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June 2023

MCG Jazz presents Frank Vignola with guest Jimmie Highsmith, Jr. at Pittsburgh Playhouse

June 22 @ 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Event Category:
$25

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Steve Smith and Vital Information at MCG Jazz

June 25 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 1815 Metropolitian StreetPittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Category:
$49.50

Drummer Steve Smith has been touring and recording with his all-star group Vital Information since 1983, making 2023 the 40th Anniversary of the group. Steve Smith and Vital Information celebrate the occasion with a newly recorded double CD release entitled “TIME FLIES.”  

The newest line-up of Vital Information features virtuoso musicians with vast experience. Keyboardist Manuel Valera, a Guggenheim Fellow and Grammy nominated artist, was born, and raised in Havana, Cuba and is now living in NYC. Manuel plays and records with many of the New York jazz elite like Antonio Sanchez, Dafnis Prieto and John Patitucci. Electric Bassist Janek Gwizdala, originally from London, currently living in Los Angeles, records and tours with Peter Erskine, Mike Stern and Randy Brecker and is one of the most in-demand bass players in the world. Both new members of Vital Information are bandleaders and recording artists with multiple recordings to their names. The new trio version of Steve Smith and Vital Information collectively creates a powerhouse sound. Although the band is rooted in the straight-ahead swing of bebop, at times the group explores exotic time-signatures from the world of South Indian Carnatic music and have arranged adventurous funk-driven renditions of jazz standards. Seeing Steve Smith and Vital Information live-in concert is a perfect opportunity to experience their high-level musicianship, sense of joy onstage and collective virtuosic improvisation. 

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MCG Jazz Presents Jeff Kashiwa at Pittsburgh Playhouse

June 29 @ 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Event Category:
$25

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH N-MOTION JAZZ

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Samara Joy at MCG Jazz

June 30 @ 6:00 pm - 10:30 pm
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 1815 Metropolitian StreetPittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Category:
$49.50 - $72.00

With a voice as smooth as velvet, Samara Joy’s star seems to rise with each performance. Winner of the 2023 GRAMMY Award for Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album. Following her winning the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, Joy has dug deep to discover her jazz roots without losing sight of the innate simplicity that makes her sound shine. Her first album announces the arrival of a young artist destined for greatness.

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July 2023

MCG Jazz Presents Grace Kelly at Pittsburgh Playhouse

July 6 @ 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Event Category:
$25

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Danilo Perez’s Global Messengers

July 8 @ 6:00 pm - 10:30 pm
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 1815 Metropolitian StreetPittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Category:
$49.50

Danilo Pérez’s Global Messengers project advances a mission which is wholly relevant today. When discussing the healing properties of music, the Panamanian jazz pianist, humanitarian, and educator speaks of “recovering the function of the artist as a tool to redirect humanity in a positive direction.” The Global Messengers came to fruition through the culture and experiences of its members, hailing from North and Central America, Europe, and Western Asia. Pérez uses their talents to make an impression through beautiful melodies and strikingly syncopated rhythms.

Danilo Perez – Piano

Farayi Malek – Vocalist

Angela Varo – Violin

Naseem Alatrash – Cello

Ian Ashby – Bass

Giorgos Lernis – Percussion

Bahar Badieitabar – Oud

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Ashby Family Band at Con Alma Downtown

July 9 @ 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Con Alma Downtown 613 Penn AvenuePittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Categories:
,
$10

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MCG Jazz Presents Badi Assad Trio at Pittsburgh Playhouse

July 13 @ 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Event Category:
$25

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August 2023

MCG Jazz Presents Aurora Jazz Fusion at Reservoir of Jazz

August 20 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Event Category:
Free

Reservoir of Jazz – FREE!

Sponsored by Highland Park Community Council, RADand WZUM Jazz Pittsburgh

MCG Jazz presents Aurora

August 20, 5:00 – 7:00 PM

Highland Park

5 – 7 p.m., HIGHLAND PARK, Highland Avenue and Reservoir Drive

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Innersense Sound Healing Event

August 26 @ 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Three Treasures Health 5822 Irish Town RoadBethel Park, PA+ Google Map
Event Categories:
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$30

Sound healing uses a variety of instruments and vocal tones to create vibrational frequencies that balance and heal mind, body and spirit. Sound frequencies work to break up blocks within our bodies allowing our energy to flow unimpeded while the cells in our body work to repair themselves and bring you back to physical and emotional wellness. The goal of sound therapy is ultimately balance and restoration. Bring a mat, pillow and blanket.

The event is at, Three Treasures Health
5822 Irish Town Road
Bethel Park, PA 15102

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September 2023

An Evening with Eliane Elias at MCG Jazz

September 30 @ 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 1815 Metropolitian StreetPittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Category:
$58.50 - $76.50

Join us for an intimate concert with the reigning queen of bossa nova, Eliane Elias’ new album, “Quietude” has been nominated for a Latin GRAMMY Award, was #1 Billboard Traditional Jazz Charts, #1 iTunes Latin & Jazz Charts, and #1 Amazon Jazz, Latin & Brazilian Best Seller.

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October 2023

Film Screening: We Knew What We Had at The Frick Pittsburgh

October 8 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The Frick Pittsburgh 7227 Reynolds St.Pittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Categories:
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$10 - $30

The Frick’s exhibition on the Great Migration features automobiles like those used by musicians traveling the Northeast jazz circuit in the early 20th century. Spend an afternoon immersed in the exhibition and the history of jazz in Pittsburgh with a special screening of We Knew What We Had, the 2018 documentary created and produced by MCG Jazz.

