Mavis Logan Aug. 11, 1936 - Dec. 9, 2016

[Dr. Nelson Harrison]

Mavis Logan Aug. 11, 1936 - Dec. 9, 2016

December 24, 2016 12:05 PM

• 

By Molly Born / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

For decades on Pittsburgh’s airwaves, Mavis Logan sought to “brighten, lighten and tighten up your day” then do the same by night as a singer in some of the city’s top jazz clubs.

Critics praised her radio voice, and jazz musicians remembered her deep appreciation for a genre long misunderstood. 

“She understood the music as a core product of our culture,” said Nelson Harrison, Pittsburgh historian, teacher and musician. “There’s a hole in the jazz community because Mavis is no longer with us.”

Surrounded by her family, Ms. Logan died at home Dec. 9 of cancer. By the end, she had lost her voice completely, said her daughter Laura Logan. She was 80.

In the 1960s Ms. Logan played records at WYDD-FM, where her daughter said she was the first female jazz deejay in Pittsburgh, then at WAMO two decades later, earning a loyal following along the way. She worked as an anchor at KQV, WKPA and WIXZ radio stations, TV talk show host at WPGH and WPXI, consumer news reporter for KDKA’s “Evening Magazine” and features reporter for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  

Dr. Harrison recalled a time when eight world-renowned percussionists performed at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, and Ms. Logan invited on stage a young James Johnson III, who would grow up to be a drummer. She introduced him to the musicians, all clad in black, and they gathered around the 8-year-old for an African-like ritual, beating their chests to show music comes from the heart. 

“It was the most amazing thing,” Dr. Harrison said. “Mavis was always sensitive to the tradition of jazz.”

[The group was Max Roach and M'Boom]

As a journalist, Ms. Logan said she interviewed “everyone from Ted Kennedy to the Fifth Dimension.” 

“Sometimes when you have an on-air personality, it becomes all about them. She always made people feel comfortable,” her daughter said.

A 1970 Pittsburgh Press article cites Ms. Logan’s signature “rapid-fire delivery” and “bursts of laughter” on the radio, saying she was “colorful to the Nth degree, what with her conversation spilling out at a breakneck pace, loaded with one-liners that don't necessarily sink in the first time you hear them.”

“Mavis Logan is a bundle of nervous energy wrapped up in music and laughs,” wrote Edward L. Blank, the newspaper’s TV and radio writer.

In another article, she told readers that “inside all the exterior flamboyance there’s a serious-minded career woman. If I hadn't been, I wouldn't have been successful.”

Ms. Logan once said a rise in jazz’s popularity in the mid-70s and 1980s prompted her to form her own quartet, Mavis Logan and her JazzMe Combo. The group became a regular in clubs throughout the area, including the Roadster Cafe in East Liberty.

Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Ms. Logan “leaped out of my mother's womb and started dancing,” she told the Press in a 1989 profile. She left Canada in her 20s and, drawn to the city’s jazz scene, landed in Pittsburgh after touring the U.S. as a singer, dancer, model and actress. She was reluctant to talk about her childhood up North, though, telling the Press, “I love Pittsburgh with all my heart. I like to think of myself a Pittsburgh native.”

“She was just more of a free spirit than Alberta could really handle at the time,” her daughter said.

Beyond her career as an entertainer and writer, Ms. Logan enjoyed winemaking and watercolor painting. Her last exhibit at the Monroeville library closed in November. 

In addition to her daughter, Ms. Logan is survived by her brother Ian Logan and two grandchildren. A jam session to celebrate Ms. Logan’s life is from 7-10 p.m. Jan. 3 at James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy.

Molly Born: [e-mail] or 412-263-1944.