Philadelphia Jazz Hero
The lore of the folk is properly understood as that body of knowledge given to a particular group by its divine teachers…communication of this type of deep arcane knowledge is through symbols which the enquirer is left to unravel for self…for the proper teacher of any individual is that individual’s own soul.
Jazz musician, founder, leader, teacher of music education for the youth, Lovett Hines is formally Music Education Director at the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz & Performing Arts, and developer of its world-class music education program. Since 1985, students in his programs have participated in private instruction, master classes, ensembles, summer jazz camps and live performances all around the U.S. He has personally mentored Christian McBride, Jaleel Shaw, Joey DeFrancesco, Justin Faulkner, Immanuel Wilkins, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Kamal Grey of the Roots, among many others.
The curriculum at the Clef Club adapts the Berklee PULSE music method; the Clef Club has strong partnerships through the Berklee City Music Network and with Tufts University. Many graduates have gone on to successful careers in music. But what makes Mr. Hines’ jazz education program truly special is the relationship he forges with his students. He instills a sense of serious, proud mission as well with the Philadelphia area’s professional musicians who teach in the Clef Club education program. They all pour heart and spirit into this age-old community endeavor of passing valuable, experience-based knowledge on to youth.
https://youtu.be/7czzciNDvdA produced by Jason Fifield
Jazz, Black American Music (BAM) or Classical American music — whichever name you use to describe it — has its roots in the Black American experience. Therefore, the Clef Club music education program taps cultural and oral traditions that have been passed down through many generations.Students in the programs Mr. Hines has built over two decades at the Clef Club and earlier at Settlement Music School are, of course, steeped in music theory and practice, fluent in the jazz idiom and proficient on their instruments. Lately the Club’s “take it to the schools” initiative has extended music education to young people in Philadelphia city schools who, due to city budget cuts, would otherwise have no access to it.
Mr. Hines himself has a rich history as a musician, working from his Philadelphia home base. He’s been musical director/creator of “The Roots of Music Show”, jazz band director for the Better Break Summer Camp and director of Settlement Music School Jazz Ensemble. At the Trane Stop Resource Institute, he was program director/musical director for the ‘Change of the Century Orchestra’ that performed at the Berlin Jazz Festival; he was musical director for the Jerry McCleary Revue at Club Harlem in Atlantic City. He’s performed with the 76th Army Band in Orleans, France with Maceo Parker, and the House Band at Atlantic City’s Wonder Gardens with B.B. King and Al Grey, Motown Revue artists, Martha & The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson, The O’Jays, Florence Ballard, King Curtis, Gary U.S. Bonds and Lionel Hampton. He says his career highlight was serving as musical director of the Heavenly Horns performing with the Dixie Hummingbirds at the Music in the Air 70th Anniversary Celebration, which featured Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Isaac Hayes.
Lovett Hines is a major force in keeping music and culture alive while making it accessible to both aspiring musicians and audiences nationwide. Philadelphia continues to produce new jazz musicians with rich and real education from elders of the community, largely thanks to the Clef Club’s programs he’s built. The Jazz Journalists Association is proud to acknowledge Lovett Hines as a Jazz Hero. — Joseph Harrison
