Among the first-call, A-list musicians in St. Louis, keyboardist Dave Grelle has to be one of the friendliest. He has the best hair and is also the best surfer. He loves dobermans the most and broke the most bones in a hit-and-run bloodbath that nearly killed him. But we'll get to that.
As St. Louis' ivory-tickler-in-residence, Grelle plays with the Mighty Pines, Voodoos and Funky Butt Brass Band; holds down the keys in tribute heavyweights Celebration Day and Street Fighting Band; and records with the area's top vocalists — Anita Jackson, Joanna Serenko, Emily Wallace and more.
After years of making everyone else sound good, it was high time he put his name at the top of the marquee. He's done so with his own fabulous soul-jazz outfit, Dave Grelle's Playadors, a project that marks the culmination of a remarkable comeback story.
Grelle's story starts in University City, where he taught himself to play piano as a kid. At Chaminade High School, he played clarinet in the school band and keys at night in joints such as the Bernard Pub on Laclede's Landing.
After graduating, Grelle bolted for the University of Arizona, where he planned to major in business but spent most of his time partying and "getting into all kinds of trouble."
His dorm was equipped with a piano in the lobby, and he'd play every night "until they kicked me off," he says. That is, until various shenanigans got him booted from the dorm, at which point his parents pulled the plug. "They said, 'Get on a plane — you're coming home,'" Grelle says.
Back in St. Louis, Grelle threw himself further into music. He landed a job selling keyboards at McMurray Music Center and began performing at open-mic nights at Red Sea in the Loop.
Things started clicking. He had a knack for selling keyboards in the beats-oriented early '00s, was named McMurray's regional salesperson of the year and added high-end keyboards to his collection through sales-incentive programs.
Grelle joined forces with drummer Tony Barbata in Core Project, which enjoyed a five-year run as the city's hottest hip-hop/jazz band. Afterward, Grelle formed the Feed, a popular soul-punk trio with Grelle on lead vocals and keybass alongside saxophonist Ben Reece and drummer Kevin Bowers.
As his reputation grew, Grelle was hired to help make beats for Nelly. "[Producer] Jason Epperson had all these cool old soul and funk records," Grelle recalls. "He'd play a part of a record and say, 'Man, can you play something like that over this beat?'" Grelle could and did, contributing to Nelly hits such as "Pimp Juice," thereby helping craft the soul-inflected St. Louis hip-hop sound, a sensation in the early aughts.
Still, Grelle was hungry to get better. He had always played by ear, but encouraged by his now-wife Kasey, he decided to go back to school, commuting to Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, eventually earning a degree in jazz performance.
"I just loved learning how music works," he says. "I have a very mathematical mind, and music theory is very mathematical. I went from being a disruptive ADHD kid to nerding out on theory."
Grelle went on to play studio sessions in Chicago and Nashville, study film scoring at Berklee and USC, make soundtracks for TV commercials, tour with the Feed and play in Andy Coco's Hip Grease and Kevin Bowers' Nova.
"I try to surround myself with superior musicians because it always makes me want to be better," Grelle says. That includes guitarist Jimmy Griffin, singer Mark Quinn and drummer John Pessoni of El Monstero fame, who tapped Grelle for their Led Zeppelin tribute band in 2006.
He was reluctant at first.
"But they said, 'Just come to rehearsal — then you can tell us to fuck off if you want,'" Grelle says. "When the band kicked in, I was like holy shit," Grelle says. "I'm fucking in."
Celebration Day sold out its first show at the Pageant and has been a monster draw ever since. Grelle and Griffin subsequently linked up with Via Dove vocalist (and Mick Jagger ringer) Andy Shadburne to form Street Fighting Band, a Rolling Stones tribute. In addition, Grelle curated and directed an all-star band for an annual Yes We Can concert, a tribute to Alan Toussaint, the high priest of New Orleans music.
Then everything came crashing down on him.
On the evening of November 2, 2016 — with his nine-months-pregnant wife and two-year-old son waiting at home — Grelle was struck by a speeding car while walking across Grand Boulevard to pick up takeout. The driver carried Grelle a block on the hood of her car, dumped him in the middle of the street and kept going.
Grelle has no memory of being hit. "I just remember waking up with my head on the street," he says. "It was lightly raining. I remember the headlights and flashing lights and someone asking me if I could move my legs."
He couldn't. Grelle had shattered tibias, fibulas, scapulas, ribs and more — 22 broken bones total. He suffered a lacerated liver and a punctured lung. The skin was ripped off his left arm. His ankle was swinging from its tendons.
Meanwhile, the driver parked her bloody, smashed, windshield-shattered car around the corner and went into a bar to have drinks with her friends. A judge later sentenced her to probation for leaving the scene of the crime.
Grelle was in the hospital for a month — released briefly to attend his daughter's birth — and spent two more confined to a hospital bed at home. The cognitive toll of the accident forced him to relearn almost everything — speaking, walking, playing piano.
Miraculously, his hands were the only part of his body that remained unscathed. "I had to reteach myself how to play keys," he says. "The best thing about being isolated and in a wheelchair is that I couldn't do anything else but practice."
More than six years after the accident, Grelle still has glass embedded throughout his body. He points to a spot on his cheek: "I have a piece of glass here working its way out right now," he says. "I feel it every time I shave." He goes to physical therapy sessions three days a week.
Despite knowing he will deal with the effects of his injuries for the rest of his life, Grelle can joke about it. "It was the night the Cubs won the World Series, and I have no memory of it, so as far as I'm concerned it never happened," he says, smiling. "And at least I don't remember Trump getting elected. I might have walked in front of a car on purpose."
Shortly after the accident, his musical friends came to the rescue. Grelle had previously played every Brasstravaganza, the Funky Butt Brass Band's annual holiday party. Though Grelle was fresh out of the hospital, the band got him back on stage that year.
"They were like, 'You're going to do it,'" Grelle says. "My dad drove me to Off Broadway in an ice storm. They brought me on stage, hoisted me up in my wheelchair, and I sang a song wearing a Christmas onesie, my legs wrapped in Christmas lights."
Grelle credits Jazz St. Louis Artistic Director Bob Bennett with pushing him to perform again in 2017. "Bob said, 'You're going to put a band together and play Jazz at the Bistro, and these are the dates," Grelle says. "Thank God he did that. I was in a pretty dark place."
For that gig, he assembled Dave Grelle's Playadors, a who's who of areas players, including Dee Dee James (guitar), Zeb Briskovich (bass), Adam Hucke (trumpet), Rob Nugent (alto sax), Matt Henry (percussion), his old Feedmates Bowers and Reece, and a rotating cast of vocalists.
A Playadors' set is a dynamic display of almighty musicality. Grelle simultaneously plays and conducts from his perch at stage right.
"I throw hard shit at these people, and everyone is coming from way different backgrounds," Grelle says. "I just love that it's a group that everyone is excited about."
Grelle is in the studio with the Playadors and plans to release A/B singles and eventually a full album over the next few months. He credits the St. Louis music scene for being able to rebound so successfully.
"I've lived in Nashville, Chicago. St. Louis is different," Grelle says, shaking his head in awe. "It's the perfect amalgamation of all the music from here and all the music from around us."
Grelle is a priceless part of that mix.
"I'm here," he says. "And I'm better than ever."
Catch Dave Grelle's Playadors with special guest Anita Jackson at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 1, at Joe's Cafe (6008 Kingsbury Avenue, 314-862-2541). Tickets are $15 in advance on Eventbrite or $20 at the door.
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