The closing this weekend of the Original Pittsburgh Winery in the Strip had us pondering back to the summer before Covid.
WZUM started the Jazz Central Calendar in the fall of 2017. As we found and added more venues and peformances, the calendar built up to a repository of things to go for you, but also an archive of jazz days gone by. Once the summer of 2019 came around, we were seeing more than 250 events each month. So many events that the “Month at a Glance” calendar app on our website started dropping days off of the listings as the month moved forward!
Back in 2019, the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival was in June, filling the calendar along with venues like Cioppino’s, Wolfie’s Pub, Nola on the Square, the Savoy and others.
2019 also marked the opening of Con Alma at its original Ellsworth Ave location, and Branford Marsalis was in town a lot for the filming of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. We did a show on the activity back in 2024.
Looking at August 2019, there were easily 55 to 60 live jazz-related events each week. This August 2026, the count of events each week is average about 45.
This is a trend not just for jazz events, but for all live music in the region, and for the bar and restaurant scene in general. If you’re able to make it out, we encourage you to support the scene with your generous presence - there is a lot of community and joy to be had.
Friday of this weekend, saxophonist Su Terry and saxophonist / vocalist Camille Thurman come to South Park August 14th for a show highlighting women in jazz, presented by the Allegheny County Summer Concert series in collaboration with MCG Jazz.
A day later, Su Terry bring her band Jazz de Barro to Con Alma on August 15th
Bria Skonberg comes to City Winery in the Strip - Sunday night, August 30th.
Pittsburgh native - drummer Andrew Kirk returns to Con Alma for a visit August 28th - Andrew put out a notable release a year or so ago featuring trumpeter John D’Earth and bassist Tony DePaolis.
The Reid Hosyon Project for the last Tuesday of the Month at Arts Landing, downtown.
There’s also a lot of jazz in the lineup for Golden Age Beer in Homestead - with a special full day of events on Saturday with Lynne Speakman, David Throckmorton and Paul Cosentino’s Boilermaker Jazz band
The Scene - Thursday night at 6, Friday and Saturday at noon, Sunday at 5 on WZUM.
Scott Hanley, John Shannon, Con Alma, Ellsworth Ave, 2019, Credit David Roth
Scott Hanley and Branford Marsalis, Summer 2019 credit Michelle Kienholz