The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts

The Philadelphia Clef Club Music Education Program Presents the PCC Jazz Ensemble
2019-01-20 16:00 - 18:30 (America/New_York) | Jazz Vespers, 2110 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, which recently celebrated its 53rd anniversary, continues to be among the most successful and innovative music programs in history, which is not surprising considering the standard of excellence set by the programs Artistic Director, Lovett Hines and his dedicated staff. The number of successful, innovative, and dedicated young musicians who have attained their foundations at the Clef Club are prolific.

Philly Bloco
2019-01-19 19:30 - 22:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
The Philly Bloco concert is made possible by a grant award from PNC Foundation, under the initiative PNC Arts Alive, “Jazz Cultural Voices” performance series.
Philly Bloco 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 one constant in the music is a heavy percussive element (12 drummers!) that is used to explore the tremendous range of Brazilian rhythms, applying the artists own unique creativity and energy to each arrangement.
The music is extremely high energy, full of passion and feeling. Philly Bloco wants to make people dance, feel good, and give them something to celebrate every time they perform.

Clef Club Student Recital
2018-12-22 13:00 - 16:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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.

Charles Lloyd
2018-12-18 19:30 - 21:30 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Feat. Charles Lloyd with Marcus Gilmore, Reuben Rogers on bass along with Julian Lage & Marvin Sewell on guitar
Charles Lloyd, saxophonist, flutist, composer, arranger and 2015 NEA Jazz Master; was born on March 15, 1938, in Memphis, TN. Lloyd’s fierce improvisational skills and interest in fusing jazz with non-Western musical styles established him as one of the key figures in the expansion and furthering of the art form. Whether playing standards, avant-garde, or world music, Lloyd’s emotional, elegant playing spurs on his fellow musicians.
Lloyd began playing saxophone at the age of nine, mentored by pianist Phineas Newborn. He also took saxophone lessons from Irvin Reason and composition studies with Willie Mitchell. His interest in jazz was cultivated by listening to the radio broadcasts featuring Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Billie Holiday, and Duke Ellington. As a teenager, he immersed himself in the local Memphis music scene, playing with George Coleman, Booker Little, Harold Mabern, and Frank Strozier, and as a sideman for Johnny Ace, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Howlin’ Wolf, and B.B. King (NEA National Heritage Fellow).
“This is a music of freedom and wonder. It uplifts, it inspires, it touches the heart, and it heals. It is transformational. Jazz is our indigenous art form and is constantly evolving while remaining deeply rooted in tradition and nourished by the American terroir. I have been drunk with the pursuit of ‘the sound’ all my life—and have been blessed to stand on the shoulders of those who came before me and gave encouragement—this is also part of the tradition.”

This show is now sold out and there are no further tickets available.

Philadelphia Clef Club Community Big Band
2018-12-15 19:30 - 21:30 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Jamaaladeen Tacuma and The Gnawa Soul Experience Band
2018-11-17 19:30 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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.
In 2016 Jamaaladeen Tacuma was invited to perform in Morocco by Gnaou World Music Festival in Essaouira . The festival features and highlights Gnawa Fusion. Jamaaladeen brought together musicians from The USA, France and Austria to join him in his band Jamaaladeen Tacuma’s Baba Oud and he was paired with a Moroccan musician Maalem Haasan Bousso.
This experience sparked and inspiration and awakened memories of musical experiences early in his life as a musician.
This combination of ancient African Gnawa traditional instrumentation and musical themes along with Jamaaladeen’s sense of production in Funk, Jazz and groove mashes together a completely new sound fresh to the global listening audience. The music is powerful with emotion and intensity and for sure will bring the audience to their dancing feet.
For the special performance at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, PNC Arts Alive Jazz Cultural Voices series, Jamaaladeen brings together Philadelphia musicians along with Moroccan musicians living in the USA to complete his band Jamaaladeen Tacuma and The Gnawa Soul Experience .
“The fusion with Gnawa music marks a milestone in my musical career carrying on the idea of bridging the musical gap culturally along with preserving and celebrating Jazz and Gnawa music and their rich repertoire of ancient African song, rhythm and dance. Long live America’s classical music-Jazz and long live Gnawa.”- Jamaaladeen Tacuma

