PITT TO INAUGURATE NEW RECORDING STUDIO WITH LECTURE AND MUSIC AT BELLEFIELD HALL

PITTSBURGH, Oct. 30 -- The son of legendary vocalist Tony Bennett will help unveil a new on-campus state-of-the-art digital recording studio,

as part of the 28th annual Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert Week on Thursday,

Nov. 5 from 6 - 7:30 p.m. in 104 Bellefield Hall, Oakland. The event is free and open to the public, although reservations are required due to limited seating.

National recording producer and engineer Dae Bennett and studio designer and technician Pierre Davis will demonstrate the equipment with the assistance of a vocalist and several musicians from the Pitt Jazz Ensemble. Also present will be Pitt administrators and State Representative William Robinson, who for years has been a strong supporter of the Pitt jazz program.

Bennett won a Grammy Award in the early 1990s for producing one of his father's successful CDs, and currently produces for a number of rap artists, modern swing bands and the nationally-televised Newport Jazz Festival on PBS. He also has expressed a willingness to return to Pitt to conduct periodic master classes for jazz students.

"This studio is probably one of the most important additions to the music program at Pitt," said Jazz Studies Director Nathan Davis. "Now Pitt students interested in a professional career can learn from the best with the latest equipment." The new studio, to be used for teaching purposes only, is outfitted with a digital 8-bus console, on the market for only one month, as well as a digital interface for tape machines, a system remote, 2-track DAT recorder, digital reverb and effect systems, patchbay, microphones, and studio monitors.

Pitt's week of free on-campus lectures and seminars by international jazz musicians runs through Saturday afternoon, Nov. 7. The 28th annual Pitt Jazz Concert is Saturday at 8 p.m. at Carnegie Music Hall. For more information, or to reserve a seat for the studio lecture, call 412-624-4187.

-30-

10/30/98/shg

PLEASE NOTE: Dae Bennett is spelled correctly.