Pittsburgh Black Music Festival kicks off Thursday

A century of Black music in Pittsburgh, everything from jazz to hip hop, will be celebrated over four days during the city’s 4^th annual Black Music Festival opening Thursday.

Each day from Thursday to Sunday is being dedicated to a different genre of Black music and being performed on stages in Point State Park and Downtown on Liberty Avenue. All the events are free.

“It’s a history lesson and a community gathering,” said B. Marshall, Pittsburgh Black Music Festival founder and CEO. “We do things like this to get people from the community to celebrate togetherness and family. It’s open to everybody.”

Marshall traces the history of prominent Black musical artists performing in Pittsburgh to the early 1920s with the city’s first African American music promoter, Sellers McGee Hall. In the years since, Art Blakey, Mary Lou Williams, Erroll Garner, Billy Strayhorn, George Benson and Phyllis Hyman are among the artists to gain recognition in Pittsburgh.

“We’re paying homage to the artists who started music in this city going back to the 1920s,” said Marshall. “We’re celebrating original Pittsburgh musical artists.”

Thursday is jazz day and includes performances from singer Lalah Hathaway and saxophonist Ronnie Laws and his sister Debra. Friday’s focus is Gospel music and performers include Travis Malloy, the Nikki Porter Band, the Walls Group and nationally known singer and pastor John P. Kee.

Saturday is classic hip hop and rhythm and blues day featuring a Phyllis Hyman tribute and performances by Rakim and Tony Toni Tone. Sunday is being billed as funk, soul and blues day with the BB King Experience starring King’s daughter Claudette King, and performances by R&B group Brownstone and legendary funk band The Ohio Players.

The Pittsburgh Black Music Festival is presented by Stop the Violence Pittsburgh and supported by the Heinz Endowments and Google Pittsburgh. For more information go to stoptheviolencepgh.com.