This week's video spotlight shines on saxophonist Euge Groove, who's coming to St. Louis next Friday, August 20 to perform at the Pageant on a double bill with saxophonist and East St. Louis native Andre Delano.
Born Steven Eugene Grove, Euge Groove graduated from the well-regarded University of Miami School of Music in 1984. He first earned wide public recognition when he replaced Richard Elliot in the funk band Tower of Power, and also did session work with various pop acts before putting out his first solo CD in 2000. Groove has played in St. Louis several times, at the Pageant and more recently at the now-defunct Finale Music and Dining. However, this is his first trip here in a couple of years, so if you're thinking about going on Friday, expect a sizable turnout of smooth jazz fans enamored with Groove's mix of emotive sax, straightforward chord progressions and steady funk backbeats.
The first video up above features a performance of the title song from Groove's CD Livin Large, recorded in 2008 at the Festival In the Desert in Phoenix, AZ. The saxman's backing band in this clip, and the next two, includes drummer Phillip Beale, bassist Darryl Williams, keyboard player Marcus Coleman and guitarist Ross Bolton.
Down below, you can see and hear performances of “Born 2 Groove" and “Sneak A Peek" from that same 2008 gig in Phoenix. The fourth clip shows a performance of “Say My Name" recorded in April of this year in New Haven, CT. (The sound quality on this clip suffers a bit from excess compression, but the performance itself is worth checking out.)
