Icepack: A.D. Amorosi on the news, nightlife and bitchiness beats
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Philadelphia filmmaker Tigre Hill (The Shame of a City, The Barrel of a Gun) already had a busy spring and summer 2014 planned for himself: He’s filming, editing and finishing up his American mafia documentary, The Corrupt and the Dead, with collaborators George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser, that runs the gamut from local mob heads to national capos. He’s also starting an as-yet-unnamed film on broadcast legend Larry Kane’s time with the Beatles in 1964 and 1965, when he was the only journalist who traveled with the Fab Four. Now Hill has added a narrative script to the mix: a dramatic film on the life of Cecil B. Moore, the always-controversial Philadelphia civil rights activist and president of the local NAACP, who fought to integrate Girard College (and won). Hill wouldn’t give up too much info on the film, but did say “the working title is American Zealot,” and that it is an “unconventional biopic about an unconventional man.”
Here’s a blind item: One of this city’s most loved restau-bar operations battled to get a long-prominent corner bar space in South Philly (and gave me grief in the process when I wrote about aspects of the deal). Well, they got the hot spot, and put up all the proper liquor license stickers while cleaning the joint, but the spot’s original owner is telling anyone who will listen that he’s still waiting for the dough, any dough. Maybe he’s goofy. Maybe he’s riffing. Maybe he’s joking. Maybe he’s actually waiting. Stay tuned.
Two weeks ago, Philly pianist-turned-playwright Suzanne Cloud brought her Dizzy Gillespie story, Last Call at the Downbeat, to sellout crowds at Plays & Players. On April 25, Cloud’s Jazz Bridge charity, one that makes certain Philly’s jazz and blues players’ financial needs get met, celebrates its 10th anniversary with guitarist Pat Martino, a man who underwent his own physical struggles when in 1980, as a result of an operation for a brain aneurysm, lost most of his memory and had to learn to play all over again. Martino’s deeper connection to Jazz Bridge developed in 2004, when Philly pianist Eddie Green became ill and was without proper medical coverage. Jazz Bridge was created by Green’s pal Cloud to help him and his fellow musicians in need. Who was Martino’s first pianist? Eddie Green. “Jazz Bridge presents more than 40 concerts yearly featuring over 200 area musicians,” says Cloud’s Jazz Bridge collaborator Bruce Klauber. Martino plays the New Leaf Club (1225 Montrose Ave., Rosemont, Pa.). Tickets are available through jazzbridge.org.
More ice — with photos — at citypaper.net/nakedcity.
™ Philadelphia filmmaker Tigre Hill (The Shame of a City, The Barrel of a Gun) already had a busy spring and summer 2014 planned for himself: He’s filming, editing and finishing up his American mafia documentary, The Corrupt and the Dead, with collaborators George Anastasia and Dave Schratwieser, that runs the gamut from local mob heads to national capos. He’s also starting an as-yet-unnamed film on broadcast legend Larry Kane’s time with the Beatles in 1964 and 1965, when he was the only journalist who traveled with the Fab Four. Now Hill has added a narrative script to the mix: a dramatic film on the life of Cecil B. Moore, the always-controversial Philadelphia civil rights activist and president of the local NAACP, who fought to integrate Girard College (and won). Hill wouldn’t give up too much info on the film, but did say “the working title is American Zealot,” and that it is an “unconventional biopic about an unconventional man.” ™ Here’s a blind item: One of this city’s most loved restau-bar operations battled to get a long-prominent corner bar space in South Philly (and gave me grief in the process when I wrote about aspects of the deal). Well, they got the hot spot, and put up all the proper liquor license stickers while cleaning the joint, but the spot’s original owner is telling anyone who will listen that he’s still waiting for the dough, any dough. Maybe he’s goofy. Maybe he’s riffing. Maybe he’s joking. Maybe he’s actually waiting. Stay tuned. ™ Two weeks ago, Philly pianist-turned-playwright Suzanne Cloud brought her Dizzy Gillespie story, Last Call at the Downbeat, to sellout crowds at Plays & Players. On April 25, Cloud’s Jazz Bridge charity, one that makes certain Philly’s jazz and blues players’ financial needs get met, celebrates its 10th anniversary with guitarist Pat Martino, a man who underwent his own physical struggles when in 1980, as a result of an operation for a brain aneurysm, lost most of his memory and had to learn to play all over again. Martino’s deeper connection to Jazz Bridge developed in 2004, when Philly pianist Eddie Green became ill and was without proper medical coverage. Jazz Bridge was created by Green’s pal Cloud to help him and his fellow musicians in need. Who was Martino’s first pianist? Eddie Green. “Jazz Bridge presents more than 40 concerts yearly featuring over 200 area musicians,” says Cloud’s Jazz Bridge collaborator Bruce Klauber. Martino plays the New Leaf Club (1225 Montrose Ave., Rosemont, Pa.). Tickets are available through jazzbridge.org. ™ More ice — with photos — at citypaper.net.
