A Celebration of Jazz past, present and future for October.
WZUM was delighted to be included in the celebration of 30 years of the Westinghouse High School Wall of Fame as a community hero this month. The Wall of Fame recognizes alumni, teachers, administrators and allies with more than 200 notables on the wall, today.
Westinghouse High is an important school in Pittsburgh in many ways - and for fans of jazz, it has been a remarkable incubator for music for decades.
We visited with Valeria Williams Bullock, one of the founders of the wall, and many other Pittsburgh notables were on hand, too, including Tim Stevens, Mayor Ed Gainey and also several hundred students! We also visit with saxophonist and educator Calvin Stemley about his time as a teacher at Westinghouse.
The ceremony coincided with a pep really for the Westinghouse Bulldogs, facing Butler that night (Westinghouse won, 44-34 and is now 3-0 in the City League and 6-0 overall).
For WZUM, we celebrate the aspirations and accomplishments of generations of Westinghouse High grads - with a special focus on the musical side of things. With the guidance of great educators like Carl McVicker and more recently, Calvin Stemley, Westinghouse has an enviable array of alumni in the jazz firmament - including: Erroll Garner; Grover Mitchell; Billy Strayhorn; Mary Lou Williams; Dakota Staton; Ahmad Jamal; Jerry Byrd; Frank Cunimondo; Danny Conn; Nelson Harrison and more.
We share some Westinghouse-related music, plus new releases by Pittsburgh area performers like guitarist Shawn Purcell, drummer Reid Hoyson and pianist Craig Davis.
And a couple of tracks from some featured players at the recent B-PEP event at the Heinz History Center - guitarist Eric Johnson and the aforementioned saxophonist Calvin Stemley.
Plus - a bit of Spice from pianist Eddie Palmieri - playing two shows Saturday night at MCG Jazz.
The Scene - an hourlong radio show - Thursday night at 6, Friday and Saturday at noon, Sunday at 5 on WZUM
Valeria Williams Bullock and Chuck Leavens (credit Scott Hanley, WZUM)
At the Entrance to Westinghouse High School (credit Chuck Leavens)
Westinghouse High School Wall of Fame
Eddie Palmieri