by Fred Logan
Some sixty years ago, when big-time jazz concerts played at Pittsburgh’s old Syria Mosque hall in Oakland, the “show” began on Bigelow Boulevard in front of the Mosque maybe an hour before the concert began on stage inside the Mosque.
On both sides of the steps in front of the Mosque were lines of Hep Cats from the Hill District, old Black Franktown Avenue in East Liberty, and other parts of the city. They ranged in age from teenagers to 50 years and above. The concerts were a Mecca for Pittsburgh’s Black jazz community.
The Bebop cats came “Clean!”—a fashion show in the latest suites, sport coats and shoes from America’s leading men’s fashion magazines Esquire and GQ, by way of Hughes and Hatchers, Lefty’s, John Barkley’s and other men’s clothing stores in Pittsburgh.
They dressed “Sharp” like Hard bop’s reigning artists Miles Davis, Arthur Taylor, Lee Morgan, and Max Roach. They walked and talked in the Bebop idiom. And each one knew that he was, without the shadow of a doubt, Pittsburgh’s ultimate authority on “The Music.” They argued jazz in front of the Syria Mosque, and around-the-clock, seven-days-a-week in community restaurants, taverns, and on the street corners much harder and much louder than any of the Pittsburgh Steeler arguments flying around town today.
This was before Black entertainers and athletes became “American” mega-celebrities and were lionized by the news media and had to be protected from their fans by several armed body guards.
Sometimes, the featured performers would come outside before the concert and join in the “stiffin’ and jivin’” with their fans, some of whom they knew from the old Hurricane, Crawford Grill and other jazz clubs in Pittsburgh.
{This was also true of Etta James, Bobby Blues Bland, members of the Five Satins and other Rhythm and Blues stars of that era. Back then, they were “folks.”)
During those concerts, the Hep Cats would stand up and shout—in the tradition of the old-time African American church—“Play A.T.!”, Play Miles!”, Play!”,” Play!” A two-way vibe of music and spirit between the musicians and the audience saturated the hall. Reports on Black music in earlier decades said the interchange back then was even stronger. Duke Ellington worshiped it.
Today, the audiences at most Pittsburgh jazz concerts are predominately 50 years old and above, White, and female. The audience is not just out for the evening, but it is very familiar with the musicians on stage. The concerts are often superb. But the overall vibe of the Syria Mosque era concerts is not there.
Last year, I attended several mid-day jazz concerts for senior citizens. The music and atmosphere were wonderful. This was in the Hill District, the center of local jazz music in the hey days of jazz. The audiences were predominately African American, and Black women made up well over 50 per cent of the audience. But, all of the Hep Cats are gone.
They are part and parcel of Bebop and Hard Bop and looking into their important role in the Music always tells the world a whole lot about the evolution of Black music and of Black people. That is because, as Amiri Baraka once said, the music and the people are the same.