Thursday Night Jazz: Roger Humphries + The RH Factor

What makes Thursday nights at Alphabet City so special? It’s the RH Factor—the Roger Humphries factor that is. A legend in the Pittsburgh jazz scene for decades, Roger is one of 20 members of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s inaugural class of Jazz Legacies Fellows from around the country. Announced this year, the program honors “creative achievement, technical mastery, and boundary pushing expression” in artists aged 62 and up, and comes with an unrestricted grant of $100,000.

Roger approaches jazz the way the City of Asylum approaches our mission: with an emphasis on letting others speak, sharing and responding to new ideas, and embracing collaboration. Each performance is world-class and uniquely Roger, fueled by the passion, knowledge, and immense talent of a man who has been drumming since the age of three. 

About the Artist:

Roger Humphries was still a toddler when his family first discovered his early talent for playing drums. He began playing professionally at 14, and within two years, he was leading his own group at Carnegie Music Hall. In 1964, Roger went to New York to join the Horace Silver Quintet. While with Silver, Roger recorded three albums: Song For My Father, Cape Verdean Blues, and Jody Grind, with Song for My Father taking its place as one of the most legendary albums of our time. Roger is rated by music critics as one of the most exciting percussionists in the business. He has provided the rhythmic beat for such greats as Ray Charles, Horace Silver, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Stanley Turrentine, James Moody, Lee Morgan, Dr. Billy Taylor, Benny Green, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Clark Terry, J.J. Johnson, Dizzy Gillespie, and countless others. After playing with various groups around the country, ace drummer Roger Humphries decided to organize his own group in 1972, which he calls RH Factor. 

About Your Visit: 

The in-house restaurant, Cucina Alfabeto, is open for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Please visit Open Table or call 412-435-1111 to make a reservation.