The Academy at Penn program aims to provide career and college support for students from two Philadelphia high schools over the next four years.
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John Toney, a bassist, who has played with Broadway musicals for many years, leads session at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz Summer Program. (Stephen Williams/WHYY)
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The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts on South Broad Street was founded in the 1960s as a social club for the Black musicians’ union, which at the time was barred from the segregated musicians’ union, said board president Kenneth Scott.
Many now-famous entertainers — such as Count Basie, Dinah Washington, John Coltrane, Philly Joe Jones, Dizzy Gillespie and Grover Washington Jr. — were members of the Musicians’ Protective Union of Local 274, American Federation of Musicians, and frequented the Clef Club, which took its name from a club in New York.
Today, the Clef Club is undergoing a major transformation, including a $4.5 million renovation that will upgrade its education facilities, create a state-of-art recording studio and reimagine its education program, said Oscar Payne, the club’s managing director.
About $2 million will come from the William Penn Foundation, with the remaining funds generated from the state and the city, along with money from the Presser Foundation, the McLean Contributionship and the William B Dietrich Foundation.
The club, which moved to its current location at Broad and Fitzwater streets in 1995, has been a training ground for a host of well-known Philadelphia jazz musicians, including saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, bassist Christian McBride, Grammy winner Joey DeFrancesco and Roots cofounder Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Payne said.
Many of those artists learned under the tutelage of the legendary Lovett Hines, who founded the education program at the Clef Club in 1985. Hines left the club this year and now runs another music education program.
“There were a number of people that consistently came through the Clef Club and developed and went on to do bigger and greater things,” Payne said. “Currently, we are continuing in that legacy. Due to COVID-19 and changes in the economy, the program is smaller. It’s not a bad thing right now because we are about to redirect the vision of everything. Everything is changing.”
The Clef Club will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year.
It has been very important for young people interested in jazz education and jazz educators, said Frank Machos, vice president and director of the Mann Center Institute for Creative Arts and Community Impact.
In fact, it helped to create the “blueprint for intergenerational sharing of jazz education” that other organizations, like the Mann Center, have tried to replicate, he added.
As an example, the Mann’s All-City Orchestra Summer Academy gives middle and high school students learning opportunities with top musicians, like renowned bassist Gerald Veasley, the Mann’s jazz curator. The academy is under way this summer.
Philadelphia’s “jazz community is very tight-knit,” Machos said.
He added that the program’s aspirations are tied to Hines, who is deeply respected for his music knowledge and ability to teach and hold young artists accountable.
“He’s the type of person you wouldn’t want to disappoint,” Machos said.
The Clef Club has a special relationship as a partner to the nearby Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA). Many of the big names in Philly’s jazz scene, including Wilkins, McBride, DeFrancesco and Thompson, were students there. Some of them played music together.
In May, the Clef Club hosted about 35 students from CAPA for a senior vocal recital.
“It was wonderful,” Payne said.
Another special program, the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz Summer Camp, is currently in session.
Paul Eaton, 59, runs the music program at Girard College, a boarding school for academically gifted students. He is a CAPA graduate and part of the CAPA-Clef Club connection who has played with top musicians. Several of his Girard College jazz band students are enrolled in summer camp.
“I have a lot of friends who’ve played for or are members of the Clef Club. I’ve been through and played there. I knew it would be a good place for them to hone their skills,” Eaton said. “It’s important for them to have a safe haven or safe space — a mecca, a place for them to find inspiration or leadership in the jazz or music idiom. There are not a lot of places where improvisation or freedom of thought is taught. The jazz framework of music requires so much more study.”
One of Eaton’s students is Nyire Davis-Brown, 16, a member of Girard College’s jazz band.
“Our teacher wanted to help us excel in the genre of jazz and get us to understand it more,” he said. “So far, I’ve learned a lot in a span of two days. I’ve learned about chord progressions and learned about scales. I’ve learned how to work with others and improvisation.”
One of the summer program instructors is Saunders Sermons II, a trombonist and vocalist who has played with R&B legends like Mary J. Blige and Maxwell.
“My plans are to make sure these young musicians have their own personality and their instrument,” he said. “We want to make sure they are well rounded and know a little about history, so they can put those things together so they can be great musicians of the future.”
In MasterClass sessions, the Clef Club brings in seasoned musicians as teaching artists who cover areas of music that young people or adults might not experience otherwise.
“There are a lot of skill sets that are connected to the arts,” Payne said, including organizational skills, getting along with people, problem solving and conflict resolution. “You learn how to think critically. We make sure they learn skills that, when they leave here, they can get a job.”
For decades, researchers worldwide have documented that students involved in arts and music educational programs benefit in many ways, including developing positive self-images, improving interpersonal skills and promoting well-being.
Educators say these developed traits, along with the skills learned in the arts — such as the ability to accept criticism, attention to detail, discipline and teamwork — lead to better performance in the classroom and ultimately career success, even if it’s not in the arts.
One study between 2002 and 2012 by researchers at George Mason University and the University of California showed that middle school students in art-related classes earned better grades in math and reading and had higher test scores than students who didn’t participate in any arts programs.
The Clef Club aims to educate beyond the music, including how it’s made, lighting and time management skills, Payne said. The new equipment the students will be trained on will be what is being currently used in the industry.
“Playing music is project-oriented,” Payne said.
He wants students to learn not just how to create it, but how to record and promote it. That will be part of the residency program, he said.
“Jazz is a small share of the market but it influences all of the other markets, it is connected to other things, like theater, movies or commercials,” Payne said.
Editor’s Note: The William Penn Foundation and the McLean Contributionship are WHYY supporters. WHYY News produces independent, fact-based news content for audiences in Greater Philadelphia, Delaware and South Jersey.
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