StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Previewing the Peter Martin Trio

Today, let's take a look at some videos featuring the St. Louis-based pianist Peter Martin, who will perform with his trio next Friday, June 4 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The show will be the third installment in the Peter Martin Music series at the Sheldon, and will focus on compositions drawn from the catalogs of Billy Strayhorn, Stevie Wonder and Thelonious Monk.

The series' first concert in February featured Martin and singer Dianne Reeves, for whom he serves as music director, and the second show in April featured a reunion with trumpeter Jeremy Davenport, who's been friends with Martin since they were in grade school. The April concert also included bassist Chris Thomas, who attended University City High School with Martin and Davenport, and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr, both of whom will be back in St. Louis to play with Martin on Friday.

Alas, beyond the clips from the April concert at the Sheldon, there don't seem to be any videos online of the Martin-Thomas-Owens configuration, but we do have some clips today that showcase Martin's playing in a trio setting.

First up are two songs recorded in January of this year at Snug Harbor in New Orleans, where Martin lived from the early 1990s until Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of the city. Up above, you'll see and hear Martin, bassist David Pulphus and drummer Geoff Clapp perform "I Can't Help It," and down below, they play "Brother Hubbard." These are camcorder vids, apparently shot from a balcony, and though Pulphus' bass almost disappears from the mix in some spots, overall the clips do give a good idea of the trio's interplay.

Down below that, there's a video of Martin and Owens with bassist Christian McBride, playing the venerable standard "Cherokee" at the 2009 Bratislava Jazz Festival. As is customary with "Cherokee," the tempo is way up, but in this case they mix things up by playing the bridge in 3/4 time. Again, it's an amateur video (shot with a iPhone, according to the credits), so the quality is less than pristine, but it's worth a look just to see Owens' skills at negotiating the song's breakneck pace and time changes.

Finally, just to round things out we have a short video of a Martin solo that seems to be from last fall's gig by McBride's band Inside Straight at Jazz at the Bistro, demonstrating more of his considerable keyboard prowess.

For more about Martin and next Friday's concert, check out this interview he did yesterday for KWMU's "Cityscape" program. Also, Metrotix this week announced a two-for-one discount on tickets for the June 4 concert. To access the offer, go here and and enter the promo code "PMTRIO" (without the quote marks).

East St. Louis celebrates Miles Davis' birthday

The city of East St. Louis yesterday had an official ceremony to celebrate the 84th birthday of native son Miles Davis, who, though born in nearby Alton, was raised and went to school in ESL. The Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer was there for the festivities at City Hall and filed a report with photos for the RFT's A to Z blog, which you can see here.

Linda Presgrave to open Jazz at Holmes summer series on Thursday, July 8

Pianist, composer and St. Louis expat Linda Presgrave (pictured) sends word that she'll be returning home to play a free concert kicking off the summer Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University on Thursday, July 8.

Presgrave, who now lives in NYC, will be joined by her husband Stan Chovnick on soprano sax, along with trumpeter Randy Holmes, bassist Dave Troncoso and drummer Jim Guglielmo.

The Jazz at Holmes concerts take place from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. most Thursdays while school is in session. Holmes Lounge is located in Ridgley Hall on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle, near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives. The concerts are free and open to the public.

Presgrave's missive is the first info StLJN has gotten on this summer's Jazz at Holmes series, but when the complete schedule is announced, we'll have it for you right here.

DownBeat reports on JEN Conference

The inaugural Jazz Education Network Conference held last week at the University of Missouri-St. Louis attracted more than 1150 educators, students and musicians from around the country, and - fittingly for an event of national significance - DownBeat publisher Frank Alkyer was there to cover it for the magazine. You can read his report online here.

Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club to meet Tuesday, June 8

After a brief break during May, Jazz St. Louis has scheduled the next meeting of their CD Listening Club for 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, June 8 at Borders Books and Music, 1519 S. Brentwood Blvd.

The St. Louis-based pianist Peter Martin will the special guest, leading a discussion of the featured CD Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (pictured) with JSL's Gene Dobbs Bradford serving as moderator.

The event is FREE and open to the public. However, because seating is limited, those who would like to attend are asked to reserve a spot in advance by calling Jazz St. Louis' Devin Rodino at 314-289-4144.

Jazz this week: Marlena Shaw, Will Matthews, Glendale Jazz Festival, and more

If you'd like to hear some jazz as part of your Memorial Day weekend, there are a number of noteworthy shows coming up over the next few days in and around St. Louis. Let's go to the highlights:

The week's best-known headliner is singer Marlena Shaw (pictured), who's in town to perform tonight through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Shaw's music encompasses jazz, soul, R&B, gospel, pop and many other influences; for more on her, and some performance videos, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

(Jazz St. Louis is offering a two-for-one special on tickets for Shaw's sets tonight and Thursday, which have a non-discounted price of $30 each. To get the two-for-one discount, call the Jazz St. Louis office at 314-289-4030 and use the coupon code "FC0526.")

On Friday, guitarist Will Matthews, who currently tours with the Count Basie Orchestra, will play at Robbie's House of Jazz, accompanied by Reggie Thomas on organ and Marty Morrison on drums. Matthews has played on numerous recordings with the Basie band, including two Grammy Award winners, and also has performed with many other jazz artists, including Joe Williams, Frank Foster, Benny Carter, Milt Jackson, George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Nancy Wilson, Patti Austin, Tony Bennett, Dianne Reeves, Jimmy Cobb, Hank Jones and Nnenna Freelon.

Also on Friday, the NYC-based blues and boogie-woogie pianist Arthur Migliazza performs at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles; and the city of Glendale will present the eleventh annual Glendale Jazz Festival at the Glendale City Hall complex, 424 N. Sappington Rd. Performers at the free event include the St. Louis Stompers and Terry Thompson's Swing Alive Band, with Don Wolff serving as MC.

