So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of links and short local news items of interest that you may have missed:

* Jazz St. Louis has produced a new short video for this fall promoting their education programs, and you can see it online here.

JSL also is looking for volunteers to help staff an information booth at the 2010 Saint Louis Art Fair in Clayton. Volunteers are needed to cover shifts of two to three hours on Friday, September 10; Saturday, September 11; and Sunday, September 12. If you'd like to volunteer, please email Devin Rodino at devin@jazzstl.org or call 314-289-4144.

* Here's one more link for you from saxophonist David Sanborn's recent trip back home to perform at Jazz at the Bistro: an interview Sanborn did with KSDK's Art Holliday.

* Trumpeter Jim Manley (pictured) and the Wild Cool & Swingin' Orchestra are the latest subjects in the St. Louis Beacon's summer series of profiles of local musicians.

* Lastly, although StLJN usually confines our coverage to the immediate St. Louis metropolitan area, we did want to point out that tickets go on sale Tuesday, August 31 for the 2010-11 We Always Swing jazz series in Columbia, MO. The series, now in its 16th season, each year usually presents a few musicians just before or after their St. Louis engagements, as they're doing this season with Tierney Sutton, Dave Brubeck, Stanley Clarke & Hiromi and Ray Vega.

However, they're also presenting a number of acts who (so far) are not scheduled to appear here, including the very talented clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen's quartet, plus a proverbial passel of prime pianists - specifically, groups fronted by Alfredo Rodriguez, Joey Calderazzo, Ellis Marsalis and Danilo Perez; plus a duo piano performance by spouses Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes; plus pianist Lynne Arriale's group, featuring trumpeter Randy Brecker, with the University of Missouri Concert Jazz Band. If you're thinking one or more of these concerts might be worth the two-hour trip down I-70, call the We Always Swing series at 573-449-3001, email them at info@wealwaysswing.org, or visit their website.

Ben Sidran to perform Sunday, September 12 at Kol Am Temple

Keyboard player, singer, composer, author and broadcaster Ben Sidran (pictured) is coming to St. Louis for a performance at 6:00 p.m. Sunday, September 12 at Kol Am Temple, 1023 Chesterfield Parkway.

KWMU’s Dennis Owsley will serve as host as Sidran performs and shares "his insights on Jews, Music, and the American Dream." Sidran first gained fame working with the Steve Miller Band, and has gone on to perform and record with musicians and singers including Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Peter Frampton, Diana Ross, Van Morrison, Mose Allison and Rickie Lee Jones.

He has hosted numerous programs for TV and radio, including NPR’s award-winning "Jazz Alive" and "Sidran on the Record" and VH1′s New Visions. His written works include the book Black Talk, about the sociology of black music in America; the memoir A Life in the Music; and Talking Jazz, a collection of interviews with jazz musicians.

Tickets for Ben Sidran are $12 and are available in advance online or by calling the Kol Am office at 636-519-0082. A reception and book/CD signing will follow the performance.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The many moods of McBride

This week, we once again turn our video spotlight on bassist Christian McBride, who will be back in St. Louis to perform a duo concert with pianist Peter Martin on Saturday, September 11 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

McBride has been a fairly frequent visitor here in recent years, most recently playing at Jazz at the Bistro in November 2009 with his band Inside Straight. Astute readers may recall that we featured the bassist in a Saturday video post then, but given his diverse and ever-evolving career, there's plenty more to hear.

McBride, who's 38 years old, is originally from Philadelphia and has been involved in music since childhood. His father and great uncle are both bassists, and served as early mentors, and his classmates at the city's performing arts high school included organist Joey DeFrancesco and hip-hop drummer/producer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson of the Roots.

Over the years, McBride has played with many significant jazz musicians, such as Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Diana Krall, Roy Haynes, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Wynton Marsalis and Joshua Redman. He's also worked with musicians from many other genres, including the Roots, Kathleen Battle, Carly Simon, Sting, Bruce Hornsby, Queen Latifah and James Brown. Other notable collaborative efforts include the Philadelphia Experiment, with keyboardist Uri Caine and ?uestlove; and the Five Peace Band, with McLaughlin, Corea, Kenny Garrett and Vinnie Colaiuta.

As a bandleader, McBride has several different ventures, including a jazz/fusion/funk group called simply the Christian McBride Band; "A Christian McBride Situation" with saxophonist Ron Blake, guitarist David Gilmore, and turntablist DJ Logic; and the aforementioned Inside Straight, which concentrates on straight-ahead, swinging modern jazz.

With all this activity, McBride also somehow found time to be "Creative Chair for Jazz" with the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 2006 until earlier this year - he was succeeded by Herbie Hancock - and to continue to serve as co-director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Today's clips offer several different perspectives on this very versatile musician. First up is a video recorded last year of McBride and Inside Straight, with Martin on piano, playing "Used 'Ta Could." (That's Warren Wolf on vibes, Steve Wilson on alto sax and Ulysses Owens, Jr., who was here earlier this year for a trio concert with Martin, on drums.)

