For jazz heads in St. Louis, nothing need be said beyond this: Oliver Lake is coming to town with his organ trio, plus Russell Gunn on trumpet!
The Oliver Lake Organ Trio featuring Russell Gunn plays Jazz at the Bistro December 16-19, hitting two sets nightly, at 8:30 and 10:15 p.m.
These are two of our finest local jazz sons – given their comparative ages, maybe a jazz uncle and a jazz son – coming home to command the same intimate stage, in what is certain to be a friendly and family environment.
If you have heard Lake’s organ trio record, Makin’ It, which just burns and swings, then you know this is destined for “concert of the year” material.
It will be a reunion for Lake and Gunn, the alto legend and seasoned trumpet veteran, both also composers and bandleaders who have worked in a wide variety of musical settings.
Gunn – one of many products of Ron Carter’s East St. Louis Lincoln High jazz program – has grown up a great deal since Lake last had him on the bandstand.
“It was a long time ago, when Russell was only 18 or 19, that I came through town and heard him play,” Lake said.
“I invited him to New York, then he moved to New York. He toured Europe with me. He’s evolved into a brilliant trumpetist and really established himself.”
A reunion seemed in order. “And we’re both from St. Louis,” Lake said. “How ideal could that be?”
In jazz circles, Lake is world-famous, through his work with the World Saxophone Quartet and as a leader, though he comes home often. Family is a large motivation; he has a son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, uncles, aunts “and a bunch of cousins” in St. Louis, he said with a laugh – “and I hope they all come to hear me play.”
With his wide range of international accomplishments, matched with his lingering ties to home, Lake resembles his friend and contemporary, the poet Quincy Troupe. Lake embraced the comparison. “I just talked to Quincy and he said he’d be in town at that same time and would come see the show,” Lake said.
Troupe, Lake’s family and the rest of us will hear material drawn from Lake’s recent organ trio record, composed by himself and the late Malachi Thompson, who used to lead a Chicago-based ensemble that featured Lake and Billy Harper.
“I was with Malachi the week he passed,” Lake said.
“We played his last concert together. I said, ‘Wow.’ I wanted to record and play some of his pieces, as a form of dedication. They are great compositions, too.”
Lake himself is in a strong writing stride. In the last decade, he said, his compositional process has been strengthened by composing with the computer software Finale.
“With the computer, I have an opportunity to hear a tune over and over and make changes prior to the first rehearsal,” Lake said.
Once he has the tune worked out, he uses the computer program to print charts for the other players. This has facilitated an idea whose time is coming – the Oliver Lake fakebook (he should call it the Lakebook), which he said is something he plans to do.
In the meantime, he has plenty of projects on the near horizon. The World Saxophone Quartet will reform to play some dates at Birdland and in Europe with the M’Boom percussion ensemble. He plans to release records for Trio 3 and the organ quartet in 2010, though the quartet record will feature Freddy Hendrix, rather than Russell Gunn, on trumpet.
To hear Gunn blast in front of Lake’s blazing organ trio (with Jared Gold on organ and Johnathan Blake on drums), the only place to be is St. Louis next week.
“I invite everybody to come out and check out the group,” Lake said. “It will be great to get back to St. Louis and reconnect.”
The Oliver Lake Organ Trio featuring Russell Gunn plays Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., Dec. 16-19, hitting two sets nightly, at 8:30 and 10:15 p.m. Tickets are $30 (Wed./Thur.) and $35 (Friday/Saturday), or $15 for students with ID. Call (314)289-4037 or visit www.jazzstl.org.
