St. Louis Jazz Notes

VLAA to present workshop on bookkeeping for artists next Monday, February 6

2012-01-30T23:58:00.006-06:00

St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts will present a workshop on "The Artist As Bookkeeper" from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. next Monday, February 6 at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar.

Angie Fink of UHY Advisors Tax and Business Consultants will be the speaker, and will "guide you through the tax maze and offer suggestions that could save you money and a lot of aggravation." The cost of the workshop is $10 in advance, $15 at the door, and a registration form may be downloaded here.

StLJN Audio Archive: John Hicks - Hells Bells

2012-01-29T15:45:00.001-06:00

For today's Audio Archive post, we feature Hells Bells, the very first session recorded as a bandleader by the late pianist and former St. Louisan John Hicks. Hells Bells - spelled without the apostrophe on the album cover (pictured), but sometimes with it in other references - was recorded in 1975 for trumpeter Charles Tolliver's Strata-East label, though it wasn't issued until 1978.

There was a CD reissue of the album in 2000 by the Charly label, which now is out of print. As of this writing, the one new copy that could be found for sale online has an asking price of $90, with used copies commanding nearly $30.

Hells Bells is a trio session featuring Hicks with Clint Houston (bass) and Cliff Barbaro (drums), performing four tracks: "Hell's Bells," "Avojca," "Yemenja," and "Angie's Tune." The .mp3 rip of the album linked to here today is from the blog Freedom Records; to download a free copy, go here and click the link labeled "Mediafire MP3," which will take you to, you guessed it, a Mediafire page with the download.

The StLJN Audio Archive links only to recordings that are out-of-print or that never have been commercially available. The purpose of the Audio Archive is to encourage discussion, appreciation and knowledge of St. Louis jazz artists, and we urge you to support them (or their estates) by purchasing authorized recordings and merchandise and, whenever possible, attending live performances.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Techniques of Advanced Organology with Dr. Lonnie Smith

2012-01-28T16:21:00.000-06:00

There are a number of fine jazz organ players working today, but as one of the few remaining active veterans who started back in the 1960s, Dr. Lonnie Smith brings an appealingly authentic vibe whenever he sits down at the bench. Smith has played St. Louis several times in recent years, and he'll be back next week to perform from Wednesday, February 1 through Saturday, February 4 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Smith originally is from the Buffalo, NY, area, and first became widely known to jazz fans while working with guitar George Benson's band. Later, he established his reputation as a leader with a series of recordings for Blue Note, and has remained active ever since, touring or recording with musicians such as Grover Washington, Jr., Ron Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, and frequent collaborator Lou Donaldson as well as leading his own groups.

Today we've got several examples of the good Doctor demonstrating his techniques, starting up above with a version of "The Whip" recorded in 2007 in Amsterdam with a group of Dutch musicians.

Down below is "Frame For The Blues," recorded in June, 2011 in Szombathely, Hungary with Smith's current touring partners, guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Jamire Williams. Next, it's Smith, guitarist Russell Malone and drummer Herlin Riley in 2009 at The Iridium in NYC, dipping into the pop-rock songbook with an idiosyncratic take on Eurythmics' 1980s hit "Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This."

Below that, the Dr. is teamed with Riley, guitarist Peter Bernstein and saxophonist Donald Harrison for another somewhat unlikely tune, a funked-up version of the Beatles' "Come Together" recorded at NYC's Jazz Standard. Finally, in a video from 2010, Smith walks a Dutch announcer though the basics of Hammond B-3 operations before playing "And The World Weeps" with drummer Victor de Boo and guitarist Jerome Hol.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

2012-01-27T17:04:00.001-06:00

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

* Bassist Darin Gray talked with Terry Perkins for a St. Louis Beacon article about Saturday's New Music Circle concert featuring percussionist Chris Corsano (pictured), Gray, and saxophonist David Stone at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

* Perkins also has another piece up at the Beacon this week, about the closing of Webster Records.

* Meanwhile, Jason Rosenbaum of the Riverfront Times this week penned a birthday tribute to saxophonist Julius Hemphill.

* The Sheldon Concert Hall staff has posted photos of Sunday's concert by Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo to an album on the Sheldon's Facebook page.

* Also, saxophonist Jeff Riley has put up some photos on his Facebook page of his recent concert at The Chapel.

* Guitarist Brian Vaccaro sends word that his CD Going Through the Motions was listed among the "Notable CD's of 2011" list of the venerable author, critic, and jazz historian W. Royal Stokes, who's written for the Washington Post, Down Beat and many other publications.

* Pianist Peter Martin is offering a "buy two, get two free" deal on tickets for his next concert at the Sheldon. The show will feature Martin, bassist Robert Hurst, drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. and guest vocalist Vivian Sessoms in the debut of Inner Circle, Martin's new band that "interprets classic pop and R&B songs and originals through a jazz lens." The four-for-two offer is good only through next Tuesday, January 31; to get the discount, go to Metrotix.com to purchase your tickets and, when prompted, enter the promo code: CIRCLE.

* In more Martin-related news, the pianist was among the honorees Monday at the annual Arts and Education Council awards dinner at the Chase Park Plaza, and you can read an account of the evening's events from the Post-Dispatch's Deb Peterson here. The ceremony also included short videos about all the award winners; you can see the one about Martin online here, and the video about Jason Brown, trumpet player, music teacher in the Riverview Gardens school district and Arts Educator of the Year, here.

Interview with the Wee Trio's Dan Loomis now online

2012-01-26T10:18:00.003-06:00

The Wee Trio is in town this weekend to play at Jazz at the Bistro, and the group's bassist Dan Loomis, who's originally from St. Louis, took some time last week to talk on the phone with me about their new album Ashes to Ashes: A David Bowie Intraspective. You can read the interview with Loomis online at the Riverfront Times' RFT Music Blog here.

Jazz this week: The Wee Trio, Chris Corsano, "Jazz Under The Stars," Freddie Washington, and more

2012-01-26T01:31:00.003-06:00

If there's a theme to this week, it would seem to be "youth," as the next few days' worth of jazz and creative music in St. Louis will feature a number of fresh faces (plus a few relatively grizzled veterans) performing in a variety of styles ranging from the traditional to the experimental. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, vibraphonist Peter Schlamb and his group will kick off the winter/spring 2012 Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University.

Also tonight, up-and-coming young pianists Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi will team up for a performance at Robbie's House of Jazz; and the Young Friends groups of Jazz St. Louis and the St. Louis Science Center will present their second "Jazz Under The Stars" event at the McDonnell Planetarium in Forest Park, featuring music from drummer Marty Morrison and Friends with guest vocalist Erin Bode.

On Friday, the Wee Trio (pictured) opens a two-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. The group, which features St. Louis native Dan Loomis on bass, New Yorker Jared Schonig on drums, and New Orleans' James Westfall on vibraphone, last played the Bistro in 2009. This time around, they're touring behind a new CD, Ashes to Ashes: A David Bowie Intraspective, which, as the name suggests, features their interpretations of six songs written by iconic rocker David Bowie.

Yr. humble StLJN editor spoke with Loomis last week about the project for an article that should go up on the Riverfront Times' RFT Music Blog some time on Thursday. Once it's online, we'll add a link here; in the meantime, for more about the Wee Trio and some video footage of them in action, see this post, which preceded their last visit here. UPDATE - 10:15 a.m., 1/26/12: The interview with Dan Loomis is online here.

Also on Friday, saxophonist Greg Lewis and his group Press Play return to Robbie's House of Jazz, and guitarist Tom Byrne's trio will be back at the Cigar Inn.

Then on Saturday night, the improvising percussionist Chris Corsano will be in town to perform with bassist Darin Gray and saxophonist Dave Stone in a concert presented by New Music Circle at Kranzberg Arts Center. For more about Corsano, including links to a couple of extended interviews and more than an hour of live performance video, check out this post from last Saturday. UPDATE - 10:30 p.m., 1/26/12: You can read my Critic's Pick about Corsano written for this week's print edition of the RFT here. (Musicians and music students take note: Corsano and Gray also will lead a free public workshop on improvisation and extended techniques from noon to 2:00 p.m. Saturday at Luminary Center for the Arts, 2900 Reber Pl.)

On Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Jazz Club will present a stylistically diverse double bill featuring the traditional jazz sound of Banjos & Brass, plus Utter Chaos, a quartet of young musicians featuring a front line of baritone sax and trombone and drawing inspiration from 1950s cool jazz, at the Doubletree Hotel St. Louis at Westport.