On Saturday, the Bosman Twins will headline "An Evening of Jazz and Poetry" in the Des Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum, and the Robert Edwards Ensemble celebrates their trombonist/leader's birthday at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Also on Saturday, saxophonist Greg Lewis and Press Play will perform at an outdoor concert dubbed "Jazz On The Lake" at the Grand Marais Lighthouse in Frank Holton State Park, 4500 Pocket Rd. in East St. Louis. Tickets are $10 general admission, $5 for students; call 618-581-6337 for more info.

On Sunday afternoon, singer Denise Thimes will perform and author Ruth-Miriam Garnett will speak as part of "St. Louis as Matrix: Dubois, Garvey and early 20th Century Racial Theory," a free event at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site. Then on Sunday evening, The Nu-Element, which includes trumpeter Keith Moyer, pianist Dave Becherer, bassist Rich Mendoza, and drummer Joe Pastor, plays at Riddle's.

Looking beyond the weekend, Denise Thimes also will be the featured performer at the first Whitaker Music Festival concert of the year next Wednesday at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Metrotix offering online ticket presale for Preservation Hall Jazz Band & Del McCoury

Starting today, Metrotix is having an online presale of tickets for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band/Del McCoury concert scheduled for October 23 at the Family Arena.

Tickets officially go on sale to the general public at 10:00 a.m Friday, May 28, but online buyers can purchase tickets beginning at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, May 26 until 10:00 p.m. Thursday, May 27. To access the offer, go here and enter the promo code "CIRCLE."

Notes from the Net: More Miles Davis reissues; Regina Carter's new CD; plus news, reviews, interviews and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* With Miles Davis’ 84th birthday coming up tomorrow (Wednesday, May 26), there's plenty of news this week about the legendary trumpeter, including word of the release of yet another box set, The Genius of Miles Davis, which incorporates eight previously issued box sets in a special package that resembles a trumpet case.

Then in August, Columbia/Legacy will release two new editions of Bitches Brew, which was first released 40 years ago. The Legacy Edition is a three-disc set, with two CDs containing the original 94 minutes of music in their original studio mixes, plus bonus cuts and a DVD of a previously unissued concert performance by Davis' Quintet filmed in November 1969 in Copenhagen.

The 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition features the same three discs as the Legacy Edition, plus a third CD of a previously unissued performance from August 1970 by the new septet lineup at Tanglewood in the Berkshires, a 54-page color booklet, and a 180-gram vinyl double-LP gatefold replication of the original album.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the price spectrum, online retailer Amie Street is offering downloads of ten albums from Davis' catalog for $5 each.

Also, the revamped JazzOnline website has begun a series of Miles Davis podcasts, which so far has featured interviews about the trumpeter with Sonny Rollins, former Davis producer and sideman Marcus Miller, contemporary trumpeters Christian Scott and Chris Botti, and Miles' ex-wife Frances Davis.

* Turning to news of recent visitors, guitarist Pat Metheny's Orchestrion tour has continued on since his St. Louis gig earlier this month at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, in the process both puzzling and impressing the critics. Here are a review of Metheny's Denver show, written for AllAboutJazz.com by Geoff Anderson; a review of his NYC performance by the New York Times' Ben Ratliff; a piece on his Boston show by jazz journalist & blogger Ken Franckling; a review of Metheny's Philadelphia concert by the Inquirer's Karl Stark; and an analysis and interview with the guitarist, done for AAJ by Tom Greenland.

* Joey DeFrancesco recently took part in a jazz organ summit with fellow keyboardists Trudy Pitts, John Medeski and Dr. Lonnie Smith at the Kimmel Center in Philadephia, and the show was reviewed for AllAboutJazz.com by Victor L. Schirmer. DeFrancesco was here in April to headline a week at Jazz at the Bistro, and will return to St. Louis in August to back saxophonist David Sanborn for two nights at the club.

* Delving further into the "coming attractions" file, some observers suspected singer Michael Buble of using Auto-Tune during a recent live performance in London, sparking some controversy as described here by the blog LondonJazz. Buble will be in St. Louis on June 25 to perform at the Scottrade Center.

* Saxophonist Boney James, who's scheduled to be in the St. Louis area in July to perform at the Ameristar Casino's Bottleneck Blues Bar, recently was hit by a drunk driver while driving home from a performance in Newport Beach, CA. James was stopped in traffic on the freeway when a drunk driver rear-ended him at 70 miles per hour, "causing a gash in his chin that resulted in 14 stitches, a fractured jaw and two broken teeth." No word yet on any possible long-term effects on James' embouchure.

* Violinist Regina Carter and her new band Reverse Thread were featured recently on NPR's All Things Considered. Carter and Reverse Thread will perform in St. Louis in November at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Pianist Kenny Barron was one of several jazz musicians recently honored by the Berkelee College of Music in Boston, receiving a honorary doctorate from the prestigious music school. Barron returns to St. Louis in September for a week of duets with fellow pianist Mulgrew Miller at the Bistro.

* The Jazz Crusaders kicked off their reunion tour last week in Oakland, with original members Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor sax) and Wayne Henderson (trombone) performing together for the first time since 1974. Bassist Nicklas Sample (Joe's son) and drummer Terrail Moody round out the current incarnation of the Crusaders, who will come to St. Louis in September to play at the Touhill under the auspices of Jazz St. Louis.

* Last but not least, here's a review from the LondonJazz blog of a recent London performance by guitarist John McLaughlin and 4th Dimension. McLaughlin and 4D will be in St. Louis in November to perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Jazz educators featured; Radio Arts Foundation suspends efforts

As the weekend winds down and the work week winds up, here are a couple of links related to stories we've been following:

A number of the musicians and teachers in St. Louis this weekend for the first Jazz Education Network conference also visited area schools to spread the word about jazz, and the Post-Dispatch's Sara Lenz wrote a feature story about it, which you can read online here.

Meanwhile, the Radio Arts Foundation, the local group of classical music enthusiasts who had hoped to purchase radio station KFUO, have put on hold their search for another local frequency to buy and convert to a classical format. The P-D's Sarah Bryan Miller has details in a Culture Club blog post here.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: New views of Miles Davis

Next Wednesday, May 26 is the 84th anniversary of Miles Davis' birth, and to commemorate the occasion, today we've got several video clips of the legendary trumpeter that have recently became available online.

