Art Blakey (October 11, 1919 — October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader from Pittsburgh. For 35 years, he led the Jazz Messengers, a revolving-door band with some of the leading names in post-bop. Blakey co-founded the Jazz Messengers in 1954 with pianist Horace Silver, trumpeter Kenny Dorham, saxophonist Hank Mobley, and […]
Syreeta Wright (1946–2004) was an American R&B singer who began as a backing vocalist at Motown, where she met and married Stevie Wonder. They co-wrote his 1970 hit “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” and his 1971 album Where I’m Coming From. He produced her 1972–74 Motown/MoWest albums Syreeta and Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta. Between 1977 […]
Eddie Russ (1934–November 1996) was an American jazz-funk keyboardist from Pittsburgh who released the 1974 album Fresh Out on Jazz Masters, followed by the 1976–78 Monument albums See the Light and Take a Look at Yourself. While under contract with that second label, he adopted the pseudonym Gaff Dunsun to participate in the singular album […]
The Edwards Generation is an American soul-funk band that released a 1972 standalone single on Ghetto Records, followed by the 1976 album In San Francisco “The Street Thang” on Tight Records. In the 2010s, they reactivated as The Edwards Generation Featuring The Edwins Brothers. Members: Chuck Edwards, Jeffrey Edwards (aka Jeff Edwins), Leslie Edwards (aka […]
Vivian Reed (born June 6, 1947) is an American soul and stage singer from Pittsburgh who released five studio albums between her 1968 Epic debut and 1981 Carrere LP. She reached the R&B chart with “Yours Until Tomorrow” and “It’s Alright (This Feeling I’m Feeling),” then entered the disco era with “Start Dancin’” and “Ready […]
Tim Eyermann (July 20, 1946 — May 1, 2007) was an American saxophonist from Pittsburgh who fronted the Maryland jazz-rock band East Coast Offering across the 1977–80 albums Unity, Go-Rilla, and Aloha. Background Albert Timothy Eyermann was born July 20, 1946, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Green Tree, where he started piano lessons […]
Jimmy Ponder (May 10, 1946 — Sept. 16, 2013) was an American jazz guitarist from Pittsburgh who emerged through organ-combo work with Charles Earland and backed Lou Donaldson, John Patton, Stanley Turrentine, and Donald Byrd. He launched his solo discography with the Cadet album While My Guitar Gently Weeps and remained active as a leader […]
Stanley Turrentine (April 5, 1934 — September 12, 2000) was an American post-bop/jazz-funk tenor saxophonist. He emerged from Pittsburgh’s hard-bop scene in the 1950s, first gaining notice with Earl Bostic, Max Roach, and Horace Silver before making his Blue Note debut in 1960. Through the 1960s he recorded a string of organ-combo soul-jazz classics with […]