Down below is a clip of the Christian McBride Band, with East St. Louis' Terreon Gully on drums, performing a tune called "The Wizard of Montara." This performance is a few years old - it was recorded in 2003 at Yoshi's in Oakland, CA - but includes a very nice solo from McBride that starts about two and a half minutes in.

Below that, there's a excerpt from a 2008 performance by the Christian McBride Band, showing McBride demonstrating his chops on electric bass. And finally, the fourth clip offers "A Day In The Life" of the bassist, in which he takes viewers on a tour of his home in Montclair, NJ and talks about his instruments, music, domestic life ("It's really my wife's house. I get one room," he says at one point.) and various other topics. It's an entertaining look at the man behind the music.

Jazz this week: Support your local jazz musicians

It's the last weekend before the Labor Day holiday, and though many concert series and presenters are still on summer hiatus, and there are no major touring jazz performers in St. Louis over the next few days, there still are a number of noteworthy events on tap featuring local musicians.

On Thursday, Robbie's House of Jazz has singer Carmen Emborski doing a tribute to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with Bob Deboo (bass), Dave Stone (saxophones), Joe Pastor (vibes) and Paul Shaw (drums).

On Friday night, Robbie's will feature trumpeter Scott Vignassi's "Big Little Big Band." Vignassi has played with El Caribe Tropical and with various Air Force musical ensembles, most recently at Scott Air Force Base in southern Illinois. On Saturday afternoon, the club will host a reunion of performers from singer Mae Wheeler's "Divas" and "Troubadours" fundraisers, and on Saturday night, pianist Ed Nicholson's trio with vocalist Myla Brown will take the stage.

Elsewhere around town on Saturday, trumpeter Jim Manley and the Wild Cool & Swingin' Orchestra will perform a free concert at 6:00pm at Lafayette Park; and the Presenters Dolan have singer Pegi Johns at the Kranzberg Arts Center doing a World War II-themed cabaret show called "A Window Into Our Hearts: The Songs That Saw Us Through The War." The show includes songs made famous by the Andrews Sisters, Judy Garland, Glenn Miller, Cole Porter, Fats Waller, Richard Rodgers, Frank Loesser and Harold Arlen, with pianist Carolbeth True as music director and bassist Ric Vice as director.

On Sunday, Nu-Element, fronted by trumpeter Keith Moyer and keyboardist Dave Becherer, plays at Riddle's, and on Monday, pianist Phil Gomez and Clave Sol will do their Latin/jazz thing at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Also on Monday, it's the first Webster University jazz faculty concert of the semester at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus, featuring lesser known repertoire of Duke Ellington. Selections will include "The Feeling of Jazz," "Daydream," "All Too Soon," "I Didn't Know About You," "Star Crossed Lovers," "Isfahan," "Azure," "Drop Me Off in Harlem," and "Love You Madly," performed by Debby Lennon (vocals), Paul DeMarinis (pictured, tenor saxophone), Steve Schenkel (guitar), Kim Portnoy (piano), Willem von Hombracht (bass) and Kevin Gianino (drums).

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.)

Notes from the Net: Miles' box set of box sets; John Hicks honored in NYC; 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:

* The big Miles Davis news this time out is the release on September 14 of The Genius of Miles Davis , a new collection bringing together eight deluxe multi-CD box sets, including 43 CDs of music, which were originally released on Columbia/Legacy between 1996 and 2007.

Presented in a replica of Miles' own trumpet case (pictured), the collection contains Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings (6 CDs); Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968 (6 CDs); The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (4 CDs); Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings, 1955-1961 (6 CDs); The Complete In A Silent Way Sessions (3 CDs); The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (5 CDs); Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Miles Davis, 1963-1964 (7 CDs); and The Complete On The Corner Sessions (6 CDs).

Extras include a replica of the 'Gustat' Heim 2 model mouthpiece used by Davis; a "previously unseen and unavailable fine art lithograph" by the trumpeter himself; and a "boutique-worthy" T-shirt with an image of Davis playing his horn.

In other Miles-related news, the 40th anniversary of the release of Davis' influential Bitches Brew has prompted "Miles Davis: Forty Years of Freedom - The legacy of Bitches Brew," an article by Geoffrey Himes in the September issue of Jazz Times. Also, the 40th anniversary reissue edition of the album is reviewed here for AllAboutJazz.com by Doug Collette, and the music from the sessions also was celebrated earlier this month at a concert in Los Angeles. Last but certainly not least, here's audio of a recently rediscovered interview from 1970 with Teo Macero, in which Macero, who produced Davis' Columbia recordings, discusses the making of albums like Bitches Brew and Live Evil.

* Speaking of recently unearthed recordings, trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry's episode of the NPR program "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz" recently was posted online. Terry also is one of several jazz legends interviewed for the Visionary Project, an archive of African American oral history. You can check out Terry's interview here.

