Up in smoke, an incubator of fine talent

Yellow police tape cordons off tiny Bank Street in Old City, where the Five Spot stood before a four-alarm fire destroyed it over the weekend. Nothing remains of the two-story nightclub, unless you count a charred shell or the putrid smell of tar and ashes.

But listen closely. Just maybe you can pick up the swish of swing dancing. Hear the sounds of punch lines and laughter and a little spoken word. Maybe the melodic riff of a jazz ballad. ?uestlove keeping time. A potential star rising.

The Five Spot was much more than a hole-in-the-wall on a back alley. From its unassuming walls burst forth creativity and greatness.

It's where Grammy winner Jill Scott and Jaguar Wright, platinum sellers Musiq Soulchild and Indie Arie, Bilal and homegrown husband and wife duo Kindred the Family Soul percolated from the underground into the mainstream. And, of course, the Roots, which served as the house band for many of these acts even after the Grammy winners were well- established.

It's where the Philadelphia tradition of soul music continued - a Philadelphia Sound for the new millennium.

It's what allowed Philadelphia to remain the mecca of neo-soul.

While the loss of the Five Spot brings a certain finality, the memories created there will stay forever. Among the many eclectic happenings, Black Lily was the one event that did the most to nurture the careers of some of our most successful artists.

Not to mention that it played host to some magical musical spontaneity seldom seen in the city.

"Prince showed up one night. Erykah Badu and Common would occasionally show. The room was always filled with the who's-who of the music scene," says Power 99 host Tiffany Bacon, who was a Black Lily regular.

I was relatively new to Philly when Tracey Moore and Mercedes Martinez of the Jazzyfatnastees brought the Black Lily "Women in Music Series" to Philadelphia in the late '90s. I never saw a show. But it did my heart good to know that there was a supportive, nurturing place where female artists - and, later, male artists as well - could flock and preview their work before live audiences in a professional setting.

The intimacy and funky ambience of the Five Spot had much to do with the success of the Lily. The place oozed cozy, the kind of unpretentious hideaway that jazzmen used to flock to after their official shows, to jam until the wee hours. A speakeasy, where folks could give the password and drink, cuss, and hear good music for as long as they could stand upright.

I got a taste of what a Black Lily show was like when I crashed the shoot for Kindred the Family Soul's "Far Away" video at the Five Spot in 2003. Many Lily alums showed up for the shoot: Scott and Arie, sitting together popping their fingers to music and whispering like girlfriends with secrets. Musiq, trombonist Jeff Bradshaw, and Ayana and Ayinke Hipps of the Philly duo Aaries. Sure, they were all there to shoot the video, but the scene felt familiar, as if he had re-created the essence of those Black Lily days.

That was the intention, Kindred's Fatin Dantzler tells me. Dantzler, along with wife Aja Graydon, cut their teeth together as a fledgling duo during those Lily showcases.

"The shows that we did started from the Lily," Dantzler says. "It was such a blessing that we were able to establish ourselves in the public eye. I remember not having a strong sense of who we were, but the audience was so forgiving. They pushed you to go on and get better. Without that, it would have been hard to find our way."

And now the Five Spot is gone.

But maybe it isn't. Dantzler is hopeful. The physical building may be gone, he says, but not the dreams realized there. Black Lily established a model of support.

"We have to be as supportive as we possibly can to the artists coming up," he says. "Give back to them like people gave to us."

That's a fire he hopes will burn forever.

Check out Annette John-Hall's blog at http://go.philly.com/freeflow

EndText