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.

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