That evening, saxophonist Freddie Washington will open a series of Sunday night shows presented by the Black Rep at the Grandel Theater.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday evening Dave Black and Bridge will perform at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium. The eclectic ensemble features Black on guitar along with violinist Asako Kuboki, cellist Tracy Andreotti, bassist Syd Rodway and percussionist Henry Claude, performing original compositions that draw on jazz, classical, world music and more.

Then on Tuesday, the St. Louis MetroBones, a new group that features 14 trombonists from area high schools and colleges under the direction of veteran trombonist and educator Dave Dickey, will play a concert at the Black Cat Theatre.

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.)

UNT One O'Clock Lab Band to play Thursday, February 23 at Webster Groves High School

2012-01-25T16:57:00.006-06:00

The University of North Texas' One O'Clock Lab Band (pictured) is coming to St. Louis to perform at 7:00 p.m. , Thursday, February 23 in the main auditorium at Webster Groves High School, 100 Selma Ave. The Webster Groves High School jazz bands will open the show.

The One O'Clock Lab Band is directed by Steve Wiest and is considered the top band of the nine large jazz ensembles at UNT, which has one of the most famous and long-running collegiate jazz programs in the nation.

Their concert on February 23 at Webster Groves High School will be open to the public, with a $5 donation requested at the door.

Freddie Washington to open Black Rep concert series on Sunday, January 29

2012-01-24T13:43:00.001-06:00

Saxophonist Freddie Washington (pictured) and his group will be the first performers for a Sunday night concert series being presented by the Black Rep. Washington will kick off the series at 7:00 p.m. this Sunday, January 29 at the Grandel Theater.

A mainstay on the local jazz scene from the 1960s through the mid-2000s, Washington recently returned to St. Louis after living in Dallas, Nashville and Atlanta. The Black Rep's marketing director Joe Hanrahan tells StLJN that Washington's concert is the first of a planned series of four or five Sunday night shows that will take place about once a month this winter and spring. (We'll have info on any further jazz-related performances right here when more details are revealed.)

Tickets for Freddie Washington at the Grandel Theater are $20, and can be reserved by calling the Black Rep box office at 314-534-3810.

Jazz at Holmes series announces winter/spring 2012 schedule

2012-01-23T02:24:00.005-06:00

The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University today announced via email their schedule of free concerts for the winter/spring 2012 semester.

The series kicks off this Thursday, January 26 with a performance by vibraphonist Peter Schlamb (pictured) and his group, and continues through Thursday, April 12, when it will conclude with a show co-sponsored by the campus radio station KWUR featuring an artist yet to be announced.

Here's the complete schedule:

Thursday, January 26: Peter Schlamb Group
Thursday, February 2: Scott Jones
Thursday, February 9: Ken Kehner Trio
Thursday, February 23: Ptah Williams plays Herbie Hancock
Thursday, March 1: Steve Schenkel and Kim Portnoy play George Gershwin
Thursday, March 22: Paul DeMarinis Group
Thursday, March 29: WU Jazz Combo Students
Thursday, April 5: Vince Varvel Quartet
Thursday, April 12: KWUR-Sponsored Guest Artist

All Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public, and begin at 8:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, which is located in Ridgley Hall, on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.

StLJN Audio Archive: Grant Green - Visions

2012-01-22T11:58:00.002-06:00

Fortunately for fans of jazz guitar, much of Grant Green's output for the Blue Note label in the 1960s and 1970s remains in print today. One exception, though, seems to be Visions, a 1971 session that featured the St. Louis native's versions of some then-current pop hits along with a couple of originals and one classical piece.

Vinyl copies are scarce, as you'd expect for a 40-year old recording that probably got just one pressing back then. There apparently was a CD reissue a few years back that now is out of print too, with used copies fetching as much $85 online as of this writing. And so far, the powers-that-be don't seem even to have made the album available as a digital download.

That scarcity, plus the renewed interest in Green's music in recent years, would seem to make Visions (pictured) a good candidate for the network of music sharing blogs - and once again, fortune has smiled on guitar fans, for the proprietor of a site called Lost In Tyme has preserved the session online for all to enjoy.

Stylistically, the laid-back Visions definitely is a departure from Green's usual tendencies toward hard bop, blues and funk but, accompanied by a band featuring Chuck Rainey on bass and Idris Muhammad on drums, he manages to find something interesting in most of the tunes. The track listing includes "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" "Maybe Tomorrow," "Mozart Symphony #40 In G Minor, K550, 1st Movement," "Love On A Two Way Street," "Cantaloupe Woman," "We've Only Just Begun," "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Blues For Abraham."

To download a free copy of Grant Green's Visions, go to the original blog post referenced above and scroll down to where it says "Get It Here." Click on one of the links immediately below that and follow the instructions. (For more on .rar files and how to use them, see this.)

The StLJN Audio Archive links only to recordings that are out-of-print or that never have been commercially available. The purpose of the Audio Archive is to encourage discussion, appreciation and knowledge of St. Louis jazz artists, and we urge you to support them (or their estates) by purchasing authorized recordings and merchandise and, whenever possible, attending live performances.

(Edited 1/29/12 to add the disclaimer paragraph.)

Peter Martin, Vivian Sessoms to perform Saturday, March 10 at the Sheldon

2012-01-22T11:52:00.007-06:00

Pianist Peter Martin will resume his eponymous series at the Sheldon Concert Hall with a performance featuring guest vocalist Vivian Sessoms (pictured) at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, March 10. Bassist Bob Hurst and drummer Ulysses Owens will join Martin and Sessoms for the show.

Sessoms is a native New Yorker who's been performing professionally since she was a child, but got her first widespread exposure as a grown-up through working with film composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Since then, she's developed a solo career as a cabaret performer, and has recorded and/or toured as a background singer with the likes of P. Diddy, Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Sinead O'Connor, Stevie Wonder and Lalah Hathaway. Sessoms also has sung on many national commericals as a session vocalist, and most recently has partnered in the neo-soul group Albright with multi-instrumentalist/producer Chris Parks.

Tickets are $50 for VIP seating, $30 orchestra, $25 balcony and $15 students, and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Monday, January 23 via MetroTix.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Chris Corsano

2012-01-21T17:43:00.001-06:00

This week, let's take a look at some video clips featuring percussionist Chris Corsano, who will be in St. Louis to perform Saturday, January 28 at the Kranzberg Arts Center in a concert presented by New Music Circle.

Corsano, a veteran free improvisor raised and still based in New England, has played and recorded with a wide variety of musicians over the past two decades, including improvisors like saxophonists Paul Flaherty and Evan Parker and multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee, as well as Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Nels Cline of Wilco, rock singer Bjork, and groups such as Six Organs of Admittance, Vibracathedral Orchestra, Cold Bleak Heat, and Rangda. For his gig here, he'll be joined by two St. Louis musicians, bassist Darin Gray and bassist Dave Stone.

Today's clips offer excerpts from four relatively recent live performances that should serve to illuminate some of Corsano's techniques and tendencies as an improvising musician. First up, there's a part of a 2010 solo show at a house concert venue called The Nicolas Cage in New Brunswick, NJ.

Down below, there are parts of two more solo performances, one in October 2010 in Berlin and the in May, 2009 in Turners Falls, MA. We wrap up with a half-hour chunk of the recent concert by Corsano with his longtime collaborator, saxophonist Paul Flaherty, and guitarist Bill Nace last December at Flywheel Arts Collective in Easthampton, MA.

For more about Corsano, check out this interview he did with Perfect Sound Forever; and this one he did with the website Tiny Mix Tapes.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

2012-01-20T16:25:00.000-06:00

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

* Jazz St. Louis' Devin Rodino was on the local cable program STL TV Live this week talking about next Thursday's "Jazz Under The Stars" event at the St. Louis Science Center. You can see the interview here.

* Pianist Peter Martin will be the recipient of an Excellence in Arts award at the 2012 St. Louis Arts Awards, which will be presented Monday by the Arts and Education Council at a fundraiser at the Chase Park Plaza. Martin will perform at the event with singer Dianne Reeves, for whom he serves as musical director. The evening also will include a performance by trumpet player Jason Brown, fine arts director for the Riverview Gardens School District and Arts Educator of the Year, with the Jazz Edge Big Band.

* The Post-Dispatch's Margaret Gillerman filed a final story on the impending closing of Webster Records

* Guitarist Matthew Von Doran (pictured) is at the winter National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show in Anaheim, CA this week, and will perform with his trio at the convention tonight.

