Pittsburgh's Own Regional Notables of Jazz
AFRO-AMERICAN MUSIC INSTITUTE CELEBRATES 36 YEARS
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PITTSBURGH JAZZ
From Blakey to Brown, Como to Costa, Eckstine to Eldridge, Galbraith to Garner, Harris to Hines, Horne to Hyman, Jamal to Jefferson, Kelly to Klook; Mancini to Marmarosa, May to Mitchell, Negri to Nestico, Parlan to Ponder, Reed to Ruther, Strayhorn to Sullivan, Turk to Turrentine, Wade to Williams… the forthcoming publication Treasury of Pittsburgh Jazz Connections by Dr. Nelson Harrison and Dr. Ralph Proctor, Jr. will document the legacy of one of the world’s greatest jazz capitals.
Do you want to know who Dizzy Gillespie idolized? Did you ever wonder who inspired Kenny Clarke and Art Blakey? Who was the pianist that mentored Monk, Bud Powell, Tad Dameron, Elmo Hope, Sarah Vaughan and Mel Torme? Who was Art Tatum’s idol and Nat Cole’s mentor? What musical quartet pioneered the concept adopted later by the Modern Jazz Quartet? Were you ever curious to know who taught saxophone to Stanley Turrentine or who taught piano to Ahmad Jamal? What community music school trained Robert McFerrin, Sr. for his history-making debut with the Metropolitan Opera? What virtually unknown pianist was a significant influence on young John Coltrane, Shirley Scott, McCoy Tyner, Bobby Timmons and Ray Bryant when he moved to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh in the 1940s? Would you be surprised to know that Erroll Garner attended classes at the Julliard School of Music in New York and was at the top of his class in writing and arranging proficiency?
Some answers can be gleaned from the postings on the Pittsburgh Jazz Network.
For almost 100 years the Pittsburgh region has been a metacenter of jazz originality that is second to no other in the history of jazz. One of the best kept secrets in jazz folklore, the Pittsburgh Jazz Legacy has heretofore remained mythical. We have dubbed it “the greatest story never told” since it has not been represented in writing before now in such a way as to be accessible to anyone seeking to know more about it. When it was happening, little did we know how priceless the memories would become when the times were gone.
Today jazz is still king in Pittsburgh, with events, performances and activities happening all the time. The Pittsburgh Jazz Network is dedicated to celebrating and showcasing the places, artists and fans that carry on the legacy of Pittsburgh's jazz heritage.
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Eric Alan's Page
Profile Information
- Favorite website
- http://southafricanjazznetwork.ning.com/
- About Me:
- A bit about me for the Radio 2000 website
Name:
Eric Alan
Where were you born:
In Cape Town and grew up in Knysna and Cape Town
What do you do?
Talk and Music Radio Show Host/Presenter/DJ - Jazz Rendezvous Radio Show Host and Jazz Website Editor, Jazz Columnist and writer
Star sign:
Typical Sagittarian born in 19??, on the 10 the day of the Archers month
What did you want to be when you grew up:
An intrepid explorer or the choice between Batman and Superman was easy, all my mates wanted to be the nerd that flies, I mean I didn't want to be a man could fly cause when I got my Superman belt from Kellogg's Rice Krispies it didn't work and I sulked for weeks, Batman was a real hero or an intrepid explorer who could go where no person has gone before or Hugh Hefner's chief photographer
The name of your radio show:
Eric Alan’s Late, Late Show on Radio 2000
Describe the show:
A chat and music show dealing adult issues, interesting people, topics, covering different subjects from music and musicians, business, empowerment, general health, arts & culture, sexual health, medical issues, entertainment, sports, esoteric and alternative healing, spiritual and alternative lifestyles, nation building, interesting personalities who hold interesting positions in society and adult related issues:- in other words most riveting not to be missed radio.
