Jazz St. Louis announces summer series at Jazz at the Bistro

Jazz St. Louis today released the summer 2011 schedule for Jazz at the Bistro. In addition to the previously announced concert by the Jazz Crusaders on Saturday, June 11 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, JSL will present St. Louis musicians on Fridays and Saturdays throughout June and July at the Bistro.

Of particular note are the performances by Reggie and Mardra Thomas scheduled for July 15 and 16. That's because Reggie Thomas (pictured), who currently teaches at SIUE, has accepted a job at Michigan State University beginning this fall, and so the Thomas' July gig at the Bistro is being billed as their "farewell performance" before they leave the St. Louis area.

In addition to the weekend shows by St. Louis musicians, the Bistro also will host a performance by the Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Jazz Orchestra on Monday, June 27.

Here's the complete summer lineup:

Friday, June 3 & Saturday, June 4: Jim Manley’s Wild, Cool & Swingin’ Orchestra
Friday, June 10 & Saturday, June 11: Coco Soul
Saturday, June 11: Jazz Crusaders (at the Touhill)
Friday, June 17 & Saturday, June 18: Tim Cunningham & Jim Stevens
Friday, June 24 & Saturday, June 25: Denise Thimes
Monday, June 27: Monterey Jazz Festival Next Generation Jazz Orchestra

Friday, July 1 & Saturday, July 2: Eric Slaughter Trio with Jason Swagler
Friday, July 8 & Saturday, July 9: Legacy Jazz Quintet plays Miles Davis 1959-1968
Friday, July 15 & Saturday, July 16: Reggie Thomas and Mardra Thomas play Stevie Wonder
Friday, July 22 & Saturday, July 23: Willie Akins Quartet plays John Coltrane
Friday, July 29 & Saturday, July 30: Good 4 The Soul

The performances by the Legacy Jazz Quintet, Reggie and Mardra Thomas, and the Willie Akins Quartet will be presented in cooperation with the Center for the Humanities Summer Institute at Washington University, a program for schoolteachers that this year is entitled “The Sock Hop and the Loft: Jazz, Motown, and the Transformation of American Culture, 1959-1975.”

Tickets for the Jazz Crusaders at the Touhill are $100, $50 and $35, and are on sale now via the TouPAC ticket office.

Tickets for most of the performances at the Bistro are $20 each, $10 for students with ID. The exceptions are the Eric Slaughter show, which is priced at $15 and $10, and the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, which will be $10 and $5. Tickets for the Bistro summer shows will go on sale at 10:00 a.m., Monday, May 16 via Metrotix and the Jazz St. Louis box office.

(Edited after posting to correct prices on the Jazz Crusaders show and add info on the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra performance.)