
Jazz Bridge is an arts services organization that was unofficially founded in 2004 by
jazz singers
Suzanne Cloud
Suzanne Cloud (born September 7, 1951) is an American jazz singer, writer, and teacher.
Biography
Born in Philadelphia, Cloud grew up in a musical family in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey. Her father played ukulele and banjo, and her mother sang ...
and
Wendy Simon to address the lack of support for individual jazz and blues musicians and vocalists in crisis in the tri-state, lower
Delaware Valley, Greater Philadelphia Metro area. Over the years, these women had witnessed the struggles of their fellow musicians and the desperation felt by the music community when the only available remedy to hardship was the traditional jam session to raise money. Seeking a more permanent support system, Simon and Cloud began to assemble like minded musicians and fans to form The Jazz Bridge Project, the organization's official name. Jazz Bridge saw a special opportunity to develop a unique, regional model that could provide local jazz and blues musicians/vocalists with no-cost or low-cost resources to support their activities of daily living—medical, financial, and professional—during times of personal crisis.
Jazz Bridge was awarded its
501(c)3
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...
status as a nonprofit by the
IRS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
in 2007 and the members of the founding board of directors were: Singers Suzanne Cloud and Wendy Simon; Sue Ford, jazz concert producer;
Bob Perkins, jazz historian and NPR deejay;
Pete Souders, owner of Ortliebs' JazzHaus; bassist
Mike Boone; ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 2010� ...
'' music director
Kevin Eubanks
Kevin Tyrone Eubanks (born November 15, 1957) is an American jazz and fusion guitarist and composer. He was the leader of The Tonight Show Band with host Jay Leno from 1995 to 2010. He also led the Primetime Band on the short lived ''The Jay Le ...
. Current Board members are
Chris Sanchirico, Carol Rogers, Jeff Duperon, Rhenda Fearrington, Mike Boone, Wendy Simon
Jim Miller and
Bob Perkins.
Since its inception Jazz Bridge has won awards from the Philly community: the Pennsylvania Humanities Council awarded Jazz Bridge "Partner of the Year" in 2013 and in 2014, the organization received the prestigious David Cohen Prize for Arts and Social Justice from the Philadelphia City Council. Executive Director Suzanne Cloud has also received the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Medal from the Camden County Freeholders and the Rutgers Chancellor Award for Civic Engagement for her work with Jazz Bridge. Filmmaker Jason Fifield of Slife Productions, and a former board member, won Best Short Form Jazz Video from the Jazz Journalists of America in 2014 for his work on Bob Perkins.
Programs
Jazz Bridge presents over 48 neighborhood concerts throughout the
Delaware Valley every year from October through May in
Collingswood,
Willingboro
Willingboro Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is a suburb of Philadelphia and part of the state's South Jersey region.
As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,889, an increase of ...
, Philadelphia,
Rosemont Rosemont may refer to:
* Rosemont (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse
* ''Rosemont'', a 2015 film Places
In Australia
* Rosemont (Woollahra), located in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra and listed on the NSW State Heritage Register
In Canada ...
, and
Cheltenham.
Jazz Bridge also aids Philadelphia-area professional jazz and blues musicians and singers in crisis, e.g.
Charlie Rice when he was wrongly accused of stealing gas and guitarist
Monnette Sudler when she needed a lung transplant.
Jazz Bridge has also been funded for special projects such as ''Philly Jazz: A View Through the Lens'', a photography show by the city's best jazz photographers at the Kimmel Center of the Performing Arts, and an original musical, one man show - ''Last Call at the Downbeat'' - written and directed by Suzanne Cloud about Dizzy Gillespie's youthful sojourn in Philadelphia with musical direction by trumpeter Dwayne Eubanks for the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts in 2013 at the Society Hill Playhouse. Jazz Bridge also partnered with Life Line Coalition to create a new ''Great Day in Philly'' group jazz photo taken by photographer Elena Bouvier with Mayor Michael Nutter in front of the
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.
Born and rai ...
House to raise money to rehabilitate the former home of the jazz great.
References
External links
*{{official website, http://www.jazzbridge.org
Jazz organizations
Organizations based in Philadelphia
Music organizations based in the United States