Bobby Zankel and Warriors of the Wonderful Sound
2018-10-20 19:30 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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.
Zankel’s alto saxophone playing has been called “a unique amalgam of the rhythm and intricacy of bebop, with the soul and drive of hard bop, and the spirituality, creativity, and intensity of the avant-garde.”
Bobby’s concert composition is a four-part suite that musically depicts and expresses the musical mentor-disciple relationship between four major Jewish American jazz masters and their mentor inspirations, Stan Getz and Lester Young, Steve Lacy and Thelonious Monk, Lee Konitz and Charles Parker, Bobby Zankel and Ornette Coleman. These artistic relationships embody the best spirit of jazz and America.
Bobby states, “We will clearly depict and identify the true source.” In addition to the concert, the artists will present a panel discussion.
Zankel’s tenure in Philadelphia has been marked by a series of acclaimed commissions and collaborations with choreographers, visual artists, writers, Network for New Music, and Relâche funded by a variety of grants and awards. In 1995, he was awarded the prestigious Pew Fellowship.
Zankel’s compositions are characterized by a stunning blend of rhythmic layers, a highly personal complex chromatic harmonic language, and a hauntingly beautiful melodic lyricism. The seven CDs he has recorded, as a leader, have received outstanding reviews and five have been on the CD of the Year lists. Those seven CDs have featured such magnificent musicians as Johnny Coles, Odean Pope, Uri Caine, Ralph Peterrson Jr., Marilyn Crispell, Tyrone Brown, John Blake, and Sumi Tonooka.

Barry Harris Master Classes
2018-10-13 12:00 - 19:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Barry Harris is an Internationally renowned Jazz Pianist, Composer and Teacher. Dr. Harris is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Northwestern University. He has received the Living Jazz Legacy award from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Association, and an American Jazz Masters Fellowshipfrom the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition, Dr. Harris received the Manhattan Borough President Award for Excellence. This award was given for recognition of his devoted public service and in honor of excellence in the field of music. He received the 1999 Mentoraward for his work with youngsters at the Manhattan Country School in NYC.
Dr. Harris has devoted his life to the advancement of Jazz and in the 1980’s founded the Jazz Cultural Theatre. For the past several decades Dr. Harris has been an exponent of the classic Jazz style that was developed by Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Coleman Hawkins
Dr. Barry Harris receives frequent request to appear as a guest lecturer by Universities and various musical venues all over the world. His lectures and interactive instrument and vocal workshops focus on the complete aspects of music including improvisation, harmonic movement and theory. His schedule includes lectures in the United States, Holland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Japan. When he is not travelling, Dr. Harris holds weekly music workshop sessions in New York City for vocalists, students of piano other instruments.

