An All-Star Jazz Jam Benefiting Settlement Music School

This year marks the centennial of Settlement Music School, the nation's oldest and largest community school of the arts, providing musical instruction to over 15,000 people of all ages at six branches in the Philadelphia area. Since 2005, I've had the honor of chairing Settlement's board. We're celebrating our first century of service to the community -- and revving up for our second century -- with a series of public events, a major fundraising campaign to secure the School's future, and an all-out effort to reconnect with former students and connect with music lovers who should know about the School.

The next terrific event in our centennial year is a concert by the Settlement Music School Jazz All-Stars, under bandleader Joe Sudler. All of the artists either taught or were taught at Settlement Music, and we're so grateful they're coming back to help us to celebrate. Featured artists include:

George Allen, Jr, trombone
John Blake, violin
Tony DiSantis, trumpet
Duane Eubanks, trumpet
Matt Gallagher, trumpet
David Gibson, drums
Bob Howell, tenor sax
Leonard Nelson Hubbard, bass
Randy Kapralick, trombone
Kevin MacConnell, bass
Craig McIver, drums
Dave Posmontier, piano
Wallace Roney, trumpet
Jaleel Shaw, alto sax
John Simon, tenor sax
Wayne Smith, trombone
Louis Taylor, alto sax
Sumi Tonooka, piano
Jose Vidal, trombone

These great performers will come together on Sunday, November 16, at 3:00 p.m. at the Independence Seaport Museum, Penn's Landing, in Philadelphia, and a reception with the artists will follow. Tickets are $20. Call (215) 320-2686 or order online.

Settlement has given the world some terrific artists in every genre of music, from jazz guitarist Kevin Eubanks of The Tonight Show to pop star Chubby Checker, from soprano (and star of the great suspense film Diva) Wilhelmenia Fernandez to the above-mentioned Leonard Nelson Hubbard of hip-hop pioneers The Roots. And the School has at least one alumnus on every major symphony orchestra in the United States. I'll have more to say about Settlement and how important it is to the future of the arts in Philadelphia in a later post.
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