BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups reopens on South Broadway with an opening weekend of blues shows, including a Halloween performance by Marquise Knox and the St. Louis Blues Society competition.
BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups reopens on South Broadway on Thursday, October 29, after two years of silence. It's a familiar name returning to downtown St. Louis, and it's coming back with shows four nights a week.
The opening weekend is a full slate. Marquise Knox headlines with a Halloween performance, and the St. Louis Blues Society brings in its annual competition. The Matt 'The Rattlesnake' Lesch Band is on the bill, along with a showcase billed as 'St. Louis Blues Royalty.'
If the name sounds familiar, it's because BB's was a longtime fixture of the city's 'Blues Triangle,' alongside the Broadway Oyster Bar, Honky Tonk and the Garage at Music Quarter. Nightlife entrepreneurs Bob Burkhardt and Mark O'Shaughnessy opened it in 1976, and it went through three cycles of closing and reopening before shutting in 2024. The name itself comes from the large pots of soup the founders used to cook from ingredients gathered at the Soulard Market, which they served as unlimited soup and crusty bread for $1.50.
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Marquise Knox, a former guitar prodigy, is doing more than just playing the opening; he's booking the shows and leading music-education programs. That includes a biweekly Thursday showcase for younger blues musicians and a Sunday Gospel brunch. On the food side, executive chef Jonathan Pier of the Broadway Oyster Bar is running the kitchen with regional twists: meat braised in root beer and fries seasoned with Red Hot Riplets. Former managing partner John May, who started as a bartender, has advised the new owners. The club is back on South Broadway, downtown St. Louis, with the first shows starting October 29.
