By Sabrina Romano
Historic Deutschtown will be the place to be Saturday, Feb. 21 if you’re an art or jazz enthusiast as two events will bring both to the Northside neighborhood.
Steeltown Jazz will be debuting Steeltown Jazz Storytellers: the past, present and future of jazz in Pittsburgh at the James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy at 422 Foreland St in Historic Deutschtown. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. with the event to begin at 8 p.m.
General admission will be $35 or $45 at the door. VIP tickets are $50 or $60 at the door. All proceeds will benefit the Senator John Heinz History Museum and the Roger L. Humphries Music Scholarship Fund
This jazz celebration will be held the third Saturday of every month until June, 2015.
In addition to live jazz music, ticketholders will be able to purchase food and a variety of cocktails from the bar menu.
Starting at 6:45 p.m., young jazz musicians will perform. At 8 p.m., the video, Steel City Grooves: Celebrating Western Pennsylvania Jazz, which features Billy Strayhorn, Maxine Sullivan and Henry Mancini, among other Pittsburgh jazz legends, will be shown.
After the film, Bob Studebaker, the “Voice of Jazz in Pittsburgh,” along with panelists, will recall their jazz experiences in Pittsburgh. A combination of two great jazz musicians, Roger and Humphries and Dwayne Dolphin, and rising artists, Jevon Rushton and Brett Williams, will be panelists. Not only will ticketholders hear personal stories from the musicians, they will also be able to ask questions.
The live music will continue well after the panel discussion.
Tickets for this jazzy evening are available at www.steeltownjazz.com.
Just down the street at Artists Image Resource (AIR) on 518 Foreland St., Pittsburgh-born artist Cory Elder will hold an exhibition. Named [of], his latest paintings will be free for the public to view from 6 p.m.-10 p.m. An artist talk will be held at 7 p.m.
Elder graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in 2013 with a B.F.A in Painting and a minor in Art History. While studying at SCAD, he was a docent at the SCAD Museum of Art, interned at The Andy Warhol Museum, and volunteered at AIR. He also assisted printmaker Stefan Hoffman and visual artist David Ellis during college.
After college, Elder moved to Boston, Mass. where he apprenticed to sculptor Robert Shure at Skylight Studios, Inc. As an apprentice at Guist Gallery he learned a variety of sculpting, mold-making and plaster techniques. In Boston, he transitioned his style away from realism and more towards abstract art.
Elder returned to Pittsburgh during the summer of 2014. He volunteered at AIR and resumed working with Hoffman. Now, he is a part-time staff member at AIR and runs his professional practice out of his home.