* Updating the world via his Twitter feed, saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake writes that he recently went to Belgium with the World Saxophone Quartet and percussion group M'boom to play the Middelheim Jazz Festival; did a week at NYC's Birdland with Trio 3 and pianist Geri Allen; and is set to play the Jazz Standard this week with his Organ Quartet, featuring Jared Gold.

* Another Oliver - the late composer, alto saxophonist and St. Louisan Oliver Nelson - recently was the subject of a post on Doug Ramsey's blog Rifftides.

* Remember that Greg Osby live NPR broadcast from the Village Vanguard we told you about here? The saxophonist, composer and St. Louis native's gig also was reviewed by the New York Times' Nate Chinen here, and has been archived for online streaming and downloading here.

* A section of West 139th St at Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem has been renamed "John Hicks Way" in honor of the late jazz pianist and former St. Louisan. WBGO’s Josh Jackson reports on the renaming here, and there's a photo of the new street sign bearing Hicks' name here.

* Saxophonist Chris Cheek has a new CD, Jugendstil II, recorded for ESP Disk in collaboration with the venerable sax master Lee Konitz and bassist Stephane Furic Leibovici. Here's a review of the album written for AllAboutJazz.com by Raul d'Gama Rose.

* Turning to news of coming attractions, pianist Vijay Iyer has a new CD, Solo, that's attracting lots of interest after the success of his previous release Historicity. AllAboutJazz.com already has up three reviews of the disc: one here written by Bruce Lindsay, here by Lyn Horton, and here by Chris May. Meanwhile, About.com's Jacob Teichrow has a review of the new Iyer disc here, and the pianist is interviewed for a feature about the release by the Los Angeles Times' Chris Barton here. Iyer will return to St. Louis to play with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet in November at the 560 Music Center under the auspices of New Music Circle.

* Dave Brubeck celebrated his 90th birthday a bit early this month at the Newport Jazz Festival. Brubeck is scheduled to come back here in October to perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall as part of the American Arts Experience -St. Louis festival.

* In other Newport-related news, pianist Hiromi's performance is documented here by NPR's "Jazz Set," and the network's recording of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band's concert at the parallel Folk Festival can be heard here. Hiromi will play with bassist Stanley Clarke in February at Jazz at the Bistro, while the PHJB's tour with the Del McCoury Band comes here in October to the Family Arena in St. Charles.

* After his recent hospitalization in France, singer Al Jarreau resumed his European tour. Jarreau said on his website he expects to complete the rest of the European tour and fulfill other concert commitments in the United States, Japan and elsewhere after doctors in Marseille successfully treated him for arrhythmia, or heart palpitations. Jarreau is scheduled to perform in February at the Touhill Performing Arts Center under the auspices of Jazz St. Louis.

* Apparently, tenor saxophonist Wilton Felder is the Jazz Crusader having health challenges that have forced the postponement of the group's St. Louis appearance, originally scheduled for next month at the Touhill. Interestingly, Felder was replaced on the band's date in Long Beach by Euge Groove, who was just here last weekend at the Pageant.

* Speaking of Groove, he's just released Groove On This, a new "interactive album" on data DVD. The recording is designed to be listened to and played with on something called the Beamz Player Interactive Music System, which allows listeners to remix songs in real time, among other things.

* In more news of recent visitors, saxophonist Boney James, who played the Bottleneck Blues Bar last month, is still glad to be back on stage touring after a serious auto accident and dental surgery sidelined him for several weeks earlier this year.

* Signer and pianist Harry Connick Jr, who played here in June at the Fox Theatre, recently brought his big band to the Hollywood Bowl.

* In other miscellaneous news from around the jazz internet, The Bad Plus' pianist Ethan Iverson recently "rebooted" his widely read blog Do The Math; Argentine pianist Esteban Sehinkman has posted online a free "real book" of compositions by Argentine jazz musicians; and photographer William Gottlieb's jazz photos in the Library of Congress have just entered the public domain.

* Finally, condolences to the family, friends and fans of Kansas City saxophonist and jazz-scene elder statesman Ahmad Alaadeen, who recently died after a battle with cancer. Plastic Sax's Bill Brownlee penned a nice tribute to Alaadeen for the Kansas City Star, which you can read online here.

Romero Lubambo, Peter Martin to perform December 4 at the Sheldon

Pianist Peter Martin today announced another performance in his Peter Martin Music series at the Sheldon Concert Hall: a duo show with guitarist Romero Lubambo (pictured) on Saturday, December 4.

