In today’s uber-connected age of information, musicians and artists are finding new ways to network and spread awareness of their art. The Pittsburgh Jazz Network is an example of what may just become the new standard in arts community connectivity. Part arts blog community organization, and social networking site, PJN provides web space and bandwidth for Pittsburgh’s musicians to promote themselves and connect with each other.

Here musician members create their own pages, with space to upload sound clips, pictures, videos, and a listing of their gigs. All members’ performances are listed on a master “Events” page, and (in the mode of many social networking sites) can be “attended” by other Network members. This could be the most comprehensive listing of jazz activity in the ‘Steel City’, with over 2000 individual and group members.

Pittsburgh has a strong sense of its place in the history of jazz, having been home to many important jazz musicians, such as Stanley Turrentine, Ramsey Lewis and Ahmad Jamal. The PJN is proof that Pittsburgh’s jazz legacy remains healthy in the modern age, and will continue to be so for some time.