Jimmy Stewart: 10 Year Anniversary
Guest blog from long time UM contributer and all around great guy Jeremy Welsh
Mary Cassat, Henry Mancini, August Wilson, George Benson.
Jimmy Stewart.
The Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel opened in the summer of 2001, giving life to the historic Fulton Building (b. 1906) which had stood vacant for years. To celebrate the rich history of Pittsburgh, each of the ballrooms were named after famous Pittsburghers. And on the night of September 8, 2001, my wife and I celebrated our wedding in the Jimmy Stewart Ballroom with our family and friends -- friends that included our wedding band, Umphrey's McGee.
After getting engaged in November 2000, Laura and I immediately started to think of ways to ask Umphrey's to play our wedding. We had known the guys for years, and as music was one of the foundations of our friendship, what better way to celebrate than with live music played by close friends. I believe it was after a show at Joe's Pub in Chicago in December of 2000 that I first floated the idea past Joel and Vince. Thankfully, they have always been open to unique ideas. And as the planning progressed, that second Saturday in September seemed to fit perfectly into their early Fall tour on the East Coast.
September 8th was a warm and gorgeous Fall day. After an early ceremony and mass, guests -- and the band -- made their way Downton to the Hotel. While the dinner was held in a larger ballroom overlooking the Monongahela River and the newly built PNC Park, the musical festivities shifted to the Jimmy Stewart Ballroom. A few years earlier, Laura and I had driven to Columbus to see Bela Fleck, Mike Marshall, and Edgar Meyer play a concert in support of their album Uncommon Ritual. It was at this show that we first heard the song "Sliding Down," a simply gorgeous Edgar Meyer piece that starts with Edgar on piano, and slowly builds with banjo, bass, and mandolin. Simple, beautiful. And the first gift that Umphrey's gave us that night was learning the piece for our First Dance.
And the festivities just took off from there...
(While I should not have been surprised, it was quite a treat to wake up the next morning to find that the band had slid three CDs -- a recording of our wedding -- under our door that evening. We have enjoyed listening to it ever since.)
Maybe they were simply feeling joyous after the occasion. Or maybe they enjoyed the party as much as we did. Or, maybe, they actually liked the sound of the room as they claimed. No matter the reason, Umphrey's made the decision to go back to the room in the middle of the night -- or morning? -- and just have fun. Improvise. Play with some themes. So, with a few of the building's employees looking on, they jammed. For over an hour.
They enjoyed the experience so much that they soon decided to devote time during concerts to explore ideas, melodies, time signatures, or simply imrpovise. To take chances in front of an audience. And these pieces of music would be called "Jimmy Stewarts." Three weeks later, after experiencing 9/11, New York City, and Washington DC, they returned to Pittsburgh to play a show at the Pittsburgh Deli Company. Some of those hotel employees from that night were in attendance. It was here in Pittsburgh that a "Jimmy Stewart" first appeared on the setlist.
Ten years later, Umphrey's continues to utilize the concept of "Jimmy Stewart" to push themselves, go out on a limb, and write music. Countless fully realized songs have grown from these adventures. It is fun to think we had a little part in that . . .