In 1967, as a seven year old I used to take my 5 year old brother to school and we changed buses at Fillmore and Geary. Public transit. Different times!
Later I lived on California and Fillmore from 1990 to 1998, a glorious time to live in San Francisco.
During that period, I built one of the world’s first online-only museums and it was dedicated to – of course – the history of Fillmore Street.
Every shred of Fillmore’s illustrious jazz history had been stripped away by that point, but bit by bit I reassembled what I could.
Then along came Elizabeth Pepin and Lewis Watts who began an ongoing multi-decade labor of love documenting one of America’s great African-American communities and what at the time was one of the hottest jazz scenes west of the Mississippi.
Their book – now in a brand new addition with 100 brand new pages of photos and text – is luscious.
You can’t understand the history of jazz without having a feel for the “scenes” that made jazz possible and this may be the best capture of a 1940s+ era jazz scene ever.
My fervent wish is that every “scene” find archivists, historians, and story tellers with the same passion and dedication as Pepin and Watts to capture their story while it’s still possible to talk with the people who lived it. This is not just important jazz history, it’s important American history.
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
Music credit: The Jazz on the Tube podcast theme song is “Mambo Inferno” performed by The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria from the CD ¡Que Viva Harlem!
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
Music credit: The Jazz on the Tube podcast theme song is “Mambo Inferno” performed by The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria from the CD ¡Que Viva Harlem!
Alina is the person who brought jazz to Lincoln Center, helping forever transform the way jazz is presented globally.
Her latest project Music on the Inside brings jazz , music education, and mentorship to incarcerated people and people re-entering society after being imprisoned.
Music on the Inside hosts a streaming concert every Sunday at 6 PM eastern.
You can support this organization directly as well as the musicians who contribute their time – and we strongly recommend you do so.
Tech note: Thanks to all the darn conferencing apps we’ve added to the computer in recent months and the way that some of them (i.e. Zoom) hijack and scramble settings on our computer, the normal headphone setting we had on was, unbeknownst to us, switched off even though it indicated it was on. Thus our end of the conversation was recorded off the computer’s speakers. This is the reason for the poor audio quality of the recording and the constant air conditioner’s hum in the background.
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
Music credit: The Jazz on the Tube podcast theme song is “Mambo Inferno” performed by The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria from the CD ¡Que Viva Harlem!
Mike Vaccaro, Leader, Tenor Sax, Flute
Gerry Schroeder, Keys
Kevin Axt, Bass, ContraBass
Michael Higgins, Guitar
“Tiki Passillas”, Percussion
Anne Walsh, Vocals
Drums and Percussion
Chris Stevens, Marimba, Percussion
Tom Zink, Recordist
– Ken McCarthy
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
Music credit: The Jazz on the Tube podcast theme song is “Mambo Inferno” performed by The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria from the CD ¡Que Viva Harlem!
Sean Jones, president of the Jazz Education Network (JEN), is also the Chair of Jazz Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Among other things, he held down the lead trumpet chair at the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and toured with Marcus Miller, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter on trumpet for the Tribute to Miles Tour.
We talk about how Sean skippered the organization through the rough seas of 2020-21, the specific challenges JEN faced and is still facing, and its urgent need for support from the jazz community.
Jazz on the Tube will double your donation so please give generously today.
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube Thanks.
