Crossing Over: Jazz Musicians and the Philadelphia Popular Music Industry, 1957–80s

Abstract: Philadelphia was a powerhouse in popular music in the mid to late twentieth century, particularly in two specific periods: 1957 to 1964 and 1971 to 1980. The city’s music industry was exceptionally vibrant and influential in these periods, nurturing the careers of numerous top-selling recording and performing artists and serving as homebase to several trend-setting record companies as well as the nation’s most popular music and dance TV show of the mid-twentieth century, American Bandstand. At the same time, Philadelphia had a thriving jazz scene, part of a longstanding jazz tradition in the city that gave birth to the careers of such jazz luminaries as Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Lee Morgan, and others. The city was teeming with jazz clubs in the mid to late twentieth century and supported an active jazz community.

This presentation will explore how Philadelphia-based jazz musicians navigated the intersection of jazz and popular music in the city’s pop music heyday—the opportunities and obstacles they encountered and the choices they faced in balancing art and commerce in their careers.