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The Jazz History Of St. Louis-Part 9: The Early 2000's

The Jazz Unlimited Sunday, August 31, will be the “Jazz History of St. Louis-Part 9: The Early 2000’s.”  Even though 9/11 put fear into the nation, the St. Louis jazz scene continued to revive until the Great Recession that started in 2007.  After that, gigs were few and far between for several years.  Jazz at the Bistro became one of the great jazz clubs in the world.  The Sheldon continued to bring local and national groups into St. Louis.  The City Bank St. Louis Jazz Festival was in Shaw Park from 2001 to 2008.  Bill Becker’s Victoria Company continued to document St. Louis’s jazz musicians.  The Sheldon Art Gallery presented an exhibition on the Jazz history of St. Louis in 2006 and my book “City of Gabriels-The Jazz History of St. Louis 1895-1974" was published in that year.  The August 31 show will present music by Tom Byrne, Valerie Tichacek, Lamar Harris, Jeremy Davenport, Stephanie Trick, Peter Martin, Kim Massey, Cornet Chop Suey, Erin Bode, Danita Mumphard, Gary Dammer, Jim Manley, the Trio Tres Bien, Prince Wells, Tom Kennedy, Randy Holmes, Kim Portnoy, Reggie and Mardra Thomas, Fontella Bass, Swing DeVille, Steve Davis, Ralph and Barbara Sutton, Brett Stamps, Jim Owens, Terry Williams, Jimmy Jones, Sherry Drake, William Linehan and Larry Wilson.  Gene Dobbs Bradford, Erin Bode, Peter Martin, Randy Holmes and Reggie Thomas will be interviewed.

Check out the photos of some of the artists heard tonight in the slide show.

Here is the Kim Portnoy Trio at Cookies in 2006.  Kim Portnoy (p), Glenn Smith (b) Clancy Newell (d).  This segment contains an interview of Kim by Valerie Tichacek

Dennis Owsley has broadcast a weekly jazz show for St. Louis Public Radio since April 1983. He holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and is a retired Monsanto Senior Science Fellow and college teacher. His show, Jazz Unlimited, airs every Sunday from 9:00 p.m. to midnight. The show has the largest jazz audience in St. Louis and was named Best Jazz Radio Show in St. Louis for the years 2005-2007 and 2009 by the Riverfront Times. In celebration of his 25 years on the air, January 24, 2008 was proclaimed Dennis Owsley Day" in the City of St. Louis. He is the 2010 winner of the St. Louis Public Radio Millard S. Cohen Lifetime Achievement Award. Dennis is also a noted photographer, and his exhibit, In the Moment: Photographs of Jazz Musicians, ran from September 23, 2005 to January 21, 2006 at the Sheldon Art Gallery. He is a lifetime student of jazz history and teaches short courses on the subject. Dennis is the author of the award-winning book City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis 1985-1973, published in 2006.