Favourite cities or towns:
London, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Rome, Cape Town, Montague and Knysna
Favourite book:
Any skop(kick), skietI(shoot) en donder(thunder) and Sci-Fi
Do you judge a book/magazine by its cover:
Yes and not been wrong too many times, especially when it comes to Playboy
Which book/magazine changed your life:
Which book/magazine changed your life:
Around the World in Eighty Days, Gulag Archipelago, and my first Playboy
Do you have any important coffee table books in your home:
Mbizo – Johnny Dyani, Abdullah Ibrahim, Cape Town Jazz 1959-1963 & Jazz People of Cape Town all by Lars Rasmussen which I've been know to give away as a gift to visitors who come to dinner and Alyn Shipton’s A New History of Jazz,
Do you enjoy cooking:
Love to but hate to wash up thank goodness for disposable utensils, plates and cups, I save a fortune on dish wash liquid, just wish someone would come up with disposable pot and pans
Favourite foods:
Anything Italian, my late Dad's dumpling stew, my Mom's Bobotie(curried meatloaf), my late Gran's bread and butter pudding my late sisters veggie roast (not a veggie lover but the roast was something from heaven, don't know what spices she used but I have my suspicions, may have come from the local Rasta man), my late domestic executive Aunty Sarah's pea and ham soup and her totally decadent apple tart, Bully Beef Hash, my own pasta and other Italian dishes and finally a great braai (barbeque)
Favourite Snack:
Peanut Butter and Apricot or Peanut Butter and Marmite Sarmie, Pop Corn, flavoured or plain Cashew and giant salted peanut nuts
Favourite Tipple:
Favourite Tipple:
Windhoek, Pironi, Pilsner Urquell Beer and any good South African wine specifically Pinotage and Villiera Tradition Brut, Graham Beck Brut & Pongratz Cap Classique sparkling wines and sparkling bottled water
If you could change one thing about yourself:
Heck, only one thing? Here’s a number - Procrastination, bad dress sense, loose weight, sadly in need of a major overhaul and makeover
Favourite Smelly Stuff:b>
Calvin Klein – Contradiction, kinda figures Huh!
If The Late, Late Show was a T.V. Show, what would the viewers see:
Nothing too good I was always told I have the perfect face and figure for radio, never won the beautiful baby competition but did win the person who most looks like his pet competition - my dog was Bully Beef the Bull Dog
The interviews you enjoyed the most:
Sipho Gumede, Zim Ngqawana, Concord Nkabinde, Kirk Whalum, Nontuthuzelo Puoane, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Harry Connick Jnr, Jack van Poll, James Scholfield, Natascha Roth, Miriam Makeba, Cassandra Wilson, Hotep Idris Galeta, Charmaine Clamor, Jimmie Earl Perry, Tina Schouw, Freddie Cole, Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masakela, Tieney Sutton, Judith Sephuma, James Carter, Selaelo Selota, Darius Brubeck, Esther Miller, Alison Dewar, Sipho Mabuse, Kevin Mahogany, Sibongile Khumalo, Mike Rossi, Bheki Mseleku, Marcus Miller, Lionel Lou eke, Paul Hanmer, McCoy Mrubata, Nneena Freelon, Winston Mankunku and the late Basil “Manenberg” Coetzee, Donald Tshomela & Joe Zawinul and the list goes on.
People you'd like to interview:
Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Keith Jarrett, Trevor Manual, Keely Smith, Kader Asmal, Pallo Jordan, McCoy Tyner, Dave Brubeck, Wynton Marsalis, Tony Bennett, Ernestine Anderson, Cleo Laine, Diana Krall and Nelson Mandela
Any dead people you'd like to interview:
Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn, Alan Silinga, Ella Fitzgerald, Ratu Mike Makhalemele, Duke Ellington, Shirley Horn, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Hendrix, Oscar Peterson, J. S. Bach, Thelonious Monk, Jaco Pastorius, Sarah Vaughan, Dudley Moore, Frank Sinatra, Dr Nina Simone, Gerry Garcia and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
What soothes you after a hectic day:
What would be found in your shopping basket:
All the totally wrong but yummy thing's.
What soothes you after a hectic day:
Great music and a long cold frosty one or maybe two
What gets up your nose:
Loud music at any time but mostly out of mini bus taxis, obnoxious people, mini bus taxi drivers and bad drivers in general.
The music you listen to most often:
Whatever takes my fancy, anything from Jazz, South African, Pop, Classical, Classic Rock and World Music.
Favourite Tipple:
Beer, beer, beer and good South African wine in that order
Favourite Pastime:
Watching movies on DVD, listening to music, watching sport specifically cricket, cooking, football, rugby, motor sport, the history, wildlife and cooking channels, surfing the internet and reading
Any Hobbies:
Collecting South African Wine, collecting cookery books, music
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ERIC ALAN BIOG
Eric's choice of music is eclectic, what appeals to him and he hopes to the listener as well. “Music is my hobby, passion and livelihood and on the Jazz Rendezvous website and radio show he plays anything that is easy and laid back, anything that makes for relaxation, from blues to fusion to mainstream, Dixieland and beyond” he says. The programme is a bridge, marrying the genres and styles. “I also want people to learn about the different varieties and styles of jazz. The focus is an equal mix of vocal to instrumental and the important component is South African Jazz”. He also includes number of entertaining listener participation features during his programmes that engage and entice the listeners to b e part of his various programmes.
