StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Jamison Ross to make St. Louis debut

Today, let's check out some videos featuring drummer and vocalist Jamison Ross, who will make his St. Louis debut as a bandleader with a four-night gig starting next Wednesday, October 5 through Saturday, October 8 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Though instrumentalists who also sing aren't particularly unusual in jazz, singing drummers are fairly rare - Grady Tate being the example cited most often - and though Ross first gained notice and a record deal for his drumming only, he's made his singing an integral part of his presentation.

Now 28 years old, Ross grew up in Jacksonville, FL and currently resides in New Orleans. He earned an degree in jazz studies at Florida State University and a master's in music from University of New Orleans, and got his first big break in 2009 while still a student, touring and recording with singer Carmen Lundy.

In 2012, Ross won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, which led to the recording of his self-titled debut album released by Concord Jazz in June, 2015. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album, and last year Ross also was featured prominently in a Vanity Fair magazine article about rising jazz stars.

You can get a general sense of Ross and his music in the first video up above, a promotional clip with interview snippets and music excerpts that serves as a short introduction to his debut album.

After the jump, you can see and hear Ross and his band perform "Sack Full of Dreams" and "These Things You Are to Me" as recorded last year in the studios of KPLU (now KNKX) in Tacoma, WA.

Below that are performances of "Set Us Free" and "Epiphany," recorded in February 2016 at a gig in Switzerland, followed by "Emotions" from a show in December 2015 at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis, MN.

For more about Jamison Ross, check out his 2015 interview with the website Revive Music and this short feature from Jazz Times magazine.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...