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Jazz is America's classical music, and many jazz legends, including
Billy Eckstein, Billy Strayhorn, Errol Garner, and Lena Horne, had
their beginnings in Pittsburgh. When Harold Young, himself
a jazz musician, founded the Jazz Workshop, Inc. in 1973, he did
so with a significant mission in mind: to "keep jazz alive" during
a period when schools were lacking in what he viewed as "authentic"
music education programs for inner city children. He approached
Pittsburgh's Carnegie Library, requesting the use of space at its
Homewood site, with the idea of using their space, where rooms suitable
for classes and the auditorium were used.. He encouraged local
African American musicians to join him in teaching jazz to African
American youngsters. As the children mastered their talents,
they gained a sense of pride in acquiring a skill, originated by
African Americans, that was so deeply rooted in an American tradition
of greatness. First there were eight children who came to
library each Saturday. Now there are hundreds.
Through the years, the Jazz Workshop, a nonprofit organization,
has grown in student population and diversity. Still housed
at the library, the young and not so young enjoy the personal satisfaction
of learning a new skill and mastering an art form with a proud history.
And lessons are moderately priced and scholarships are available.
Accomplishments
Though Harold
Young accepts no kudos, he deserves them all for making the Jazz
Workshop a project that can be replicated in any market. A
partial list of his and the Jazz Workshop's credits follows:
- Young directed
the Jazz Workshop Big Band in a performance of Billy Strayhorn's
"newly discovered" works during a Mellon Jazz Festival event that
headlined noted jazz saxophonist, Joe Henderson;
- Young accompanied
jazz musicians in Sao Paulo and Salvador, Bahia, Brazil;
- Young formed
a gospel group, Philip Russell & Friends, whose fans can hear
their talents on the group's CD, aptly titled It's Time
to Get Serious;
- Young
secured funds and established Jazz Workshop satellite locations
in several Western Pennsylvania underserved communities.
There are no
boundaries to what the Jazz Workshop, Inc. can fulfill. With
his genuine concern for people, particularly children, and "love
for the music," Harold Young visions the power of the inner
spirit, promotes oneness through music, and, in the process, strikes
a resounding universal chord whose melody is haunting.
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