St. Louis jazz history exhibit, gallery talks scheduled at the Sheldon

The Sheldon Concert Hall and its associated Art Galleries played a major role in the publication of the new book City of Gabriels: A History of St. Louis Jazz 1895 - 1973, and the Sheldon organization is planning a number of events to tie into the book's release, including a year-long exhibit, gallery talks, and several concerts.

The first event will be a concert at 8 p.m. on Friday, September 29, curated and hosted by City of Gabriels author Dennis Owsley and featuring the Webster Jazz Repertory Ensemble and special guests performing music composed by or associated with important musicians from throughout St. Louis' jazz history.

The exhibit, which opens on September 30 and runs through August 2007, will include "archival photographs, posters, period advertisements, artifacts such as a trumpet used by Clark Terry and a costume worn by Miles Davis, along with other instruments played by influential musicians, printed ephemera, a video station featuring historical film clips and listening stations with important historical recordings, tell the story of the individuals, places and other conditions that helped to shape the development of jazz music in the St. Louis area." Owsley will also be giving two gallery talks, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 17 and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, December 19.

In the same news release as all of the above, the Sheldon also announced several upcoming dates for local jazz artists in their Tuesday night "Notes From Home" series, starting with singer-pianist Anita Rosamond on October 3. On October 17 (the date of the first gallery talk), it's a "Tribute to Jazz Central," the St. Louis group that drew inspiration from Miles' Birth of the Cool and the so-called "West Coast sound" of the 1950s. On November 14, it's Swing DeVille, and on November 21 the Todd Mosby Trio will perform, followed by singers Coco Soul (December 19) and Kim Massie (January 30).

And as long as we're discussing City of Gabriels-related events, we should also note that Dennis Owsley has a number of book signings/readings set up in the coming weeks. Here's the schedule sent by publisher Reedy Press:

Monday, September 18 - 12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
UMSL Monday Noon Series
229 J.C. Penney Conference Center

Friday, September 29 - 8 p.m.
Sheldon Concert Hall
in conjunction with the "City of Gabriels" concert

Monday, October 2 - 7 p.m.
Webster University - Winifred Moore Auditorium
in conjunction with "Eight for Dennis – A Tribute to Dennis Owsley"
by the Webster Faculty Jazz Ensemble

Tuesday, October 3 - 7 p.m.
Left Bank Books

Saturday, October 7 - 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
The Big Read - St. Louis County Memorial Park in downtown Clayton

Saturday, October 14 - 2 p.m.
Borders - St. Peters

Sunday, October 15 - 2 p.m.
Borders - Brentwood

Saturday, October 21 - 2 p.m.
Borders - Fairview Heights

Last but certainly not least, I've got a story on Owsley and the book set to run in next Wednesday's Riverfront Times. Once it's available online, there'll be a link to the piece right here, as well as, I hope, some additional commentary and/or material that couldn't quite be squeezed into the print version.