Jazz this week: JazzU with Tim Warfield, Benjamin Cawthra on jazz photography, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and more

With Memorial Day come and gone and local presenters now on their summer schedules, the number of touring jazz musicians coming through St. Louis definitely takes a noticeable drop at this time of year. At the same time, there are plenty of other things competing for the public's attention, from summer outdoor activities to musical events like this Saturday's RFT Music Showcase.

But even with all that, there still are some noteworthy jazz events featuring both visitors and local musicians happening around town over the next few days, if you know where to look. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, singer Ralph Butler is at Robbie's House of Jazz; keyboard player and singer Jesse Gannon plays at the Delmar Lounge; and guitarist Tom Byrne leads the weekly jam session at the Highway 61 Roadhouse.

On Friday, the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars and other students from the organization's JazzU program will open their annual weekend of performances at Jazz at the Bistro. This year, the young musicians also have on board a special guest star, saxophonist Tim Warfield, who's played with Christian McBride, Nicholas Payton, Terrell Stafford, and numerous others.

Friday also is the opening night for Stages St. Louis' revival of the Fats Waller musical Aint' Misbehavin'. The cast (pictured) performs more than two dozen songs associated with Waller, accompanied by a seven-piece live band led by pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson. The show runs through the end of the month, with multiple performances each week; see the Stages website for details.

Also on Friday, singer Ken Haller will perform "The TV Show" at the Kranzberg Arts Center under the auspices of cabaret producers The Presenters Dolan. As the name implies, the show features "songs written for TV from Sesame Street to Smash, from Cinderella to Animaniacs."

Other gigs on Friday include guitarist Matt McCallie and his band at Robbie's House of Jazz; tenor saxophonist Austin Cebulski leading a quartet with pianist Dave Grelle, bassist Ryan Chamberlain and drummer Marty Morrison at the Cigar Inn; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham's weekly performance at Jazz on Broadway.

Last but not least, Friday's also the first day of the annual Art & Air Festival in Webster Groves. This year's lineup of entertainment for the free outdoor event includes several acts that may be of interest to jazz listeners, including Bridge with Dave Black and singer Erin Bode with Orange on Friday; singer Anita Rosamond on Saturday; and singer Heather Matthews and Sandy Weltman & Hot Club Caravan on Sunday.

On Saturday afternoon, the St. Louis Big Band performs a matinee concert at the Missouri History Museum. Admission is free for anyone who brings a can of food to donate to local food banks. Then on Saturday night, the eclectic roots music band Sins of the Pioneers, who mix up western swing, New Orleans jazz, jump blues, and several other genres, will play at Focal Point, 2720 Sutton in Maplewood.

On Sunday afternoon, Bob Coleman's Legacy Big Band will perform their Glenn Miller-themed show "Miller Magic" at the Sheldon Concert Hall; and author and former St. Louisan Benjamin Cawthra will be at the Missouri History Museum to speak about his book Blue Notes in Black and White: Photography and Jazz. Saxophonist Kelvin Evans will play a short set of standards before the lecture.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday, Tom Byrne brings his Pat Metheny-inspired project Have You Heard? back to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; and on Tuesday, guitarist Dave Black plays an early evening set at BB's.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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 St. Louis announces 2012-13 season schedule

Jazz St. Louis today announced the schedule of performers they've booked for the 2012-13 presenting season at Jazz at the Bistro and the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

The "Legends of Jazz" concerts at the Touhill will feature the biggest names, with saxophonist Sonny Rollins (pictured) returning to perform on Friday, October 12. JSL presented Rollins in 2009 at the Touhill, ending a drought of many years without a St. Louis gig for the legendary tenor man.

Also at the Touhill, pianist Chick Corea and banjo player Béla Fleck will play a duo concert on Saturday, March 23; and JSL will continue as co-presenter of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival in 2013 by bringing in the "Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour 55th Anniversary Celebration" on Friday, April 19.

That concert will feature a band led by bassist Christian McBride that includes singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, saxophonist Chris Potter, pianist Benny Green, and drummer Lewis Nash. (Trumpeter and former Tonight Show bandleader Doc Severinsen's big band will play for the GSLJF on Saturday, April 20; that concert is presented officially by the Touhill and UMSL.)

As for the Bistro, the performers making their St. Louis debuts as leaders there this season will include trumpeter Christian Scott, singers Sachal Vasandani and Gregory Porter, and guitarist Lionel Loueke.

Bassist Marcus Miller will be the first touring act to play the Bistro this fall, though his gigs on Sunday, September 9 and Monday, September 10 are technically "special events" that are not included in the Bistro's subscription season.

Also returning to the Bistro next season are Chris Potter, who will play in a trio format; and his sometimes employer, bassist Dave Holland, who's bringing in his quintet. Other veterans coming back for encore performances include pianists Joe Sample and Billy Childs; singers Kurt Elling and Marlena Shaw; organist Joey DeFrancesco; trumpeters Terell Stafford and Terence Blanchard, and guitarist John Scofield, whose weekend in September with bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Bill Stewart also is billed as a "special event."

Some other familiar faces will return in new musical configurations. Saxophonist James Carter and organist Dr. Lonnie Smith will team up for a week of gigs at the Bistro, as will bassist John Clayton and his son, pianist Gerald Clayton, who played the club a couple of years ago with the Clayton Brothers Quintet. Singer and pianist Freddy Cole also will return, this time joined by tenor saxophonist Harry Allen; and trumpeters Jon Faddis, Terell Stafford, and Sean Jones, who all previously have led their own bands at the Bistro, will share the stage for a show billed as “Triumph of Trumpets.”

As for musicians with ties to St. Louis, in what's become an annual tradition, trumpeter, singer and University City native Jeremy Davenport will return from New Orleans to play on Thanksgiving weekend. Also, pianist Reggie Thomas, a longtime mainstay of the St. Louis scene who moved to Michigan last year for a teaching job at Michigan State University, will be back to do a week-long educational residency and play the Bistro along with bassist and fellow MSU faculty member Rodney Whitaker.

