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.

Jazz this week: Herbie Hancock, Louis Armstrong Festival, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features the return of one of the most important living jazz musicians for one night only, a two-night tribute to the first superstar soloist in jazz, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Thursday, 
August 10
Keyboardist Herbie Hancock will perform in a concert presented by Jazz St. Louis at Powell Hall.

With a new album reportedly in the works, Hancock (pictured) also has a new addition to his live band, with saxophonist/keyboardist Terrace Martin joining guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist James Genus and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta in the group.

Some tickets for the concert still remained on sale as of end of business on Wednesday, but if you haven't gotten seats yet and want to go, you'll probably want to call ahead rather than just walk up to the box office.

To promote his St. Louis show, Hancock did brief interviews with St. Louis magazine's Erin Williams, St. Louis Public Radio's David Cazares, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson. Also, you can see some videos spanning Hancock's 50+ years in the music business in this StLJN post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also on Thursday night, bassist and singer Tonina Saputo leads a quartet at The Dark Room, and guitarist Dave Black and singer Tony Vivano will perform at The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, August 11
The second annual "Louis Armstrong Festival of St. Louis" will be presented for the first of two nights at the Webster Groves Concert Hall, featuring music associated with Armstrong performed by a band featuring trumpeters Randy Holmes and Robert Souza, trombonist Brett Stamps, clarinetist Scott Alberici, pianist Mary Ann Schulte, drummer Kevin Gianino, bassist Bob Lowe and guitarist/banjoist Dan Stevens. 

You can see StLJN's video tribute to the 116th anniversary of Armstrong's birth in this post from last Saturday.  

Also on Friday, guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith will duet at Parkside Grille in Ballwin, and the Ambassadors of Swing will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, August 12 
Guitarist Stuart Johnson will play a matinee show at The Shaved Duck, and then on Saturday evening, Dizzy Atmosphere will perform for the "Garden of Glass" event at Missouri Botanical Garden, singer Joe Mancuso returns to Bartolino's South and trumpeter Jim Manley is back at One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar.

Sunday, August 13
Miss Jubilee returns for the weekly jazz brunch at Evangeline's, Red Lehr and the Rivermen will play a matinee for the St. Louis Jazz Club at the DoubleTree Hotel in Westport, and saxophonist Tim Cunningham will perform at Mount Pleasant Winery.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(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.)

Jazz this week: A tribute to 1970s fusion, trad jazz from Red Lehr, and more

With summer winding down and the fall presenting season yet to begin, it's not a particularly busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, but there still are some performances worth noting that are happening over the next few days.

Let's go to the highlights....

Thursday, August 25
Dizzy Atmosphere will play swing and Gypsy jazz as part of the "Sensational Summer Nights" series at Missouri Botanical Garden; and the Bruxism experimental music series continues at the Schlafly Tap Room, this month featuring Wiggpaw, Brett Williams, and UFO vs USA. 

Friday, August 26
An ad hoc quintet of St. Louis musicians will join forces to present "Weather Forever: The Music of Weather Report & Return to Forever," featuring music from two of the most popular jazz-fusion groups of the 1970s, for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

The ensemble attempting to bridge the disparate styles of these two iconic bands will include bassist Zeb Briskovich, drummer Montez Coleman (pictured, top left), keyboarist Adaron “Pops” Jackson, guitarist Eric Slaughter, and saxophonist Jason Swagler.

Also on Friday, singer Joe Mancuso brings a quartet to Nathalie's, and the Midwest Jazz-tette will play cool jazz in the West Coast style at Cigar Inn

Saturday, August 27 
Pianist Phil Dunlap's trio will play an early evening show at The Dark Room; trumpeter Danny Campbell returns with his Jazz Collective to Troy's Jazz Gallery; and Franglais will perform at Evangeline's

Sunday, August 28
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents sousaphonist Red Lehr's Powerhouse Five (pictured, lower left) playing traditional jazz and swing at the Doubletree Hotel St. Louis at Westport.

Monday, August 29
Trumpeter Jim Manley continues his Monday night residency at Momo's Greek Restaurant.

Tuesday, August 30
The Sidemen return to Evangeline's, and saxophonist Joe Bayer has a new weekly duo gig at Scarlett's Wine Bar in the Central West End, teaming up this week with bassist Glen Smith.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(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.)