Wolfies Funk Factory finale
Wolfies Pub, in the Market Square corridor, has been working hard to supply good music offerings on weeknights. One of those offerings has been the Funk Factory jam session on Wednesdays. Despite the solid quality of musicianship, spotty attendance forced the announcement of 7/31 as the final show. Gene Stovall happened to be in town, so when word came out that he’d be performing, that was one more reason to attend the finale. The lineup for the evening also included Woodruff, Anderson, Phat Man Dee, Alexander, Matt, Jordan, Watkins.
What we didn’t know was that Brandford Marsalis, who’s in Pittsburgh working on Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, would also show up. It ended up being a really incredible night. Sometimes my 60 Seconds of Pittsburgh video montages can’t just be one minute long:
Vine Rewind Festival
Tim Gaber, proprietor of Pittsburgh Winery, held his 4th annual music festival the weekend of July 27th. Two artists who have moved away came home to perform: Jasmine Tate (my modern Tracy Chapman) was back from Fort Worth, and Lyndsey Smith returned from New Orleans. My first look at Jasmine was at the old 720 Café in Lawrenceville. Back then she played guitar on a stool, but this time she had bandmates from TX and Philly, and they went from laidback to fully rocked out during the course of the show. Lyndsey was her usual amazing. Make sure you see her singing on TV for the Steeler pre-season opener.