* Want to help musicians who have been affected by Hurricane Harvey? The Jazz Foundation is providing assistance to Houston-area musicians who have been displaced or suffered losses due to the storm, as they did for more than 1,000 New Orleans musicians after Hurricane Katrina.
You can find out more and contribute, if you like, via their website.
If you're a musician in need of help due to the storm (or know of one), the organization MusiCares, an affiliate of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (best known for the Grammy Awards), also is inviting calls for assistance at 1-877-626-2748.
* On a much happier note, Jazz St. Louis is now enrolling children for the fall session of WeBop, an early-childhood education program first developed by Jazz at Lincoln Center that "invites families to stomp, strut, and swing to the rhythms of jazz." You can find out more and register at https://jazzstl.org/education-outreach/webop/.
* Keyboardist Reggie Thomas and singer Mardra Thomas (pictured) - spouses and former St. Louisans - will be among the performers at this weekend's Chicago Jazz Festival. The Thomases will take the stage Friday afternoon at the Jazz and Heritage Pavilion, accompanied by drummer Montez Coleman, saxophonist Geof Bradfield and bassist Ivan Taylor. Reggie Thomas currently heads the jazz program at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL.
* Speaking of festivals, trumpeter Keyon Harrold is writing a new work for the 15th annual Festival Of New Trumpet Music (aka FONT Music) happening later this month in NYC. The work is part of the festival's Roy Campbell, Jr. Commissioning Project, which began in 2014 to honor the organization's co-founder who died that year. You can find out more, and if you like, contribute to Harrold's commission, via an IndieGoGo page set up by the fest.
On a related note, Harrold this week previewed "Wayfaring Traveler," another track from his forthcoming album The Mugician, on the website OkayPlayer. He'll be back in the St. Louis area next weekend to headline the free Alton Jazz and Wine Festival on Saturday, September 9 at Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton.
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