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News | Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival | Sept 15-17, 2023
September 17-19, 2021 JazzTimes: The stadium has become a destination for post-pandemic survivors. Janis Burley Wilson is President/CEO August Wilson African American Cultural Center. Vanisha Arleen Gould, jazz singer, joins Douglas Doyle from WBGO News to discuss the lineup and the history of the festival.
The street was home to the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival (PIJF), for many years. For three stages, Penn Avenue and Liberty Avenue were closed to traffic for one weekend in June. The festival began in 2011 and featured indoor ticketsed concerts. However, outdoor events were open to all who are interested in the music.
The festival returned last summer with a twist. It moved from the Monongahela River to Highmark Stadium. There were multiple stages set up on the artificial grass field that is home to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer club. The admission was not free anymore, but you could get a one-day or two-day pass that allowed you to see seven acts per day. While the sound was great for those sitting in stadium seats, most people preferred to move closer and set up folding chairs on the field so they could shift between acts. They will show up if you book them.
The 12th Pittsburgh Jazz Festival opened at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh (AWAACC). It featured a sold out concert by Ron Carter Foursight. At 85, the revered bassist still looks young and is clearly not tired of the classic bassline he composed for Miles Davis' "Seven Steps to Heaven" in 1963. The set was full of tunes that moved from one to the next, and it sounded fresh. Carter's double-stop hit the neck and was a stunning feat of tone weight. Renee Rosnes, the pianist, was fiery throughout the evening. She was angular and aggressive at times, but then she delved into "My Funny Valentine" at the next. The group was completed by Jimmy Greene (tenor Saxophone) as well as Payton Crossley, (drums), which seemed to communicate on a higher frequency.