The Real Philadelphia Book

The Real Philadelphia Book, compiled by Jazz Bridge and editors David Dzubinski and Suzanne Cloud, is a collection of more than 200 original jazz and blues compositions. Arranged alphabetically by song title, the sheet music showcases work by generations of Philadelphia musicians. This volume, which is “what every aspiring jazz musician needs to know,” features tunes from Grammy Award-winners Jimmy Heath, Grover Washington, Jr., and Christian McBride, as well as legends such as Joey DeFrancesco, Ray Bryant, and Robin and Duane Eubanks. Also included are rare compositions by jazz greats Bobby Timmons, Hank Mobley, and Lee Morgan, in addition to music by local luminaries, Rhenda Fearrington, Monnette Sudler, and Kaylé Brecher.

The aim of The Real Philadelphia Book is to help the jazz community make deeper, stronger connections while also formally documenting much of the important music created in the Philadelphia metro area by both well- and lesser-known musicians.

Including an index of composers, The Real Philadelphia Bookwill enhance and add to the rich Philadelphia jazz and blues tradition and make the Philly jazz catalogue more easily available to musicians, jazz students and educators around the world.

Jazz Bridge Project compiled the compositions in The Real Philadelphia Book. Jazz Bridge Project, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, assists Jazz and Blues musicians living in the Greater Philadelphia Metro area who face financial, health, housing and similar crises. Jazz Bridge also supports musicians by providing paid performance opportunities highlighting original compositions at our live neighborhood concerts and special events, as well as virtual concerts broadcast worldwide. For more about Jazz Bridge, explore our website: https://www.jazzbridge.org

David Dzubinski is a graduate of Temple University with a BM in Jazz Composition and Arranging. He continued his education in private study with renowned jazz composer/pianists Joanne Brackeen, Dave Burrell, and Edsel Gomez. Dzubinski’s accomplishments include a solo piano recording; composer, arranger, and pianist for G. Calvin Weston's Phoenix Orchestra; a Suite commissioned by Philadelphia University and Doylestown Health and Wellness Center; compositions for The Society Hill Playhouse and The Wilma Theater; pianist on seven of jazz composer/vocalist Kaylé Brecher's recordings; a composition published by Freddie Hubbard's Hubtones; and performances with many well-known Philadelphia and International artists.

Dr. Suzanne Cloud, writer, historian, and jazz singer, has recorded and appeared with Philadelphia’s top jazz musicians. She is the author of six young-adult history books, has contributed to the African-American National Biography Project at Harvard, and was the founding director of Jazz Bridge, a nonprofit that assists jazz musicians in crisis. Her play Last Call at the Downbeat was part of the 2013 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, and her widely-acclaimed 1996 CD, With a Little Help from My Friends, was reissued by Dreambox Media in 2017. Currently Cloud is director of the Philadelphia Jazz Legacy Project, an archival initiative with Temple University Libraries and teaches at Thomas Edison State University.