Arthur Prysock | All That Philly Jazz

On September 30, 1967, the 2nd Quaker City Jazz Festival became the first event hosted by the Spectrum.

The two-day festival was produced by Herb Spivak, co-owner of the legendary Showboat. According to Joe McAllister:

Spivak went to Ed Snider and company (the Flyers were still in their infancy and the Sixers played at the Convention Center) and said he’d like to book a two-day jazz concert. Initially rebuffed because the Snider group didn’t believe a jazz bill would sell. Spivak replied, “That’s my problem.”

Spivak booked 10 groups a day and once again sold out the concert in two days. Dizzy Gillespie opened up the Spectrum with “God Bless America” followed by performances by Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck, Sarah Vaughan and Flip Wilson among others.

The lineup also included Cannonball Adderley, Astrud Gilberto, Groove Holmes and Arthur Prysock.

The Spectrum formally closed on October 31, 2009. Demolition was completed in May 2011.

Opened in 1950, the Flamingo Apartments was the first interracial apartment building in Philadelphia.

The complex was one block from Mercantile Hall which played host to jazz legends, including Cliff Brown and Fats Navarro, and a short walk to the legendary Golden Strip.

In an interview with All About Jazz, WRTI Jazz Host Bob Perkins recalled:

A year ago, I did a short documentary on Bird (Charlie Parker), and found out about the apartment he lived in at Broad and Stiles near Girard Avenue.

[…]

Curiously, I lived in the same building 30 years later. Bird was there in 1952 to 1953. I lived there in 1980, between marriages. And, believe it or not, Dave Brubeck also lived there! He told me that, personally. It was called the Flamingo apartments—a hot place to live at the time. Arthur Prysock lived there.

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