Who Got The Jazz
Who Got The Jazz #6
For six months, Philadelphia Jazz Project and Yusuf Muhammad's Veteran Freshman have presented an exciting series of live hip-hop/jazz music events at World Cafe Live. The series is called Who Got The Jazz and brings together jazz and hip-hop performers collaborating together and paying homage to a jazz legend. It is inspired by the classic Hiphop tune “Jazz” by A Tribe Called Quest.
Tuesday, June 24th at 8:00pm
Celebrating Grover Washington Jr.
World Cafe Live
3025 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 222-1400
We have celebrated and paid homage to Lee Morgan, John Coltrane, George Benson, Gil Scot-Heron and Miles Davis. In June, the final month of the series, we feature a celebration of Philadelphia's own, Grover Washington Jr. Although born in Buffalo, New York, Grover became a part of the fabric of the Philadelphia music scene upon arriving here in the late 1960s. Skilled at playing soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, Grover Washington gained broad success through recordings on the legendary CTI record label: a company that uncompromisingly merged Jazz w/ R&B and Funk featuring some of the most talented musicians of the day including Ron Carter, George Benson. Freddie Hubbard and Bob James.
In 1974, Grover recorded "Mr Magic" which became a mega hit and opened the door to greater exposure and paved the way for more mainstream acceptance and more hits like"Knucklehead", "Do Dat", "Snake Eyes", "Winelight" and "Just the Two of Us." Some have considered Grover Washington as one of the creators of Smooth Jazz. That description does not fully, nor fairly acknowledge the quality of his writing, his playing or the incredible talents of his colleagues, particularly his Philadelphia based backing band-Locksmith, which featured the phenomenal talents of Doc Gibbs, Sid Simmons and John Blake. Grover Washington Jr. was loved and is sorely missed in Philadelphia.
The special guests for June's show are Hiphop and R&B artists, Fonte Cruise, Ms. Kachina, Sap Sounds and Verbatum Jones. They will be joined by the awesome, Who Got The Jazz house band, which features musical director, Nimrod Speaks on bass, keyboardist Luke Carlos O’Reilly and Khary Shaheed on drums. Sitting in to pay special tribute to Grover Washington Jr., is the funky and sophisticated saxophonist, Korey Riker.
Who Got The Jazz will be hosted by Sonny The Host. There will be raffles, prizes and more. Click here for tickets and more information.
Who Got The Jazz #5
Philadelphia Jazz Project and Philadelphia’s leading hiphop presenting vehicle, Veteran Freshman and its chief, Yusuf Muhammad join forces to present a series of live hip-hop/jazz music events at World Cafe Live continuing on Tuesday, May 27th.
World Cafe Live
3025 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 222-1400
It's May and the music continues. Don't miss out on a special night. The Who Got The Jazz series, inspired by the classic “Jazz” by A Tribe Called Quest, Who Got The Jazz, brings together live jazz and hip-hop performers collaborating together and paying homage to a jazz legend.
This month's featured jazz artist is the one and only Miles Davis: a St. Louis trumpet player who had a hand in damn near every phase of Jazz music development during the second half of the 20th century. A colleague of Dizzy Gillespie, student and bandmate of Charlie Parker's, Bebop practitioner, architect of Cool Jazz, Hard Bop innovator, Jazz Fusion pioneer, Miles Davis is easily one of the most influential figures in Jazz music.
Due to the length of his career and his prodigious musical legacy, it is almost fair to say that there was more than one Miles Davis. Each phase of his career, he led or adapted to make new creative challenges for himself and his audience. And where he led, many others followed. Miles brought such important players as Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams to the world stage and was such a broad based influence on Ameerican culture, that his impact transcended the music and even impacted fashion.
