Once again, Pitt is doing all that jazz

The annual tradition known as the University of Pittsburgh Jazz Seminar is now playing. The weeklong event, the 55th, presents master classes with world-class musicians, culminating in a concert on Saturday.

These days, percussionist Chad Taylor, who generally is a trap drummer but also plays vibraphone and marimba, directs the program. The Chicago native has a bachelor’s degree in jazz performance from the New School in New York and a master’s in jazz history and research from Rutgers University.

“This is my second year” at Pitt, Taylor says. “I was a full-time performer [but] taught at Rutgers University in the early 2010s.” Some of his most important gigs were with Pharaoh Sanders; Nicole Mitchell, his immediate predecessor at Pitt; and Chicago Underground.

And it’s precisely because of his education that Taylor insists, “This is my dream job. Having this position allowed me to settle down.”

Although not a Pittsburgh native, Taylor sees his role as highlighting “Pittsburgh as well as other things, given the rich history of local jazz,” spotlit by the 2018 documentary “We Knew What We Had: The Greatest Jazz Story Never Told,” which was produced by PBS and aired during the seminar two years ago.

The brainchild of Nathan Davis, the late founder of the jazz studies program at Pitt, the seminar started unofficially in 1969, when Davis invited Art Blakey, the Pittsburgh-born drummer who led the Jazz Messengers — and who happened to be Davis’ former boss — to speak about jazz on campus when he was in town. Over the 44 years that Davis directed the program he had hundreds of instrumentalists whom he approached personally to talk to students plus participate in a what was often referred to as a “once-in-a-lifetime jam
session.”

That has changed over the years since Davis retired in 2013. His successor, the late Geri Allen, a pianist and graduate alumna of the program who died in 2017, added vocalists and tap dancers. Following Allen was flutist Mitchell, now at the University of Virginia, who introduced an avant-garde sensibility.

Among this year’s other participants are Joe Chambers, Warren Smith and Bobby Sanabria, members of the percussion ensemble M’Boom, formed in the 1970s by the late drummer Max Roach.

The Saturday concert is to start with a short solo vibraphone performance by Sasha Berliner. Next will be a performance by the Joel Ross Trio featuring Joel Ross on vibraphone, Harish Raghavan on bass and Craig Weinrib on drums. They will be performing/collaborating for the first time with tap dancer Mellisa Almaguer. Afterwards will be a short intermission. Next will be M’Boom with horns led by Joe Chambers featuring Erik Lawrence on alto saxophone. Joining M’Boom will be Aaron Graves on piano, Lee Smith on bass, and vocalist Mavis Poole. Also joining the ensemble will be a five-piece horn section.

All the events are free to the public except the Saturday concert, which is $23 and $8 for Pitt students.

For a full schedule and more information and tickets, visit https://www.jazz.pitt.edu/seminar55.