Hey there! I’m writing this from just outside of Harrisburg, PA, aboard seat T18 of Amtrak #43 — the Jazz Train, as it’s fondly known. It left New York this morning, and will reach Pittsburgh tonight. I climbed aboard in Philly with a few dozen others.
The Jazz Train is a brainchild of pianist, bandleader and labelmeister Orrin Evans, in collaboration with the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, where we’ll be spending the next several days soaking up great music and excellent vibes.
I thought the unique experience of Orrin’s Imani Records Jam Session aboard the train presented the perfect excuse to test out Substack’s new live video feature. Because the Amtrak WiFi wasn’t working, there were, as they say, some signal problems — the video feed got pretty fuzzy at times. But I wanted to share the video here as a record of what went down. As I’m sure you can tell, it was a lot of fun. In fact, it’s still happening as I type this.
Orrin posted a reel on Instagram that offers a reverse shot: you’ll spot me squatting in the aisle, livestreaming. We pretty much had every angle covered.
I’m sure I will have more to say about the Pittsburgh fest in a future post. Meanwhile, enjoy the video, however grainy it may be. Also, this:
My Q&A with Janis Burley Wilson, director of the PIJF, for WRTI.
The very first episode of The Late Set featured a conversation with Orrin Evans, around the time he was finalizing plans for last year’s inaugural Jazz Train.
That’s it for now. Catch you again soon…
JAMTRAK: All Aboard the Jazz Train