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Featuring Six Pittsburgh Jazz Hall of Fame Musicians Together On One Stage

TJ Arts is proud to announce its 6th annual Sweet Sweet Jazz, a jazz festival featuring performances by some of Pittsburgh’s best jazz musicians, current students and alumni from Thomas Jefferson High School in Jefferson Hills, at the TJHS Auditorium Sunday, October 11, 2015 at 6:30 p.m.

Percussionist Roger Humphries

Desserts catered by local businesses will sweeten the evening, starting at 5:30 p.m.

The concert promises to be a rare opportunity to hear six Pittsburgh Jazz Hall of Famers on stage at one time. These musicians include Ray DeFade, Mike Tomaro, Roger Humphries, Max Leake, Eric DeFade and Lour Stellute.

Concert director Ray DeFade said, “As we prepare for the sixth Sweet Sweet Jazz concert, I'm just as excited as the first time, as I get to gather TJ grads from the 70s to the present who continue to enjoy making music. This year we continue counting on many grads who are career musicians and those for whom it's an avocation. This year is very special, as we will also feature nationally recognized jazz icon Roger Humphries as featured soloist. I think the audience will receive a high level of jazz performance as well as helping raise funds for the fine arts at TJ.”

Roger Humphries is rated by music critics as one of the most exciting percussionists in the business. He has provided the rhythmic bent for such greats as Ray Charles, Horace Silver, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Stanley Turrentine, James Moody, and the list goes on.

The lineup includes:
• Emcee Mike Tomaro, Director of Jazz Studies at Duquesne University
• Special Guest Roger Humphries and his band
• TJ Alumni Jazz Band, directed by Ray DeFade, and reuniting more than 20 TJ alumni musicians.
• Vocalists Kevin Kindlin and Kelley Krepin DeFade
• TJ High School Jazz Band, directed by Jim Mirabella

Tickets for Sweet Sweet Jazz are $20 per person and can be purchased at www.tj-arts.org, by calling 412-655-0747 or at the door, as available. Special rates are available for students and senior citizens.

Proceeds from Sweet Sweet Jazz will benefit students in all West Jefferson Hills schools by providing arts enrichment programs that reach all 3,000 students in the district; awarding four scholarships in the arts to graduating seniors; and funding performing arts lessons to students of artistic promise and financial need through the STArts Program.

TJ Arts is dedicated to supporting and encouraging the full expression of the performing and fine arts in the West Jefferson Hills School District and the communities it serves. Our guiding principle is that exposure to the arts during adolescence plays a significant role in forming the fabric of what young people become, enriching their lives and instilling a lifelong appreciation for artistic performance and creative expression. www.tj-arts.org.

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