First up is the beginning of a 1964 concert in Milan, Italy, featuring what has come to be known as as Davis' classic quintet of the 1960s, with Herbie Hancock (piano), Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass) and Tony Williams (drums).

According to the YouTube annotation, the tune is "Autumn Leaves," but it's a highly abstracted take in which the familiar melody is never explicitly stated and substitute harmonies predominate. The performance continues into the embedded window below, which also shows the beginning of the next tune, "My Funny Valentine." You can see the end of that song and the other parts of the Milan concert here.

The next clip is from 1967, and shows the same five musicians performing "Agitation," a Davis composition that was recorded for the 1965 album E.S.P. and was a concert staple for Davis during the mid-1960s. (This is a different version of the tune than the one spotlighted here back in 2006.)

UPDATE - 3:30 p.m., 5/27/10: YouTube has removed the clip of "Agitation," citing a terms-of-use violation, and so I've deleted the now-useless embed code from the post.

Below that, we move on to November, 1971 and a performance of "What I Say" recorded at the Philharmonie in Berlin by a lineup including Davis, Gary Bartz (saxophones), Keith Jarrett (keyboards), Michael Henderson (bass), Leon "Ndugu" Chancler (drums), Don Alias (percussion) and James "Mtume" Forman (percussion).

For the penultimate clip, we fast-forward all the way to 1988, and an excerpt from another show in Germany with Davis, Kenny Garrett (saxophone), Robert Irving (keyboards), Adam Holzmann (keyboards), Joseph "Foley" McCreary (six-string bass), Benjamin Rietveld (bass), Marilyn Mazur (percussion) and Ricky Wellman (drums).

Finally, we wrap up with an audio-only clip of "So What" from Kind of Bloop, the 2009 tribute to Davis that recreates pretty much every note of his landmark album Kind of Blue in the "8-Bit" style of electronic music. While this obviously isn't going to be to everyone's taste, I found it an entertaining curiosity, so perhaps you'll enjoy it too.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Del McCoury to perform October 23 at Family Arena

What happens when New Orleans jazz meets bluegrass? The Preservation Hall Jazz Band and singer/guitarist Del McCoury (pictured) and his band are exploring the possibilities of combining the two forms of American roots music on a joint tour this year that includes a just-announced concert at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, October 23 at the Family Arena in St. Charles.

The PHJB should need no introduction to StLJN readers, as the venerable traditional jazz repertory ensemble has made it to St. Louis on a fairly regular basis in recent years, playing everywhere from Powell Symphony Hall to the Argosy Casino in Alton.

McCoury's career in music began back in the 1960s with a year spent playing behind bluegrass legend Bill Monroe. He continued to record and play music part-time while working in construction and logging, and his career finally took off in earnest in the 1980s after his sons Ronnie and Rob McCoury joined his band. They moved to Nashville, began touring incessantly, and in addition to their popularity with bluegrass fans, also have become active on the jam band circuit, playing festivals and sharing the stage with bands like Phish and String Cheese Incident.

The idea for a collaboration between McCoury and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band was hatched in 2008, when McCoury went to New Orleans to record two songs for a CD benefiting the hall’s music outreach program for kids. He and his band performed at Preservation Hall during the 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and McCoury then invited PHJB's Ben Jaffe to play tuba with him at the Grand Ole Opry. For their joint tour, each band will play a set, and then they'll join forces for a finale. You can read more about the McCoury/PHJB collaboration in this article by Keith Spera published last October in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Down below, you can see a short video made to promote the tour, and an excerpt from a McCoury/PHJB performance of the gospel standard "I'll Fly Away" recorded by an audience member during a show at B.B. King's in NYC.

Tickets for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Del McCoury Band at Family Arena are priced from $25.50 to $70.50, and go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, May 28 via Metrotix and at the Family Arena box office.

All-vinyl record store Phono-Mode now open

Phono-Mode, a new record store specializing in new and collectible vinyl, has opened at 2308 Cherokee St. in south St. Louis. According to a post yesterday by Diane Benanti on the Riverfront Times' A to Z blog, the shop is emphasizing rock, pop and soul LPs and 45s but also may carry some jazz items from time to time as inventory waxes and wanes. You can read the whole post here.

Jazz this week: Jazz Education Network Conference, Jeff Hall, Monika Herzig, Legacy Jazz Quintet, and more

The big jazz and creative music event this week in St. Louis is the first-ever Jazz Education Network conference at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, a three-day extravaganza with hundreds of attendees from around the country that will be highlighted by a series of public concerts Thursday through Saturday evenings at the Touhill Performing Arts Center

Thursday's concert includes the Brubeck Institute Quintet; the Caswell Sisters; the JEN All-Stars, hosted by bassist John Clayton; and the Army Blues “Pershing’s Own.” On Friday, it's vocal group Sixth Wave; bassist Rufus Reid's Out Front Trio; and the University of Missouri - St. Louis Big Band with special guests percussionist Ruben Alvarez, vibraphonist Stefon Harris (pictured) and trumpeter Wayne Bergeron.

The final concert on Saturday will feature the Hannes Sigfridsson Trio; trumpeter Marvin Stamm with pianist Bill Mays; singer Rosana Eckert with pianist Shelly Berg, bassist Lou Fischer, drummer Ndugu Chancler and percussionist Gary Eckert; and the Clayton Brothers Quintet, featuring bassist John Clayton, his brother Jeff Clayton on alto sax and his son Gerald Clayton on piano, plus trumpeter Terell Stafford and drummer Obed Calvaire.

Elsewhere around town, on Thursday the Unity Theatre Ensemble opens the revival of their critically acclaimed musical The Cotton Club Revue, which runs through Sunday at the Ivory Theatre on the south side.

