StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Remembering David "Red" Lehr

This week, StLJN salutes the memory of tuba and sousaphone player David "Red" Lehr, who passed away on Tuesday at age 83.

Beginning in the early 1960s, Lehr enjoyed a long and prolific career playing traditional jazz, both here in St. Louis and for fans around the USA and the world. Although there's not much video online from the first several decades of his career, fortunately there's plenty of video documentation of Lehr performing with various bands from the past 15 years or so, amply demonstrating both his musical skills and his showmanship.

So let's take a look at a small but representative selection of those videos, starting with the first clip above, which features Lehr's Powerhouse Five performing "Tiger Rag" in November 2009 at the Suncoast Dixieland Jazz Classic in Clearwater, FL. Along with Lehr, who uses the number for one of his signature walkabouts through the audience, the band includes Noel Kaletsky (clarinet), Steve Lilley (cornet), Ray Templin (piano, vocals) and Jack Tartar (drums).

After the jump, you can see the St. Louis Rivermen playing "Running Wild" and "Royal Garden Blues," both recorded in November 2010 at the Arizona Classic Jazz Festival in Chandler, Arizona. The band's lineup includes Lehr, Kaletsky, and Lilly, along with Bobby Grimm (banjo), Jim Maihack (trombone), Don Schroeder (drums), and John Sheridan (piano).

The fourth video features the same lineup of the Rivermen performing "Clarinet Marmalade" and "Black Bottom Stomp" as part of two different shows at the 2011 Glacier Jazz Stampede in Kalispell, MT.

In the penultimate clip, recorded in 2011 at the Central Illinois Jazz Festival in Decatur, IL, Lehr and the band are joined by his longtime collaborator (and original leader of the Rivermen), Jean Kittrell, who steps up to the mic for a bit of banter and then sings "I Aint Got Nobody."

The final video, also recorded at the 2011 Central Illinois Jazz Festival, documents a brief ceremony dedicating the festival and paying tribute to Red Lehr.

For more about the life and career of David "Red" Lehr, read the feature story about him published in 2019 in the Monroe County, IL Republic Times.

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

David "Red" Lehr 1937 - 2021

Tuba and sousaphone player David "Red" Lehr, a mainstay of traditional jazz in St. Louis since the early 1960s, died Tuesday, January 5 at his home in New Athens, IL. He was 83 years old.

Lehr (pictured) first became known to local jazz fans in 1963, performing with Don Scherr’s Banjo Band in Gaslight Square. He formed his own group, the Old St. Louis Levee Band, in 1965 and worked regularly in the St. Louis area. Then in 1978, the group teamed up with pianist and singer Jean Kittrell, going on to perform on the Robert E. Lee riverboat in St. Louis for the next 13 years.

Known for his showmanship as well as his musical skills, Lehr also worked with Kittrell in the Jazz Incredibles trio (along with banjo player John Becker) and the St. Louis Rivermen. After Kittrell retired. Lehr took over leadership of the Rivermen, and also led his own group, the Powerhouse Five. Over the course of his long career, he performed at traditional jazz festivals all across the USA; toured in Europe, Canada, and Japan; and played on more than 25 recordings.

When not working as a musician, Lehr with his wife Carolyn ran Lehr’s Market in New Athens, passing on the business to his son Jeff upon retirement. Survivors in addition to his wife and son including a daughter, Lori (Thomas) Knapp of Smithton, IL; sisters Vera Robb of Belleville, IL and Fern Frick of Mt. Vernon, IL; three grandchildren; and various nieces and nephews.

Funeral arrangements will be handled by Kurrus Funeral Home in New Athens. Visitation will be from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday, January 8, 2021 and from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 9 at St. John UCC in New Athens. COVID-19 restrictions will be followed, with masks and social distancing required. Funeral services will be private, but will be live-streamed at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 9 at https://www.facebook.com/KurrusFH.

StLJN will present a tribute to David "Red" Lehr as this week's Saturday Video Showcase.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Following the last-minute cancellation of this weekend's LouFest music festival, a number of acts scheduled to play the event have managed to book replacement shows at various venues around town.

