Thursday Night Jazz: University of Pittsburgh Jazz Program Showcase

Photo Courtesy: Yoko Suzuki

The “Pitt Jazz” program within the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Music is one of the oldest jazz studies programs in the country. Founded by Dr. Nathan Davis in 1969, it provides opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to develop in jazz performance, composition, and scholarship, while engaging the Pittsburgh community with entertaining and stimulating events. In this exciting Thursday Night Jazz concert, seven master’s and doctoral students showcase their exceptional work in this program presented by Dr. Yoko Suzuki and Chad Taylor, Artistic Director of Jazz Studies.

Featured Musicians:

Juwon Adenuga: piano

David Adepegba: drums

Laura Gonzalez Fidalgo: voice

Danny Fratina: trumpet

Godfrey Lubuulwa: piano

Táyé Nelson: bass

Elad Sobol: saxophone

About the Musicians:

Juwon Adenuga is a Ph.D. student in Jazz Studies and an Art & Science Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh. As a performer-scholar, his interests lie in exploring the connections between Yoruba music and other cultures, specifically the relationship between Yoruba musical forms and jazz music. Additionally, his research focuses on the revitalization of Yoruba storytelling through music and language, investigating the physical (community performances and festivals/concert halls) and non-physical (digital recordings and cyberspace) spaces through which these stories are communicated and shared in contemporary Yoruba society. As a performer, Juwon has explored this art of storytelling in all four mentioned spaces.

David Adepegba, currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Music (Jazz Studies) at the University of Pittsburgh, is a multifaceted individual with a diverse array of talents and achievements. An award-winning drummer, researcher, music director, visual artist, and passionate educator, he is a certified member of the Daddario Education Collective and Sabian Education Network. His research primarily focuses on African music, with a specific interest in exploring the rich traditions of Yoruba drumming as both compositional and improvisational tools in musical performances. David is deeply committed to the concept of Africanization of the Drum Set and the embodiment of rhythms from across the African continent.

Laura Gonzalez Fidalgo is a Ph.D. student in Jazz Studies. Born and raised in Spain, she grew up in the Canary Islands, where she began her musical training in classical singing at the Conservatory of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. She later moved to Madrid, where she shifted her focus toward her true passion: jazz. After several years studying modern music, she became active in the Madrid music scene, performing with various bands and projects, even recording an album in collaboration with other artists that revisits and reclaims jazz from 1920s and 1930s Spain. Her artistic and scholarly interests center on art-making as a political tool and as a form of expression and social change. Her current research focuses on recovering and reinterpreting the repertoires of Latin American women artists from the 1960s and 1970s, particularly those connected to the canción protesta, the nueva canción, and the nueva trova.

Danny Fratina is a Ph.D. student in Composition and Music Theory. His current work involves transcription-as-composition, improvisation, and subjective notation. Danny holds a BM in Jazz Composition from the Berklee College of Music, and received his MA in Composition from the Istanbul Technical University Centre for Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM) in Istanbul, Turkey, where his thesis detailed social trends in jazz harmony and arranging in 1949 Brooklyn, NY. From 2019 to 2022, he was a lecturer of jazz composition at the Istanbul University State Conservatory.

Godfrey Lubuulwa is a Ugandan jazz composer, performer, multi-instrumentalist, and scholar pursuing a Ph.D. in Jazz Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He holds dual master’s degrees from the University of Michigan: Master of Music in Music Education and Master of Music in Improvisation. His master’s thesis in Music Education delved into the pedagogical approaches of Baxmba Waves, a leading Ugandan fusion jazz band. With over two decades of experience in music education and performance, Godfrey explores the fusion of indigenous Ugandan musical traditions with global influences. His research critically examines the intersections of these musical elements and their impact on power relations and gender dynamics within Uganda’s music education and performance contexts. His compositions embody a cultural dialogue, blending Ugandan musical traditions with influences from the world. By integrating Ugandan indigenous instruments, such as the engoma (drums), endingidi (tube fiddle), entongoli (lyre), amadinda (xylophones), and akoogo (thumb piano), with Western instruments like the accordion, guitars, piano, and percussion, he creates a sound that reflects modernity and tradition. His work is characterized by its unique synthesis of styles, maintaining a deep respect for cultural heritage while pushing the boundaries of contemporary music.

Taiwo Nelson, better known by his stage name Táyé Máyègha, began his musical journey during his formative years in the Ilaje community of Majidun, Lagos State, Nigeria. Enchanted by traditional musicians and sharing musical moments with his grandmother in her workspace, these early experiences laid the foundation for his passion. His thirst for musical knowledge saw him attend the Peter King College of Music. He earned a diploma from the Musical Society of Nigeria’s School of Music (MUSON) and went on to complete his degree at the University of Lagos. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student in the Jazz Studies program. Taiwo’s research explores the fascinating interplay between jazz and the traditional music of Ilaje, a distinct coastal and migratory subgroup of the Yoruba people in Nigeria. This investigation is evident in his innovative musical style, as he seamlessly fuses Ilaje musical elements with jazz. As a versatile musician, Taiwo wears multiple hats: a composer, bass player, and recording artist. As a session bassist, he frequently collaborated with the Peter King College band and has been a regular performer at Muson Concerts. His skills also extend to church music. Some notable performances include his 2015 collaboration with Rolake Akinkugbe at the Miliki Lounge and a 2016 performance with Stephane Wrembel at the 240th U.S. Independence anniversary in Lagos, hosted by the American embassy. 

Prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh’s Ph.D. Jazz Studies program, Elad Sobol taught in Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China, from 2015 to 2024. He was one of the founding team members of the Jazz Department there, teaching a wide range of courses in Mandarin. He was also very active in the local music scene, collaborating with locals and performing in a variety of professional settings, leading pop, funk, swing, salsa, big band, and smooth jazz fusion groups. His arrangements have been performed at a number of Chinese jazz festivals, and he released a full-length studio album, Vicissitudes, in 2022. He has frequently been invited to lecture to the public on music in Mandarin, the most prominent of which is a TEDx talk. His first publication, “Jet-Lagged Jazz History: Teaching on the Other Side of the World,” will appear in the next issue of Jazz Education in Research and Practice, the research journal of Jazz Education Network. He is interested in jazz and Western popular forms as global music and the relationship to the sociopolitical, economic, and psychological environment in which music is created, performed, disseminated, and consumed, particularly in the context of modern China. He served with the Peace Corps in China from 2013 to 2015. He earned his California Teaching Credential in Music Education in 2010, and his Bachelor’s Degree in Music at UC Santa Cruz in 2006.

About Your Visit: 

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