On the local front, funk bands Hip Grease and the Dogtown All-Stars both will make their Bistro debuts in December, the latter with the Funky Butt Brass Band's horn section along for the ride. Local acts returning to the Bistro in the fall include trumpeter Jim Manley, guitarist Dave Black, Good 4 The Soul, and the Legacy Jazz Quintet. The local and regional musicians performing at the Bistro during the winter and spring of 2013 will be announced at a later date.

Here's the schedule for 2012-13 in chronological order:

Sunday, September 9 & Monday, September 10: Marcus Miller
Wednesday, September 19 - Saturday, September 22: Terence Blanchard
Friday, September 28 & Saturday, September 29: John Scofield Trio

Wednesday, October 3 - Saturday, October 6: Billy Childs Quartet
Friday, October 12: Sonny Rollins (at the Touhill Performing Arts Center)
Saturday, October 13: Dave Black
Wednesday, October 17 - Saturday, October 20: Christian Scott
Friday, October 26 & Saturday, October 27: Legacy Jazz Quintet
Wednesday, October 31 - Saturday, November 3: Terell Stafford

Friday, November 9 & Saturday, November 10: Jim Manley
Wednesday, November 14 - Saturday, November 17: Joey DeFrancesco
Friday, November 23 & Saturday, November 24: Jeremy Davenport
Wednesday, November 28 - Saturday, December 1: John Pizzarelli

Friday, December 7 & Saturday, December 8: Hip Grease
Wednesday, December 12 - Saturday, December 15: Chris Potter Trio
Friday, December 21 & Saturday, December 22: Dogtown All-Stars with the Funky Butt Horns
Friday, December 28 & Saturday, December 29: Good 4 The Soul

2013

Wednesday, January 2 - Saturday, January 5: Gregory Porter
Wednesday, January 16 - Saturday, January 19: The Bad Plus

Wednesday, January 30 - Saturday, February 2: Dave Holland
Wednesday, February 13 - Saturday, February 16: Sachal Vasandani
Wednesday, February 27 - Saturday, March 2: Kurt Elling

Friday, March 8 & Saturday, March 9: Reggie Thomas & Rodney Whitaker
Wednesday, March 13 - Saturday, March 16: John Clayton & Gerald Clayton
Saturday, March 23: Chick Corea and Béla Fleck (at the Touhill Performing Arts Center)
Wednesday, March 27 - Saturday, March 30: Joe Sample Trio

Friday, April 5 & Saturday, April 6: Jon Faddis' “Triumph of Trumpets” with Terell Stafford & Sean Jones
Wednesday, April 10 - Saturday, April 13: Marlena Shaw
Thursday, April 18: Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival at the Bistro - Musicians TBA
Friday, April 19: "Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour 55th Anniversary Celebration" (GSLJF at the Touhill)
Saturday, April 20: Doc Severinsen Big Band (GSLJF at the Touhill)
Wednesday, April 24 - Saturday, April 27: James Carter & Dr. Lonnie Smith

Wednesday, May 8 - Saturday, May 11: Lionel Loueke
Wednesday, May 22 - Saturday, May 25: Freddy Cole with Harry Allen

Overall, while there aren't too many big surprises, it looks like another season of thoughtful bookings within Jazz St. Louis' now well-established parameters. The shows at the Touhill, particularly the return of Sonny Rollins, definitely are good "gets," and no doubt local jazz fans will relish the chance to go to the Bistro for an up-close look at Miller, Holland, and Sample, all of whom have played here most recently in much larger venues.

The "freshman class" of players making their Bistro debuts are all, to one degree or another, currently considered buzzworthy in the jazz press, though how that translates into ticket sales remains to be seen. Still, trumpet fans should jump at the opportunity to hear the highly-touted Christian Scott; Gregory Porter and Sachal Vasandani probably are the two most significant male jazz singers to emerge in recent years; and Loueke, who's played here a couple of times with Herbie Hancock, is an engaging performer who's already developing a significant fan base of his own.

The more familiar players in the Bistro lineup, such as Blanchard, Elling and DeFrancesco, are all pretty much proven to deliver both musical quality on the bandstand and a decent result at the box office, and their fans already have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Meanwhile, the pairing of James Carter and Dr. Lonnie Smith and the three-trumpet show with Faddis, Stafford and Jones do both potentially offer some interesting musical twists.

Ticket prices for performances at the Bistro range from $27 to $42 for touring acts, and $20 for local musicians, with student tickets available from $10 to $25. Ticket buyers who purchase a "Choose Your Own" package of at least four shows can get $2 off the price of each individual ticket in the package, and packages of more than four shows may qualify for a greater discount. For more details on how all that works, see here (.pdf file).

Season subscriptions and "Choose Your Own" packages can be purchased now by calling Jazz St. Louis at 314-289-4030. Single tickets for Jazz at the Bistro performances will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 14 via Metrotix and the Jazz St. Louis box office.

Tickets for the shows at the Touhill will be sold through their box office and website and by phone at 314-516-4949. The tickets for Sonny Rollins and the Corea/Fleck concert are priced at $125 for the "VIP" package, $50 and $30 for regular seating, and $20 for students. Pricing information for the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival concerts is TBA, as are the on-sale dates for the shows at the Touhill.

(Edited after posting.)

Belleville's Wine, Dine & Jazz Festival rescheduled to October 19 & 20

The Wine, Dine & Jazz Festival in Belleville, Illinois, held for the past four years during the second weekend in June, has been rescheduled this year for Friday, October 19 and Saturday, October 20.

The 2012 event will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Friday and 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday in the square in downtown Belleville.

The announcement came Saturday via a message on the festival's Facebook page; as of this writing, the event's official website still shows information from the 2011 festival. No reason was announced for the change in schedule. StLJN will have more details on the 2012 Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival when they are announced.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Happy birthday, Miles Davis!

Today is the 86th anniversary of the birth of Miles Davis, the most famous and historically significant jazz musician to come from the St. Louis area. In tribute, today we've got six extended-length performance videos of Davis for your listening and viewing enjoyment over the holiday weekend.

