"Jazz Unlimited" to re-air documentary on St. Louis jazz history starting Sunday, July 6

Starting this coming Sunday, July 6, Dennis Owsley's "Jazz Unlimited" program will begin re-broadcasting Owsley's ten-part audio documentary on "The Jazz History of St. Louis."

"This ten-week documentary is the second longest music documentary in the history of radio and certainly the longest music documentary in St. Louis radio (I did the second longest in St. Louis in 1987)," wrote Owsley (pictured) in a recent email to StLJN.

Of course, since he literally wrote the book on St. Louis jazz history - Owsley's 2006 tome City of Gabriels: The Jazz History of St. Louis 1895-1974 remains the definitive volume on the subject - you'd expect something in depth.

And indeed, this series, as its creator enumerated in said email, does not disappoint on that count: "It contains 143 interview segments, 265 complete pieces of music (some very rare), 116 short biographies of musicians and radio people, with 564 musicians or institutions mentioned."

"Jazz Unlimited" is broadcast from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Sundays on KWMU/St. Louis Public Radio (90.7 FM), and also can be heard online at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/listen.php. "The Jazz History of St. Louis" documentary will continue weekly through Sunday, September 7.

Dennis Owsley seeking recent recordings for updated jazz history of St. Louis

Dennis Owsley, host of the Jazz Unlimited program airing at 9:00 p.m. Sunday nights on KWMU (90.7), is preparing to celebrate his 30th year of continuous jazz broadcasting on the station, and to do so, he needs a bit of help from local St. Louis musicians.

Owsley (pictured), who also wrote the book City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis 1895-1973, is updating his multi-part 1986 radio documentary about the history of jazz in St. Louis, with the revised version to air on Jazz Unlimited during April and the first part of May. Having donated his extensive CD collection to Webster University a few years back, he's now looking for recent recordings from St. Louis musicians to include in the final episode of the broadcast.

Musicians who are interested in having their work considered are asked to send CDs to him in care of KWMU, 3651 Olive St., St. Louis, MO 63108. Alternatively, you can send MP3 files (or a link to a legal download site) directly to Owsley at jazz @ stlpublicradio.org.

Dennis Owsley reading St. Louis jazz history on Wednesday, April 14 at Urban Eats Cafe

Jazz DJ, historian, photographer and author Dennis Owsley will read from his book City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St Louis, 1895-1973 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 14 at Urban Eats Cafe, 3301 Meramec St.

Published in 2006 through a collaboration between Reddy Press, the Sheldon Concert Hall and the Sheldon Art Galleries in St. Louis, City of Gabriels (pictured) is the only comprehensive history of jazz in St. Louis. The April 14 event is part of the cafe's "Well-Read Wednesdays" series, and will include a discussion and the opportunity to purchase a copy of City of Gabriels and have it signed by the author.

For more information or to RSVP, you can go to the Urban Eats Cafe's Facebook page and click on the Events tab.

Classes on St. Louis jazz history to begin Thursday, February 12

Author, photographer and radio host Dennis Owsley will teach a series of classes on St. Louis jazz history beginning at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, February 12 at the Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd.

The course “City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis 1895 – 1973” is based on Owsley's book of the same name, and will cover St. Louis jazz history from the ragtime era through Gaslight Square during three two-hour classes on consecutive Thursdays. Classes will include recorded selections from Owsley’s collection, amassed over a lifetime of jazz fandom and more than 25 years hosting jazz programs on KWMU (90.7 FM). Owsley's current program Jazz Unlimited is broadcast from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Sundays.

For complete information on the content of each class, go to the Ethical Society Web site (.pdf file). Tuition for the course is $40; to register, contact Kathy Kammien by calling 314-991-1020, ext. 213, or emailing kkammien@ethicalstl.org.

Radio interviews scheduled with Bluiett, Owsley

Just got word of a couple of radio interviews coming up on local stations later this month that may be of interest to St. Louis jazz listeners.

Via the comments on a post from last week, reader L Dennis lets us know that saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett is set to appear with KMOX Saturday Night Jazz Session host Don Wolff on his program at 10:30 p.m., Saturday, June 23. Bluiett will perform in the opening concert for the summer series at Ivory Perry Park the following night, Sunday, June 24.

Meanwhile, Dennis Owsley, host of KWMU's Jazz Unlimited, dropped a note to say that he recently taped an interview about his book City of Gabriels with radio personality Johnny Rabbitt for broadcast at a later date. The conversation, which also included Sheldon Art Galleries director Olivia Lahs-Gonzales, will air at 6:30 a.m. Sunday, June 24 on three stations - WIL-FM 92, Movin (101.1 FM), and the Arch (106.5 FM) - as well as at 8 p.m. on the same date on WIL-1430 AM.

UPDATE - 6:30 p.m., 6/20/07: The airing of Owsley's interview has been postponed until Sunday, July 8, when it will run at the same times of day and on the same stations as originally scheduled.

Owsley wins ASRC Award

Dennis Owsley has won a 2007 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. Owsley, who hosts Jazz Unlimited on KWMU (90.7 FM) Sunday evenings from 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., earned a Certificate of Merit in the Best Research in Recorded Jazz Music category for his book City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895–1973.

The ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research are presented annually to authors and publishers of books, articles, liner notes, and monographs, to recognize outstanding published research in the field of recorded sound.

If you'd like to browse a bit of City of Gabriels, the index, table of contents, epilogue and a couple of chapters can be viewed on line via Google Books. (And a tip 'o the StLJN cap to commenter godoggo for pointing that out.) Copies of the book are also still available for purchase from Amazon.

April 24 gallery talk at the Sheldon will look at Collective Improvisation

The documentary film Collective Improvisation: A History of Jazz in St. Louis will be the subject of an upcoming gallery talk at the Sheldon Art Galleries, to be presented at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24.

Dennis Riggs of the Higher Education Channel (HEC-TV) will introduce and play clips from the film, which was directed by Christian Cudnik and illustrates St. Louis jazz history with archival footage and new interviews with local historians, broadcasters, musicians and jazz educators.

The presentation is designed to complement the Galleries' current exhibit "City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis 1895–1973", which is also tied to Dennis Owsley's book of the same name and will be on view through August. Riggs' talk replaces one originally scheduled for KMOX radio personality Don Wolff, who bowed out "due to family illness". The event is free and open to the public.

(Edited after posting to add tags.)

Second printing possible for City of Gabriels

According to an article just published in St. Louis Commerce magazine, City of Gabriels, the history of St. Louis jazz written by local DJ and historian Dennis Owsley and published last year as a joint venture between Reedy Press and the Sheldon Concert Hall, has nearly sold out its first printing and could get a second press run.

The article, which also discusses the Josephine Baker book published under a similar arrangement between Reedy Press and the Sheldon, quotes Sheldon executive director Paul Reuter as saying that talks are underway for second printings of both books. It doesn't say how many copies were printed originally, but according to various publishing industry reference sources, a typical first printing for a small press book of this sort might be somewhere from 2,000 to 5,000 copies.

As the first (and so far only) full-length book on its subject, City of Gabriels ought to be a primary text for students of jazz and of St. Louis history for many years to come, and thus really needs to be kept in print, so here's hoping that will happen. In the meantime, you can still purchase your own copy of the book here, and the Sheldon Art Galleries' exhibit of the same name on St. Louis jazz history runs through August of this year.