Dennis Owsley

On the May 19 Jazz Unlimited show, we will find out that the jazz scene in St. Louis went through a dark time and the beginnings of a rebirth in the 1970’s and 1980’s.  College and high school jazz programs began and Charlie Menees brought a traditional jazz and swing program to KWMU.  The 1986 University City High School sent their jazz band to the Montreux Jazz Festival and all the member of the 1987 Todd Williams Quintet went on to solid professional careers.  A small group of experimentalists was still in St.

The Sunday May 12 edition of Jazz Unlimited will present Part Six of the Jazz History of St. Louis: The Black Artists' Group and Human Arts Association (1968-1974).   The BAG period in St. Louis is the second time that St. Louis music had an influence nationally.  The first time was the Ragtime Era around 1900.  When the St. Louis musicians got to New York, they helped change the way jazz and other allied music was played for the next twenty years.  We will hear almost all of the recordings made in St. Louis by these experimentalists.

On Sunday, May 5, Jazz Unlimited will present Part Five of the Jazz History of St. Louis: The Gaslight Square Era Sunday night from nine to midnight.  Gaslight Square is one of the cultural events never to be forgotten by St. Louisans.  Jazz music of all styles was heard there.  We will hear Sammy Gardner, Singleton Palmer, Muggsy Sprecher, the St. Louis Ragtimers, Ceil Clayton, Clea Bradford, Jeanne Trevor and the Quartet Tres Bien, among many others, along with the voices of people like Jeter Thompson, Norman Menne, Jean Kittrell and Joe Buerger, who made the history.

The Jazz Unlimited Sunday, April 28 show will have “The Jazz History of St. Louis, Part 4: The 1950’s.”  The period saw the founding of the St.

Jazz Unlimited on Sunday, April 21 will feature “The Jazz History of St. Louis, Part 3: World War II and Its Aftermath."  The period saw the formation of the George Hudson Orchestra and the early careers of Miles Davis, Clark Terry, Jimmy Forrest, Ernie Wilkins, Charles Fox, Chris Woods, Velma Middleton and Arvell Shaw.  Some of the rare recordings include the recording debut of Wendell Marshall, two tunes recorded by Jimmy Forrest at the Bolo Club, a recording by the Tommy Dean Band, a V-disc recording by Clark Terry and His Section Eights, a recording made in St.