The last day of the Independent Music Market in St. Louis began with a breakfast buffet on the hotel patio. Unfortunately, facing a four to five hour drive back to Memphis, I had to leave before the end of the day’s events.
Month: September 2011
After the jazz performance, my friend Tom Ray wanted to head to downtown St. Louis to check out a rare groove DJ event called “Funkin’ Right.” It was taking place in the entertainment district on Washington Avenue, at a tapas bar called Lola’s, which was soon standing room only. The music was largely funk and breakbeat, with a little hip-hop thrown in. It was great fun.
My friend Tom “Papa” Ray of Vintage Vinyl invited me to go with him to Jazz at the Bistro to see St. Louis’ Funky Butt Brass Band. They are quite good and versatile, with a repertoire that stretches from New Orleans tradition to covers of tunes by St. Louis’ own Oliver Sain.
Despite the name, the Blue Sky Tower Grill is not at the top of the University Tower in Richmond Heights, Missouri, but it is a small, quaint bistro/bar with great food.
The Independent Music Market showcase took place Saturday afternoon September 10, with a number of hip-hop artists performing, many of them from Omaha, Iowa and Kansas City as well as St. Louis.
The Independent Music Market continued on Saturday afternoon September 10 at the Sheraton Westport Chalet hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. There was an exhibit hall, there were several panel discussions and a showcase.
Manchester Road in St. Louis County was apparently once part of the famed Route 66, which may explain the old signs and throwback businesses that appear along it. But I was over there mainly to go to the Book House, which is a great little bookstore in a charming old house.
After an early morning walk around the hotel grounds, I headed to Clayton to a restaurant called Half and Half that had gotten good breakfast reviews on an iPhone restaurant app. It was indeed a good place for breakfast, featuring a fine array of African coffees and standard breakfast fare, and it was doing quite a business, as the St. Louis Art Fair was getting underway across the street on Brentwood Boulevard.
The Independent Music Market conference was held at the Sheraton Westport Chalet hotel in the Westport area of West St. Louis County. It got underway Friday September 9, 2011 with a meet-and-greet reception, and then I walked to the next-door restaurant named for Albert Pujols for a late dinner.
What I always knew as the University City Loop has more recently come to be called the Delmar Loop, but despite its status as a St. Louis icon, it is actually in the suburb of University City. Anchored by an outstanding record store called Vintage Vinyl and an outstanding nightclub called Blueberry Hill, the Loop is a destination of shops and party-goers, marked by the occasional conga drummer, saxophonist or trumpeter.