Pittsburgh's Own Regional Notables of Jazz
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Dr. Nelson Harrison
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- Pittsburgh, PA
- United States
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- Blog Posts (44)
- Discussions (45)
- Events (4)
- Groups (19)
- Photos (278)
- Photo Albums
- Videos (194)
Music
Dr. Nelson Harrison's Groups
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Save the Music Program...
40 members
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OUR BROTHERS' KEEPERS
7 members
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MUSICWOMAN
9 members
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Florida Jazz Network
5 members
Dr. Nelson Harrison's Discussions
Wendell Byrd
Replied May 27
Dr. Nelson Harrison's Events
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The Blues Orphans at Little E's Jazz Club
December 11, 2009 at 8:30pm to December 12, 2009 at 12:30am – Little E's Jazz Club
Welcome to Pittsburgh... the Best Kept Secret in Jazz!
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Latest Activity
The Blues Orphans at Hilltoppers Pub, Troy Hill Pgh PA at Hilltoppers Pub
November 20, 2009 at 9pm to November 21, 2009 at 1am
The Blues Orphans take their 30th Anniversary show up to the Troy Hill section of Pittsburgh, PA. Join the band as they perform favorites from their four CD releases.
Hamiett Bluiett & Kahil El-Zabar at Istanbul Cafe
November 19, 2009 from 8pm to 11pm
rescheduled from an earlier date.
From Chicago, two progressive jazz legends:
saxophonist HAMIETT BLUIETT (co-founder of the World Saxophone Quartet)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamiet_Bluiett
and drummer KAHIL EL-ZABAR (founder of the Ethnic ...
The Blues Orphans at Little E's Jazz Club at Little E's Jazz Club
December 11, 2009 at 8:30pm to December 12, 2009 at 12:30am
The Blues Orphans Christmas show is not to be missed. Come to Little E's and experience the Blues Orphans as they deck the halls & walls with silver bells & yells.
Profile Information
- Favorite website
- http://jazzhoprevolution.com
- Favorite blog
- http://www.blackbusinessbuilders.com?5570
- Pittsburgh Connection
- Born raised and embedded in Pittsburgh. Crescent Elementary, Baxter Jr. High, Westinghouse High and University of Pittsburgh.
- Favorite Pittsburgh musicians/performers
- Pittsburgh musicians are the best in the world. There are too many to name especially since I have played here for 50+ years. I have had the honor and privilege of playing with a few of the legends of Pittsburgh, e.g., Billy Eckstine, Earl "Fatha" Hines, Kenny Clarke, Art Blakey, Stanley Turrentine, Sam Johnson, Joe Harris, J.C. Moses, Dakota Staton, Lena Horne, Grover Mitchell and Walt Harper.. My mentoring came from Warren Watson, Joe Westray, Carl Arter, Eddie "Rabbit" Barnes, Sam Hurt, Harold & Jerry Betters, Jerry Elliot, Bobby Jones, Art Nance, Cecil Brooks II, Bobby Boswell and Ahmad Jamal. My teachers were Fanetta Gordon, Carl McVicker, Sr. and Matty Shiner. My favorite pianist of all is Ahmad Jamal. If I went further to include my peer group down through the young lions of today I would run out of space.
- Favorite Jazz Radio or media station
- WDUQ, WYEP (blues), WRCT
- Favorite Pittsburgh Jazz Venue
- The Crawford Grill #2 is my favorite stage to play in the entire world. There was also the Midway Lounge, the Hurricane, the Diplomat, the Ebony Lounge, the Crescendo, the Rendevous, the Florentine, the Loendi Club, the Local #471 Musicians' Club in S'Liberty, Horseley's, the Loft, Ramseys II, the Pirate Inn, the Copa, the Encore I & II, the Pink Cloud, the Pitt Pot, the Black Magic, the Tiger's Tail, the Zebra Room, etc. to bring back a few memories of the erstwhile clubs.
