Philadelphia Jazz Hero
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Jazz Hero Kim Tucker has been a fixture in this city since childhood. She learned all about the Philly jazz community at the knee of her mother Sue Ford, a well-loved advocate and prominent jazz promoter. By the time Kim was a teen, she was referring to well-known jazz musicians as “Pop,” “Mom” or “Cousin.”
Soon, Tucker was diving into the jazz community as a second-generation promoter, networking gigs for Philadelphia musicians she knew, writing press releases for their performances, then schooling band members on how to manage the business of show business. Her experience led to an adjunct teaching position at Temple University’s Boyer School of Music. Someone was needed to instruct all those fresh-faced musicians on how to make a life in “the business.” She was the right someone.
It wasn’t long before Kim was presenting and producing concerts at some of the most prestigious Philadelphia area institutions: the Cliveden of the National Trust, Center in the Park, the James Michner Museum jazz night series, Settlement Music School and the Community Unity Jazz Festival. After a few years, she had established herself as a Philadelphia jazz scene notable by shepherding young musicians at a well-known Sunday night jam session with drummer Rob Henderson at La Rose Jazz Club. JazzTimes magazine covered her work when some of those jamming players entered the big time; in 2015 she and Henderson were both celebrated for their contributions to the local scene with a “Making a Difference” Award.
Naturally Kim Tucker was tapped in 2004 to help start Jazz Bridge. an award-winning charity that helps professional Philadelphia jazz musicians in crisis. She worked for the nonprofit in almost every capacity: as a volunteer, board president, program director of the widely attended Neighborhood Concerts program at five different locations, five times a month for 10 months of the year. As she knew every facet of this important jazz organization, when a replacement was needed to step in as Executive Director after the 2019 death of noted WRTI radio host Jeff Duperon, Kim was ready.
Now she is retiring. Everyone will miss her. She has been so indispensable to the Philadelphia jazz community in myriad ways — fielding phone calls from desperate musicians in need of just one month’s rent, or insisting on living-wage gigs when a presenter asks for a freebie — that her shoes will be very hard to fill. Kim Tucker has done it all and she’s absolutely loved for everything she’s poured into our community over the years. Truly a Jazz Hero!
— Suzanne Cloud
2019 JJA Jazz Hero
Singer and director of the Philadelphia Jazz Legacy Project
