Name Joe Negri Role Guitarist | Music group The Three Suns | |
 | ||
Education Carnegie Mellon University Books A Common Sense Approach to Improvisation for Guitar Albums Uptown Elegance, Guitars For Christmas Movies and TV shows Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Speedy Delivery Similar People Betty Aberlin, Chuck Aber, Fred Rogers, Roger Humphries, Joyce Breach | ||
Joe negri mr roger s medley
Joseph Harold Negri (born June 10, 1926) is an American jazz guitarist and educator.
Contents
- Joe negri mr roger s medley
- Joe negri moon river pittsburgh
- Biography
- Discography
- Joe Negri archives
- Other works
- References
During his years as musical director at WTAE-TV, he appeared on Paul Shannon's children's television show Adventure Time and other locally produced shows on the station.
Pianist and fellow Pennsylvanian Johnny Costa appeared Negri 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 "Handyman Negri" on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He has taught jazz guitar at Duquesne University, University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University.
Joe negri moon river pittsburgh
Biography
Joe Negri began performing on radio at age three, playing the ukulele and singing. By age 15, Negri had been playing guitar for nearly 10 years. He joined the local musicians union and began playing his first professional engagements. In the 1940s, Joe toured nationally, and was featured, with the Shep Fields Orchestra for several years. His career was then sidetracked by two years in the Army.
Upon returning home, he performed locally with his brother, pianist Lonfellow Negri. He enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University (formerly Carnegie Tech). At that time there was no curriculum for jazz guitar, so he chose composition as his major. He also taught guitar to many students, including Ralph Patt, the inventor of major-thirds tuning; Negri and Patt recorded in 1989.
It was during this time he began his career in the then new medium of television, spending a few years with KDKA-TV, followed by 22 years as Musical Director for WTAE-TV. It was through his work in television that he met, and worked with Fred Rogers, who soon asked him to participate in a new show Rogers was putting together in association with WQED-TV, the local public broadcasting affiliate. As Handyman Negri, Joe was a resident of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for nearly 40 years.
Negri remains active in the jazz scene, recording and performing locally and nationally, and is still active in music education. In 2010 he recorded a CD with Michael Feinstein, with whom he also performed at the 2011 Newport Jazz Festival. He was the subject of an in-depth profile in Vintage Guitar Magazine's September 2010 issue, written by music historian Rich Kienzle. He has donated his works and other documentation related to his music to The University of Pittsburgh Archives.
Discography
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). 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. Companies that commissioned work from Negri included McDonald's, Alcoa, Kaufmann's, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.