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Troy's Jazz Gallery provides home for local jazz musicians

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 13, 2013 - When Troy Williams was growing up in St. Louis, jazz certainly wasn’t his favorite music. In fact, after Williams moved to Alabama to attend Talladega College and eventually relocated to Atlanta, he became involved in that city’s hip-hop scene – promoting music showcases for rappers such as Master P and groups like Outkast.

So how did Williams end up trying to start a new jazz club, Troy’s Jazz Gallery, just a few blocks east of the Central West End on Olive Boulevard back in his hometown?

According to Williams, his love of jazz took a long time to develop, and his desire to own a club presenting that music grew slowly over the course of more than a decade of starting and running other clubs on the St. Louis scene.

“After I went to Talladega in 1990, I quickly figured out college wasn’t for me,” explains Williams over late morning coffee in a Central West End restaurant. “So I moved to Atlanta, and I got involved in the hip-hop scene there, which was really exploding in the early ‘90s. So I definitely wasn’t into jazz at the time. Of course, I had heard of Miles (Davis) and Trane (John Coltrane), but they were just names to me then.”

But eventually Williams became intrigued by jazz – and interested in starting his own club back in St. Louis. After returning to his hometown, Williams opened his first club, Troy’s on the Park in Lafayette Square, in October 1999. Within a year, the small, intimate venue was named critic’s choice for “Best Jazz and Blues Club” by the Riverfront Times.

“I really was more into blues than I was jazz when I started that club,” recalls Williams. “And I was doing things like poetry readings every week as well. But as I said, I was really trying to get into jazz. But that’s a process that doesn’t happen overnight. It was like going back and being a student again to learn the music.”

But jazz became a part of the entertainment offerings at Troy’s on the Park after Williams hired the Syd Rodway Quartet for a performance and after Rodway and pianist Adam Maness of the group got him to agree to give them a chance.

“I remember the day they were first going to be at the club; the weather report indicated we were going to be hit with a major storm that night,” says Williams. "I told them we should postpone, but they convinced me to stay open. I was amazed when the place was packed despite the awful weather.”

 

Williams kept Troy’s on the Park going through 2002, then moved on to start another club, Filter, on Belt near Union, in 2003. He kept Filter going through 2007 and then took a break from being a club owner.

“It was definitely a learning experience in a lot of ways,” he states. “In terms of just managing a club, you have to learn a lot on both the business end and the music end of things as you go through the process. I learned that for a business like a club to be successful, you really have to know the city – and the clientele you’re trying to attract. And in terms of music, you have to know the musicians in the jazz world – from high school to professionals. You have to understand the different musical cliques that the musicians have, as well as the different audiences that like straight-ahead jazz or smooth jazz, for example.”

Birth of Troy's Jazz Gallery

Williams had gained plenty of experience running his first club and Filter, but he really wasn’t planning on starting Troy’s Jazz Gallery – until he accidently saw the empty space at 4519 Olive Blvd.

“I actually only found the place because I got lost one day,” he says with a smile. “I drove by it and thought, this is a gorgeous building and a great location. So I had to stop and check it out.”

The space had been a print shop, had large windows facing Olive and was located just two long blocks east of Euclid and Washington, near the north side of the CWE. Williams decided it would make an ideal spot for a new jazz club.

“I got the space and then spent 18 months gutting it and rehabbing it,” explains Williams. “About halfway through the process, I started having musicians come by and play for a while so I could make sure the acoustics were going to be good. After that, I built some sound buffers to tweak everything so it was right for the music.”

Williams had a soft opening for Troy’s Jazz Gallery in December. He put together an initial music lineup that featured bands led by vibes player Peter Schlamb on Tuesday nights, Kendrick Smith and Darrell Mixon on Friday and Saturday evenings, and Willie Akins on early evening Saturdays. The club’s official grand opening is scheduled for mid-April.

“I really wanted to have a soft opening to address the issues and inevitable drama of getting a new club up and running,” says Williams. “So other than getting my website up and using word-of-mouth to promote things, I decided to wait on doing a lot of advertising. But now that I have my new lineup in place, I’m ready to move forward and get the word out.”

The new lineup features area keyboard great Ptah Williams on Thursday evenings. He’ll be working in a trio with bassist Bob DeBoo and drummer Demarius Hicks – a group that had a long run at the now defunct Riddle’s on Delmar.

“It’s great to have the trio back together,” says Williams between breaks at his Troy’s debut last week. “The club has a great vibe, too.”

Friday nights the focus switches to the smooth jazz and R&B sound of popular saxophonist Tim Cunningham and his band. 

Saturdays will still feature Willie Akins and his band. Akins held down a similar late afternoon and early Saturday evening slot at Spruill’s for many years before the club changed its name to lavish and ended live music performances at the end of 2011.

“Willie is a local legend,” says Williams. “He’s the cornerstone of Saturdays for me, and I’m not going to put any other music at the club later on Saturdays. And with Ptah on Thursdays and Tim on Fridays, we’ve got three very talented musicians and bands performing on a regular basis. And we’ve got the best of straight ahead and smooth jazz at the same club.”

Williams eventually hopes to add another weeknight jazz jam to the schedule at Troy’s – something he sees as essential for the continued vitality of the music. And he also sees a vital need for a club like Troy’s on the St. Louis jazz scene.

“Jazz at the Bistro brings in amazing national musicians, and they also do a great job featuring St. Louis musicians as well. But it’s also very important to create a home for musicians like Willie, Ptah and Tim on a weekly basis. And it’s also important to create room for up-and-coming artists too. Tell any aspiring young jazz musicians; don’t hesitate to call.”

Although Troy’s has been refurbished on the interior and the space provides a comfortable, sound-friendly environment for music, there’s still work to do. The sign out front is still not completed, and a limited food menu is still in the planning stages. But Williams has a clear vision of what he wants Troy’s to become – and a philosophy to follow going forward.

“What it all comes down to is that jazz is a unifying element in a community,” says Williams. “Black and white audiences, and from all economic backgrounds, coming together to hear the music. That’s the goal.”

Terry Perkins is a freelance writer.

Terry Perkins is a freelance writer based in St. Louis. He has written for the St. Louis Beacon since 2009. Terry's other writing credits in St. Louis include: the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis American, the Riverfront Times, and St. Louis magazine. Nationally, Terry writes for DownBeat magazine, OxfordAmerican.org and RollingStone.com, among others.