PROGRESSIVE MUSIC COMPANY

AFRO-AMERICAN MUSIC INSTITUTE CELEBRATES 36 YEARS

BOYS CHOIR AFRICA SHIRTS
 
 
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/building-today-for-tomorrow/x/267428

 Pain Relief Beyond Belief

                         http://www.komehsaessentials.com/                              

 

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.

 

WELCOME!

 

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Duke Ellington is first African-American and the first musician to solo on U.S. circulating coin

    MARY LOU WILLIAMS     

            INTERVIEW

       In Her Own Words

Richie Cole 1948–2020

The revered alto saxophonist kept the spirit of bebop alive through challenging times


Richie Cole Richie Cole

Richie Cole, an alto saxophonist whose rise to jazz prominence in the 1970s augured the following decade’s bebop revival, died May 2 in his sleep at his home in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. He was 72.

Cole’s death was announced on May 2 on his Facebook page. His daughter, Annie Cole, told WBGO that her father passed away of natural causes.

In an era when fusion represented the mainstream of jazz and a new urgency had entered the experimental underground, Cole was proudly anachronistic. He began his career in swing big bands, then broke through with bebop, keeping company with members of the old guard like Red Rodney, Sonny Stitt, and Eddie Jefferson and adapting a classic Sonny Rollins/John Coltrane session title to name his own band, Alto Madness.

By the ’80s Cole was seen less as a throwback than as a torchbearer, and ultimately he became regarded as a revered elder statesman. Through it all, he saw his dyed-in-the-wool bebop credentials simply as a reflection of who he was. “I had many offers to do fusion, or smooth jazz, or whatever they would be doing,” he told writer George W. Harris in a 2018 interview. “It just didn’t interest me. I followed my beliefs.”

 

Richard Thomas Cole was born February 29, 1948 in Trenton, New Jersey. His father owned two nightclubs in the city, a showroom called Hubby’s Inn and a jazz venue called the Harlem Club. Cole grew up hearing music at both clubs—meeting the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey as they passed through—and, when he was 10, discovered a saxophone that had been left behind at the Harlem Club. He was fascinated by how it worked and soon began learning to play it. At 16, he attended a music camp directed by jazz saxophonist Phil Woods, who would go on to be a lifelong mentor.

By the time he finished Ewing High School, Cole had gained such proficiency that he was awarded a full scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music. Before he could finish, however, Cole joined Buddy Rich’s big band in 1969, replacing Art Pepper on alto. He then spent time in the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and the Doc Severinsen Big Band until the mid-1970s, when he began freelancing at bebop gigs around New York and planning for his own band. Cole also found frequent work in Washington, D.C., becoming something of a house saxophonist at the club Harold’s Rogue and Jar; his composition “Harold’s House of Jazz” became one of his theme songs.

In the process, Cole formed an important partnership with vocalist Eddie Jefferson, with whom he began playing, touring, and recording regularly. The two often appeared on each other’s bills, and Jefferson sang on Cole’s 1977 sextet album New York Afternoon: Alto Madness, whose subtitle would serve as Cole’s motto, brand name, and basic musical description for the remainder of his career.

With the younger generation of musicians mainly pursuing fusion, or playing avant-garde in the downtown lofts, Cole was something of a rarity as a young player who specialized in bebop. (Guitarist Vic Juris was another, and he and Cole became fast friends and collaborators.) He soon became a favorite of older stalwarts such as Rodney, Harold Mabern, and Barry Harris. But his relationship with Jefferson was his primary outlet—until it was cut short by the singer’s murder in Detroit in May 1979 (which Cole witnessed).

For Cole, Jefferson’s death touched off a long battle with alcoholism. Professionally, he rebounded in the early 1980s with Side by Side, a recording with his mentor Woods; a long association with the vocal jazz ensemble Manhattan Transfer; and short but electric bouts of collaboration with Sonny Stitt and Art Pepper in their final years. (Both alto players died in 1982.) But personally, he was adrift. He spent much of the ’80s and early 1990s living a nomadic existence, stopping off for periods in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Chicago. In the late ’90s, he returned to the East Coast, where he formed a new seven-piece band, the Alto Madness Orchestra.