Representing four different decades of the trumpeter's career, some of these videos have been excerpted here before, but this is the first time they're being presented on StLJN in their entirety, adding up to nearly six hours of live sounds from Miles.

We get started with a half-hour of Davis from 1959, in the form of a television special devoted to his music and posted online as "Miles Davis - The Cool Jazz Sound." Davis' quintet here includes most of the musicians who helped him make Kind of Blue, including saxophonist John Coltrane, bassist Paul Chambers, drummer Jimmy Cobb and pianist Wynton Kelly. There's also an orchestra conducted by arranger Gil Evans, with whom Davis made several recordings.

The next video, down below, is a 45-minute set from Davis' classic quintet with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, drummer Tony Williams & bassist Ron Carter, captured live in 1967. The songs performed are "Agitation," "Footsteps," "Round Midnight," "Gingerbread Boy/The Theme" and "I Fall In Love Too Easily."

Below that, there's a set recorded in 1969 in Paris, lasting just over an hour and featuring Davis' so-called "Lost Quintet," with Shorter, bassist Dave Holland, drummer Jack DeJohnette and pianist Chick Corea. This ensemble is noteworthy because for many years there were basically no recordings of it released (hence the name), and because it served as an important transition point between the all-acoustic group seen in the 1967 footage and the more electrified bands that followed.

You can hear the next phase of Davis' musical evolution in the the fourth clip, which contains his famous set from 1970 at the Isle of Wight Festival in England. The audio originally was released as part of a three-record set featuring various acts from the festival - mostly rock bands, except for Davis' group. Asked by someone from the record company what to title the 35-minute improvised performance, Davis is reported to have said "Call It Anything," and that became the name of the piece.

By the time of the next video, which contains about 28 minutes of music from Davis' set at the 1973 Montreux Jazz Festival, the trumpeter's music had become even more electric, abstract and abrupt. The band for this performance included Davis doubling on trumpet and organ, along with Dave Liebman (soprano sax, tenor sax, flute), Reggie Lucas (guitar), Pete Cosey (guitar, percussion), Michael Henderson (electric bass), Al Foster (drums), and Mtume (percussion).

The final clip moves forward a full decade, past Davis' temporary retirement in the late 1970s, to catch him live in 1983 in Warsaw, Poland. There's nearly two hours of music from what some critics and fans consider to be Davis' best band of the period, with Foster, saxophonist Bill Evans, guitarist John Scofield, keyboard player Robert Irving III, bassist Darryl Jones, drummer Al Foster, and percussionist Mino Cinelu.

StLJN has covered Miles Davis extensively over the years, and you can catch up with that past coverage by following this link. For more about Davis, in addition to his official site linked above, check out the comprehensive site Miles Davis Online, run by Davis enthusiast Jeff Hyatt, and The Miles Davis Movie, Hyatt's companion site tracking the progress of the proposed feature film about Davis being developed by actor Don Cheadle.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* The old Saum Hotel building in the Shaw neighborhood - once the site of performances by swing era bandleader Eddie Randle and the Blue Devils, who provided early professional experience for Miles Davis - is the subject of a post by the history blog Sherlock Homes STL.

* Baritone saxophonist Roger Lewis of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured) was interviewed by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson. The DDBB will perform tonight at the Old Rock House.

* The Sheldon Concert Hall and Metrotix over the holiday weekend are offering 50% off tickets to see "Miller Magic: The Music of Glenn Miller" featuring Bob Coleman's Legacy Big Band on Sunday, June 3 at the Sheldon. Regular prices are $35 and $30, but with the discount, purchasers only have to pay $17.50 and $15. To access the offer, go to this page on Metrotix.com before 11:59 p.m. on Monday, May 28. No promo code is needed.

* One of Wednesday night's sets by bassist Stanley Clarke's trio at Jazz at the Bistro was reviewed by KDHX's Wil Wander. Clarke continues at the Bistro through tomorrow night.

* Speaking of Clarke, NPR's program Jazz Set has reposted online a recording of a live performance from the 2009 Monterey Jazz Festival featuring the bassist's trio with pianist Chick Corea and drummer Lenny White.

* Electronic musician Eric Hall has just put online a full-length audio recording from his performance on Wednesday night at Laumeier Sculpture Park with pianist Thollem McDonas and multi-instrumentalist Arrington de Dionyso. Download it for free from Hall's Bandcamp page here. You also can see video of the concert, divided into five segments, here.

* City Music & Education Center this summer will present a jazz ensemble camp for students in grades 7 through 12 from Monday, August 6 through Friday, August 10.. The instructor is keyboardist Pete Ruthenburg. Get details on this and the store's other summer camps - for songwriting, pop vocals, "Caribbean Kids," and one aimed at devotees of the music of Jimmy Buffett, aka "Parrotheads"- on their website.

* The St. Louis American's Chris King interviewed Oliver L Jackson, one of the visual artists who back in the day belonged to the Black Artists Group. Jackson has a solo show at the "project room" at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 3750 Washington Ave., continuing through June 10.

Jazz this week: Stanley Clarke Trio, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the Dead Kenny Gs, Glendale Jazz Festival, and more

Memorial Day weekend is always a busy time, and there's lots to do in St. Louis over the next several days, including the annual Bluesweek Festival, which this year has moved from fall to spring. Fortunately, that packed calendar of events also includes a number of jazz and creative music performances worth checking out. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, virtuoso bassist Stanley Clarke (pictured) opens a four-night stand continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Clarke was at the Bistro last year in a duo with pianist Hiromi Uehara; this time, he's playing in a trio format with pianist Ruslan Sirota and drummer Ronald Bruner Jr. They'll likely draw on some of the material from Clarke's recent trio albums - one featuring Hiromi and drummer Lenny White, the other with White and pianist Chick Corea - as well as a few of his best-known compositions rearranged for an acoustic trio. (To whet your appetite, you might want to check out this post from last year featuring some videos of Clarke.)