* Also tonight, the St. Louis Artists Guild opens "Oh! You Pretty Things: Indie Music and Design," an exhibition exploring graphic design in the St. Louis indie music scene with an emphasis on the D.I.Y (do-it-yourself) aesthetic and philosophy. The exhibit is free and open to the public, and continues through Saturday, March 17.

Ravi Coltrane interview now online

2012-01-19T15:33:00.004-06:00

Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, who's in St. Louis through Saturday to play at Jazz at the Bistro, kindly spent some time on the phone with me earlier this week for a brief interview that's now been published on the Riverfront Times' RFT Music Blog. You can read more about how in 2012 Coltrane is shaking up his band, his repertoire, and lots more, here.

Jazz this week: Ravi Coltrane, Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo, a new big band debuts, and more

2012-01-18T13:11:00.002-06:00

The tenor sax plays a major role in this week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with two of the instrument's most prominent current exponents in town, plus several other noteworthy shows including the debut of a new big band as well. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane (pictured) opens a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Coltrane, the son of legendary saxophonist John Coltrane and pianist/harpist Alice Coltrane, last played the Bistro with his own group in 2008, and then returned the following year to perform with the Blue Note 7 at the Sheldon. He's been through some changes since then, and talked about them a bit in an interview I did with him on Monday that should be going live on the Riverfront Times music blog any time now. (Update - 3:30 p.m., 1/19/12: The interview is online here.)

Until then, for more about Ravi Coltrane, check out this video showcase post from a couple of Saturdays ago; this St. Louis magazine blog post by Dennis Owsley, which compares Coltrane with his famous father; and this article by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson, which ponders the elder Coltrane's influence on his son and on Branford Marsalis (who will be here on Sunday - see below). Also, you can hear Coltrane's complete set from last summer's Newport Jazz Festival as archived online by NPR here.

Also tonight, Erin Bode is at Cyrano's; saxophonist Larry Johnson and singer Charlie B. will be playing their new weekly gig at Bartolino's near Hampton and 44; and singer Ralph Butler and pianist Gigi Darr perform in an early evening show at Jazz on Broadway in Alton.

On Thursday, Coltrane will be at Webster University's Community Music School to do a workshop with Webster students; the event, held in CMS room #10, also is open to the public, free of charge. Also on Thursday, the Dixie Dudes bring their traditional New Orleans jazz sound back to Jazz on Broadway.

Then on Friday, trumpeter Randy Holmes' quintet (aka Hard Bop Heritage) will play at Robbie's House of Jazz; saxophonist Rod Tate returns to the Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe; and drummer Paul Shaw's trio with pianist Ptah Williams and bassist Bob DeBoo is back at the Cigar Inn.

Saturday evening, the Funky Butt Brass Band will perform at the new multi-genre venue Plush, which is located at 3222 Locust in Midtown. (For a bit more about this venue, which seems to be booking mostly rock, blues and R&B so far, see this blog post from the RFT's Kiernan Maletsky.)

On Sunday, saxophonist Branford Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo will be in St. Louis to perform as a duo at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Both were here last for a Marsalis quartet show at the Touhill in February 2010, but this tour is a follow-up to the duo album Tales of Mirth and Melancholy released last year by Marsalis and Calderazzo. For more about that, see this video showcase post from last Saturday.

Also on Sunday, trombonist Dave Dickey, a veteran musician but relatively recent transplant to the area who's played with a host of name jazz and Latin artists, debuts the new St. Louis version of his Big Band at the Kirkwood Station Brewing Company; and the Webster Groves middle and high school jazz bands will perform their annual "Cool Nights, Hot Jazz" concert over at The Pageant.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen brings his Broadway Collective back to the stage of BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

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.)

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

2012-01-17T21:46:00.003-06:00

If you've been reading this site for any length of time, you probably already know that this post is nothing but another shameless plug for StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds, where each day we offer a different online music video for your listening and viewing enjoyment.

Drawing on genres including jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock and experimental, recent posts have included clips featuring Steely Dan, B.B. King, Nina Simone, Greg Osby, Oscar Peterson, Memphis Slim, Chick Corea, the Spinners (with Joni Sledge), Van Morrison, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Booker T and the MGs, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Gerry Mulligan, Frank Zappa, Jim Hall, Charles Lloyd, and Joe Henderson.

If you've somehow missed all this genre-spanning goodness, don't be dismayed. You still can see all those clips, plus hundreds more from the carefully curated archives, by visiting http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Mirth and Melancholy with Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo

2012-01-14T14:50:00.006-06:00

This week, our video spotlight shines on saxophonist Branford Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo, who will be in St. Louis for a duo performance on Sunday, January 22 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

In June of last year, Marsalis and Calderazzo released Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, a duo CD on the saxophonist's Marsalis Music label. This tour essentially is a followup to that recording, which received favorable reviews such as this one from Jazz Times' Jeff Tamarkin and this one from AllAboutJazz.com's Mark F. Turner.

However, although Marsalis and Calderazzo have worked together in the former's quartet for nearly 14 years now, their duo project is new enough that there's not much video documentation of it online. They did make a series of promotional clips, featuring interview footage and some audio excerpts, in conjunction with the release of Mirth and Melancholy, and you can see the first of those, "Inspirations and Methods," in the embedded window up above.

Two more of those promo clips, "Focus on What the Song Requires" and "Playing Together is Enough Inspiration" can be seen down below. (A fourth clip, about the material selected for the album, already was featured in this space as part of the recent winter/spring 2012 jazz preview.)

Performance clips from the duo's concerts to date seem mostly limited to short snippets of a minute or two, but there is one full length performance online of a song from the CD, a version of "Hope" recorded in 2010 at the Detroit Jazz Festival. (The gig was actually a show for Marsalis's quartet, but although bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner are present on stage, their contributions to "Hope" are brief and limited to some discreet swells under Calderazzo's piano.) You can find "Hope" in the fourth window, and to round things out, there's an audio-only clip of another piece from the album, "La Valse Kendall," in the fifth and final embed window.

For more about Branford Marsalis and additional clips of the quartet in action, see this video showcase post that ran before his last St. Louis gig in February 2010 at the Touhill.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

2012-01-13T17:42:00.005-06:00

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

* There's good news in this week's blog entry from Gwen Terry, wife of legendary trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry. After spending three months in the hospital and having his right leg amputated below the thigh, Terry (pictured) has improved enough that doctors are about to let him return home.

In related news, Terry will be the subject of a tribute this Sunday night on Canada's Jazz.FM91. The 30 minute program will air at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time (9:00 p.m. here in St. Louis) and will be hosted by Celine Peterson, daughter of the legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson as part of the station's “Host Your Own Radio Show” series. The program can be streamed from anywhere in the world via http://www.jazz.fm.

* Speaking of radio, St. Louis' Smooth 96.3 HD-3 and its sister station KFTK-HD2 recently were featured in an article in Radio World, highlighting a promotion the stations did in conjunction with a concert last year by Steve Tyrell at the Sheldon. Smooth 96.3's main man Jason Church also tells StLJN that they've recently set up a Facebook fan page to keep listeners informed about what's going on at the station.

* One of The Bad Plus' sets last week at Jazz at the Bistro was reviewed for the Riverfront Times by Ryan Wasoba. Jazz St. Louis also has posted TBP's setlist from the week.

* Once again this year, Jazz St. Louis is polling fans about who they'd like to see perform next season at Jazz at the Bistro. Choices in this year's poll include trumpeters Arturo Sandoval and Dave Douglas; saxophonist Joe Lovano; pianists Jason Moran and Hiromi Uehara; singers Gregory Porter, Gretchen Parlato, Karrin Allyson, and Sachal Vasandani; and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. You can cast your ballot on the Jazz St. Louis Facebook page or on the front page of the JSL website. (Look on the right-hand side of the page for the poll.)

* Following up on last week's story that Webster Records will close on January 31, the RFT's Diana Benanti filed a report that added a key bit of info, namely that the proximate cause for the closing would seem to be that the store's lease is up at the end this month. Other coverage of the shuttering of the long-running retailer came from the Webster-Kirkwood Times, St. Louis Business Journal, KSDK, the Webster Groves site for Patch.com, and even a brief mention as part of larger trend story on NPR about the difficulties facing niche stores in the Internet age.

