Co-presented by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, the 14th Annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival Takes Place September 19-22, 2024, with Free Outdoor Concerts on Liberty Avenue and Paid Events at August Wilson African American Cultural Center

PITTSBURGH, PA, August 5, 2024 – As part of their worldwide Farewell Tour, the legendary Average White Band (AWB), one of the hottest soul/R&B/funk bands for over 50 years, returns for the final time to the 14th Annual Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival (PIJF), co-presented by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, on Sunday, September 22, 3:30 – 4:30 pm, in a Free concert on Liberty Avenue between 10th and 7th Streets downtown, near the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (AWAACC), 980 Liberty Avenue.

AWB’s original lineup consisted of six Scottish musicians: singer/bassist Alan Gorrie, guitarists Hamish Stuart and Onnie McIntyre, tenor saxophonist Malcolm Duncan, keyboardist/saxophonist Roger Ball and drummer Robbie McIntosh. United by their love of James Brown, Motown, jazz and funk, they formed as a group in London in 1972, moved to America, made their debut as the opening act for Eric Clapton in 1973, and scored their first hit, the driving instrumental, “Pick Up the Pieces” in 1975.

With drummer Steve Ferrone replacing McIntosh, AWB recorded many classic cuts in the coming decades including “Cut The Cake,” “Queen Of My Soul,” “Walk On By,” “Atlantic Avenue,” “Cloudy,” “School Boy Crush” and “Love Your Life.” Of their 20+ albums, three were certified gold: AWB (1974), Cut the Cake (1975) and Warmer Communications (1978), and one Platinum, Soul Searching (1976). With Stuart’s striking falsetto vocals, layered over jazz-inflected horn lines, in-the-pocket basslines and swinging drums, AWB not only influenced other bands, but their music was featured in many films including Swingers, Superman 2 and Iron Man 2, and they were sampled by several hip-hop groups including The Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, Ice Cube, Public Enemy and Nas.

The group underwent personnel changes over the years, and today their lineup features originals Alan Gorrie (vocals, bass, guitar) and Onnie McIntyre (guitar) with U.S. musicians Freddy V. (tenor sax), Cliff Lyons (alto sax), Rob Aries (keys, bass), Rocky Bryant (drums), and Brent Carter (vocals). It is with this latest version of AWB that they kicked off their final world tour in 2023.  AWB has played the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival many times over the years, and considers it one of their favorite stops on tour.

So, in the lyrics of one of AWB’s hits, “Let’s Go ‘Round Again,” and show this phenomenal band some Pittsburgh love, one more time.

For more information and tickets for concerts at AWAACC and VIP packages for the free concerts, please log on to  https://pittsburghjazzfest.org.

Hailed by DownBeat magazine as one of the largest festivals in the Northeast, “with live jazz and R&B legends and emerging artists,” the festival has featured some of the most accomplished jazz artists on the globe including, Ron Carter, Dianne Reeves, Bob James, Gregory Porter and Chaka Khan, and future masters, Chelsea Baratz, Nubya Garcia and Jazzmeia Horn. From the city that gave us George Benson, Erroll Garner, Stanley Turrentine, Dakota Station, Billy Strayhorn, Mary Lou Williams and so many more, it is only fitting that the city’s magnificent festival brings the jazz world to Pittsburgh.

For more information on the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival log on to https://pittsburghjazzfest.org.

SPONSORS

The 2024 Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival is co-presented by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, with generous support from the Mellon Foundation. Additional sponsors include UPMC, UPMC Health Plan, P&W BMW and Mini of Pittsburgh, Rivers Casino, VisitPittsburgh, Xfinity, Allegheny County Airport Authority, Carnegie Mellon University, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, NRG Energy, Green Mountain Energy, and Duquesne University.

The engagement of Luedji Luna is made possible in part through the Performing Arts Global Exchange program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Instituto Guimarães Rosa.

Presenting Sponsors for the Libation Station Tent are Bacardi and Arsenal Cider House.

Special thanks to media sponsor, Comcast NBC Universal, and media partners, Jazz Corner, WZUM, Downbeat, and Code M Magazine.

ABOUT HIGHMARK INC.

An independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Highmark Inc., together with its Blue-branded affiliates, collectively comprise the fifth largest overall Blue Cross Blue Shield-affiliated organization in the country with approximately 7 million members in Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia and western and northeastern New York. Its diversified businesses serve group customer and individual needs across the United States through dental insurance and other related businesses. For more information, visit www.highmark.com.

The Highmark Bright Blue Futures program is designed to ensure healthier, brighter, stronger futures for all, and it focuses on improving equitable access to care, quality of life, and economic resilience in the communities the enterprise serves. For more information, visit Highmark Bright Blue Futures.

 ABOUT AUGUST WILSON AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER

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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Media Contact: Carolyn McClair | (212) 721-3341 | Cmcclair@awaacc.org