Also on Thursday, singer Jeff Hall, who makes his home in Nashville, will make his St. Louis debut at Lone Wolf Coffee Company, 15480 Clayton Road in Ballwin. Hall is a protege of the well-known Kansas City jazz vocalist Kevin Mahogany, and has just released his first recordings on the Mahogany Digital label.

He'll be backed by the German-born, Indiana-based pianist Monika Herzig, who will stick around St. Louis to headline her own gig on Saturday at Robbie's House of Jazz, joined by drummer Steve Davis, bassist Peter Kienle, singer Janiece Jaffee, and "possibly other surprise guests."

Also this weekend: the Legacy Jazz Quintet returns to Jazz at the Bistro on Friday and Saturday night, performing the music of Miles Davis in a tribute timed to coincide with the anniversary of the late trumpeter's birth (May 26); and the new Encore! series presented by Steve Schankman at the Jewish Community Center debuts, presenting The Sinatra Songbook featuring Tom Heitman and Schankman's own Orchestra on Friday and Schankman's other personal musical project, the Fabulous Motown Review, on Saturday.

UPDATE - 1:30 p.m., 5/20/10: There's late word from Jazz St. Louis that trumpeter Terell Stafford, who's in town for the JEN Conference, will sit in with the Legacy Jazz Quintet for both sets on Friday night, lending a bit of star power to their Miles Davis tribute.

On Sunday afternoon, singer and St. Louis native Lynne Fiddmont will be back home from Los Angeles for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall celebrating the release of her new CD Lady, a tribute to Billie Holiday. Fiddmont also will do a brief in-store performance and CD signing at 6:00 p.m. Friday at Vintage Vinyl.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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 after posting to fix typos. Edited again on 5/20 to add info on the Lynne Fiddmont show.)

Ozomatli reviewed, Jazz Education Network Conference previewed

For your Sunday night/Monday morning perusal, some links from over the weekend:

Ozomatli was in St. Louis on Friday night, performing at Blueberry Hill in place of their canceled date at Powell Symphony Hall. Ben McMahon was there to cover the show for the Riverfront Times, and you can read his review online here.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the Jazz Education Network will open its first-ever national conference at the University of Missouri St. Louis. The event runs through Saturday and will feature public concerts each night at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

The Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson has a preview of the conference here, and Jon Poses, who runs the We Always Swing jazz series just down the road in Columbia, MO, writes about his plans to attend the JEN conference in a piece for the Columbia Tribune, available online here.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Marlena Shaw

This week, let's take a look at some clips featuring singer Marlena Shaw, who will be in St. Louis from Wednesday, May 26 through Saturday, May 29 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

Shaw first came to wide public attention in the mid-1960s, when she cut her first album for the Cadet label. She's recorded a wide range of material over the years, encompassing everything from jazz, R&B and pop to soul, disco, blues and gospel, and has scored a few hits along the way, including "California Soul," written by Motown hitmakers Ashford and Simpson, and "Go Away Little Boy."

The first female vocalist ever signed to Blue Note Records, where she made five albums and several singles, Shaw also has performed and recorded with the Count Basie Orchestra, Frank Foster’s Loud Minority Band, the Cologne Big Band, the Smithsonian and Seattle Repertory Orchestras, Ray Brown, Benny Carter, Joe Williams and many others.

Today's first clip shows Shaw singing "Go Away Little Boy" at a 2007 performance in Roterdam, The Netherlands. Down below, you can see and hear three clips from Shaw's UK tour earlier this year: "California Soul," from a show in Manchester, England; "Feel Like Makin' Love," from the Birmingham show at the Hare & Hounds; and "Woman of The Ghetto," from a performance at The Caves in Edinburgh. (Note that all of these clips were shot by audience members, so the sound and video quality is variable.)

Last but not least, there's a video interview of Shaw, recorded in Ireland in conjunction with her appearance at the 2007 Electric Picnic music festival. For a more recent interview, check out the latest Jazz St. Louis podcast, which features a chat with Shaw.

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

If it's been a while since you've visited StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds, you've missed out on some choice music videos. There's a new clip posted every day, drawn from genres including jazz, blues, soul, funk classic rock, prog rock and experimental.

Recent posts have featured videos from artists including Henry Threadgill's Zooid, Jean Knight, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Fats Waller, Bootsy Collins, Betty Carter, Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra, Pat Martino, Karl Denson, Bob Dylan, the Crusaders, Horace Silver Sextet, Ry Cooder, James Brown, Sun Ra Arkestra, Booker T & the MGs, Duke Ellington Trio, Wilson Pickett, Freddie Hubbard, The Doors, Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, Muddy Waters, Count Basie, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

You can see them all, plus hundreds more from the archives, by visiting http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/.

Jazz this week: James Carter Organ Trio, Ozomatli, TSIGOTI, Willerm Delisfort, Stephanie Trick, and more

Though the biggest jazz name in St. Louis this weekend is a saxophonist, it's also a good week to hear some piano players, with four different events featuring talented pianists working in styles ranging from ragtime and stride to swing, bop and blues to free-form and experimental. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, saxophonist James Carter's Organ Trio begins a four-night run at Jazz at the Bistro. A versatile performer with a wide stylistic range and serious chops on a half-dozen different horns, Carter (pictured) also will give a free clinic/masterclass this Saturday at Saxquest. For more about Carter and some video of his organ trio in action, see this post from last Saturday.

Also tonight, the experimentally minded pianist Thollem McDonas will do a solo concert at Luminary Center for the Arts, 4900 Reber Place on the south side. This show was a late addition for McDonas, who's back in town primarily for a performance Thursday with the band TSIGOTI at the Schlafly Tap Room downtown. Described by their label ESP-Disk as "an international band combining revolutionary politics and intelligent semi-acoustic avant-punk," TSIGOTI are touring in support of their latest CD, Private Poverty Speaks to the People of the Party.

