Esai Aliquo and her grandfather, Pittsburgh Jazz Legend Don Aliquo, Sr., are making music together on a new EP, “Inherited Groove.” On Friday, May 8, the EP will have a Release Party at 753 E. Warrington Avenue, in Pittsburgh. The EP will contain four jazz standards and two original songs, “You’re Thinking About Me!” and “The First Time.”
“I started writing poetry at a young age, around thirteen years old,” Esai, a former CAPA student, said. “I come from a very musical family.”
Esai is a third-generation performer; After her grandfather, her mother, who performs under the stage name Viva Valezz, is a founding member of the Velvet Hearts, a premier burlesque troupe of all-queer-identifying performers. Valezz and the Velvet Hearts have performed for Boston Burlesque Expo, the Windy City Burlesque Festival, Chicago’s Queerpocolypse, and the Fierce! International Queer Burlesque Festival. It was at a Velvet Hearts show where Esai met the legendary Pittsburgh Jazz performer, Phat Man Dee.
Phat Man Dee said, “I was asked to sing at a Velvet Hearts show at the Black Forge Coffee House in Allentown. Esai was performing a drag act. I will never forget it. She came out as Bjork, in that swan dress, and killed it!”
During the pandemic, Phat Man Dee invited Esai to perform for Tune It! Tuesdays, a jam session on Zoom. Phat Man Dee said, “Even though Don Aliquo is a famous jazz musician, Esai had never performed with her grandpa before. We got them together on my Zoom show.”
In June 2022, Phat Man Dee honored Pittsburgh legend Billy Strayhorn with her show, “Lush Life — A Pride Month Tribute to Billy Strayhorn” at the Carnegie Stage in Carnegie for Pride month. Strayhorn, who died in 1967, was a composer and musician who also lived openly as a gay Black man. Phat Man Dee invited several local musicians and vocalists to perform, including Esai and Don Aliquo.
Esai said, “The Billy Strayhorn tribute show was the first time I performed with my grandpa live on stage.”
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For the last four years, Esai took voice lessons from Phat Man Dee.
Phat Man Dee, who works with Liz Berlin, musician and owner of Mr. Smalls Theatre, Funhouse, Cafe & Recording Studio. Berlin hosts the We Rock Workshop, where students explore the creation of music and learn meaningful ways to incorporate it into their lives through weekly in-person professional recording sessions in which participants collaborate to create original songs, as well as private lessons in vocal coaching, songwriting, recording, beat-making, and song production. During the process, Phat Man Dee invited Esai to set her intentions. Phat Man Dee asked, “What do you want?”
Esai replied, “I want to release my own EP.”
Phat Man Dee encouraged Esai to write and record her own songs. The EP is a mix of original songs and some classic jazz standards.
With guidance and encouragement from her vocal coach, Phat Man Dee, Grandpa Don Aliquo, pianist Joe DeFazio, jazz bassist Mark Perna, Dana Cannone, founder and owner of The Church Recording Studio, and some monetary help from the Bedazzlers (Esai’s fans), Esai created “Inherited Groove.”
Phat Man Dee is the executive producer on the EP which features loving interpretations of classic compositions like Billy Strayhorn’s “Just A Sittin’ and A-Rockin,’” Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile,” Eden Abhez’s “Nature Boy,” and Charlie “The Bird” Parker’s composition, “Billie’s Bounce,” with two powerful debut original compositions, “You’ve Been Thinking About Me!” and “The First Time” co-written with her grandpa Don Aliquo Sr., Phat Man Dee, and Joe DeFazio.
Phat Man Dee said, “The release party is a celebration of family. Real family, musical families, and found families.”
Esai said, “I’ve always been femme, and when I came out as trans, my grandpa was very accepting of me.”
Esai, who has not yet turned 21, can’t wait to perform in the Blue Moon, P Town, and other Pittsburgh LGBTQ bars as a drag performer and as a musician and singer.
Esai said, “Come out to support three generations of jazz, my grandpa Don Aliquo, Phat Man Dee, and me.”
At the “Inherited Groove” release party, Esai will be signing CDs for the Bedazzlers and all her new fans.
“Inherited Groove” will be released on Friday, May 8, 2026, at 753 E. Warrington Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15210.
