PHILADELPHIA, PA — Six decades of Philadelphia jazz history will meet the music’s next chapter on South Broad Street as the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts marks its 60th anniversary with an evening of live music, honors and a world-premiere composition.
The Clef Club’s Diamond Anniversary Celebration on Sept. 26 will look back to the musicians who built and preserved one of Philadelphia’s important Black musical institutions while spotlighting artists and students carrying that legacy forward.
State Sen. Vincent Hughes will host the celebration at the Clef Club’s home at 736 S. Broad Street. The evening begins with a catered reception at 6 p.m. and features saxophonist, composer and educator Tia Fuller performing the world premiere of “Intersections,” a work commissioned through the Clef Club’s Soundscapes for Tomorrow initiative.
“The Diamond Year is about much more than celebrating 60 years,” Philadelphia Clef Club CEO Oscar Payne said. “It is about honoring the musicians who had the courage and foresight to preserve what their community had built, recognizing the artists and young people carrying that legacy forward today, and making the investments necessary to ensure that PCC remains a vital cultural institution for generations to come.”
Tia Fuller Premieres ‘Intersections’
Fuller’s new work is designed to move across musical boundaries, bringing elements of R&B, classical music, funk and hip-hop into conversation with jazz.
The premiere is part of Soundscapes for Tomorrow, the Clef Club’s artist residency and new-work initiative supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. The program gives participating artists space to develop new work while connecting their creative practice with students, audiences and the larger community.
Fuller is one of five participating Soundscapes for Tomorrow artists who will receive Artistic Excellence Awards during the anniversary celebration. The others are Papo Vázquez, Miguel Zenón, Derrick Hodge and Nabaté Isles. Valerie Gay will present the awards.
The Diamond Year Awards ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m.
James “Jimmy” Adams will be honored posthumously with the Founders Legacy Award for his leadership in establishing the Philadelphia Clef Club and preserving the institutional legacy of American Federation of Musicians Local 274. Dr. Diane Turner will present the award.
Dr. Bernard C. Watson will receive the Lifetime Cultural Impact Award recognizing his contributions to Philadelphia’s cultural, educational, and civic life and his relationship with the Clef Club’s development. Dr. Ken Scott, president of the Clef Club’s board of directors, will make the presentation.
Event Details
- What: Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts Diamond Anniversary Celebration and Awards Ceremony, featuring Tia Fuller in concert
- When: Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m.; Diamond Year Awards ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m.
- Where: Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, 736 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146
- Cost/Tickets: General admission is $45
- More Info: Tickets are available at https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/soundscapes-for-tomorrow. More information about the Clef Club is available at https://clefclubofjazz.org.
A Legacy Born From Philadelphia’s Black Music Community
The anniversary reaches further back than the Clef Club’s 1966 incorporation.
Its institutional roots trace to American Federation of Musicians Local 274, established in Philadelphia in 1935 after Black musicians were denied equal access to the established musicians’ union. Frank “Frankie” Fairfax was central to the effort to establish the local, which grew into a professional, social and cultural home for generations of Black musicians.
When efforts to eliminate segregated union locals threatened Local 274’s future in the 1960s, Adams and other leaders established the Philadelphia Clef Club of the Performing Arts, Incorporated, in 1966 as a way to preserve the resources and legacy musicians had built.
“The Clef Club was not simply created to preserve jazz,” Payne said. “It was created to preserve an inheritance built by generations of Black musicians—and then put that inheritance to work for future generations.”
Sixty years later, that connection between inheritance and experimentation remains at the center of the celebration. With Fuller premiering a work that reaches beyond traditional jazz boundaries and five contemporary artists being recognized for their contributions, the Diamond Anniversary is designed not simply as a look backward, but as a reminder that Philadelphia’s jazz story is still being written.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.