PITTSBURGH (Mellon Jazz press release - www.mellon.com) - Mellon Jazz welcomes two gifted jazz pianists to Pittsburgh this summer, with keyboard virtuoso Ellis Marsalis performing at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 6 at Hartwood Acres, and rising star Orrin Evans appearing with his Orrin Evans Quintet at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 25 at the South Park Amphitheater. Free to the public, both concerts are part of the Mellon Jazz-sponsored Summer Concert Series produced by the Special Events Office of Allegheny County.
In recognition of Ellis Marsalis' stature as both a renowned performer and distinguished jazz educator, his Hartwood Acres concert will be preceded by the presentation of the 2004 Pitt/Mellon Jazz Scholarship, and a performance by PAJ Three, a trio of young jazz musicians from western Pennsylvania who have been featured at a Grammy Awards event, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands.
"Having Ellis Marsalis and Orrin Evans in town will make June a dream month for jazz piano fans," said Rose Gabbianelli, Mellon senior vice president and director of corporate affairs. "Giving local audiences access to both an established jazz master and a rising young star demonstrates the quality and breadth of the County's Summer Concert Series. We congratulate our partners in the County's Special Events Office on a very strong program, and look forward to two terrific concerts."
One of New Orleans' premier jazz ambassadors, Ellis Marsalis was born in 1934, and began formal music studies at Xavier University's junior school of music at age 11. A clarinet major at Dillard University, Marsalis graduated with a degree in music education in 1955.
Developing his pianist skills as a U.S. Marine Corps musician, Marsalis performed as a leatherneck on radio and television in southern California. After his military stint he returned to New Orleans and with his wife Dolores Ferdinand started a family that eventually grew to include six sons, two of whom, Branford and Wynton, would become jazz masters in their own right.
Working toward a graduate degree at Loyola University, Marsalis alternated between stage performances and the classroom, serving for 12 years as music teacher at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts high school. He later accepted the position of Commonwealth Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, returning to New Orleans to become the first occupant of the Coca Cola-endowed chair of jazz studies at the University of New Orleans. Recipient of honorary doctorates from Dillard University and Ball State University, Marsalis is a frequent performer on national television, and has several recordings on the CBS-Sony label.
He currently is developing his own recording label with his wife Dolores and son Jason.
Saluted by the New York Times as "a singular young pianist," Philadelphia native Orrin Evans was raised in a musical household, where his mother was a classically trained singer. Named best high school jazz musician of Philadelphia in 1992 and a Bob Perkins Scholarship Award recipient (a program created by Mellon Jazz Community Awardee Bob Perkins), Evans studied under Charles Pettaway at Settlement Music School. His formal studies enriched through guidance, support and inspiration from a number of contemporary jazz artists, including Trudy Pits, Tim Warfield, Kenny Barron, Ralph Peterson, Edgar Bateman, Mickey Roker and Bobby Durham, Evans recorded his first CD while still a teenager on his own Black Entertainment label.
His 2002 recording entitled "Meant to Shine" on the Palmetto Records label was named a Top 10 Jazz CD by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Another recent title, "Dejavu" by the Orrin Evans Trio, was released on his own label, IMANI Records.
In addition to his live and televised performances in the United States and Europe, Evans also presents master classes, workshops and clinics, and teaches privately.