The special guests for May’s show are Hiphop and R&B artists, C-Young, Lee Mekhai, Pooda Dappa and Chris Vance. They will be joined by the awesome, Who Got The Jazz house band, which features musical director, Nimrod Speaks on bass, keyboardist Luke Carlos O’Reilly and Khary Shaheed on drums. Sitting in to pay special tribute to Miles Davis, is the smooth and sophisticated trumpeter, Gerald Chavis.
Who Got The Jazz will be hosted by Sonny The Host. There will be raffles, prizes and more. Click here for tickets and more information.
Who Got The Jazz #4
Philadelphia Jazz Project and Philadelphia’s leading hiphop presenting vehicle, Veteran Freshman and its chief, Yusuf Muhammad join forces to present a series of live hip-hop/jazz music events at World Cafe Live continuing on Tuesday, April 29th.
World Cafe Live
3025 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 222-1400
It's April, Jazz Apreciation Month [ we call it Philly JAM] and we have something exciting for you. Don't sleep on this one and miss out on a special night. The Who Got The Jazz series, inspired by the classic “Jazz” by A Tribe Called Quest, Who Got The Jazz, brings together live jazz and hip-hop performers collaborating together and paying homage to a jazz legend.
This month's featured jazz artist is Gil Scot-Heron (1949 –2011); poet, musician, and author, who rose to national attention in the 1970's and 80s with his powerful political poetry that spoke to a large, diverse and extremely loyal fan base. With his partner/collaborator, musician Brian Jackson, Scot-Heron would record a number of exceptional albums and influence a generation of young people who would create politically charged Hiphop music in the 1990s. With a special connection to Philadelphia, Gil Scot-Heron graduated from nearby Lincoln University and many Philadelphians remember him or knew him well.
As intense as he was as a poet, he also an innovative song writer. Not trained as a musician, Gil Scot-Heron fused Jazz, with Gospel, Soul, R&B, Blues and his personal/political/spiritual messages. He and others of his generation, like Leon Thomas, Norman Connors, Andy Bey, Gary Bartz, Doug Carn would write and perform tunes that challenged what a Jazz song could be and moved beyond the love songs that permeated the tradition, extending the Jazz canon.
The special guests for April’s show are Hiphop and R&B artists, Seff Al-Friqi, Suzann Christine, Rico Anderson and Koby Murphy. They will be joined by the awesome, Who Got The Jazz house band, which features musical director, Nimrod Speaks on bass, keyboardist Luke Carlos O’Reilly and Khary Shaheed on drums. Sitting in to pay special tribute to Gil Scot-Heron, is the legendary percussionist, Robert Kenyatta .
Who Got The Jazz will be hosted by Sonny The Host. There will be raffles, prizes and more. Click here for tickets and more information.
Who Got The Jazz #3
Philadelphia Jazz Project and Philadelphia’s leading hiphop presenting vehicle, Veteran Freshman and its chief, Yusuf Muhammad join forces to present a series of live hip-hop/jazz music events at World Cafe Live continuing on Tuesday, March 25th.
World Cafe Live
3025 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 222-1400
It's March and we have something exciting for you. Don't sleep on this one and miss out on a special night. The Who Got The Jazz series, inspired by the classic “Jazz” by A Tribe Called Quest, Who Got The Jazz, brings together live jazz and hip-hop performers collaborating together and paying homage to a jazz legend.
This month's featured jazz artist is George Benson; a master guitarist, who later in his career became a hitmaking vocalist. Benson born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, started playing in funky Jazz Organ trios, particularly with B3 legend, Jack McDuff. Benson continued his career working with CTI, Warner Brothers and Quincy Jones' Qwest Records where he recorded highly popular music that displayed his immense talents, yet remained somewhat grounded in Jazz tradition. Since the 1990s, Benson has worked with the Count Basie Orchestra, Chet Atkins, Al Jarreau, reunited with Jack McDuff and created a tribute tour to Jazz/Pop trailblazer, Nat King Cole.
