Pitt Jazz Faculty Showcase
Ralph Guzzi-Trumpet
Music director and arranger for the PBS “My Music” series. (over 40 national shows 1999 to present) Music director and arranger for the “Latshaw Pops Orchestra” Arranger for “Jimmy Beaumont and the Skyliners”, Jackie Evancho Arranger for the “Washington PA”,“Wheeling & McKeesport Symphonies” Arranger for Pittsburgh Ballet Theater production “American Rhythms” Regional music contractor for the “Temptations” and “Four Tops” and many shows throughout western PA Director of the “University of Pittsburgh Jazz Ensemble” Director of the Pittsburgh Public Schools “All-City” Jazz Ensemble Arranger and member of the “Balcony Big Band” Musical director/conductor arranger for “Bo Wagner’s” tribute to Sinatra Show Musical director/conductor arranger for New York based vocal group “Tre Bella” Music producer/arranger Diamante Trio and Orchestra Frequent guest conductor PMEA district jazz festivals Frequent jazz ensemble clinician Host of annual University of Pittsburgh Student Big Band Festival Hundreds of recording sessions as musician and arranger conductor/arranger for Spotlight Productions and HJD Productions Education: Duquesne University 1978-82 Current Music faculty positions: University of Pittsburgh- assistant Jazz Ensemble director 2005-2010 Jazz Ensemble director 2010 to present California University of PA 2010 to present Dr. Kathy Humphrey-Voice Kathy Humphrey serves as the University of Pittsburgh’s senior vice chancellor for engagement and secretary of the Board of Trustees. In these roles, she oversees the University’s internal and external relations, focusing on facilitating business engagement, strategic initiatives and partnerships and government interaction at all levels.
Humphrey has earned numerous awards and recognitions throughout her career, including the YWCA Tribute to Women Leadership Award, the 2016 Nellie Leadership Award, distinction as one of the New Pittsburgh Courier’s “50 Women of Excellence” and the 2019 Onyx Woman Leadership Award. She also earned the Pitt African American Alumni Council’s Sankofa Award, which honors community members who have offered outstanding academic support to students of African descent.
Outside the University, Humphrey serves on the boards of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, Leadership Pittsburgh, Gwen’s Girls and the Blood Science Foundation. She also serves on the executive committee of the International Women’s Forum of Pittsburgh and is chair of The Forbes Funds. In 2013, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation appointed Humphrey to the Advisory Council for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. She served on the council for four years.
Humphrey earned a Bachelor of Science at Central Missouri State University (now the University of Central Missouri), a Master of Arts at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a doctorate in educational leadership at Saint Louis University. She also maintains a faculty appointment in Pitt’s School of Education.
Dr. Aaron J. Johnson-Trombone A native of Washington, DC, AJ Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Pittsburgh where he studies and teaches jazz, African American popular music, film music, and music and technology. His research and teaching interests are closely aligned and concern the interaction between music makers and decisions – makers as mediated through structural elements such as social and organizational practices, markets, and technology. He has published articles and reviews in Musical Quarterly, Current Musicology, and the journal American Studies. He is currently at work on Jazz Radio America: from Commercial to Non-Commercial, a history of post- WWII jazz radio and the corporations, communities, and institutions that create it, AJ received a BSEE from Carnegie Mellon University in Electrical Engineering and Economics, a MS in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech. He spent many years contributing to research and development of optical communications networks, access networks, digital video, and xDSL technology, before earning a PhD in Music from Columbia University. A trombonist since before Apollo 11 reached the moon, he performs regularly with Charles Tolliver, Oliver Lake, Steve Turre, and many others. He has performed or recorded as well with Fred Ho, Anthony Braxton, Frank Foster, Jimmy Heath, Wynton Marsalis, Wallace Roney, Abdullah Ibrahim, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight (with and without the Pips), and Jay-Z on trombone, bass trombone, tuba, bass clarinet, and conch shells. His 2009 CD Songs of Our Fathers features a number of his original Dr. James Johnson Jr.-Piano
Dr. James Johnson, co-founder of the Afro-American Music Institute (AAMI) in Homewood, recognizes the importance of training students of all ages in this art, in hopes of heightening community consciousness, self-awareness, and music appreciation. Born in Tennessee and raised in Louisiana, Johnson was surrounded by music in many forms. He grew up in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and was influenced by gospel and jazz. Froom 1990-1994, he was staff at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, conducting music instruction while making a weekly commute from Pittsburgh. As a musician, he has gotten the opportunity to play and engage with jazz legends, while also building relationships with several internally recognized artists who have visited and taught at AAMI. Johnson’s mission and music instruction in Homewood has affected musicians all over Pittsburgh. HE and wife created a safe space for budding, novice, and experienced musicians to all participate in strengthening the African American tradition. With combined love for his community and his music, it is safe to say that Johnson’s legacy will last for a very long time. Jeffrey T. Mangone Sr.-Bass
Jeff Mangone is a full-time player and teacher of string bass, bass guitar, and tuba. Jeff has played virtually every style of music in local, national, and international venues in a professional career that began in 1972. Jeff is currently principal bassist for the Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Ballet, Wheeling Symphony Orchestra where he also serves as Personnel Manager, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Broadway Series, Music on the Edge Chamber Orchestra, Pittsburgh Baroque Orchestra, and the PBS “My Music” Series. He is also a substitute bassist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He has performed and/or lectured at every Pittsburgh Double Bass Symposium. His active jazz/pop career has included concerts, touring, and recording with artists including Monty Alexander, Lee Konitz, Tal Farlow, Mike Stern, Urbie Green, Mel Torme, Patti Lupone, Sammy Davis Jr., Oliver Lake, Catch 22, Ken Karsh, Joe Negri, Opie Bellas, Richard Stoltzman, Vic Damone, Rosemary Clooney, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Pops, and countless others. In 1987, Jeff, along with Ron Bickel and Roger Humphries, played the very first concert at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild backing up legendary singer and Pittsburgh native, Dakota Staton! Since 1979, he has served on the faculties of the University Of Pittsburgh Department Of Music and the Duquesne University School of Music. He has also served on the faculties of the Slippery Rock University Department of Music-1997 to 2009, the Indiana University of PA Department of Music-1990-1997, and the West Virginia University Department of Music-1978 to 1987. Many of his former students have gone on to symphonic, jazz, Broadway, pop, and studio careers throughout the United States and the world.
