Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra and Tamara Tunie featured in 2025-26 MCG Jazz season

By Jeremy Reynolds / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh was once a great jazz city, with a kickin’ club scene that produced some internationally famous talents and attracted regular visits from big names as they traveled from New York City to Chicago and back.

But a highway project that cut off one of the city’s Black neighborhoods — the Hill District — from Downtown back in the 1960s kicked off a chain reaction of economic events that saw many of the clubs shutter and the jazz scene decline.

It never dried up completely, however, and decades later, the club scene is rebounding and jazz is blooming in and around the city.

There are clubs like the Downtown hotspot Con Alma and the newly opened Uncorked in Sharpsburg. Rumors about the old James Street Tavern on the North Side continue to swirl — this could be the year that it reopens. More and more wine bars and hotel bars are inviting local musicians to play sets to accompany happy hours and evening hours.

And then there’s the anchor, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild Jazz, which has presented local, national and international touring acts throughout the year since 1987, hosts a regular jazz show on WZUM and provides educational outreach throughout the city.

On Wednesday, MCG Jazz announced its next season of programming, which will kick off on Sept. 27 with singer Kurt Elling with the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra before continuing in October with the famous banjoist Bela Fleck.

Tamara Tunie, who grew up in Homestead, will close the season with an evening of song and storytelling – she began her crew singing with Lena Horne – on May 23, 2026

Today, the organization’s concerts are held in its recently renovated 350-seat hall on the North Side and last about 90 minutes each.

Subscriptions and single tickets will be available soon at mcgjazz.org, with subscriptions starting at $210 for a package of four concerts.

At a time when ticket sales are accounting for a smaller and smaller portion of nonprofit arts organizations’ budgets, MCG’s still cover about 40% of its $1.6 million budget, said Marty Ashby, its executive producer.

For comparison, the symphony, opera and ballet cover only around 20-25% of their budgets through sales, with the rest coming from donations. That said, their budgets are much larger as they have resident musicians and artists on salary, while MCG Jazz only hires touring acts. It’s a different business model.

MCG Jazz 2025-2026 schedule

Sept. 27: Kurt Elling with the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra

Oct. 4: Bela Fleck, Edmar Castaneda and Antonio Sanchez

Oct. 25: Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra

Nov. 15: Mindi Abair

Dec. 13: Take 6

Jan. 31: Bob James Quartet

Feb. 28: Endea Owens & The Cookout with Michael Mayo

April 4: New York Voices with Paquito D’Rivera

May 23: Tamara Tunie (artist in residence)

Jeremy Reynolds: [email protected]. His work at the Post-Gazette is supported in part by a grant from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Getty Foundation and Rubin Institute.