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In the 2010s, Cole made his final move: to Pittsburgh, where his daughter lived. He quickly became an evangelist for the city’s jazz scene, working and recording with local musicians and advocating them tirelessly in his interviews and album notes. (His first album for his self-formed label, Richie Cole Presents, was titled Pittsburgh.) The Pittsburgh iteration of his Alto Madness Orchestra accompanied Cole on all of his final six albums, the last of which was 2018’s Cannonball.

Cole is survived by his two daughters, Annie Cole and Amanda (“Amy”) Marrazzo, and by four grandchildren: Ricky and Julian Barajas and Emily and Abby Marrazzo.

Read a 2017 JazzTimes feature on Richie Cole. 

Originally Published May 4, 2020

MICHAEL J. WEST

Michael J. West is a jazz journalist in Washington, D.C. In addition to his work on the national and international jazz scenes, he has been covering D.C.’s local jazz community since 2009. He is also a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader, and as such spends most days either hunkered down at a screen or inside his very big headphones. He lives in Washington with his wife and two children.

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L-R: Nelson Harrison, Richie Cole

I  HAVE A HOME IN PITTSBURGH

Re: RCP Records

https://youtu.be/vC8UK1G3yPM

Music & Lyrics by Richie Cole – Alto Madness Music – BMI

Administrator BMG

Lyrics by Nelson E. Harrison - Timeslice Music - ASCAP

[412-441-4545]/cybraxis@verizon.net

 

(Intro)

How did I wind up in Pittsburgh… after all these years?

Every other place I’ve lived in brought its share of tears…

Could it be I was destined to wander… never finding a place to call home…then…

Resting from a cancelled flight… through a tunnel late at night…

Buried in the mountains what a sight!!!

 

***

 

I found a home in Pittsburgh… three rivers flowing by…

Here in western Pennsylvania with the hills so high and green…

The most beautiful people I’ve ever seen… for sure!

 

Then I noticed there is a vibe in Pittsburgh…

Captivating your heartstrings right away.

You can feel it every moment… Nothing like it anywhere.

And before too long it will make you want to stay.

 

(Bridge)

Once you learn your way around in this multi-ethnic town

There’s a different world across each bridge.

In every nook and cranny, nestled in a valley or on a ridge…

 

That’s the reason I Have a Home in Pittsburgh…

There are plenty of special things it has.

So many “Firsts” that… could really make Guiness burst

Arts, letters, sports, science and jazz.

It’s a ‘Burgh thing… Here in Pittsburgh, PA.

 

***

 

Just imagine three major teams of champions…

Win trophies and cups more than major towns can boast…

Every season of the year there’s a festival quite near

When every tradition or culture gets to host.

 

 

Pittsburgh has all four seasons… summer and winter, spring and fall…

If the groundhog sees his shadow, we will know what’s on its way

To prepare if snow or rain is gonna fall.

 

(Bridge)

If you love historic sites, there are hundreds of delights

That go as far back as 200 years.

Try riding on an incline car… while sampling micro-brewery beers.

 

If I ever roam very far from Pittsburgh, I’ll feel her tug me back…

To the place I now love… can’t get enough of…

The ‘Burgh has what other towns lack.

I love Pittsburgh…and you better believe that it’s a fact.

It’s my Pittsburgh… you can bet that I’m not looking back.

Come to Pittsburgh… and you will understand why…

It’s the place I want to be… in between the rivers three

When you come to Pittsburgh look for me!!

 

***

(Alternative out-chorus)

Did you know that Downtown is walking distance …

From Grant Street to the grasses of Point Park.

But a subway you can ride on if you’d rather be inside…

If the weather is quite a bit too stark.

 

Sidewalks of shops and music.  Vendors and restaurants abound…

Entertainment day and night and city lights are quite a sight

In the Cultural District all year ‘round.

 

(Bridge)

We can go up to the Hill… hear some jazz at Crawford Grill…

Where the spirits of the great legends dwell…

Art, Klook and Eddie Jefferson gave August Wilson tales to tell.

 

This is why I’m glad I wound up in Pittsburgh. There is so much to do…

No way you can be bored.  Pittsburgh’s its own reward…

Visit and watch it get to you…

I love Pittsburgh…and you better believe that it’s a fact.

It’s my Pittsburgh… you can bet that I’m not looking back.

Come to Pittsburgh… and you will understand why…

It’s the place I want to be… in between the rivers three

When you come to Pittsburgh look for me!!

 

Author Copyright © 2019 by Nelson E. Harrison & Richie Cole

All rights Reserved without Prejudice

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