Edward St. Pé, local weatherman-turned-CEO of WeatherVision, has another passion—singing American standards. St. Pé stopped singing nearly eight years ago, but he says he’s always missed it. “If you sing, there’s a certain channel in you that opens up,” St. Pé said. “I’m happier when I sing.”
Recently, St. Pé ran into Cary Lee Spence, the manager of the Huntington Grille on County Line Road, and things clicked. Spence offered St. Pé a gig through the holidays, and St. Pé accepted. He sings Friday and Saturday nights through the end of the year.
St Pé is from New Orleans, where his mother used to play Tony Bennett albums. On the evening we saw him, St. Pé did his hometown proud with confident renditions of “Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear From Me” and “Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans,” which, St Pé says, he actually does. “I’d like to sing in New Orleans. I hope to continue—maybe I’ll try to figure out how to do that.”
The set we heard was a little quiet from the back of the room (where the bar is, and hence where we were). But St. Pé serenaded the dining tables with standards for over an hour, singing a spirited and high-voiced “Kansas City” and flowing into “I Wish You Love,” which, while St. Pé gave it a good go, is a song I have trouble hearing anyone but Natalie Cole singing.
St Pé hasn’t formally trained in voice since the late 1970s, when he moved to New York to break into show business. He ended up with a job at NBC, instead, which launched his career in the weather business. It wasn’t until he was firmly planted in Jackson that he began to sing again, eventually getting enough gigs that he was running around with a small quartet playing restaurants, events and weddings. Ultimately, though, the time commitment clashed against the needs of his business and personal life, St. Pé says, and he decided to take a break.
These days, in his lofty attic-like office above the NWN Studios building near downtown Jackson, St. Pé has a keyboard and electric piano set up between his desk and the windows. He says the keyboard is a recent development so that he can pick out songs and practice with his piano players. It’s been a challenge to pick back up where he left off, he says.
St. Pé reunited with percussionist Dudley Schroen, who played with him last time around in the early 1990s. His pianists for his gigs at the Huntington Grille include Charles Buchanan, Jerome Wayne and Irene Martin.
The singer looks forward to encouraging more jazz and standards in Jackson and hopes to participate on some level. For now, St Pé is concentrating on the shows left this year. He plans to toss in some Christmas tunes, he says, and he’s working on increasing his song list. He says he’s been listening to Louis Armstrong recently and truly appreciating him as a vocalist, as well as Frank, Tony and the other usual suspects. “I like the old vocal songs—American standards. You can’t help but want to try and emulate them,” he says. “It makes you a better singer.”
Edward St. Pé will perform standards at Huntington Grille (1001 E. County Line Road. 957-1515) on Dec. 20, 21, 27, 28. Call for times and reservations.
