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Jazz musician works for change
Rebecca Nuttall
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Jazz musician works for change
For musician and Pittsburgh native Leo Casino the Hill District doesn’t conjure images of violence or Penguins hockey. When Casino thinks about "The Hill," he can still hear music playing through the streets.
"People from all around the world used to come here to visit," Casino said of his birthplace. "I think a lot of the growth and opportunities were on the Hill."
Casino is a Grammy Award-nominated jazz musician who strives to give back to his community. In recognition of his accomplishments, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl had a day named for him.
"It is really an honor to have a day named after me in the city of my birth," Casino said. "We grew up hard and tough. My brother used to say if you can make it in the ’Burgh you can make it anywhere."
Casino, who now lives in Miami, can remember the days when the Hill District had a rich musical culture.
"I meet a lot of retirees from Squirrel Hill and the suburbs down here and they reminisce about the times they used to go up on the Hill and listen to the music," Casino said. "I think it could be like that again."
While living in the Hill District Casino became inspired by the sounds of jazz and over the course of his career he has worked with some of the world’s best known artists.
SPECIAL DAY—Leo Casino was honored with a plaque from Mayor Luke Ravenstahl setting aside a day in his honor.
"Growing up in the ’Burg with August Wilson, George Benson and so many greats inspired me," Casino said. "Jazz has so many different aspects to it. I think music is really like a universal language."
Casino made a film about the Hill District and his journey back to the place of his birth. Besides being a personal memoir of his journey, "Return to the Hill" presents the problem of Black-on-Black violence in Pittsburgh.
"A lot of musicians and artists are just for the arts, but I came up in a generation of artists that were vanguards in the Civil Rights Movement and really broke down a lot of the segregation and Jim Crow laws," Casino said. "I think as musicians we really got away from that."
Since completing his film, he has returned to Pittsburgh several times to address the issue of violence in the Hill District, as well as what the community must do to ensure economic growth and stability.
"I would like to work to stop the senseless killings in the ’Burg amongst young people," Casino said. "I’m helping to spread the word of the potential that’s in our city."
Casino is in the process of making another film, but this time he plans to focus on the more positive aspects of the African-American community.
"I think this one will be a little more light-hearted. We tried to balance it out this time and show that there are really people out there doing things," Casino said. "There’s a lot of people doing good things that you never read about in the newspaper."
Casino thinks the media presents only the worst of what exists in the African-American community. He points to this negativity as a catalyst for more negative behavior.
"The media can inspire or it can build up more division," Casino said. "I think a lot of the reporting isn’t uplifting. I think that plays into the stereotype that people think the Black community is one of poverty and violence."
As opposed to this stereotype, when Casino reminisces about the Hill District he will always remember a community with "drive and a can-do outlook."
"It was on par with Harlem and Detroit. There was a lot of movement," Casino said. "We had a lot of Black businesses there. That cohesiveness has really been lost."
http://blog.radioleft.com/blog/_archives/2006/2/12/1757201.html
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