Jazz Venues

TnT Monroe’s

Located on 15th and Arch streets in Center City, the jazz spot was owned by Tommy “TnT” Monroe.

tnt-owner-mr-tommy-tnt-monroe-85

A bandleader, Monroe was part of the Philadelphia ecosystem that nurtured young musicians like Lee Morgan and Reggie Workman. In Jeffrey S. McMillan’s paper, “A Musical Education: Lee Morgan and the Philadelphia Jazz Scene of the 1950’s,” Workman recounted:

There was a very healthy music scene in the community taverns at the time, aside from the fact that there were people like Tommy Monroe who ran music workshops for young musicians, or Owen Marshall’s big band workshop with new music he wrote and that rehearsed in living rooms, taverns, ballrooms, any place that had a piano and chairs and where we could make music.

The house band at TnT Monroe’s included Sid Simmons, Charles Fambrough and Craig McIver. Tenor saxophonist Bootsie Barnes (pictured) ran the jam sessions.

TNT Monroe's - Bootsie Barnes

Jazz Venues

Second Office Club

Formerly the Moonglow, owners Ernie and Evelyn Harris renamed it the Second Office because “it was a visited by Center City office workers after five-thirty.”

Dizzy Gillespie’s favorite drummer, Philly native Mickey Roker, played here.  In 1980, the jazz spot hosted a luncheon for then-First Lady Rosalind Carter.

Second Office Club

Jazz Venues

Zanzibar Blue

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Owned by brothers, Robert and Benjamin Bynum, Zanzibar Blue first opened in 1990 on 11th Street in Washington Square West. In 1996, the club moved to the Bellevue on the Avenue of the Arts, where it played host to jazz and blues greats, including Nancy Wilson, Lou Rawls, Grover Washington, Jr., Jimmy Scott, Shirley Horn, Ahmad Jamal, Steve Tyrell, Chick Corea, Arturo Sandoval and Chuck Mangione.

Zanzibar Blue Collage - Broad Street

Smooth jazz radio station WJJZ broadcast Sunday brunches from Philadelphia’s premier jazz club. Zanzibar Blue closed on April 29, 2007.

Jazz Venues

Zanzibar Blue

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Owned by brothers, Robert and Benjamin Bynum, Zanzibar Blue first opened in 1990 on 11th Street in Washington Square West.

Zanzibar Blue Jazz - 2.24.15

In 1996, Zanzibar Blue moved to Avenue of the Arts.

Jazz Venues

Woodbine Club

The Woodbine Club was a private membership club that held regular weekend entertainment. The club was located on North 12th Street between Thompson and Master, less than 500 feet from John Coltrane’s apartment on North 12th Street.

John Coltrane's Apartment - 2.24.15

Jazz clubs were open until 2am. Jazz musicians would hang out at the Woodbine Club from 3am to 7am. Musicians would have jam sessions where they would hone their craft and network to get gigs.

Saxophonist Odean Pope recalled:

I think the first time I heard Trane was around 1954. There was a place on 12th Street called the Woodbine Club. During that period people like Jimmy Oliver, Jimmy Heath, Red Garland, Shuggie Rose, Philly Joe Jones, those were the pioneer musicians during that period. And it was a place, an after hours place where they had entertainment, say from say twelve o’clock until around five in the morning. That was like Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It was a sort of collaboration place where all of the musicians would come and exchange ideas and jobs. So this particular night it was Hassan Ibn Ali, Donald Bailey – some very fine percussion. They had sort of invited me along to go with them. And Trane, Jimmy Oliver, Jimmy Heath, Wilbur Cameron, Bill Barron, all of the musicians came there after they got off work and that was the most enlightened experience in my whole life, I think, of seeing so many wonderful musicians come together collectively and exchange ideas as well as perform.

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Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Preservation, Jazz Landmarks

Heath Brothers’ Family Home

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In his autobiography, “I Walked with Giants,” Jimmy Heath lovingly recalled the jam sessions in his parents’ basement that attracted the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane.

Heath Family Home - Feature

Benny Golson recounted:

Enough cannot be said about Mr. and Mrs. Heath, his mother and father, who continuously put up with all of us who used to come to their home in South Philadelphia, remove all of the furniture in the living and dining room, then begin our rehearsal. No matter what we did, how much noise (music) we made or how late we did it, they were always our champions. It was their support that, in part, enabled us to grow. And grow we did.

And grow they did. Both Heath and Golson are NEA Jazz Masters.

Jazz Venues

Powelton Cafe & Musical Bar

The Powelton Café & Musical Bar was located in the Hotel Powelton in West Philly. Saxophonist and blues singer Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson performed here on June 20, 1953.

Powelton Cafe - August 30, 2019

Jazz Venues

Painted Bride Art Center

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Founded in 1969 by a group of visual artists, Painted Bride Art Center was part of the Alternative Space movement of the 1960s and ’70s. In an era when underrepresented artists—women, gays and lesbians, people of color, the disabled, etc.—struggled to gain recognition from commercial institutions, the Alternative Space movement was dedicated to maximizing cultural diversity and visibility in the arts. Within a small network of organizations, Painted Bride Art Center strove to grant artists of every stripe full control over their work and a platform for their vision.

Its name derives from its original location, a former bridal shop on South Street.

Painted Bride - South Street

The Bride began as an effort to challenge modern assumptions about art and give every artist the platform they deserved. Today, the nonprofit is an innovative, internationally-lauded arts institution that remains strongly rooted in its mission and the needs of Philadelphia’s creative communities.

45 years later, the Bride remains an artist-centered space, fully committed to the creative process, the artist’s role in the community and artistic diversity.

For information on jazz concerts and other events, join the Painted Bride Art Center mailing list.

Jazz Venues

Natalie’s Lounge

Daniel Rubin, a staff writer with the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote:

Natalie’s has been going for more than 60 years, since it was just another light in a constellation that included the Powelton Bar & Club, the Click, the 421 Club, Treys, the Downbeat, Peps, and so on.

John Coltrane played here. So did Hank Mobley, Tony Williams, Johnny Coles, Shirley Scott, Philly Joe Jones, Sam Reed, Mickey Roker and Grover Washington Jr.

Music director, drummer Lex Humphries, lived across the street from Natalie’s. The job now belongs to Lucky Thompson, who has run the weekly jam sessions for seven years.

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