Most of the bands and musicians that were scheduled to perform on LouFest's jazz stage, plus some other local performers, now will be playing "The Sound of St. Louis" Showcase, a free event taking place from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 9 at the Grandel Theatre and The Dark Room.

The event will feature music from Ben Reece's Unity Quartet, Bob DeBoo, Jesse Gannon, Kasimu Taylor (pictured), Kevin Bowers' Nova, Mo Egeston, Owen Ragland, Ptah Williams Trio, and Tonina Saputo, as well as sets from The Burney Sisters, Dracla, Grace Basement, The Knuckles, The River Kittens, and Scrub & Ace Ha.

* Though local media outlets had to scrap many of their LouFest previews, the re-scheduling of many of the fest's jazz acts for the above-mentioned Sunday showcase did allow for the publication as originally planned of Kevin Johnson's Post-Dispatch feature on keyboardist Owen Ragland (link to Google cache).

* Also rescued from the LouFest-preview kill file, a feature story about drummer Kevin Bowers from the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer.

* The late pianist and singer Jean Kittrell was the subject of a remembrance in the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

* Also in the Intelligencer, a brief preview of Saturday's Alton Jazz and Wine Festival, which has been moved indoors to Argosy Casino's music hall due to a forecast of heavy rain for Saturday.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold's recent performance for the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, NYC, was recorded for broadcast (and archived online) by radio station WBGO.

* Pianist Dred Scott, born here in St. Louis as Joseph Patrick Scott and now based in NYC, has a new album coming out on September 21. Titled Rides Alone, it features Scott playing solo on eight tracks of original music, and will be available as a CD or download from BandCamp.

* Thurman's in Shaw's new Sunday brunch was the subject of a brief feature by the Riverfront Times' Sarah Penske.

* The Davenport Lounge at the New Orleans Ritz Carlton hotel, which features music four nights a week from trumpeter, singer and U City native Jeremy Davenport, was mentioned in a CNN feature about celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse's list of New Orleans "must-dos."

* Bach to the Future's concert tonight at the Miller Performing Arts Center in Jefferson City was previewed in the Jefferson City News-Tribune.

Jean Kittrell 1927 - 2018

Pianist and singer Jean Kittrell, who performed traditional jazz, swing and ragtime in St. Louis and around the world from the 1960s into the 2000s, died on Tuesday, August 14 in Edwardsville, IL. She was 91 years old.

A native of Birmingham, AL, Kittrell (pictured) began playing piano as a youth in church, and went on to earn a degree in music theory at Blue Mountain College in Mississippi.

She began her jazz career in the late 1950s accompanying her husband, trumpeter Ed Kittrell, in groups including the Chesapeake Bay Jass Band, based in Norfolk, VA, and the Chicago Stompers.

The Kittrells in the mid-1960s moved to Southern Illinois, living in Murphysboro and later in Edwardsville. Jean Kittrell began playing in St. Louis, working as a solo act in the late 1960s at the Old Levee House on the riverfront.

An educator as well as a musician, she went on to earn a PhD in 20th century British Literature at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1973, and subsequently taught at SIU-Edwardsville for ten years.

In the early 1970s, she performed and recorded with the Mississippi Mudcats Jazz Band and the Boll Weevil Jass Band. From the mid-1970s on, Kittrell worked with three different groups - the Jazz Incredibles, the St. Louis Rivermen and the Old St. Louis Levee Band - performing locally in the St. Louis area, most notably on the Robert E. Lee riverboat, and traveling to traditional jazz festivals around the nation and in Europe and Asia.

Kittrell officially retired from performing in 2008, but made occasional guest appearances with the Rivermen, now led by longtime tuba player Red Lehr, for a few years after that.

She was preceded in death by her husband Ed and daughter Rebecca. Survivors include a daughter, Camille, and son-in-law Tom Bryant. The family has requested that any memorials be made in the form of contributions to the scholarship fund established by Kittrell some years ago to benefit jazz students at SIU Edwardsville.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* Veteran music scribe Dan Durchholz has written a preview story for the Post-Dispatch/STLtoday about next Wednesday's concert by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (pictured) and Del McCoury Band at the Family Arena; read it online here.

