Welcome to Philadelphia Jazz Project
Who Got The Jazz #6
Jun 22, 2014
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.
