“And stay out of trouble!”

There they were, the oft-repeated departing instructions from parents and teachers, grandparents and big brothers. You heard those words all your life, over and over. Stay out of trouble, as if it was easy. Stay out of trouble, as if temptation wasn’t everywhere. As if anything fun ever came from being good.

As if it was possible.

In the new book “Two the Hard Way” by Travis Hunter, two brothers from Atlanta’s inner city don’t have to bother searching for trouble.

Thursday 26

Book signing

Borders Eastside Bookstore presents a Book Discussion and Signing with Joe Trotter and Jared Day of CMU for their book “Race and Renaissance: African Americans in Pittsburgh since World War II” at 6 p.m. at 5986 Penn Circle South, East Liberty. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 412-383-2493.

Shawn Hopson, Charles Carter and Warren Wilson formed the group called Club Duo to bring the community together with a sophisticated and classy event called Smooth Jazz Fridays. This event is held each first Friday of the month at the Holiday Inn in Oakland.

Line dancing, a deejay and a live band make up the itinerary for this event. The live bands range from jazz to hip-hop and R&B music. Fifteen years ago Shawn Hopson and his partners decided to do a First Friday’s event at the Braddock Hills Holiday Inn. In the beginning it was a deejay and a jazz band. The deejay played on one floor while the jazz band was on another floor. It was a nice flow because it gave people options to hear jazz, hip-hop or R&B.

SERENADING THE LADIES—R&B/soul singer Danny Boy, formerly of Death Row Records, performs at Smooth Jazz Fridays.

This week I visited the William Pitt Student Union in Oakland, the Bynum Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh, Holiday Inn in Oakland, Schenley Park in Oakland and the Montage in Wilkinsburg, Pa.

My first stop was at the William Pitt Student Union where the Darkins Group held their annual Pittsburgh Music and Entertainment Conference with music execs giving aspiring artists tips on how to be successful in the music industry. Actress LisaRaye, singer Newland and Mr. Ross were panelists for this event.

Intrinsiq from Washington, D.C., performed live on stage at the 7th Annual Black Family Reunion at Schenley Park.