On Friday, the Latin/funk/jazz/hip-hop band Ozomatli plays at Blueberry Hill. Originally scheduled for Powell Symphony Hall as a collaboration with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, the show last week was moved to Blueberry Hill for reasons that still are unexplained. The performance was announced as a sellout earlier today - no big surprise considering the relative capacities of the two venues - but it's possible some ticket brokers may still have seats, or you can always try your luck at the venue right before the gig me and hope for a cancellation, no-show, or to run across someone with extra tickets for sale.

Elsewhere on Friday, pianist Willerm Delisfort will play at Robbie's House of Jazz. A native of Miami, FL, Delisfort studied at Northern Illinois University, where the much-esteemed educator Ronald Carter heads the jazz program, and also is a protege of the fine Chicago pianist Willie Pickens. (Warning: Delisfort's website has one of those annoying Flash interfaces that launches another window and autoplays music as soon as it loads. Fortunately, the music sounds pretty good, but those with finicky browsers should be wary.)

On Sunday afternoon, the husband-and-wife team of pianist Reggie Thomas and singer Mardra Thomas will do a free concert titled "Your Blues Ain't Like Mine" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday pianist Stephanie Trick will perform in a "Notes From Home" event at the Sheldon Concert Hall. A 2009 graduate of the University of Chicago, Trick specializes in ragtime and pre-WWII jazz piano styles, and the examples of her playing available online show some impressive technique. Jazz broadcaster Don Wolff, who will MC Tuesday's concert, recently recorded an interview with Trick for his radio show, and you can hear it online here.

Also on Tuesday, the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club presents “Da-Dum-Dun,” a event honoring three world-class artists associated with East St. Louis. The tribute to jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, writer Henry Lee Dumas and dancer Katherine Dunham will include live jazz from saxophonist Kendrick Smith and pianist Brian Harrison; poetry from Redmond, Michael Castro, Roscoe Crenshaw, Byron Lee, Susan Lively, Patricia Merritt, Darlene Roy, Lena Weathers, Treasure Williams and Jaye Willis; dance from students at the SIUE-ESL Center for the Performing Arts; and what's being called a "multimodal exhibit." It starts at 6:00 p.m. in Room 2083 of Bldg. B on the SIUE-East St. Louis Higher Education Campus, 601 J.R. Thompson Dr.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Alton Museum establishes Miles Davis Scholarship

The Alton Museum of History and Art has established a scholarship named after trumpeter Miles Davis, who was born in the Southern Illinois river town. According to an article by Jill Moon published in Monday's Alton Telegraph, the museum is now accepting applications for the scholarship, which is an award of $250 for a graduating high school senior who wants to pursue any post-secondary degree — not just music or art — from a two- or four-year educational institution.

Applications are available at the museum, 2809 College Ave. in Alton, and must be completed and returned by July 1, marked to the attention of the Miles Davis Jazz Committee. The committee will select a winner to be announced at the fifth annual Miles Davis Festival on Saturday, August 14 at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey. For more about the scholarship and the festival, read Moon's complete article here.

Dennis Owsley receives Lifetime Achievement Award from KWMU

St. Louis jazz DJ, historian, photographer and author Dennis Owsley (pictured), who hosts the Jazz Unlimited program at 9:00 p.m. Sundays on KWMU (90.7 FM), last week received the 2010 Millard S. Cohen Lifetime Achievement Award from the station.

The award was created in 2006 "to honor individuals who, like Millard, serve public radio in St. Louis with unwavering passion and long-term dedication."

Owsley sent along a copy of his remarks from Thursday night's ceremony, and here's what he had to say:

"Jazz music is a particularly American art form and it embodies many of the ideals such as fairness and democratic principles that we as Americans claim to aspire to. Many of these principles are embodied in how I have presented my shows since 1983. I always want the music to be uncompromising. I always try to teach the whole of jazz history in a quiet manner without hype so that the audience can learn the difference between an imitation and the real thing. Jazz Unlimited is about the music and not about me, so I avoid calling attention to myself through the use of catch phrases, slogans or copying anyone else’s on-air style. To paraphrase one of my heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: in the jazz musicians’ world, musicians are judged by how well they play and not by the color of their skin. Unfortunately, this is not true of audiences, critics, media people or record company executives. So, I never identify a musician as white or black or brown on Jazz Unlimited.

National Public Radio is practically the only place left in this country where this national treasure can be heard. I want to again thank St. Louis Public Radio for giving me the privilege to present this music for over 27 years with no artistic interference, ever. I would like to sum up what I’m feeling at this moment with a quote from another of my heroes, Thelonious Monk, who said, “Jazz is Freedom. You think about that.” Thank you again for this honor."

The Pageant announces three summer smooth jazz concerts

The Pageant today announced a series of three smooth jazz shows this summer, including the Guitars and Saxes show first mentioned here on StLJN last month and now officially scheduled for Friday, August 13.

The 2010 Guitars and Saxes tour features Kirk Whalum, Gerald Albright, Peter White and Jeff Golub. The Pageant's summer smooth jazz series also will present trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot reprising their "R&R" collaboration on Friday, July 30; and a double bill of saxophonists Euge Groove and former East St. Louisan Andre Delano (pictured) on Friday, August 20. All three concerts will be hosted by radio personality Rick Sanborn.

Ticket prices are $35 - $50 for each show, with three- and two-show packages available. Tickets will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, May 14 via Ticketmaster and the Pageant box office.

Notes from the Net: Miles Davis' Blue Moment; Clark Terry honored in KC; plus news, reviews, interviews and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Starting with some Miles Davis news, "We Want Miles," the exhibit about the trumpeter's life and work first staged last year in Paris, has now opened in Montreal. We Want Miles also is the name of a new book, written by French jazz critic Vincent Bessières and just published here in the US, that includes photographs, handwritten musical scores, album covers, posters, and other visual material from the exhibit. (You can see some of the photos from the Miles-as-fashion-icon section of the book and exhibit here).

Another new book about Davis, The Blue Moment: Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music by Richard Williams, was featured recently on NPR. For good measure, here's another review of the tome, from Baltimore City Paper's Michaelangelo Matos.