- About Me:
- Ph. D. in clinical psychology, educator, composer, archivist, lyricist, arranger, ASCAP, playwright, speaker, photographer; veteran trombonist of the Count Basie Orchestra featuring Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Helen Humes, Joe Turner, Eddie Vinson, Dennis Rowland (‘78-80 incl. Japan tour); played with Dionne Warwicke, The Supremes and The Temptations (’64), Joe Westray (1962 – 72); Sonny and the Premiers (1963 – 67); Walt Harper (1967-70); James Brown (’67-68); Nathan Davis (1970-75); Lena Horne and Tony Bennett (‘74), Billy Eckstine and Earl "Fatha" Hines (1975), Kenny Clarke (‘79), Liberace (’77), Nancy Wilson and Melba Moore (’78), Sammy Davis, Jr. and Aretha Franklin (’79), Perry Como and Johnny Mathis (‘80), Bobby Vinton (’81), Ginger Rogers and Glenn Campbell (’82), Jay McShann (‘87), Slide Hampton (‘86), Nelson Riddle (’84) Marvin Hamlisch (’97) and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans (’98) to name only a few; inventor of the "Trombetto," a compact brass instrument with four valves that plays a chromatic range of six octaves with a trombone mouthpiece; played at festivals in New Orleans, London, Edinburg, Sacramento, New York City, Seattle; clinics and lectures in Santa Cruz and San Jose, CA, Quebec City and Montreal, Canada, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, New York and Toronto; scores written to movies by Georg Sanford Brown and John Russo and plays by Richard Wright, August Wilson and Rob Penny; lyricist of 125 bop standards; featured horn soloist avec vocalese with the Pittsburgh Connection Big Band at the 2007 IAJE Convention in NYC; nationally recognized expert on Pittsburgh jazz history.
Currently active in Pittsburgh with Gary Racan and the Studio-E Band, The Blues Orphans, Roger Humphries Big Band, Bill Dell and Wee Jams, and my own jazz bands The World According to Bop, Jazz ‘N Jive, Dr. Jazz and the Salty Dawgs, Blue to the Bone, and Nelson Harrison and Associates.
Discography: Live at the Attic (1969) with the Walt Harper Quintet (Birmingham Label); Makatuka (1970) (Segue Label) and Suite for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1971) (Tomorrow International Label) with Nathan Davis; Kansas City Shout (1980) with the Count Basie Orchestra (Pablo Label); On A Coconut Island( 1993), Don't Give Up the Ship (1995), Burgundy Street Blues (1996) and Honky Tonk Town (1997) with the Boilermaker Jazz Band (Biograph Label); Tuesday Night at James Street (2002) with the RH Factor, Don’t Give Up (2003) with the Roger Humphries Big Band; Moonlit River (2003) songs by Fred Moolten, (MGO Media Label); 21st-Century Musicism (2005) compositions by Karlton E. Hester (Hesteria Records); If I Can’t Dance, It’s Not My Revolution (2006) Anne Feeney; Schism ‘n Blues (2005) & Root Rot (2007) with the Blues Orphans (Staggerin’ Fitz Label) which are the first commercial recordings of the trombetto, Not from Concentrate (2007) Genie Walker & Harmonique (Hip Tip Label).
He is is cited in the Marquis publication Who’s Who in the East (1979) and received the Renaissance Too Magazine Professional Men in Jazz Award (1989) and the East Liberty Hall of Fame (1991), the Westinghouse High School Hall of Fame (1995), Evolution of Jazz: Bridging the Gap Mentors Award (2006), the Walt Harper All That Jazz Award (2008), the Legacy Arts Project Keepers of the Flame Award (2008), the Build the Hill Award (2008) and the MCG Jazz Pittsburgh Legends of Jazz Award (2008), African American Council on the Arts Rob Penny Lifetime Achievement Award (2009).
Blogs:
http://www.blackbusinessaffiliate.com/members/nbbta/postcard/BCI1K7KHJQ.html
ttp://www.blackbusinessbuilders.com?5570
http://music.ucsc.edu/grad/dma/composition/gamf2002.html
http://music.ucsc.edu/grad/dma/composition/gamf2003.html
http://crawford.june08pa.peopleaggregator.net
http://thejazznetwork.ning.com/profile/nelsonharrison
http://theglobaljazznetwork.ning.com/profile/nelsonharrison
- Artist or Fan
- artist, fan, industry professional, student, media
NOTE: The following was received via email on August 19, 2008 from Ahmad Jamal
Dear Nelson:
Salamo Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatoho!
For all those who think they know all the history about fellow Pittsburghers please note that Tommy Turrentine and Ahmad Jamal were room mates on the road with George Hudson.
I got him the trumpet chair with George and also got Jimmy Royal (one of my favorite bassists) in the band as well!!
Tommy taught me my first flatted fifth chord and we shared the stage at the Musician's Club (Local 471 on Wylie Avenue during many jam sessions there).
George Hudson was also from Pittsburgh originally and this was the band that housed me, Ernie Wilkins, Clark Terry and other well known musicians. This was perhaps Tommy's first big band hiring, the rest came later.
He and I were with George at the Apollo Theatre which was a first for both of us!!
My Salams,
Ahmad
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Pitt Jazz Week 2009
Pitt Jazz Week 2009 to Feature Community Outreach Activities, Lecture, Film, and Nov. 7 Concert
International jazz masters to perform at 39th annual event
PITTSBURGH-Jazz enthusiasts from throughout the region will be on the University of Pittsburgh campus Nov. 3 though Nov. 7 for the 39th annual Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert, the longest-running event of its kind in the United States.
