Villa, NOLA and Little E's, Pittsburgh PA

3/4/2011

NOLA on the Square

Many people don't know this but Pittsburgh has a rich jazz history that has largely been decimated by urban renewal of the former jazz district and a general neglect of the city's musical heritage by its residents. At one time or another significant jazz artists like George Benson, Art Blakey, Billy Eckstine and Billy May all called Pittsburgh home. Jazz still survives in Pittsburgh although it has become increasingly difficult to find. I still mourn the loss of Dowe's on 9th, the best jazz venue in Pittsburgh for many years. On this night I decided to discover what kind of jazz was available on an overcast Wednesday evening in Pittsburgh. I headed for Villa on the Southside of Pittsburgh because I saw on their website that Etta Cox, a frequent performer at Dowe's on 9th, would be performing there at Happy Hour. I apparently didn't pay enough attention to the website because I missed the part about a women's business networking event proceeding the performance. After an hour of exchanging cards and handshakes with a large group of middle aged business women I got to hear Etta sing for the first time in years. She was in fairly good voice although she covered three Carole King songs in less than an hour which I thought was an odd choice. The song in this video is not a Carole King song. You can hear the business women chattering in the background.

I left the South Side to head for NOLA at Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh. NOLA is the new New Orleans themed restaurant in Pittsburgh. First I must say that I thought the food was very disappointing. Since eating there I have read several online reviews of the food at NOLA which were all very positive. Either I am crazy or none of these people have ever left Pittsburgh. The food wasn't inedible but resembled nothing I have ever ate in New Orleans on my many visits. However, I am willing to give them another try later this summer in hopes I just came by on a bad night. As a music venue NOLA is merely okay. The band is jammed up against the front window with no stage and no real sight lines available to the rest of the club. The band was guitarist Colter Harper and friends. They were interesting although a bit low-key for a New Orleans themed bar/restaurant.

From NOLA I ventured to Little E's, a cute little second story jazz club on Liberty Avenue. This place has an odd set-up in that the bar is at the very rear of the club, far away from the band. However, I have found out that if you plop yourself down on one of the couches right in front of the stage nobody seems to mind. The band this night was the Duke Hunter Band although, as is common with jazz, a variety of random musicians popped up on the bandstand to sing or play an instrument. The first video is a charming song in the samba/jazz vocal tradition and the second video was later in the night and features what I think is a bass clarinet. I guess the positive outcome of this night of jazz is the discovery that this genre of music is still available in Pittsburgh and in fact every venue I went to on this Wednesday evening had a healthy crowd.