TASTE OF JAZZ PARTY Returns to the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival This September

Get your tickets for vocalist Maysa, prepare your palate, put on your dancing shoes and head to the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (AWAACC), 980 Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh, for the annual Taste of Jazz Party (TOJ), an evening of music, dancing, food and beverage tastings on Friday, September 20, starting at 8:00 pm with Maysa in concert in the AWAACC main theater followed by TOJ from 9:00 pm – Midnight.

Tickets, available at pittsburghjazzfest.org, are $80.00 - $90.00 for Maysa and Taste of Jazz and $70.00 for Taste of Jazz tickets only.

Stroll through the halls of AWAACC where 19 area restaurants will dish up succulent samples from their menus. Let your tastebuds rule the night and visit food stations hosted by:

• Alihan's Mediterranean Cuisine: Baba Ganoush, Turkish Bread, Baklava
• Barcelona Wine Bar: Vegetable Paella
• Bar Marco: Chef Papagiorgio Meatballs
• Bistro to Go: 3 varieties of Crostinis
• Braddock's Rebellion: Crawfish Monica (pasta/buttery sauce with Crawfish tails)
• Cafe Momentum: Strawberry Short Chef (Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookie)
• The Capital Grille: Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Eddie Merlot's: Burger Sliders, Pistachio Cheesecake
• Fogo de Chão Steakhouse: Anti-pasti Platters, Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites
• Morton's The Steakhouse: Espresso Chocolate Pot de Crème
• NOSH & CURD: Grazing Table
• The Rebel Room at The Industrialist Hotel: Butternut and Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese
• The Ritual House: Shrimp Dumpling, Rocher Me Away
• Sarris Candies: Pretzels, Milk Bars, Gardner's Peanut Butter Meltaways
• Sullivan's Steakhouse: Cheesesteak Rolls
• Talia: Polenta with Pork Sugo and Ricotta
• Taj Mahal Restaurant: Chicken Tikka Masala, Vegetable Pakora, Chana Masala, Jeera Rice
• Vallozzi's: Charcuterie Cups
• Yuzu Kitchen: Edamame w/Nori Salt and Dipping Sauce

The restaurant roster is curated by Ronda Zegarelli of Acrobatique Creative. Media sponsor for Taste of Jazz is Table Magazine.

While delving into the delectable delights, check out the music by turntablist Selecta, drummer Thomas Wendt and his Quintet, vocalist Reagan Gray & Black Vitaminz and AWAACC B.U.I.L.D. Artists-in Residence pianist Howie Alexander and DJ Big Phill.

The Grammy-nominated, Baltimore-born mezzo-soprano Maysa Leak returns to Pittsburgh after her 2022 appearance at the PIJF, to open the 2014 edition of the festival, at the AWAACC, leading into the much anticipated Taste of Jazz Party (9:00 pm -12:00 am). Maysa was the major voice in the British, acid-jazz ensemble, Incognito, as evidenced by her velvet vocals on Incognito's ingenious cover of “Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing,” (she sang background vocals for Stevie Wonder) and the soulful ballad, “Deep Waters,” which became an anthem for her. A solo artist since 1995, Maysa has reigned supreme as one of this era's most dynamic divas. Her 14th and 15th recordings, Music for Your Soul, a 19-track, double-album released in 2023, and the 2024 Remix for Your Soul, both abound with the soulful, state-of-the-art dance grooves and quiet storm ballads we've come to expect from her. When Maysa returns to the PIJF, she'll do so1 to the sounds of clapping hands and dancing feet.

Keyboardist and educator Howie Alexander, a graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School and Duquesne University, counts jazz guitarist Jimmy Ponder and Dr. James Johnson, Jr. of the Afro-American Music Institute (where Alexander taught piano, and serves as Artistic Director) as seminal influences. Alexander also worked with drummer Poogie Bell, The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and with Pittsburgh tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine. Alexander composed a silent film suite for the 1920 Oscar Micheaux motion picture Within Our Gates at the 2023 Black Bottom Film Festival. Alexander returns to the festival, playing grooves, notes and tones that would make Ahmad Jamal smile. Alexander is also a 2024 AWAACC B.U.I.L.D. Artist-in-Residence. His residency is made possible by the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

Pittsburgh legends Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke and Roger Humphries set a mighty high bar for modern jazz drummers. Thomas Wendt stands poised to meet that bar. A drummer since the age of 14, and a graduate of The Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Wendt studied with Humphries, Joe Harris and Kenny Washington. He's worked with a diverse range of local and international musicians including Joe Negri, the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, Sean Jones, Hubert Laws, Dwayne Dolphin, Donald Byrd and Paquito D' Rivera. Wendt currently serves on the faculty at the Afro-American Institute in Homewood and is an Adjunct Professor of Jazz Percussion at Duquesne University. Give the drummer some, when you see Wendt performing at the Taste of Jazz.

In 1988, a 15 year-old kid named James Scoglietti started DJing on the Pittsburgh radio station WPTS. Now known as Selecta, he's one of the country's premier turntablists. Named “Best Hip-Hop Radio Personality” in 1998 by In-Pittsburgh News Weekly, Selecta has worked with The Roots, De La Soul, KRS-One and many other hip-hop stars. He currently hosts Grand Groove, a weekly funk & soul-based radio program broadcasting from Pittsburgh's NPR-affiliate, WYEP, every Friday from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. Currently, he is a fixture on Twitch as Selecta720 with close to 20K followers. Put on your dancing shoes when Selecta spins at the Taste of Jazz.

Chosen as the Best Club DJ 2023 by the Pittsburgh City Paper, DJ Big Phill (Phillip Thompson) is arguably one of the most ubiquitous turntablists in the city. His patented mix of R&B, funk and hip-hop, has heads bobbing from Lawrenceville to Homewood. Hailing from Penn Hills, Phill grew up near local DJ legends Supa C and Assassin, was mixing Al Green records, and started DJing on a regular basis at college. Phill is heading an aggregation called The Union: an assemblage of Pittsburgh's finest DJs, which includes Selecta. Phill has performed at the Three Rivers Festival, a sold-out Penguins hockey game and at the PIJF. Phill won the Man of Excellence Award from the Pittsburgh New Courier and was included in Pittsburgh's 50 Years of Hip-Hop Celebration. Also don't miss his first gallery exhibit, Collections in Black: A Celebration of Black Comic Book Culture, at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, July 26, 2024 - January 12, 2025. Also, a 2024 AWAACC B.U.I.L.D. Artist-in-Residence, made possible by the Richard King Mellon Foundation, DJ Big Phill will keep the crowd moving at the Taste Of Jazz party.

For more information on the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival log on to https://pittsburghjazzfest.org.

The 2024 PIJF also features Robert Glasper, Marsha Ambrosius, Shemekia Copeland, Maysa, Average White Band Farewell Tour, Sean Jones, Orrin Evans & The Captain Black Big Band, Emmet Cohen Trio, Endea Owens & The Cookout, Cimafunk, Luedji Luna, Dan Wilson, Selecta, Vanisha Gould, Howie Alexander, Chris Coles, Reagan Gray & Black Vitaminz and the popular Taste of Jazz Party.

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