Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival Returns With Free Concerts and More in September

Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival will return to the Cultural District, September 19 – 22, 2024 featuring a Free celebration along Liberty Avenue, between 10th and 7th Streets. Co-presented by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield with additional support from UPMC and VisitPittsburgh, the 14th annualfestival kicks off with concerts at area clubs on Thursday, followed by ticketed concerts and the popular Taste of Jazz Party on Friday at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (AWAACC), 980 Liberty Avenue, and then takes the music to the streets on Saturday and Sunday, it was announced today, which is lauded around the world as International Jazz Appreciation Day.  

“We are celebrating resilience on a number of levels,” said Janis Burley, PIJF founder, curator and President/CEO of AWAACC. “In addition to returning to two full days of free concerts on Liberty Avenue after two years of observing pandemic safety precautions at the beautiful Highmark Stadium, our Homecoming also commemorates the 15th anniversary of AWAACC, which opened on September 17, 2009. We are still HERE! We invite the community, friends near and far, to celebrate jazz music with food trucks, a beer garden and a Game Zone for Kids. Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield has been a steadfast supporter since 2011, and now serves as our lead sponsor for 2024 along with support from UPMC and VisitPittsburgh. With this international lineup, artists from Pittsburgh to Cuba to Brazil, jazz leaders and a blues superstar, I know that The Homecoming PIJF 2024 will be one of the best we’ve produced at AWAACC.”

“Highmark is honored to be the lead festival sponsor for the 2024 Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival,” said Kenya T. Boswell, Senior Vice President of Community Affairs at Highmark Health. “Supporting the August Wilson African American Cultural Center’s community impact and meaningful work is what our Highmark Bright Blue Futures community involvement and corporate giving program is all about.”

The great gathering of musicians assembled for Homecoming include Robert Glasper and his post-bop/hip-hop, Black Radio sounds, the velvet-toned vocalist Maysa and the blues diva Shemekia Copeland. The legendary Average White Band makes a stop on their Farewell Tour, while Cuban hip-hop musician Cimafunk and Brazilian singer Luedji Luna bring their grooves to Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. Trumpet titan/educator Sean Jones will premiere new music, and Philadelphia pianist/composer/bandleader Orrin Evans returns to the festival with his Captain Black Big Band and New York pianist Emmet Cohen joins the party with his telepathically tight trio.

Detroit native and Late Show with Stephen Colbert bassist Endea Owens & The Cookout bring their music feast to the fest, and Akron guitarist Dan Wilson, California-born vocalist/songwriter, PIJF Emerging Artist-in-Residence Vanisha Gould make return visits to the festival. Also featured are some of Pittsburgh’s finest musicians including pianist/keyboardist, B.U.I.L.D Artist-in-Residence Howie Alexander and turntablists Selecta, DJ SMI and DJ Big Phil. Other musicians include Cleveland saxophonist Chris Coles and dynamic vocalist Reagan Gray & Black Vitaminz. 

As an old tradition is revived, a new one started last year.  Orrin Evans returns as host of The Jazz Train™, a reserved Amtrak car featuring a live jazz session, refreshments, games and spirited camaraderie with fellow jazz lovers. The journey starts on September 19 at 10:52 am in New York, picks up travelers in Newark (11:09 am) and Philadelphia (12:42 pm) and arrives in Pittsburgh in time to catch some jazz in the Steel City. This year, vocalist Vanisha Gould joins Evans and his band.  The Jazz Train departs Pittsburgh on Monday morning, September 23. Tickets are on sale now at https://pittsburghjazzfest.org.

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