Finally, we move from literature to libations, with news that the brewers at Dogfish Ale have commemorated the fortieth anniversary of Davis' album Bitches Brew with a special craft beer.

* Trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry (pictured) was honored by the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City a couple of weekends ago, accepting an award and performing briefly as part of a concert of Duke Ellington music. Bill Brownlee, proprietor of the KC jazz blog Plastic Sax, reviewed the concert for the Kansas City Star here. Meanwhile, our town's Dawn DeBlaze of DeBlaze & Associates was there too, enjoying the proceedings and shooting photos, including the one of Terry accepting his award from AJM CEO Greg Carroll that she has graciously provided to StLJN to accompany this post.

* And while we're on the subject of St. Louis trumpet players, the Lester Bowie tribute presented last year by the San Francisco organization Other Minds can now be heard online. The concert was organized by Bowie's daughter Sukari Ivester, and featured Bowie's Art Ensemble colleagues Roscoe Mitchell on saxophones and Famoudou Don Moye on drums, plus trumpeter Corey Wilkes, saxophonist James Carter (who's in St. Louis this week to play at Jazz at the Bistro), trombonist Frank Lacy, pianist Jon Jang and bassist Peter Barshay.

* Turning to news of recent visitors, DowntownMusic.net has photos of saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and drummer Hamid Drake , taken at their NYC performance on the same tour that brought them to St. Louis' Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center last month. (Scroll down the page to see the pix.) After wrapping the duo tour, Brötzmann has since headed down under to play the Melbourne International Jazz Festival in Australia.

* Before playing the Touhill Performing Arts Center last Saturday, guitarist Pat Metheny took his Orchestrion home to Kansas City for a concert at the Uptown Theater, and Bill Brownlee reviewed the show for the Star here.

* Here's another review of drummer Stanton Moore's new CD Groove Alchemy, written for AllAboutJazz.com by Doug Collette. Moore and his band Galactic were in St. Louis most recently in February at The Pageant.

* The Clayton Brothers are giving fans an inside look at the production of their next album via the Internet, with rehearsal pictures, videos, interviews, sheet music and more. You can hear bassist John Clayton talk about the development of “Terrell's Tune" here. The Claytons played Jazz at the Bistro in April, and will be back in St. Louis later this month for the Jazz Education Network conference.

* Also performing at the JEN Conference will be bassist Rufus Reid, who has a new trio CD and also guests on the latest disc from Sweden's Norrbotten Big Band. Here's a review of both CDs, written by J. Hunter for AllAboutJazz.com, plus another review of the trio CD by frequent AAJ contributor Pico.

* Saxophonist Kirk Whalum will be one of the headliners at the 31st Detroit International Jazz Festival over Labor Day weekend, performing music from Everything is Everything, his forthcoming tribute to singer, songwriter, keyboard player and St. Louis native Donny Hathaway that will be released in September. Whalum will be in St. Louis with this year's Guitars and Saxes tour in August to play The Pageant.

* Singer Michael Buble, who's performing in St. Louis on June 25 at the Scottrade Center, was one of the top winners at the Juno Awards, the annual Canadian music award ceremony held last month.

* Here's another review of guitarist John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension's new CD To The One , written for AllAboutJazz.com by Ian Patterson. McLaughlin will bring the fusion quartet to the Sheldon Concert Hall in November. McLaughlin also now has an official iPhone App, created by his record label Abstract Logix. You can get it for free by going to the App Store on your iPhone and searching for "John McLaughlin."

Amazon offering free downloads of jazz sampler albums

As part of its Spring Jazz Sale, Amazon.com is offering free .MP3 downloads of several jazz sampler albums.

There's a compilation of remastered tracks from Concord Music's Original Jazz Classics (OJC) series, with music from Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck and more, and a sampler from Mack Avenue Records featuring tracks from Christian McBride, Sean Jones, Gerald Wilson and more.

Also available are the X5 Free Sampler - Jazz Legends, with tracks from Miles Davis and Rollins, and the Trippin N' Rhythm Sampler with tracks from a number of smooth jazz musicians. The Amazon jazz sale continues through May 31.

UPDATE, 1:00 a.m., 5/12/10: To download the samplers, you must use Amazon's proprietary downloading software, which then wants to send the files either to iTunes or Windows Media Player. Apparently, if you don't want to use the Amazon downloader, or prefer another .MP3 player, you're out of luck. Thanks to Tony Renner for calling my attention to the problem, apologies to anyone who unsuccessfully tried to download the files, and "boo" to Amazon for limiting what users can do with the supposedly "free" .MP3s.

Pat Metheny review now online

Guitarist Pat Metheny's Orchestrion tour came to the Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis on Saturday night, and Calvin Wilson of the Post-Dispatch was there to review the concert. You can read his review online here.

Jazz St. Louis announces 2010-11 season schedule for Jazz at the Bistro

Jazz St. Louis has the announced the touring acts who will perform as part of the 2010-11 season at Jazz at the Bistro, as well as two concerts to be presented next season at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Some big names will be making their Bistro debuts. Saxophonist and former St. Louisan David Sanborn, backed by organist Joey DeFrancesco, will play the club for two nights in August to benefit Jazz St. Louis' education programs, and bassist Stanley Clarke (pictured) and pianist Hiromi will team up for a series of duo shows in February.

At the Touhill, JSL will present in September the reunited Jazz Crusaders, featuring pianist Joe Sample (pictured), saxophonist and bassist Wilton Felder and trombonist Wayne Henderson, who will be performing under their original name for the first time in more than 35 years. (Alas, original drummer Stix Hooper is not part of the reunion.)

Also at the Touhill: singer Al Jarreau, who will perform in February. Jarreau played the TouPAC in February 2009 as part of the hall's own concert series, and had been scheduled to sing at JSL's benefit gala back in 2007, but had to bow out due to conflicting tour dates with guitarist George Benson.

Several other Bistro shows will feature new contexts for familiar musicians. Pianist Bill Charlap, who played St. Louis last year with the Blue Note 7 at the Sheldon Concert Hall and with his mother, singer Sandy Stewart, at the Kranzberg Arts Center, will make his Bistro debut with his trio in April.