* St. Louis musicians will stage a benefit performance to help raise money for relief efforts in Japan next Monday, April 11 at The Chapel, 6238 Alexander Drive. Performers will include members of the Saint Louis Symphony, Arianna String Quartet, Dave Black, Erin Bode, Farshid Etniko, Todd Mosby, Dawn Weber, and many others. There will be two sets, at 7:30 and 9:30. Tickets are $15, cash at the door only, and include two drinks. All performers are donating their services, and 100% of the proceeds from the ticket sales and a silent auction will go to Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Fund. For more information call 314-721-0943.

UPDATE, 3:00 p.m., 4/8/11 - Terry Perkins has more details on the Japan relief concert in an article for the St. Louis Beacon here.

* The Art & Air Festival is looking for performers for this year's event via the "2011 Art & Air Idol" contest. Selected contestants will compete on Wednesdays in May in preliminary rounds held at Llywellyn’s Pub in Webster Groves. The winner gets a chance to perform on the main stage at Art & Air 2011, which will be held June 3-5 on the grounds of Eden Theological Seminary in Webster. The contest is open to "acoustic-oriented musicians, solo to small group," and organizers tell StLJN they're looking specifically for some jazz performers. The deadline for entry is April 20; you can find out more and submit an application here.

* While back in his hometown last month to perform at the Kranzberg Arts Center, singer and St. Louis native Craig Pomranz was profiled by local PBS affiliate KETC's program Living St. Louis and reporter Ruth Ezell; check out the YouTube video of the segment here.

* The P-D reports that the historic Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville is set to reopen next week as venue for movie and live performances, and that pianist Jean Kittrell, apparently coming out of retirement for the occasion, will perform at the venue's open house next Tuesday, April 12.

* Radio station KWMU, home to Dennis Owsley's Sunday night program Jazz Unlimited, next week will break ground on their new headquarters and studios in Grand Center. The facility is expected to be ready in 2012.

Catching up with Jean Kittrell

Decatur Herald-Review columnist Bob Fallstrom has a piece this week in which he catches up with traditional jazz pianist and singer Jean Kittrell, who retired from music last summer after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

The good news is that Ms. Kittrell, a longtime St. Louis favorite who was also a regular at the Central Illinois Jazz Festival in Decatur and many other jazz fests around the country, is recuperating after surgery for her illness and seems in good spirits; for more, read the whole article online here.

More on Jean Kittrell's retirement

Following up on last week's post about the retirement of veteran St. Louis jazz singer and pianist Jean Kittrell, you may recall a reference in that post to a press release sent out by the Sheldon Concert Hall announcing that pianist Pat Joyce would be replacing Kittrell on a show there due to "health concerns." At the time, I expressed the wish that those concerns would be quickly resolved so that Kittrell might enjoy her well-deserved retirement after more than 50 years of entertaining jazz fans in St. Louis and across the U.S.

Sadly, it looks as if those health problems may be quite serious, based on this article about Kittrell's retirement written by columnist Bob Fallstrom for the Decatur Herald & Review. In recounting his decades-long acquaintance with Kittrell, Fallstrom writes that she has been "hurting with leg problems, back problems and, lately, colon cancer" and recently had surgery.

In light of this news, we can only hope that the surgery was successful, and suggest that all of Kittrell's fans keep a good thought and/or offer a few prayers to your deity (or deities) of choice on her behalf. The article ends on a note of optimism, however, with Kittrell noting that her band the St. Louis Rivermen will fulfill all bookings under the leadership of tuba player David "Red" Lehr and adding, "I'm not upset about what's happened...The band is in good hands. I always intended to die on stage. We'll see. I hope to attend the Central Illinois Jazz Festival this winter."

