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Culture of Pittsburgh


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4 and based in East Allegheny (Deutschtown) furthers choral singing in German and folk dancing.

The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (PNME) is an American ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. And the Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh hosts early music concerts of artists from across the country.

Jazz

Pittsburgh became an important gateway between the north, south, east and west of the U.S., playing a strong role in the development of jazz. Jazz came to the city's African American neighborhoods after 1925. The Hill District became known as "Little Harlem" from the 1920s until the early 1950s. There were hundreds of jazz venues in the community, which later helped to promote the emergence of bebop, the most famous was probably the Crawford Grill which nightly attracted top national talent.

A number of influential musicians emerged from the city. Mary Lou Williams, Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, and Billy Strayhorn, who was Duke Ellington's primary musical collaborator for 28 years, came from the city's East End regions of Homewood and East Liberty. A number of musicians came from communities outside the city, including: Maxine Sullivan (Homestead), Sonny Clark (Herminie) and Earl "Fatha" Hines (Duquesne). Vocalist and bandleader Billy Eckstine was one of the first musicians to be paid a $1 million recording contract.

Trumpeter Roy Eldridge, drummer Kenneth Spearman "Klook" Clarke, and influential bassist Ray Brown were born in the city; singer Lena Horne was raised in Pittsburgh. Bassist Paul Chambers, also born in Pittsburgh, played on two of the most important albums in jazz history: Miles Davis' Kind of Blue (1959) and John Coltrane's

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