Exploring the Philly Jazz Legacy

Philly has long been a jazz hub, with cool cats like John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Jimmy Smith, and Benny Golson calling the city home. Such figures were mainstays in the clubs and concert halls that were an integral part of the city's thriving jazz landscape. This tour will cover over a century of Philadelphia jazz history, from the early 20th to early 21st century, highlighting in particular locations and stories from the 1940s to 1960s heyday of Philly jazz, when the city was teeming with jazz clubs and home to some of the most transformative musicians in the history of the music. We’ll begin near the site of the famed Earle Theatre at 11th and Market Streets. From there, we’ll head down South Broad Street, a major club thoroughfare. The tour will end at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts at Broad and Fitzwater Streets. Put some pep in your step and come join the fun!

Tour leader Jack McCarthy is a longtime Philadelphia archivist and historian who specializes in Philadelphia music history. Jack has a master’s degree in music history and regularly lectures, writes, and gives tours on the subject. He has directed several Philadelphia music history initiatives, including major projects for the Philadelphia Jazz Legacy Project, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Mann Music Center. Jack has written on Philadelphia music history for the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia and the online magazine Hidden City Philadelphia. His book, A Century of Music Under the Stars: A History of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts and Robin Hood Dell, will be published by Temple University Press in fall 2025.

If you are a Hidden City Member, don't forget to use your promo code for a member discount!

Questions, concerns, conundrums? Contact Hidden City project coordinator Alison Zeidman at [email protected].

Host or Publisher Hidden City Philadelphia