Mary Lou’s Birthday was May 8th - and in this month of May, a number of important events celebrating her life and career are on tap.

May 12th and 13th, the 27th annual Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival will be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Hosted by NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater. Included on the agenda, some of today’s finest women in jazz: Doreen Ketchens, Somi, Camille Thurman, and the Dee Dee Bridgewater Big Band.

Also - the Heinz History Center is presenting a virtual screening of “Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band,” on Saturday, May 20.

We talk with Deanna Witkowski about her Mary Lou Williams Biography, Music for the Soul, about Pittsburgh and what she has learned in the process. Also, a visit with Bobbie Ferguson - niece of Mary Lou Williams and founder of the new, Pittsburgh-based, Mary Lou Williams Institute.

The Scene - Thursday at 6, Friday and Saturday at noon, Sunday at 5 on WZUM.

Kate Borger brings a great party together to salute Irving Berlin as we near his May 11th Birthday (1888). In his long career he wrote some 1,500 songs, including 20 broadway shows and 15 feature films.

Tune in for a sampling with Kate Borger Friday morning at 10 and Saturday from 11 a.m. until noon on WZUM!

This week on the Scene - we check in with John Shannon at Con Alma. The music venue first opened 4 years ago on Ellsworth Avenue, the second location in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District two years ago. Things are still swinging.

The Scene - Thursday at 6pm, Friday and Saturday at noon, Sunday at 5 on WZUM

Marty Ashby and Renee Govanucci look back on Jazz Appreciation Month highlights performed and recorded at MCG Jazz - all in the month of April. Spyro Gyra, Tom Scott, Ann Hampton Callaway, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Paquito D’Rivera, Herbie Mann, Phil Woods and more!

The MCGJazz Spotlight on WZUM - Friday and Sunday nights at 6, and Saturday afternoon at 1.

Kate Borger Celebrates the birthday of Duke Ellington with music from his recordings, plus sounds from many musical admirers - including Dr. John, Mose Allison, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Regina Carter and more.

Duke’s Day with Kate Borger Friday morning at 10 and Saturday from 11 a.m. until noon on WZUM!

This week on the Scene - we check in on Jazz / Poetry at City of Asylum / Alphabet City - now in year 19 - set for the month of May on the Northside.

Also - new music from Mike Melito (playing Con Alma, Ellsworth), Stephen Philip Harvey, a new Joe Locke tribute to Roy Hargrove and much more.

The Scene - Thursday at 6pm, Friday and Saturday at noon, Sunday at 5 on WZUM

This MCG Jazz Spotlight Show is a tribute to jazz master, Ahmad Jamal, who was born in Pittsburgh on July 2, 1930, and transitioned on April 16, 2023.

Host Marty Ashby shares segments of a 2013 interview with Jamal at MCG Jazz that was featured in the documentary film, “We Knew What We Had: the Greatest Jazz Story Never Told.”

The MCGJazz Spotlight on WZUM - Friday and Sunday nights at 6, and Saturday afternoon at 1.

This week on the Scene - a visit with trombonist and seashell player Steve Turre - coming to the New Hazlett Theater for Kente Arts Saturday night; Also a re-visit with vocalist Alexis Cole who joins Monika Herzig for Both Sides of Joni Saturday night at MCG Jazz.

We also remember influential jazz pianist, innovator, composer and Pittsburgh native Ahmad Jamal who died Sunday, April 16.