Joe Negri

Joseph Harold Negri (born June 10, 1926) is an American jazz guitarist and educator.[1] He appeared on the 1959 children's television program Adventure Time.

Joe Negri
Negri performing with Carnegie
Mellon University in 2007
Background information
Birth nameJoseph Harold Negri
Born (1926-06-10) June 10, 1926
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Musician, educator
InstrumentsGuitar
Years active1929–present
Websitewww.joenegri.com

Negri appeared, along with pianist and fellow Pennsylvanian Johnny Costa, on the 1954 TV series, 67 Melody Lane, hosted by Ken Griffin. They played two songs: "After You've Gone" and "Little Brown Jug" the latter accompanied by Griffin at the organ. He also recorded with the Three Suns.

He appeared as himself and as "Handyman Negri" in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segments on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.[1]

Negri taught jazz guitar for 49 years at the University of Pittsburgh,[2] where jazz guitar was first offered as a discipline in higher education.[3][4] He also taught for 46 years at Duquesne University,[3][1] as well as at Carnegie Mellon University.

Biography
External video
Joe Negri Interview, 2:24, MCGJazz

Joe Negri began performing on radio at age three, playing the ukulele and singing. He joined the local musicians' union and began playing his first professional engagements. In the 1940s, he toured nationally and was featured with the Shep Fields Orchestra for several years. Then he entered the Army for two years.

After returning home, he performed locally with his brother, pianist Lonfellow Negri. He enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University. He concentrated on music composition and taught guitar to students, including Ralph Patt,[5] the inventor of major-thirds tuning;[6][7] Negri and Patt recorded in 1989.[8]

Negri spent the next twenty-two years working in television as music director. He met Fred Rogers and appeared as a regular, Handyman Negri, in the children's program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for nearly 40 years.[1]

In 2010 he recorded an album with Michael Feinstein[1] and performed with him during the next year at the Newport Jazz Festival. Negri was the subject of a profile in the September 2010 issue of Vintage Guitar magazine, written by Rich Kienzle. He has donated his works and other documentation related to his music to the University of Pittsburgh Archives.

Joe Negri archives

The Joe Negri archives consist of the collection of manuscripts, recordings, memorabilia, and original hand-written scores that document his life, work and influence. The collection was donated by Negri in 1999 to the Center for American Music within the University Library System (ULS) at the University of Pittsburgh. The donation became the 1,000th collection at the ULS to have an electronically accessible finding aid (i.e., a guide that describes the contents of an archival collection and creator).[9][10][11] The archives contains correspondence, commissioned commercial musical compositions, scores, recordings and television archival footage. His donation also included his college coursework, compositions written for the River City Brass Band, television scores, commercial jingles, and film work.[10][12] Companies that commissioned work from Negri included McDonald's, Alcoa, Kaufmann's, and Westinghouse.

Discography

As leader
  • Afternoon in Rio (MCG Jazz, 1998)
  • Guitars for Christmas (MCG Jazz, 2003)
  • Uptown Elegance (MCG Jazz, 2004)

As sideman
  • Michael Feinstein, Fly Me to the Moon (DuckHole, 2010)

Other works
  • A Common Sense Approach to Improvisation for Guitar (Mel Bay, 2002)

References
  1. Rose, Joel (August 9, 2010). "Joe Negri: From handyman to jazz guitarist". All Things Considered. NPR, National Public Radio. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
  2. Harrop, JoAnne Klimovich (April 25, 2019). "Iconic Pittsburgh musician Joe Negri retires from Pitt". Pittsburgh Triune-Review. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  3. Kirkland, Kevin (April 26, 2019). "Joe Negri retires from teaching at Pitt. But he's not putting away his guitar". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  4. Iconic Pittsburgh musician Joe Negri (MP4). TribLive.com. April 25, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  5. Patt, Ralph (14 April 2008). "Biography". Patt's jazz web page. Biography: ralphpatt.com. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  6. Griewank (2010, p. 1):Griewank, Andreas (1 January 2010), Tuning guitars and reading music in major thirds, Matheon preprints, 695, Rosestr. 3a, 12524 Berlin, Germany: DFG research center "Matheon, Mathematics for key technologies" Berlin, MSC-Classification 97M80 Arts. Music. Language. Architecture. Postscript file and Pdf fileCS1 maint: location (link)
  7. Patt, Ralph (April 14, 2008). "The major 3rd tuning". Ralph Patt's jazz web page. Ralph Patt for 6-, 7-, and 8-string guitars: ralphpatt.com. cited by Sethares (2011) and Griewank (2010, p. 1). Retrieved June 10, 2012.CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. Slater, Neil; LaRocco, Dave; Negri, Joe; Patt, Ralph; Ryan, Rodger (1989). "Streaming audio index: Audio clips". Like Someone in Love. Ralph Patt's Jazz Web Page. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  9. "Joe Negri Archives". Benedetto Guitars. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  10. "Joe Negri collection". Guides to Archives and Manuscript Collections at the University of Pittsburgh Library System. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  11. Tipping, Emily. "Joe Negri Donates Musical Collection to Pitt". Pitt Campaign Chronicle. University of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  12. Barlow, Kimberly K. "Guides untangle 1,000 ULS collections". University Times. Retrieved September 28, 2015.

Further reading

Articles

Books
  • Barth, Joe (2006). Voices in Jazz Guitar : Great Performers Talk About Their Approach to Playing. Pacific, MO : Mel Bay.
  • Chapman, Charles. (2001). "Joe Negri (September 1999)". Interviews with the Jazz Greats... and More!. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications. pp. 48–50.
  • Negri, Joe (2002). A Common Sense Approach to Improvisation for Guitar. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay.


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