June 21–28, 2001

music

The Gig

Nate Chinen on jazz

Breeze by 50th and Baltimore early on a Friday evening and you’ll find one of the city’s unheralded new summer institutions. Since June 1, this colorful West Philly corner — home of the Firehouse Farmer’s Market — has played host to a vibrant, free outdoor jazz series organized by area resident (and professional vocalist) Denise King. Now in its second season, Friday Night Jazz at the Firehouse has flourished into a prominent community activity — a mini-festival at the close of each week, complete with food (provided by Firehouse vendors like Ellie’s Deli), art exhibits (by local artists) and live music (drawn from the city’s deep reservoir of traditional jazz talent).

"People want jazz," King affirms. "People absolutely want this music. The problem is that a lot of people don’t want to go in town, or can’t go in town — they can’t afford to pay for parking, the cost of drinks, the cover charge, or whatever. Other people just might not feel comfortable going in town. So I said, ‘If we make this something that’s easy for everybody to get to — and it’s free — they don’t have to worry about it.’ If they want to bring something to eat, fine. If we make it something that they can get to, then we will truly see how many people want this music."

Obviously, quite a few; it’s not unusual to see a crowd of over 300 congregated on and around the grassy traffic island that serves as an "outdoor juke joint" on Friday nights. So far, they’ve enjoyed concerts by Gerald "Twig" Smith and the Barbara Walker Story; next up is the tight rhythm section of Fortune Vinson Cruse, with singer Brenda Smith. (Fri., June 22, 6-8 p.m.). The following week, King herself will perform on a program co-sponsored by Sunoco, as part of its Welcome America! celebration. Jazz at the Firehouse, which runs through early September, has otherwise been funded entirely by contributions from community organizations.

King is also planning an indoor concert series, Jazz at the 4C’s Coffeehouse, at the nearby Calvary United Methodist Church. And she has entertained the notion of starting offshoots of the Firehouse series in other communities: "I want to get this one a little more stable, and then I’m going to enlist some people to start something in North Philly, South Philly, Germantown, Mt. Airy." Yet she laughs aloud at the suggestion that she might have a promoter’s ken. "One thing that I like to do is throw parties," she says matter-of-factly. "Every week I’m throwing a big party for the community."

—Nate Chinen