Also tonight, pianist Thollem McDonas is back in town for two performances, the first at 6:00 p.m. at Laumeier Sculpture Park with multi-instrumentalist Arrington de Dionyso and electronic musician Eric Hall, the second at 9:00 p.m. at Floating Laboratories on a bill with Hall, de Dionsyo, Raglani, Kevin Harris and Ghost Ice.

Tomorrow, the New Orleans Suspects, which features members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the Radiators and the Neville Brothers' backing group, make their St. Louis debut at the Old Rock House. The Suspects include DDBB saxophonist Kevin Harris, a founding member of that group, and its current guitarist Jake Eckert; bassist Reggie Scanlan, formerly with the Radiators; drummer Willie Green, who's been touring and recording with the Neville Brothers since the mid-1980s; and keyboard player and vocalist CR Gruver.

And speaking of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, they'll be in town and performing at the Old Rock House on Friday night. For an update on what's been happening with the DDBB, see this interview with founding member Roger Lewis just published in Kansas City's Pitch Weekly.

Also on Friday, the 13th annual Glendale Jazz Festival (.pdf file) takes place at Glendale City Hall, 424 N. Sappington Rd. Performers at the free event include Cornet Chop Suey, the Terry Thompson Swing Alive Band, and blues/rock guitarist and singer Billy Peek. Don Wolff will serve as MC.

And as if that weren't enough for one evening, Friday also is the date for "Da-Dum-Dun," a mini-festival honoring the legacies of Miles Davis, write Henry Dumas and choreographer Katherine Dunham. The free event will feature a variety of performances, including music from the Bosman Twins, and takes place at the SIUE-ESL Higher Education Campus, 601 J.R. Thompson Dr. in East St. Louis.

On Saturday, the "punk jazz" trio the Dead Kenny Gs come to town to perform at 2720 Cherokee. While the DKG's crazy quilt mix of musical styles driven by punk-rock-style aggression isn't everyone's cup of tea, some find it quite entertaining. And there's no doubt that percussionist/vocalist Mike Dillon, saxophonist/keyboardist Skerik, and bassist and saxophonist Brad Houser display some interesting chops in the process. You can see them perform on video and make your own judgment in this video post from last Saturday.

Then on Sunday, trombonist Dave Dickey brings his big band back to Kirkwood Station Brewing Company for their monthly gig.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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 the link to the Stanley Clarke video post.)

Alton announces plans for statue of Miles Davis

The city of Alton, Illinois has announced plans to build a statue honoring jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, who was born there in 1926. Alton mayor Tom Hoechst made the announcement at yesterday's Miles Davis Jazz Festival, held at Lewis and Clark Community College in nearby Godfrey, IL.

The life-sized statue of Davis would be placed on Third Street in downtown Alton. Organizations involved in the project include the Alton Museum of History and Art and the Miles Davis Jazz Committee, co-producers of the annual festival honoring Davis; Pride Inc., a local, non-profit organization dedicated to community beautification; and the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau.

According to this article by the Alton Telegraph's Kathie Bennett, there's no budget yet for the statue nor a timetable for its completion. "The committee has approached one artist and is looking for others to submit sketches before commissioning the piece," the article says. The initial concept for the statue is to mirror Davis' pose in the famous photo (pictured) used in the design of the soon-to-be-released commemorative stamp honoring him.

Possible fund-raising ideas mentioned include "selling bricks and encouraging elementary students to collect pennies." Anyone who wises to make a donation can contact the Alton Museum of History and Art at 618-462-2763.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: "Punk jazz" with the Dead Kenny Gs

If the seminal punk bands Black Flag or the Dead Kennedys were to jam with members of Sun Ra's Arkestra, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and James Brown's JBs, the end result might sound a bit like the Dead Kenny Gs, who are coming to St. Louis next Saturday, May 26 to perform at 2720 Cherokee.

The music of percussionist/vocalist Mike Dillon, saxophonist/keyboardist Skerik, and bassist and saxophonist Brad Houser has been dubbed "punk jazz", since it combines the thrashing beats, heavy riffing, and angry and/or satirical lyrics associated with punk rock with an ever-shifting variety of other styles, from marches to funk to skronk to surprisingly lyrical passages dominated by Dillon's work on vibraphone.

Although Dillon and Skerik have played St. Louis before with the band Garage a Trois, this will be the St. Louis debut for the DKGs, and so today we've got a half-dozen clips to help you get acquainted with their music.

The first selection up top, "Black Truman (Harry The Hottentot)," was recorded last June in Delray Beach, FL and serves as a fairly concise example of the group's eclectic approach, as it shifts rapidly through a variety of styles in just a few bars.

Down below, you'll find three examples of songs that help bring out the "punk" aspect of the group, starting with "I'm Your Manager, I'm Your Pimp," recorded live at Red Rocks in Colorado. Below that are two numbers with some socio-political implications: "Kill the Poor," recorded last June at a show the DKGs opened for quirk-rock band Primus; and "Death Panel," which comes from a July, 2010 show in Asheville, NC.

Below that, clip #5 offers almost 50 minutes of music recorded in January of this year at a venue called Crowbar in Tampa, FL. While the video quality of this recording (done by an audience member) isn't very good - it's dark, and apparently shot from a fixed position at far stage right - the audio actually is quite nice, and it provides an instructive example of how the band integrates its various elements to put together a whole set of music.

As a coda to the set, the final clip is a 2009 interview with Skerik and Hauser. For more about the Dead Kenny Gs, check out this 2011 Los Angeles Times interview with Skerik; this 2011 interview Dillon did with the website Pop-Break.com; and this feature story on Jambands.com, also from 2011.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* On June 12, postal services in the United States and France will issue stamps honoring Miles Davis and French singer Édith Piaf. Designed by Greg Breeding, the stamps (pictured) use a photo of Davis with his trumpet in 1970 by David Gahr and a photo of Piaf from the Michael Ochs Archives. The 45-cent stamps will will be available for purchase nationwide.

* Bassist Willem von Hombracht today reported on Facebook that the Sunday jazz jam session at Johnny Gitto's restaurant that he's been co-hosting since the beginning of March has been discontinued.

