A Stopover in St. Louis

Immediately following the Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival in Davenport, Iowa, I extended my musical odyssey in St. Louis.

On Sunday, August 2, I went to the regular monthly concert at the Focal Point, a listening room in the inner ring suburb of Maplewood. The musicians were almost entirely the same as I had seen in Davenport, with the addition of Jon Weiss on bass and tuba. The rest of the band was T.J. Muller, Andy Schumm, Colin Hancock, Andrew Oliver, Hal Smith, and Jacob Alspach, with Val Kirchhoff (Miss Jubilee) on vocals. The venue holds perhaps 50 people, and practically all the seats were filled. No food is served there, but there is a Mexican restaurant next door and some patrons bought drinks and take-out there and brought it in. Not knowing this was allowed, I ate there just before the show.

With this cast, I expected a great performance, and got one. My only disappointment, if I can call it that, was that the tune list was very similar to what I’d heard at the Bix. But the band was featuring its newly-released album on Turtle Bay, Stomp Your Stuff, as it did in Davenport.

The next evening was the monthly first Monday Ragtime Rendezvous at the Rosebud Cafe. I had been there in June on my way home from the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia. Many of the musicians from the Focal Point were there. The way this event works is that the first hour is open piano, where anyone who signs up gets to play. Because there were numerous sign-ups this time, everyone was limited to one tune. Ethan Leinwand, who along with T. J. Müller is the organizer here, led off. Dr. Dave Majchrzak, a frequent ragtime festival performer, ended the hour with a masterful “Maple Leaf Rag.” The only other pianist I knew was Tom Finger, whom I often see in Sedalia.

The second hour featured the out-of-towners, whom the SRO crowd went wild over. Admission to these jams is free, but donations are solicited. Ethan and Val were pressed into service behind the bar, as the regular bartender wasn’t there. Beer, wine, and soda were offered, along with mini-pretzels and peanuts. I had eaten dinner before I came, but when I saw that Yuengling was the brew of the day, I didn’t turn it down. In case you don’t know, Yuengling, from Pottsville, PA, 60 miles from Lancaster, is America’s oldest brewery. It’s my drink of choice wherever I can get it.

I should warn you, if you go to the Rosebud, get there early if you want a good seat. I had forgotten that, but still managed to snag a seat at the bar. I couldn’t see the musicians very well but I could hear them.

St. Louis holds a remarkable place in American history in many ways, something that is not immediately evident to the casual visitor. The city has lost more than half its population from its peak, and I’ve seen a lot of vacant lots in my self-guided tours. Yet many historical elements remain, not the least of which is the jazz and ragtime that originated and flourished there over a century ago.