History

Frank Foster, Clark Terry, and Al Grey

HISTORY The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts (PCC) was founded in 1966 by James Adams and members of Local No. 274 as the Local’s social club.  Local No. 274 was Philadelphia’s African American musicians union.  At a time when the city’s African American  musicians struggled for political, economic and cultural recognition, Local No. 274 gave them representation and broke a tradition of segregation.  With members such as John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimmy Smith, Lee Morgan, “Philly Joe Jones,” Grover Washington Jr, the Heath Brothers, Nina Simone, and Butch Ballard, Local No. 274 was crucial to the growth of a thriving jazz scene in Philadelphia.   When it dissolved in 1971, Local No. 274 was the last independent African American musicians union in the United States. It was not unusual to see Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Art Blakely, Dinah Washington, Max Roach and others exchanging jazz ideas in the hallways of the PCC.  The PCC eventually became a haven for jazz lovers, who would pack The PCC on weekends and watch celebrities as they made their flashy entrances. The PCC became so popular that it created a “B” membership for jazz lovers and out-of-town musicians.  In 1970 it was relocated from 912 South Broad Street to 114 South 13^th Street. The PCC continued to function as a social club until 1978, when it expanded its activities to include jazz performance, jazz instruction, and the preservation of Philadelphia’s rich jazz history. In 1982, Dr. Bernard C. Watson, the former president of the William Penn Foundation, allocated funds to construct a new facility at 736 South Broad Street, as part of the development of cultural organizations in Philadelphia’s performing arts district, the Avenue of the Arts.  In January 1993, the Philadelphia Clef Club sponsored a concert in the Academy of Music in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. An audience of nearly 2,600 applauded some of the leading jazz artists in the world, including Jimmy Smith, George Benson, Sonny Fortune, Peter Nero, Red Rodney, Johnny Coles, Lou Tobacin, Mickey Roker, Bobby Durham, Clifford Adams, Randy Brecker, Trudy Pitts, Shirley Scott, Tim Warfield, Charles Fambrough, Christian McBride and Kenny Barron. In 1995, the Philadelphia Clef Club established a new facility on the corner of Broad and Fitzwater Streets that houses classrooms, a performance space, recording facilities, and executive offices. The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts is the first facility ever constructed specifically as a jazz institution – a testament to our nation’s history. Considered a historic icon in the Philadelphia African American community, the PCC has since expanded its offerings to include public performances by leading jazz artists and a music education program which has a significant positive impact on youth participants.