* The St. Louis-based HD radio station Smooth 96.3 HD-3 has changed its name to Hip 96.3 HD-3, and has modified its playlist "to have the freedom to add some stuff that will totally fit, but might not be entirely Jazz." The station has set up a new Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/Hip963.

* The Regional Arts Commission this week announced that they'll award nearly $2.9 million in grants (.pdf file) to St. Louis area arts organizations for 2012-13. That's a 6.7% increase percent over last year's total.

The money is collected from a hotel sales tax in St. Louis and St. Louis County, and will go to fund 186 not-for-profit dance, theater, music and literary organizations in the area. Local presenters of jazz and creative music that received grants for next year include the Sheldon Arts Foundation ($61,523), Jazz St. Louis ($19,656), New Music Circle ($9,000) and the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center ($1,030).

For some perspective, consider that the two largest grants for 2012-13 went to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra ($533,353) and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis ($182,868). The amount received by these two organizations represents about 25% of the total of $2,863,111 that was allocated by RAC for this granting period.

Jazz this week: Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo, Madeleine Peyroux, Eastern Blok, Marcus Lewis, Miles Davis Jazz Festival, and more

The week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis offers a wide variety of sounds and sights, including Balkan-tinged guitar, funk trombone, fusion harp, saxophone-playing twins, a festival featuring St. Louis musicians paying tribute to our area's most famous jazz icon, and much more. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, guitarist Goran Ivanovic and his band Eastern Blok are coming down from Chicago to play a show at Pop's Blue Moon celebrating the release of their new CD Underwater.

Also tonight, trombonist Marcus Lewis is in town to perform at Robbie's House of Jazz. The Georgia native, who's toured with the Ohio Players and singer Janelle Monae, has a new album of his own called Facing East.

On Friday, the guitar duo of Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo plays the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro. Vignola's played the Bistro before, in 2008 and 2009, but this is the first time he's performed there in the duo format. For more about him and a taste of what he and Raniolo are up to, check out the videos in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, jazz harpist Jan Aldridge Clark, who's from Indianpolis, will perform at Robbie's; the Funky Butt Brass Band plays the Broadway Oyster Bar; and singer Zena Bott-Goins is at the Cigar Inn, backed by bassist Ryan Chamberlain, pianist Nathan Jatcko and drummer Marty Morrison.

On Saturday afternoon, Vignola will conduct a guitar workshop at City Music and Education Center.

A little later that afternoon, the Alton Museum of History and Art will present the seventh annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival at Trimpe Hall, Lewis & Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Rd in Godfrey, IL. The featured performers this year are saxophonist Fred Walker, trumpeter Jim Manley, the Soulard Blues Band, and singer Danita Mumphard with Trio Trés Bien. Tickets are $25 at the door.

Also on Saturday, guitarist Eric Slaughter leads a quartet at Robbie's; and the Bosman Twins will play their annual "Jazz and Blues Reunion" show at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups. The multi-woodwind-playing siblings will be joined by drummer Mike Scavatto, keyboardist Don Carson (who's in from Atlanta) and bassist J. Michael Kearsey (from Portland).

On Sunday, singer/guitarist Madeleine Peyroux (pictured) makes her St. Louis debut at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Peyroux, who's noted for a vocal style resembling Billie Holiday, began her career busking in Paris, and first came to wide public attention thanks to her 2005 album Careless Love. The Sheldon and Metrotix have a "buy one, get one free" offer on tickets for her concert; for details on that, go here.

Also on Sunday, the Saint Louis Jazz Club presents a matinee concert by the St. Louis Ragtimers at the DoubleTree Hotel at Westport.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the group Banjos & Brass will perform a concert at the Staenberg Arts & Education Building of the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Dr.; and pianist Dave Becherer's group is at BB's.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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 5/18/12 to add the Saint Louis Jazz Club concert.)

Terence Blanchard commissioned to write new work for Opera Theatre St. Louis

Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard (pictured) has been commissioned to write a new work called Champion for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. The opera will get its world premiere during OTSL's 2013 season, with six performances taking place between June 15, 2013 and June 30.

Based on the story of professional boxer Emile Griffith, Champion is a joint project of OTSL and Jazz St. Louis. OTSL artistic director James Robinson will direct a cast starring Denyce Graves, Aubrey Allicock, Arthur Woodley, and Robert Orth, and the opera's libretto will be written by Michael Cristofer, a playwright, filmmaker and actor who in 1977 won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony Award for best play for The Shadow Box. Cristofer's screen credits include work on films such as The Witches of Eastwick, Falling in Love, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and HBO’s Gia, and he currently is a cast member of the NBC drama Smash.

Though Champion is Blanchard's first opera, he has plenty of experience with long-form composition, notably from his work scoring numerous films for director Spike Lee. Blanchard in 2007 won the Grammy Award for Large Jazz Ensemble for A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina), and most recently wrote the score for Lucasfilm’s Red Tails, about the Tuskegee Airmen. His music also is currently represented on Broadway by the score for the revival of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Blair Underwood.

Blanchard performed in St. Louis most recently last month, playing with percussionist Poncho Sanchez' band at the Touhill Performing Arts Center during the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival. Also, a listing published earlier this year on Pollstar shows Blanchard returning in September to play Jazz at the Bistro .

The subject of Champion, Emile Griffith, was a three-time world welterweight champ and twice a world middleweight champion, fighting from the late 1950s into the 1970s. During a bout in 1962 for the welterweight championship, Griffith knocked out his opponent, Benny “The Kid” Paret, who fell into a coma and died ten days later.

During the press conference before the fight, Paret had mocked Griffith repeatedly with a derogatory term for homosexual. Years later, Griffith’s sexuality as a gay man was revealed to the public after he was nearly killed by a gang outside a gay bar in New York. The incident with Paret, and the widespread publicity and criticism of boxing which accompanied it, became the basis of the 2005 documentary Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story.