Concert calendar changes

There have been a couple of changes over the last week to the local jazz concert calendar, one involving the retirement of a veteran St. Louis performer:

* Saxophonist Jeff Coffin's show at the Lucas School House, originally scheduled for August 21, is off. Looking at Coffin's Web site, it appears as if all of his dates with his band the Mu'Tet for 2008 have been canceled, and his St. Louis show is no longer listed on the Lucas School House Web site.

That's because Coffin is touring with the Dave Mathews Band through October 5, sitting in for DMB's LeRoi Moore, who was injured in an ATV accident back in June. It seems unlikely that the Mu'tet's St. Louis gig will be rescheduled for this year, since once Coffin is done with the DMB tour, he's got just four weeks until Bela Fleck and the Flecktones hit the road for the entire months of November and December. The closest that tour will get to St. Louis appears to be Springfield, MO, where the Flecktones will play at Missouri State University.

* Then there's this news from the Sheldon Concert Hall: "Due to health concerns, Jean Kittrell will not be able to perform on the October 27 and 28 Coffee Concerts at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The show will go on, however, with acclaimed pianist Pat Joyce, along with Red Lehr and the Old St. Louis Levee Band, on the same dates, October 27 at 28 at 10 a.m."

Wondering if Kittrell (pictured) was going to be OK, the next day I then saw this in an article from the Canton, IL Daily Ledger about the St. Louis Rivermen, another Kittrell-led ensemble, heading to Macomb, Illinois on Saturday, September 13 to headline the Seventh Annual Al Sears Jazz Festival: "Lehr, the last remaining original member of the band, took over when another original member, pianist and vocalist Jean Kittrell, retired at age 81."

Heading then to Kittrell's own Web site, the home page bears the message, "Retired as uninhibited leader of three jazz bands as of July 21, 2008." And so, the Daily Ledger's report would seem to be accurate, and pianist and singer Jean Kittrell has retired after six decades of entertaining and edifying audiences in St. Louis and around the country.

Kittrell is notable not only for performing and preserving traditional jazz for several generations of appreciative listeners, but for enjoying longterm success as a bandleader, starting long before "feminism" became a familiar term and continuing for many years in an challenging and ever-changing industry. Here's hoping that whatever health difficulties Kittrell may be experiencing are brief, and that she'll be able to enjoy her retirement. Fortunately for the rest of us, her music can still be enjoyed on a number of recordings currently in print.

Steve Lilley profiled in Lincoln County Journal

Trumpeter Steve Lilley, who performs with traditional jazz bands the St. Louis Stompers and Jean Kittrell and the St. Louis Rivermen, was profiled this week in the Lincoln County Journal, which is published in Troy, MO, near Lilley's hometown of Elsberry. You can read the article online here.

Jazz this week: Zappa Plays Zappa; Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival; Erin Bode; Trombone Shorty; Gary Dammer; Linda Presgrave; and more

It's a busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with concerts, a free festival, and club gigs that will offer something for musical tastes ranging from traditional jazz to mainstream to seriously warped.

Speaking of warped, for yr. humble editor, a confirmed Zappaphile since my teens, the highlight of the next few days will be the return of Zappa Plays Zappa to The Pageant on Monday evening. Based on the band's 2006 appearance at the same venue, I can heartily recommend the ZPZ show to anyone who enjoys, or just is curious about, Frank Zappa's music. Along with the core band led by Frank's eldest son Dweezil, the special guest on this year's tour is singer-guitarist Ray White, so expect at least a portion of the show to be devoted to FZ's output from the 1980s, when White was a mainstay of his touring ensemble. However, the 2006 tour successfully incorporated music from just about every period of Zappa's long and diverse career, and I'd look for a similarly varied mix this time around as well.

That said, there are plenty of other noteworthy shows happening this week, starting this evening when singer Erin Bode (pictured) opens the 2008 Whitaker Music Festival series of free concerts at the Missouri Botanical Garden. It's a busy week for Bode, whose new CD The Little Garden will be available for the first time anywhere at tonight's show. She's also appearing at the Cabaret at Savor on Thursday, and will be doing concerts on Friday and Saturday at the Innsbrook Music Institute with her band and members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

If your taste runs more toward straight-ahead swing, veteran St. Louis trumpeter Gary Dammer, best known for his long-running big band, will lead a small combo dubbed the I-70 Jazz Connection in performances on Friday and Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro .

