Courtesy of the Missouri Botanical Garden
Last June, on a night so hot it made you dizzy, you could hardly pick your way across the Botanical Garden—for one thing, it’d been taken over by huge, illuminated Chinese silk lanterns, dragons and pandas and scrolly columns topped with half-moons. There were also picnickers on every patch of spare ground. Folks sat on the grass in front of the amphitheater; they sat under giant, glowing Buddhas; they even threw blankets down over bumpy tree roots. Brooklyn, Ill., native Hamiet Bluiett, considered the finest baritone sax player in the world, was playing that night.
This month, on what could well be an equally hot—and equally packed—evening, that stage hosts another native-born master: Willie Akins. Like Miles Davis and Clark Terry, the tenor sax player kicked off his career with Eddie Randle’s band, then left for New York in the late ’50s, right out of high school. After 10 years backing musicians like Yusef Lateef and McCoy Tyner, he came home to Webster Groves to care for his ailing father.
New York’s loss, our gain, which is why when Greg Osby and Kurt Elling come to town, they want Akins backing them. Drummer Montez Coleman, who cut his teeth in Akins’ band, made his own sojourn to the East Coast and returned home (though he still tours internationally). He and Akins have put together an amazing ensemble with some of the city’s finest up-and-comers, including bass player Bob DeBoo, guitarist Eric Slaughter, and vibraphone player Peter Schlamb. Which is why this show promises to be magical—even without the giant Buddhas.
Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw, 314-577-9400 missouribotanicalgarden.org. July 17, 7:30 p.m., last entry at 9 p.m. Free with garden admission or after 5 p.m.
