“You don’t read my blog, do you?” Vanita “Vanita Applebum” Thompson said when asked about how soul and jazz musician Frank McComb came to be the most recent spotlight artist for her Suite Soul Spot concert series.
“He chose me.”
“So I got this phone call early one Saturday morning… ‘YO Veeee!’” the blog entry notes. “It was Frank McComb. What a blessing to have him come to St. Louis FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!”
Plenty of folks have never, ever heard of Frank McComb – but he is an unmatched talent on the soul/jazz circuit with a musical style completely his own. He somehow managed to recreate the vocal DNA of Donny Hathaway and offer that painfully beautiful first tenor tone as a musical blessing to an entirely new generation.
But those willing to keep a musical open mind will be anything but sorry if they decide to stop by Plush Saturday night and see him – along with St. Louis’ own Marcus Baylor (and his wife Jean, formerly of Zhane) as special guests.
It was his love for Donny Hathaway that led McComb to reach out to Thompson.
“He said he had a couple of dates in the U.S. open and he wanted to make something happen,” Thompson said. “He’s never been here before, and he wanted to perform where it all began (for Hathaway) for a long time.”
For nearly 20 years McComb has been just on the cusp of crossover R&B success as a beloved performer with the jazz festival circuit.
“He had an album called Love Stories that blew me away,” Thompson said. “People don’t know much about him in the U.S, but he is always busy touring other countries. Music is a universal language – and he speaks it very well.”
He started out with Branford Marsalis as a part of Buckshot Le Funk in the early 1990s, and through the group McComb developed a strong underground soul following – especially in Japan.
The jazz, hip-hop and soul fusion group released two albums before parting ways in the late 1990s.
The soul of his voice is the ultimate accompaniment to his musicianship – and, like Hathaway, his skills as an arranger and keyboardist leave hardcore music lovers in awe. McComb has gone on to release seven studio albums. His most recent release was 2010 LP A New Beginning.
Thompson is over the moon at the opportunity to be the vessel for McComb’s first St. Louis show.
“His show is phenomenal,” Thompson said. “He’s so seasoned after playing all around the world at jazz festivals, and it’s going to be an incredible show.”
She hopes that through McComb – and her Suite Soul Spot concert series – that the St. Louis music audience embraces the opportunity to be exposed to more than just the mainstream.
“I just want to continue to make people aware that there is a lot of music that you don’t hear on the radio,” Thompson said. “There are artists out there – and even here (like Donny Hathaway) – that are as good as or better than what you hear, and those artists are accessible. And we as a city we need to support them. There needs to be a paradigm shift encouraging people listen to what’s out there as opposed to what’s considered the norm. “
And she feels McComb is the perfect pitchman to get audiences to buy into the talent that lies slightly under the radar.
“I’m hoping that after Frank blows them away they start exploring a little more – hopping on their Spotify and Pandora and moving with a free outlook.”
Suite Soul Spot presents Frank McComb with special guests Marcus and Jean Baylor at Plush (3222 Locust) on Saturday, November 3. Doors open at7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. For more information, or tickets visit www.vanitapplebum.com.
