Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Jazz this week: Rick Braun and Richard Elliot,
All That Tap XVII, Good 4 The Soul, and more

Though things are starting to slow a bit as July winds down and we head toward the dog days of August, there are still a few noteworthy shows of interest to jazz fans in St. Louis this week. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, the Poor People of Paris, led by saxophonist/vocalist Elsie Parker, bring their blend of French cabaret, pop and jazz to Missouri Botanical Garden for a free concert as part of the Whitaker Music Festival

On Thursday, the very busy drummer:Miles Vandiver gets a chance to lead his own group in a free concert as part of Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series. Vandiver will be joined by Nick Jost on bass, Peter Schlamb on vibes and Jason Schwagler on saxophones. Also on Thursday, Jazz St. Louis' Bob Bennett, who plays tenor sax in addition to serving as JSL's operations director, will team up with Good 4 The Soul for a free concert at St. Louis Place Park as part of the Whiatker Urban Evenings series.

On Friday, Rick Sanborn's Smooth Summer Party series at The Pageant continues with a show by R 'n R, featuring trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot (pictured). (You can read more about Braun and Elliot in a preview story on the show written by Terry Perkings for the Post-Dispatch, available online here.)

Also on Friday, Wild, Cool and Swingin' performs at Cookie's Jazz and More, and Good 4 The Soul starts a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro to wrap up that venue's summer season. The Bistro will go dark until Friday, September 5, when the Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project kicks off the club's 2008-09 season.

On Saturday, the 2008 St. Louis Tap Festival concludes with the concert presentation All That Tap XVII at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The event will feature more than a dozen pro tap dancers with experience in TV, movies and/or Broadway performing with musical accompaniment by the Carolbeth True Trio. The Post's Calvin Wilson interviewed festival director Robert L. Reed for a feature story that you can read right here.

Also on Saturday, singer Anita Rosamond is performing a concert at the Black Cat Theatre in Maplewood to celebrate the release of her latest CD. She talked with the Post's Kevin Johnson about the CD and the show for an article that's available online here.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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.)

(Updated 7/23/08 to add two more events and links to three
Post-Dispatch stories.)

No comments: