THE REAL THING: Valerie Simpson and Nickolas Ashford, of Ashford & Simpson, at the Rhythm & Blues Foundation's Pioneer Awards ceremony.

The Pioneer Awards that the R&B Foun-dation served up at the Bellevue celebrated Philadelphians Barbara Mason, Chubby Checker, Thom Bell, the Delfonics and Frankie Beverly (and Detroit's Bettye LaVette) with prizes of $10,000 and $15,000. Smokey Robinson, Bonnie Raitt and Paul Shaffer hosted and doled out honoraria at what was but one leg of a several-day excursion into soul unification.

"R&B is like a farmer that can't take advantage of his own yield," said Checker on seeing hip-hop and rock 'n' roll celebrating platinum sales while their roots languish. "I thank you for this."

"R&B is the beginning," said Jerry Blavat. The newly anointed voice behind Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon character "Al Bacore" reminded me that Philly jocks before him, like Sir Lancelot and Hot Rod, were playing the "edge music" that formed rock 'n' roll. "When I jitterbugged at St. Monica's, Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame' was playing. Not Pat Boone's. Philadelphia was the first capital of our nation. And it was the first capital of R&B."

Along with its charitable endeavors for artists in need, The Foundation is also a civic endeavor, one that will anchor a larger museum space dedicated to all cities with R&B heritage, with Philly front and center, of course.

"It will be just like Nashville," said Kenny Gamble—the man who brought the Foundation from Manhattan to Philly. Gamble is seeking "an interactive relationship" between this city and and the legend of R&B. Eventually, he wants to build a full-fledged museum, education center and music hall dedicated solely to R&B much like Nashville has with country music.

The placement of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation at 100 S. Broad St. is the cornerstone of bringing an R&B museum to Philadelphia. To the 1700 block of South Street, or Broad Street, or to a dilapidated South Philly shipyard space. Somewhere. On the afternoon before the awards ceremony, Stax's Al Bell, Motown's Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, and Invictus' Brian and Eddie Holland met with Gamble and Leon Huff at Philadelphia International's Broad Street offices. Other than to pave the way for what might be Gamble's greatest hit, we don't know what the minutes of this historic meeting contain.

Kayte Connelly, the independent nonprofit foundation's executive director, is the guardian. A Lehigh Valley native with a degree in social work (and in her youth "a bad songwriter and performer"), Connelly took the executive director's post for several reasons.

The foundation meant emergency assistance for aging artists. There was growth and partnership with a new location that sought to connect the dots of musical history. "But it spoke, subtly, of needing direction in which to do all those things as one," says Connelly. "That tugged at my heart."

In 2003, operation funds to sustain staff were nearly nil. Endowment funds were in place. It could grant money. But it didn't have the manpower for outreach to find the artists in need. It couldn't educate. There wasn't financial growth. "As the music industry evolved through the late '80s—as profit margins slipped—we lost their support," says Connelly.

The foundation went from being one of the labels' top 10 charitable endeavors, to sliding down the charts.

In Philadelphia, in Gamble, they found money and space. "The opportunity that Mr. Gamble brought to the table came with a directive from the governor in a letter: Make Philadelphia the home of R&B," says Connelly. "In survival mode, you move toward what has the most potential." The city helped provide necessary suite space for the foundation.

"And John Street—he's made it clear that this will be one of the biggest parts of his legacy," says Blavat. "We could've had the Rock 'n' Roll of Fame if, like Street and Rendell [now], Wilson Goode would've offered them the right incentives."

With the foundation in place, Gamble can move forward to build his dream—a National Center for Rhythm & Blues and the Rhythm & Blues Academy housing memorabilia, live theaters and educational aspects from all spots on the R&B map: Memphis, Detroit, Chicago, Philly.

"We want to pay homage to artists that deserve respect," said Connelly as she prepped to woo music industry reps visiting the awards with entertainment strategies for Philadelphia and possible incentives. "I'm looking forward to a greater presence and awareness of what the foundation does. And then, we're gonna brand this city the home of R&B."