Lubambo, who's originally from Brazil, came to the USA in the mid-1980s and has made numerous recordings as a leader, sideman, and member of Trio de Paz, which recently released a CD on the St. Louis based label MAXJAZZ. He's played with many well-known jazz musicians and singers, including Herbie Mann, Claudia Acuna, Luciana Souza, Diana Krall, Astrud Gilberto, Michael Brecker, Al Jarreau, Flora Purim and Airto, Paquito D’Rivera, and Grover Washington, Jr. Lubambo and Martin have worked together previously behind singer Dianne Reeves, for whom Martin has served as music director for the last decade.

Tickets for the concert by Romero Lumambo and Peter Martin are priced at $25 to $50, and are on sale now via Metrotix and Martin's website.

Updated after posting to correct the date.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of links and short local news items of interest that you may have missed:

* Saxophonist David Sanborn's return to St. Louis this past week to play two nights at Jazz at the Bistro generated some press coverage both locally and nationally as well as lots of talk around town.

St. Louis scribe Terry Perkins reviewed Sanborn's performance for Jazz Times magazine, and you can find that review online here. Sanborn also was featured in a TV news report that ran on both KTVI (Channel 2) and KPLR (Channel 11). (The two station share ownership, news facilities and personnel.) Lastly, Jazz St. Louis has posted an album of photos from Sanborn's performances on the JSL Facebook page.

* Jazz broadcaster Don Wolff advises StLJN that the "Statesmen of Jazz" fundraiser for the Wolff Jazz Institute that had been set for next weekend at Harris-Stowe State University has been postponed. No word yet as to when it might be rescheduled, but watch this space for further developments.

* The Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center (pictured*) has gotten a "minor facelift" this summer, and Diana Benanti wrote about it for the Riverfront Times' A to Z blog here. Also this past week, the RFT's Josh Levi wrote about another alternative performance space in the city, Floating Laboratories.

* Last but not least, online voting is now open for the RFT's annual "Best of St. Louis" issue. Vote for your favorite people, places and things, including several music-related categories, here.

*Photo of the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center swiped from Tony Renner.

Edited 8/28/10 to fix a garbled sentence.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Jamming with Garage A Trois

Today, let's check out some video footage of the band Garage A Trois, who are coming to St. Louis on Tuesday, September 14 to perform at the Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St.

Garage A Trois was formed in 1999 by drummer Stanton Moore, single-named saxophonist Skerik (nee Eric Walton) and guitarist Charlie Hunter. Hunter left the group a couple of years ago to pursue other musical interests, and their current lineup includes Moore and Skerik along with Mike Dillon on vibes and percussion and Marco Benevento on keyboards. Garage A Trois' most recent CD is Power Patriot, which came out in October 2009.

Although Garage A Trois often are identified as part of the jam-band scene, their music doesn't sound much like the Grateful Dead or Phish. There's a strong influence from 1970s fusion bands, especially Weather Report, and Dillon's vibes sometimes evoke the sound of latter-day fusionistas Steps Ahead. Asymmetrical melodies played as staccato, unison licks recall the music of Frank Zappa, as do titles like the first selection above, "Fat Redneck Gangster," recorded earlier this year at The Mint in Los Angeles.

In contrast, the song in the the second clip down below, "Real Morning Party," which was recorded in 2009 at the Bear Creek Music Festival in Florida, has some of the flavor of a 1960s rock instrumental. (Warning: The audio on this one is somewhat distorted due to volume.) Below that, you can see and hear a performance of the song "Computer Crimes" from the Power Patriot CD, taped last December at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle, and an excerpt from Garage A Trois' in-store performance at the Louisiana Music Factory during the 2010 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Jazz this week: Euge Groove, Andre Delano, and more

With many summer concert series having run their course, and the fall presenting season yet to get underway, it's a relatively light week for live jazz in St. Louis.

All the more reason, then, to turn out for saxophonist, vocalist, and East St. Louis native Andre Delano (pictured). who's back home to perform Friday night on a bill with Euge Groove at The Pageant. For more about Delano and some video clips of him in action, see this post. For some video footage of Groove in concert, check out this post.

UPDATE - 9:30 a.m., 8/20/10: Delano did a brief Q&A with writer Terry Perkins for an article in today's Post-Dispatch, which you can read online here.

Elsewhere around town, Robbie's House of Jazz has vocalist Crystal Haywood on Friday and its house band, the Robert Edwards Ensemble, on Saturday.

BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups will feature Good 4 the Soul for the early set on Sunday night, and then on Monday, the Sessions Big Band returns to the BB's stage after a summer hiatus.

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.)

MFLA seeks donations of musical instruments

Once again this fall, Music for Lifelong Achievement (MFLA) will be seeking donations of musical instruments for its annual drive, which will take place from September 10 through October 15.

MFLA is a not-for-profit organization based at the Sheldon Concert Hall that donates used and new musical instruments to school and community music programs serving disadvantaged young people. MFLA also raises funds for instrument repair and musical accessories.

For this year's drive, St. Louis-area Starbucks stores will serve as drop-off locations for used and new musical instruments. The donated instruments then will be repaired and distributed to students who otherwise would not be able to afford an instrument. Donors get a letter documenting the value of the instrument for tax deduction purposes, as well as a coupon for a free Starbucks beverage.

