Mae Wheeler's 75th Birthday Gala

Though she's come to be known as "Lady Jazz" during more than 50 years of entertaining St. Louis audiences, Mae Wheeler often refers to herself not as a jazz singer, but as a "song stylist" who offers personal interpretations of a wide variety of material, from jazz and blues to pop, rock, Broadway and more. She's also a philanthropist who has raised money for many charitable causes and started a scholarship fund to help local students, and she's been a mentor to several generations of St. Louis singers and musicians. Many of those performers will gather on Sunday at the Sheldon to pay tribute and offer birthday wishes to Wheeler, who in recent years has continued to perform whenever possible despite an ongoing battle with colon cancer.