The commissioning and development of Champion is funded by a leadership gift from the Whitaker Foundation and major support from the National Endowment for the Arts and OPERA America. Support for the production is coming from the Whitaker Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Phoebe Dent Weil. OPERA America and PNC Arts Alive are supporting New Voices for Opera, the audience development programming surrounding the project.

Champion will be performed on June 15, 19, 21, 25, 27, and 30, 2013. Tickets are available now as part of a season subscription to OTSL; single tickets will go on sale in February of next year.

Sheldon announces "buy one, get one free" offer on tickets for Madeleine Peyroux

The Sheldon Concert Hall and MetroTix have announced a "buy one, get one free" offer on tickets for the upcoming concert by singer, songwriter and guitarist Madeleine Peyroux (pictured). Peyroux will make her St. Louis debut at the Sheldon at 7:30 p.m. this coming Sunday, May 20.

Regular ticket prices for the concert are $45 and $40. The two-for-one offer is available online at the MetroTix website; by phone at 314-534-1111; in person at the Fox Theatre box office; or at the door at the Sheldon on the night of the show. To access this offer, use promo code MAD12.

WSIE to present on-air fund drive starting this Friday, May 18

WSIE (88.7 FM) will air another fund-raising drive this weekend, starting at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 18 and continuing through Sunday night.

The station, which broadcasts from the campus of Southern Illinois Edwardsville and is the St. Louis area's only over-the-air radio station specializing in jazz, will be offering a variety of premiums to listeners who call in and pledge a financial contribution. The available "thank you" gifts include including a chance for a listener to to do his or her own two-hour jazz show or newscast on the station; a day of free underwriting announcements; and items including CDs, desk clocks, wine/bottle openers, insulated beverage glasses, and more.

During the weekend, a number of special guests are scheduled to chat live with WSIE hosts, including guitarist Rick Haydon, head of the SIUE Jazz Studies Program; guitarist Tom Byrne; Delano Redmond, head of the jazz music program at East St. Louis High School; and Dean Christopher, singer and impressionist who will appear on the station's new "Rat Pack" program that starts airing at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, May 19.

WSIE station manager Greg Conroy said proceeds will benefit the station’s equipment and operating funds. “The first on-air fund-raiser the station had conducted in two decades aired in December,” Conroy said in a news release, “and it was fairly successful, but we need to air these twice annually.” Some of the needs of the station include a transmitter generator, additional studio soundproofing, replacement audio system components, and music library enhancements.

In addition to its over-the-air signal, WSIE also streams its programming online via the station's website and can be heard using the smartphone app TuneIn Radio. You can read more about the station's rebirth as a locally focused outlet for jazz in this story I wrote back in February for the Riverfront Times.

Previewing New Music Circle's next season

New Music Circle ended their current presenting season on Friday night with a concert and combination wrap party/fundraiser, and as part of the event, the organization also revealed the roster of musicians they're bringing to St. Louis to perform during the 2012-13 season.

While NMC board member Jim Hegarty cautions that the dates and venues are not confirmed yet, the lineup of bands and musicians for the organization's 54th season looks quite impressive. It includes:

* Trombonist and electronic musician George Lewis and composer/sound artist Marina Rosenfeld, doing their piece “Sour Mash,” a collaborative work using turntables and computers that originally was recorded in 2009 for the Innova label;

* A trio featuring Danish saxophonist Lotte Anker, drummer Gerald Cleaver and keyboard player Craig Taborn (pictured, top left);

* Mephista, a trio with percussionist Susie Ibarra (pictured, center left), pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and electronic musician Ikue Mori;

* Pianist Kris Davis' quintet with violist Mat Maneri, saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, bassist Trevor Dunn, and drummer Tom Rainey.

* The sextet of cornet player (and Anthony Braxton acolyte) Taylor Ho Bynum, which recently has included bass trombonist/tubist Bill Lowe, guitarist Mary Halvorson, bassist Ken Filiano, drummer Tomas Fujiwara, and alto saxophonist Jim Hobbs (pictured, bottom left);

* Caboladies, a Chicago-based electronic music duo comprised of Chris "Flower Man" Bush and Eric "Carl Calm" Lanham whose work might variously be categorized as experimental, ambient, noise, or something else entirely;

* A program presented in conjunction with the Center for Visual Music, a Los-Angeles based nonprofit film archive dedicated to visual music, experimental animation and avant-garde media;

* Another showcase of regional and local musicians that will include St. Louis' Trinity Piano Trio, featuring Amanda Kirkpatrick (piano), Tracy Andreotti (cello) and Manuela Kaymakanova (violin).

Hegarty told StLJN that NMC also has initiated an artistic advisory board comprised of "noted artists who have agreed to be consultants and idea people for us in terms of helping us with programming and artistic vision." The board will include several musicians who have performed in NMC-sponsored concerts in recent seasons, such as violinist, video artist and filmmaker Tony Conrad, multi-instrumentalists Douglas Ewart and Joe McPhee, and saxophonist Larry Ochs. "I'm very excited about the prospect of having their input," said Hegarty.

When NMC announces their final 2012-13 schedule with confirmed dates and venues, we'll have the info for you right here.

(Edited 5/15/12 to correct the names of Kris Davis' band members.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo

Today, let's sample a half-dozen video clips featuring the guitar duo of Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo, who will be in St. Louis next week to perform Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19 at Jazz at the Bistro. Vignola also will be presenting a guitar workshop on Saturday afternoon at City Music and Education Center.

Both have played here before, most recently with Vignola's quintet in 2009 at the Bistro. Vignola also recorded a live DVD at the Bistro in 2008, and has yet another St. Louis connection, in that he's written 15 instructional books on various aspects of guitar playing for our town's Mel Bay Publications.

The basic idea of the sort of guitar duo that Vignola and Raniolo are doing has been around in jazz since the 1930s, but they've developed their own take on the format, adding their own harmonic, melodic and arranging touches, and also incorporating interpretations of material from outside - sometimes well outside - the traditional repertoire.

