Since the 1970's, Pittsburgh's Steve Nelson has made his way through the ranks, playing high profile gigs with artists as diverse as Grant Green, Jackie McLean, Dave Holland, and David "Fathead" Newman. Nelson will serve as leader in this Pittsburgh engagement, assembling a quartet of both young and seasoned artists.

Kente Arts Alliance is always pleased when it presents artists whose roots begin in Pittsburgh. Nelson was reared in East Liberty before leaving Pittsburgh to make his way through the jazz world. He has gone full circle as he returns to the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater which is only a mile from where he grew up.

Steve Nelson: Vibraphones
Mulgrew Miller: Piano
Ivan Taylor: Bass
Rodney Green: Drums

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December 5, 2009

The violin is hardly the first instrument that comes to mind when you think about jazz, but that's never daunted Billy Bang, one of the instrument's most adventurous exponents. While attending a Massachusetts prep school under full scholarship, he met and began playing with fellow-student, folk-singer Arlo Guthrie. Drafted into the army following graduation, Bang was sent to Vietnam, an experience that profoundly affected his life, often quite painfully.  Returning home and radicalized, Billy became active in the anti-war movement, and by the late '60s had returned to music.

Heavily inspired by the exploratory fire of John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman and the liberating energy of the free-jazz movement, Bang returned to the violin as his principal means of expression. Attending New York's Queens College, and studying privately with renowned violinist Leroy Jenkins, Bang became a key member of the dynamic New York avant-garde scene of the '70s. Vietnam:  The Aftermath (released in October 2001) evokes and confronts the memories of his Vietnam experiences and showcases the fine compositional skills that have always marked his own recordings. The experience proved to be emotionally cathartic as well as a boon to his career, as it led to rave reviews the world over, awards from recording societies, and invitations to perform the resulting work.

The Aftermath Band

James Spaulding, alto sax, flute
Ted Daniel trumpet
Andrew Boehmke, piano
Todd Nicholson, bass
Newman Taylor Baker, drums
Nhan Thanh Ngo, dan tranh
Billy Bang, composer, band leader, violin

November 8, 2008

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Billy Bang Children’s Workshop Friday, Nov. 7

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The concert kicked off the 2008 season’s cross-cultural themed programming entitled:  Creating Harmony across Cultures.  This first installment helped to build a bridge across the generational divide, pairing legendary cultural icons with some of today’s hottest spoken word artists, all of whom are playing an important role in addressing the current political and social climate.  For that reason, this concert has been aptly named “Generations of Agitation”.

The Last Poets is a veteran group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement's Black Nationalist thread.  The Last Poets have been cited as one of the earliest influences on what would become hip-hop.  The year 2008 marked the 40th anniversary of the formation of the group.  Critic Jason Ankeny writes, "With their politically charged raps, taut rhythms, and dedication to raising African-American consciousness, the Last Poets almost single-handedly laid the groundwork for the emergence of hip-hop."

The Last Poets
Umar Bin Hassan, voice
Abiodun Oyewole, voice
Don Babatunde Eaton, percussion

Opening for The Last Poets

Chen Lo, a Pittsburgh-born and raised spoken word artist, now living in Brooklyn opened for the The Last Poets.  As one of today’s young aspiring artists, he has always stood to use his individual gifts, skills and talents to enhance the well-being of his community.

Yah Lioness, one of Pittsburgh’s most prolific female spoken word artists served as MC.

DJ Nate Da Phat Barber provided the music.

One of the world’s preeminent jazz innovators, trombonist and sea shellist Steve Turre has consistently won both the Reader’s and Critics Polls in Jazz Times, Downbeat, and Jazziz for Best Trombone and for Best Miscellaneous Instrumentalist (sea shells).  In addition to performing as a member of the Saturday Night Live Band since 1984, Turre leads several different ensembles.

Steve Turre continually evolves as a musician and arranger. He has a strong command of all musical genres and when it comes to his distinct brand of jazz, he always keeps one foot in the past and one in the future. In his Pittsburgh appearance, he paid tribute to Roy Eldridge (1911 – 1989) aka “Little Jazz”.  Eldridge was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and is considered one of the greatest trumpet players in jazz history.  His range and rhythmic skill made him perhaps the finest trumpeter of the swing era of the 1930’s.  His sophisticated use of harmony resulted in him sometimes being seen as the link between Louis Armstrong-era swing music and Dizzy Gillespie-era bebop.

