First-ever St Lou Fringe Festival to include tribute to Miles Davis

The first-ever St Lou Fringe Festival, taking place this weekend in four Midtown venues, will include a show honoring Miles Davis (pictured), the legendary jazz trumpeter who was born in Alton, IL and grew up in East St. Louis.

Cool Like That, A Tribute to Miles Davis, a production of Black Poet Ventures of Phoenix, AZ, will be staged at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, June 21; 10:00 p.m. Friday, June 22; 1:00 p.m. Saturday, June 23; and 5:30 p.m. Sunday, June 24 in the black box theater at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand.

Said to be adapted from Davis' autobiography (co-written with Quincy Troupe) and endorsed by Miles Davis Properties, the performance includes spoken word, music, vocals, and dance, and explores "the vibrant and robust life of musical genius Miles Davis amid the backdrop of the social and political climate of his time."

The St. Lou Fringe Festival is described as "a 5-day long immersion in cutting edge performing arts, connecting brave artists with bold audiences," and will include a variety of theatrical performances, from traditional to experimental theater, as well as "dance, movement, improv, music, voice, slam/spoken word, performance art, fashion, vaudeville, burlesque, mime, clowning, circus arts – all concentrated within several city blocks."

BlackPoet Ventures, founded in 2005, is "a multimedia performance arts and entertainment company dedicated to promoting, supporting and enhancing the oral tradition artistry of poetry and spoken work movements of the African Diaspora."

Festival goers who want to attend any of this weekend's events must buy a Festival button for $5, a one-time purchase that in turn lets you buy tickets to any of the individual shows. Tickets for Cool Like That: A Tribute To Miles Davis are $12, and can be purchased, along with Festival buttons, only at the performance space Fringeland, which is located around the corner from the Kranzberg at 3141 Locust and serves as the festival headquarters and box office.

Other performance venues are the rock music club Fubar, 3108 Locust, and the Nash Motor Company Building, 3000 Locust. The Festival also will include a number of street performances in the area around the four venues. For a complete schedule of events, see the St Lou Fringe Festival website.