The past couple of days have brought announcements of several concerts coming to St. Louis that may be of potential interest to jazz fans: * Singer, songwriter and guitarist Alyse Black, who won first place in the Jazz category of Billboard magazine's 2007 World Song Contest for her song "Stood for Stand for," is coming to St. Louis next Friday, May 16 to perform at The Gramophone. Black, who's from Seattle but is now based in Austin, calls her music "indie-pop-jazz," and has drawn comparisons to artists ranging from Fiona Apple, Regina Spektor and Fiest to Billie Holiday, Maria Muldaur and Norah Jones.
* Jazz-influenced jam band Garaj Mahal has scheduled a show in St. Louis on Wednesday, July 2 at Lucas School House. The group includes guitarist Fareed Haque, bassist Kai Eckhardt, keyboardist Eric Levy and drummer Alan Hertz.
* Singer-songwriter Tom Waits (pictured) will make St. Louis the midpoint of his 13-city summer tour, stopping in our town on Thursday, June 26 to play the Fox Theatre. Waits' early music had a distinct jazz influence, incorporating walking bass lines, woozy horns, barroom piano and Beat-influenced lyrics, while some of his later compositions, with their unusual instrumentation and Nino-Rota-meets-Harry-Partch-at-the-circus arrangements, almost certainly must meet someone's criteria for experimental music.
* Last but not least, Pollstar has added a listing indicating that the famed vocal group Manhattan Transfer will be returning to the Touhill Performing Arts Center on Friday, December 19 with what must surely will be a reprise of their popular touring holiday show. As always, Pollstar listings should be considered tentative until confirmed by the venue, but given that the Transfer has been a solid draw at the TouPAC since the venue first opened, this one seems like a lock.
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