Simon Lasky, who plays Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida on May 15, 2025. Credit: Photo by Jayne Drooger

Some birthdays hit harder than others, and it’s been a good year for Bay area jazz pianist and composer Simon Lasky.

He was awarded a 2025 Palladium Creative Fellowship and will hit the big 5-0 on Saturday.

Before he unveils a new set of music as part of the fellowship, Lasky, a U.K-expat, brings together some of his favorite players—including saxophonist, and former head of jazz at the University of South Florida, Jack Wilkins—for a show that was postponed thanks to Hurricane Milton.

Tickets to see Simon Lasky play Palladium Theater’s Side Door Cabaret in St. Petersburg on Thursday, May 15 are still available and start at $15.

UPDATED 05/08/25 10:08 a.m. Corrected because Lasky doesn’t turn 50 until this weekend—sorry!

Readers are invited to submit their own events to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s things to do calendar.

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky

This article appears in May 1-7, 2025.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...