Michael Silverman is involved in local jazz circles in myriad ways. He has been a performer since his teens, works as the owner of Clayton Studios, and owns and operates several annual festivals. To his mind, there’s plenty of jazz talent here, without question, as well as a lively and active club scene. What’s missing, he feels, is something that’s fixable: a lack of recording projects.
Recently, he was speaking to the general manager of WSIE, Jason Church, and “what we found as part of the problem is that we don’t have enough actual albums and professional videos. We have plenty of talent, venues, and festivals. The musicians are great; we have some of the best improvisers in the country. But we want to get them to the point of getting into the studio and then get those CDs out to radio stations and the internet, of course.”
Along with the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, Silverman’s Clayton Studios recently took part in an effort to change that dynamic.
Releasing on Friday, March 15, will be a nine-act CD called The Sound of St. Louis–Jazz Compilation Volume 1. It will feature bands and artists that have been regular, featured artists at the Dark Room and Sophie’s Music Lounge over the past year. With Clayton’s Tazu Marshall at the control board, the artists include: Bob DeBoo, Mo Egeston, Jesse Gannon, Anita Jackson, Ben Reece, Owen Ragland, Tonina Saputo, Kasimu Taylor, and Ptah Williams. In the latter case, Williams' act Tracer (which also includes bassist Darrell Mixon and drummer Gary Sykes) recorded for the first time ever, after decades of playing together in various outfits.
“No one had ever gotten them into the studio together,” Silverman marvels. “Since I was a teenager, they’ve been one of my favorite live groups, and they’d never produced even a single song. They did a Darrell Mixon song called ‘Celestial Seekers.’ Done in one take, and we just loved it. So much live energy.”
Silverman’s enthused about several of the acts, though, all of whom came into the studio with the goal of getting down a single track in one, compact session.
“I knew about half of the performers ahead of time,” Silverman says. “But I really learned a lot more about even them. Jesse Gannon’s piece was just amazing. I think he’s destined for the big time. He could be an international star, I think, such a natural talent. Another one that struck me was Anita Jackson. I hadn’t heard as much of her before, but she had a really creative, beautiful piece. It was more of a production than some others, with overdubs, powerful background and harmony vocals. And her musical director, Phil Graves… I have a new level of respect for him. Very creative in the studio with his piano and synthesizer parts; he added some really special arranging and that was a surprise for me. Really, really brilliant.”
Silverman saved some of his biggest compliments for bassist Bob DeBoo.
"He’s becoming a real force for jazz in St. Louis,” Silverman says. “He’s a great thinker and heads up the jam session every Wednesday night at The Kranzberg. In the studio he’s very good at keeping the trains running. Musicians in the studio can be like herding cats, fiddling with things. They can get to talking and too many ideas come up. He can really nail it down and gets the piece right to where it needs to be. Each group has a personality, and it’s fun to see what they do when they get in there.”
For his part, DeBoo laughs when he’s told that Silverman was effusive in praising him, preferring not to have the quotes read back. But when told some of Silverman’s theories on the lack of high-end recordings for STL bands, he agrees, with some caveats.
“It seems especially true with jazz that the art gets created on the bandstand,” he says. “In pop and rock bands, you release an album and then you play shows to support that album. With jazz, you get a group that you like together and then do a recording. We tend to get into that space where you’re playing a bunch of shows and that seems like enough. You’re making new music every night. Financially, it can be tricky for jazz musicians to go in and record, book studio time, release stuff. If you want to hear what we’re up to, you go to the club.”
That said, being on this disc makes him feel “honored to take part. I’ve worked with a fair amount of them. And the younger groups I don’t know as well, but I’ve heard them at the Dark Room and other venues, and I’m excited at what they’re putting out. It was fun when this idea was presented to me, and I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s music.”
The Sound of St. Louis–Jazz Compilation Volume 1 will be available as a CD for $10, digital download for $8, and on streaming services. The CD will be available locally at Vintage Vinyl, Music Record Shop, Euclid Records, Sophie’s Artist Lounge, and The Dark Room.
