4/27/20
V-JAM Philly Session Leader: The Philadelphia Jazz Legacy Project
In 2018-2019 five Philadelphia jazz organizations—Jazz Bridge, Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, Philadelphia Jazz Project, Jazz Philadelphia, and Ars Nova Workshop—engaged in a collaborative discovery process to explore how to preserve, interpret, and share Philadelphia’s expansive jazz history.
4/24/20
V-JAM Philly Session Leader: Ars Nova Workshop
The Ars Nova Workshop (ANW) team has been busy during COVID-19 isolation. “We’re still dreaming up ways to support our heroes, including some virtual concerts, some commissioning, and we continue to work on our annual festival, our podcast, our upcoming LP releases, our exhibition (and connected catalog),” says executive and artistic director Mark Christman. “We’re also looking on how to partner with a record label to get recordings from our 20-year archive out commercially, getting much-needed funds into the hands of artists.”
4/22/20
V-JAM Philly Session Leader: Jazz Bridge Project
The very mission of the Jazz Bridge Project is to assist Greater Philadelphia area jazz and blues artists in times of crisis. A mission such as this would have to be born out of love, where love is a verb. It is love that shows up to meet the needs of our jazz community. It is love that finds a way to clear obstacles from a musician's path, giving them peace of mind and allowing them to re-focus their energy on their art. For 16 years, Jazz Bridge has been dedicated to addressing many types of crises without delay.
4/21/20
V-JAM Philly Session Leader: ACT4Music
An idea that started as a concept for an iPhone app a year ago has now come into fruition at the perfect time. “When the corona pandemic took over, the idea which I had been sporadically working on suddenly got moved to the front burner,” says Anthony Tidd. “I’ve been working on it non-stop—dawn to dusk—since the beginning of March.”
4/20/20
V-JAM Philly Session Leader: The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance
Maud Lyon, president of The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, sees the dire situation of the Philadelphia jazz community and is working to do something about it. “Jazz suffers from both the loss of work at nonprofit venues and the closing of restaurants, bars, and clubs,” Lyons explains. “The majority of musicians are freelancers, making this situation especially difficult and uncertain. The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is doing all we can to bring you resources, and to amplify your voice to leaders!”
4/17/20
V-JAM Philly Session Leader: Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts
“What if there was one activity that could benefit every student in every school across the nation? An activity that could improve grades and scores on standardized testing? An activity that would allow students to form lasting friendships? An activity that would help students become more disciplined and confident?” asks Lovett Hines, Artistic Director for the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts.
4/13/20
V-JAM Philly Session Leader: Settlement Music School
“We know that art and music lifts our souls and can unite us all,” says Karin Orenstein, Director of Education for Settlement Music School and a member of Jazz Philadelphia's Education Working Group. “At Settlement, we believe that the act of doing, of practicing, of reaching goals, will be what gets us through this time with our spirits intact.”
4/7/20
V-JAM Philly Session Leader: WRTI
We're excited to announce that we're launching the Jazz Philadelphia Hometown Heroes series today in partnership with WRTI. For the rest of April, Tuesday through Saturday, we'll publish profiles of artists who have called Philadelphia home, while WRTI celebrates their music on the air.
4/1/20
V-JAM Philly Session Leader: OACCE
The Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) is turning its attention to relief and recovering efforts, including collecting data on the economic impact of the shutdown directly from artists and organization/business leaders. We urge everyone in the community to fill out this critical survey as soon as possible. The survey will allow the OACCE to better understand and advocate for what the cultural community needs to recover.