Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
When Jazz St. Louis executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford was still with the St. Louis Symphony, he’d leave Powell Hall around 10:30 p.m., just in time to catch the last set at Jazz at the Bistro at a quarter to 11. Bradford’s a bass player (though he jokes he’s more of a “bass owner” these days—he’ll sit in with local bands on harmonica, but his bass is over at the Bistro for touring musicians to use). One night, he went to see one of his big musical heroes, Ray Brown. This was in the ’90s, when the late Barbara Rose, better known as “Jazz Mom,” was running the Bistro.
“I walked in and saw Barbara—we were friends by that time—and there was the great man himself sitting in the back,” Bradford remembers. “I said, ‘Is it possible for me to meet Ray Brown?’ And she said, ‘Come on! You have to meet him!’ And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh—are we just going to go over and talk to him right now?’ We walked over, and he was sitting there, and he was so serious. I was a little bit nervous about disturbing him. She said, ‘Ray, here’s someone who wants to meet you!’ And he just lit up. I shook his hand, and I couldn’t believe I was talking to him. He was Oscar Peterson’s bass player for years and years. The thing is, that’s always been something that has been a part of the Bistro—the artists aren’t separated.”
When Rose died of breast cancer in 1998, Bradford took over the series that began as Just Jazz at the Hotel Majestic, before the series found a permanent home in the Bistro at Grand Center. Bradford pulls out a photo of Rose hugging jazz drummer Gregory Hutchinson. “He’s very, very in-demand now,” he says, “but this was at the beginning of his career. And this says it all...She was a great apostle for the music.”
Now, Jazz at the Bistro is nationally revered; in 2008, CNN named it one of “nine great jazz joints.” But Bradford says the concerts at the Bistro make up only half of the mission of Jazz St. Louis, which is why the organization changed its name in 2006. One of his first decisions as director was to start some robust educational outreach programs—in fact, the first session was with Ray Brown, who worked with a dozen kids at the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club. A little more than 10 years later, the organization reaches 12,0000 to 14,000 kids a year through programs like JazzU, the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, the Artist Residency Program, Youth Concerts, and Emerson Jazz in the Schools.
“We’ve said no to artists because they didn’t want to participate [in the educational programs],” he says. “But that’s very, very rare. More common is that they are very happy and excited to do it, because they feel like we’re actually trying to do something to build the audience, and they get a chance to participate in that.” He says what allows musicians the time to go out into the schools is that they play multiple nights at the Bistro. Those long stands also directly benefit musicians and audiences, says lauded jazz pianist
Peter Martin, who grew up in St. Louis but lived in New Orleans for years until he returned here with his family after Hurricane Katrina. “The level of people the Bistro brings in,” he says, “and has for that many nights, is pretty rare.”
Saxophonist Oliver Lake, who helped found St. Louis’ Black Artists’ Group in the late 1960s, says that from a musician’s point of view, the Bistro is also ideal. “You know everyone’s going to hear you because the acoustics are good; you know everyone’s going to see you because of the way the club is put together,” he says. “And it’s very unusual and great to have a club of that stature continuing for 15 years.”
March, Bradford says, offers a neat lens through which to look at Jazz St. Louis’ history and programming, with shows from Ronald Carter, former director of the East St. Louis Lincoln Senior High jazz program (which launched more than one jazz great into the world); the aforementioned Gregory Hutchinson, who performs with Christian McBride and Benny Green; and Ann Hampton Calloway, who played the Just Jazz series and wrote a tribute song to Rose after her death.
The series has changed a lot since Rose’s tenure, Bradford says. But the core of what Jazz St. Louis was 15 years ago is essentially the same: To offer a no-smoking listening room that’s not about cocktails or socializing or being seen.
“Jazz needs the audience to make it complete,” he says. “The artists respond to the crowd. The crowd can lift them up, can make them play better than they ever thought they could. So when the solo finishes, if there’s a really enthusiastic response from the crowd, it’s very encouraging. Sometimes they can’t even wait until the solo is over. So that’s something that’s been very important to us—just having an environment where people can experience the music.”
Jazz St. Louis presents its gala, Ain’t Misbehavin’, March 6 at 5:30 p.m., with Ron Carter, the Funky Butt Brass Band, the East St. Louis High School Big Band, and the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars and JazzU bands. For info, call 314-289-4037 or go to jazzstl.org, where you’ll also find the full season for Jazz at the Bistro, located at 3536 Washington.
