StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A few minutes with Cyrus Chestnut and Russell Malone

This week, let's spend a little time with pianist Cyrus Chestnut and guitarist Russell Malone, who will be returning to St. Louis to join forces for a series of performances Wednesday, April 2 through Saturday, April 5 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Both men are quite familiar to St. Louis audiences, as they first teamed up for a series of dates at the Bistro back in April 2012, and each has led their own band there several times before that. So today we'll skip the biographical information and go straight to some music and interviews.

In the first clip above, you can see a solo performance by Chestnut recorded in August 2012 in the studios of KPLU in Tacoma, WA, in which he plays "Tonk," "Polka Dots And Moonbeams," and "No Problem".

In the second video, Chestnut performs his composition "Solace" with a band of students from Berklee College of Music at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola in NYC. Along with Chestnut, the featured musicians are Edmar Colon (soprano sax), Joseph Streater (trumpet), Ido Meshulam (trombone), Tabari Lake (bass), and John Lee (drums).

The third and fourth clips feature Malone, bassist Ron Carter and pianist Donald Vega playing "Candlelight" and "Samba de Orpheus," and are taken from an October 2013 gig at the Teatro Gran Rex in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The fifth video is a short interview with Chestnut, in which he discusses his influences and early career work with singer Betty Carter, while the sixth clip features Malone talking about his influences and mentors, such as Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell.

Check out the rest of today's videos after the jump...