Holiday series brought performances to shelters, meals program, maternity home
As guests filled the gymnasium at St. Vincent de Paul Church for the evening meals program, Vinnie Young and his trio of musicians broke out into a jazz rendition of “Let it Snow.”
The St. Vincent de Paul meals program is a 40-plus year tradition that serves a hot meal to a community in need, but on this Sunday evening before Christmas, Young and his fellow jazz musicians were a new addition, bringing smiles to patrons as they sat down in the warmth of the gymnasium to enjoy breakfast for dinner, featuring pancakes, sausage and breakfast potatoes.
The trio of Webster University students — Young on drums, Claire Maue on tenor saxophone and Issac Dessau (who is going through Christian initiation at Good Shepherd Parish in Hillsboro) on upright bass — are part of Str8ahead Jazz, a nonprofit organization that brings local jazz musicians to nontraditional audiences, including shelters, soup kitchens, nursing homes, hospitals and similar venues. The “On a Brighter Note” holiday jazz series last month included trios and quartets performing at Peter &Paul Community Services, Our Lady’s Inn, the St. Vincent de Paul meals program and Gateway 180 Family Shelter.
Str8ahead Jazz got its start in 2019, the effort of a group of local musicians who performed at Thursday night jazz sessions at Pat Connolly Tavern in St. Louis. The musicians enjoy playing straight-ahead jazz, a style of jazz that developed in the 1960s and features acoustic instruments, walking bass lines and a heavy emphasis on improvisation, Str8ahead Jazz co-founder Keith Deisner said.
Fundraising efforts go toward a nominal payment for the musicians, but the work is mostly about bringing jazz to a wider community, he said, adding that he is delighted when he sees joy on people’s faces as they enjoy the live music. Sometimes people approach the bands and make song requests, too.
“Hopefully, it brings a little joy into a person’s life and in that moment builds a little community,” said Deisner, a member of St. Peter Claver Parish in St. Louis who assists with the music ministry there.
“This is about bringing music to people who wouldn’t normally have the chance to hear it elsewhere,” said Young, who also assists with the music ministry at St. Peter Claver. Straight-ahead jazz is a “smaller genre and something that people wouldn’t normally get to see anywhere, so this is magical to me.”
Vince Sala has lent his talents to Str8ahead Jazz for the past three years. A veteran jazz and blues saxophonist, the member of St. Cronan Parish in St. Louis has performed with the Albert King Blues Band and several local groups over the years, including the Vince Sala Trio. Sala joined jazz pianist Ptah Williams and drummer Evan Rhoda (a St. Margaret of Scotland parishioner and CBC High School grad) in December for a performance at Peter &Paul Community Services’ new Community Campus in north St. Louis.
Sharing the gift of music could be seen as an extension of the Beatitudes, Sala said. “You feed the hungry, shelter the homeless … you could also extrapolate on that and say entertain,” he said. “Music makes most people smile. They’re enjoying it and it makes people happy. It reminds me of that quote from (St.) Mother Teresa: If you make someone smile, you make God smile.”
The band isn’t there just to play songs, but also to interact with others and hopefully build a sense of community in that moment. “We like to talk to people while we’re playing or introduce a certain song,” Sala said. “One of the main things we do is we ask for requests. Two years ago at St. Vincent’s Parish, they were shouting, ‘You know anything by Charlie Parker? You know anything by John Coltrane?’ They knew a lot about music and jazz.”
Music has a way of bringing people together, he said. With its heavy focus on improvisation, jazz could be compared to the Holy Spirit in how a musician is moved to play in a certain way.
“The freedom that comes through improvisation … it’s not always planned,” Sala said. “You’re playing what you feel at the moment. Some people have said that if you dedicate your music as a form of meditation, you let God inspire you to develop your talents and play what you feel at a given time.”
>> Str8ahead.org
Str8ahead.org is a nonprofit organization that supports local artists performing straight-ahead jazz for nontraditional audiences, including soup kitchens, shelters, nursing homes and similar venues. Through the efforts of volunteer fundraising, the organization provides funding for musicians to perform for audiences that otherwise might not have an opportunity to attend a live performance.
For more information, visit str8ahead.org.
