Pittsburgh is a jazz metropolis. Its musicians have been credited with serving to to develop the jazz model of “bebop” and venues akin to The Crawford Grill have been a hotspot attracting performers akin to Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Dizzy Gillespie. And the Pittsburgh Worldwide Jazz Competition (PIJF) has been holding that legacy swinging. The favored pageant returns for its fifteenth version, September 18-21 on the August Wilson African American Cultural Heart (AWAACC) with performances by Dee Dee Bridgewater, Eric Benet, Jazzmeia Horn, and extra. PIJF director and AWAACC President/CEO, Janis Burley shared with us her reflections on the pageant’s affect, plans for future developments, and why she doesn’t adhere to any guidelines about music.
In reflecting on 15 editions, in what concrete methods have you ever seen the pageant’s affect on the Pittsburgh group and creative scene?
PIJF was born after a few years of lacking the Mellon Jazz Competition. So the group and native companies have been loyal to the model yearly. The entire metropolis will get in on the music celebration with concert events at libraries, on the airport, at eating places and bars, faculties and, after all, on the street on pageant weekend. I’m most happy with the best way we’ve linked neighborhoods, folks of all ages, backgrounds, races, and beliefs by means of a love of artwork and jazz tradition.
In 2024, Gov. Shapiro introduced a $600 million downtown revitalization effort. What do you hope that kind of funding will imply for the way forward for your pageant?
We’re working in collaboration with different organizations dedicated to revitalizing downtown to develop the Liberty Avenue enterprise hall. So over the following 5 years, we can have extra nice eating places and boutiques, motels, parking and streetscape to welcome our friends. The pageant will stay on the road in entrance of AWAACC. We’re planning on facade enhancements and extra facilities for our iconic constructing to make our performing arts heart much more inviting.
In 2024, NPR analyzed a hunch in music festivals with so many the world over having to cancel on account of rising prices, declining attendance, and heavy competitors from main dwell music companies. In what methods has your pageant been impacted by these circumstances?
We have been the primary jazz pageant to do a digital presentation in June 2020, after having to cancel the in-person occasion on account of Covid, and we reached jazz lovers everywhere in the globe. The next yr, we tried a brand new venue, and a ticketed mannequin. We moved to a different venue for quite a lot of causes; Covid distancing, security and safety issues, and we needed to cost a canopy as a result of our pageant had been free pre-Covid. Our viewers declined dramatically. Final yr, we went again to our roots; a free pageant on the street and our viewers reached pre-Covid numbers. The price of doing enterprise has elevated drastically, so we’ve to search out extra income streams to make the pageant sustainable sooner or later. Transferring ahead, we’ve to search out methods to collaborate extra, share our sources and information. We accomplice with different festivals on advertising and marketing, help artists by commissioning new work, and maintain doing distinctive work.
How has your pageant responded to the continuing debate about sustaining a big presence of jazz performers at jazz festivals vs. non-jazz performers?
Pittsburgh is a jazz city, however we’re additionally a metropolis of music lovers of R&B and rhythms from all over the world. I made a decision from day one which I might curate a pageant yearly that’s rooted in jazz, but in addition one which celebrates different kinds of music that honor the improvisation of jazz. Jazz is our anchor, however I don’t observe any guidelines. If there are guidelines, who made them?
This interview has been edited and condensed for readability.