You can start to get the idea while watching the first clip up above, taken from a performance at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) trade show earlier this year. It's a medley that starts and ends traditionally enough, with "Tico Tico" and "Gypsy Mania," but somewhere in the middle there, the guitarists interpolate both the theme from the film The Godfather and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."

There's another combination of traditional and contemporary in the first video down below, as Vignola and Raniolo pair the standard "Stardust" with "Killing Me Softly," made famous by Roberta Flack. This clip was recorded in February 2011 at the Midwest Mid-Winter Gypsy Swing Festival in Madison WI, as was the following clip, which includes a version of the Ventures' "Walk Don't Run," the 1950s hit "Perfidia" and more.

More evidence of the pair's eclectic nature can be found in the fourth clip, taken from a live performance on radio station WMWV in New Hampshire, and titled "A Little Zappa, A Little Mozart." We close out with two more clips showing Vignola and Raniolo applying their chops to rock songs, specifically Kansas' "Dust In The Wind" and the Police's "Walking On The Moon."

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So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* St. Louis magazine's Stefene Russell has written a short preview of tonight's New Music Circle Showcase concert, and the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaffer has an interview with electronic musician Joe Raglani, who's one of the the featured performers at the NMC event.

* JazzTimes has put up another segment of a video interview with saxophonist Bobby Watson (pictured), who's playing this weekend at Robbie's House of Jazz.

* The Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson interviewed Denise Thimes about her Mother's Day show at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* The East St. Louis High School Jazz Band is the subject of a brief article by the Belleville News-Democrat's Carolyn P. Smith. The band and their special guest, trumpeter Russell Gunn, will play a fundraising concert this coming Monday at the Sheldon.

* In his latest blog entry for St. Louis magazine, Dennis Owsley reflects on thirty years of hosting a jazz radio program.

* The PNC Foundation has donated $500,000 to St. Louis area arts organizations; among the lucky recipients are Jazz St. Louis and the Sheldon, each of which will receive $30,000.

* The history of jazz and blues in St. Louis recently was the subject of an episode of the syndicated public radio program The New Jazz Archive.

* Want to see some party pics of people who attended the Bela Fleck and The Flecktones concert in March at the Sheldon? Well, Town and Style magazine has got 'em.

Benjamin Cawthra, author of book on jazz and photography, to speak Sunday, June 3 at the Missouri History Museum

Author, jazz historian and former St. Louisan Benjamin Cawthra is coming back to his old hometown for an event promoting his book Blue Notes in Black and White: Photography and Jazz.

Cawthra will speak and sign copies of the book (pictured) starting at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, June 3 in the Des Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell. The event is free and open to the public.

He'll discuss "the development of jazz photography from the swing era of the 1930s to the rise of black nationalism in the 1960s." Saxophonist Kelvin Evans will play a short set of standards before the lecture.

Cawthra lived in St. Louis for 16 years, earning a Ph.D in history from Washington University and working for the History Museum, where in 2001 he curated the exhibit "Miles: A Miles Davis Retrospective." Cawthra, who also helped coordinate the Sheldon Art Galleries' 2008 exhibit of the jazz photos of Herb Snitzer, now is an associate professor of history and associate director of the Center for Oral and Public History at California State University, Fullerton.

Thollem McDonas to perform Wednesday, May 23 at Laumeier Sculpture Park

Pianist Thollem McDonas, a frequent visitor to St. Louis in recent years, is coming back again this spring to perform at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 23 at Laumeier Sculpture Park.

McDonas (pictured) will play an hour-long set outdoors at Laumeier with multi-instrumentalist Arrington de Dionyso and electronic musician Eric Hall as part of Hall's year-long gig as the park's composer-in-residence. The event is free and open to the public.

McDonas was last in St. Louis in January 2011 to play a concert presented by New Music Circle at the Kranzberg Arts Center. His website also says he has another show on Wednesday, May 23 at Floating Laboratories, performing with de Dionyso, Hall, Kevin Harris, and Spelling Bee, but so far there's no mention of it either on Floating Laboratories' site or their Facebook page.

McDonas played at Floating Laboratories in May 2010 when he was in town for a visit that also included an on-air performance at KDHX and a show at the Tap Room with the band Tsigoti. If/when the details of that second May 23 performance are announced, we'll have an update for you here.

Jazz this week: Dafnis Prieto, Bobby Watson, New Music Circle showcase, Denise Thimes with Tom Braxton, and more

There are several noteworthy jazz and creative music shows happening this weekend in St. Louis, and for once, the schedule lays out so that it's possible to hear all the touring musicians coming through town, provided you've got the stamina and the necessary funds to go out five nights this week. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, drummer Dafnis Prieto (pictured) makes his St. Louis debut and opens a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Prieto certainly is one of the more talked-about jazz drummers of recent years, enjoying a rapid rise in fortune since coming to the USA from his native Cuba in 1999. In 2011, he won one of the coveted "genius grants" from the MacArthur Foundation, which, aside from serving as a pretty convincing refutation of all those old jokes about drummers being dumb, also helped him gain wider recognition among the general public.

Genius grant notwithstanding, there's no question that Prieto is both a very impressive drummer and a thoughtful composer, bandleader and teacher of jazz and Latin music, as you can hear for yourself in the performance video clips and interviews included in this post from last Saturday.

Also tonight, saxophonist Jim Stevens will play at the Cigar Inn; and on Thursday, Good 4 The Soul, which includes several of Stevens' frequent collaborators, will perform an early evening show at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Then on Friday, New Music Circle wraps up their 2011-12 season with a showcase of regional and local performers including Olivia Block, Joseph Raglani, Kevin Harris, Pat Boland, and Jeremy Kannapell at the William A. Kerr Foundation, 21 O'Fallon St. on Laclede's Landing.

Following the showcase, NMC will host an end-of-the-season celebration and fund raiser, with food, beer, DJs and video, plus a raffle of prizes and gift certificates to local businesses. Admission is a suggested $10 donation in addition to the ticket price of the concert, and includes food, drink and one raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets also will be available for sale, giving you more chances to win the stuff donated by Vintage Vinyl, Euclid Records, Apop Records, St. Louis Tap Room, Tivoli Theatre, Dierberg's, Local Harvest Market, Left Bank Books, and numerous others.

