Rite Records custom pressings Cincinnati, Ohio, 1955-1985
Side one (#39789)
A1 Teddy Bear
A2 One Day At A Time
A3 Good Hearted Woman
A4 Cowboy's Lovin' Night
Side two (# 39790)
B1 Statue Of A Fool
B2 I'll Get Over You
B3 Mule Skinner Blues
B4 Blue Bayou
Al Dowe, a long-time jazz musician who plays the trombone and trumpet and has had his own band since 1974, had always dreamed of having a jazz club. Since the late 1980s, Dowe has also been teaching music in Pittsburgh public schools. Part of his jazz club dream was establishing a music school for kids, to create a student band, hire three of four teachers, hold open house for parents once a week, and offer summer outdoor concerts.
With the help of a new Pittsburgh loan program, Dowe received loan approval to purchase a modest, one-story vacant restaurant with a distinctive original Art Deco, black Carrara glass façade called the Club Café, just off Carson Street, the vibrant commercial thoroughfare (formerly a streetcar route) on Pittsburgh's South Side. The school was launched, starting with only a few students, but experiencing a demand already larger than he expected. A major new school of music could easily emerge out of this effort. Clearly, Dowe's music school dream contributes something new to Pittsburgh and gives opportunity to both paying and nonpaying students.
Excerpt from New Village, Issue nr 2