Pittsburgh Cultural Trust to Celebrate National Jazz Appreciation Month in April

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust celebrates National Jazz Appreciation Month throughout April 2014 with performances by Grammy Award-winning musicians and iconic jazz performers. In addition to the special ticketed performances at Cabaret at Theater Square, the Trust continues its free BNY Mellon | Jazz Presents JazzLive series at Backstage Bar.

A sold-out performance by Gregory Porter, the 2014 Grammy-Award winner for Best Vocal Jazz Album: Liquid Soul will kick off the month-long celebration and be followed up by a jazz brunch press event on Wednesday, April 2, at 10:30 a.m., in Peirce Studio, 805-807 Liberty Avenue to announce the details of the upcoming 2014 Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival. The press conference features a special appearance by Gregory Porter, and a performance by Minnesota native and new jazz vocalist Nancy Harms, as well as Pittsburgh's own Thomas Wendt and special guests. The complete schedule for the Pittsburgh JazzLive International, which takes place June 20-22, 2014, will also be announced. The fourth annual Pittsburgh International JazzLive Festival features a remarkable line-up of Grammy Award winners, local and nationally emerging musicians and artists.

"This April we celebrate some of the world's most important Jazz musicians as they take the stage at Cabaret at Theater Square," says Janis Burley Wilson, Vice President of Education and Community Engagement and Director of Jazz Programs for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. "We are thrilled to honor jazz legends, to welcome the musicians that are shaping jazz for the future, Grammy-Award winners and new emerging talent during this month-long celebration as we look forward to June and the Pittsburgh JazzLive International."

National Jazz Appreciation Month Events | Cabaret at Theater Square

Gregory Porter: April 1, 2014, 8 p.m.; SOLD OUT

Winner of the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: Liquid Spirit, Gregory Porter has been considered as a disarmingly sincere jazz and R&B performer with a voice of incredible virtuosity and a seemingly universal appeal as a songwriter.

Sean Jones Quartet CD Release: April 8, 2014, 8 p.m.; Tickets: $30.75

Grammy-nominated trumpeter, composer, and educator, Sean Jones was formerly the lead trumpet player with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra directed by Wynton Marsalis. Jones is currently an integral part of Marcus Miller's Miles Davis projects, a professor of Jazz Studies at Duquesne University, and has nine critically acclaimed jazz albums to his credit.

Christian McBride Trio: April 22, 2014, 8 p.m.; Tickets: $30.75

McBride is a three-time Grammy Award-winner, jazz bassist, composer, and arranger. A prominent figure in the jazz world for more than 20 years, as a sideman McBride has worked with Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Rollins, J.J. Johnson, Ray Brown, Milt Jackson, McCoy Tyner, Roy Haynes, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny. In the R&B world, he has performed with James Brown, Isaac Hayes, Chaka Khan, and Natalie Cole.

Robert Glasper: April 29, 2014, 8:30 p.m.; Tickets: $35.75

Jazz pianist Robert Glasper reconciles modern jazz with hip hop and R&B. He is the winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album: Black Radio, which featured guests including Common, Marsha Ambrosius, Anthony Hamilton, Faith Evans, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, Luke James, Lalah Hathaway, and more.

BNY Mellon | Jazz Presents JazzLive | Backstage Bar at Theater Square

April 1, 5-8 p.m., and 9:30-11 p.m.: Mark Strickland
April 8, 5-8 p.m., and 9:30-11 p.m.: Michele Bensen
April 15, 5-9 p.m.: Tim Stevens
April 22, 5-8 p.m., and 9:30-11 p.m.: Tony DePaolis
April 29, 5-8 p.m., and 9:30-11 p.m.: Roger Humphries

JazzLive is presented by Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and BNY Mellon | Jazz Presents.

JazzLive365 is a year-round FREE series featuring some of the region's finest jazz musicians every Tuesday from 5pm - 11pm in the heart of the Cultural District. For additional information or to purchase tickets, please call 412-456-6666 or visit www.TrustArts.org.