While NMC certainly is deserving of your support - without them, St. Louis audiences would not have had a chance this year to hear musicians like Joe McPhee, Matthew Shipp, and the Claudia Quintet - they do have some tough competition on Friday in addition to Prieto.

That's because alto saxophonist Bobby Watson is coming in from Kansas City on Friday to play the first of two nights at Robbie's House of Jazz. Though perhaps still best known for his stint with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Watson is a true master of the hard bop idiom who's played with dozens of other jazz greats over the course of his long and distinguished career. If you've heard Watson play before, you're probably already making plans to be there. If you haven't heard him, and you have any interest in jazz saxophone, he's definitely worth the trip to Webster Groves.

Watson now teaches at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's conservatory of music, and though he's based just a couple of hundred miles away, doesn't make it to St. Louis all that often. Fortunately, he'll be sticking around to perform again on Saturday at Robbie's, so if you're doing something else Friday, like checking out Prieto or the NMC event, you'll still have another chance to hear Watson.

And as if those weren't enough options for Friday, you can always head east of the Mississippi to catch guitarist Dave Black with bassist Willem von Hombracht and drummer Kevin Gianino at the Cigar Inn in Belleville, or saxophonist Tim Cunningham at Jazz on Broadway in Alton.

On Saturday, Tim Cunningham will be back at Jazz on Broadway, along with singers Anita Jackson and Theo Peoples, the St. Louisan who's worked with both the Temptations and the Four Tops, for a special Mother's Day show. Also on Saturday, singer Joe Mancuso and his quartet with special guest saxophonist Christopher Braig will play at Johnny Gitto's.

On Sunday afternoon, singer Denise Thimes will present her annual Mothers Day performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall, featuring saxophonist Tom Braxton as his year's special guest. There's also a dinner at the Sheldon before the show; check out the show page on Sheldon's site for times and details.

And speaking of the Sheldon Concert Hall and special guests, on Monday night the East St. Louis High School jazz band and their special guest, trumpeter and ESLHS alumnus Russell Gunn, will perform at the Sheldon in an event raising funds to provide band camp scholarships for kids from the ESLHS music program.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

Sheldon Concert Hall gets grant for Peter Martin commission; Jazz St. Louis announces gift supporting JazzU program

Two of St. Louis' non-for-profit jazz presenters recently got some good news involving money.

Jazz St. Louis today announced that they'll receive $30,000 from the Arthur and Helen Baer Foundation to support the JazzU education program in 2012-13.

JazzU offers free weekly jazz ensemble instruction to 55 middle- and high-school students from all over the St. Louis area. Teachers include both local musician/educators and touring performers taking part in JSL's educational residency program. Students are selected through an audition process, and are placed in ensembles based on their skill level.

The program's top ensemble, the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, has performed at Jazz at the Bistro and at community events such as the St. Louis Art Fair. The All-Stars and other JazzU ensembles will open the Bistro's summer series on Friday, June 1 and Saturday, June 2, with tenor saxophonist Tim Warfield as their special guest.

Meanwhile, the Sheldon Concert Hall today announced that they're getting an NEA Art Works Grant for $10,000 to commission pianist Peter Martin (pictured) to write a major composition for the Sheldon's 100th anniversary this year.

Martin's piece will feature a setting of the poem “This Present Past” by poet Howard Nemerov, and will get its debut performance at the Sheldon's anniversary celebration on Thursday, October 11. That event will feature a multi-genre lineup of musicians including Martin, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. as well as classical singer Christine Brewer, violinist David Halen and members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. The concert will be broadcast on local PBS affiliate The Nine Network and will be recorded for release on a CD to be distributed by The Sheldon.

The Sheldon is one of 788 not-for-profit national, regional, state and local organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant; the total funding for the program is $24.81 million. The NEA received 1,624 eligible applications under the Art Works category for this round of funding, requesting more than $78 million in funding. The grants are intended to "support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts."

"Da-Dum-Dun" festival on Friday, May 25 in East St. Louis to honor Miles Davis, Henry Dumas, and Katherine Dunham

"Da-Dum-Dun," a multi-arts festival in honor of musician Miles Davis, writer Henry Dumas, and dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham, will be held at 6:00 p.m. Friday, May 25 in Room 2083-84 of Bldg. “B” on the SIUE-ESL Higher Education Campus, 601 J.R. Thompson Dr. in East St. Louis.

The free event will include music from the Bosman Twins; dance and percussion from the Sunshine Cultural Arts Center's Community Performance Ensemble; and "literary expression" from Drumvoices writers including Pacia Anderson, Michael Castro, Roscoe “Ros” Crenshaw, Angela Cureton, Byron Lee, Susan “Spit-Fire” Lively, Charlois Lumpkin, Patricia Merritt, Treasure Shields Redmond, Mary Z. Rose, Darlene Roy, Cheryl D. S. Walker, Dr. Lena Weathers, and Jaye P. Willis. The three honorees also will be the subjects of a "multimodal exhibit" from the Eugene B. Redmond/SIUE Collection.

All three of the honorees are renowned creative figures associated in some way with the city of East St. Louis, and the event takes place the day before what would have been the 86th birthday of Davis. The trumpeter was born in Alton, but grew up in East St. Louis and graduated from Lincoln High School. Dunham, originally from Chicago, moved to East St. Louis in 1967 after an illustrious career and founded the performing arts school and museum bearing her name. Dumas, born in Arkansas and raised in Harlem, taught at SIUE-ESL’s Experiment in Higher Education in 1967 and '68.

The celebration also will be a book release party for Drumvoices Revue, a 700-page volume co-published by the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club and SIUE, co-sponsors of the event. Drumvoices Revue includes contributions from more than 200 writers, including Maya Angelou, Derek Walcott, Amiri Baraka, Andrea Wren, Gwendolyn Brooks and Richard Wright. Book sales and autographing will open and follow the event.