StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Trumpet in the tradition with Byron Stripling

This week, our video spotlight shines on trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling, who's coming to town next week to do an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis and perform on Friday and Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

Stripling, who will turn 51 in April, was born in Atlanta, the son of a classically trained singer and choir director, and he actually has a couple of connections to the St. Louis area in his past. His youth was spent in several locations, including Atlanta, Kentucky, Colorado, Minnesota, Texas and right here in St. Louis, before he enrolled at the Eastman School Of Music with plans to become a classical trumpeter.

Then during his freshman year, Stripling met trumpet legend and St. Louis native Clark Terry, who offered him a 12-week tour of Europe as part of his big band. After completing the tour, Stripling went back to school, but ultimately left again just three months before graduation to go on the road with Lionel Hampton. After a year, Stripling took a job with the Woody Herman Orchestra, and then in 1985, joined the Count Basie Orchestra.

In 1988, he was selected to play the lead in the musical Satchmo: America's Musical Legend, and he has continued to perform music associated with Louis Armstrong ever since. Stripling also has developed several different shows that he performs with orchestras, appearing so far with more than 50 different symphony and pops orchestras as well as with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and the GRP All Star Big Band.

Stripling currently is the artistic director and conductor of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, a job he's had since 2002, and he continues to make guest appearances with other orchestras, work as a clinician, and tour with his own quartet. He has recorded three albums as leader and is featured with the New York All Stars on two CDs paying tribute to Louis Armstrong. Stripling also can be heard on recordings by Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Lena Horne, Sonny Rollins, Paquito D'Rivera, Gerry Mulligan, J.J. Johnson, Carla Bley, Jim Hall, Jack McDuff, Freddie Cole, Carol Sloane, Benny Green and the Joe Henderson Big Band, as well as various Broadway cast albums and film soundtracks.

Today's clips feature Stripling playing in a variety of musical settings, starting with his own big band in the first clip up above. The song is "Shine," and it was recorded during one of the trumpeter's Louis Armstrong tributes back in 2000 in Bern Switzerland.

Down below, you can hear Stripling dig into another traditional number, "Tiger Rag," with the Boston Pops Orchestra, complete with a teaser ending.

Below that, there are a couple of clips showing Stripling performing with college jazz bands: a 2007 performance of trumpeter Allen Vizzutti's modern chart "Zamba" with the Illinois State University band, and another old standard, "On The Sunny Side of the Street," with the jazz ensemble from Utah State University.

The fifth clip goes back to Stripling's days with Woody Herman, showing the trumpeter's feature number "Dog Day Blues" as performed way back in 1984. We close today's sampler with an example of Stripling's vocal skills, as he works out on the old Joe Turner blues number "Jump For Joy" (also recorded under the title "Rool "em Pete" with an all-star group of local players from Columbus including organist Bobby Floyd, drummer Bob Breithaupt and bassist Chris Berg.

For more about Byron Stripling, check out this podcast interview he recently recorded with Jazz St. Louis' Phil Dunlap; and this 2007 interview he did with radio station KJZZ.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* Saturday's concert by guitarist Tom Byrne's group Have U Heard at the Wildey Theatre is the subject of a preview story by Bill Tucker of the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

* Jazz St. Louis has a new podcast online, featuring an interview and "blindfold test" with trumpeter Byron Stripling. Stripling (pictured) will be here next week to do an educational residency for JSL and perform on Friday and Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Radio station KDHX's (88.1 FM) website has a brief review of last Saturday's performance by Chucho Valdés at the Sheldon Concert Hall, written by the station's Jared Corgan.

* Writing on Facebook, saxophonist Oliver Lake says he's just completed the first of two recording sessions for his next album, which will feature his Big Band. Lake is trying to raise money for the production via the website IndieAGoGo. As of this writing, he's raised $1,460 toward a goal of $6,000, with 44 days left in the campaign.

* Time magazine has just put online 13 never-before-published photos of Miles Davis, from the archives of now-defunct sister magazine Life.

* Because of the snowy weather on Monday, the St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts had to reschedule the workshop "Inside the Music Biz: Legal Essentials" that was to have been presented that evening. The new date is Monday, April 16; registration info is at the first link above.

* New Orleans funk band Galactic will be in St. Louis to perform on Wednesday, March 14 at The Pageant in support of their new album Carnivale Electricos, which is being released to the public next Tuesday. However, you can get a first listen to the new album online right now, via a free audio stream on the website of talk show host Conan O'Brien.

