Live on the Levee series announces 2008 lineup

The lineup has been announced for the 2008 Live On The Levee series of free outdoor concerts on the riverfront, and once again there's precious little for fans of St. Louis' indigenous musical genres of jazz and blues.

Specifically, there are two performers that may be of interest: Teenage blues phenom Marquise Knox will open for the funk-rock-Latin band War on Saturday, July 19, and singer Gloria Brand, who mixes jazz with R&B, pop and other genres, will be the opening act for neo-soul singer Anthony Hamilton's Fair St. Louis show on July 5.

That's not to say that the series is totally without musical merit; British singer Joss Stone will headline the July 4 show at Fair St. Louis, and she and Hamilton both have made some enjoyable records, with the latter in particular said to be a galvanizing live performer.

Moreover, as a big fan of War who saw them play live several times back in the day, I'd normally be excited to see them returning to St. Louis. However, the band currently touring with the name War includes just one original member, keyboardist Lonnie Jordan, from the group that recorded hits like "All Day Music," "Low Rider," "Slippin' Into Darkness," and "The World Is A Ghetto" back in the 1970s. The other four living original members - bassist B.B. Dickerson, guitarist Howard Scott, drummer Harold Brown Jr. and harp player Lee Oskar - continue to perform together using the name Low Rider Band, and in my admittedly biased opinion, those guys would have been the ones to book to get the authentic vibe. Still, even the ersatz War does have a great catalog of tunes to draw upon, and, assuming Jordan has hired some decent sidemen, should present at least some entertainment value.

After Fair St. Louis, the Live on the Levee series proper kicks off on Friday, July 11 with jam bands Umphrey's McGee and Sound Tribe Sector 9, followed by the country group Lonestar on July 12. The series runs Fridays and Saturdays through August 2, and also will feature concerts from rock band the Black Crowes, R&B vocal group Boyz II Men, pop-rock band One Republic and roots-rock groups Rusted Root and O.A.R. The Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson has the details in his story on the series here, plus a list of the opening acts in a blog post here.

Aside from Stone, Hamilton and War, I can't say I'm particularly enthused about seeing any of these shows, though of course your mileage may vary. More to the point, it remains both a disappointment and a bitter irony that jazz and blues - the musical styles for which St. Louis is known around the world - are noticeably absent from a series produced by an organization named Celebrate St. Louis.

True, a concert devoted to jazz or blues might not draw quite as large an audience as yet another rock show, but a series like this ought to be about more than just going for the biggest possible crowds. Jazz and blues are a crucial part of St. Louis' musical heritage, and continue to have significant audiences in the area; a series that truly reflected St. Louis' tastes would find room for both genres. Conversely, if popularity is supposedly a key factor in determining what gets booked, where's the hip-hop? Though I'm not personally a big fan, St. Louis has spawned a number of successful hip-hop performers, and the music is hugely popular with a lot of people in the community.

In Johnson's story, series producer Missy Slay is quoted as saying, "The number one goal is to make sure the lineup is diverse and that we're offering music appealing to everyone regardless of gender and race." I guess it's nice that she's at least paying lip service to the concept, but if you enjoy jazz and/or blues, Live on the Levee would seem to still have a long way to go to achieve true musical diversity.