LOCAL
“SCHOOLS TODAY ARE FOCUSING MORE ON MENTORSHIP AND I SEE A SHIFT HAPPENING.”
BEAT
{BY RICK MOSLEN}
BEST OF THE FEST
THE KEYS TO
LEARNING Edhochuli is among the Pittsburgh bands headed to The Fest.
The most significant Pittsburgh punk-rock event of the season may actually take place thousands of miles away. On Oct. 31, over 10,000 punk, hardcore, and indie-rock fans will invade Gainesville, Fla., for a four-day music festival named The Fest. In its 12th year, the event differs radically from typical overcrowded, sun-baked outdoor music shindigs. “The Fest takes some of the best punk bands from around the country and crams them into bars, coffee shops and small clubs — the types of venues they are used to playing,” says Dan Rock, of Pittsburgh band World’s Scariest Police Chases, which is anticipating the release of a new LP, NOFX … and out come the wolves dookie, on AF Records next month. A plethora of local talent decorates this year’s Fest lineup, with bands like WSPC, Adventures, Code Orange Kids, Edhochuli, Run Forever and White Wives. (A handful of Pittsburgh comedians also join this year’s Fest-ivities.) Despite high-profile band reunions, cheap beer, documentary screenings and circle pits, not to mention more than 300 billed bands, it’s the sense of camaraderie between Fest-goers that lures fans back each year to the (normally) peaceful town. “It’s great to walk around Gainesville and run into people that you haven’t seen in weeks, or months, or years,” says David Rath, guitarist and vocalist for Edhochuli. “The best part about The Fest is the opportunity to see a bunch of goofy friends from all over the world all in one place.” For the above bands, this event just means one stop on their regular out-oftown ventures. “We are indeed touring to the Fest,” says Rath, whose band’s self-titled album hit local record stores in August. ”Our plan is to get [our new album] onto as many turntables and cassette decks as we possibly can.” With most of these Pittsburghers playing their second or third Fest (and with Code Orange Kids also joining this autumn’s Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin), the local punk scene shows no signs of dwindling outside city limits. “There are a ton of amazing bands coming out of our city right now,” says Rock, “and watching bands like Run Forever and Edhochuli kill it [on stage] thousands of miles from home makes you really proud to be from Pittsburgh.”
G
ERI ALLEN IS pretty busy these days. In the midst of a tour with ACS — a trio with drummer Terri Lynn Carrington and bassist Esperanza Spaulding — the pianist is preparing for a move that brings her back to Pittsburgh, the city where she earned her master’s degree in ethnomusicology in 1982. Come January, she assumes the position of director of jazz studies at the University of Pittsburgh, succeeding her mentor, Dr. Nathan Davis, who retired last summer. But before that happens, Allen will host one of Davis’ most enduring legacies: the 43rd Annual Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert. The weeklong event features free presentations by participating musicians, culminating in a concert on Sat., Nov. 2, featuring 12 musical guests. Throughout its history, the seminar has drawn legendary musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Kenny Clarke (the latter two Pittsburgh natives) to perform and lecture in close quarters with fans and students of the music. With Davis retiring, Allen says it was important for the event to continue
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{PHOTO COURTESY OF DEAN C. JONES}
{BY MIKE SHANLEY}
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 10.23/10.30.2013
Jazz scholar: Dr. Geri Allen
without a gap. She also stresses that this year’s seminar pays tribute to the man who set the standard for it in 1970. Allen was already on a fast track toward a jazz career before she came to Pitt in 1979. Growing up in Detroit, she immersed herself in the city’s fertile jazz scene, playing with people like trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, one of this year’s seminar guests. Upon leaving
43RD ANNUAL PITT JAZZ SEMINAR CONCERT FEATURING
GERI ALLEN
8 p.m. Sat., Nov. 2. Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. $10-25. 412-624-4187 or www.music.pitt.edu/jazz-sem
Pittsburgh, she was part of the adventurous M-BASE group in New York, and went on to lead her own groups and play with legends like saxophonist Ornette Coleman, who hadn’t played with a pianist in nearly 40 years. Allen’s latest album, Grand River Crossings: Motown & Motor City Inspirations, puts a modern spin on classic songs
that came out of her hometown. College-level jazz programs were still a relatively new concept in 1979. “I feel I was [coming to Pitt] at the tail end of an era when musicians still learned in the traditional way — from their mentors,” Allen explained in an email. “The schools today are focusing more on mentorship and I see a shift happening in that regard. Nathan Davis is my mentor, and he has supported my academic and performance career as a teaching assistant here at Pitt, and throughout my journey as a professional musician/scholar.” The seminar and concert are highly regarded because of their “marriage of the performance and academic aspects of the art form,” she says. “Dr. Davis created an innovative prototype for jazz in the academy, which connects university and grassroots community together in a spirit of meaningful exchange.” This year’s concert features: trumpeters Belgrave and Randy Brecker; tap percussionist Brinae Ali; tenor saxophonists Ravi Coltrane and Ernie Watts; trombonist