A stellar group of international jazz musicians will hold free on-campus lecture/demonstrations, visit area s… Continue
International jazz masters to perform at 39th annual event
PITTSBURGH-Jazz enthusiasts from throughout the region will be on the University of Pittsburgh campus Nov. 3 though Nov. 7 for the 39th annual Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert, the longest-running event of its kind in the United States.
A stellar group of international jazz musicians will hold free on-campus lecture/demonstrations, visit area s… Continue
Posted on November 7, 2009 at 5:16am —
Kenny Fisher plays with the angels; Pittsburgh jazz icon passes at 69
The New Pittsburgh Courier
Written by Christian Morrow - Courier Staff Writer
Thursday, 05 November 2009 13:12
Kenny Fisher didn’t talk much, but his saxophone spoke volumes to those lucky enough to have heard him play. “Fish,” as his friends called him, was one of the last links to Pittsburgh’s heyday as a jazz mecca—he knew everyone and played everywhere; the Loendi Club, the Hurricane and the old Crawford Grill. On Oct. 25, after a lengthy battle with cancer, Fisher played his last solo, he… Continue
Written by Christian Morrow - Courier Staff Writer
Thursday, 05 November 2009 13:12
Kenny Fisher didn’t talk much, but his saxophone spoke volumes to those lucky enough to have heard him play. “Fish,” as his friends called him, was one of the last links to Pittsburgh’s heyday as a jazz mecca—he knew everyone and played everywhere; the Loendi Club, the Hurricane and the old Crawford Grill. On Oct. 25, after a lengthy battle with cancer, Fisher played his last solo, he… Continue
Posted on November 6, 2009 at 6:26am —
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ART BLAKEY!!!
Arthur (Art) Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, he was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.
Along with Kenny Clarke and Max Roach, he was one of the inventors of the modern bebop style of drumming. He is known as a powerful musician and a vital groover; his brand of bluesy, funky hard bop was (and remains) profoundly influential on mainstream jazz. For more than 30 years his band the Jazz Messengers included ma… Continue
Along with Kenny Clarke and Max Roach, he was one of the inventors of the modern bebop style of drumming. He is known as a powerful musician and a vital groover; his brand of bluesy, funky hard bop was (and remains) profoundly influential on mainstream jazz. For more than 30 years his band the Jazz Messengers included ma… Continue
Posted on October 11, 2009 at 4:30pm — 4 Comments
Sean Jones Resurrects Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
By Rick Nowlin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Lake Fong/Post-Gazette
Trumpeter Sean Jones: "It's important for me to let Pittsburgh know, 'This is your orchestra.' "
One might call the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra the "house band" for Heinz Hall.
Sean Jones is tryin… Continue
Posted on October 8, 2009 at 3:14am — 1 Comment
WHO PAYS PERFORMANCE ROYALTIES AND WHO DOESN'T?
August 4, 2009
Radio Free America
By NANCY SINATRA
Los Angeles
WHEN I hear great American standards on the radio, I think of all the songwriters, artists and musicians whom my father, brother and I have worked with over the years. It reminds me that every recording has two parts, the composition and the performance. It also reminds me how many wonderful artists and musicians have not been paid fairly for their work.
Songwriters and publishers are paid when their tunes are played on the radio… Continue
Radio Free America
By NANCY SINATRA
Los Angeles
WHEN I hear great American standards on the radio, I think of all the songwriters, artists and musicians whom my father, brother and I have worked with over the years. It reminds me that every recording has two parts, the composition and the performance. It also reminds me how many wonderful artists and musicians have not been paid fairly for their work.
Songwriters and publishers are paid when their tunes are played on the radio… Continue
Posted on August 4, 2009 at 10:00pm — 2 Comments
About
Groups
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Save the Music Program...
40 members
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OUR BROTHERS' KEEPERS
7 members
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Twitter
9 members
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LONI TAYLOR
3 members
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The Future of the Jazz...
21 members
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Thanks..I just don't have time to read them and it fills up the box a few times..Also, I tried to email you about a few questions about the jazz circuit and never received a reply..not sure if you received my emails.
I just wanted to take a moment to say "thank you" for your efforts in working to achieve appreciable outcomes for the Pittsburgh jazz community. Keep up the great work!
KP
There are great things about Jazz legacy living in cyberspace! Its really interesting, having grown up in Pittsburgh and then having lived in Chicago for 16 years. My work has always been in solidarity with youth and communities leading me to constantly study and discover the legacy of the African American arts. What I have learned in relationship to Chicago, leads me to understand Pittsburgh's legacy on a deeper level than during the time I lived there.
in solidarity,
best.
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