Pittsburgh to honor local jazz musicians virtually for Black History Month
Pittsburgh jazz legend Roger Humphries marches to his own beat.
The musician from Pittsburgh’s North Side began playing the drums at the age of 3. He wanted to be like his older brothers.
“Music is in my blood,” said Humphries, who turns 77 on Saturday. “I recall lying on the couch and watching and listening to my brothers play. One played the drums and the other played the saxophone. I wanted to be like them. We were all inspired by our two uncles who played the trumpet and the saxophone.”
Humphries and some fellow area jazz legends Earl “Fatha” Hines, Mary Lou Williams, Billy Eckstine, Art Blakey, Walt Harper, Ahmad Jamal and George Benson will be honored in the city of Pittsburgh’s virtual Black History Month celebration highlighting local jazz legends throughout February as part of Black History Month.
The event will be held virtually because of the pandemic.
Humphries will lead the group as the first one to be recognized when the website goes live on Monday. The event runs through Feb. 28.
The online tribute will feature an overview of Pittsburgh’s jazz history, performer interviews, artist profiles and performance videos throughout the month, said Theresa King, program coordinator for the city of Pittsburgh Office of Special Events. She said the event will include additional musicians and share some of their performances via Facebook and Twitter.
“Each will share their story, and talk about their musical experience,” King said. “Jazz wasn’t always kindly viewed. But over time people realized the style and sound of jazz was cool and these individuals helped to shine a light on the importance of jazz and the power it had in the community.”
One of the most famous jazz venues here was the Hill District’s Crawford Grill. This venue, the epicenter of jazz music in Pittsburgh and nicknamed “Little Harlem,” attracted many famous jazz legends including Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Stanley Turrentine.
“I am honored to have contributed to some of this history,” he said.
Humphries has performed at Carnegie Music Hall, the Village Gate and the Apollo Theatre in New York. His first major road job was in August 1962 when he joined Turrentine and Shirley Scott at the Hurricane in the Hill District.
In 1964 he went to New York to join the Horace Silver Quintet. While with Silver, he toured Europe twice and appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival.
“Music is my passion and I am blessed to play music,” Humphries said.
He has only performed a few times in the past year. He said he misses being on stage.
“Performing is about communicating, and it’s about the people and it’s about bringing everyone together,” Humphries said. “There is nothing like performing live.”
Humphries said Pittsburgh has many talented performers — some have moved away but never forget their hometown roots.
He said he enjoyed sharing his knowledge by teaching at Pittsburgh CAPA, the performing arts school, over the years.
“When you are given a gift you have to share, you have to stay humble,” Humphries said. “I am blessed to be able to perform and it’s about paying it forward. Those students are so talented. We learned from each other. I don’t take anything for granted.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact JoAnne at 724-853-5062, jharrop@triblive.com or via Twitter .