Jazz this week: Legacy Jazz Quintet plays Art Blakey, a tribute to Fran Landesman, and more

2012-01-12T16:01:00.003-06:00

Assuming that drivers in the St. Louis area recover from the havoc caused by today's snowstorm, there are a number of jazz and creative music performances happening over the next few days that may reward those who choose to venture out into the mid-January cold. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, pianist Ken Kehner, who teaches at UMSL and plays with bassist Jim Widner's big band, the Poor People of Paris and others, celebrates the release of his new CD From The Moment On with two sets at the Bistro at Grand Center. (That's the same venue used by Jazz at the Bistro, but Jazz St. Louis is not involved with presenting Kehner's performance, and so tickets for the show are available for purchase by cash only at the door.)

Also tonight, Latin jazz group Clave Sol is the house band for a "World Jazz Jam" at Club Dantes, which is in midtown at 3222 Olive. (For those of you keeping track of the local jam session scene, this event apparently is now running weekly, and has been added to the StLJN site calendar.)

Tomorrow night, the Legacy Jazz Quintet, which is led by pianist Phil Dunlap of Jazz St. Louis and serves as a de facto repertory ensemble for JSL, returns to the Bistro for a two-night stand playing the music of Art Blakey.

Also on Friday, saxophonist Jeff Riley will perform at The Chapel; saxophonist Jerry Greene leads a quintet with singer Tony Viviano at Robbie's House of Jazz; and vibraphonist Dustin Sholtes brings his quartet to the Cigar Inn.

On Sunday, singer, pianist and songwriter Bob Dorough returns to St. Louis to perform a tribute to songwriter Fran Landesman at the Bistro. Like the Ken Kehner show, this is an independent production not presented by Jazz St. Louis; for ticket information, call 314-968-1898.

Also on Sunday, pianist Carolbeth True (pictured) and her trio will be joined by singer Christi John Bye for a free concert at Second Baptist Church as part of the St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers series; and keyboardist Brock Walker plays an early show at BBs Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big band will play their first gig of the year at BB's, and on Tuesday, the St. Louis Low Brass Collective will do their annual concert as part of the Notes From Home series at The Sheldon.

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.)

Ligertwood, Garfield and Stevens to perform Thursday, February 9 at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups

2012-01-11T18:20:00.000-06:00

Singer Alex Ligertwood, who's worked with big names including Santana and Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, is coming to St. Louis to perform with keyboardist David Garfield and saxophonist Jim Stevens at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, February 9 at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Garfield, a St. Louis native who's lived in Los Angeles since the 1970s, was in town most recently in October to perform with George Benson at the Touhill, and stuck around to play with Stevens the next night at BB's. The two first met a couple of years ago when Garfield was home for a visit and played a gig at Mineo's restaurant that Stevens attended based on a tip from a mutual friend.

"I went over and checked it out, and he just blew the roof off the place," said Stevens. They struck up a friendship, resulting in Stevens sitting in on another Garfield gig at Mineo's and then their subsequent move to a larger venue, namely BB's, for the keyboardist's last visit home.

In addition to working with Benson, Garfield has led his own bands in Los Angeles, including the fusion group Karizma, which has released six CDs. He's also put out nine CDs under his own name, and toured and/or recorded with a number of musical notables, including Boz Scaggs, Larry Carlton, The Manhattan Transfer, The Rippingtons, Smokey Robinson, Earl Klugh, Michael McDonald and Nancy Wilson. His ongoing collaboration with Ligertwood led to the singer's inclusion on three Midwest dates with this particular ensemble, starting in Indianapolis the night before the BB's gig and moving on to Cleveland afterward.

The band also will include drummer James Jackson and bassist John King, who both work with Stevens as well as with their own group Good 4 The Soul. As for what they'll be playing, Stevens says he hasn't seen a set list yet, but expects some funk and soul covers, some Garfield originals, and perhaps a tune or two from Ligertwood's tenure with Santana.

Tickets for the Ligertwood/Garfield/Stevens show will be $10 general admission at the door; Stevens also is arranging for advance sales by email at thejimstevensgroup@aol.com.

Cory Pesaturo to play Friday, February 17 at Cyrano's

2012-01-11T10:42:00.004-06:00

Jazz accordionist Cory Pesaturo (pictured) is coming to St. Louis to perform at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Friday, February 17 at Cyrano's, 603 E. Lockwood in Webster Groves.

Based in Boston, Pesaturo is a 24-year-old graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music. He performs and has recorded two CDs with saxophonist George Garzone and his band The Fringe, and according to his press materials, is "the only person to win world championships on Digital, Acoustic and Jazz Accordion." Tickets are $5 and are available in advance via the website kmkmusic.com or at the door.

(For those who might be wondering about the viability of accordion as a jazz instrument, you can read up on the relevant history here, and see and hear Pesaturo performing the standard "Autumn Leaves" in the embedded video window below.)

Steve Tyrell to perform in benefit concert on Thursday, April 26 at The Sheldon

2012-01-10T09:21:00.005-06:00

Singer Steve Tyrell (pictured) is returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m., Thursday, April 26 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The event is a benefit for Hope Happens, which raises money for research at the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders at Washington University.

Tyrell, a former record company and film executive turned performer who's become popular for his versions of well-known jazz and pop standards, last played in St. Louis in May, 2011 at the Sheldon.

Tickets for the "Evening of Hope" benefit are priced from $40 to $250, and go on sale at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, January 11. Patron tickets include cocktails, dinner, the concert and a dessert reception with Tyrell and his band, and are available only through Hope Happens at 314-725-3888; other tickets will be sold via Metrotix.

StLJN Audio Archive: Quartette Trés Bien - Kilimanjaro

2012-01-08T16:40:00.005-06:00

Our first Audio Archive post of 2012 comes courtesy of the music-sharing blog Soundological Investimagations, and features Quartette Trés Bien's Kilimanjaro, originally issued on LP by Decca in 1965 as a follow-up to their major label debut Boss Trés Bien.

Kilimanjaro features the classic QTB lineup of Jeter Thompson on piano, Richard Simmons on bass, Albert St. James on drums and Percy James on percussion, performing the title track, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," "Secretly," "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," "My Favorite Things," "My One And Only Love," "Ramblin' Rose" and, fittingly enough, "You Came A Long Way From St. Louis."

To download a copy, go to the original post here, scroll down and look for the sentence "You can climb Kilimanjaro's snow-capped peak with your Soundological sherpa HERE or HERE," which includes links to the file on both Megaupload and Sharebee.

The StLJN Audio Archive links only to recordings that are out-of-print or that never have been commercially available. The purpose of the Audio Archive is to encourage discussion, appreciation and knowledge of St. Louis jazz artists, and we urge you to support them (or their estates) by purchasing authorized recordings and merchandise and, whenever possible, attending live performances.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Catching up with Ravi Coltrane

2012-01-07T14:06:00.003-06:00

This week, our video spotlight shines on saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, who's returning to St. Louis to perform Wednesday, January 18 through Saturday, January 21 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Coltrane, the son of legendary saxophonist John Coltrane and pianist/harpist Alice Coltrane, played here most recently in 2009 at the Sheldon Concert Hall as part fo the Blue Note Seven, and also performed with his quartet in 2008 at the Bistro. (For more on Coltrane's back story, check out the video showcase post than ran before that week at Bistro.)

Since then, he's put out his sixth CD as a leader, 2009's Blending Times, and has continued to work steadily with his band, which usually includes pianist Louis Perdomo, bassist Drew Gress and drummer E.J. Strickland. To catch up with what Coltrane and company have been into lately, today we've got videos from three different shows in 2011.

The first clip is from September, and shows Coltrane at an outdoor festival in High Point, North Carolina working out on his father's composition "Lonnie's Lament," accompanied by a rhythm section including drummer Gerry Gibbs, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and pianist David Virelles.

Down below, you can see an excerpt from another gig in September, featuring Coltrane with Perdomo, Gress and Strickland at the Peperoncino Jazz Festival in Calabria, Italy. The songs is called "Cs" and the performance is split into two parts.

Below that, there are two songs from Coltrane's gig in July at New Morning in Paris: "The Message," also split into two parts; and a tune labeled simply "Ballad" that's reportedly been a staple of his live sets for the past couple of years.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

2012-01-06T14:44:00.001-06:00

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

* Saxophonist, composer and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake (pictured) is the latest musician to go the crowd-funding route to finance his next project. Lake is using the website IndieGoGo to attempt to raise $6,000 between now and April 1 to pay for a new album by his big band. The budget includes rehearsal, recording, musician fees, mixing, mastering and pressing.

