Reggie Watkins

Homecoming Festival - free and open to the public

his very special season kick-off event combines three connected occasions to celebrate. Since 2008, MCG Jazz has honored a class of Pittsburgh Jazz Legends every few years, recognizing hometown jazz masters that have fundamentally stayed in Pittsburgh and kept the scene vibrant and thriving. These musicians not only have robust performance experience but have also mentored generations of jazz musicians both on and off the bandstand. The Pittsburgh Jazz Legends Ceremony celebrates their achievements, their music, and the Pittsburgh Jazz Community as a whole. We will be inducting the next class that will join the previous 35.

We are also thrilled to celebrate two very connected anniversaries – our 40th and the 90th Anniversary of Fallingwater. The inseparable connection is the fact that our facility was designed by Tasso Katseles who was a direct student of Frank Lloyd Wright. We honor these two anniversaries with a performance of Andy Farbers’s “Usonian Structures” and a world premiere of a new Mike Tomaro composition with the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra. A post-concert party with all the Jazz Legends and a jam session will follow!

Featuring live physical-jazz performances by THE PILLOW PROJECT with special music guest Reggie Watkins. Reggie Watkins - trombone, Mike Hugo - guitar, Ava Lintz - upright bass and Jason Washington Jr. - drums.

"New Jazz Works Commission Premiere" The Stephen Philip Harvey Octet presents “Mythos,” a new original suite. Commissioned by Chamber Music America as part of the 2025 New Jazz Works, Harvey’s mid-sized ensemble shares new works based on mythology found in the African continent, mythology spread through the African diaspora, and the folktales right here in the USA that evolved from this sometimes forgotten past. This premiere comes on the heels of the ensemble’s second studio album, The Pen is Mighter, in February 2027. Coupling a new season of original compositions inspired by impactful cultural voices.