If you don’t have an instrument to donate, MFLA also accepts cash donations, which are used to help pay for necessary repairs of donated instruments, as well as accessories such as strings, reeds and sheet music. For more information or to make a donation, call The Sheldon at 314-533-9900 or visit www.supportmfla.org.

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

Every few weeks, we like to remind readers about StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds, which each day features a different music video from genres including jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock and experimental.

Posts this month have included choice performance clips from Santana, Coleman Hawkins, George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars, Booker T and the MGs, the Ornette Coleman Sextet, Don Ellis, Dr. John and John Scofield, John Lee Hooker, Blood Sweat and Tears, Phil Woods, Joe Pass, Don Pullen, J. Geils Band, Teddy Wilson, Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ry Cooder, and Betty Carter.

If you missed them the first time around, you still can see all of these music videos, plus hundreds more from the archives, by visiting http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/.

Michael Franks to perform September 16 at Ameristar Casino's Bottleneck Blues Bar

Singer Michael Franks (pictured) is coming to the St. Louis area to perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 16 at the Ameristar Casino St. Charles' Bottleneck Blues Bar.

Franks began his career in the 1970s, and has recorded 20 albums of his original jazz-pop songs, which often incorporate Latin and Brazilian rhythms. He has recorded with artists including Patti Austin, Brenda Russell, Art Garfunkel, David Sanborn, Larry Carlton, and Joe Sample and Wilton Felder of The Crusaders, and his songs have been cut by The Manhattan Transfer, Patti Labelle, Carmen McRae, Diana Krall, Shirley Bassey, and more.

Tickets for the Michael Franks concert at the Bottleneck Blues Bar are priced at $40 and $45 and are on sale now online at Ameristar.com and Tickets.com; by phone at 877-444-2637; and at the Ameristar Casino Gift Shop. (Note: Tickets.com will add service charges and handling fees. )

David Sanborn featured in Post-Dispatch

Saxophonist and former St. Louisan David Sanborn is back in town to perform tonight and tomorrow at Jazz at the Bistro, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson interviewed him about the shows, his current trio with organ player Joey DeFrancesco, and more. You can read the article online here.

UPDATE - 12:00 p.m., 8/17/10: Wilson also reviewed one of Sanborn's Monday night sets for Tuesday's P-D. You can read that review online here.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: "Livin' Large" with Euge Groove

This week's video spotlight shines on saxophonist Euge Groove, who's coming to St. Louis next Friday, August 20 to perform at the Pageant on a double bill with saxophonist and East St. Louis native Andre Delano.

Born Steven Eugene Grove, Euge Groove graduated from the well-regarded University of Miami School of Music in 1984. He first earned wide public recognition when he replaced Richard Elliot in the funk band Tower of Power, and also did session work with various pop acts before putting out his first solo CD in 2000. Groove has played in St. Louis several times, at the Pageant and more recently at the now-defunct Finale Music and Dining. However, this is his first trip here in a couple of years, so if you're thinking about going on Friday, expect a sizable turnout of smooth jazz fans enamored with Groove's mix of emotive sax, straightforward chord progressions and steady funk backbeats.

The first video up above features a performance of the title song from Groove's CD Livin Large, recorded in 2008 at the Festival In the Desert in Phoenix, AZ. The saxman's backing band in this clip, and the next two, includes drummer Phillip Beale, bassist Darryl Williams, keyboard player Marcus Coleman and guitarist Ross Bolton.

Down below, you can see and hear performances of "Born 2 Groove" and "Sneak A Peek" from that same 2008 gig in Phoenix. The fourth clip shows a performance of "Say My Name" recorded in April of this year in New Haven, CT. (The sound quality on this clip suffers a bit from excess compression, but the performance itself is worth checking out.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of links and short local news items of interest that you may have missed:

* A new episode of the video version of Don Wolff's I Love Jazz program premiered last week on cable network HEC-TV. It's the annual archives show, compiled from previously unaired performances recorded during the past year.

The episode began its run last Thursday, and includes music from Dizzy Atmosphere, John Pizzarelli, Carolbeth True and Two Times True, Mae Wheeler (pictured), Jay Oliver with William Lenihan, Gene Lynn, Denise Thimes and Ann Hampton Calloway. HEC-TV is available on Charter channel 989 and ATT u-verse channel 99. I Love Jazz runs at 8:00 p.m Thursdays and Sundays and 7:00 a.m. Saturdays and Tuesdays. The program also can be downloaded from iTunes University, or seen online at www.hectv.org.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn, who will be in town next Monday and Tuesday to perform at Jazz at the Bistro, is part of the first group of alumni to be named to the Kirkwood School District Hall of Fame. Sanborn graduated from Kirkwood High School in 1963.

