Philly sure has some jazz hands.
April 2023 is officially “Philly Celebrates Jazz” month, where music lovers can enjoy 100+ indoor and outdoor shows, parties and readings across the city. This is combined with April’s national Jazz Appreciation Month, giving the city lot of legend to celebrate.
Philly can expect everything from live jazz performances at Settlement School of Music to go-go dancing/funky jazz DJ jams at the Trestle Inn to Jamaaldeen Tacuma and the Brotherhood Collective making the most of free jazz, to jazz-inspired block parties, spoken word poetry tributes, and more.
“Philadelphia is the birthplace of some of the most notable and transformative figures in jazz history,” Mayor Jim Kenney said last week. “By bringing people together in celebration of our jazz heritage, this April, we are both honoring the many contributions of the jazz community and appreciating the vibrant jazz scene that thrives to this day.”
While the full schedule for “Philly Celebrates Jazz” can be found online, here are a few highlights.
This weekend, April 8, transgender artist and cultural organizer Sweet Corey-Bey hosts a Clark Park gathering, Jazz Geneaologies: Spring Sounds and Vinyl Swap, with everything from a listening session for the local jazz classic, “Sounds of Liberation: Unreleased 1973” to a live show from Philly’s Shugsline ensemble.
Presenting poet and artist Bernard Collins will join forces with Philly’s Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble and surprise guests for an early April 22 evening of spoken word jazz at the Allens Lane Art Center.
Of her husband’s live showcase on April 21 at the Masjidullah Center for Human Excellence on Limekiln Pike, Rahima Tacuma reminds us that Jamaaladeen has been working to expand the global music community, touring the world while bringing Philly’s groove with him as a music ambassador, with his new worldly Brotherly Collective to prove for his travels.
Philadelphia marimba/vibraphone master and Settlement music school faculty member Tony Micelli is hosting a live, free afternoon of music from fellow local jazz masters Lee Smith and Byron Landham at the Kardon-Northeast Branch of Settlement Music School. Of prepping for students of the jazz idiom, Micelli said that Philly’s “no bulls**t” approach to jazz is inspiring to him, and that “I think the younger generation is here and ready to take over.”
“We did significantly more outreach this year in hopes of attracting more diverse performers, participants, and venues,” said Kelly Lee, Chief Cultural Officer of the Office of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy during last week’s press conference. “I am so excited about this year’s Philly Celebrates Jazz celebration, the largest that we have led since before the Covid pandemic.”