Meanwhile, saxophonist Chris Potter, who led his acoustic group at the Bistro a few seasons back and has played St. Louis several times with bassist Dave Holland's band, will bring his electrified Underground band to the club in March, culminating a couple of years of effort by JSL's Bob Bennett to get him back to the Bistro.

Other returning acts with new twists will include pianists Kenny Barron and Mulgrew Miller, dueting on a pair of Steinway grand pianos brought in especially for the occasion; violinist Regina Carter (pictured) and her new band Reverse Thread, which features bass, drums, accordion and kora; saxophonist Josh Redman's acoustic trio; and the Yellowjackets, making their first St. Louis appearance since former drummer Will Kennedy rejoined the group last year.

The club also will host trumpeter, singer and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport, who will come back home from New Orleans for what has become an annual Thanksgiving week gig; and the eclectic piano trio The Bad Plus, who will be the first act of the New Year to play the Bistro in 2011, just as they've done the past four years.

Other musicians making return appearances during the 2010-11 season will include guitarists Russell Malone, Pat Martino, Mike Stern and Charlie Hunter; singer Jane Monheit; trumpeters Ray Vega (pictured) and Sean Jones; saxophonist Houston Person; singer and pianist Ann Hampton Callaway; and bassist Christian McBride, as part of a Ray Brown tribute with pianist Benny Green and drummer Gregory Hutchinson.

Here's the schedule in chronological order:

August 16 & 17: David Sanborn Band with Joey DeFrancesco
September 18: Jazz Crusaders with Joe Sample, Wilton Felder & Wayne Henderson (at the Touhill Performing Arts Center)
September 22-25: Kenny Barron & Mulgrew Miller
October 6-9: Joshua Redman Trio
October 20-23: Russell Malone Trio MAXJAZZ CD Release Party
November 3-6: Regina Carter’s Reverse Thread
November 17-20: Mike Stern Band featuring Dave Weckl
November 26 & 27 - Jeremy Davenport
December 1-4: Pat Martino Trio
December 15-18: Jane Monheit

2011
January 5-8: The Bad Plus
January 19-22: Charlie Hunter
February 2-5: Stanley Clarke with Hiromi
February 11: Al Jarreau (at the Touhill Performing Arts Center)
February 16-19: Ray Vega Latin Jazz Quintet
March 2-5: Chris Potter Underground
March 16-19: Ray Brown Tribute with Christian McBride, Benny Green & Gregory Hutchinson
March 30-April 2: Ann Hampton Callaway
April 13-16: Yellowjackets
April 27-30: Bill Charlap Trio
May 11-14: Houston Person
May 25-28: Sean Jones Quintet

Overall, it's an impressive lineup of talent. While it might have been nice to have a few more new acts in the mix, it's hard to argue with the quality of those that will be appearing, and getting musicians like Sanborn and Clarke into a club the size of the Bistro is definitely a coup. Within the stylistic and economic parameters that JSL has established for the Bistro - no traditional or avant-garde jazz; no big bands; no expensive crossover acts like Harry Connick Jr. or Diana Krall - it's another very solid season, with a good deal of musical variety.

Still to come are the announcement of the local/regional groups who will play the alternate weeks at the Bistro between touring acts, and details on next season's educational residencies, which usually include public performances from the musicians brought in to work with area music students.

Season tickets are on sale now and can be purchased via Metrotix or by calling the Jazz St. Louis box office at 314-289-4030. Single tickets for David Sanborn will go on sale Tuesday, June 8, with single tickets for the 2010-11 season at the Bistro on sale Tuesday, August 17. Tickets for the two shows at the Touhill will be sold through that venue's usual outlets, with on-sale dates to be announced.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: James Carter Organ Trio

Our video spotlight shines this week on the versatile multi-instrumentalist James Carter, who will be in St. Louis next Wednesday, May 12 through Saturday, May 15 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro. Carter also will present a free saxophone clinic and master class from 11:00 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 15 at Saxquest, 2114 Cherokee St.

Carter is known for being able to play in a variety of styles, from modern abstraction to gut-bucket blues, on many different horns, including soprano, tenor and baritone saxes, flute, bass clarinet, and rarely-seen instruments like the bass and contrabass saxes.

The Detroit native first gained wide public attention in the early 1990s, and has recorded more than a dozen albums as a leader. In addition to leading his own bands, he has performed and recorded with musicians including St. Louis native Lester Bowie, former St. Louisan Julius Hemphill, the World Saxophone Quartet, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Cyrus Chestnut, Rodney Whitaker, Frank Lowe, pop-jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and the Charles Mingus Big Band.

For his gig next week, Carter will lead his organ trio, a long-running ensemble that offers a contemporary take on the classic organ/tenor/drums configuration. Today's video clips show Carter, organist Gerard Gibbs and drummer Leonard King performing Eddie Harris' "Winter Meeting" and the swinging blues "Soul Street" at the Burghausen Internationale Jazzwoche 2004.

As a lagniappe, at the bottom you can see a short demo of Carter playing the bass sax, getting around on the giant horn as easily as he does on the tenor. For more of Carter's organ trio, check out this 2009 NPR broadcast from their set at the Newport Jazz Festival.

Ethan Iverson interviews Gerald Early

When he's not playing piano with The Bad Plus, Ethan Iverson has developed a reputation for doing some interesting interviews with jazz musicians for his blog Do The Math, and he's just published a conversation with St. Louis' own Gerald Early (pictured), the Washington University professor who frequently writes and speaks about jazz, popular music and African-American culture.

You can read Iverson's chat with Dr. Early here.

K. Curtis Lyle presenting benefit for Zimbabwe Nkenya on Tuesday, May 11

Poet K. Curtis Lyle and collaborators will present "Barackutopia," a performance piece paying tribute to and benefiting bassist Zimbabwe Nkenya, at 8 p.m. this Tuesday at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Lyle will perform his own poetic text, accompanied by sound designer, musician and multimedia artist David A.N. Jackson, bassist Josh Weinstein, and a score by Baikida Carroll.

