Singer/Keyboardist/Composer Nigel Hall and Vocalist Madison McFerrin Kick Off the 13th Annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center’s Uhuru Jazz

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Multidisciplinary artist Nigel Hall and vocalist Madison McFerrin – who beautifully and boldly blend jazz, dance, alt-pop and electronica genres – kick off the 13th annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival (PIJF), as part of the Uhuru Jazz Sessions at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (AWAACC), 980 Liberty Blvd, on Thursday, September 14, at 9:00 pm. Uhuru Jazz Sessions are made possible with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, previously-announced artist Samora Pinderhughes has been replaced by the equally exciting Nigel Hall.

Named for the Swahili word that translates to "freedom, " the Uhuru Jazz Sessions pay homage to jazz as the embodiment of freedom, improvisation, discovery, liberation, and promise. Supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the series has also featured keyboardist/beatmaker Georgia Anne Muldrow, vocalist Vanisha Gould, saxophonist Tia Fuller and violinist/NEA Jazz Master Regina Carter.

If you want a template for a modern musician, look no further than vocalist/keyboardist/composer Nigel Hall. Born in Washington, DC in 1981 and a resident of New Orleans, he's fluent in the musical languages of funk, soul and R&B, as a member of the Afro-psychedelic jam band Lettuce, a sideman with Jon Cleary, the Soul Rebels, Questlove and as a leader in his own right. The New Orleans Times-Picayune compared Hall to Art Neville of the Neville Brothers, and the Pittsburgh City Paper proclaimed that Hall was the "artist to carry the music forward." Hall's six recordings include: Ladies and Gentlemen…, Wake Me, Gotta Go To Work, The Sun, Spiritual and his 2022 release, Nigel Hall Live! Nigel Hall will warm your heart and make your toes tap, from the congregation to the cookout.

Declared a Rising Artist by Pitchfork magazine in 2018, the Brooklyn-based Madison McFerrin is daughter of the world-renowned vocal giant Bobby McFerrin, granddaughter of Robert McFerrin, the first African-American to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, and the sister of singer/producer Taylor McFerrin. Educated at the Berklee College of Music, McFerrin possesses a lithe and lyrical voice that expresses itself in evocative, acapella arrangements. McFerrin has worked with The Roots, Gallant and De La Soul, and her music has been showcased on Comedy Central's Broad City and HBO's Random Acts of Flyness and she performed on Stephen Colbert's #LateShowMeMusic series After releasing a number of singles and EP's over the years, she's just released her first full-length recording, I Hope You Can Forgive Me, a 10-track opus about love, self-esteem and relationships. Conceived during the COVID pandemic, the CD features her playing 70% of the instruments, with a track that also features her and her dad. To riff off of an old adage, music is thicker than water.

Both of these young, gifted and Black artists pay homage to what has come before, by creating music that defines the present, forecasts the future and sets the stage for a daring, dancing and dynamic festival.

Tickets are $33.00 and are available here. For more information on the Uhuru Jazz Sessions and all events at AWAACC, please visit www.awaacc.org

The 13th Annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival presented by Citizens (PIJF) and produced by the August Wilson African American Cultural Center returns to AWAACC and Highmark Stadium September 14 – 17, 2023. In addition to Nigel Hall and Madison McFerrin, PIJF features Gregory Porter, Ledisi, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Bob James, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter/SuperBlue, Nicholas Payton,, Orrin Evans, José James, PJ Morton, Keyon Harrold with special guests Pharoahe Monch and Mumu Fresh, Christie Dashiell, Chelsea Baratz, Howie Alexander and more. For more information on the PIJF, please visit https://pittsburghjazzfest.org.

SPONSORS
Special thanks to Citizens, the Presenting Sponsor for the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival. Additional sponsorship support is provided by UPMC, UPMC Health Plan, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Doris Duke Foundation, Comcast NBC Universal and Xfinity and P&W BMW and Mini of Pittsburgh. Presenting Sponsor, Libation Station Tent, is Bacardi.

CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP, INC.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation's oldest and largest financial institutions, with $226.7 billion in assets as of June 30, 2022. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations, and institutions. Citizens help their customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas, and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a full-service customer contact center, and the convenience of approximately 3, 300 ATMs and more than 1, 200 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management, and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate, and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.

THE AUGUST WILSON AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER is a non-profit cultural organization located in Pittsburgh's cultural district that generates artistic, educational, and community initiatives that advance the legacy of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson. One of the largest cultural centers in the country focused exclusively on the African American experience and the celebration of Black culture and the African diaspora, the non-profit organization welcomes more than 119, 000 visitors locally and nationally. Through year-round programming across multiple genres, such as the annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, Black Bottom Film Festival, AWCommunity Days, TRUTHSayers speaker series, and rotating art exhibits in its galleries, the Center provides a platform for established and emerging artists of color whose work reflects the universal issues of identity that Wilson tackled, and which still resonate today. www.awaacc.org.

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