Anderson@Large

Downstairs at the Showboat

I am spearheading All That Philly Jazz, a digital history project that’s mapping Philly’s rich jazz heritage. While jazz enthusiasts know about John Coltrane’s Philadelphia, the map tells the rest of the story.

From the organ joints on 52nd Street, aka “The Strip,” to Columbia Avenue’s “Miracle Mile” (now Cecil B. Moore Avenue), there was a jazz spot on nearly every block. South Philly was known as the Harlem Quarter.

There was so much jazz happening that folks in West Philly didn’t venture into North Philly and vice versa. Time after time I’ve heard, “You stayed in your neighborhood.” But there were two legendary spots that no matter where folks lived, they went – Pep’s Musical Bar at Broad and South streets and the Showboat on Broad and Lombard.

The World Communications Charter School now sits in Pep’s footprint. Given Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s appreciation for jazz, it may be more than coincidence that the Roots’ mural is on one of the school’s walls.

The building that housed the Showboat is still there. The jazz club was in the basement of what was then the Douglass Hotel. The historical marker out front notes that Billie Holiday “often lived here.”

Last fall, I visited what used to be the Showboat with Yasuhiro “Fuji” Fujioka, founder of the Coltrane House of Osaka and co-author of “The John Coltrane Reference”; Lenora Early, founder of the Philadelphia John Coltrane House; and Dr. George E. Allen, former chair of Overbrook High School’s Art and Music Department and author of “I Was Not Asked.”

Until that visit, I assumed the Showboat was in the basement space with the two windows facing Lombard Street. As we descended the stairs, Dr. Allen said something was wrong. Back then, there was no landing between the steps. Instead, the club was down a steep set of stairs.

And sure enough, after a bit of snooping, we found what remains of the original steps that led down to the Showboat.

So imagine the likes of Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, Philly Joe Jones, Thelonious Monk, Dinah Washington, Ramsey Lewis, Ray Charles, Lee Morgan, Percy, Jimmy, and Tootie Heath (the Heath Brothers), and Nina Simon descending those steps to take up their place on the stage that was behind the bar.

As we build out the All That Philly Jazz interactive map, we will have images, video and audio that will take you back to the day when jazz and blues giants were live at the Showboat.

For updates on All That Philly Jazz, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

On Social Media, It’s Always ‘Ladies’ Night’

A new survey from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that women rule social media. Women were five to 10 percent more likely to use social networking sites compared to men.

But not all social networks are created equal. According to data compiled by Alex Hillsberg.

So if you hear any noise on Facebook, “it ain’t the boys, it’s ladies night.”

African Americans and Technology Use

Read Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project's report: African Americans and Technology

Roar for Your Right to a ‘Thorough and Efficient System of Public Education’

It’s Week Four of Philadelphia’s school funding crisis. The fight for equitable funding of traditional public schools is rooted in the Pennsylvania state constitution which provides for a “thorough and efficient system of public education.”

The fight for full funding is being waged online (hashtag #phillyeducation) and offline.

Students at Roxborough High School “got the eye of a tiger.” They created video to express their concern about the state’s failure to provide a “thorough and efficient system of public education.” Since 2001, Philadelphia’s public schools have been run by the School Reform Commission, which is controlled by the governor.

At last weekend’s conference at the Church of the Advocate, Bishop Dwayne D. Royster, executive director of P.O.W.E.R., said he’s raring to go. P.O.W.E.R., Philadelphia’s largest faith-based organization, is an interfaith movement that uses prophetic voices to “fight for the least, the last and the lost.”

He said “interposition and nullification are dripping from the lips of political leaders in Philadelphia and Harrisburg. It’s time to hold them accountable:

We must be the source of their nervousness; make them tremble when they see us coming.

Bishop Royster added:

We have to do something that’s going to be transformational.

If we work together, they will hear us roar.

Facebook Decoded

All That Philly Jazz is Live

At last weekend’s Music Hack, a music-related hackathon, the All That Philly Jazz team, Mark Headd, Mike Lamond and the writer, developed the Philly Jazz App, an interactive  map where we will tell the story of Philadelphia’s rich jazz legacy.

All That Philly Jazz is mapping historic theaters, legendary jazz clubs, Walk of Fame plaques and public murals. We will take visitors back to the days when jazz legends performed at the Uptown, the Royal, Earle and Lincoln Theaters. To contextualize the images, we will include data curated by Echo Nest and audio samples from Rdio. We’re jazzed that All That Philly Jazz won a one-year subscription to Rdio for the best hack.

Much of Philly’s jazz history has fallen victim to urban upheaval and urban removal. To preserve the history for future generations, we must tap the memories of Philadelphians and visitors. So All That Philly Jazz will be crowdsourced. We will use social media and traditional media, including community newspapers and radio, to ask folks to share their memories and photos.

We will also use technology, including Google Glass and Historypin, to breathe life into legendary jazz clubs like the Showboat, Pep’s Musical Bar, Blue Note, Up Jumped the Devil, Fantasy Lounge, and joints along 52nd Street, aka “The Strip.” Clubs like the Aqua Lounge, Billie's Boomer, Mr. Silk’s Third Base and Foo-Foo Ragan’s.

Indeed, All That Philly Jazz is at the intersection of technology, art and civic engagement. To get involved, contact us via email or Twitter: @PhillyJazzApp.

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