Sherry Butler Vocal Workshop, October 30, 2017, 6:00-8:00 PM

Celebrating!!!!!! J. Michael Harrison 20 Years of The Bridge & the CD Release Bobby Zankel Wonderful Sound 6. To purchase tickets click HERE. Featuring: Bobby Zankel - Alto Muhammad Ali - Drums Dave Burrell - Piano Diane Monroe - Violin

Join the Chamber Orchestra for Improvisionaries: a season -long exploration of the art of improvisation. The Chamber Orchestra , in partnership with the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz, will celebrate this landmark season with a variety of programs exploring the art of improvisation spanning the 17 th through 21 st centuries. It will illuminate the immensely varied and colorful musical trajectory which supplied an essential framework to the birth of jazz, as well as the myriad links between jazz and classical music. The season will culminate with the premiere of a new work by COP’s Steven R. Gerber Composer-in Residence, Adam Vidiksis featuring players from the Clef Club.

Master Class March 16,2018 | Invitation only Concert March 17 ,2018 | 1 show – 2 Sets (To Purchase tickets click HERE) Featuring: Arturo O’Farrill, piano Ivan Renta, saxophone James Seeley, trumpet Rafi Malkiel, trombone Vince Cherico, drums Carlos Maldonado, percussion Keisel

A documentary that follows jazz legend Clark Terry over four years to document the mentorship between Terry and 23-year-old blind piano prodigy Justin Kauflin as the young man prepares to compete in an elite, international competition.

An exploration of the relationship between jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who was implicated in his murder in 1972.

Special performance with students from AMLA and the Philadelphia Clef Club. To purchase tickets click HERE. Suzzette Ortiz, a passionate pianist, composer, choral conductor, and educator has been serving her communities with the gift of music from her humble beginnings

1 show - 2 Sets

Miguel Zenon - alto sax
Luis Perdomo - piano
Hans Glawischnig - bass
Henry Cole - drums

Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz Education Department's Student Final Recital

The Jazz Summer Camp is a two-week intensive program that provides Jazz education to Philadelphia youth.  For the past twelve years the summer camp has been providing classes in: composition and arrangement, solving syncopation and other anomalies, and applied music theory

PNC Arts Alive presents Jazz Cultural Voices.  The PNC Arts Alive initiative has demonstrated a belief in the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts and a commitment to providing us with the funding that makes this event possible.

Legendary Soul Artist and Bandleader Dies in Philadelphia
Recording Artists Pay Their Respects to Donald Gardner

A memorial service will be held October 11th and 12th at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts located at 738 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be given to The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts.

Contact: Carla Washington, lchines@verizon.net, 267-471-2573

Philadelphia, September 8, 2018 – Jazz and R&B fans and stars are mourning the death of an internationally recognized singer, songwriter and drummer. Donald Gardner worked with some of the greatest singers of his time such as Curtis Mayfield. He died on September 4th. He was 87.

Gardner began performing as a self-taught professional drummer and singer while he was still a teenager in 1947. The biggest hit that he wrote and performed was, “Need Your Lovin,” which rose to number 4 on the R&B charts in 1962 and was later recorded by Otis Redding, Tom Jones, Jackie Wilson and many others.

Audiences in the U.S. as well as Europe were captivated by Gardner’s mix of R&B tunes with jazzy overtones, which would later be known as “soul” music. After enjoying initial success as a solo singer, he created his first music group in 1953 called the Sonotones. It was when he hired Dee Dee Ford as his new keyboardist that the group hit the R&B charts in the early 1960’s with such hits as Glory of Love, Don’t You Worry and Need Your Lovin.

In the 1970’s he teamed up with Baby Washington for their hit Lay A Little Lovin’ On Me. He continued to perform as a solo artist and remained in music as an artist and repertoire (A&R) manager and nightclub owner into the 1980s. Gardner became board president of the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts in the early 1990s where he passionately protected the organization’s mission to preserve the legacy of jazz and help young jazz musicians hone their skills. Among the many mourning his death is guitarist, singer and songwriter George Benson.

“He encouraged me to try out as a guitar player for Jack McDuff’s organ quartet,” said Benson. “I believed I had no chance of getting that gig, but Don was confident that I could achieve my goal. I tried out and I got the gig. I was 19 years old and that was the beginning of a career I could never had imagined.”

Throughout his career Gardner inspired and collaborated with some of the greatest musical talents of all time, including Dinah Washington, Billy Eckstine and Count Basie to name a few. He is survived by; his son Darryl Baynes (Linda); daughter, Trina Reaves (Edmund); seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and other relatives and friends.

A memorial service will be held October 11th and 12th at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts located at 738 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be given to The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts.

Contact: Carla Washington, lchines@verizon.net, 267-471-2573

Legendary Soul Artist and Bandleader Dies in Philadelphia
Recording Artists Pay Their Respects to Donald Gardner

A memorial service will be held October 11th and 12th at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts located at 738 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be given to The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts.

