Jazz this week: Roosevelt Collier, Pharez Whitted, Liberty Jazz Band, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features noteworthy performances in a veritable smorgasbord of sub-genres, from cabaret and jazz-inflected opera to vintage swing, post-bop, "sacred steel," Latin music, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, June 19
Cabaret Project of St. Louis will present their "Singers Open Mic" this month at an alternate location, The Dark Room.

Elsewhere around town, the world premiere production of trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard's opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones continues at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, with a performance on Wednesday and four more scheduled before OTSL's season ends on Sunday, June 30.

Thursday, June 20
The Sheldon Concert Hall this week is hosting a two-day conference of Midwest talent buyers, and in conjunction with that, on Thursday night they're presenting a "Saint Louis Music Showcase" featuring pianist Peter Martin's trio, The 442s, and singer Brian Owens, which is free and open to the general public.

Also on Thursday, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra returns to Jazz St. Louis; pianist Jim Hegarty leads a trio at Evangeline's; and out in St. Charles County, guitarist Randy Bahr and saxophonist Larry Johnson will play duets at the Rendezvous Cafe & Wine Bar in O'Fallon.

Friday, June 21
Steel guitarist Roosevelt Collier (pictured, top left) performs for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis. After developing his "sacred steel" chops playing in church with a family band, the Florida native in recent years has become a popular touring act among secular audiences, thanks to an explosive style mashing up gospel, blues, funk and rock.

You can find out more Collier and see some videos from recent performances in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, Chicago-based trumpeter Pharez Whitted (pictured, bottom left) comes to southern Illinois for a performance with his post-bop quintet at Panorama Banquet Center in Belleville; and The Gaslight Squares will be joined by guest pianist Kris Tokarski for a tribute to Jelly Roll Morton at The Focal Point.

(Tokarski also is playing a solo show on Sunday afternoon at the Opera House of Pacific.)

Elsewhere around town, Miss Jubilee will perform in a free outdoor concert at Eckert's in Belleville, and keyboardist Mark Harris II plays the late show at The Dark Room.

Saturday, June 22
On Saturday afternoon, singer Wendy Gordon and friends will present a matinee at Hwy 67 BBQ.

Saturday also is the first of two days of "Fiesta in Florissant," a free event presented by the Hispanic Festival of St. Louis at Knights of Columbus Park, featuring live music including Chicago Latin Groove and Ritmo Tropical on Saturday and Tropical Mood on Sunday.

Elsewhere around town, bassist Glen Smith, guitarist Eric Slaughter, and singer Robert Nelson perform at Evangeline's; bassist Ben Wheeler leads a duo at The Dark Room; and Joe Park and the Hot Club of St. Louis will play a house concert at the home of singer/guitarist Tommy Halloran.

Sunday, June 23
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz for brunch at The Dark Room, and the St. Louis Jazz Club presents the Liberty Jazz Band from Mexico, MO playing traditional jazz and swing at the Moolah Shrine Center.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)