Gretchen Elise (right) and funk bassist Marcy Francis (Screenshot from “Thank You” video).

Local singer-songwriter, educator and youth advocate Gretchen Elise is excited to share the news that “from the depths of the pandemic” she is releasing a new, joyful and danceable West Philly-centric single, “Thank You”. The video for the song was filmed in Clark Park, One Art Community Center and other locations in West Philly and features local jazz and arts community members.

The song celebrates arts educator Tim Gibbon, the former director of the Picasso Project, an arts education program in Philadelphia public schools for which she served as director and currently is a teaching artist. Elise solicited words about Gibbon from more than 30 of his colleagues.

“She is different,” shares Leo Gadson, Producers Guild jazz promoter. “She is caring. She is all about lifting other people up. She makes sure that her people connect, different mediums, different demographics.”

The video, directed by Demetrius “Meech” Hill of Camden’s Supreme Cinema, follows Elise throughout West Philadelphia delivering roses to key members of the jazz and arts community, including Gadson, funk bassist Marcy Francis, and Netfah Bell, a co-owner of InI Collective, a women-owned, black-owned artist collective retail space located in One Art Community Center on 52nd St.. The video also features Elise’s own daughter and her best friend.

“The tribe at InI supports Gretchen’s vision 100 percent,” says Bell. “Asante Sana, Gretchen!”

Gretchen Elise’s signature style involves dynamic interactive performances.

“There’s a risk in making things interactive,” she shares. “I find it always makes the experience better, for the performer and the audience.”

Elise has performed in the US and Europe, released two original albums, and is featured on jazz, hip hop, and Brazilian MPB recordings. Her recent single, Wawa, a “grooving and addictive jawn” landed on Skip Heller’s list of top 2020 releases at Allaboutjazz.com and received international press. And she is well-known to many West Philly music fans thanks to her performances at the annual Cedar Park Jazz series and other community events.

As a musician and educator, she will soon take part in a family festival at Lea School (47th and Locust). This event is scheduled for Thursday, March 31 and Elise will be playing and making instruments with kids.

“Thank You” video will be available this Friday, March 25 on Youtube and all streaming platforms and as a free download at gretchenelise.com or gretchenelise.bandcamp.com. Track release will be celebrated on air at @sadior_radio at 6 p.m. on March 25. Release and performance will be live at Open Vibe Philly, an open mic event hosted by Boogieman Dela at Calabash Banquet & Restaurant, 6208 Lancaster Ave. on Monday, March 28 (doors open at 7 p.m.).

Gretchen Elise and Leo Gadson