This documentary explores the social conditions and historical events that made Pittsburgh one of the leading contributors to the legacy of Jazz music in the world. At the conclusion of the 1-hour film, Marty Ashby, Vice President and Executive Producer of MCG Jazz and Producer of We Knew What We Had and MCG Jazz Pittsburgh Jazz Legend, Dwayne Dolphin, will discuss the process of making the film and tell stories about the legacy of Jazz in Pittsburgh.

After the screening and discussion, join us in the Car & Carriage Museum to enjoy live jazz music by the Mark Strickland Duo, refreshments, and a chance to see the exhibition, Pittsburgh and the Great Migration: Black Mobility and the Automobile.

Film Screening: We Knew What We Had
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Matthew Whitaker at MCG Jazz

October 14 @ 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 1815 Metropolitian StreetPittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Category:
$52.50

Born in 2001 in Hackensack, NJ, Matthew Whitaker grew up surrounded by music. His love for playing music first began at the young age of 3 after his grandfather gave him a small Yamaha keyboard. At 9, Matthew began teaching himself how to play the Hammond B3 organ. Four years later, he became the youngest artist to be endorsed by Hammond in its 80+ year history. He was also named a Yamaha Artist at 15, becoming the youngest musician to join the stellar group of jazz pianists.

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Hubert Laws at MCG Jazz

October 21 @ 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 1815 Metropolitian StreetPittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Category:
$52.50 - $72.50

NEA Jazz Master, internationally renowned flutist Hubert Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop, and rhythm-and-blues genres, moving effortlessly from one genreto another.

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Aurora Jazz Fusion at Con Alma Pittsburgh

October 24 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Con Alma Downtown 613 Penn AvenuePittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Categories:
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$10

In 1979, Marty Ashby started a band called AURORA JAZZ FUSION to perform the contemporary jazz cross-over music of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Jazz was mixing with rock, funk, Latin and R&B which gave musicians the opportunity to explore unique connections and seek out new possibilities. This new iteration of AURORA, with veteran and younger musicians, allows the band to take a fresh look at the music from this important time in the evolution of jazz. AURORA focuses on playing instrumental jazz by such artists as Jeff Lorber, Chick Corea, The Brecker Brothers, The Crusaders, Weather Report as well as renditions of Freddie Hubbard’s “Super Blue” and Grover Washington Jr.’s “Winelight.”

AURORA is Marty Ashby on guitar, Mike Tomaro on saxophones, Jeff Bush on trombone, Max Leake on keyboards, Brian Stahurski on bass and Hugo Cruz on drums.

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MCG Jazz at the Mt. Lebanon Library

October 26 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Mt. Lebanon Library 16 Castle Shannon BlvdPittsburgh, + Google Map
Event Categories:
,
Free

Pianist Craig Davis is on a mission to raise Michael “Dodo” Marmarosa’s profile in the jazz consciousness.
Part of that stems from hometown pride; a fellow native of Pittsburgh, Davis has spent most of his career as an active and in-demand member of the Steel City jazz scene. He also recognizes parallels to his own approach to the piano in Marmarosa’s, as both men blend classical influences with a taste for progressive jazz and a spirited lyricism.
Joined by guitarist and executive director of MCG Jazz the music of Dodo Marmarosa will come to life.

To observers of the jazz scene during the late 1940s, Marmarosa would have seemed a safe bet to join the pantheon of bebop pianists alongside the likes of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. He had worked in bands led by most of the major swing-era bandleaders, including Tommy Dorsey, Gene Krupa, and Artie Shaw; he recorded with Charlie Parker on Bird’s seminal Dial Records sides; and worked with legendary musicians including Lester Young, Barney Kessel, Lionel Hampton, Slim Gaillard, and Mel Tormé. But by the end of the decade Marmarosa’s star had already begun to fade. He returned to his native Pittsburgh for health reasons and became a near recluse for much of the rest of his life. Craig Davis and Marty Ashby will discuss and perform Marmaros’s music and share their knowledge of this legendary Pittsburgh artist.

Join us for an evening of music! Hear the music of a legend, and learn about this piece of Pittsburgh Jazz.

This is an IN PERSON event. Registration required. 

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November 2023

Sean Jones “Dizzy Spellz” at MCG Jazz

November 11 @ 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 1815 Metropolitian StreetPittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Category:
$52.50 - $58.50

Dizzy Spellz offers an Afro futuristic lens into a deeper look at the intersecting cultural and spiritual dilemmas within the African Diaspora through the music of Dizzy Gillespie. Sean Jones (trumpeter/musical director) and Brinae Ali (choreographer/tap dancer/vocalist) have teamed up to create a piece that fuses elements of jazz, tap, Hip Hop, and Bebop to articulate the social vernacular language of the African American experience.

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Violins of Hope at MCG Jazz

November 12 @ 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 1815 Metropolitian StreetPittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Category:
$52.50

Klezmer Meets Jazz

Experience a concert featuring one of the top US klezmer violinists, Steven Greenman, and Alexander Fedoriouk, extraordinary Ukrainian cimbalom player, playing together with a jazz trio. They will explore the similarities between Klezmer and jazz, but also highlight their subtle differences. The jazz trio is formed by some of the best musicians from Pittsburgh: Alton Merrell (piano), Paul Thompson (bass), and Tom Wendt (drums).

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Aurora Jazz Fusion at Con Alma Pittsburgh

November 28 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Con Alma Downtown 613 Penn AvenuePittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Category:
$10

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December 2023

New York Voices “Let It Snow” at MCG Jazz

December 2 @ 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 1815 Metropolitian StreetPittsburgh, PA+ Google Map
Event Category:
$52.50 - $58.50

New York Voices has fashioned a Christmas album that honors beloved traditional and sacred classics as well as secular favorites, while incorporating sophisticated jazz and swing elements.

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