Five years ago, T.J. Müller was 21, living in the United Kingdom, and opening shows for Pokey LaFarge. Before one of the tour’s last shows, Müller handed LaFarge a CD by his own band. A month after that, LaFarge emailed him, wanting to talk. Less than two months later, Müller was in St. Louis. “Within the span of several weeks, it went from an email to uprooting, shutting down everything in my life,” says Müller. “I didn’t have so much stuff, so that part wasn’t hard to do.
“When I first came here, it was a trial period,” he adds. “I decided from day one to have no expectations—I didn’t want to imagine my new life as anything in particular so I’d enjoy each moment as it came.”
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After moving to St. Louis and spending several years touring with LaFarge, Müller set off on his own path. He played traditional jazz in a series of local bands and began teaching music lessons on the side. Proficient on a variety of horns (cornet, trumpet, trombone), he began to sharpen his chops on the banjo. He can also comfortably front a group on vocals.
Today the soft-spoken Englishman is married and living in Benton Park with a dog and a cat. There’s seldom a day on which he’s not rehearsing or playing or, during neighborhood events, busking along Cherokee Street. It’s both a living and a constant education. “The further I go down the rabbit hole, I keep on finding more and more music within my own genre that I haven’t learned yet,” he says. “I enjoy playing other forms of music—especially old-timey music—but it’s one of those things: The more I learn about 1920s jazz, the less I feel I know.”
Though only in his mid-twenties, Müller’s keenly aware that he’s part of a continuum: His mentor Bill Mason played horn in Gaslight Square decades ago. “He’s an absolute local treasure,” Müller says. “Most of my influences are in their seventies and eighties. They’ve been playing this music their whole lives, and they learned from people who’d played music their whole lives.”
That’s one reason he named his traditional jazz band The Gaslight Squares. “Keeping that chain going is hugely important,” Müller says. “I want to share this music as much as I can.”
Pick Three
Among Müller’s St. Louis bands are occasional groups like the old-timey Scrubby Dutch Jug Band and acts that he joins as a sideman, such as Miss Jubilee & The Humdingers. Here are three more.
The Gaslight Squares: This four-piece dives into the songs of the early 20th century and regularly features talented guest artists; catch them every Friday at Yaquis on Cherokee.
The Sidney Street Shakers: A large ensemble, led by Müller and Kelly Everett, the Shakers mine the music of early St. Louis, reviving nearly forgotten songs.
The St. Louis Banjo Club: Müller is a regular with this social and musical assemblage of people ranging in age from their twenties through their seventies. They play a monthly open jam at Schlafly Bottleworks.
