ROGER HUMPHRIES

JAZZ HEADLINER

5:30 p.m. May 24 | Return to Lineup Page

"In 1964, piano great Horace Silver was on the lookout for a new drummer. 'Different musicians had told me about a fine young drummer from Pittsburgh named Roger Humphries,' Silver later wrote. 'I invited him to come to New York and audition. When I heard him play, I knew right away that he was the drummer for us.' That association led to one of the most celebrated albums of the hard-bop era, Silver’s Song for My Father, and set the stage for Humphries’ brilliant and still-thriving career as a player, educator and pillar of his hometown scene." -- Jazz Foundation of America

Legendary Pittsburgh drummer Roger Humphries was among the first members named this past winter to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s inaugural class of Jazz Legacies Fellows. Recipients represent "the pinnacle of creative achievement, technical mastery and boundary-pushing expression."

Drumming by age 4 and a professional musician at 14, Humphries led an ensemble at Carnegie Hall at 16, before setting off on the road with fellow jazz musicians. Following his work with Silver, Humphries successfully auditioned for and toured with Ray Charles with before returning home to Pittsburgh and launching his own band, the R.H. Factor. He continues to perform, educate and mentor young talent.

More things to check out:

• ”Roger Humphries: Pass It On” Documentary Trailer and Interviews

• New Pittsburgh Courier article: “Incomparable Roger Humphries gets street named after him on the North Side,” (Rob Taylor, Jr., October 19, 2024).


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