Keeping Hope Alive on Philadelphia Courthouse Mural

I was on jury duty last week. During breaks, I checked out one of my favorite works of public art. When I first saw the Philadelphia Courthouse Mural in 2016, I nearly passed out. The panoramic mural has more stories about Philadelphia jazz than any source other than my website, All That Philly Jazz.

I was stumped by a previously overlooked image of a saxophonist who is described as “a major player in Philadelphia jazz.” I could not make out the name because the image is small and waist-high.

All That Philly Jazz is crowdsourced. With the advent of generative artificial intelligence (AI), I did not have to turn to the wisdom of the crowd. Instead, I asked my new research assistants, ChatGPT and Google Bard. They identified the saxophonist – Lynn Hope – in mere seconds.

Photography is not allowed in the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice. When I told the court officer that I was documenting Philadelphia’s jazz history, she said OK but be quick.

Lynn Hope, also known as El Hajj Abdullah Rasheed Ahmad, was a band leader and tenor saxophonist who was popular in the late 1950s and early ‘60s. After converting to Islam, he wore his trademark turban. Hope and his band toured Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In 1950, he had a crossover hit with “Tenderly.”

Hope was the top star at the legendary Show Boat under the ownership of Herb Keller.

Hope faded into obscurity in the late ‘60s. After his jazz heyday, he held a variety of jobs, including cab driver (as noted on the mural). Hope joined the ancestors on February 24, 1993.

Philly Jazz Legacy Project Social and Scanning Party

You are invited to the Spring Social and Scanning Party hosted by Documenting & Interpreting the Philly Jazz Legacy Project, Jazz Bridge and Philadelphia Jazz Project on Thursday, April 11, 2019, 6-8 p.m., at the Philadelphia Clef Club for Jazz & Performing Arts.

Please come and share photographs, clippings, posters, concert programs, etc., of the jazz scene back in the day.

The event is free but you must register here.

Citizen Salon

I am an advocate for the arts. I believe in the power of art to transform lives and ignite social change. Last summer, the Arthur Ross Gallery invited citizens to select an artwork from the University of Pennsylvania Art Collection to be included in a crowdsourced installation, Citizen Salon.

I was among 600+ people who responded. The citizen curators included art historians, Penn faculty, artists, scientists and ordinary citizens. I selected a portrait of Marian Anderson, the first African American soloist to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera. The top 50 picks are now on view, including Robert Savon Pious’ portrait of the world-renowned contralto.

I was asked to provide commentary for the label and audio tour which you can listen to here.

Citizen Salon will be on view at the Arthur Ross Gallery through March 24, 2019.

UPDATE: I’m the featured citizen curator on the Arthur Ross Gallery blog.

Help Get Muddy Waters a Google Doodle

We all have seen Google Doodles. The drawings “celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists.”

Google accepts suggestions from the public. You can help one of the most celebrated bluesmen, Muddy Waters, get a Google Doodle.

American Blues Scene, a popular website, is petitioning Google to create a Muddy Waters doodle:

No figure has inspired an international music explosion quite like blues musician McKinley “Muddy Waters” Morganfield, who left a log cabin in a Mississippi cotton field to break much greater ground with his inimitable guitar and vocal style. After more than 100 years, Muddy Waters’ continuing impact has proven the blues singer to be one of the most significant figures in the history of American Music, inspiring generations of artists and cultural movements like Folk, Chicago Blues, and Rock n Roll.

You can sign the petition here. You can also email Google at proposals@google.com and tell them about the “Hoochie Coochie Man.”

The blues master is memorialized on a Chicago high-rise.

With your help, Muddy Waters will be immortalized for all Google users.

Let’s Do Philadelphia’s Jazz Heritage Justice

On the first day of summer, I had to report for jury duty at the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice. As I stood in line to go inside the Jury Assembly Room, I noticed a panoramic mural. I made a mental note to check it out during the break.

As the director of All That Philly Jazz, words cannot convey my shock and awe to discover some of the images depict Philadelphia’s legendary jazz clubs, including the Showboat and Pep’s.

It is clear the details only could have come from folks who were there. So it was no surprise to learn the mural was conceived by Doug Cooper in collaboration with “Philadelphia elderly.” Cooper wrote:

I brought together more than 40 elderly residents to complete it, and I worked jointly with them at the Center in the Park in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Local artist, Deborah Zwetsch and I assembled their memories over the previous 80 years.

[…]

The memories of the elderly are highly personal. Some are sentimental, some painful, some humorous, some ordinary.

There is nothing ordinary about the depiction of the Ridge Avenue jazz corridor.

Ridge Avenue is ground zero in the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s plan to transform the Sharswood neighborhood. There is widespread concern that PHA has no plan to preserve the neighborhood’s cultural heritage and historic resources.

Cooper’s mural, showcasing Pep’s, the Showboat, Blue Horizon, Uptown Theater and jazz joints on Ridge Avenue, tells part of the story of Philadelphia’s rich jazz heritage. We must capture the rest of the story while the folks who were there are still here. If we don’t, their stories will be lost for current and future generations.