StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Previewing "A Night of Jazz Greats"

This week, let's look at video clips featuring some of the musicians who will be in St. Louis next Saturday, August 29 to perform in "A Night of Jazz Greats" at Harris-Stowe State University.

The concert, a benefit for the Wolff Jazz Institute at Harris-Stowe, will be headlined by St. Louis native Clark Terry and emceed by Don Wolff, for whom the Wolff Jazz Institute is named. Joining Terry on stage will be an all-star group of musicians from all around the country, plus St. Louis' own Jim Widner on bass and Denise Thimes on vocals.

Fittingly, given his stature as hometown hero and elder statesman of the group, Terry was featured solo in this space last week. Today's parade of clips will give you looks at all but one of the visitors who will be joining him on stage next Saturday. From the top, you can see:

* Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon soloing on the Ellington/Tizol standard "Caravan", in a performance at the "Trombone Summit" in 2007 at the Dakota in Minneapolis;

* Tenor saxophonist Houston Person, performing "Since I Fell For You' with the David Leonhardt Trio in a outdoor concert recorded in August, 2008;

* Trumpeter Randy Sandke, performing with the New York All Stars and showing his trad chops and authentic feel on "My Pretty Girl" at the 2008 Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival in Davenport, IA;

* Drummer and vibes player Chuck Redd, playing with his pianist brother Robert Redd and bassist Tommy Cecil at the Montpelier Arts Center in Vermont;

* Pianist Rossano Sportiello, with a hyper-caffeinated rendition of "After You've Gone" from the 2007 Jazz Ascona Festival;

* And bassist and singer Nicki Parrott performing "I Don't Know Enough About You" with drummer Chuck Braman's trio (featuring Art Hirahara on piano) at Sweet Rhythm in NYC.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any performance footage featuring drummer Eddie Locke, though you can see a short clip of him talking about some of the influences on his drumming here.