AFRO-AMERICAN MUSIC INSTITUTE CELEBRATES 36 YEARS
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/building-today-for-tomorrow/x/267428
Pain Relief Beyond Belief
http://www.komehsaessentials.com/
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.
WELCOME!
MARY LOU WILLIAMS
Added by Phat Man Dee on April 18, 2015 at 8:24pm — No Comments
Friends.... please allow me to say, I am honored and blessed and overwhelmingly grateful to all the support you all showed me during my supremely intense kickstarter campaign..... which was SUCCESSFUL! This summer I am going to Europe to sing at the World Body Painting Festival in A…
ContinueAdded by Phat Man Dee on March 31, 2015 at 9:52pm — No Comments
Right now....in a land known as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, there sits, at her 12 year old desktop imac, a little phat girl who has dreamed of singing in Europe for the past 25 years. Since the birth of her dream, she has studied and made music with Pittsburgh jazz greats, ballet orchestra cellists, vocal teachers of great renown, medieval German bagpipers, Afro Cuban dance bands, Puerto Rican bomba bands, Egyptian classical and electronic composers, Middle Eastern master percussionists, Afro…
ContinueAdded by Phat Man Dee on March 13, 2015 at 5:00pm — No Comments
Added by Phat Man Dee on March 4, 2015 at 9:13pm — No Comments
Friends! I do not know how this has happened.... I have been told that time waits for no Mandee.... and while that was fine by me, as I believe that time is cyclical, everything just comes around and as long as you know the chords, the improv will fall in and around as it desires.... but sometimes you must not ignore the call to get yourself to the gig on time, and it is in…
ContinueAdded by Phat Man Dee on February 13, 2015 at 5:36pm — No Comments
And here in Pittsburgh, and Ferguson, and Staten island and all over the world....
(If you are not familiar with the song referenced in my subject liner, please refer to the great Nina Simone's song "Mississippi Goddam": http://youtu.be/hBiAtwQZnHs )
Friends, as an artist and musician I long have enjoyed the blessings of working with thoughtful, beautiful, inspired and learned people, many of whom have been people of…
Added by Phat Man Dee on January 14, 2015 at 7:55pm — No Comments
I do, I know very well. I know the pain of being too far away for far too long from New Orleans. But late is better than never, so I am bound for the swamp, the land that spawned the music I love so much, to sing to the people who have survived both massive flooding and the Bush administration. So, if you have any friends down that way, do tell them to stop in.
My first stop is actually in Valley Head, Alabama. I have never been to Alabama. I am going to be part of a Women's…
Added by Phat Man Dee on November 5, 2014 at 6:27am — No Comments
What does September mean to you? To some it means the return to education, the end of summer, or the cooling of the daze (unless you…
ContinueAdded by Phat Man Dee on September 5, 2014 at 7:06pm — No Comments
Hey! Bon jour! Guten tak! Shalom! Hola mi amigos!
I have so many things happening simultaneously I don't always get the word out in the timely fashion I would care too. If you want to know where/when I will be singing, please follow me on twitter or facebook or check my calendar online, I hit those up with far more frequency than I do…
Added by Phat Man Dee on June 6, 2014 at 5:24pm — No Comments
Wow.... it's like Bill Peduto got elected to mayor of Pittsburgh, and I've just been sent into this delirious, in between state, of joy and am just now waking up to find that we're all actually living the dream! Ok, maybe it's not like that at all, in reality I've been studying hard at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and working my video internship at Mr Smalls, which has also involved weekly vocal coaching for some young people which has been thoroughly enjoyable,…
ContinueAdded by Phat Man Dee on March 27, 2014 at 5:32am — No Comments
But I fell out....and up....and all around.....maybe now I should consider falling in.....
So, I send these emails out once a month, right? Unless my dining room ceiling falls in and my mom shatters her ankle and I lose a couple friends in a sadly untimely fashion and I decide to start working in the video department at Mr Smalls…
Added by Phat Man Dee on October 6, 2013 at 5:30am — No Comments
Added by Phat Man Dee on May 22, 2013 at 3:53am — No Comments
Oh friends.... what a fascinating, tumultuous and looooong winter it has been.... I'm happy to say I finally believe we may have actually reached the other side. The warm winds blow with the sweet tantalizing promise of beautiful music, graceful dancers and hilarious escapades. I don't trust the wind to deliver these things all by itself, so I have committed myself to helping make them reality.…
Added by Phat Man Dee on April 6, 2013 at 2:12am — No Comments
There was a galactic and planetary shift of consciousness last December.
On the 21st we aligned with our solar system, the galaxy and the
universe....whether or not you spent the solstice hiding in a bunker
with a gross of rations and water purification tablets, in prayer with
drums and chanting to the moon or madly purchasing gifts to prove to
your loved ones that you really do care (I myself did a little of each, I
like to keep my bases covered), whatever…
Added by Phat Man Dee on January 11, 2013 at 12:00am — No Comments
Added by Phat Man Dee on October 25, 2012 at 2:08am — No Comments
but we have no time for the waiting game.....
Hello my beauties,
Just a quick line to let you know I am headed to Cleveland, Ohio tomorrow September 15, 2012, to sing with a new troupe whose company I very much enjoy. Kabarett Vulgare is a young group of performers in whom I have found some like minded defenders of the weird, the mad sexy and bizarre. Kabarett Vulgare also includes Macabre Noir, Deville D'Eggs, Nick Noir & Penny de la Poison. Together we've create a…
Added by Phat Man Dee on September 14, 2012 at 7:47pm — No Comments
Added by Phat Man Dee on June 18, 2012 at 4:25am — No Comments
Added by Phat Man Dee on May 25, 2012 at 9:43pm — No Comments
Added by Phat Man Dee on May 4, 2012 at 6:19am — No Comments
Greetings and salutations good people!
I am so excited about the gigs I have coming up, and I hope you will be as well! If you don't know about them, allow me to share the knowledge!
Tomorrow on Saturday April 21, 2012, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., I am singing at the Backstage Bar at CLO Cabaret located at 655 Penn Ave, in Pittsburgh's Cultural District, beside Theater Square at Katz Plaza. There is no cover charge and I will be playing in…
Added by Phat Man Dee on April 21, 2012 at 5:03am — No Comments
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