A Concert Pitch

The world-renowned Missouri Botanical Garden hosts a summer concert series that boasts an average attendance of 56 thousand people for each 10-concert season, averaging over 5,600 per show.

The Whitaker Music Festival, a St. Louis summer entertainment favorite, features an eclectic selection of musical entertainment that is curated and managed by Adam Jaschek, the Garden's Senior Events Coordinator. In addition to the Whitaker Music Festival, Adam manages special events including Chinese Culture Days, Japanese Festival, Best of Missouri Market® and More.

I interviewed Adam to get insight on how the bands are selected for the Whitaker Music Festival, why the series is so popular, and why the Botanical Garden features such events.

Visit FreeConcertSTL.com for the 2016 Whitaker Music Festival schedule.

St. Louis based Todd Mosby is a phenomenal acoustic musician who

His newly-released album On Eagle Mountain will be featured at a

Darren George, Mirage manager and drummer, suggested we do an interview about the wedding band business, and how their clients can select and work with a band. We covered business and operational aspects of shopping and working with these bands to help assure the music for the event will be perfect. Consider not only music that appeals to the bridal couple, but more importantly to the guests. A wedding reception will likely have guests ranging from teenagers to those 65 and older. Considering age diversity, a band that plays a wide variety of music will more likely keep the guests entertained and on the dance floor throughout the evening. When you've decided on which band to hire, do it quickly. Many bands book 12 to 18 months out, so waiting may cost you to settle for your second or third choice. Ask the bands you are considering if you can stop by a reception or event to listen and see the band live. While some engaged couples feel awkward stopping by a reception, it’s not uncommon; simply ask the band to coordinate the audition by asking the bride and groom for permission. Include as many details as you’d like in the contract with the band. For example, are there clauses in the contract that cover:

Be certain to hire a band that is experienced in playing receptions. Hiring a "club" may be appealing, there are many nuances to a reception that requires previous experience. Those include:

The terms singer, songwriter, musician, and bandleader all describe Tyler Stokes, but I walked away from this interview thinking of him as an extremely wise and intelligent young man with amazing insight and vision. In Tyler I found a breed of musicians that defines a new generation, influenced at a young age by the best rock and blues artists the age of their parents, grandparents and older.

My friend Scott Laytham (The Scott Laytham and Karl Holmes Duo) recently suggested that I interview Tyler on my podcast. Not long after that I received a call from Tyler asking if I'd like to have him on my show. I accepted without hesitation, and I'm so glad I did. Tyler and I had a great time digging deep into his background, influences, and career, as well as a fascinating discussion of music therapy, especially as it's applied in hospice care.

Hear Tyler talk about being discovered and encouraged at a very young age by two blues greats, Devon Allman and Marquis Knox. He also lists musicians he's been privileged to be associated with: Dave Black, Tom Byrne, Yonrico Scott, Keith Robinson, Valerie Jo Kirchhoff, Dan Connor, and others.

I've been following Peter Martin since 2009 when I saw him play at the Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden. I saw him play there again in 2014. In this interview, he shared that is one of his favorite places to play in St. Louis, ranked at the top with Jazz at the Bistro where he'll be performing May 18–19.

Peter is known for his collaboration since the late 1990s touring and recording with jazz singer, Dianne Reeves. He'll be touring for the next three months in the US, Japan, and Europe. Most of the gigs are with Dianne and others with his trio — Greg Hutchinson on drums and Reuben Rogers on bass. We cover that activity in this interview.

Peter also describes his very interesting upbringing which includes being raised by parents who were professional musicians, having Wynton Marsalis as a mentor and close friend, and his association with many of St. Louis' jazz greats like Carolbeth True, the late Willie Akins, Freddie Washington, and others.

This interview isn't all about music; we also discuss his life as an educator and entrepreneur. Several months ago, I started running into Peter at Venture Café, a weekly gathering of innovators and entrepreneurs. Naturally, I wondered why an accomplished musician would hang with a bunch of business types. I was surprised to learn that he is a leader in online music education. In the podcast he talks about how he founded and launched Open Studio Network, a business described as, "Built in Saint Louis. Made for the World."

Vincent Golomski of Fanfare Band is my guest in this episode of A Concert Pitch. He is founder, manager, and keyboard player of this popular dance band celebrating it’s 40th year.

Fanfare Band, with lead singer, Kittie Moller, performs all over St. Louis at commercial venues including the Ritz Carlton in Clayton and Dierbergs in Des Peres. They also perform private shows at local schools and retirement homes, and other private events all over the region.