Admission is free, but donations will accepted at the door and will go to Nkenya, who suffered a stroke in November and still faces daunting medical bills as well as a long recovery process. St. Louis American editor Chris King has a feature story here with more details on the event and Nkenya's ongoing struggles.

FCC approves KFUO sale

Bad news for St. Louis area fans of classical and jazz music: According to an item by Post-Dispatch music critic Sarah Bryan Miller on the Culture Club blog at STLtoday, the Federal Communications Commission has given final approval to the sale of radio station KFUO (99.1 FM). The blog post, in its entirety:

"The Federal Communications Commission has approved the sale of the license of KFUO-99.1 FM by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to Gateway Creative Broadcasting, which broadcasts “Christian contemporary” pop music as Joy FM. The sale is expected to be final in five days."

The sale means that, for the first time in at least 60 years, St. Louis will no longer have a radio station broadcasting classical music. It also means that Don Wolff, who has presented his long-running program "I Love Jazz" Fridays on KFUO since 2008, once again will be without a home on local broadcast radio. (Fortunately, Wolff's Internet radio show and the video version of I Love Jazz on cable network HEC-TV are both still continuing.)

UPDATE - 11:00 p.m., 5/7/10: Miller has added a follow-up post with reaction from the local arts community here, and a longer feature story with details on when the format change is expected to happen here. Also, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra's Eddie Silva reacts to the news with a blog post here.

Jazz this week: Pat Metheny, Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, Denise Thimes with Rickey Woodard, and more

Though fall-to-spring academic and not-for-profit presenting schedules are winding down, and summer won't be here for a few weeks yet, there are still some noteworthy shows coming up over the next few days in St. Louis for fans of jazz and creative music.

The big news of the week is guitarist Pat Metheny's Orchestrion tour, which finally reaches St. Louis on Saturday night at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

If you're a regular reader, you know that StLJN has been somewhat fascinated with the whole "world-class-guitarist-ditches-real-musicians-for-robots" aspect of the project, and has been following Orchestrion-related developments for several months now; to catch up, you can review that previous coverage here.

For more about the tech behind the Orchestrion project, see this video post from last Saturday. As for what it sounds like, suffice it to say that Metheny (pictured) and his backup band of computer-controlled, robotically-actuated musical instruments provide a truly singular musical experience, yet one that's still recognizably Methenyesque.

On Friday and Saturday night, the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars will perform at Jazz at the Bistro. The All-Stars are a select group of young musicians of high school age, drawn from Jazz St. Louis' various education programs. They're taught by keyboardist Reggie Thomas, guitarist Rick Haydon, and other visiting jazz players and clinicians, and get a variety of performance opportunities throughout the year, including an annual weekend at the Bistro.

Though the individual musicians change year-to-year as graduates are replaced by new players, every edition of the group I've heard was quite accomplished for their relatively tender years. So, if you're the sort of person who likes to check out the possible "stars of tomorrow, today," as the saying goes, you can proceed with confidence that it definitely should be a listenable musical experience, and possibly even something more.

On Sunday, singer Denise Thimes will do her annual Mothers Day show at the Sheldon Concert Hall. In recent years, Thimes has featured a guest star or two from out of town along with her band of St. Louis musicians; this year, it's tenor saxophonist Rickey Woodard, a Nashville native known for his work with Ray Charles and the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra.

UPDATE: The Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson has an interview with Thimes about the Mother's Day show here.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday night bassist David Certain, who's played with trumpeter Eddie Henderson, saxophonist Gary Bartz and other name-brand jazz performers, leads his CertainBeat WorldBop quartet at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. This time out, Certain will be joined by drummer Stan Hale, trumpeter Rob Endicott and saxophonist James Warfield Jr.

(Full disclosure: Yr. humble StLJN editor knows, and, at one time or another, has played music with, all four of these guys. Please don't hold it against them, they're actually all quite good.)

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Ozomatli concert on Friday, May 14 moved from Powell Hall to Blueberry Hill

The collaborative concert featuring the Latin/funk/jazz/hip-hop group Ozomatli (pictured) and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, announced earlier this year and originally scheduled for next Friday, May 14 at Powell Symphony Hall, is off.

Instead, Ozomatli will perform on their own, without any members of the SLSO, at 8 p.m. on May 14 at Blueberry Hill's Duck Room. (The band also will do an in-store appearance down the street at Vintage Vinyl at 5:30 p.m. that day.)

According to the minimal information posted on the SLSO website, tickets purchased for the Powell Hall performance cannot be used at Blueberry Hill; for a refund, call 314-534-1700. Tickets for the Blueberry Hill performance are on sale now for $15 via Ticketmaster.

Ticketing arrangements aside, the interesting question is: What happened? This sort of relatively last-minute change is not uncommon in popular music, but most major orchestras, including the SLSO, plan their season schedules well in advance and generally tend to stick to them, unless a featured performer becomes ill, injured or otherwise suddenly unavailable.

In this case, that doesn't seem to be what happened, since Ozomatli is still coming to St. Louis to perform. And it's unlikely that money was a sticking point, since they're going ahead with the show at a venue that has a mere fraction of Powell Hall's seating capacity, and therefore, offers commensurately smaller earning potential. That in turn suggests that the SLSO were the ones who may have pulled the plug on the collaboration.

So what would cause them to cancel just nine days before the concert was scheduled to happen? No one's talking, but an educated guess would be that something went wrong with regard to the orchestral arrangements - the parts didn't arrive on time, weren't notated in the expected manner, were arranged for the wrong instrumentation, or were otherwise found by someone in authority at the SLSO to be unplayable, given the allocated amount of rehearsal time.

This is speculation, of course, and unless someone from Ozomatli or the SLSO provides an explanation, we may never know the real story, or whether there's any chance the event might be rescheduled at a later date. Too bad, because the notion of the two groups playing together certainly presented some interesting sonic possibilities...