To sample a varied musical menu in a single outing, check out the first-ever Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival, which will take place on Saturday in and around the square in downtown Belleville, IL. The free event starts at 11:00 a.m. and runs until 9:00 p.m., featuring performances by the Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project, Anita Rosamond, Good 4 The Soul, Brian Owens, the Nathan Jatcko Trio, Phil Dunlap's Legacy Jazz Quintet, Mary Dyson, John Farrar & Straight Eight, and the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars student ensemble.

Also on Saturday, New Orleans brass man Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews brings his funk band Orleans Avenue to the Broadway Oyster Bar, and pianist and St. Louis native Linda Presgrave returns home from her current base in NYC to lead her quartet in a performance at Cookie's Jazz and More.

Last but not least, on Sunday the St. Louis Jazz Club will present the traditional jazz sounds of pianist Jean Kittrell's Old St. Louis Levee Band in a show at the Moolah Shrine Center, 12545 Fee Fee Rd.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Cornet Chop Suey, Jean Kittrell to headline Madison jazz festival's 20th anniversary party

Two St. Louis-based jazz groups are headed north to Madison, WI this week to headline the 20th anniversary celebration of the Capital City Jazz Fest there.

Traditional jazz festival circuit favorites Cornet Chop Suey and Jean Kittrell and the St. Louis Rivermen will be featured at the fest's birthday party on Thursday night, and also will perform this weekend. The three-day Capital City Jazz Fest is produced by the Madison Jazz Society.

Sheldon Concert Hall announces 2008-09 season

The Sheldon Concert Hall has announced its season schedule for 2008-09. The hall's five-concert jazz series will include performances by legendary pianist and composer Dave Brubeck (pictured) and his Quartet (October 4) and acclaimed bassist Dave Holland's Quintet (January 24) as well as guitarist John Jorgenson and band doing a tribute to Django Reinhardt (April 18) and shows featuring singers Paula West (November 22) and Rachael Price (March 14).

Local jazz performers are featured prominently in the Sheldon's series of 10 a.m. "Coffee Concerts." Jean Kittrell and Red Lehr with the Old St. Louis Levee Band will kick off that series on October 27 and 28, followed by Swing Set on December 9 and 10, Mardra and Reggie Thomas doing a Mardi Gras-themed program on February 23 and 24, and traditional jazz and swing band Cornet Chop Suey on April 29 and 30. And of course, other St. Louis jazz performers can be expected to show up in the "Notes From Home" schedule as those concerts are announced throughout the year.

So, what's the takeaway on this lineup? Well, word of the Holland and Jorgenson shows had already leaked via the online tour information service Pollstar, and Brubeck is making a return visit to the Sheldon after appearing in the jazz series a few years back and again at the hall's 2007 benefit gala. Although all three have played St. Louis in recent years, all would seem to be good bets to deliver satisfying performances. I'm especially glad to see Holland on the schedule, as his group continues to be one of the very best small ensembles in jazz, and Brubeck, a genuine innovator who at age 87 can't have too many more years of touring left, is always welcome. Jorgenson, though not a big name, is a first-rate picker who's made Reinhardt's music an ongoing project, and if you dig that style of playing, he delivers the goods.

West also has performed in St. Louis recently, appearing at the Cabaret at Savor earlier this year. I've gotten divergent reports from a couple of people I trust who heard her then - one favorable and one not so favorable - but West certainly has gotten many good reviews for performances elsewhere. The sole local debut performance in the jazz series will be from Price, a 22-year-old who's just now getting out of the New England Conservatory of Music but has attracted some good notices in the press based on a handful of relatively high-profile festival appearances and work with drummer T.S. Monk's band.

I'm all in favor of the presentation and promotion of new talent, and maybe this is just a manifestation of my deep skepticism of most of the current glut of female singers, but what I've seen and heard about Price so far seems suspiciously like press-agent hype of the sort associated in recent years with the pleasant but ultimately forgettable Jane Monheit. In any event, two singers in a five-concert series is one too many; I would much rather have seen one of those slots devoted to another, more challenging instrumental performer or band that we haven't heard before in St. Louis.

