jazzjAM on Shore Thing with John Shannon

Arts and culture will feature prominently on Riverlife’s Shore Thing this summer, including live jazz every third Saturday morning of the month. It’s jazzjAM, in partnership with the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. This event is part of the Shore Thing Performing Arts Series presented by The Charity Randall Foundation. jazzjAM is supported by Citizens.<br/><br/>When it comes to bluesy, soulful, straight-ahead jazz, few American cities swing like Pittsburgh. Guitarist John Shannon, a Pittsburgh native, follows in the lineage of George Benson, Jimmy Ponder, Joe Pass, and Joe Negri — masters, each rooted in Pittsburgh, who carried the City of Bridges’ singular dialect onto the world stage.<br/><br/>Shannon carries that legacy forward on his debut full-length jazz album, A Day in Tarifa, on Jazzbook Records. The organ-trio set features Cliff Barnes on Hammond organ and James Johnson III on drums, and its originals range from hometown landmarks like “Four One Two” and “Liberty Bridge” to the windswept Spanish coast that inspired its title track.<br/><br/>