year

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U9zXXRiTVA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqnKk0OnoH0

Advocacy, Cultural Heritage, The Villages at Whitemarsh

Citizen Salon

I am an advocate for the arts. I believe in the power of art to transform lives and ignite social change. Last summer, the Arthur Ross Gallery invited citizens to select an artwork from the University of Pennsylvania Art Collection to be included in a crowdsourced installation, Citizen Salon.

Citizen Salon

I was among 600+ people who responded. The citizen curators included art historians, Penn faculty, artists, scientists and ordinary citizens. I selected a portrait of Marian Anderson, the first African American soloist to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera. The top 50 picks are now on view, including Robert Savon Pious’ portrait of the world-renowned contralto.

Marian Anderson - Faye Anderson - Citizen Curator

I was asked to provide commentary for the label and audio tour which you can listen to here.

Citizen Salon will be on view at the Arthur Ross Gallery through March 24, 2019.

UPDATE: I’m the featured citizen curator on the Arthur Ross Gallery blog.

Cultural Heritage, Jazz Venues

Sahara Hotel Supper Club

The Desert Room was located in the Sahara Hotel, a Green Book site.

Sahara Club - Sahara Hotel

The jazz spot featured local favorites, including Jimmy Heath and Bootsie Barnes. Billy Paul met Kenny Gamble while performing at the Desert Room. Paul recalled:

I was singing in a jazz club called the Sahara. He had a record shop right round the corner and I was singing with a trio at the Sahara club on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He came over and said, “I am starting a record company and I would like to sign you.” Low and behold I took all the material I sung every weekend and I did an album in three and a half hours — a whole album. I had this album, and I produced it — me and my wife.

And we gave him this album called “Feelin’ Good at the Cadillac Club” to help start the record company and that was the album that helped start it up. I was singing totally jazz then, but when I heard The Beatles and heard the gospel influence and everything I just said I can make jazz with R&B.

Gamble and Leon Huff wrote and produced “Me and Mrs. Jones” for Billy Paul. And the rest is history.

Advocacy, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Preservation, Historic Preservation

Veterans Day 2018

In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as Armistice Day:

To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.

November 11 commemorates the armistice agreement Allied powers signed with Germany bringing hostilities to an end on the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918.

In June 1954, Congress passed legislation changing the name from Armistice Day to Veterans Day, a day to honor veterans of all wars. On October 8, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first Veterans Day Proclamation.

Just six years earlier, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order No. 9981 establishing the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. The EO signaled the government’s commitment to integrate the military.

United Service Organizations (USO) policy expressly banned racial discrimination. However, there were separate facilities for African American servicemen in the Jim Crow South and segregated North. In Philadelphia, USO sites for African Americans included Parker Hall and South Broad Street USO. Billie Holiday entertained the soldiers at both locations.

Billie Holiday - South Broad Street USO

Parker Hall was on the top floor of the Parker Building.

Parker Hall - Germantown CDC

The Parker Building is now home to the ACES Museum whose mission is to preserve the history of World War II veterans and restore Parker Hall as a functioning USO for black veterans and their families. The ACES Museum is headquarters of the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Association of Black Veterans.

For more information, visit www.acesmuseum.online.

Advocacy, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Preservation, Historic Preservation, Lee Morgan

Philadelphia Jazz Summit 2018

The inaugural Philadelphia Jazz Summit will be held November 2-3, 2018. Spearheaded by jazz bassist Gerald Veasley, the event will bring together musicians, jazz enthusiasts, advocates, funders, and the arts and culture community.

Veasley, president of Jazz Philadelphia, said in a statement:

The time has come for Philadelphia to be recognized as the world-class jazz destination it is. Philadelphia has been fertile soil for jazz for over 100 years. The city has served as a launching pad for the careers of legends such as John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Lee Morgan, Melody Gardot, Christian McBride, Grover Washington, Jr., Sun Ra and many more.

Veasley added:

Jazz Philadelphia is here to provide more opportunities for the next generation of musicians to play here, stay here, and share their talent with the world. I’ve had a wonderful career as a Philadelphia-based musician, and I want to ensure that others can do the same.

The schedule includes speakers, workshops, and panel discussions that cover a wide range of topics, including applying for grants and residencies, educating artists and audiences, and playing in unconventional spaces. I’m on the panel, “The Philadelphia Story.” I’ll talk about ongoing project to document Philly’s jazz spots from A to Z, from the Aqua Lounge to Zanzibar Blue.

All That Philly Jazz - Aqua Lounge to Zanzibar Blue2

Nnenna Freelon, a jazz singer, composer, producer, arranger and six-time Grammy® nominee, is the keynote speaker. Freelon was selected in recognition of her cultural activism and commitment to social justice.

Nnenna Freelon

The Philadelphia Jazz Summit is free but you must register.

Advocacy, Cultural Heritage

27th Philadelphia Film Festival

The 27th annual Philadelphia Film Festival kicks off this week with the screening of Ben is Back starring Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges as mother and son who are grappling with a history of addiction.

The story is ripped from the headlines as Philadelphia struggles to deal with the opioid drama unfolding on the streets of Kensington.

Executive Director J. Andrew Greenblatt said in a statement:

From our powerful, socially relevant and incredibly timely Opening Night screening of Ben is Back to the definitive look at Philadelphia music legend Teddy Pendergrass for our Closing Night selection, and the incredibly diverse line-up in-between, the films premiering in this year’s Festival will be discussed and remembered for a long time to come.

Artistic Director Michael Lerman added:

Andrew and I have been doing this together for ten years and I love that we continue to find fresh, unique films that delight and challenge audiences. I’m so proud of the program the team has put together and I can’t wait to share the adventure we have in store for you.

What’s in store is a lineup of more than 100 films over 11 days. As a curator of art, technology and social change content, my must-see films include:

  • Studio 54
  • If Beale Street Could Talk
  • The Price of Everything
  • Bodied
  • General Magic
  • Empathy, Inc.
  • Green Book

The film is based on a true friendship. Art also imitates life. Before passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African American motorists used the “Green Book” travel guide to vacation without humiliation.

Green Book Collage

The Closing Night film, Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don’t Know Me, tells the untold story of Philadelphia’s legendary R&B singer whose “For Women Only” concerts were the stuff of, well, legends.

To view the full schedule and purchase tickets, go here.