StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2017 jazz preview, part two

Today, it's part two of StLJN's winter/spring 2017 jazz preview, featuring videos of the top jazz and creative musicians who will be performing here in the next few months. (You can see part one here.)

This week's installment begins with saxophonist Branford Marsalis and singer Kurt Elling, who collaborated last year on the album Upward Spiral and will be coming to St. Louis to perform together on Tuesday, January 24 and Wednesday, January 25 at Jazz at the Bistro. In the first clip up above, you can see them doing "There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York" and "Doxy" in a show in June of this year at New Morning in Paris.

After the jump, you can see pianist Bruce Barth, who will lead his trio in shows on Wednesday, February 8 and Thursday, February 9 at the Bistro. Barth, who recorded for the St. Louis-based label MAXJAZZ in its early days, is seen here playing a solo set in March, 2016 at PianoForte Studios in Chicago.

The next headliner to hit the Bistro will be guitarist Mike Stern, who will play the Grand Center venue from Wednesday, February 15 through Saturday, February 18 with drummer and St. Louis native Kimberly Thompson and bassist Teymur Phell. Stern and Thompson often work together at the former's long-running gig at NYC's 55 Bar, and the next video is an excerpt from one of their shows there in August 2015.

Also in town that week will be the venerable funk band Tower of Power, who will return to perform on Friday, February 17 at River City Casino. The version of "Don't Change Horses In The Middle Of The Stream" seen here was recorded in July at the California State Fair in Sacramento, and though the video quality isn't the best, there's some nice audio showcasing the performance of TOP's new lead singer Marcus Scott, a Memphis native who joined the band in April.

That same weekend, New Music Circle will present a concert by electronic musician Ikue Mori and trumpeter Nate Wooley on Saturday, February 18 at The Luminary.

Though Mori and Wooley are both prolific collaborators, and worked together with saxophonist Ken Vandermark and drummer Paul Lytton in the band The Nows, there doesn't seem to be any video online of just the two of them together. So instead, you can check out a duo set that Mori played with drummer Steve Noble in September at Jazzhouse in Copenhagen, and a solo performance by Wooley recorded in November at the Park Church Co-op in Brooklyn, NY.

Below that, you can see a clip of guitarists Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge, who will perform together on Wednesday, February 22 at the Old Rock House. The two blend jazz, bluegrass and more in an acoustic duo presentation that includes songs ranging from honky-tonk country to standards like the performance of "Someone to Watch Over Me" seen here.

last but not least, today's final clip features the Clayton Brothers Quintet, fronted by bassist John Clayton and saxophonist Jeff Clayton, and also usually including the fine young pianist Gerald Clayton, who is John's son. The video is an excerpt from a performance they did in 2013 at the Outpost in Albuquerque, NM, and the brothers will be back in St. Louis for a four-night run starting Wednesday, March 1 and continuing through Saturday, March 4 at the Bistro.

Look for part three of the winter/spring 2017 jazz preview here next week. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...