IndieGoGo functions much like Kickstarter, the site that saxophonist Eric Person recently used successfully to raise money for his next recording project; for more details on how it works, go here. Depending on the amount pledged, contributors to the project will receive premiums ranging from a copy of the finished CD to concert tickets or even a piece of Lake's original visual artwork. Lake plans to complete the big band album by early summer and release it on his own Passin' Thru label.

* Jazz On Broadway has posted a photo album from New Year's Eve on their Facebook page.

* The Missouri History Museum is looking for young musicians from a variety of genres, including jazz, to take part in a concert on March 19 at the Museum that will "reflect the diversity of Missouri and the strength of its young musicians." For more info, see here (.pdf file).

* The online concert information Pollstar has released their list of the Top 100 club venues worldwide based on total ticket sales during 2011, and The Pageant in St. Louis once again was among the leaders, coming in at number five.

Webster Records to close January 31

2012-01-05T16:24:00.008-06:00

According to a story by Deb Peterson published Wednesday on STLtoday.com, Webster Records will close permanently on January 31.

The story says the store has been in operation for 58 years, which would make it St. Louis' longest-running independent music retailer and one of the more long lived businesses in the Old Webster business district of Webster Groves. It's been a haven for local jazz fans throughout the years, stocking recordings from smaller labels that were hard to find elsewhere, and presenting occasional in-store events with local jazz musicians.

The story also said, "Until the shop is shuttered, remaining inventory will be on sale, store manager Jim Lovins said in an email. Starting today it's 30 percent off of retail and prices will be discounted through the month, he added."

Although no specific reasons for the closing were cited, and current owner Jennifer Bellm was not available for comment, one can surmise that the store, like many other indie music retailers, just couldn't survive both the long current economic downturn and the drastic ongoing changes in the music business brought on by the advent of digital distribution.

Unknown at this time is whether the store's closing will have an effect on the Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival, for which Bellm has been a prime mover in recent years. StLJN will have more on that if and when there are any developments.

A personal note: Yr. humble editor grew up in Webster Groves and went to Bristol Elementary just a couple of blocks away, so while I can't be absolutely certain, I think Webster Records probably was the first music store I ever visited on my own, without parental supervision.

This was when the store was in its original location, across the street and down the block from the current address. Original owners Roy and Dorothy Gleason built their business primarily on classical, jazz, Broadway cast albums and pre-rock-era pop music, along with an apparently profitable niche business in square dance records, which had their own little section in the store. Eventually they began to stock more rock records as well, but most of my purchases were jazz records out of the bargain bin at the front of the store, which held both cut-outs and LPs that had been marked down for clearance.

Since the Gleasons' clientele tended more toward trad jazz, big bands and swing, whatever avant-garde jazz stuff found its way into the store - presumably through some sort minimum-order arrangement with distributors - often languished for a long time before being relegated to the bargain bin.

And so by the time I was in high school and starting to investigate the various styles of jazz in earnest, I occasionally was able to make some sweet scores there, grabbing Impulse LPs by Archie Shepp, Elvin Jones, Marion Brown and others for cheap prices, even by 1970s standards. Webster is also where I scored my prized vinyl copy of Sun Ra's Heliocentric Worlds Volume 2, a record on the rather spottily distributed ESP-Disk label that I hunted for two years before finally finding it there, albeit at full price, probably a then-outrageous-seeming six bucks or so. Although I haven't shopped at Webster Records since moving away from Webster Groves in the 1980s, I'll always have fond memories of the store for those experiences, and I'm sorry to see it close.

(Edited after posting to fix a typo.)

Jazz this week: The Bad Plus and more

2012-01-04T14:55:00.001-06:00

The week after New Year's can be a slow one for the bar business, what with people being tired and/or tapped out financially after the holidays. Not only that, as of this writing several local night spots that present jazz haven't even updated their websites with January schedules yet. Combine that with the fact that some of St. Louis' not-for-profit jazz presenters won't be back in action until later in the month, and the local menu of live jazz and creative music is looking a bit sparse for the next few days, though there still are several noteworthy shows coming up:

The big news of the week is that tonight the distinctive piano trio The Bad Plus (pictured) returns to Jazz at the Bistro, kicking off a four-night run at the club to open the New Year here in St. Louis for the fifth consecutive time. After a busy 12 months that included the debut of their version of Stravinsky's iconic The Rites of Spring, TBP reportedly are readying another album of new original material to follow up on 2009's Never Stop, so don't be surprised if there's some new stuff mixed into their sets at the Bistro among the more familiar numbers.

For more about The Bad Plus, see this review I wrote for the Riverfront Times about one their Wednesday night sets last year at the Bistro; this video showcase post from before that same run of shows; and this weeks' Critic's Pick from my RFT colleague Ryan Wasoba.

Elsewhere around town, on Friday vibraphonist Peter Schlamb leads a group for an early evening set at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups; and the Yard Dawgs Jazz Quartet plays at Cigar Inn.

On Saturday, Latin jazz band Clave Sol plays the early show at BB's.

Then on Sunday, the first St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show of the year will take place at the American Czech Center on the south side.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday BB's has a double bill of guitar-centric groups, with the Dave Black Group in the early slot and Tom Byrne's Pat Metheny inspired ensemble Have You Heard? playing later on.

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.)

U City Jazz Festival seeks young musicians for 2012 event

2012-01-03T23:02:00.004-06:00

As organizers gear up for a second year, the U City Jazz Festival is looking for young musicians who want to take part in its Young Lions Jazz Education initiative for 2012. Festival co-founder Mike Silverman, who's also the keyboardist for Bach to the Future, is seeking jazz groups whose members are all under the age of 21 to perform at the second UCJF, which will be held in September.

The group selected will get $500 for their performance. If you're interested, or know a young jazz musician from the St. Louis area who might be, you can contact Silverman and submit website information, sound clips and so on via email to mike @ silvermanmusic.com.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2012 jazz preview, part 3

2011-12-31T10:28:00.000-06:00

Today, we end 2011 with the third and final part of our preview of jazz and creative musicians who are coming to St. Louis in the first part of 2012. (You can see part one here and part two here.)

First up are Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, who will perform Thursday, March 29 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The Flecktones, with original pianist and harmonica player Howard Levy now back in the fold, are seen here playing "Sunset Road" at Magfest 2011 in Virginia.

Down below, we've got a clip of saxophonist Joshua Redman and pianist Brad Mehldau, who will play as a duo on Saturday, April 7 and Sunday, April 8 at Jazz at the Bistro. Here, you can see them playing "The Nearness of You" in a concert last month in Munich.

Next, it's singer Marlena Shaw, who returns to St. Louis to perform Wednesday, April 11 through Saturday, April 14 at the Bistro. The video shows her mixing and matching verses on a blues during a March 2010 concert at the Paris venue New Morning.

Today's fourth video clip features cellist Craig Hultgren, who will be back in town to play in a concert for New Music Circle on Saturday, April 14 at Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust. Hultgren is seen here performing Elliott Carter's "Enchanted Preludes" with flute player John McMurtery in 2006 at Birmingham Southern College.

Below that, it's percussionist Poncho Sanchez, who will headline the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival's concert on Friday, April 20 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The clip shows Sanchez and band playing "Baila Mi Gente."

The GSLJF's other 2012 headliner will be bassist Christian McBride's Big Band, who are set to play Saturday, April 21 at the Touhill. This clip features McBride talking about the making of the band's first album The Good Feeling, released earlier this year on Mack Avenue Records.

Video number seven features saxophonist Tia Fuller, who will be making her St. Louis debut as a leader Wednesday, April 25 through Saturday, April 28 at the Bistro. The video shows Fuller, pianist Shamie Royston, bassist Miriam Sullivan, and drummer and St. Louis native Kim Thompson - like Fuller, a former member of pop singer Beyonce's all-female backup band - playing the saxophonist's song "Breakthrough" in 2007 at the Detroit Jazz Festival.

Up next is singer Sara Gazarek, who's coming to town for a concert on Saturday, May 5 at the Sheldon. This clip features Gazarek singing "Like The Wind" in a 2010 performance with the German group Triosence.

We wrap up today's video previews with a look at drummer Dafnis Prieto, who will making his St. Louis debut Wednesday, May 9 through Saturday May 12 at the Bistro. Prieto is seen here playing "New Elephant" at the NYC's Jazz Standard.

