Joseph Harold Negri (born June 10, 1926) is an American jazz guitarist and educator. He appeared as himself and as "Handyman Negri" in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segments on '' Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''. He appeared on the 1959 children's television program ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' and with

Johnny Costa Johnny Costa (born John Costanza; January 18, 1922 – October 11, 1996) was an American jazz pianist. Given the title "The White Art Tatum" by jazz legend Art Tatum, Costa is best known for his work as musical director of the children's televisi ...

on the 1954 TV series ''67 Melody Lane'' hosted by

Ken Griffin Ken Griffin (1914–1988) was a Western cowboy, leather worker, magician, and author. As a leatherworker, Griffin helped transition leathercraft from strictly a vocation to an accessible hobby through his work and teaching. As a magician, Griffin ...

. Negri taught jazz guitar for 49 years at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

, where jazz guitar was first offered as a discipline in higher education. He taught for 46 years at Duquesne University, as well as at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Biography

Joe Negri began performing on radio at age three, playing the ukulele and singing. He joined the local musicians' union and began playing professional engagements. In the 1940s, he toured nationally and was a member of the Shep Fields Orchestra from 1943 until 1944, when he entered the Army for two years. After returning home, he performed in Pittsburgh with his brother, pianist Bobby Negri. He enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University, concentrated on music composition, and spent the 50's playing locally around the Pittsburgh area and often worked with pianist

on KDKA television. His trio, with accordionlist Dom Trimarkie and bassist Lou Mauro, were the regular band on the live KDKA variety show "Buzz and Bill," hosted by the team of Buzz Aston and Bill Hinds. Around 1960, WTAE, Pittsburgh's ABC television outlet, hired him as their Music Director. Negri played on various live programs and composed theme music as well. He spent the next twenty-two years working at WTAE as music director. He met Fred Rogers at WTAE, when Rogers hosted a short-lived children's show. In 1968, Negri began appearing as Handyman Negri in the children's program ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' for nearly 40 years until Rogers stopped producing new episodes in 2000. Though many assume Negri was part of the musical ensemble on the show, in fact he only occasionally joined the show's band on special occasions. Most of his work on the program involved his Handyman Negri character or portraying himself as owner of "Negri's Music Shop" when Rogers presented musical guests. Negri taught guitar and later helped Duquesne University establish a jazz guitar program. Over the years he taught many students including

Ralph Patt Ralph Oliver Patt (5 December 1929 – 6 October 2010) was an American jazz guitarist who introduced major-thirds tuning. Patt's tuning simplified the learning of the fretboard and chords by beginners and improvisation by advanced guitarists. ...

, the inventor of

major-thirds tuning Among alternative tunings for guitar, a major-thirds tuning is a regular tuning in which each interval between successive open strings is a major third ("M3" in musical abbreviation). Other names for major-thirds tuning include major-third tuni ...

.: Negri and Patt recorded in 1989. In 2010 he recorded the album

Fly Me to the Moon "Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apollo missions ...

with

Michael Feinstein Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988 he won a Drama Desk Special Award for cele ...

and performed with him during the next year at the Newport Jazz Festival. Negri was the subject of a profile in the September 2010 issue of ''

Vintage Guitar A vintage guitar is an older guitar usually sought after and maintained by avid collectors or musicians. The term may indicate either that an instrument is merely old, or that is sought after for its tonal quality, cosmetic appearance, or hist ...

'' magazine written by Rich Kienzle.

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 The River City Brass Band (River City Brass, RCB) is a modified British-style brass band based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The 28-piece ensemble tours extensively throughout the United States and performs more than 35 concerts each year as part ...

, television scores, commercial jingles, and film work. Companies that commissioned work from Negri included McDonald's, Alcoa, Kaufmann's, and Westinghouse.

Discography

As leader

* ''Afternoon in Rio'' (

MCG Jazz Manchester Craftsmen's Guild (MCG) is a nonprofit art, education, and music organization established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1968. Courses include ceramics, photography, digital arts, and painting to over 500 young people each year and 3 ...

, 1998) * ''Guitars for Christmas'' (MCG Jazz, 2003) * ''Uptown Elegance'' (MCG Jazz, 2004) with Buddy DeFranco * ''Dream Dancing (Noteworthy Jazz, 2010)

As sideman

, ''

'' (DuckHole, 2010)

Other works

* ''A Common Sense Approach to Improvisation for Guitar'' (Mel Bay, 2002)

References

* Anderson, George
"Where Are the Bucks for 'Bucs' Song?"
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. September 13, 1990. * Apone, Carl
"Song Writers Beaten To Bucks"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. October 22, 1971. * Apone, Carl
"Musical Negris: Tale of 2 Brothers"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. April 17, 1980. * Blank, Edward L
"Personality Profile ..Negri: Composer, Performer, Teacher, Music Director"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. January 25, 1971. * Cloud, Barbara
"Joe Negri still finds magic in music"
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. March 5, 2006. * Guidry, Nate
"Galleria Budget Cuts Sounding Somber Notes For Jazz For Juniors"
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. February 1, 2002. * Heimbuecher, Ruth
"They're Jazzing Up Poetry Again"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. February 4, 1983. * Kienzle, Rich
"Pittsburgh's Guitar Man: Joe Negri"
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. September 25, 2011. * King, Peter B.
"The Buzz: For the Record"
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. June 18, 1998. * Kirkland, Kevin
"Joe Negri's jazz guitar is his legacy"
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. September 25, 2011. * Leonard, Vince
"Camera, Modern Music Illuminate Pittsburgh"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. December 24, 1964. * Leonard, Vince
"Porter's 'Kate' to TV: Goulet, Carol in Leads; Either Fate or Planned That Way"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. October 19, 1967. * Leonard, Vince
"Triple-Threat Man"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. June 1, 1969. * Miller, Jane
"Jazz Profs String 'em Along"
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. March 13, 1996. * Moffitt, Mary Irene
"Joe Negri Credits Success To Gene Kelly"
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. January 2, 1961. * O'Keefe, Mark
"Handyman Negri Handy With A Guitar"
''The Beaver County Times''. December 24, 2003. * Peticca, Carole Elaine
"What I Really Wanted to Be"
''The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. December 1, 1988.
"Negri Joins Morning Show"
''Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter''. March 16, 1979.
"Joe Negri to Teach at D.U."
''The Pittsburgh Press''. August 3, 1973.

Books

* Barth, Joe (2006). ''Voices in Jazz Guitar : Great Performers Talk About Their Approach to Playing''. Pacific, MO : Mel Bay. * Chapman, Charles. (2001)
"Joe Negri (September 1999)"
''Interviews with the Jazz Greats... and More!''. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications. pp. 48–50. * Negri, Joe (2002). ''A Common Sense Approach to Improvisation for Guitar''. Pacific, MO: Mel Bay. {{DEFAULTSORT:Negri, Joe 1926 births Living people American jazz guitarists American male television actors Musicians from Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni Carnegie Mellon University faculty Duquesne University faculty University of Pittsburgh faculty Mainstream jazz guitarists American jazz educators History of Pittsburgh Guitarists from Pennsylvania American male guitarists University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives and Collections 20th-century American guitarists Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania American male jazz musicians United States Army personnel of World War II