StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2016 jazz preview, part 4

This week, it's part four of StLJN's winter/spring 2016 jazz preview, with an advance look at some of the noteworthy bands and musicians who will be playing in St. Louis during the first part of the new year. (You can check out part one here, part two here, and part three here.)

This installment begins with a slight interruption in chronological order for a performance that could have gone in last week's post, except it wasn't announced until after that post had been prepared.

That would be Pink Martini, who will be making their St. Louis debut on Monday, March 21 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Fronted by singer China Forbes, they can be seen in the first video embed up top playing Forbes' tune "Hey Eugene" back in 2012 at a gig in Seattle.

Next, it's saxophonist and former St. Louisan David Sanborn, who will return home to perform Wednesday, April 13 through Saturday, April 16 at Jazz at the Bistro. While Sanborn likely needs no introduction to most StLJN readers, after the jump you can hear a version of his concert staple "Run For Cover" recorded at last year's Montreux Jazz Festival and featuring his most recent touring ensemble, with Andre Berry (bass), Ricky Peterson (keyboards), Nicky Moroch (guitar) and Chris Coleman (drums).

That same week, drummer/multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey will be coming to town to perform with his Alloy Trio (with pianist Corey Smythe and bassist Christopher Tordini) in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, April 16 at The Stage at KDHX. Since there doesn't seem to be a good quality video of the group yet anywhere online, in today's third clip you can see and hear Sorey playing with a similarly configured group, bassist Mario Pavone's Arc Trio Blue with pianist Matt Mitchell, performing the composition "Andrew" in March, 2014 at Cornelia Street Cafe in NYC.

The following weekend the 2016 Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival will take place on Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Friday's headliner will be guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli, another musician who's played here frequently enough that most local jazz fans know his work. For those that don't, or simply are curious about the affable Pizzarelli's latest project, the fourth video shows him performing "Let 'Em In" from his most recent album Midnight McCartney.

On Saturday, the GSLJF will present a tribute to the late trumpeter Maynard Ferguson from the M.F. All-Star Band, which features former Ferguson sidemen including trumpeters Wayne Bergeron and Frank Greene, trombonist Steve Wiest, baritone saxophonist Dennis DiBlasio, and drummer Stockton Helbing. The fifth clip features a montage of excerpts from a pair of Ferguson tributes staged in April, 2012 and March, 2013, featuring Bergeron (2012), DiBlasio (2012 and 2013), Greene (2013) and Helbing (2013) with the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band.

Today's last video features Dave Liebman's Expansions, who will be in St. Louis to perform a one-nighter on Saturday, April 23 at Jazz at the Bistro. Expansions features the veteran saxophonist and former Miles Davis sideman with four much younger musicians, including pianist Bobby Avey, saxophonist Matt Vashlishan, bassist Tony Marino, and drummer Alex Ritz. They're seen here playing "The Sky" during a concert recorded in October 2015 at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, PA.

Next week, it's the fifth and final chapter of StLJN's winter/spring 2016 jazz preview. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...