Ronnie Laws concert at The Sheldon canceled

According to the Sheldon Concert Hall's Web site, the concert by saxophonist Ronnie Laws scheduled for this Wednesday, June 17, at the hall has been canceled. There's no reason given, nor any information about refunds for tickets already purchased.

The show was to have benefited the scholarship fund of the National Black MBA Association - St. Louis Chapter, but as of late Sunday night, there's nothing at all about the cancellation on their site. In fact, a search for "Ronnie Laws" using the site's own search feature yields no results at all, though a properly configured Google search reveals several documents pertaining to the benefit, including this flyer (.jpg), still residing on their servers.

One would hope the organization is contacting ticket buyers directly about refunds. But even if they are, the cancellation of the show with no reason given, followed by what looks like a deliberate scrubbing of their Web site, seems rather - well, "sleazy" is the first word that come to mind, but let's go with "unprofessional" instead. Ticket buyers and those who wanted to support the group's scholarship fund certainly would seem to deserve something more than no explanation at all.

Since this show was a rental of the facility rather than a Sheldon production, their communications staff may not know much more than what's already public, but yr. humble StLJN editor plans to make inquiries, and will update here if anything interesting turns up.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A few minutes with Ronnie Laws

This week, let's take a look at some video clips featuring saxophonist Ronnie Laws, who will be in town this coming Wednesday, June 17, to perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall in a show benefiting the National Black MBA Association - St. Louis Chapter's college scholarship fund.

(UPDATE, 6/14/09, 11:00 p.m.: The Ronnie Laws concert at the Sheldon has been canceled. See this post for more information.)

The Houston, Texas native is from a musical family, and his siblings include the fine jazz flute player Hubert Laws. His first break was as part of an early edition of Earth Wind and Fire, appearing on their album Last Days and Time, but he didn't gain significant national attention until 1976, when he issued Pressure Sensitive, his debut album on Blue Note. It featured the song "Always There," which became something of a jazz/funk standard and incorporated what surely is one of the most insidiously catchy uses of the flexitone in jazz or pop history.

Playing tenor and soprano sax and occasionally singing, Laws has demonstrated both versatility and staying power over the ensuing three decades. Recently, he's been performing in the group 3BT with fellow tenor men Wilton Felder (formerly of the Crusaders) and Gary Davis, and he also has a new solo CD, Voices in the Water.

First up today is a version of Laws' most famous song, "Always There," from a 2003 show at the Coronado Ballroom in San Antonio. The backing band includes Mark Harper (guitar), Gary Gillespie (keyboards), Frederick Nichelson (bass), John Anthony Martinez (drums), Roger "Rock" Franklin (percussion).

Down below, there's a rendition of the tune "Old Days, Old Ways" from the same gig; a brief biographical clip in which Laws plays a bit of soprano sax and talks about his background and career; and, especially for the sax players out there, a short video featuring Laws discussing his tenor saxes and the qualities he looks for in his horns.

Ronnie Laws, The Cunninghams coming to The Sheldon this summer

The Sheldon Concert Hall has added a couple of jazz shows to its summer schedule:

* Saxophonist Ronnie Laws (pictured at left) and singer Dee Brown will perform at the Sheldon on Wednesday, June 17 in a concert commemorating the 25th anniversary of the National Black MBA Association - St. Louis Chapter. Laws, a native of Houston, TX and the brother of flute player Hubert Laws, is perhaps known for his hit song "Always There" and has been performing recently in the group 3BT with fellow tenor men Wilton Felder (formerly of the Crusaders) and Gary Davis. He's touring solo this summer in support of his new CD Voices in the Water.

Proceeds from the concert will benefit the STL-BMBAA's scholarship fund, which provides scholarships to high school, undergraduate and MBA students. VIP tickets, which are $125 and include a meet-and-greet with the artists, "deluxe hors' d'oeuvres" and a souvenir gift, can be purchased online at www.stlbmbaa.org or by calling 636-230-2404. Regular tickets are $65 and $50, and can be purchased through Metrotix.

* The husband-and-wife team The Cunninghams (pictured below) will be returning to St. Louis to perform on Sunday, July 12. Don Cunningham, a percussionist, saxophonist and singer, is a St. Louis native who started his music career here during the Gaslight Square era before going on the road with singer Johnny Mathis and subsequently relocating to the West Coast.

Nearly 40 years after its original release, Cunningham's locally produced album Something For Everyone, recorded live at the Playboy Club in St. Louis, became a favorite of acid-jazz DJs and crate-diggers around the world, eventually leading to its re-release on CD by Ubiquity Records. More recently, working as a duo with his wife Alicia, a classically trained singer and pianist, Cunningham has toured extensively throughout North America and Asia, headlining shows and appearing as special guests with the Count Basie Orchestra.

I had a chance to interview Don and Alicia Cunningham a couple of years ago before a previous show at The Sheldon, and they were most generous with their time and full of interesting stories about their travels, famous folks they've known, and, in Don's case, the Gaslight Square scene here in St. Louis. At that time, they said they planned to curtail their touring schedule somewhat, wanting to spend more time at their home in Las Vegas after a couple of decades of constant travel. It's good to see them making an exception to return to St. Louis. Tickets for The Cunninghams' "Coming Home One Mo' Time" show are $25 for general admission and are available via Metrotix.

(Edited 5/6/09 to fix a typo.)