City of Asylum @ Home

The #notwhite collective in-Dialogue series features conversations with BIPOC, AALANA, indigenous and immigrant artists and arts administrators. 

August Wilson House celebrates America’s greatest playwright with substantial insider interviews, with leading August Wilson actors, directors and artists, national and regional. Hosted and moderated  by Chris Rawson, veteran Pittsburgh Post-Gazette theater critic who chronicled Wilson’s career and became a friend. The goal is to capture the memories, anecdotes and insights of those who know Wilson’s epic American Century Cycle from the inside.

Mark Ruffin, known as the afternoon drivetime DJ for SiriusXM's Real Jazz channel, joins us virtually live to read from his collection of “jazz short stories,” "Bebop Fairy Tales."  A scintillating blend of historical fiction with jazz and, yes, baseball—the collection weaves connections between the two great and uniquely American pastimes, and explores how both are an expression and arbiter of race in America.

A virtual only performance.
In August 2021 Thumbscrew lived on Sampsonia Way for a fourth residency at City of Asylum. The opportunity for intensive, collaborative, undistracted time to work on new music yielded a striking collection of tunes. The residency culminated in a video-recorded concert debuting new music—and the video of new songs premiers at Jazz Poetry 2021. as part of their fourth residency at City of Asylum, developing new songs for a 10-year anniversary album. The video recording of the first-ever performance of new songs premiers at Jazz Poetry 2021.   It's a special "sneak peak" of musical genius. 

A virtual only performance
Formed in Tallinn, Estonia in 2021, Slow Motion Orchestra is made of esteemed jazz musicians, who'd played together in various iterations for decades, searching for a new creative outlet. The Orchestra's music fuses jazz, electronics, and instrumental, with a concert played in one continuous take.