* Artica 2010 has put out a call for "artists, musicians, poets, performers and creative citizens" to participate in this year's event, which will be held Saturday, October 9 and Sunday, October 10 in the area around Dickson and Lewis Streets north of the Gateway Arch. Artica is "a multi-media, outdoor participatory arts festival developed to provide the people of the St. Louis metropolitan area with the opportunity to come together as a community through creative self-expression. " The deadline to apply is September 11; for details, see the Facebook page for the event.

*In addition to the new Bluesweek festival, which is scheduled for August 26-September 5, ther's now a proposal to open a St. Louis Blues Hall of Fame downtown. Organizers want to include a bar and restaurant, a recording studio and classroom space in the facility, which would occupy part of the Laurel building (the old Dillard's/Stix Baer & Fuller) at 601 Washington Avenue.

* The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra has announced its complete 2010-11 schedule.

* Elsewhere on the classical front, KWMU (90.7 FM) has announced that Christian Cudnik will host the station's live broadcasts of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, which begin September 18. Also a photographer, writer and film director, Cudnik has served as Saturday morning host on KWMU since 2003, and is known among local jazz fans for directing and producing Collective Improvisation, a documentary film about the history of jazz in St. Louis.

* Dennis Owsley, who hosts Jazz Unlimited Sunday nights on KWMU, has announced his engagement to girlfriend Sara Serot. Best wishes to the happy couple!

Rebirth Brass Band to play October 7 at the Gramophone

This just in: New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band (pictured), recently featured in several episodes of the HBO TV series Treme, is coming to St. Louis to perform on Thursday, October 7 at the Gramophone.

Former in 1983 by Keith Frazier, Philip Frazier and Kermit Ruffins, the Rebirth Brass Band (along with their New Orleans cohorts the Dirty Dozen Brass Band) helped spark renewed attention for the city's brass band tradition back in the 1980s, and has continued to perform, tour and record ever since.

In the first video clip below, you can see one of Rebirth's appearances on Treme, as they march, perform and banter in the opening episode with the fictional trombonist Antoine Baptiste, played by actor Wendell Pierce. Below that, you can see the RBB in a real-life performance of the same tune shown in the Treme segment, "Feel Like Funkin' It Up".

Tickets for the Rebirth Brass band's show at the Gramophone are $20, and go on sale Monday, August 16 at www.thegramophonelive.com.

Jazz this week: David Sanborn Trio, Guitars and Saxes, Miles Davis Jazz Festival, and more

The weather in St. Louis is brutally hot this week, but if you can brave the scorching conditions enough to leave the house, there are several shows of interest to jazz fans happening during the next few days.

Most notably, saxophonist and former St. Louisan David Sanborn (pictured) and his current trio featuring organist Joey DeFrancesco will be in town on Monday and Tuesday to play at Jazz at the Bistro.

The gigs are benefit performances intended to raise money for Jazz St. Louis education programs. Regular tickets are priced at $50 and are being sold through Metrotix, and there also also are some VIP packages; call Jazz St. Louis at 314-289-4030 for information on those. To see some video clips of Sanborn and DeFrancesco in action earlier this year, check out this post.

On Friday, the 2010 edition of the smooth jazz package tour Guitars and Saxes comes to the The Pageant. This year's tour features saxophonists Kirk Whalum and Gerald Albright and guitarists Jeff Golub and Peter White. For some video clips of Golub and White, see this post, and you also can see Whalum and Albight in some excerpts from their 2009 "Sax for Stax" tour here.

On Saturday, the fifth annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival takes place at the Commons at Lewis & Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Road in Godfrey, IL. This year's featured performers are saxophonist Michael Anthony Fitzgerald, guitarist Brian White, the Howard Neal Band, Chicago-based saxophonist Michael Salter's 5-piece band Freakjar and Kansas City saxophonist Dave Panico, with KMOV's Vickie Newton serving as MC. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Alton Museum of History & Art and at Bossa Nova Lounge in Alton, or by calling 618-462-2763.

Elsewhere around town, Robbie's House of Jazz tonight will feature the Mark Pedigo Trio, with Pedigo on piano, bassist Nick Shea and drummer Matt Milunski. On Friday, the club has drummer Joe Winstein-Hibbs and the Webster Jazz Collective Quartet, and on Saturday, it's trumpeter Anthony Wiggins' quartet.

And it's also the weekend for the annual St. Louis Cabaret Conference, a summer conclave of performers, directors and teachers that also features several live public performances. Tonight, singers Liz Callaway and Jason Graae will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall; on Friday, Rick Jensen performs at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and on Saturday, Tim Schall takes the stage at Kranzberg. The weekend wraps up with a showcase for conference participants on Sunday night at the Bistro at Grand Center.

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.)

Jeremy Davenport, Phil Perry to perform in fall Twilight Tuesdays concerts

The Missouri History Museum has announced the schedule for its fall series of Twilight Tuesdays concerts, and the lineup includes a couple of shows that will be of particular interest to jazz fans.