StLJN 2011 year in review

2011-12-30T11:15:00.000-06:00

As 2011 winds down, let's take a look back at some of the most newsworthy, noteworthy, popular and/or interesting items posted here on St. Louis Jazz Notes over the past 12 months:

January 2011

Thanks to all of you who have read and/or contributed information, links, comments, and more to this site during this past year. Here's hoping that your New Year is a good one.

Jazz this week: New Year's Eve and more

2011-12-29T00:34:00.002-06:00

The week between Christmas and New Year's usually is fairly quiet for live jazz in St. Louis, and New Year's Eve, contrary to what you might think, hasn't been an especially busy night either in recent years. Nevertheless, there are a few noteworthy shows coming up, and a handful of NYE jazz performances as well. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, Robbie's House of Jazz continues its policy of periodically presenting little-known young musicians with the debut of the Andrew Williams/Tim Aubuchon Quartet, featuring up-and-coming saxophonists Williams and Aubuchon with Chris Turnbaugh on bass and Brian Steever on drums.

On Friday, Wack-A-Doo plays at the Map Room in Soulard; drummer Paul Shaw's trio with Daryl Mixon (bass) and Ptah Williams (piano) will be at Cigar Inn; and Robbie's will feature guitarist Stan Stapleton and his band in a tribute to Santana. Also on Friday, singer Dean Christopher, pianist Carolbeth True and bassist Dave Troncoso will perform at the Frontenac Grill.

New Year's Eve offerings on Saturday night include singer Erin Bode (pictured) and her band at Cyrano's; saxophonist Tim Cunningham , singer Anita Jackson and keyboard player/singer Jeremiah Allen at Jazz on Broadway; and guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio with singer Erika Johnson at Robbie's.

Meanwhile, Jazz at the Bistro once again will be dark on New Year's Eve this year, as the club's location in the Grand Center neighborhood puts it near the center of the annual First Night celebration, which runs from 6 p.m. to midnight on Saturday. The alcohol-free event features a variety of live entertainment and "family friendly" activities, and includes a number of performers who may be of interest to jazz fans, including singers Wendy Gordon and Jeanne Trevor and the husband-and-wife piano/vocal duo Joe Dryer and Rosemary Watts at the Kranzberg Arts Center; Le Jazz Hot at St. Francis Xavier College Church; Samba Bom and Kim Massie at the Sheldon; and Funky Butt Brass Band at the Third Baptist Church.

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.)

(Edited 12/29/11 to fix a typo and add the Dean Christopher/Carolbeth True gig.)

Rounding up the "Best Jazz of 2011" lists

2011-12-28T10:04:00.020-06:00

Bonerama to return to Old Rock House on Sunday, February 12

2011-12-27T19:47:00.004-06:00

The New Orleans band Bonerama (pictured) must like playing in St. Louis. Less than a month after their most recent gig here on December 1 at the Old Rock House - their third St. Louis appearance in 2011 - they've already booked a return engagement at the ORH for 8:00 p.m., Sunday, February 12.

Fronted by trombonists Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, who both worked previously with Harry Connick, Jr's big band, Bonerama features four trombonists and a rhythm section delivering a blend of traditional New Orleans jazz and brass band sounds with rock, funk, free improv and more. Their previous St. Louis gigs have included shows at The Gramophone and the ballroom above the Sheldon Concert Hall.

The performance in February at the Old Rock House will be opened by Metrobones, an ensemble of high school and college student trombonists from the St. Louis area who assembled earlier this year under the direction of trombonist and educator Dave Dickey.

Tickets for the all-ages show are $15 for general admission, and go on sale at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 4 via Metrotix.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Merry Christmas, Baby!

2011-12-24T00:01:00.001-06:00

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Saturday video programming to bring you these musical messages from Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra & Bing Crosby, Nat "King" Cole, and St. Louis' own Funky Butt Brass Band. The StLJN Saturday Video Showcase will return next week with part three of the winter/spring 2012 jazz preview. Happy holidays!

Jazz this week: Bhob Rainey, Rodney Lancaster & Doug Bert, Marcus Baylor & Free Day, and more

2011-12-21T22:54:00.007-06:00

As one might expect given that a number of local venues are closed for the Christmas holidays, the calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis is a bit sparse over the next week, but there still are a few performances worth noting wrapped around the holiday weekend. Let's go to the highlights...

On Thursday night, the annual "Noel-A-Thon" concert takes place at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups. The seven-hour show features an eclectic mix of St. Louis musicians playing short sets of blues, jazz, folk, rock and more, with proceeds from the $5-per-person cover charge going to local charities.

On Friday, the improvising saxophonist Bhob Rainey will be in town for what has become an annual pre-Christmas concert at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center. Also on the bill are St. Louis' own Andrew Hefner, Jack Callahan and epicycle.

Also on Friday, drummer Montez Coleman will lead a trio with bassist Bob DeBoo and pianist Ptah Williams at the Cigar Inn; singer Charlie B. and trumpeter Jim Manley will perform for a "Rat Pack" themed dinner and show at LoRusso's Cucina; and trombonists Rodney Lancaster and Doug Bert will team up for a gig at Robbie's House of Jazz, backed by a band including bassist Willem von Hombracht, pianist Rick Zelle, and drummer Kevin Gianino.

On Monday evening, saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen of the Voodoo Blues Band will step out front to lead his own band, the Broadway Collective, in a performance at BB's.

On Tuesday night, drummer, ex-Yellowjacket and St. Louis native Marcus Baylor (pictured) returns home to perform with his new band Free Day at Lola. The group also includes his wife Jean Baylor, a singer who had some R&B hits a few years back as part of the group Zhane.

Also on Tuesday, Robbie's will host their weekly jam session, with a larger-than-usual crowd anticipated due to people visiting and/or returning home for the holidays.

On Wednesday afternoon, Bob Coleman's Legacy Big Band will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Their "Sinatra Hit Parade!" show will feature singer Tom Heitman, plus a guest appearance by trumpet player Susan Slaughter, who retired last year after 40 years with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

2011-12-20T23:37:00.003-06:00

Need a moment's respite from the holiday hustle and bustle? Pay a visit to StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds, where each day there's an online music video posted for your entertainment and edification. Drawing on genres including jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock and experimental, it's a virtual College of Music Knowledge in video clip form.

Recent posts have includes videos featuring performances by Charlie Haden's Quartet West, Bruce Springsteen, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Dave Holland Quintet, Steely Dan, B.B. King, Betty Carter, Greg Osby, Oscar Peterson, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, the Spinners, Van Morrison, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Lambert Hendricks and Bavan, Memphis Slim & Matt Murphy, Erroll Garner, Jack Bruce and Friends, Jim Hall, Charles Lloyd and Joe Henderson.

You can see them all, plus hundreds more carefully curated clips from the astonishing archives, by going to http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2012 jazz preview, part two

2011-12-17T11:27:00.002-06:00

Today, we've got part two of StLJN's video preview of jazz and creative music performers who are coming to St. Louis over the next few months. (For part one, see this post.)

The first clip up above features trumpet player Chris Botti, who, having played the Fox Theatre and Powell Symphony Hall in his two most recent visits here, will be back to perform on Friday, February 24 at the newly renovated Peabody Opera House (nee Kiel Opera House). The video is taken from a 2009 performance in Boston, and shows Botti, his band and singer Sy Smith doing their version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David standard "The Look of Love."

Down below, you'll find a clip of singer and pianist Freddy Cole, who's coming back to town to play Wednesday, February 29 through Saturday, March 3 at Jazz at the Bistro. Cole is seen here performing "Unforgettable," first made famous by his brother Nat "King" Cole and later re-recorded by his niece Natalie Cole.

Below that, there's a video of drummer John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet, who will be playing on Friday, March 2 at 560 Music Center in a concert presented by New Music Circle. The clip is from their performance in 2009 at the Jazz Baltica festival, and features Hollenbeck, Chris Speed (clarinet, tenor saxophone), Matt Moran (vibraphone, percussion), Ted Reichman (accordion) and Drew Gress (bass) playing an original composition with a title translated simply as "arabic."

Next up, it's the New Orleans funk/jazz/hip-hop group Galactic doing "Funky Bird." They'll be back in St. Louis on Wednesday, March 14 to play at The Pageant.

That same evening, pianist Vijay Iyer will open a four-night stand with his trio at Jazz at the Bistro, continuing through Saturday, March 17. Iyer is seen here performing "Galang" in 2010 for German TV.

