I didn’t want to let the car show come to Pittsburgh without me being there. I love cars and when I can get in and out of a new car without someone asking me if I want to buy it, I’m in.
The Pittsburgh car show can’t stand up to Detroit, but it is still fun. This year you were able to do real test drives. These test drives were not indoors but actually outside and you got a $5 Starbucks gift card as well. I think someone is trying to sell some cars. There was also an abundance of free Five Hour Energy Drinks and nice vinyl shopping bags.
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I’m not in the market for a new car right now, but when I am I don’t want to suffer from sticker shock. It’s good to stay current with the prices and what is new on the showroom floor. The car show was right in the cultural district at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
The friend I went to the car show with suggested that we go to the concert at the August Wilson Center afterwards. We were supposed to go to see George Clinton, but his show was canceled. Since AWC was right across the street why not. I didn’t realize that the concert was actually The Third Annual “Synthesis” Chuck Cooper Classic Concert. We got to the box office and there were no tickets left. But after a little networking we had two general admission tickets. I didn’t know that I was going to have to fasten my seat belt for the wild ride.
The show took off with neo soul artist Angela Johnson, from New Jersey, and she was fabulous. She plays keyboard and writes her own music. I said to myself, the show is off to a good start and then the show took off at warp speed. Alex Bugnon, Poogie Bell, Maurice Brown, Brian Sanders and more hit the stage and the party got started. I didn’t want it to end. That is how good it was. There was a young man on stage dancing that was phenomenal, as were the saxophone player, the trombone player and young Brett Williams on the keyboard. I have been watching this young man (Williams) play since he was 12 years old, wow how he has grown. It is always such a pleasure to see his parents in the audience, watching their son work. I remember when they had to ride him and his keyboard around.
These guys had me dancing in my chair and if there was a CD to purchase at the end of the show I would have bought several. The show was produced by Don Bell and presented by PNC.
Chuck Cooper was an NBA trailblazer. Cooper was signed by Boston Celtics Coach Red Auerbach in 1950, after playing for Westinghouse High School in Homewood and the NCAA at Duquesne University. Cooper went on to play four years with the Celtics. He ended his playing career as a member of the Fort Wayne Pistons, having played a total of 409 games, scoring 2,725 points with 2,431 rebounds and 733 assists. This concert is a musical tribute to Pittsburgh’s Chuck Cooper, the first African-American drafted into the NBA. Next year my attendance won’t be an accident.
(Email the columnist at debbienorrell@aol.com.)
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