nightlife : In The News

La Rose Nightclub in Germantown welcomes teen musicians who want to play jazz, according to Jazz Times.

The Sunday evening jam sessions led by drummer Rob Henderson and jazz promoter Kim Tucker at the La Rose Jazz Club on Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia for the past two years are the epitome of this playful re-enactment of traditional rites of passage between the young and the old, the neophyte and the old head, the apprentice and the master, the eager and the cautious.

Many of the "young ones" come from Cheltenham High School, University of the Arts, Temple University, and the Kimmel Center and Clef Club youth jazz ensembles. Some of the standouts are 19-year-old saxophonist Dahi Divine; 16-year-old pianist Jordan Williams; 11-year-old drummer Nazir Zbo, the little brother of Philly phenom Justin Faulkner; 17-year-old bassist Bruce Ketterer (whose father drives him in from Reading); drummer Ben Singer; and 17-year-old violinist Ben Sutin, whose band has appeared at Chris' Jazz Caf�, one of the few remaining jazz clubs in Philadelphia. Photographers L. David Hinton and Anthony Dean make it a point to be present to document these early moments of what could be the next generation of young lions.

Source: Jazz Times
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The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts is worth a trip to experience the French Arts connection, according to the Baltimore Sun.

If you want to spend April in Paris but can't afford it, a short hop to Philadelphia may at least give you that French feeling.

After nearly three years of planning, the city kicks off the first Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts this weekend, featuring 1,500 artists and 135 exhibits, performances, lectures and films, all paying homage to Paris.

Source: The Baltimore Sun
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The USA Today reports the young professional population is on the rise in urban centers, especially in Philadelphia, which saw a 57 percent increase among college-educated 20- and 30-somethings.

In more than two-thirds of the nation's 51 largest cities, the young, college-educated population in the past decade grew twice as fast within 3 miles of the urban center as in the rest of the metropolitan area - up an average 26 percent compared with 13 percent in other parts.

"This is a real glimmer of hope," says Carol Coletta, head of CEOs for Cities, a non-profit consortium of city leaders that commissioned the research. "Clearly, the next generation of Americans is looking for different kinds of lifestyles - walkable, art, culture, entertainment."

Source: USA Today
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Philadelphia singer-songwriter Amos Lee talks about writing and recording Mission Bell in an interview with the Boston Globe.

A certain cookie maker isn't the only entity making the name Amos famous these days. Over the past six years, Philadelphia singer-songwriter Amos Lee has built a following for his beguiling mix of folk, pop, soul, and roots music. That following includes admirers like Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, and Willie Nelson.

Lee is currently touring for his fourth album, "Mission Bell,'' which debuted at number one on the Billboard albums chart last month, and features contributions from Williams and Nelson as well as friends like Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Priscilla Ahn, and veteran timekeeper James Gadson (Marvin Gaye, D'Angelo). We recently chatted with Lee, who plays a sold-out show Sunday at the Wilbur Theatre, by phone from a Michigan tour stop.

Source: The Boston Globe
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Rock music idol maker Bob Marcucci, who created the careers of Frankie Avalon and Fabian, has died at age 81, according to the New York Times.

Bob Marcucci, who discovered Frankie Avalon and Fabian and helped make them two of the biggest rock 'n' roll stars of the late 1950s and early 1960s and whose career inspired the 1980 film "The Idolmaker," died on March 9 in Ontario, Calif. He was 81 and lived in Los Angeles.

Mr. Marcucci was a lyricist and co-owner of Chancellor Records, a Philadelphia label hungry for a hit, when he first laid eyes on Frankie Avalon in 1957.

Source: The New York Times
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Rick Ross Signs Philly rapper Meek Mill to Maybach Music Group, reports HipHopWired.

"The Bawse" Rick Ross has announced Philadelphia's own Meek Mill as his latest signee.

The young spitter states, "coming from the bottom, 2 years ago I was in my [expletive] cell hoping I wouldn't get 20 years... now I get out and take it to the next level"

Meek became one of Philadelphia's hottest underground rap artists on an independent label in 2007.

Repping North and South Philly, he released his Flamerz mixtape series and the single, "In My Bag," broke through to radio in his hometown.

Original source: HipHopWired
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