The next video features legendary pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, who will be back in town for the first time in nearly seven years on Sunday, March 18 for a concert presented by Jazz St. Louis at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. It's a performance of one of Hancock's best-known compositions, "Watermelon Man," recorded in 2008 at the North Sea Jazz Festival with Chris Potter (sax), Lionel Loueke (guitar), Dave Holland (bass) and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums).

The following weekend, drummer Matt Wilson's Arts & Crafts will come to town to play Friday March 23 and Saturday, March 24 at Jazz at the Bistro. This clip shows Wilson, trumpeter Terell Stafford, keyboard player Gary Versace and the group's late bassist Dennis Irwin (who was replaced after his death in 2008 by Martin Wind) performing "The Scenic Route" in 2007 at the Elmhurst Jazz Festival.

Next up, we have a clip of the Detroit-based group Straight Ahead, who will perform on Saturday, March 24 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Originating as a cooperative, all-female ensemble, Straight Ahead has featured a number of different players over the past 20 years, including violinist Regina Carter, who was a founding member.

These days, the band seems to function primarily as a vehicle for the two other remaining co-founders, drummer Gayelynn McKinney and bassist Marion Hayden, augmented by singer Kimberlie Wright and assorted other musicians, both male and female. This video is from June 2008, and features McKinney, Hayden, Wright, keyboardist Henry Gibson, and saxophonist Yancyy covering Earth Wind and Fire's "Can't Hide Love."

Today's final clip feature trumpeter Nicholas Payton, who will be returning to St. Louis to play Wednesday, March 28 through Saturday, March 31 at Jazz at the Bistro. The performance of "Days of Wine and Roses" seen here was recorded in June 2011 at Rio das Ostras festival in Brazil.

Look for part three of the winter/spring 2012 jazz preview next week...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

2011-12-16T09:51:00.003-06:00

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

* Tim Halpin, guitarist for the Funky Butt Brass Band (pictured), was interviewed twice this week about the FBBB's "Holiday Brasstravaganza" on Saturday at Off Broadway, by both the RFT's Christian Schaeffer and the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson.

* Former St. Louisan Benjamin Cawthra’s new book Blue Notes in Black and White: Photography and Jazz was reviewed by Ben Ratliff for the New York Times. Cawthra also has a short essay excerpted from the book now online at the Montreal Review.

* Dennis Owsley's most recent blog post for St. Louis magazine is an appreciation of singer Kurt Elling, who was in St. Louis last month to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Jazz on Broadway has posted on Facebook an album of photos from last weekend's gig at the Alton club by bassist Bob DeBoo's quartet.

* The RFT's Kholood Eid has a look inside Native Sound, a new recording studio on Cherokee St.

* St. Louis based Jazz Cruises LLC has changed its name to Entertainment Cruise Productions, reflecting the company's expansion into cruises featuring other musical genres, including "Malt Shop Memories" and the new "Soul Train" cruise, featuring soul, funk and R&B stars from the 1970s and 1980s.

Bob Dorough to perform Sunday, January 15 at the Bistro at Grand Center

2011-12-16T09:49:00.002-06:00

Singer, pianist and songwriter Bob Dorough (pictured), known for being one of the few vocalists ever to record with Miles Davis as well as for his compositions for the ABC-TV children's program Schoolhouse Rock, is returning to St. Louis to perform at 7:00 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Sunday, January 15 at the Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington Boulevard.

The show is billed as a tribute to Fran Landesman, the late poet, songwriter and former St. Louisan who, with her husband Jay, owned the Crystal Palace nightclub in Gaslight Square. Although it is taking place in the same space used by Jazz St. Louis for Jazz at the Bistro, Dorough's show is an independent production renting the room for the evening; tickets, priced at $35 each and on sale now, are available in advance only by calling 314-968-1898.

Jazz this week: Greg Osby, Craig Pomranz, Sinatra Songbook, Funky Butt Brass Band's "Holiday Brasstravaganza," and more

2011-12-14T14:51:00.000-06:00

As December goes on, the number of touring acts out on the road usually drops rather precipitously, but this weekend's schedule of jazz and creative music does feature homecoming performances from a couple of St. Louis natives who have enjoyed wider success, as well as some noteworthy gigs from local players.

Tonight, saxophonist Greg Osby (pictured) returns home to open a four-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. Osby will be performing with his regular working group, sometimes referred to as the 5tet, which includes pianist Frank LoCrasto, guitarist Nir Felder, bassist Joseph Lepore and drummer John Davis.

It's been a couple of years since the St. Louis native's last recording and his last appearance here, but Osby is known for constantly refreshing his repertoire, writing new material and rearranging older compositions, and he'll no doubt have some new twists for the hometown crowd this time around. For more about Greg Osby and some performance videos of him and his band in action, see this post. The Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson also interviewed Osby about this week's gig, and you can read that here.

Also tonight, singer Erin Bode will perform at Porter's in Collinsville.

Tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m., Osby and his group will present a workshop and clinic at Webster University's Community Music School. The event is free and open to the public. Tomorrow night, saxophonist Jim Stevens and his band will play an early show at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.

On Friday, percussionist Herman Semidey and his Orquesta Nitro Son Montuno will play Latin jazz and salsa at Robbie's House of Jazz; guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio with bassist Nick Jost and drummer Marty Morrison performs at Cigar Inn in Belleville; and saxophonist Rhoda G plays at the Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe.

On Saturday afternoon, Greg Osby will present a free saxophone workshop and master class at Saxquest. This event also is free and open to the public, with no reservations required.

Saturday evening, St. Louis native Craig Pomranz brings his new cabaret show "Love and the Clock" to the Kranzberg Arts Center for two performances. Called "one of New York’s most critically-acclaimed saloon singers” by New York magazine, Pomranz will be accompanied by musical director Stephen Bocchino.

Also on Saturday night, the Encore at The J series will present the Sinatra Songbook, featuring singer Tom Heitman with the Steve Schankman Orchestra, at the JCCA's Mirowitz Theatre; and the Funky Butt Brass Band will present their third annual "Holiday Brasstravaganza" at Off Broadway. Admission includes a copy of the band's new holiday EP, Shiny Christmas Balls.

The FBBB also will be appearing on Sunday at the Broadway Oyster Bar, opening for New Orleans trombonist/vocalist Big Sam's Funky Nation; and looking beyond the weekend, on Monday drummer Joe Pastor's trio will take the stage at BB's.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Happy birthday, Clark Terry!

2011-12-14T02:13:00.004-06:00

Best wishes for happiness and healing go out to the legendary trumpet player, NEA Jazz Master and St. Louis native Clark Terry (pictured) , who celebrates his 91st birthday today. Terry has been hospitalized near his home in Arkansas since mid-October, and last week, doctors had to amputate his right leg above the knee.

The good news is that, after spending some recovery time in intensive care, Terry reportedly is feeling somewhat better and remains eager to hear from friends, fans, fellow musicians and former students.

You can express your birthday wishes directly to Terry over at his website, where his wife Gwen Terry has been posting updates on his condition and collecting messages and comments to relay to him. You can catch up on all of StLJN's past coverage of Clark Terry, including news, links to videos, free downloadable albums, interviews and more, here.

Young Friends groups to present "Jazz Under the Stars" on Thursday, January 26 at the Planetarium

2011-12-13T22:11:00.006-06:00

The Young Friends of Jazz St. Louis and Young Friends of the Saint Louis Science Center will join forces to present the second annual "Jazz Under the Stars" event at 6:00 p.m., Thursday, January 26 at the Science Center's James S. McDonnell Planetarium in Forest Park.

The event will feature live music from drummer Marty Morrison & Friends, featuring Jason Swagler (saxophone), Adam Maness (keyboards) and Bob DeBoo (bass) with special guest vocalist Erin Bode (pictured). There also will be appetizers and beverages provided by Barefoot Wine, Square One Brewery and Distillery, and Augusta Brewing Company. Claire Kellett, co-anchor of the morning news broadcast on local CBS affiliate KMOV, will serve as host.

Admission includes three drink tickets and appetizers, and is priced at $25 before January 1, $30 after. Tickets are on sale now online and by phone at 314-289-4491.

Bhob Rainey to play Friday, December 23 at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center

2011-12-12T22:52:00.004-06:00

Returning to St. Louis to do a pre-Christmas show for the ninth consecutive year, saxophonist and composer Bhob Rainey (pictured) will perform at 8:00 p.m. Friday, December 23 at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center.

