Big art ... Meg Saligman's Philadelphia Muses, part of the Mural Arts Program.
From street murals to sensational jazz, Debbie Kruger tunes into the rhythm of the city.
On a summer evening I'm sitting at the Mann Centre for the Performing Arts, where jazz composer and bass player Stanley Clarke, a Philadelphia native, is telling the home-town audience about his first meeting with keyboardist Chick Corea.
It was 1971 and they had just played a gig with saxophonist Joe Henderson. Corea had driven from New York and after the show the two spent hours jamming in Clarke's apartment on Spruce Street at 20th street, talking about their vision for a jazz-fusion supergroup, sowing the seeds for Return to Forever. Forty years on, I'm seeing that group's fourth incarnation.
Clarke's is one of many anecdotes that form a rich musical heritage in a city better known for its national history. In Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the US constitution were debated, drawn up and signed, you can see the Rising Sun chair that George Washington sat on.
I'm staying in an apartment on Spruce at 19th, just metres from where Clarke and Corea jammed. I think about Philly's musical life, past and present: white Philly soul prodigies Daryl Hall and John Oates in their early years; the great Gamble & Huff songs sung by the Stylistics, Patti LaBelle and the Three Degrees; and Bill Conti's stirring Rocky theme song, Gonna Fly Now, and I can picture Sylvester Stallone running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The night before Return to Forever IV, I'm at the Sands Steel Stage in Bethlehem, watching another supergroup. Bethlehem sits in the Lehigh Valley, just past Allentown, used by Billy Joel in his song of the same name about blue-collar America in 1982 when Bethlehem Steel was foundering, long after supplying steel for the Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam and the Empire State Building.
Through a shrewd redevelopment program using the arts to give new focus to the town, Bethlehem survived the closure of its steelworks. ArtsQuest began in 1984 as a community non-profit organisation, staging its first annual Musikfest, so named for the Moravian community that founded Bethlehem in 1741.
The 10-day event has become the largest non-gated, free music festival in the US, drawing 1 million people each August. It's the flagship of a year-round program of activities on Bethlehem's arts campus, spreading across both sides of the Lehigh River and through the cobblestone streets of the town centre. The big Musikfest concerts requiring a paid ticket are performed on the Sands Steel Stage, under the shadow of the enormous Gothic-looking stacks that are lit purple, blue and red each night, and tonight I've come to see Alison Krauss & Union Station, the bluegrass supergroup.
Compact and accessible, Philadelphia is a beautiful city to stroll around. I'm staying near the bustling Rittenhouse Square, the heart of Philadelphia's shopping district, which has superb cafes and restaurants. I drink the city's finest iced tea at Rouge and devour the cranberry and walnut bread at Parc Brasserie, one of 19 restaurants owned by celebrated Philly restaurateur Stephen Starr.
I review the "Best of Philly" list in the latest Philadelphia magazine. I'm sure Rouge has the city's best burger but the magazine nominates Pub & Kitchen, so I try its (I still prefer Rouge's). I already know that the best Philly cheesesteak is around the corner from my cousin Judy's place in the suburb of Bala Cynwyd, at a hole-in-the-wall operation named Mama's Pizzeria (the Philly magazine concurs). The best dessert in town? That's the salted caramel budino at Barbuzzo.
I eat here, as well as at outstanding French, Cuban and Israeli restaurants, and repeatedly visit Reading Terminal Market, the huge and wondrous indoor food emporium in Centre City.
It serves everything from Pennsylvania Dutch treats and local Philadelphia cuisine - the ubiquitous cheesesteak - to Mediterranean and Asian fare. For my money, the market's best food is at Beck's Cajun Cafe. Bill Beck's cornbread is sweet, warm and perfect with his etouffee brimming with shellfish. Reportedly better than the ubiquitous cheesesteak is Beck's "Train Wreck", a combination of steak, andouille, salami, caramelised onion and Creole mayo on French bread, seasoned with his Cajun spice blend, Devil Dust.
Tourist guides recommend the cheesesteak at Geno's Steaks or Pat's King of Steaks at Passyunk Avenue and 9th Street in South Philadelphia but the only thing I like at that location is the Sounds of Philadelphia mural, featuring the faces of famous Philly crooners including Frankie Avalon, Al Martino, Bobby Rydell and rocker Chubby Checker.
With 3000 public murals, Philadelphia is the mural capital of the world. The Mural Arts Program's walking tour includes the legendary Dirty Frank's Bar in the Washington Square neighbourhood, where punk meets cheap Yuengling beer. The exterior was so dirty it was threatened with closure, so a mural was ordered, featuring famous Franks - from Sinatra and Zappa to Frankenstein, Aretha Franklin and "The First American", Benjamin Franklin (who lies 10 blocks away in the Christ Church Burial Ground).
Food and music meet again at World Cafe Live. I've booked two months ahead to see Joan Osborne, a New York singer-songwriter whose soulful, bluesy voice is riveting. Artists and audiences love this intimate venue, which is part of Penn University and operates alongside the campus public radio station, WXPN. Many credit the station and World Cafe Live for the revitalisation of Philadelphia's independent music industry.
Three universities in proximity to each other - Penn, Temple and Drexel - help shape Philadelphia's young bohemian vibe and musical tastes. Students and hard-rock fans flock to the Electric Factory, made famous in the psychedelic '60s by Larry Magid, who masterminded Philadelphia's Live Aid concert in 1985. Other famous musicians hailing from Philadelphia include Billie Holiday, Joan Jett and Jim Croce, who spent his whole life here before it ended in a plane crash aged 30. If Croce were alive today he'd be playing at the Tin Angel, a tiny acoustic Old City venue that sits under a restaurant, Serrano, where you have to eat first if you want a seat at the show.
When I'm not listening to music or eating (or shopping), I'm visiting museums. The new National Museum of American Jewish History is emotional and essential; its exterior design, a glass prism facing Independence Mall, is as effective as the powerful exhibits inside. I visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Rodin Museum next door. In May, the Barnes Foundation, which houses one of the finest collections of 19th- and 20th-century French art in the world, will open at a new location on Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
The parkway runs from the Museum of Art to Logan Square and finishes at JFK Plaza, better known as Love Park for its Robert Indiana Love sculpture, under which everyone wants their photo taken. This is Philadelphia's heart and its soul lies in its friendly people and music. I'm humming one of Philly's iconic songs, When Will I See You Again, as I leave.
FAST FACTS
Getting there
United Airlines flies to Philadelphia from Sydney for about $1655 low-season return, including tax. Fly non-stop to San Francisco (13hr 21min), then to Philadelphia (5hr 33min); see united.com. Melbourne passengers pay about the same and fly United to Sydney to connect. Australians must apply for travel authorisation before departure at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov. Amtrak trains run from New York's Penn Station to Philadelphia's 30th Street Station. Cheaper options are the BoltBus and MegaBus, about $US8 ($7.70) one way; see boltbus.com and us.megabus.com.
Listening there
The Mann Centre for the Performing Arts presents year-round entertainment and educational programs in a beautiful park 10 minutes' drive from Philadelphia's centre. 5201 Parkside Avenue, Fairmount Park; see manncenter.org.
World Cafe Live is an adult contemporary music venue with superb international talent playing nightly. 3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia; see worldcafelive.com.
Musikfest is held each August in Bethlehem, a 90-minute drive north of Philadelphia; see musikfest.org.
The guided Mural Mile Walking tour takes 2.5 hours, costs $US17 and leaves from the Independence Visitor Centre; see muralarts.org.
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