I’ve heard this band at several free concerts in the area over the past four years including the St. Louis County Parks Department Food Truck Fest and Bridgeton’s Summer Concert Series. They have several such concerts scheduled for the 2016 summer concert season.

A significant fact about this band is their popularity with the dance community. Vincent describes their regular gigs at the Ritz where local dance clubs show up, and the phenomenon of people dancing in a supermarket when they do their gigs at Dierbergs. He shares the experience of doing programs at grade schools where the students and teachers are up dancing as they present a modern history of music, and the subtleties of performing for the residents of area retirement communities including Friendship Village and The Gatesworth.

We also explore in this episode the band’s history; their recordings; criteria for adding songs to the list; the background of the other musicians, drummer Lanny Boles and guitarist Charlie Delbert — and  why they enjoy doing free concerts.

Be sure to check the FreeConcertsSTL.com calendar for summer concerts that feature Fanfare with Kittie Moller.

I was introduced to country music songwriter, Steve Williams, through a friend, Myles Kelly, manager and keyboard player for Rockin' Chair, and band that covered the Laural Canyon — Eagles; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Poco and others. Myles contacted me recently after "discovering" Steve Williams playing with another songwriter, Will Nance, at a performance at Nashville's The Listening Room.

Myles told me that Williams would be performing at a sold out show with Nance in Festus on January 23rd, and suggested I interview him for A Concert Pitch. So I did.

I've never been a big fan of country music, but I respect it for it's popularity and producdtion quality. My musical preferance leans more towards the acoustic rock of my youth, and for the past 40 years, jazz. Nonetheless, I have a fascination as an amateur musician with how songs are written and how songwriters work with publishers and the artists. This interview was a great opportunity to satisfy my curiosity talking with someone who is making a good living writing songs, and claims two #1 songs (“Redneck Yacht Club” and “I Get To”) and to has songs on 3 gold records!

Steve grew up in St. Louis and cut his musical teeth playing in bars in the area. He soon left town, playing with several bands, and ended up in Nashville. He describes how he climbed the ladder that hub of musicians, venues, publishers, and promoters, and then shares deep insights into writing, collaborating, and getting compositions produced.

Randy Mayfield uses his gifts as a musician and songwriter to spread the Gospel. As Pastor of Missions and Outreach at Central Presbyterian Church in Clayton, Missouri, Randy leads missions in St. Louis, nationally, and many foreign countries.

I've known and performed with Randy for over 27 years, and I'll appear with him and a group of talented musicians in a free concert at Central church on Friday, January 15th, 2015. In this episode, we discuss the concert, who'll be performing, Randy's musical background, Christian missions, and more.

Tim Callihan is the leader of Spectrum, one of the premier private bands in the St. Louis Area. I met Tim four years ago at a Spectrum gig at the Chesterfield Chamber of Commerce Summer Concert Series at Faust Park. I've been following them ever since.

Spectrum is so successful — they're booked well into the future — that they have no time or need to play public events — aside from their Faust Park summer concert which they've been doing for 17 years. That's great for corporate party planners and brides and grooms, but a shame for area music fans; the cohesiveness of the band as a unit, the musicianship of the members, their song selection, the arrangements, and their staging, lights and sound is top notch.

In this 80-minute interview we cover Tim's recording studio; his career and retirement from Boeing; his support of local music especially at Jazz at the Bistro, the history and makeup of Spectrum, his views on the importance of music education, and his motivation for doing free concerts.

Three years ago last week we lost a symbol of American music, Dave Brubeck, one day before his ninety-second birthday. Brubeck was a pianist and composer who helped make jazz popular in the 50s and 60s, and who’s song “Take Five” is one of the most recognizable jazz songs ever recorded.

With the anniversary of his passing, I was reminded that I had interviewed him twice, first in the late seventies when I was working at KWMU. He was in St. Louis for a performance at Our Lady of The Snows in Belleville, Illinois. The second time I interviewed him, the one you’ll hear in this podcast, was in 1982 when I was on staff at KSHO in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was there to perform a concert with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.

In this interview, Dave goes into great detail on subjects including his compositions, musicians he’s worked with, the state of music during that time — most of which is relevant today — insights into performing in Asia and in Europe, and jazz festivals.

Our conversation begins with him describing the concert he was about to perform at the Honolulu International Center.

Brubeck was a 2009 Kennedy Center Honor recipient. I must say that interviewing Dave Brubeck was one of the highlights of my broadcasting career.