Contact: Carla Washington, lchines@verizon.net, 267-471-2573

Philadelphia, September 8, 2018 – Jazz and R&B fans and stars are mourning the death of an internationally recognized singer, songwriter and drummer. Donald Gardner worked with some of the greatest singers of his time such as Curtis Mayfield. He died on September 4th. He was 87.

Gardner began performing as a self-taught professional drummer and singer while he was still a teenager in 1947. The biggest hit that he wrote and performed was, “Need Your Lovin,” which rose to number 4 on the R&B charts in 1962 and was later recorded by Otis Redding, Tom Jones, Jackie Wilson and many others.

Audiences in the U.S. as well as Europe were captivated by Gardner’s mix of R&B tunes with jazzy overtones, which would later be known as “soul” music. After enjoying initial success as a solo singer, he created his first music group in 1953 called the Sonotones. It was when he hired Dee Dee Ford as his new keyboardist that the group hit the R&B charts in the early 1960’s with such hits as Glory of Love, Don’t You Worry and Need Your Lovin.

In the 1970’s he teamed up with Baby Washington for their hit Lay A Little Lovin’ On Me. He continued to perform as a solo artist and remained in music as an artist and repertoire (A&R) manager and nightclub owner into the 1980s. Gardner became board president of the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts in the early 1990s where he passionately protected the organization’s mission to preserve the legacy of jazz and help young jazz musicians hone their skills. Among the many mourning his death is guitarist, singer and songwriter George Benson.

“He encouraged me to try out as a guitar player for Jack McDuff’s organ quartet,” said Benson. “I believed I had no chance of getting that gig, but Don was confident that I could achieve my goal. I tried out and I got the gig. I was 19 years old and that was the beginning of a career I could never had imagined.”

Throughout his career Gardner inspired and collaborated with some of the greatest musical talents of all time, including Dinah Washington, Billy Eckstine and Count Basie to name a few. He is survived by; his son Darryl Baynes (Linda); daughter, Trina Reaves (Edmund); seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and other relatives and friends.

A memorial service will be held October 11th and 12th at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts located at 738 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be given to The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts.

Contact: Carla Washington, lchines@verizon.net, 267-471-2573

Barry Harris is a renowned pianist/educator and NEA Jazz Master.  

PNC Arts Alive presents Jazz Cultural Voices. The PNC Arts Alive initiative has demonstrated a belief in the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts and a commitment to providing us with the funding that makes this event possible.

PNC Arts Alive presents Jazz Cultural Voices. The PNC Arts Alive initiative has demonstrated a belief in the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts and a commitment to providing us with the funding that makes this event possible.

PNC Arts Alive presents Jazz Cultural Voices. The PNC Arts Alive initiative has demonstrated a belief in the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts and a commitment to providing us with the funding that makes this event possible.
The Philadelphia Clef Club Community Band was founded in 1999 by Lou Cioci and Buddy Cifone. Initially the purpose was to gather a group of friends to play Big Band Jazz and just to have a good time doing it. The original gang was players who were in high school and service bands together. Through the years the momentum built up and enables the group to attract a number of the Philadelphia area’s top players and three outstanding vocalists. With these great musicians the band became more and more capable of playing increasingly difficult music. The band now boasts of having over 200 Big Band Jazz Charts. We perform many concerts at the Philadelphia Clef Club and other such venues. Recently we began an initiative to encourage school children to have an interest in Big Band Jazz by playing concerts at several local schools. This effort is being financed by Susan Bloom and other private donors.
Although we still have a good time playing Big Band Jazz together we now find ourselves focused on more than just that. We want to prove that Big Band Jazz lives on and people could find pleasure in our music.
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World renown saxophonist, Charles Lloyd with Reuben Rogers on bass along with Julian Lage & Marvin Sewell on guitar.

Sharing Successes through Performances
The Music Education Program of the Philadelphia Clef Club will present its student recital on Saturday, December 22nd, at 1:00-4:00 PM.
Our semi-annual student recitals give students an opportunity to present to their friends and families a piece of music that has been mastered in the lessons. The decision to perform in public is always made between the instructor and the student. This experience enables students to gain feedback from their peers, feel more comfortable with performing, and develop confidence. Since recitals are also great motivators, they help instructors teach students how to develop stage presence, memorization, projection, communication and impact. By listening to others perform; students also broaden their exposure to many styles and instruments. Levels range from first year students to those with years of experience playing advanced repertoire on their experiences, camaraderie is built among attendees. Family and friends are always encouraged to attend.
Tickets are $10.00 on-line at www.clefclubof jazz.org

PhillyBloco is modeled after the blocos of Rio de Janeiro, with their large percussion sections and harmonic/vocal accompaniment. The group is comprised of twelve drummers, electric guitar, bass guitar, vocals, horn section, accordion, and Brazilian dancers. The group performs a raucous mash-up of samba, funk, reggae, and more made popular by both Brazilian and non-Brazilian artists including: Olodum, Timbalada, Monobloco, Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder.

The Ronnie Burrage and Holographic Principle concert is made possible by a grant award from PNC Foundation, under the initiative PNC Arts Alive, “Jazz Cultural Voices” performance series. Ronnie Burrage is considered one of the best jazz musicians on the