Hard Bop Messengers - Hard Bop Messengers Jazz Interpretations of G D (2023)

Hard Bop Messengers’ latest creative project focuses on jazz interpretations of the Grateful Dead.
John Covelli, a 38-year veteran of the St. Louis music scene, leads his Messengers into new territory, captured in this live performance at the Kirkwood performing Arts Ccenter in St. Louis, MO. The group shared a preview of this new creative endeavor with audiences at their “Live at The Last Hotel” performances in St. Louis and Chicago in 2022. A medley of “New Speedway Boogie” with an improvised segue into “Cumberland Blues” was a big hit with listeners and left the crowd asking for more.

Noting the Dead’s 1970 release, “Workingman’s Dead”, those two songs appear back-to-back on the album but had rarely or never been combined into an extended jam, says Covelli. The Hard Bop Messengers’ performance in Chicago exhibits this mashup of musical styles.

Expect some re-imagined arrangements of classic Grateful Dead songs delivered by top notch St. Louis musicians with a hard bop flare. This album will be sure to delight Dead fans as well as jazz afficionados.

“Live At The Last Hotel”, the upcoming release from John Covelli’s Hard Bop Messengers, is a jazz album that literally tells a story. The visionary, original, genre-defying musical journey that reminds you of what jazz can be, was born from a residency at the REAL Last Hotel in downtown St. Louis. Each song paints a picture with bounce and bustle, that takes you to a place and time that somehow feels both nostalgic and modern. The lyrics tell the story of the trials and tribulations of a fictional hotel through the eyes of its employees.

Covelli knew he had something special when he assembled this group and he gives them all room to shine. Nick Savage, Chris Meschede, Luke Sailor, and Ben Shafer are, like himself, of the esteemed Webster University jazz program. Matt Krieg, originally from St Louis, puts the vocals where they need to be to tell Covelli’s lyrical tale.

Covelli has played in dozens of bands over the years and learned just as many styles. His compositions are infused with such influences, including Latin, funk, chamber-classical, soul, blues and rock, and he hopes the result will have the audience tapping toes and bobbing heads along with every tune.

Tracklist:

01. Bertha
02. Brown-Eyed Women
03. Me and My Uncle
04. Playing In The Band
05. Just a Little Light
06. Help on the Way / Slipknot! / Franklin's Tower
07. They Love Each Other
08. Deal
09. Jack Straw
10. China Cat Sunflower / I Know You Rider
11. New Speedway Boogie / Cumberland Blues