Friday, September 05, 2014

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The impending release of Keep On Keepin' On, the new documentary about Clark Terry - covered in this space most recently a couple of weeks ago - was noted by Jazz Times' Jeff Tamarkin.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn will be among the musicians back on board the Smooth Jazz Cruise in January and February of 2016. The just-announced lineup also will include singer Randy Crawford joining Joe Sample and the Crusaders for the first time at sea, plus bassist Marcus Miller, saxophonists Boney James and Candy Dulfer, keyboardist Brian Culbertson, and more.

* In this week's Miles Davis-related news, a set by the Miles Electric Band at the SFJAZZ Trumpet Festival was reviewed by Down Beat, AllAboutJazz.com, and BAM magazine.

* Also this week, Life magazine published online some previously unreleased photos from 1958 of Davis with John Coltrane, Jimmy Cobb, Paul Chambers, Cannonball Adderley, and Bill Evans, aka the sextet that would record Kind of Blue the next year.

* Meanwhile, drummer Dave Weckl is following in the footsteps of Davis and numerous other musicians by releasing some of his visual art to the public. You can check out what he calls "his new collection of rhythm-on-canvas" at http://www.davewecklart.com/.

* Weckl and keyboardist Jay Oliver also have put online a video of their version of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground," which is one of the tracks on Weckl's new album Convergence.

* Speaking of putting new music online, saxophonist Oliver Lake has posted on SoundCloud a track, "Wiring," from the new collaborative release by Trio 3 (Lake, drummer Andrew Cyrille and bassist Reggie Workman) and pianist Vijay Iyer.

* Soprano Christine Brewer and members of the St. Louis Symphony will perform a new commissioned composition by pianist Peter Martin as part of the fourth annual "Arts & Faith" concert this Sunday at The Sheldon. The Post-Dispatch's Sarah Bryan Miller has a preview here.

*  The winners of this year's "Webster's Got Talent" contest, and thus the opening act for the upcoming Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival, are The Spys.

* Upcoming concerts by Thumbscrew and Survival Unit III were previewed by the Riverfront Times' Joseph Hess.

* Saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett will be honored next week with a "Friend of the Family" award and tribute concert from Y’All of New York, Inc, the arts organization founded and run by another former St. Louisan, saxophonist and composer James "Jabbo" Ware.

The concert on Saturday, September 13 at the Church for All Nations in NYC will feature Ware (pictured, at left, with Bluiett) and the Me, We and Them Orchestra performing "The St. Louis Experience," a new work described as "a tone parallel telling the story of the formative relationship and exchange between musicians in St. Louis and East St. Louis that did much to create a signature sonic sensibility along the banks of the Mississippi River."

* Jazz radio update: And speaking of New York, this Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis, “Somethin’ Else” host Calvin Wilson will be spinning NYC-themed tunes as performed by Diana Krall, Eric Alexander, Mark Whitfield, and more.

Right after that, "The Jazz Collective" and host Jason Church return from summer repeats with a new program featuring tracks from Cindy Bradley, Paul Taylor, Citrus Sun, Morgan James, Bob Baldwin, Maynard Ferguson, Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Chris Standring, Funky Butt Brass Band, Jesse Gannon, Anthony Hines, Tim Cunningham, and more.

Wilson's program can be heard 8:00 p.m., followed by Church at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/liste

On Sunday, WSIE (88.7 FM) will debut their new program "St. Louis Jazz Talk" at 11:00 a.m. Hosted by WSIE's Dick Ulett and musicians Mike Silverman, Robert Silverman, and Erika Johnson, the program's first episode will feature pianists Ptah Williams and Jesse Gannon.

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