The coolest cats come out to aid jazzman Odean Pope

Odean Pope is a Philadelphia treasure.

The 72-year-old tenor saxophonist/composer has had a storied career. Heralded for his Coltrane-like sensitivity, he's been a sideman for Max Roach and the centerpiece of Philly's cinematic funksters Catalyst. As a leader, Pope has recorded notable improvisational jazz sides (his Soul Note output of the '80s), held court over his Saxophone Choir for 30-plus years, and continued to forge forward with the most buoyantly diverse CD of his career, 2010's Odean's List. Pope is the sort of native-born talent we should hold sacred.

When it was announced that Pope had quietly struggled with bipolar disorder for decades and needed funds, the jazz community rushed to help. An all-star benefit concert packed the Clef Club to its rafters Monday with well-wishing fans and adventurous musicians. Temple University cheerleader/comedian Bill Cosby, post-Beat poet Sonia Sanchez, avant-garde bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Monk acolyte/pianist Kenny Barron, smooth operating bassist Gerald Veasley - cats like that came out. (Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and guitarist Pat Martino were last- minute no-shows.)

From the fourth-floor library to its main stage, the Clef Club became a bustling mini-mall of innovation and soul. Bold saxophonist Bobby Zankel started the proceedings in the library with guitarist Matt Davis and a harried rhythm section for a sound weirdly syncopated and hauntingly noirish - like John Zorn's Naked City without the kitsch. In that same library, guitarist Monnette Sudler played clarion bop-blues with a twinge of country twang.

Downstairs, poet Sanchez (with stand-up bassist Warren Oree) praised the guest of honor with her brand of syncopation. "I didn't say professor / I said Dean / I didn't say clergyman / I said Pope," she said, delivery humorously cluttered with clicking and whirring. Cosby, too, regaled his old pal Pope with strange noises. After poking fun ("this is to celebrate whatever's wrong with Odean"), the Cos paired with sax legend Tony Williams for a dialogue of vocal bloops and skronks. Though it was amazing to hear the dynamics of the Clef Club Youth Ensemble rip through Wayne Shorter's "Passion Dance" (swinging violinist Nathan Kamal was the ensemble's VIP), the night belonged to Pope.

Although he watched much of the jaunty Odean's List Octet from the audience, Pope was front-and-center during his Saxophone Choir's set. Starting with a sultry yet salty solo run, Pope and ax man Walter Blanding took the choir through several of their finest Steely Dan-meets-Stan-Kenton arrangements, the best being a sophisticated rendering of "Central Park West."