During January and February of 2001, WHYY TV12 aired the Ken Burns documentary series, Jazz. This series was the newest of Burns work at the time, and was being shown on most PBS stations nationally. Although the 19-hour long documentary presented a seemingly thorough look at the history and personalities of jazz, the scope was so large that it was unable to highlight regional contributions to this American art form.

Recognizing that Philadelphia’s jazz legacy was still largely unknown, even to many residents in the region, WHYY’s Civic Space* produced a weekend series of off-air, community events called "WHYY Celebrates Philly Jazz." This weekend featured a concert at the Seaport Museum with Philadelphia native Benny Golson, a night of regional talent at Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus, and a jazz vespers service at the First Presbyterian church in Center City.

In order identify talent and help structure the musical content, WHYY formed a relationship with Tony Williams, who had expressed interest in Philly Jazz while speaking with WHYY’s Kay Keenze after he played a benefit show at the WHYY Technology Center. During the planning of Philly Jazz Tony introduced WHYY to his work with the Mount Airy Cultural Center (M.A.C.C.). WHYY felt that the work being done at the M.A.C.C. was in line with the community mission of the station, noting the emphasis on service to young people by providing mentoring and leadership skills training through the teaching of the jazz arts. As a way to help support the cultural center, it was decided that the M.A.C.C.’s jazz ensemble would be on the bill for the evening at Ortlieb’s, and the free-will offering from the Sunday jazz vespers service would be donated to the M.A.C.C.

.The vespers service on January 21, 2001, raised over $1,300 for the M.A.C.C. and was presented to the center by WHYY President, Bill Marrazzo, during one of the center’s Saturday sessions.

In June of this year[ed. note: 2001], WHYY offered the Technology Center’s engineers and studios in order to make a live recording of the M.A.C.C. jazz ensemble. The intent was to create an audio recording for archival purposes, as well as to provide Tony Williams with a copy of the sessions which he could reproduce and sell as a fundraiser for the M.A.C.C..

WHYY and the M.A.C.C. have created a community partnership through the combined efforts of helping to raise awareness of jazz in the Philadelphia region, and to support community efforts to keep jazz alive and accessible to young people. This partnership will continue to thrive as both organizations work to collaborate on projects to elevate the visibility of the jazz arts.

Visit the WHYY website at: http://www.whyy.org.