“Sorry it didn’t work out, but not everybody makes it in this business,” Tim Cunningham said a record executive once told him.
“She didn’t mean it in a negative way, and it inspired me,” Cunningham said. “I took it as, ‘You know what? I’m going to prove her wrong.’ Not everyone makes it, but I believe that I can.”
After 33 years of playing the sax, six albums and more performance and collaboration credits than one article can allow, Cunningham shows no signs of slowing down his quest for dominance of the smooth jazz market.
As an effort to expose new and familiar audiences to his latest release Manchester Rd. and his previous works, Cunningham will perform June 26 at the popular Twilight Tuesdays Series at the Missouri History Museum sponsored by the Whitaker Foundation.
“I’m excited about it. They are going to see me with my Finale band, which includes Jeremiah Allen on keyboard and vocals, Jeff Taylor on bass, Lennie McCanles on guitar and Demarius Hicks on drums,” Cunningham said.
“I try to make a very strong connection with the audience, create energy and try to do something dynamic.”
As eager as he is to perform live, Manchester Rd. is evidently Cunningham’s pride and joy of the moment.
“For whatever reason, this CD was so easy to record and sometimes it’s really difficult,” Cunningham said – “you want to write a song, you can’t come up with anything, or if you do it’s not good.”
But with Manchester Rd., he said he would walk into the studio, come up with a melody and just start playing.
“For some of the songs, the melody was the first thing that came out of my horn and a couple were recorded with one take,” Cunningham said.
“I can’t explain it – it was like it was meant to happen. It was my best recording so far.”
Upbeat and melodic, Manchester Rd. is a celebration of the saxophone.
“It’s smooth jazz only in that it’s instrumental, but it has a more R&B feel to it,” Cunningham said. “I go back to the basics as a musician as far as the melody goes.”
A native of Lansing, Michigan, Cunningham came to St. Louis in 1994 after a major deal with Atlantic Records dissolved. He admits that working the jazz scene in St. Louis is no easy task.
“There aren’t a whole lot of clubs to play here,” Cunningham said. “And, quite honestly, when Smooth Jazz left the airwaves – well, it’s been tough, because fans don’t really have a place to tune into.”
In the meantime, Cunningham is on the local, national and international jazz circuit in a big way and is looking forward to landing another recording contract.
“Manchester Rd. says that I’m still here,” said Cunningham.
And on Tuesday he’ll be at the Missouri History Museum, an ideal venue for a family outing. And Cunningham has found his music to be fun for the whole family.
He said, “I’ve had young kids come up to me and say, ‘I don’t like jazz but I like the way you play.’”
Tim Cunningham will be the featured performer at the Missouri History Museum’s Twilight Tuesday Concert Series on Tuesday, June 26. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. and will take place on the front steps of the Missouri Historical Society, located at Lindell and DeBaliviere. For more information about the concert call (314) 746-4599. For more information about Tim Cunningham, visit www.timcunningham.com.