If recent seasons are any guide, it's likely that the Sheldon will add another jazz concert or two to next year's lineup along the way, slotted into the schedule as a non-subscription show. However, unless they're able to snag a really major performer - someone on the order of Sonny Rollins or Ornette Coleman, who hasn't played St. Louis either for a long while, or at all - it won't be quite enough to offset the shortcomings of a schedule that seems less ambitious than it ought to be.

While the need to sell tickets is both understandable and indisputable, a major not-for-profit presenter gets held to a high standard. Unlike commercial, for-profit concert promoters, they have a certain obligation to educate, challenge and lead their audiences, not pander to them. The Sheldon remains a very fine place to hear a concert, with excellent acoustics and sightlines and a very capable, professional production staff led by veteran operations director and all-around-good-guy Dale Benz. I don't want to be too harsh here, because overall the Sheldon obviously is a major asset to the St. Louis music community. But for the sake of St. Louis' jazz fans, I wish their booking policy showed just a bit more vision and, dare I say it, guts.

Kittrell, Cornet Chop Suey to play jazz festival in Oregon

The St. Louis-based traditional jazz bands Cornet Chop Suey and Jean Kittrell and the St. Louis Rivermen will head to the West Coast next week to play the 25th Annual Oregon Dixieland Jubilee in Seaside, OR. The event takes place February 22 through February 24 at various venues around the city, and also will include bands from California, Washington, Connecticut, and North Carolina.

Sheldon Concert Hall announces 2007-08 season

The Sheldon Concert Hall has announced its 2007-08 season, and the hall's jazz series for next year includes a number of familiar names.

Three of the announced shows confirm information previously revealed by Pollstar (and StLJN): guitarist/singer John Pizzarelli (Saturday, October 6), Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers (Saturday, November 10) and pianist Ahmad Jamal (Friday, January 26, 2008).

In addition, the Sheldon also will present pianist Michael Wolff (pictured), best known as the former bandleader for talk show host Arsenio Hall, on Friday, February 23, 2008, and singer Carla Cook, who's recorded for the local MAXJAZZ label, on Friday, April 26, 2008. Subscriptions for the 2007-08 jazz series are $175-$195.

The Sheldon's Coffee Concerts, Saturday Matinee and Special Concerts series will also feature some musicians of interest to jazz listeners. The Coffee Concerts will include appearances from Anita Rosamond (October 9 & 10), the St. Louis Stompers (November 12 & 13), Sherry Drake and Carolbeth True (December 4 & 5), and the St. Louis Ragtimers (March 4 and 5, 2008). In addition, Jean Kittrell and the St. Louis Rivermen will do a special concert on Sunday, September 23 and trombonist Brett Stamps will do a Saturday matinee on April 12, 2008.

To yr. humble editor, this lineup of touring performers, while comparatively safe from a box-office standpoint, seems rather uninspired. Pizzarelli, Cook and Jamal are all well-known to local audiences, with each having several recent St. Louis gigs to their credit; their appearances here once again serve as yet another example of recycling by a local presenter, a practice I've criticized on numerous prior occasions. Meanwhile, Smith and Wolff, while no doubt competent and entertaining, are musicians of minor importance at best. And while the lineup of local bands and musicians consists of proven performers, it appears to offer no particular surprises, either.

Although there's always the possibility that an interesting show or two may be added to the schedule somewhere down the line, as happened this year with the Pat Metheny/Brad Mehldau concert, overall it feels like the Sheldon is just treading water here. Given the vast universe of exciting artistic possibilities available for a jazz series at a high-quality concert venue, it's hard not to see this mostly recycled lineup of musical moderates as something of a disappointment, a case of pandering to audience tastes rather than expanding or challenging them.

You can find out more about the rest of the Sheldon's 2007-08 series in this article, written by Post-Dispatch pop critic Kevin Johnson and published in today's paper.