The special guests for March’s show are Hiphop and R&B artists, Domi Jo, Justin Graham and Joey Mannarino. They will be joined by the awesome, Who Got The Jazz house band, which features musical director, Nimrod Speaks on bass, keyboardist Luke Carlos O’Reilly and Khary Shaheed on drums. Sitting in to pay special tribute to John Coltrane, is the fiery saxophonist, Jim Dragoni.
Who Got The Jazz will be hosted by Sonny The Host. There will be raffles, prizes and more. Click here for tickets and more information.
Who Got The Jazz #2
Philadelphia Jazz Project and Philadelphia’s leading hiphop presenting vehicle, Veteran Freshman and its chief, Yusuf Muhammad join forces to present a series of live hip-hop/jazz music events at World Cafe Live continuing on Tuesday, February 25th.
World Cafe Live
3025 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 222-1400
The January show was hot and it was freezing outside that night!! E-Hos, Tiger Lily, Twizzmatic and Jacqueline Constance truly brought it! Nimrod Speaks and company were on point and Tony Smith definitely, brought the spirit of Lee Morgan into the house. The music was the strong and the performances were powerful. It's February and we have something exciting for you. Don't sleep on this one and miss out on a special night.
This series, inspired by the classic “Jazz” by A Tribe Called Quest, Who Got The Jazz, will bring together live jazz and hip-hop performers collaborating together and paying homage to a jazz legend. February's featured jazz artist is one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Philadelphia saxophonist, John Coltrane. Coltrane who got early exposure with Dizzy Gillespie, gained world wide recognition working with Miles Davis, and then, Thelonious Monk. John Coltrane would go on to influence a generation of artists by carving out a transcendent pathway merging spirituality and the arts.
The special guests for February’s show are Hiphop and R&B artists, Dewey Decibal, Selina Carrera, Toby VEnT,and P.U.R.E.. They will be joined by the awesome, Who Got The Jazz house band, which features musical director, Nimrod Speaks on bass, keyboardist Luke Carlos O’Reilly and Khary Shaheed on drums. Sitting in to pay special tribute to John Coltrane, is the fiery saxophonist, Umar Raheem.
Who Got The Jazz will be hosted by Sonny The Host. There will be raffles, prizes and more. Click here for tickets and more information.
We Got The Jazz #1
Philadelphia Jazz Project and Philadelphia’s leading hiphop presenting vehicle, Veteran Freshman and its chief, Yusuf Muhammad join forces to present a series of live hip-hop/jazz music events at World Cafe Live starting on Tuesday, January 28th.
“I think the arts, culture and music here in Philly are so much broader,” Muhammad says. “We’re very hungry. Philadelphia has always played the underdog. I wish that Philly studied more. We would realize our worth. If we integrated all the aspects of what music is from a creative aspect, no one could mess with Philadelphia.”
PJP Director, Homer Jackson adds, "This effort is really important. The Jazz world needs to stretch out its hand to the passionate and youthful, Hiphop audience who want to understand, learn, and most important, enjoy themselves while listening to Jazz, the music that is at the root of their culture."
The series, inspired by the classic “Jazz” by A Tribe Called Quest, Who Got The Jazz, will bring together live jazz and hip-hop performers collaborating together and paying homage to a jazz legend. The first jazz artist to be featured is Philadelphia trumpeter Lee Morgan. Morgan, who got his start with the Dizzy Gillespie big band when he was at just 18 years old, was also a notable sideman with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, and Hank Mobley.
The special guests for January’s show are Hiphop and R&B artists, E-Hos, Tiger Lily, Twizzmatic and Jacqueline Constance. They will be joined by the awesome, Who Got The Jazz house band, which features musical director, Nimrod Speaks on bass, keyboardist Luke Carlos O’Reilly and Khary Shaheed on drums. Sitting in to pay special tribute to Lee Morgan, is the remarkable trumpeter, Tony Smith.
Who Got The Jazz will be hosted by Sonny The Host. There will be raffles , prizes and more. Click here for tickets and more information.
