Pittsburgh has played a very meaningful if largely ignored role in the history of jazz. Known more for steel and sports teams than for musical innovation, Pittsburgh is the birthplace and first musical incubator or home to bandleader-vocalist Billy Eckstine; pianists Erroll Garner, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and Ahmad Jamal; drummers Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke, and Jeff "Tain" Watts; and bassist Ray Brown. It's been home to pianist Sonny Clark, guitarists George Benson and Joe Pass, saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, and trumpeter Roy "Little Jazz" Eldridge. Pittsburgh also gave the world Duke Ellington's often unseen collaborator, the great Billy Strayhorn, and pianist, composer, and arranger Mary Lou Williams.
As a Western Pennsylvania native, I'm always amazed and chagrined that while there is now a museum (read: tourist attraction) for another favorite son, Andy Warhol, there is no museum celebrating Pittsburgh's contributions to jazz, even though the perfect location exists: the Crawford Grill, the legendary Black-owned jazz club that flourished in three locations between 1933 and 2003 but has stood empty ever since (footnote 1).
This puzzling omission has occurred to other Pittsburghers including guitarist-songwriter John Shannon, who until recently was a partner in Con Alma, a jazz club in downtown Pittsburgh. Shannon's roots in the Burgh run deep: He's the grandson of local TV personality Paul Shannon. Grandfather Paul's Sunday lunchtime variety show, Adventure Time, featured a Three Stooges episode, aimed at kids like me who rushed home from church to relish Moe, Larry, and Curly poking each other in the eye, bashing each other with shovels, and perpetrating all manner of hilarious, consequence-free violence.
After experiencing the world outside Pittsburgh, where he played with a circus in Australia, toured with the rock'n'roll band The Shift, and spent time in New York City's music scene, where he met his wife in Brooklyn, John Shannon returned to the Burgh and surveyed the jazz scene.
"There were random jam sessions in town, so there were already the seeds of a real following and a real thirst," the affable guitarist told me as we sat down for a chat one night after a Steelers home game. "I thought if we opened a jazz bar and did it right, something unique and different, we could win."
Investors and partners signed on, and Con Alma's doors opened in 2019 with a focus on homegrown talent rather than touring acts. The initial location in the Shadyside neighborhood closed in 2023, but by that time there was a second location downtown, close to the city's cultural district. The room is decorated with photographs by Pittsburgh's Charles "Teenie" Harris, whose celebrated collection of 20th century stills and film resides at the city's Carnegie Museum of Art.
Keeping the doors open at Con Alma was a struggle. Recently the club's downtown location needed a GoFundMe campaign to ensure its survival. Calling it "a mix of the greatest moments of your life and complete nightmare shit," guitarist-turned–club operator Shannon recently stepped away. He plans to continue his career as an artist while promoting jazz in the community.
"We were creating jazz fans and representing jazz as a social music, like the [Crawford] Grill did," Shannon told me. "For me, it was more about the preservation of the legacy and soulfulness of Pittsburgh."
Some of that soulful poignancy permeates Shannon's newest album, A Day in Tarifa, on Jazzbook Records. Produced by Shannon, Catherine Vallon-Barry, and Seydou Barry, this wonderfully recorded album, made with drummer James Johnson III and organist Cliff Barnes, moves from the southern coast of Spain ("A Day in Tarifa") back to Pittsburgh, mixing world-music flavors with a laid-back groove and the distinctive textures of an organ trio. Available at johnshannonmusic.com, this confident, listenable album has been issued on CD and high-quality 180gm black vinyl pressed at Hellbender Vinyl, which is musician-owned and located in the rapidly gentrifying Lawrenceville neighborhood.
The title track has a pace and vibe similar to early-1980s George Benson. Shannon's take on Ahmad Jamal's "Marseille," the title track of the latter's excellent 2017 album, Marseille, is very different from the original, with a slower pace and extended soloing by Shannon. The guitarist is proud of the album's spiritual jazz base and of several tunes inspired by his hometown, including "Four One Two" (that's Pittsburgh's area code) and "Liberty Bridge." About the latter, he says in the liner notes, "I wrote this song as a lament in light of the seemingly constant division of people in the United States, yet also in hopes for some kind of 'Liberty Bridge' to connect the people back to some kind of unity and thus liberty."
For Shannon, who already had four full-length albums to his credit, making A Day in Tarifa was about finding a new voice. "We went to Paris to make this record, which is where the label is based. I'd bring in material and see what was working and what wasn't and rewrite every night while it was happening. It was all recorded live, no overdubs. I'm old school, two takes tops, then choose it."
"I was studying a lot of Billy Strayhorn for this record, so my mind was into the Strayhorn harmonies. I was also influenced by straight-ahead, old-school players like Stanley Turrentine and Jimmy Ponder.
"Every great jazz musician becomes famous because of their songwriting," Shannon concluded. "There's no Joe Henderson without his writing. There's no Coltrane without his writing. There's no Miles without his writing. I am more about the vibe than the specific notes. I'm a songwriter, and I want the vibe of the songs coming through, along with the balance of the recorded sound. I believe in the power of song.
Footnote 1: A new Crawford Grill popped up in 2003 at 125 W. Station Square Drive in the Freight House Shops on the South Side, under different ownership. It closed in early 2006.
"We were creating jazz fans and representing jazz as a social music, like the [Crawford] Grill did," Shannon told me. "For me, it was more about the preservation of the legacy and soulfulness of Pittsburgh."
Some of that soulful poignancy permeates Shannon's newest album, A Day in Tarifa, on Jazzbook Records. Produced by Shannon, Catherine Vallon-Barry, and Seydou Barry, this wonderfully recorded album, made with drummer James Johnson III and organist Cliff Barnes, moves from the southern coast of Spain ("A Day in Tarifa") back to Pittsburgh, mixing world-music flavors with a laid-back groove and the distinctive textures of an organ trio. Available at johnshannonmusic.com, this confident, listenable album has been issued on CD and high-quality 180gm black vinyl pressed at Hellbender Vinyl, which is musician-owned and located in the rapidly gentrifying Lawrenceville neighborhood.
For Shannon, who already had four full-length albums to his credit, making A Day in Tarifa was about finding a new voice. "We went to Paris to make this record, which is where the label is based. I'd bring in material and see what was working and what wasn't and rewrite every night while it was happening. It was all recorded live, no overdubs. I'm old school, two takes tops, then choose it."
"I was studying a lot of Billy Strayhorn for this record, so my mind was into the Strayhorn harmonies. I was also influenced by straight-ahead, old-school players like Stanley Turrentine and Jimmy Ponder.
Footnote 1: A new Crawford Grill popped up in 2003 at 125 W. Station Square Drive in the Freight House Shops on the South Side, under different ownership. It closed in early 2006.