Jazz this week: Anat Cohen, Cory Pesaturo, Funky Butt Brass Band, and more

Although there actually won't be any jazz at St. Louis' official Mardi Gras celebration this weekend - something yr. humble editor has ranted about in this space before - there are a fair number of jazz shows happening around town over the next few days, if you know where to find them. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen (pictured) and her quartet will open a four-night engagement that continues through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Considered a rising star and already the winner of several "best clarinetist" awards in various jazz polls, Cohen played the Bistro a couple of years ago as a member of Waverly Seven, but this will be her debut as a leader at the club. Given her wide-ranging musical interests, Cohen's sets this weekend could include traditional, modern and/or Latin jazz; Brazilian music; klezmer; classical music; or a bit of all of those, and more. For more about Anat Cohen and some video samples of her in action, see this post from last Saturday.

On Friday, jazz accordionist Cory Pesaturo will be in town to play two sets at Cyrano's in Webster Groves, a spot probably best known to local music fans as the site of occasional gigs by Erin Bode. Pesaturo is a 24-year-old graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music who's played with saxophonist George Garzone and his band The Fringe. To hear what Pesaturo can do with the squeezebox in a modern jazz context, check out the video clip at this link.

Also on Friday, percussionist "Baba" Mike Nelson and Rhythms of the Caribbean will perform at Robbie's House of Jazz; saxophonist Tim Cunningham returns to Jazz on Broadway; pianist Carolbeth True and guitarist Randy Bahr will play at Third Degree Glass Factory's free "Third Friday" event; and it's also the night of the opening reception for "The Beat Goes On: Instruments from the Hartenberger World Music Collection," and other new exhibits at the Sheldon Art Galleries.

On Saturday, guitarist Tom Byrne and singer Ralph Butler will bring their Pat Metheny tribute project Have U Heard to the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, and "Rat Pack and More" singer Dean Christopher will perform at Frontenac Grill, accompanied by Carolbeth True on piano and Dave Troncoso on bass.

As alluded to at the beginning of this story, Saturday also is parade day for the St. Louis Mardi Gras celebration. But if you head down to the parade route or to the Soulard neighborhood expecting to hear jazz or Louisiana-style music, you may end up disappointed, as the music for the official Mardi Gras events in recent years has tended toward DJs and rock cover bands. The best bet for some thematically appropriate post-parade sounds this year would seem to be the gig featuring the Funky Butt Brass Band and Gumbohead at the Old Rock House, which gets started at 5:00 p.m.

On Sunday, the St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers series will present a free concert by saxophonist Willie Akins' quartet at Second Baptist Church, 9030 Clayton Rd (at McKnight).

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Webster University Jazz Collective plays a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on campus; and on Fat Tuesday, Funky Butt Brass Band will be back in action again sharing a bill with Gumbohead, this time at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Exhibit at Sheldon Art Galleries to feature African drums, experimental instruments, and more

The Sheldon Art Galleries once again will display musical instruments from the collection of St. Louis music educator Dr. Aurelia Hartenberger in a new exhibit, "The Beat Goes On: Instruments from the Hartenberger World Music Collection," that will open this Friday, February 17 in the Sheldon's History of Jazz gallery.

"The Beat Goes On" will include one room filled with drums and other rhythm instruments from Africa, such as the one pictured at left; a room featuring rare, experimental and one-of-a-kind instruments, some once owned by famous jazz musicians, including Clark Terry and Artie Shaw; and a room showcasing musical instruments from the American Civil War, including rare drums, saxhorns and OTS (Over the Shoulder) horns.

The Hartenberger collection includes more than 2,000 instruments from Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Australia, and parts of it were featured in a previous exhibit at the Sheldon in 2009.

"The Beat Goes On" opens with a reception in the galleries from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 17, and continues through August 18. Admission is free. Gallery hours are noon to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday; noon to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday; and one hour prior to Sheldon performances and during intermission.

Presenters Dolan announce new cabaret shows from Donna Weinsting & Lara Buck, Jeffrey M. Wright

The Presenters Dolan have announced dates for two cabaret shows to be presented this spring at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand.

Singer/actors Lara Buck (pictured, above left) and Donna Weinsting (below left) will team up for "Bold, Bawdy, Blonde - and Funny," an election-year themed show billed as "standards meet standup and politics greets parody" that will play at 8:00 p.m., Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31.

