Joanne J-Bird Phillips TALKS The Arts & Journalism | JTWJE Jewish American Heritage Month Special #3

I am very excited to launch a very special series for Jake’s Take with Jacob Elyachar. May is Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM), which annually celebrates the history, culture, and contributions of Jewish Americans to the United States.

I am honored to welcome my dear friend and mentor, Joanne J-Bird Phillips, to the podcast. I first met J-Bird in New York City through our mutual friend and former guest, Beatrice Kimmel. She and I instantly bonded and became fast friends. I love her zest for life, and it was Beshert (Yiddish for “destiny”) that the stars finally aligned for her to come on the show for our third JAHM special.

Born in The Bronx and raised on Long Island, NY, Joanne Phillips grew up in a family of professional drummers and band leaders. Having a natural rhythm since childhood, Joanne's father taught her to play drums with brushes when she was seven, and her first song was "Come Fly with Me" by Frank Sinatra. She grew up listening to Swing, Motown, Bossa Nova, and Rock 'n' Roll, and honed her drum skills on a full orange sparkle drum kit that her family bought for her. At age sixteen, Joanne was asked to join a local garage band of teenage boys who needed someone to play their cover of "Wipeout" by The Surfaris correctly. She stepped in and nailed it. Hence began Joanne's lifelong love of music and live performance.

Fast forward to the late 70's, after Joanne had moved to Long Beach, NY, and raised two children of her own in the arts -- her son, an alumnus of Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC, and one of the metro area's popular freelance Improv coaches, and her daughter, a SAG-AFTRA TV actress and comedian/comedy writer working in LA.

Over the years, Joanne witnessed how many music and arts programs were evaporating and eventually terminated, due to a lack of funding and/or support from the government, as well as certain folks with no interest in keeping arts programs alive, resulting in the arts being put on the back burner in the education system. Joanne remained an avid supporter of an arts education platform for children. She saw how it created positive experiences for her own kids (and many other youths) and witnessed how even a basic arts education enriched lives of youths on many levels for years into their adulthood.

In 2012, Joanne founded J-Bird Music for the Arts, Inc., with the vision of reviving arts programs by providing much-needed equipment, instruments, and resources to enrich the lives of youth through arts education. She wanted to bring that same joy, excitement, and creativity to youth everywhere, especially in underserved or underfunded areas. Through J-Bird Music for the Arts, Joanne brings her vision alive. From her tireless efforts as a brain tumor survivor with a second chance to live and continue on this mission, she has provided much-needed equipment and support to music and arts programs throughout New York State, including Still Waters In A Storm in Brooklyn, Long Beach High School in Long Island, and Goshen Central High School in Orange County, NY.

On this edition of The Jake’s Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Joanne spoke about her tenth anniversary of being associated with the US Press Association and revealed some of the J-Bird Music for the Arts’ top accomplishments.

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