Welcome to Philadelphia Jazz Project
Raymond A. King
Nov 4, 2016
Make Music Day is a global celebration that takes place on the summer solstice each year and on Friday, June 21st 2013, for the first time ever, the “City of Brotherly Love” joined in with over 500 other cites world-wide to celebrate the occasion. Think of it as a city wide, musical showcase presenting the whole gamut of musical expression available in the city of brotherly love, from Rock and Gospel, to Punk and Hiphop, to Classical and Jazz. Philadelphia Jazz Project joined the effort by presenting three events showcasing some of the finest Jazz artists in the region. One of those events was an eight hour, Piano Extravaganza at Jacobs Music in downtown Philly. This event presented eight pianists primarily performing solo.
One of those pianists was Raymond A. King.
A musician’s musician, King is a Philadelphia-bred jazz pianist and self-taught visual artist. He plays in the avant-garde tradition, but with a love of Swing and Bebop. He has been performing and composing for more than 40 years and is an underground legend. However, upon seeing his virtuoso performance on the piano, audiences are given an unforgettable experience.
CHECK THIS VIDEO SHOWCASING THE PIANO WIZARDRY OF RAYMOND A. KING.
A journalist once put it, "Raymond A. King is simply the best pianist you have never heard of." An underground legend in Los Angeles and his native Philadelphia, King is under-recorded and virtually unknown, despite the fact he has been performing and composing for more than 40 years. He has shared bandstands with Horace Tapscott, Arthur Blythe, Butch Morris, Lester Robertson, Fred Ho and many others. In the 1980's, he and saxophonist Sabir Mateen had an influential band in Philadelphia called True Guidance. King continues to work with Mateen.
On June 21st, 2013 at Jacobs Music, Raymond A. King put in a remarkable performance. He hummed, sang, spoke, all the while delievering a brilliant solo piano performance that lasted at least 15 minutes longer than the scheduled time slot. The music was spontaneous and touched every aspect of the American Jazz piano tradition. This event was capturesd on video and audio and here we share the audio as a two parter Mixtape.
By all means, check it out here:
Downloading: To download, click the download links below, when page with audio appears, let it download to your browser and then go to File/Save Page As... Be sure to save file as mp3.
RAYMOND A. KING
Live At Jacobs Music 2013 Part 1
Released November 2016
Featuring a solo piano performance by Raymond A. King.
Mixtape Duration: 31 minutes
Mixtape File Size: 38 MB
RAYMOND A. KING
Live At Jacobs Music 2013 Part 2
Released November 2016
Featuring a solo piano performance by Raymond A. King.
Mixtape Duration: 30 minutes
Mixtape File Size: 43 MB
You can also download PJP Mixtapes at:
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Philadelphia Jazz Project is a sponsored project of the CultureWorks | Greater Philadelphia, with funding provided by The Philadelphia Foundation.