Buck has done political parody before, spending two years in the satiric musical revue Political Idol, while Weinsting is a veteran of local theater productions and winner of a Kevin Kline award for "outstanding lead actress in a play" in the New Jewish Theatre's 2006 production of From Door To Door. Tim Schall will direct, with Greg Schweizer serving as music director.

The following month, Jeffrey M. Wright will return to the Kranzberg stage with "Southern Roots" at 8:00 p.m. Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14. Described as "an evening of songs inspired by growing up south of the Mason-Dixon line," Wright's show will feature Carol Schmidt as music director.

Tickets are $25 each for "Bold, Bawdy, Blonde - and Funny," $20 each for "Southern Roots," and can be purchased online at http://www.licketytix.com/ or by phone at 314-725-4200, ext 10.

(Edited 2/14/12 to fix a strange-looking line break.)

VLAA to present workshops on music business essentials, and more

St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts has announced several additions to their schedule of "Business Edge" workshops for artists, starting this Monday, February 13 with a presentation called "Inside The Music Biz: Legal Essentials."

UPDATE - 6:30 p.m., 2/14/12: Because of snowy weather, the workshop originally scheduled for February 13 was postponed, and has been rescheduled for Monday, April 16.

Entertainment lawyer Gary Pierson of the Husch Blackwell firm will discuss "the most essential legal and strategic information," including protecting band names and songs, which type of business entity is right for you, how music publishing works, and when you need a lawyer. Other upcoming workshops and their dates are:

Monday, March 12: "Anatomy of a Contract," presented by attorneys Jim Reeves and Kim Kirn.

Monday, April 9: "Copyright Clinic," featuring a 15-minute in-person consultation with a volunteer lawyer (advance registration required).

Monday, April 23: "Is It Okay? Fair Use For Filmmakers," presented by attorneys Mark Sableman and Jennifer Visintine of Thompson Coburn.

All the workshops take place from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Regional Arts Commission building, 6128 Delmar, across from the Pageant. The cost per person per workshop is $10 in advance, $15 at the door. You can download a registration form online here, or register by email for the "Inside The Music Biz" workshop before noon on Monday by sending a message to VLAA @ stlrac.org.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Anat Cohen's clarinet concepts

This week, let's get better acquainted with clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen, who will be in St. Louis to play at Jazz at the Bistro starting next Wednesday, February 15 and continuing through Saturday, February 18.

Cohen, who's in her early 30s, originally is from Tel Aviv, Israel, and grew up in a musical family. Her brothers, trumpet player Avishai Cohen (not to be confused with the bassist of the same name) and saxophonist Yuval Cohen, also are professional musicians, and the siblings have recorded three CDs together, billed as The 3 Cohens.

Classically trained in her native country, Cohen first came to the United States in 1996 to attend Berklee College of Music, where, her bio says, her teacher Phil Wilson encouraged her to play more clarinet. In 1998, she moved to NYC, where she's performed and recorded with groups including the Anzic Orchestra, Choro Ensemble, and Waverly Seven as well as under her own name. Cohen has been voted top clarinetist in both the Down Beat and Jazz Journalists Association polls, and has recorded four albums as a leader, the most recent being 2010's Clarinetwork - Live at the Village Vanguard, which was inspired in part by the centennial of the birth of Benny Goodman.

Although influenced by a variety of different styles, including Brazilian music and klezmer, Cohen has a real affinity for vintage swing that's nicely demonstrated in the first clip above, a 2008 duet with guitarist Howard Alden on the standard "After You've Gone."

Down below are two more examples of Cohen performing familiar material, with a video of her in 2010 at NYC's Jazz Standard playing "Cry Me A River" with Anzic Orchestra, and below that, a clip of "Body and Soul" played with pianist Benny Green, drummer Obed Calvier and bassist Barack Mori in 2010 at the Litchfield Jazz Festival in Connecticut.

Cohen isn't just a revivalist, though, and you can hear her approach to more contemporary material in the fourth clip. It's a version of her song "J Blues," recorded in 2010 with guitarists John Scofield and Gilad Hekselman, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Daniel Freedman.

Martin and Freedman are on board for the next video, too, along with pianist Jason Lindner. The song is Freedman's "Oh Brother," recorded at the 2011 Detroit Jazz Festival, and since it features Cohen playing soprano sax, there's a nice opportunity for some compare-and-contrast with her clarinet work.

The final video is a brief interview with Cohen done in 2011 at the Montreal Jazz Festival, during which she talks a bit about the specifics of the gig and then segues into more general topics, like what she looks for when hiring musicians.