Trumpeter, singer and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport will perform on Tuesday, September 7, and singer and former East St. Louisan Phil Perry (pictured) will take the Twilight Tuesdays stage on Tuesday, September 28. Fans of classic soul also may enjoy guitarist Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers, who will headline a show on Tuesday, October 5.

Other performers in the fall 2010 series will include Tribute to Earth, Wind and Fire (August 31); Take It to the Limit Eagles Tribute Band (September 14); The Fabulous Motown Revue (September 21); PowerPlay (October 12): and HoneyVox (October 19).

Twilight Tuesdays concerts take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the lawn outside the History Museum, 5700 Lindell in Forest Park. In the event of bad weather, concerts will be rescheduled. For more information, go to www.mohistory.org or call 314-746-4599 or 800-916-8212.

A sneak peek at New Music Circle's 2010-11 season schedule

If you've visited the New Music Circle website recently, you may have noticed what's labeled a "preview" of the presenting organization's 2010-11 season. While some of NMC's events for the coming year still are yet to be confirmed, NMC board member Jim Hegarty last week was able to provide a few additional details about the season for StLJN's readers.

For jazz fans, the biggest news probably is that NMC will present the Golden Quartet on Saturday, November 13 at the 560 Music Center in University City. Led by trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith (pictured), the Golden Quartet is a sort of avant-jazz supergroup featuring pianist Vijay Iyer, bassist John Lindberg, and drummer Pheeroan AkLaff. While Iyer performed here with his trio in January at Jazz at the Bistro and Lindberg has played St. Louis before with the New York String Trio, it appears that this show will be the first St. Louis appearance ever for Smith and AkLaff, both of whom have had long careers of some significance in jazz and improvised music.

Also on tap for the fall: "Visual Music Improv," a performance on Saturday, October 23 at the Mildred E. Bastian Performing Arts Center at St. Louis Community College - Forest Park featuring work from video artist Zlatko Cosic and musicians John Consiglio and Brad Decker; and
a "New Music Circle Showcase" (date and venue TBA) featuring Ron Coulter (percussion, electronics, voice, and self-built instruments), Lauri des Marais (sound designer and choreographer), BaBa Mike Nelson (percussion, vocals), and Eric Hall (electronics and processed instruments).

The new year will bring a concert from the Bloom Project, with pianist Thollem McDonas and saxophonist Rent Romus, on Saturday, January 22nd at the Kranzberg Arts Center. McDonas has has played a number of St. Louis gigs in recent years, including at least one show with the Bloom Project, which features "free improvisations as well as interpretations of numerous textual and graphical scores ...combining disparate and divergent stylistic histories with a sense of immediacy, intensity, and spontaneous inventiveness."

Also returning in 2011 are the duo of violist LaDonna Smith and guitarist Davey Williams, both veteran free-improvising musicians based in Birmingham, AL who have played here before under NMC's auspices. Smith and Williams will be in St. Louis in February, venue TBA, while cellist and fellow Birminghamian Craig Hultgren also will be back next year for a performance in April at the Kranzberg.

New to NMC next spring will be Trio Kinsella, a Kansas City–based ensemble featuring pianist Brendan Kinsella, cellist Ben Gitter and flute player Jonathan Borja. They'll perform original compositions on a date and at a venue TBA.

St. Louis-based pianist Peter Henderson, who's earned a reputation as a compelling interpreter of 20th century and contemporary composers, also will do a concert for NMC next spring, date and venue TBA, performing Frederic Rzewski's "The People United Will Never Be Defeated", and Fred Onovwerosuoke's "24 Studies In African Rhythm."

Also still awaiting a date and venue is Hegarty's own Laptop Orchestra Project, "a performance by a laptop computer ensemble consisting of originally composed works created by the participants and featuring soloists on acoustic instrument or voice in a large, open venue." The project also will include "an education component that provides interested participants and auditors instruction in the laptop orchestra software/hardware system, building of speaker systems, and the special considerations of composing for this ensemble."

Tickets for most New Music Circle shows are $15 regular admission, $7 for students/artists with a valid ID, and NMC also offers season memberships that include tickets to all concerts. StLJN will have more on New Music Circle's 2010-11 season as shows are confirmed and further announcements are made, and of course you also can visit NMC's website for more information.

100 jazz MP3 albums on sale for $5 each at Amazon.com

If you're looking to expand your collection of jazz recordings, check out Amazon.com's special offer during the month of August of 100 different jazz albums in .MP3 format for just $5 each. A variety of styles, eras and artists are represented, and when you click the link above and make a purchase, Amazon pays a few cents commission to StLJN, at no additional cost to you.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Andre Delano

Today, we've got some videos featuring saxophonist, vocalist and East St. Louis native Andre Delano, who's coming back home Friday, August 20 to perform at The Pageant on a bill with fellow saxman Euge Groove.