Eric started off his working life with Capab Ballet and learnt to enjoy ballet music. “No I wasn't a dancer, although the late David Poole did ask of I would like to become one, my answer was a short and swift, no thanks”. He became a stage manager, touring the Cape Province for a year with the company learning the theatre ropes and got interested in sound and lighting.” he says.
Eric went on to the then Nico Malan Theatre Centre, now Artscape for its opening, doing lights, stage management and sound mainly on opera stage. After leaving Capab, he went into sales and marketing also started operating as a mobile DJ on the side until he realised that he could turn his hobby into a business. “I got the contract to arrange the musical entertainment at the first and only Pierhead Harbour Festival which building of the V & A Waterfront. This gave me my first exposure to the airwaves, of a kind, I decided to start an internal radio station for the festival and accept advertising as a means of stretching my very limited budget. The result was that I could hire better entertainment and musicians for the festival.” Eric said. It was about that time he decided to become a self-employed person running his own mobile disco doing weddings, parties and working in clubs. This was a major decision in those days, no security, no medical aid and pension and a skradonk for a car.
For eight years he loved it, then decided he’d had enough of clubs and parties and indulged in his other hobby, Italian food, and opened a restaurant in Worcester with some Italian partners, and went on to be a very successful endeavour. It was then time to move back to the bright lights of city life sold his shares and headed back to Cape Town, took a short holiday, before long was back in business looking for interesting opportunities.
The process of the freeing the airwaves in 1993 was well on its way prior to the first democratic elections in South Africa which saw the first temporary (30 days) Community Radio station licenses being issued and result was Eric getting enthusiastically involved with Peace Radio, which was formed by the National Peace Secretariat, to help foster peace prior the first democratic elections in S. A. This was then followed by a month with another temporary (30 days) Community Radio station CTFM and, then another term with Peace Radio, which had got its second licence. It was with Peace Radio that he learnt about community radio broadcasting from well-known professional broadcaster such as Martin Baillie, Alex Jay and Neil Johnson. At the station, he did seven shows a week, four hours a day for 30 days. For the next year, he worked on Peace 2000 FM presenting and producing. Then, he decided, it was time for another break.
Eric compiled CD's for Club Music Direct for a six-month stint, which was great fun he said. Then along came RWCTV (Rugby World Cup TV) and his rest period was once again over and, for the next 30 days, produced two live TV talk shows, one English and the other Afrikaans.
TV was not the way to go, he decided, radio was where his heart was set, so when a new community radio station, Fine Music Radio got its licence in the middle of 1994, Eric was employed as a Producer/ Presenter – Jazz programming and music manager. The station featured unique mix of jazz and classical music, which worked with listeners learning about different kinds and styles of good music. Jazz and Classical music are the highest form of musical expression in his opinion, and over the years are musical forms that have not been given much prominence on national or regional radio. Eric takes great pride in the South African jazz he plays during his shows, not because of the quota imposed by the ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa), but because we have really good music and musicians in South Africa.
After 14 years of unbroken service at Fine Music Radio, Eric was offered the opportunity to present and produce his show on the national airwaves of South Africa on PBS station Radio 2000 to great success which continues, now into his second year at Radio 2000 with a new show, The Late, Late Show which is a jazz music and talk show covering a wide variety of subjects which fall within the mandate of PBS Radio in South Africa.
Eric also runs a successful website devoted to jazz in South Africa, Africa and beyond today. He is a member of The South African Jazz Educators Association and was member of the now defunct International Association for Jazz Education. Eric writes and reviews jazz for various newspapers and periodicals as well as the jazz columnist for the prestigious South African arts and cultural magazine Roots.
Music is not a style, but a lifestyle to be enjoyed and shared with others who equally enjoy the passionate side of life.
- Website:
- http://www.jazzrendezvous.co.za
- Artist or Fan
- industry professional, media
Eric Alan's Blog
ERIC ALANS LATE, LATE SHOW & JAZZ RENDEZVOUS NEWSLETTER - FRIDAY 12th SEPTEMBER 2008
Posted on September 12, 2008 at 11:09am 0 Comments 0 Likes
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