Don Gardner Celebration of Life
2018-10-12 18:30 - 21:30, 2018-10-11 18:30 - 21:30 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Sumi Tonooka Trio
2018-09-15 19:30 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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.
Sumi Tonooka (pronounced To-NO-ka) is the first artist to be presented in the Jazz Cultural Voices lineup. She has been called a “fierce and fascinating composer and pianist” (Jazz Times), “provocative and compelling” (New York Times), and “continually inventive, original, surprising, and a total delight,” (Cuadranos de Jazz, Madrid).
During a career spanning more than 30 years that has taken her from bases in Philadelphia & Boston, to New York & Seattle, Tonooka has been developing a body of work that surprises and delights audiences – quietly piling up accolades from jazz writers and fellow musicians.
Her recent activity as a composer includes receiving the Music Alive: New Partnerships
residency with The South Dakota Symphony Orchestra through New Music USA to take place in November 2015. The residency will culminate with a premier of her symphonic work Full Circle and a new work for woodwind quintet.
Tonooka is also a recent recipient of the 2105 Artist Trust award and received the Carl & Jini Dellaccio GAP title to compose a new jazz chamber work Driftwood.
In addition to her symphonic and chamber works, jazz recordings and performances, Tonooka has composed over a dozen film scores, including the Academy Award-nominated Family Gathering by Lise Yasui and Daring To Resist by Martha Lubell, aired on PBS. She is also featured in A Note of Hope, released in 2011, a full-length documentary from Citygate Films on the youngest victiims of HIV/AIDS in Africa. She toured West Africa as part of a sextet featuring her musical compadre of two decades, jazz violinist John Blake, Jr. Their recorded output includes A New Beginning: Live at The Village Gate, Kindred Spirits (as a duo), and the Traveler featuring Boris Koslov on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums. As a member of the Rufus Reid Quintent, Tonooka appears on the CD and DVD The Rufus Reid Quintent: Live at the Kennedy Center (Motema). The group appeared at Dizzy’s Club Cocoa Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York in 2007 for the release performance.
Tonooka’s career has been chronicled on several highly regarded jazz books, including Living the Jazz Life by Royal Stokes, ln The Moment by Francis Davis, and Madame Jazz by Leslie Gourse (all on Oxford University Press). As a professional response to an inherent void within the music industry, Tonooka, along with alto saxophonist Chris Burnett and tenor saxophonist Erica Lindsay, co-founded the Artists Recording Collective (ARC), an internationally recognized brand and professional recording label. She now divides her time between her responsibilities as the Chief, Public Relations Officer for ARC, composing and performing for an increasingly widespread audience of jazz aficionados. In his liner notes to pianist, composer and educator Sumi Tonooka’s fifth CD, Long Ago Today, journalist Russ Musto restated his praise from thirty years ago:”…it has been a pleasure to hear her blossom into one of the most talented musicians of her generation.”

The Keystone Jazz Collective
2018-07-28 19:00 - 21:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
The Keystone Jazz Collective is a collaboration of Jazz artists, based in the State of Pennsylvania, coming together to bring to light the historical and contemporary contributions to Jazz music by Pennsylvanians. Pennsylvania has birthed and nurtured many composers, musicians, and bandleaders. These artists play a significant role in America’s Jazz History. The Keystone Collective is a statewide, multi-generational ensemble that honors the past, plays in the present and creates for the future.
Artists to be present are:
Reggie Watkins, Trombone
Luke Carlos, O’Reilly, Piano
Nimrod Speaks, Bass
George Heid III, Drums

The Jazz Summer Camp
2018-07-09 09:00 - 16:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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 with special focuses on vocal and instrumental practices once students have fine tuned their skills, the opportunity to perform as a Jazz ensemble follows.

Clef Club Students' Final Recital
2018-06-09 14:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz Education Dept. Final Recital

Berklee Clef Club Concert
2018-06-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Berklee Clef Club Concert
Free Event
Featuring:
Musicians from the Berklee College of Music with an opening performance by students from the Philadelphia Clef Club of
Jazz and Performing Arts.

Bluegrass, Bernstein, and the Blues ( Adam Vidiksis World premier)
2018-05-20 14:30 | Kimmel Center – Perelman Theatre, 300 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, United States
Philadelphia’s love affair with Jazz spans over a century and the Clef Club of Jazz is very much at the center of the city’s rich musical history. In collaboration with the Chamber Orchestra, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of many Philadelphia Jazz legends such as Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane. Adam Vidiksis, COP’s first Steven R. Gerber Composer-in-Residence creates a unique collaboration with jazz and classical musicians. If this concert couldn’t be more packed with the best and brightest, Mark O’Connor, internationally renowned Bluegrass violinist will present his own Old Brass.
For tickets and more information, please visit: chamberorchestra.org

intersect9: Technical Ecstasy
2018-05-16 20:00 - 22:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Melodies have transcended genre and traveled through time….like the melody of a 16th century secular love song that J.S. Bach transformed into a somber hymn of worship, Tom Glazer used as a call for brotherhood and peace, Dave Brubeck spiced up with a swinging rhythm section, and Paul Simon used as a tribute to the forgotten soldiers of Vietnam; Or the melody of an 18th century French love song sung with versions by Joan Baez to Placido Domingo and Berlioz to Elvis; Or the melody Frederic Chopin called his most beautiful and went on to be transformed into numerous songs from multiple genres of music. We’ll be diving deep into these and many other timeless melodies and exploring how they grow and thrive through improvisation and re-imagination.

