Philly kicks off Jazz Appreciation Month with a show of hands

Philly attempted to set a world record for jazz hands to launch Philly Celebrates Jazz 2023, featuring over 100 jazz-related events in April.

A sea of white gloves fill Love Park as Philadelphians try to break the world record for most people doing jazz hands at once

A sea of white gloves fill Love Park as Philadelphians try to break the world record for most people doing jazz hands at once. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

The city of Philadelphia attempted to set a world record on Tuesday in LOVE Park, with the most people doing jazz hands at once.

The stunt was staged to kick off Philly Celebrates Jazz 2023, the annual, month-long series of jazz-related events in April, known as Jazz Appreciation Month. Philadelphia will stage over 100 concerts and events, including 22 free events coordinated through the city’s Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy.

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  • Boom-bap jazz band Mobbluz performs in Love Park, where the Philadelphia Office of Arts Culture announced the calendar of events for Philly Celebrates Jazz
    Boom-bap jazz band Mobbluz performs in Love Park, where the Philadelphia Office of Arts Culture announced the calendar of events for Philly Celebrates Jazz. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
  • Children raise white-gloved hands as they participate in a community effort to break the world record for most people doing jazz hands at once during the kickoff of Philly Celebrates Jazz in Love Park
    Children raise white-gloved hands as they participate in a community effort to break the world record for most people doing jazz hands at once during the kickoff of Philly Celebrates Jazz in Love Park. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
  • Musikaldunk is the drummer and director of Mobbluz, a boom-bap jazz band based in Philadelphia.
    Musikaldunk is the drummer and director of Mobbluz, a boom-bap jazz band based in Philadelphia. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
  • Philadelphians try to break the world record for most people doing jazz hands at once during the kickoff of the month-long Philly Celebrates Jazz event in Love Park
    Philadelphians try to break the world record for most people doing jazz hands at once during the kickoff of the month-long Philly Celebrates Jazz event in Love Park. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
  • Amy Trachtenberg of Philadelphia warms up her jazz hands at Love Park, where the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy sponsored an effort to break the world record for most people doing jazz hands at once
    Amy Trachtenberg of Philadelphia warms up her jazz hands at Love Park, where the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy sponsored an effort to break the world record for most people doing jazz hands at once. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
  • Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and Kelly Lee of the Office of Arts Culture and the Creative Economy kick off Philly Celebrates Jazz 2023, which features more than 100 jazz-related events across the city
    Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and Kelly Lee of the Office of Arts Culture and the Creative Economy kick off Philly Celebrates Jazz 2023, which features more than 100 jazz-related events across the city. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

In the past few years, the number of events during Philly Celebrates Jazz month had shrunk and were held outdoors, due to the pandemic. The director of the Office of Arts and Culture, Kelly Lee, said this year the celebration has returned to pre-pandemic levels, and is mostly indoors.

“In 2023, Philly Celebrates Jazz will be our largest celebration of jazz since before the pandemic,” Lee said. “We are so excited about these events that truly reflect the diversity and the influence of jazz in the city of Philadelphia.”

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Among the free jazz offerings will be a tribute to Herbie Hancock, Nina Simone, and “Lovett Loves Jazz” concert series at the Lovett Library in Mt. Airy.

A few hundred people came to LOVE Park and were issued white gloves to perform the act of shaking their open palms in unison, like they were in a Bob Fosse musical.

Exactly how many people came to don white gloves is still to be determined. The record to beat is 477, set in 2019 by a group of 5- to 13-year-old schoolchildren in Michigan.

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According to Guinness, those children in Michigan practiced jazz hands for nine months. In Philadelphia, Lee led the gathered crowd through a 10-second tutorial.

“Raise your gloved hands, like, shoulder height. And then you have to flick your fingers really fast. Really fast,” she explained, pointing to a few people who got it. “That’s right. Like they’re doing.”

It is unclear if Philadelphia beat the kids from Michigan out of their world record. A photo of the event in LOVE Park will be sent to the world-record experts at Guinness for evaluation.

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