Simon Lasky, who plays Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida on May 15, 2025. Credit: Photo by Jayne Drooger
Fans of WUSF 89.7-FM’s nighttime jazz programming are no strangers to Simon Lasky’s voice, but this concert at Palladium Theater’s Side Door Cabaret in St. Petersburg on Friday, Sept. 8 will be the first time they get to see the host on keys as part of his eponymous group.

Lasky’s composition “Close To Ecstasy” won the 2018 British Composer Awards (more or less a British Grammy), and his octet features some of the area’s best players—James Suggs on trumpet, guitarist Peter Mongaya, drummer Jonathan Thomas, electric bassist Elias Tona, plus Mike DiRubbo and Jack Wilkins on alto and tenor sax, respectively. They’re joined by Ona Kirei on guest vocals.

If you want more jazz in your life this weekend, Kirei and DiRubbo are also playing in Ybor on Sunday as part of the Tampa Jazz Club season kickoff.

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This article appears in Sep 8-14, 2022.

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...