Nicole Mitchell-Flute
Nicole Mitchell is an award-winning creative flutist, composer, bandleader and educator. She initially emerged from Chicago’s innovative music scene in the late 90s, where she became a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and eventually served as the first woman president. Called the “greatest living jazz flutist of her generation” (Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader), Mitchell has repeatedly been awarded #1 Jazz Flutist by Downbeat magazine and the Jazz Journalists Association each year from 2010-2020. A United States Artist Fellow (2020), a Doris Duke Artist (2012), and a recipient of the Herb Alpert Award (2011), Mitchell’s research centers on the powerful legacy of contemporary African American culture. For over 20 years, Mitchell’s critically acclaimed Black Earth Ensemble (BEE) has been her primary compositional laboratory, with which she has performed throughout Europe, Canada and the U.S. As a composer she has been commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Newport Jazz Festival, the Art Institute of Chicago, the French American Jazz Exchange, Chamber Music America, the Chicago Jazz Festival, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Mitchell is the William S. Dietrich II Chair in Jazz Studies and the Director of Jazz Studies at University of Pittsburgh.
Irene Monteverde-Piano
Irene was presented as “Artist to Watch” by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust magazine in 2018. One of her main performance projects is as pianist with Noel Quintana’s Latin Crew, a group that explores the mutual influence between jazz and salsa music. She has composed for Jumping Jack Theater and fireWALL Dance Theater and has recorded as a vocalist with Richie Cole and The Blue Hots. Inspired by her previous teachers and mentors, including Geri Allen (University of Pittsburgh), Alessandro Giachero (Siena Jazz University), Frank Cunimondo (University of Pittsburgh), and Ron Bickel (Duquesne University), Irene has taught at the Afro-American Music Institute and the Carnegie Boys and Girls Club and has assisted in Musicianship and the History of Jazz courses at the University of Pittsburgh. Her interest in Pittsburgh’s rich jazz legacy is spurred by her involvement with “Each One, Teach One,” an intergenerational jazz project through the African American Jazz Preservation Society of Pittsburgh and under the tutelage of drummer Mr. Carl Murphy and multi- instrumentalist Judge Warren Watson. She is writing her dissertation on Pittsburgh-born pianist, Erroll Garner, which she hopes to complete during his centennial year, 2021.
Dr. Kenny Powell-Saxophone
Kenny Powell is currently teaching at the University of Pittsburgh as an Adjunct Instructor responsible for applied jazz saxophone instruction. He is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio where he studied under the watchful eyes of Eugene Marquis and Robert Cavally of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music.
His primary instruments are the members of the flute, saxophone and clarinet families. He has logged performances with an extensive list of world class entertainers including: George Benson, Aretha Franklin, Sean Jones, Geri Allen, Christian McBride, Lena Horne, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Count Basie Orchestra, Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, Donald Byrd, Nathan Davis, Jeff Watts, Joe Harris, Doc Severinson, James Moody and many others. In 2003, Kenny won the National Flute Association’s Jazz Flute Masterclass Competition and won the title again in 2015.
Kenny was also a member of the inaugural Jazz Flute Big Band where he performed with fellow flutists Hubert Laws, Lew Tabackin and Greg Pattillo.
Kenny earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education from Kentucky State University in 1979. He also holds a Master’s degree in Ethnomusicology (1985) and a Doctor of Education degree (2002) both from the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Yoko Suzuki-Saxophone
Yoko Suzuki is a part-time instructor in the Music Department and in the Music department and the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies program at the University of Pittsburgh. She Earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology and a Ph.D. certificate in GSWS from Pitt in 2011. Her research interests include Jazz, African American music, American popular culture, Japanese popular music, and theories of race, gender, and sexuality. She has published articles in journals such as Black Music Research Journal, American Music Review, and Gender, Education, Music, and Society. Sandra Dowe-Voice James Johnson III-Drums
Mark Strickland-Guitar
Missing: Frank Cunimondo-Piano, Warner Sabio-Spoken Word