Delano is a graduate of East St. Louis' Lincoln High School, which during the tenure of former band director Ronald Carter produced a number of musicians who have gone on to have successful careers in jazz, including trumpeter Russell Gunn, pianist Tony Suggs of the Count Basie Orchestra, drummers Terreon Gully and Montez Coleman, pianist Reggie Thomas, and more.

After attending Jackson State University in Jackson, MS, Delano turned professional, subsequently performing and/or recording with Maxwell, Jeff Lorber, Bobby Womack, Stevie Wonder, Chieli Minucci, Doc Powell, and Bobby Lyle. Most recently, he's been a featured member of singer/songwriter Lionel Richie's touring ensemble since 2008.

Delano released his first solo CD Full Circle in 2005, followed by the holiday album First Christmas in 2006. His most recent CD is is 2008's My So Fine.

The first video up top features Delano performing "Night Riders," a song from his CD that garnered considerable smooth jazz airplay upon release. Down below is the music video for "The Da Da Song," which had similar success, and below that, a short excerpt from a one-off gig Delano did a couple of years back at the Bistro, in which he's backed by Good 4 The Soul, which includes fellow ESL LHS alumns John King on bass and Adaron "Pops" Jackson on piano.

The fourth video is the electronic press kit (EPK) released to promote Full Circle, and includes some interview footage with Delano; plaudits for him from musicians such as Jeff Lorber and the Blackbyrds' Kevin Toney; and a brief performance excerpt.

Jazz this week: Kim Thompson drums, local divas sing, and more

As often happens around this time of year, its a relatively light weekend for live jazz in St. Louis. Several of our town's not-for-profit presenters, including Jazz at the Bistro, the Nu-Art Series, and Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series, wrapped up their summer schedules of events last week, while others, including the Sheldon and the TouPAC, remain on break until September.

Nevertheless, in addition to the usual menu of local musicians' recurring weekly gigs, there are a few other noteworthy events happening around town.

Drummer Kim Thompson (pictured), a St. Louis native who's best known as part of the backing band for pop singer Beyonce but also has an extensive jazz background, is the major attraction of the weekend. Thompson will be in town to perform at the "White Linen Jazz Cabaret" on Saturday at the World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park.

The event, a fundraiser for the Angels for Seniors Foundation, will feature two sets of straight-ahead and Latin jazz from Thompson, guitarist Spud Taylor, pianist Phil Gomez, bassist Daryl Mixon, trumpeter Dave Gordon, keyboardist Vance Taylor, bassist Jorge Casas and percussionist Herman Semidey, plus a set of vocals from Mary Dyson, Diane Vaughn and other St. Louis "divas." Tickets are $25 and $30, and can be purchased by calling Zvoy Productions at 1-314-629-485.

Meanwhile, Robbie's House of Jazz will present pianist Rob Myrick's quartet, with drummer Chuck Kennedy, bassist Chris Watrous and saxophonist Jerry Greene, on Friday; and saxophonist Greg Lewis' smooth jazz ensemble Press Play on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, there's a benefit at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups for KDHX DJ Gabriel, who recently lost his home in a fire. The music will be blues, not jazz, but it's for a good cause and should be a good time.

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.)

Jazz Crusaders postpone St. Louis concert

Some bad news today from Jazz St. Louis, as it looks like the Jazz Crusaders (pictured) won't be coming to town next month after all. Here's the statement StLJN just received via email from JSL's Devin Rodino:

"Due to health issues with one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders, Jazz St. Louis has postponed their performance at the Touhill originally scheduled for Saturday, September 18, 2010.

We are working to reschedule the performance and look forward to presenting this legendary group in St. Louis in the near future."

There are no reports online yet of any other canceled dates for the Jazz Crusaders, nor any information about which band member might be ailing. StLJN will continue to follow the story, and will bring you the latest developments as they occur.

Denise Thimes to headline United Way benefit on Saturday, September 11

Singer Denise Thimes (pictured) will be the featured musical entertainment at "Chocolate, Wine and All That Jazz," an event kicking off the annual fundraising campaign for the Tri County Division of United Way that will be held at 6:30 p.m., Saturday September 11 at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles.

In addition the performance by Thimes, the event will include wine tastings, chocolate sampling and hors d'oeuvres. Tickets are priced at $60 each, and can be purchased online at www.stl.unitedway.org or by calling 636-939-3300. All proceeds from the event will benefit the United Way of Greater St. Louis, which funds nearly 200 health and human service agencies located throughout a 16-county area in Missouri and Illinois.

Greg Osby broadcasting live from the Village Vanguard this Tuesday, August 3

Saxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby (pictured) and his band will be the featured performers on this week's installment of the radio program "Live At The Village Vanguard" at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time this Tuesday, August 3.

The live broadcast comes from the famed NYC jazz club via NPR Music and affiliate station WBGO, and can be accessed online here.