George Benson, Billy Eckstine and Phyllis Hyman are just a few of the extraordinary singers who rooted in Pittsburgh and enriched the vocal tradition of jazz. The vocalists performing at the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival (PIJF), which runs Sept. 16-18, will expand and expand on the legacy of their Steel City forebears.
Laurin Talese, (Taste of Jazz, Friday, September 16, 9:30 p.m., August Wilson African American Cultural Center, 980 Liberty Ave.)
Cleveland singer/songwriter Laurin Talese was the winner of the Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition though 2018. She has performed with Patti LaBelle, Christian McBride, Gregory Porter and Robert Glasper, toured as a cultural ambassador with American Music Abroad, a initiative of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and released her debut album, Gorgeous Chaos in 2016. Classically trained at the Cleveland Institute of Music and a graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Talese performed the composition of her This Love, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin in 2021. This year, her latest work, Museum Of Living Stories, was commissioned by Chamber Music America. With a voice as light as a feather, Talese’s vocals, dance and trance in every genre of music.
Aymée Nuviola and the Gonzalo Rubalcaba Band, (Saturday September 17, 3:30 p.m., Highmark Stadium, Station Square, 510 W Station Square Dr.)
Cuba boasts an impressive collection of outstanding female vocalists, from Celia Cruz and Merceditas Valdés to Buena Vista Social Club’s Omara Portundo, Havana vocalist/actress Aymée Nuviola is the next step in that highly regarded lineage. Nuviola, winner of multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy awards, is the first woman to lead a Cuban timba band. She grew up in a family of musicians, classically trained and well-versed in her homeland’s myriad Afro-Cuban and Latin American musical genres from rumba, bolero, bossa nova and salsa, and Nuviola’s recordings reflect that diversity. the dance. In recent years, she has formed a partnership with Grammy Award-winning pianist/composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba. With Rubalcaba by her side, Nuviola will perform selections from their critically acclaimed 2020 CD, Viento y Tiempo (Wind and Time), Rubalcaba and Nuviola’s musical look at the Cuba of their childhood, a kind of time that travels fast.
Vanisha Gould, (Taste of Jazz – Friday, September 16, 9:30 p.m. August Wilson African American Cultural Center, 980 Liberty Ave. and Saturday, September 17, 4:45 p.m. Highmark Stadium, Station Square, 510 W Station Square Dr. .)
Originally from Simi Valley, CA, where she began singing at the age of four, vocalist/songwriter Vanisha Gould moved to New York City in 2015 to pursue her music career. She performed at some of the top venues in the city, including Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Smalls and The Jazz Gallery. Inspired by artists such as Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Joni Mitchell, Carmen McRae and Ella Fitzgerald, Gould has created her own sound as a songwriter and bandleader by drawing from the traditions of jazz, rock and folk. She has worked with the JC Hopkins Biggish Band and Emmet Cohen, among others. Her 2021 recording, In Her Words, is a collaboration with vocalist Lucy Yeghiazaryan playing standards and original compositions and is an exploration of women’s inner lives. When she brings her quartet to the Pittsburgh stage, you’ll hear an artist who beautifully balances intimacy and intensity.
Samara Joy (Sunday, September 18, 2:15 p.m., Highmark Stadium, Station Square, 510 W Station Square Dr.)
22-year-old Bronx native Samara Joy has been a fan favorite on the club/festival circuit since winning the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition. She’s blessed with a sweet, luscious contralto as Jeanne Lee, of enriched by the gospel heritage she inherited from her parents and grandparents and honored in Fordham High School for the Arts’ jazz band and SUNY-Purchase’s jazz program. Joy comes to Pittsburgh backed by pianist Isaiah J. Thompson, bassist Felix Moseholm and drummer Evan Sherman, performing selections from her upcoming CD, Linger Awhile. The phrase “catch a rising star” has never been more appropriate.
Ledisi (Sunday, September 18, 7:15 p.m., Highmark Stadium, Station Square, 510 W Station Square Dr.)
Born in New Orleans and raised in Oakland, Ledis’ soulful, Grammy Award-winning vocals draw equally from bluesy and Afro-Caribbean mood and Big Easy grooves, and Bay Area R&B and funk. This means she can deliver a commanding performance anytime, anywhere. The recipient of three Soul Train Awards and a multiple NAACP Image Award nominee, Ledisi is also an actress, starring in Remember: The Story of Mahalia Jackson and she portrays Gladys Knight in the upcoming film, Spinning Gold: The Story of Casablanca Records. Her nine albums, from her excellent 2007 release Lost & Found, Ledisi Sings Nina, her heartfelt tribute to Nina Simone and her 2021 release Live at the Troubadour, span the gamut of modern music, including a quiet storm, soul, gospel and blues. Ledisi’s name means “to bring forth” or “to come here” in Yoruba, and she will bring it all when she comes to the Highmark stage.
Maysa Leak with “Incognito” (Sunday, September 18, 8:45 p.m., Highmark Stadium, Station Square, 510 W Station Square Dr.)
Since their debut in 1979, British acid-jazz ensemble Incognito, led by composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick, have created an infectious blend of jazz, disco, funk and soul, R&B and pop genre. that still moves and grooves four decades later. Baltimore-born, Grammy-nominated vocalist and Morgan State University graduate Maysa Leak, who once sang backup for Stevie Wonder, joined the group in the early 1990s, moved to London in 1982, and was a fixture created in heaven. With Maysa on vocals, the group’s sultry version of Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing” and the soulful ballad, “Deep Waters,” became hits, and she recorded seven albums with the group. She has also recorded 14 albums as a solo artist since 1995, including her 2007 recording, Feel the Fire, featuring music by Peabo Bryson, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and the Commodores. Leaks’ gospel jazz vocals will reunite with Incognito at the festival and take the Highmark stage to the next level.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets for Ron Carter Foursight at AWAACC on Friday, September 16th start at $55 and can be purchased here. Tickets for A Taste of Jazz, starting at $47.25, can be purchased here.
One-day Jazz Fest passes for Saturday or Sunday are available starting at $45, and two-day Jazz Fest passes are available starting at $85 for shows taking place at Highmark Stadium. For more details and to purchase tickets, please follow this link.
One-day student passes for $30 and two-day passes for $55 will be available for purchase in person on site, as well as $12 tickets for children (ages 4-12) and free ride passes for children under 3. These tickets must be purchased in person at the Highmark Stadium box office.
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ABOUT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER August Wilson
The August Wilson African American Cultural Center is a nonprofit cultural organization located in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District that generates artistic, educational, and community initiatives that advance the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson. One of the nation’s largest cultural centers focused exclusively on the African-American experience and celebrating black culture and the African diaspora, the nonprofit organization welcomes more than 119,000 visitors locally and nationally. Through year-round programming in multiple genres, such as the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, Black Bottom Film Festival, AWCommunity Days, TRUTHSayers speaker series, and rotating art exhibitions in its galleries, the Center provides a platform for artists of familiar and young people of color. whose work reflects the universal questions of identity that Wilson addressed and that still resonate today. http://www.awaacc.org
Don’t miss the Highmark Blues & Heritage Festival, also produced by AWAACC, September 14-15 at Highmark Stadium. For more information, including daily schedules, go to http://blues.awaacc.org.
