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Philly's Clef Club of Jazz Is On The Upswing
By Junious
Ricardo Stanton
The Philadelphia
Clef Club of Jazz has a rich history. It was a social
club formed during the days of racial apartheid when
there were two musicians union locals in Philadelphia;
local 77 the white organization and American Federation
of Musicians local 274 the black union which was
independent of the white local. The black musicians
formed a social club in 1966 and secured a building at
13th and Washington Streets where they could gig,
socialize and provide a venue where they could earn some
extra money to sustain themselves. Over time the
original building fell in disrepair and the local needed
a new building.
Along with the end
of segregation in the mid to late ‘60s, there was also a
demise of prominent jazz night clubs and social venues
in the city. The musicians continued to meet and play
around the city. One of the places they frequently met
was the Lee Cultural Center in West Philadelphia which
at that time was under the direction of Shuna Ali Niah
Jr. Later when the city embarked upon the creation of
the Avenue of the Arts cultural district, Dr. Bernard
Watson who was head of the William Penn foundation was
asked to spearhead the project. Watson who played the
saxophone himself decided a jazz venue would be an ideal
addition to the myriad cultural facilities planned for
South Broad Street. The musicians were contacted and
through Watson’s help a brand new building was designed,
funded, and erected dedicated to keeping the jazz
tradition alive, teaching music, and providing a venue
for musicians and artists to perform. The new
Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts
located at 738 S. Broad Street opened in October of
1995.
Helen Haynes was
the first Executive Director. She performed admirably
with limited staff and funding. The club subsisted
itself via rentals and bookings of shows but lacked a
long term funding and support strategy. Over the years,
the lack of a steady funding source hurt the
organization. Ms Haynes subsequently left the
directorship to pursue other interests. In the
intervening years The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and
Performing Arts has had its ups and downs.
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About a year ago Shuna
Ali Niah Jr. was brought in to take over the
administration of the Clef Club. When Niah
arrived he discovered the Club was deeply in
debt and still lacked a reliable funding
stream and strategy. “When I came in last
year I had to do an assessment of the place.
Basically the Clef Club is two organizations
in one. It’s a presenting organization and
an educational organization. We have classes
after school, on Saturdays and sometimes
even on Sundays. I knew the education
program had to continue but it doesn’t pay
the bills; in fact, we lose money on the
education programs.” Niah stated.
Niah has an active and
effective board of directors. Together they
came up with a strategic plan for the Clef
Club. “I looked at other venues like Blues
Alley in DC, they have top flight
entertainment there and they only seat about
one hundred and fifty people. I looked at
the Blue Note in New York. |
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They are a little
better off since many of the musicians live in New York
City. We speeded up renting the place which I am opposed
to but we did it just to bring in some money; we were so
behind in our bills. We produced some shows that
engendered some money like the Jazz Jams.
We’ve had
several other programs. Recently we had the first annual
Jazz Awards here. So we have excited the musician
community as well as the listening community. We’ve been
blessed. We don’t owe anybody anything right now. We are
now trying to work the plan that we put together. We
have turned the corner and our board is composed of some
of the most prominent African-Americans in the city”
Niah’s plans call
for expanding the venue to offer every genre of music
from Straight Ahead Jazz to Spoken Word/Hop-Hop, R&B,
Latin Jazz to Gospel. Each Friday will provide a
different genre. “Most of these artists will be local
and regional initially, getting enough support and
bringing in an audience so we can then bring in the
national artists. We’re speaking to WJJZ about smooth
Jazz, and WRNB about R&B. WURD has always been a partner
with us, they’ve supported our workshops and programs.
On Saturdays we’ll have straight ahead jazz and on
Sundays we’ll have Gospel. Gospel is the fastest growing
segment of the music community. As a matter of fact
House of Blues in Atlantic City has a Gospel brunch
every Sunday and we are going to do that here.”
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“We
have one contract with a charter school and
we are bringing in fiver others on contract
to teach music and the business of music.
There is no reason why young people cannot
learn about the business side of music. If
you learn about technology and you learn
about business there is no reason why we
cannot control our own future.” Niah knows
of what he speaks because he initiated
entrepreneurial workshops about the business
of music both at the Lee Cultural Center and
the Dell East when he was there. Recently he
started an entrepreneurial program at the
Wakeisha Charter School which he helped
start and served as CEO.
Niah
has engaged a marketing firm who is working
on a new logo for them, creating a branding
and marketing campaign that will heighten
the awareness of the Clef Club and make the
venue a major player in the region for jazz
and musical performing arts. |
His long term
goal is to make the Clef Club self-sustaining. He has an
extensive background as an administrator and grant
writer which he is putting to good use in his capacity
as the Clef Club’s Executive Director.
He envisions
institutionalizing the education component of the Clef
Club and expanding its influence beyond the confines of
Philadelphia. . “We want to make the Clef Club known
regionally and nationally as an incubator of fine
musicians. I want everybody to start coming to the Clef
Club because it is going to be the hippest place in
town.”
Music classes will
begin in September. For more information about their
classes, programs, workshops and rentals call the Clef
Club of Jazz and Performing Arts at (215) 893-9912 .
Photos above
include Shuna Ali Niah Jr. and Barbara Cottman
Jackson a local jazz vocalist performing at the Clef
Club during a recent benefit there.
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posted 2
September 2008 |
