This Germantown jazz ‘Trane’ is in high gear

by BEN CAKE

Raymond Wood, entrepreneur and chairman of the TraneStop Institute’s executive board, stands admiring a row of irises and marigolds outside his home at the corner of Washington Lane and Musgrave Street. “During concerts,” he says, “people would come and stand along this fence here. So I decided to plant a garden there to encourage them to c’mon in.”

The concerts he’s referring to are the TraneStop’s free annual community jazz concerts, the ninth of which was held on Sunday, July 25. As in past years, approximately 300 people were present to relax in the half-acre yard — filled with daylilies, peach trees and rose bushes — and enjoy some of Philadelphia’s finest jazz musicians perform the music of Miles Davis.

Community is the perfect word to describe these concerts. Rosalind Plummer, an attorney and the TraneStop’s executive administrator, has noticed people in the neighborhood make family plans around the concert dates. Even when they don’t heed Wood’s suggestion to “c’mon in,” locals have cookouts or gather on their porches to take in the event.

The towering stone walls of Roosevelt Middle School, situated across the street, create a natural amphitheater effect that reverberates the music throughout Germantown for all to appreciate. People have told Wood the sound can be heard from as far away as Stenton Avenue, which is over two-thirds of a mile away.

But the purpose behind these concerts, and the TraneStop Institute Inc., is about more than providing entertainment; there is also the intense desire to educate people and preserve one of Philadelphia’s significant cultural treasures: jazz.

Since the 1930s, Philadelphia has been home to such influential jazz greats as Stan Getz, Clifford Brown, McCoy Tyner, the Heath Brothers and John Coltrane. The TraneStop Resource Institute Inc., with its educational programs and advocacy projects, has devoted itself to making sure we do not forget this.

For each concert, the TraneStop selects a particular jazz icon to replicate and pay tribute to — a project that requires a great deal of thought and effort. “When one finishes, we immediately begin planning the one for next year,” says Plummer, who also admits to devoting about 70 hours a week during the organization’s busier times.

Part of this preparation involves assembling a band of musicians that can take on the task of properly presenting the material. Prior to this year’s tribute to Miles Davis, Plummer stressed, “They gotta make it feel like Miles is there. Their assignment is to educate the audience to a particular sound.”

The headlining group of Daud El-Bakara (trumpet), Wayne Smith (drums), Oliver Collins (piano), Joe Kearyney (bass) and Ya Ya Abdul-Majid (tenor saxophone) handled their assignment impeccably. With specific attention to Miles’ 1956-1960 period — a period that included the recording of Kind of Blue — they performed classics like “So What,” “All Blues,” and “Round Midnight.”

Men and women in the audience nodded their heads, occasionally mustering an audible “umm-Hmm” or “go on.” Children, with lips stained red from popsicles, danced to the passionate warbling of saxophone and trumpet. Impressed by El-Bakara, one woman commented, “He even looks like a young Miles.” The TraneStop couldn’t have asked for more.

Founded in 1979 by Arnold Boyd, the TraneStop has been, as Wood explains, “an institution without walls.” Many of their educational programs are held at locations such as the Settlement Music School, Temple University and the Community College of Philadelphia. Their plans, however, are to grow these classes into a charter school that uses jazz as a springboard for developing well-rounded young adults.

How can jazz be the foundation for comprehensive learning? The TraneStop believes jazz, or African American classical music, is a transcendent art form that possesses a powerful blend of spirituality, discipline and intellect — characteristics that are fundamental and transferable to any profession.

Over the years, they have collaborated with a variety of music educators to develop a curriculum that would focus on more than just musical performance. Plummer explains, “We also want them to know the businesses related to the industry; we want to teach them the importance of managing this as a business.”

By learning how to create budgets and business plans, the organization believes students would develop practical math skills. Similarly, music appreciation classes would teach American history and how certain cultural events affected the music, as well as require students to hone their writing skills with essays — practical lessons that should serve students well no matter what career they go on to.

In addition to concerts and educational programming, the TraneStop also pursues various advocacy projects, which include finding affordable housing and health benefits for musicians. “They carry a gift,” says Plummer, “and we need to help them keep in good shape.” Plummer qualifies this point by adding that they also watch out for the type of health care musicians receive: “If you play the horn and you go to a dentist who doesn’t understand that, he can change your whole sound.”

As with many local art institutions, the TraneStop has been hurt by recent cuts in funding. Despite these setbacks, they have refused to go to a more festival-like format. “It would have been more financially viable to bring vendors in to offset the costs,” Plummer says, “but it loses something in the lesson plan — it becomes a free-for-all.”

Vendor-free, the TraneStop events remain focused on their sole purpose: honoring the music and sharing it with the community at large. In September, they plan on hosting another concert to celebrate the birthday of John Coltrane. For more specifics, Wood and Plummer can be reached at 215-438-3178.