Chu Berry
As we near the end of February and Black History Month, the history of jazz in the Pittsburgh Region looms large as an important part of the history to know and learn from.
We’ve told some stories about Earl Fatha Hines and Lois Deppe, but there are so many others with deep roots in Pittsburgh music who went on to major careers.
A modern-day historical figure is the great drummer and educator Roger Humphries, whom we will visit with again, soon. His time on the road with Horace Silver, Stanley Turrentine, Ray Charles and more led to worldwide notice, then he came back to Pittsburgh to lead outstanding groups and teach at CAPA and Pitt. But on this program, we go back to his uncles – Frank “Fat Man” Humphries and Hildred (Hildredth) Humphries – great on Trumpet and Sax, respectively (but they could double on many other instruments, too). Both of them had long notable careers in Jazz and R&B. The Humphries brothers also played with fellow Pittsburgher Roy Eldridge and went on to play with scores of notables during the swing era.
Vocalist Maxine Sullivan had a long career in music that started in Pittsburgh. Born in Homestead, she sang and played trumpet and valve trombone, too - By her mid-twenties, she left to New York for a weekend visit that turned into national acclaim and hits. By 1937, she had a hit record with a swing version of Loch Lomond and by 1938 was in Hollywood for the movies Going Places and St. Louis Blues.
Wheeling, WV and Pittsburgh are very close on the map, and connected, musically, too. On WZUM’s The Scene, we visit with Wheeling native and Carnegie resident Reggie Watkins about his recently published article on legendary tenor saxophonist Chu Berry, another native of Wheeling. The article can be found in WEELUNK, a publication about the heritage of Wheeling.
— and we also make a connection with one of Chu Berry’s musical collaborators, Pittsburgh’s Little jazz - Trumpeter Roy Eldridge.
And we revel in the long career of pianist Ahmad Jamal – who early on, after moving to Chicago, kept a Pittsburgh colleague in his small band – guitarist Ray Crawford (and Eddie Calhoun, who later worked for Erroll Garner), making amazing music that had Miles Davis taking notice.
Reggie Watkins
Hidred and Frank Humphries - from Storyville issue 34, April - May 1971
Maxine Sullivan at the Village Vanguard, 1947. Gottlieb Collection, Library of Congress
Ahmad Jamal at Keystone Korner, SF 1980 Brian McMillen