For more about Anat Cohen, check out this interview on the website Rootsworld; the extensive past coverage of her work on NPR, including recordings of several concerts; and these two video interviews she did last year at the Newport Jazz Festival with Jazz Times' Lee Mergner.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* The Post-Dispatch has brief features on two pianists appearing in St. Louis this weekend. Robert Glasper, who's playing Jazz at the Bistro tonight and tomorrow, was interviewed by Kevin Johnson, and Chucho Valdés (pictured), who's at the Sheldon Concert Hall tomorrow night, had a few words (through a translator) with Calvin Wilson.

* After being hospitalized since October, trumpet legend and and St. Louis native Clark Terry finally is back home again and resting up. You can read the latest on his condition in a blog entry from Terry's wife Gwen.

* KDHX has posted online some photos of last Wednesday's performance by Dr. Lonnie Smith at Jazz at the Bistro taken by the station's Wil Wander.

* Ladue News has an article by Diane Alt relating a brief history of Jazz St. Louis and plugging JSL's upcoming fundraising gala.

* And completing today's trilogy of Jazz St. Louis-related items, JSL is looking for an intern who's seeking college credit and/or hand-on work experience in a not-for-profit organization. Get the details at http://jazzstl.org/our-organization/careers/

* City Music and Education Center in Crestwood will inaugurate a new series of Friday night in-store performances on March 16 with a concert by guitarist Dave Black. If you're a musician interested in being included in the series, contact Brian Vaccaro at brian@citymusicstl.com or 314-961-8700.

* Singer Erin Bode has a new single, inspired by a young heart patient at St. Louis Children's Hospital, and both singer and subject were featured in a story this week from local NBC affiliate KSDK's Mike Bush.

* Pianist Mike Silverman (of the Classical Jazz Quartet and U City Jazz Festival) sends word that sheet music of his piano compositions now can be purchased online.

* The St. Louis Jewish Light has an article by student journalist and musician Jake Weisman spotlighting Israeli jazz musicians including Anat Cohen, who will be performing next week at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold, back home this week to perform at the Scottrade Center with Cirque du Soleil's "Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour," got lots of press coverage while in town. In addition to his interview with yr. humble StLJN editor published by the Riverfront Times' RFT Music Blog, Harrold also was interviewed or featured on KMOX radio, local Fox affiliate KTVI, the Post-Dispatch, and Patch.com.

Jazz this week: Chucho Valdés, Robert Glasper, Ligertwood/Garfield/Stevens, Michael Zerang, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Bonerama, and more

It's definitely a busy week for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with so many touring musicians in town that we can barely fit them all into the headline of this post. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, singer Alex Ligertwood, who's worked with Santana and Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, will team up with keyboardist and St. Louis native David Garfield, who's currently working with George Benson, and saxophonist Jim Stevens for a show at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. For more on how this collaboration came to be and what to expect from the gig, see this post.

Also tonight, pianist Ken Kehner will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio will perform at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Tomorrow night, pianist Robert Glasper (pictured) make his long-awaited St. Louis debut as a leader with the first of two nights Jazz at the Bistro. Glasper has just released a new album, Black Radio, with his group the Experiment that includes guest appearances from R&B and hip-hop performers such as Erykah Badu, Lalah Hathaway, Lupe Fiasco, Bilal, Ledisi, Mos Def and Meshell N'degeocello. Although he's bringing his trio, rather the larger and therefore more costly Experiment, to the Bistro, don't be surprised if a few numbers from the new album turn up reworked in Glasper's sets anyway.

For more about Glasper, you can see and hear an interview with him talking about Black Radio here; and two more short video interviews, titled "Jazz with Hiphop is Music of the NOW" and "Make Jazz Cool Again," provide some additional insight into his approach to music.

Elsewhere on Friday evening, the Chicago-based free-improvising percussionist Michael Zerang, who played here last fall with multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee, will return for a duo concert with bassist Darin Gray at Floating Laboratories, 4528 Ohio. Nathan Cook and Rick Weaver will open, with Jeremy Kannapell and Joshua Weinstein serving as hosts and pre-show DJs.

