Dec. 2021 Est. 1985
The Northside Chronicle
Volume 37 Issue 12 - FREE -
The Community Newspaper of Pittsburgh’s Historic Northside
Home of
STEAK on a STONE Prepared and served on a 850º lava stone and finished at your table
Then and now: Black music in Pittsburgh
1Hood Media’s Paradise Gray on the ‘Golden Era’ of hip-hop and what’s holding the Steel City back from having its own booming entertainment industry.
Filet, Delmonico, Jumbo Shrimp, Jumbo Scallops and more
120 Federal St. Pittsburgh’s North Shore A STONES THROW FROM PNC PARK
ttsburgh’s most memorable meal call: For Pittsburgh’s most memorable meal call: 412-465-9865 412-465-9865 NorthShoreTavern.com
Northside Business Briefs: December 2021
Photo: Emmai Alaquiva
Music industry legend, activist, and Northsider Paradise Gray experienced the 'Golden Era' of hip-hop firsthand as a promoter and emcee at New York City's Latin Quarter club. Now, he's helping to create the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx. By Destiny Dixon
By Ashlee Green
Pear and the Pickle announces temporary closure Sunday, Nov. 21 was the last official day of service this year for Pear and the Pickle. Troy Hill’s “modern neighborhood cafe,” according to its website, is now “taking some time away” to “catch [their] breath” and “figure out [their] next step.” The announcement came on Nov. 19 via Facebook. See Briefs, Page 8
INSIDE
Every great musician gets their start somewhere. Here in Pittsburgh, classical musicians “fostered the birth of American music,” as local website Pittsburgh Music History put it, and Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller booked small gigs around the city before launching their famous careers. It’s to be expected, then, that many talented and passionate entertainers would emerge from the Iron City and catapult to stardom, going on to become household names known worldwide for their charisma, uniqueness, and nerve. These examples, though, didn’t just come around recently. Pittsburgh has been
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known as the hometown of greats since the 1950s, when jazz and doo-wop sounds were becoming popular. Pittsburgh on the map During the early 1960s, a gifted jazz drummer by the name of Roger Humphries helped put Pittsburgh on the map, musically speaking, with his appearance on Horace Silver’s “Song for My Father.” He toured Europe with the band twice and later played with Grant Green, Stanley Turrentine, Shirley Scott, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ray Charles. Humphries eventually went on to lead his own band, RH Factor, during the 1970s and became a teacher at the Pittsburgh Cre-
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ative and Performing Arts School (CAPA) and the University of Pittsburgh. Humphries, who was named the Northside’s 2019 Mardi Gras King, left the City of Bridges to pursue his career, and brought a “New York vibe” back with him. He returned home with an increased understanding of music and the industry and wanted to teach his findings to young and passionate students eager to progress in the music world. The New York City connection From a musical standpoint, New York City and Pittsburgh have a connecting chain See Paradise, Page 9
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