Steve Turre Quintet
Buster Williams, bass
Dr. James Johnson, piano
Jeremy Pelt, trumpet
Dion Parson, drums
Steve Turre, trombone

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April 19, 2008

On February 23, 2008, the City of Pittsburgh and the State of Pennsylvania paid tribute to one of their favorite sons, drummer Roger Humphries. The events culminated in a tribute concert presented by the Kente Arts Alliance.  Roger Humphries was a child prodigy, playing with professional musicians as early as age 4 ½. Roger’s first major road job came in August 1962 when he joined fellow Pittsburgher Stanley Turrentine and Shirley Scott at the Hurricane in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. Music critics rate Roger as one of the most exciting percussionists in the business.  In 1964, Roger went to New York to join the Horace Silver Quintet.

For more than fifty years, Silver has written some of the most enduring tunes in jazz while performing them in a distinctively personal style. Silver helped create the rhythmically forceful branch of jazz known as "hard bop". He based much of his own writing on blues and gospel---the latter is particularly prominent on one of his biggest tunes, "The Preacher." While with Silver, Roger Humphries provided the rhythm for many of Silver’s jazz classics including the famous jazz hit, “Song for my Father”.  The February 23rd concert paid homage to this period in Roger Humphries enduring and illustrious career

Roger Humphries and the Rh Factor

Roger Humphries, drums
Tony De Paulas, bass
Max Leake, piano
Special Guests
Javon Jackson, saxophone
Sean Jones, trumpet

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February 23, 2008

Winard Harper will paid tribute to drummer and band leader Art Blakey.  Blakey (1919 - 1990) also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was one of the inventors of the modern, bebop style of drumming and is undoubtedly one of the most influential jazz musicians ever.  Harper, who was influenced in part by Blakey, reveres his predecessor while remaining innovative in his own right.  He has become one of the most celebrated drummers in jazz and known for his virtuosity on the drum set as well as the balafon, the West African equivalent of the marimba.

“In the jazz idiom, very few master musicians have held the title of leader while pounding out the heartbeat of any great band behind the drum set since legends Art Blakey and Max Roach. Winard Harper, however, has proven since the late ‘80s to be one of the true great bandleaders who sits behind a drum kit while pushing his ensemble to explore international sounds ranging from African to Caribbean to Afro-Cuban, all wrapped around the core of Hard Bop jazz”.

September 29, 2007

Kirikou and the Sorceress (French: Kirikou et la sorcière) is a 1998 Franco-Belgian traditional animation feature film loosely based on a West African folk tale and written and directed by Michel Ocelot, in which a newborn boy saves his village by ridding them of the evil witch Karaba. It was so successful that a sequel, Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages (Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages) followed in 2005 and in 2007 it was adapted into a musical theatre stage production, Kirikou et Karaba.

The Kirikou films are characterized by their flat, two-dimensional, look, as opposed to current trends in three-dimensional computer animation. The lush African colours and patterns were inspired by the works of the "naïve" French painter "Le Douanier" Henri Rousseau. Ocelot's latest feature film Azur et Asmar explores the world of North African and Islamic folklore, architecture, art and calligraphy.

Winner of Nine Film Festival and Animation Awards

This Presentation was Free to the public

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August 25, 2007

Through her highly acclaimed Mary Lou Williams Collective, Ms. Allen assembled a fine group of musicians to interpret the work of Pittsburgh native Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981). In fact, Allen played the role of Mary Lou Williams in Robert Altman’s celebrated film Kansas City. During this special Pittsburgh engagement of her world-wide 2007 tour, Ms. Allen paid homage to the legendary pianist and composer through her interpretative work Zodiac Suite: Revisited.  She also performed selections from her highly acclaimed new CD “Timeless Portraits and Dreams”. Geri Allen is a celebrated award-winning pianist/composer who performs for enthusiastic audiences worldwide.  Ms. Allen is the recipient of numerous honors and awards and is presently an Associate Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the University of Michigan. She earned her Master’s degree in Ethnomusicology at the University of Pittsburgh, where she studied under Nathan Davis. 

The Mary Lou Collective
Geri Allen, piano
Andrew Cyrille, drums
Kenny Davis, bass

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May 6, 2007

Voted the Best Jazz Concert of 2006 by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette

This concert focused on the enduring body of work left by the legendary alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley and his brother Nat Adderley (trumpet).  Cannonball recorded more than 60 albums as a feature artist and collaborated as a sideman on at least 60 more. Louis Hayes was the drummer for Cannonball during six years of his amazing, if abbreviated career.   For the last twenty-plus years, Hayes has led or co-led some of the most uncompromisingly swinging groups in all of jazz.  Each unit has displayed tight-knit harmonic cohesion and hard-driving consistency as part of its signature.  In the Cannonball Legacy Band, Hayes has assembled some of today’s finest musicians, each of them a star in his own right and in demand as leaders and collaborators.

The Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band
Louis Hayes, leader, drummer
Vincent Herring, alto
Jeremy Pelt, trumpet
Rick Germanson, piano
Richie Goods, bass

October 6th & 7th, 2006