photo by jeff fusco

Editor's Picks

Jerry Blavat’s Roots of Rhythm & Blues

South Broad Street is about history. Sure, maybe just relics of history now (the Sound of Philadelphia … Souvenir Shop? Marine Club … Condominiums?), but a couple times a year the man who knows that history like a 4/4 beat brings it to the Verizon Hall stage. In show business 49 years this week, Jerry Blavat, the Geator With the Heator, stages his 17th Kimmel show with the titanic voice he’s been working to land for years. “Everybody talks about Ronnie Spector, but the true star of the Spector sound is Darlene Love,” the Geat says on the phone amid an impromptu music history lesson. “I’ve been trying to get Darlene Love on the show from the beginning.” Add to that bill Gary U.S. Bonds, Tommy Hunt and the Flamingos, Brenda Holloway and more, and you just might learn something. (Jeffrey Barg)