pittsburgh’s smallest jazz club

Pittsburgh’s Smallest Jazz Club was a bus stop located at 9th Street and Liberty Avenue transformed into the city’s smallest jazz club. Speakers installed in the bus stop play music on the non-profit Manchester Craftmen’s Guild (MCG Jazz) label. With the support of one of Awesome Pittsburgh’s $1000 fundings, this public art initiative was Pittsburgh’s Smallest Jazz Club. The shelter was also decorated with images of musicians caught in the heat of the musical moment.

Besides entertaining commuters and making the wait a little more fun, the bus stop had as its larger goal to promote jazz as Pittsburgh’s greatest art export. By moving away from the standardized 2D print-adverstisements bus stops usually provide, Pittsburgh’s Smallest Jazz Club showed us what’s possible in terms interactive advertising and embodied the power of cultural and artistic experimentation.

Three musicians performing on a sidewalk next to a bus shelter on Liberty Avenue. One plays a double bass, another a trumpet, and the third a guitar. They have a music stand and an open guitar case for tips. The surrounding buildings suggest an urban setting.
Street band performing on a sidewalk with a trumpet, guitar, and double bass in front of a bus stop shelter marked '9th Street'.
A man in a hat and lime green shirt walks past large glass windows featuring images of jazz musicians playing instruments.
Urban bus shelter on Liberty Ave with jazz-themed posters.