Also on Friday evening, the Glenn Miller Orchestra ghost band makes its annual appearance in the area with a concert in St. Charles at Lindenwood University's Scheidegger Center for the Arts; and there are two Mardi Gras-themed shows featuring local musicians, with the Funky Butt Brass Band and Dogtown Allstars sharing a bill at the Sheldon Concert Hall's upstairs ballroom, and pianist Curt Landes leading a group including Cornet Chop Suey's trumpeter and vocalist Brian Casserly at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Saturday, there's a chance to hear another outstanding pianist, as the Cuban-born virtuoso Chucho Valdés and his Afro-Cuban Messengers play at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For much more about Valdés, who first came to fame in this country as one of the co-founders of the group Irakere, see this post from last Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, Bach to the Future will play a matinee at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville; and that night, the New Orleans based group Bonerama brings their four-trombone front line back to St. Louis for a show at the Old Rock House. The local group Metrobones, which features 14 student trombonists from around the area under the direction of Dave Dickey, will open the show.

Looking beyond the week, on Monday there's a chance to catch two more big bands in action, as Webster University's student big band plays a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on campus, while downtown, the Sessions Big Band holds forth at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Then on Tuesday, singer Erin Bode and her band will perform at Jazz at the Bistro, taking over the room's Valentine's Day gig from the husband-and-wife team of Reggie and Mardra Thomas, who had played the Bistro on February 14 for several years running but moved to Michigan last summer. (And in case you were wondering, the tradition of spousal harmony on the gig will continue, as the Erin Bode Group's bassist Syd Rodway also is Bode's husband.)

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

(Edited 2/9/12 to add the Erin Bode Valentine's Day gig.)

Larry Ochs and Kihnoua to play Wednesday, March 28 at Kranzberg Arts Center

New Music Circle has announced that saxophonist Larry Ochs will be bringing his group Kihnoua (pictured, above left) to St. Louis for a performance at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 28 at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

In addition to Ochs, the group features Scott Amendola on drums and electronics and Dohee Lee on vocals, plus bassist Trevor Dunn, who will be a special guest on their St. Louis date.

Kihnoua's sound is described as "music that intermingles the very new thoughts, sounds and structures of jazz (or perhaps better said as “Western improvised music”) with influences from very ancient sounds of Korea and from other folk-music/ blues influences of Asia, Africa and the USA."

Tickets for Larry Ochs and Kihnouha are $15 for general admission, $7 for students/artists with a valid ID, and can be purchased online at NMC's website or at the door.

NMC also has announced that singer Theo Bleckmann (pictured, below left) will be performing with drummer John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet at their previously scheduled concert on Friday, March 2 at 560 Music Center.

Bleckmann perhaps is best known for his 15 years with composer Meredith Monk's ensemble, but he also has released a series of critically acclaimed solo recordings and has collaborated with musicians and composers including Laurie Anderson, Uri Caine, Philip Glass, Sheila Jordan, Phil Kline, David Lang, Kirk Nurock, Ben Monder, Kenny Wheeler, John Zorn, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. He's a promising addition to what already was shaping up to be one this spring's most intriguing creative music shows.

Tickets for the Claudia Quintet concert also are priced at $15 and $7, and can be purchased from NMC's website or at the door.

SLSO's 2012-13 season to feature concerts with Wynton Marsalis and JaLCO, Chris Botti

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra tonight announced its season schedule for 2012-13, and the lineup of concerts includes a few performances that could be of potential interest to local jazz fans.

As part of its "Live at Powell Hall" series, the SLSO will present a program called "The Music of Ray Charles" on Friday, September 21. Charles' vast catalog certainly provides plenty of material to work with, and with the right songs and vocal soloists, it could be a solid program - as long as no one at the SLSO makes the mistake of thinking they can sound credible trying to play Charles' early rhythm and blues material.

Much more problematic, however, is the booking of Kenny G to perform with the orchestra the following evening, Saturday, September 22. Given the near-universal critical revulsion of the saxophonist, the rather insubstantial nature of his material, and the bland mediocrity of his playing, it's hard to see this show as anything but a blatant, pandering money grab, unless you choose to view it as a carefully studied insult to the tastes of both local jazz enthusiasts and the SLSO's own patrons. Either way, it seems a terrible lapse in artistic judgment that one can only hope won't ever be repeated.

(And yes, yr. humble editor remembers writing back in 2010 that all the critical vitriol expended on the G-Man was basically a waste of everyone's time. However, it's one thing for him to play his own show somewhere, and another thing entirely for him to be endorsed by an ostensibly serious musical organization like the SLSO.)

On a more harmonious note, the SLSO has booked trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (pictured) and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as the musical main attraction for the organization's annual fundraising gala, which will be held on Saturday, October 20 at Powell Hall. The concert will feature the St. Louis premiere of Marsalis’ Swing Symphony, which received its world premiere in 2010 in Berlin and later was broadcast as a PBS special.

