Film Celebrates Pittsburgh Jazz

The Greatest Jazz Story Never Told, a new documentary film produced by MCG Jazz in Pittsburgh, features the talents of international Jazz Masters George Benson, Ahmad Jamal, Stanley Turrentine, Billy Eckstine, Kenny Clarke, Art Blakey, Billy Strayhorn and Mary Lou Williams—all Pittsburghers—and explores the social conditions and historical events that conspired to make Pittsburgh one of the leading contributors to the legacy of Jazz music in the world.

Pianist Mary Lou Williams
(Pianist Mary Lou Williams)

The one-hour film is packed with compelling interviews, historical photographs and over 20 live performance clips of the Jazz Masters. The film is being distributed by American Public Television and can be seen on PBS stations across the United States through February. Check your local listings for show times. If you don’t see a local air date please contact your local PBS affiliate to request the film.

Explore Upbeat Records

New prime-time showings have been added in San Francisco, Boston, Denver, across Ohio and Indiana, Tulsa, and Fairbanks, Alaska. For air dates and times and for more information about the film visit: www.weknewwhatwehadfilm.com.

Lew Shaw started writing about music as the publicist for the famous Berkshire Music Barn in the 1960s. He joined the West Coast Rag in 1989 and has been a guiding light to this paper through the two name changes since then as we grew to become The Syncopated Times.  47 of his profiles of today's top musicians are collected in Jazz Beat: Notes on Classic Jazz. Volume two, Jazz Beat Encore: More Notes on Classic Jazz contains 43 more! Lew taps his extensive network of connections and friends throughout the traditional jazz world to bring us his Jazz Jottings column every month.

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