Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra

2003   The Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra was founded in 2003 by Joe Bongiovi, Rob Reeve and Yorgo Papadakis.  The concept behind the band was to keep motivated and talented students playing their instruments during the summer.  The Band had no intentions of ever performing, just rehearsing.  At the end of the summer, a few parents suggested a fund raising performance at a Pizza Hut in Buck's County, Pa so that Mr. Bongiovi could be reimbursed for the money he had spent on music.  As the "great pizza gig" approached, the band was forced to come up with a name.  After being put on the spot with about 30 seconds to think about it, Mr. Bongiovi gave the band the hideous name of "The Summer Swing Fling Big Band".  This name would obviously be changed later.

2004   The next year, the band had hopes of playing larger venues.  The local jazz clubs however did not want high school and college student musicians to be playing at their high profile venues.  The band had given up on playing anything larger than a Pizza Hut.  On a Monday afternoon that June, Mr. Bongiovi received a phone call from Chris' Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia.  A professional big band scheduled to play the next day had pulled out of the gig.  With less than 24 hours notice, the Summer Swing Fling Big Band took the spot and packed the famed venue.  What was supposed to be a filler spot ended up being a steady gig each summer after that.  The success of the Chris' gig and the press that followed ended up leading to several great performances at the legendary Zanzibar Blue in Philadelphia, a performance at Hershey Park and the bands first performance at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C2005   The sacred name change finally occured in 2005 as the band planned an 18 day performance tour of Greece.  Besides being long and ridiculous, the name "Summer Swing Fling Big Band" simply did not translate well into Greek.  After much debate, the band adopted the more internationally friendly name of "Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra" at this time.  The band played 10 concerts in 18 days on the island of Crete.  The tour was a huge success and the band has been asked to return several times since.  A return tour is hopeful in the not so distant future.  The band once again played at the Kennedy Center in Washington.  It was at this time the band was offered an annual gig at the Kennedy Center.

2006  The summer of 2006 found the band very busy in the city of Philadelphia.  This year the band played at Chris' Jazz cafe every Tuesday night in the months of July and August.  The band also played at Zanzibar Blue, The Kennedy Center in Washington, Waterfront Park in Trenton and the Conduit Music Club in Trenton.  In addition to performing often, the band was planning it's second European Tour for 2007.

2007  In 2007 the band made its first trip to Italy and its second trip to Europe.  PJO played 4 concerts during the 10 day tour and also did a ton of sight-seeing.  As part of the tour, the band performed at the Tuscia in Jazz Festival in Soriano nel Cimino.  The tour was a huge success and the band's reputation continues to grow in that region of Europe.  To date, the PJO website gets 4 times as many hits a week from Italy than it does from the US.  This could be because everyone in the US is on our e-mail list (just let us think that)!  This is also the year the PJO Jazz Week began for middle school and high school students.  After the success of all the performances, the band's talent level seemed to keep growing.  PJO Jazz Week was created to return to the original concept of creating a rehearsal and educational setting for talented students during the summer.  PJO Jazz Week features prominent guests artists and has expanded into a two week program of study.  We have had students attend from as far as Europe and California.  An added bonus to PJO Jazz Week is that many of the actual PJO students help work Jazz Week and play along with the middle school and high school students.  The week always ends with a great concert featuring the students from PJO Jazz Week as well as PJO.

2008 PJO relaxed a little bit in 2008.  The tough schedule of the previous year was still heavy on everyone's mind.  PJO concentrated on both PJO Jazz Weeks, 1 gig at Chris' Jazz Cafe and the annual gig at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington.  In addition, a return tour of Italy was being planned.

2009  The return to Italy!  This chapter is still being written.  Please check out our current schedule on the schedule page!