The SLSO also has set a return appearance for trumpeter Chris Botti, who will perform with the orchestra on February 23 at Powell Hall. Botti appeared with the SLSO last February, and will be here in a couple of weeks on Friday, February 24 to play the Peabody Opera House.

The 2012-13 season also will include performances of contemporary orchestral works by Thomas Adès, Cindy McTee, John Adams and Christopher Rouse, as well as a continuation of the SLSO-sponsored concerts at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, which also have featured music by living composers. To see the entire season schedule and purchase tickets, visit the SLSO's website.

Bill Watrous to perform Friday, February 24 at Scottish Rite Cathedral

Trombonist Bill Watrous (pictured) is coming to St. Louis later this month to perform in a concert to be held at 7:00 p.m., Friday, February 24, at the Scottish Rite Cathedral Auditorium, 3633 Lindell Blvd.

Watrous is a veteran of the big bands of Quincy Jones, Maynard Ferguson, Johnny Richards, and Woody Herman, as well as the live band for TV host Merv Griffin's talk show; the jazz-rock group Ten Wheel Drive; and his own big band, the Manhattan Wildlife Refuge. He'll be backed in St. Louis by The Big Little Big Band, an eleven-piece ensemble of local musicians led by trumpeter Scott Vignassi.

The concert is a fundraiser for the Scottish Rite Cathedral Preservation Association. General admission advance tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students with current student ID, and can be purchased by mail from Scottish Rite Cathedral Concert Series, 3633 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108. Tickets also will be available at the door for $25 each.

Keyon Harrold interview now online

Trumpet player and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold is back in his hometown this week as part of the band for “Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour,” the Cirque du Soliel production playing at the Scottrade Center on Tuesday and Wednesday. Harrold talked with me about the show last week for an article for the RFT Music Blog, and now you can read it online here.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Viva Chucho Valdés y los Afro-Cuban Messengers!

Today, we say "Hola!" to the Cuban-born pianist Chucho Valdés, who's bringing his band the Afro-Cuban Messengers to St. Louis for a performance next Saturday, February 11 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Valdés, who's now 70 years old, is the son of the legendary Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés, director of the house band at Havana's famed Tropicana nightclub. The younger Valdés first became known in the USA in the late 1970s as one of the founding members of the group Irakere, and was recognized immediately for his powerful keyboard technique, particularly his facility in using both hands simultaneously to play melodies and single-note improvised lines in octaves.

Since Irakere's breakout success, it's been difficult for Cuban musicians to tour in the USA because of the political situation, but Valdés has managed to give a few performances here over the years, most notably back in 2003 when he returned after a 20-year absence. He also has maintained a presence here on record, releasing several CDs on Blue Note as well as on smaller labels. He has won four Grammy Awards here in the USA - one for Irakere's debut album, one with Roy Hargrove's group Crisol for their album Habana, and two as a leader, for 2003's Live at the Village Vanguard and 2011's Chucho's Steps.

Our first video clip up above shows Valdés and the Messengers performing a song called "New Orleans" in 2010 at the Festival Jazz San Javier in Spain. In addition to the leader, the musicians are Reinaldo Melián Alvarez (trumpet), Carlos Manuel Miyares Hernandez (tenor sax), Lázaro Rivero Alarcón (bass), Dreiser Durruthy Bombalé (percussion, batá, vocals), Juan Carlos Rojas Castro (drums), and Yaroldy Abreu Robles (percussion).

Down below, there's an undated clip that was labeled simply "TUMBAO" that features some especially nice views of the pianist's hands as he plays off what the percussionists are doing. At one point, Valdés demonstrates a percussive approach to the piano by rolling his fingers over the keyboard in a way that's very similar to what a conga player does.

Below that is "Obatalá," also from the Festival Jazz San Javier 2010 and featuring the same musicians along with vocalist Mayra Caridad Valdés, who's Chucho's sister. Next are two clips, totaling about a half-hour's worth of music, of Valdés and the Messengers' set in 2010 at the Vienna Jazz Festival.

We close out with a couple of short older clips of Valdés playing solo. Although the video quality is a bit washed out, the audio is fine and the performances reveal a bit more about his approach to the keyboard. The first is called "Improvisación Cubana," and is pretty much what you'd guess it to be from the title. The final clip features Valdés invoking his classical training with his take on Chopin's famous "Prelude in E minor."

For more about Valdés, check out this review of his NYC performance last month written by the New York Times' Nate Chinen.