Heading into a long, three-day holiday weekend, one must always make a checklist of what’s needed for that optimal Philly Memorial Day chill hang—gassing up the ATV, making sure my old muffler is at its absolute grimiest for maximum, silly ‘vroom’ sound and reminding all of my fellow ATV riders to do the same before we head out for that long journey up Broad Street, then down Broad Street again while driving on a few sidewalks for good measure. It is an insanely stupid pastime that I have, but it’s something to look forward to… right?
Speaking of mindlessly driving during the Memorial Day Weekend, Chickie’s and Pete’s will pay the tolls for all drivers traveling to the Jersey Shore and pass through the Eastbound Egg Harbor Toll Plaza on the Atlantic City Expressway from 5 to 6 p.m. on Friday. I don’t know that I’m comfortable owing Chickie and-or Pete any favors. I have to think about this one. (Truth is, Chickie’s & Pete’s founder Pete Ciarocchi’s father and uncles all did military service, and this is his way of honoring his family for their service.)
Hey, someone ask South West Philly native Lee Daniels – producer, writer, director – what his problem is. No sooner than we hear that the man behind films such as ‘Precious’ and series as ‘Empire’ was getting ready to start filming his new scary Netflix thriller ‘Demon House’ in and around downtown Philly, he goes and takes his marbles (and Mo’Nique, Glenn Close, Andra Day and Rob Morgan) and heads for Pittsburg.
Time Magazine’s 100 Must Influential People of the Year list was published and Philadelphia made a huge showing with writer Quinta Brunson from ‘Abbot Elementary’, drummer/Oscar awarded director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Grammy winning R&B album star of 2022, Jazmine Sullivan. Fun.
Pottstown’s beloved Manatawny Still Works dropped word that they’ll open several new tasting rooms for their original recipe small-batch spirits and cocktails this autumn. While Ardmore’s Lancaster Avenue gets their MSW by early fall, expect another saloon-not-saloon on N. Lee Street in Fishtown to drop.
Surely you’ll read my Nine Inch Nails live review from Tuesday night at The Met Philly. If you’re a Trent Reznor fanatic, or even someone who solely lines their clothing closets and hangers with all black apparel (like me), it is a must. That said, as I happened to drive up North Broad to the Met with a friend, it was the first time that we bothered to try to park across the street from the venue. That is, until we got hit with the price tag: $90 (prices are not available on any signage), a number that drove many from the parking lot, and doubly causing even more of a clusterf**k than a sold-out show would normally. To quote a Trent Reznor song here, “Help Me, I’m in Hell.”
Opera Philadelphia just got a fresh Chairman in the one-time President of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, who starts the gig on June 1. If you can sing, sing out ‘Figaro’ really loud.
To go with Metro’s monthly bilingual issue that drops this week, make sure you grab a cocktail at Brooklyn Bowl Philly’s first-ever Forever Selena jam on May 27. DJ Erick Santero put together this debut dance party to the late, great, Latin music great. And with Selena celebrated already with a mini-mural at Tina’s Tacos, Fishtown is already in love with her.
Unmasked Philly: David Jamison
Philadelphia bassist, composer and producer David Jamison’s new album, ‘Late Bloomer’ is a love letter to his hometown. Along with being recorded live at MYNK Studios, mastered at Rittenhouse Soundworks and featuring an all-Philly cast of characters (his band, The Smooth Show, vocalists Elle Gyandoh and Dain Saint, along with MCs RC and Asha-Lé Davis), the last track on ‘Late Bloomer’ is ‘Tuesdays at TIME,’ a 15-minute jam ode to the Sansom Street jazz salon where he plays often.
Fresh off a release show for ‘Late Bloomer’ at The Royal in Glenside (to say nothing of his recent session work as bassist on Swan Daley’s new single ‘Brooklyn Queens,’ Jamison is a man of means, even in his daytime existence.
“When I’m not playing music, I’m actually an engineer by day (Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Drexel), so I am admittedly a big science nerd,” says Jamison. “I have also been getting into gardening recently, trying to test out my green thumb.”
Raised in nearby Yeadon by his mother who worked at the U.S. Postal Service for 35 years before retiring in 2020—“She’s my biggest inspiration, the one who originally pushed me into learning how to play an instrument”— Jamison tells Boldface that the very favorite thing that he’s watched recently is the Questlove-directed debut documentary ‘Summer of Soul’.
“Seeing all of that Black excellence and Black joy in one place just warmed my heart. And I’m so glad the people who were there got to tell their stories so that they are now documented,” says the bassist. This works out great as one of the highlights of his life was meeting Questlove after a DJ set that he did in West Philly back in 2010 and getting him to sign Jamison’s drumsticks.
“That is my most memorable moment aside from getting married and earning my Ph.D.,” states Jamison who digs, in his spare time, cooking, hiking, and “spending quality time with my lovely wife and our adorable cat, Winston,” with whom the bassist posed for Boldface in matching bow ties.
I hate playing favorites, but matching bow ties makes this my favorite Unmasked Philly photo. Consider the bar raised.