Performing works and arrangements of works by:
J.S. Bach
Hans Leo Hassler
Frederic Chopin
Dave Brubeck
Andrew Lipke
Elvis Presley
Paul Simon
Jo Stafford
Peter Rowen
Jerome Kern

Dirk Brossé, Music Director of The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
Andrew Lipke, Singer-Songwriter
Rodney Marsalis, COP Principal Trumpet
Adam Vidiksis, Electric Trap (COP/ACF Steven R. Gerber Composer-in-Residence)
Isaac Stanford, Pedal Steel
Louis Taylor, Saxophonist
Phil D’Agostino, Bassist
Chris Giraldi, Drums
Discover More

Miguel Zenon Quartet
2018-05-12 19:30 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
May 11, 2018 Master Class | Invitational Only
May 12, 2018 Concert | 1 show – 2 Sets (To Purchase tickets click HERE)
Miguel Zenon – alto sax
Luis Perdomo – piano
Hans Glawischnig – bass
Henry Cole – drums
Multiple Grammy Nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American Folkloric Music and Jazz.

Kindred Presents featuring Roy Ayers and Les Nubians
2018-04-30 18:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Les Nubians is a French musical duo composed of sisters Helen and Celia Faussart from Paris, France. Contemporary R & B Music of Africa, Neo soul.

Film: Blue Note - A Story of Modern Jazz (matinee)
2018-04-26 12:30 - 15:30 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Film: Blue Note - A Story of Modern Jazz
2018-04-25 18:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Community Big Band Open Rehearsal
2018-04-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Suzette Ortiz & Latin Jazz Ensemble
2018-04-21 19:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, to her many recent successes as a Pennsauken, New Jersey resident. She earned an undergraduate degree in piano performance at the Music Conservatory of Puerto Rico and has studied piano with Cesar “Pupi” Pedroso (of the world famous Cuban group, Los Van Van) and Elio Villafranca, Orlando Fiol, Sumi Tonooka, and the late Philadelphia jazz phenom, Jimmy Amadie.
As a performer Suzzette has shared the stage with artists such as, Tito Puente, Nestor Torres, Eddie Palmieri, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Compay Segundo. Suzzette has also performed in such venues as the Philadelphia Clef Club, the Kimmel Center, The Mann Music Center, Baby Grand Concert Hall, the original Zanzibar Blue Jazz Club, and El Flamingo Night club in Manhattan, NYC.

Saturday Jazz Education Day Open House
2018-04-21 09:30 - 14:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Clef Club Lab Band
2018-04-19 19:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Film: I Call Him Morgan
2018-04-18 18:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
An exploration of the relationship between jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who was implicated in his murder in 1972.

Film: Keep on, Keepin on
2018-04-11 18:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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.

Kindred Presents featuring Christopher Williams, Joe Little of the Rude Boys, Jeff Bradshaw
2018-04-09 18:00 - 22:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
An intimate conversation and performance series hosted by Kindred The Family Soul. Christopher Williams is an American R & B singer and actor.

Film: Standing in the shadows of Motown
2018-04-04 19:00 | Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Standing in the Shadows of Motown is a 2002 documentary film directed by Paul Justman that recounts the story of The Funk Brothers, the uncredited and largely unheralded studio musicians who were the house band that Berry Gordy handpicked in 1959. They recorded and performed on Motowns’ recordings from 1959 …

Roots of Music Show
2018-04-04 10:30 - 11:30 | Trinity Center for Urban Life at Trinity Memorial Church, 2212 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103
A performance with the Philadelphia Clef Club Faculty Ensemble.