Also on the bill are epicycle, the solo project of LNAC's Mark Sarich, and bassist Andrew Hefner, who will play what's being touted as "an especially heart warming free-improvisation drone set."

General admission for the all-ages concert will be $5 at the door.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2012 jazz preview, part one

2011-12-10T13:21:00.000-06:00

This week, we've got the first installment of a video preview of jazz and creative music bands and musicians who will be coming to St. Louis to perform this winter and spring.

First up are The Bad Plus, who will return here to kick off the New Year playing Wednesday, January 4 through Saturday, January 7 at Jazz at the Bistro. In the clip up above, they're performing "Beryl Loves to Dance" during a gig earlier this year at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis.

Down below is a clip of saxophonist Ravi Coltrane who will follow TBP into the Bistro, performing there Wednesday, January 18 through Saturday, January 21. Here, Coltrane and his band - Luis Perdomo on piano, Drew Gress on bass and drummer E.J. Strickland - can be seen playing Ornette Coleman's "Tribes of New York" at Chicago's Jazz Showcase in December 2010. (Note that since it was uploaded when YouTube still restricted the length of individual videos, the performance is divided into two parts in separate embed windows.)

Next up is a short interview clip featuring saxophonist Branford Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo, who will come to town for a duo concert on Sunday, January 22 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. In this clip, part of a series of promo videos for their recent duo CD Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, you can hear a bit of the recording session while Marsalis and Calderazzo discussed how they picked the tunes for the album.

Below that is a solo clip of percussionist Chris Corsano, who will be in St. Louis for a concert presented on Saturday, January 28 at Kranzberg Arts Center under the auspices of New Music Circle. The video shows an excerpt from an improvised set in 2009 at the Sonic Arts Research Centre in Belfast, Ireland.

For something completely different, check out the next video from organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, who will be here Wednesday, February 1 through Saturday, February 4 at Jazz at the Bistro. The gospel-flavored "Pilgrimage," from Smith's 2009 CD Rise Up, features him providing a variety of organ textures in support of guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, with additional underpinning from drummer Jamire Williams.

The next video features pianist Chucho Valdés and his Afro Cuban Messengers, who are set to play on Saturday, February 11 at Sheldon Concert Hall. Here, they're playing "Zawinul's Mambo," which incorporates bits of Weather Report's "Birdland" in 2010 at the Jazz San Javier festival in Spain. The musicians are Valdés, Lázaro Rivero (bass), Juan Carlos Rojas (drums), Carlos Manuel Miyares (tenor sax), Reinaldo Melián (trumpet), Yaroldy Abreu (percussion), and Dreiser Durruthy (percussion, batá, vocals).

After that, you can see a clip of "Hofim" from saxophonist and clarinetist Anat Cohen, who will perform with her quartet Wednesday, February 15 through Saturday, February 18 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Today's final video feature trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling, who will do a week-long educational residency for Jazz St. Louis culminating in performances on Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23 at the Bistro. In this clip, Stripling sings and plays the standard "St James Infirmary" with the student big band from Texas A&M University.

Look for part two of the winter/spring 2012 jazz preview next week...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

2011-12-09T12:08:00.001-06:00

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

* There's some difficult news in the latest blog post from Gwen Terry, wife of Clark Terry. Doctors this week had to amputate the right leg of the 90-year-old legendary trumpeter, who has been hospitalized in Arkansas for the past couple of months. At last word, Terry (pictured) was recovering from the surgery in the intensive care unit, and fans in his hometown of St. Louis and across the globe are being encouraged to send their thoughts, prayers and well-wishes to him via the blog's comment section.

* In a happier story, Terry Perkins reports for the St. Louis American on the return to St. Louis of saxophonist Freddie Washington, who will play a concert for the Nu-Art Series this Saturday afternoon at the Metropolitan Gallery.

* The St. Louis Beacon's Bob Duffy reviewed the show of jazz-related art and photos by Ralston Crawford currently on exhibit through January 7 at the Sheldon Art Galleries.

* Saxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby, who will be back home to play next Wednesday through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro, was interviewed by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson.

* Writing on his personal blog, St. Louis American editor Chris King shares some impressions of last night's "Buddhism and the Beats" event at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.

* HEC-TV has posted online a full-length video of Jazz St. Louis' family concert in October at the Touhill. The concert, presented in conjunction with the music education organization JazzReach, featured Metta Quintet in a tribute to Miles Davis.

* St. Louis-based music and music instruction publisher Mel Bay is offering free freight on all online orders through the end of the year. To take advantage of the offer, enter promo code MBFF12 at checkout.

* Former St. Louisan Benjamin Cawthra's new book Blue Notes in Black and White: Photography and Jazz was reviewed by Down Beat's Hilary Brown for the magazine's 2012 holiday gift guide.

* Radio station WSIE (88.7 FM) last weekend conducted its first on-air pledge drive in more than 30 years, and the management of "The Jazz Station" is calling the effort a success. Dick Ulett, the St. Louis radio veteran and owner of Clayton Studios who serves as consultant to WSIE on operations and programming, told StLJN on Thursday that staff and volunteers are still tabulating the contributions and contacting listeners who will receive CDs and other premiums for their pledges. He called the drive "good for the station," noting that "the phones are ringing, and there's a little bit of a buzz that's been generated."

While there's no final dollar figure yet for the amount raised during the weekend, Ulett said that WSIE will need additional money to meet their current goal of $50,000 towards the purchase of new equipment (specifically, a backup generator at the station's transmission tower). He said plans are underway for another on-air fund drive in the spring, and that they'd learned a number of things during this drive that would be useful in future fundraising efforts.

Ulett added that listeners who missed the fund drive but would like to support WSIE don't have to wait until spring, as the station also happily accepts contributions via its website. (Donations made by check should be marked "WSIE Radio Fund" to make sure they are directed to the proper account.)

Jazz this week: "Follow That Star: A Jazz Nativity," Good 4 The Soul, Freddie Washington, Montez Coleman, and more

2011-12-08T02:12:00.009-06:00

This week's offerings of jazz and creative music in St. Louis include a number of shows with a holiday theme, as well as homecomings for a couple of St. Louis musicians who aren't heard performing locally nearly often enough. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, saxophonist Dave Stone's trio provides the music for "Buddhism and the Beats," a free event at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts that also will feature Buddhist art and readings from Beat writers of the 1950s by various St. Louis performers, artists and writers.

Also tonight, saxophonist Jeff Riley and the St. Louis Big Band will be getting in the Christmas spirit at Robbie's House of Jazz, while singer Erin Bode performs at Cyrano's.

On Friday, Good 4 The Soul opens a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro, while singer Debby Lennon and pianist Carolbeth True's trio offer another holiday program at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Also on Friday, bassist Bob DeBoo's quartet with Willie Akins and Ptah Williams plays at Jazz on Broadway in Alton; guitarist Dave Black leads a trio at the Cigar Inn in Belleville; and Erin Bode and her group will team up with Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra violinist and concertmaster David Halen and other SLSO members for a holiday concert at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles.

On Saturday afternoon, saxophonist Freddie Washington will lead a group in a matinee at Metropolitan Gallery for the Nu Art Series. Washington, a full-toned modernist seriously influenced by John Coltrane, was a fixture on the local scene from the 1960s through the early 1990s, and has recently returned to St. Louis and to live performing after a hiatus.

On Saturday evening, the holiday theme continues with "Follow That Star: A Jazz Nativity", a jazz version of the Christmas story performed by the Oikos Ensemble, featuring saxophonist Rev. Clifford Aerie (pictured) and pianist Christopher Bakriges, and singer Denise Thimes at Pilgrim United Church of Christ, 826 Union Blvd. in St. Louis. "Follow That Star" will get a second performance on Sunday afternoon.

Also on Saturday night, drummer Montez Coleman, a St. Louis native who's been a regular for several years with trumpeter Roy Hargrove and also has recorded with Russell Malone, Willie Akins, Erin Bode and others, leads a group at Jazz on Broadway

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band plays their final gig of 2011 at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Marcus Baylor to perform Tuesday, December 27 at Lola

2011-12-08T01:38:00.005-06:00

Drummer and St. Louis native Marcus Baylor (pictured) is coming home for the holidays to perform with his new band Free Day at 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 27 at Lola, 500 N. 14th St. downtown.

After a decade as the drummer for the jazz fusion group Yellowjackets, Baylor left the band in 2010 to pursue new musical directions. One of those directions was the opportunity to work with his wife Jean Baylor, who's the vocalist for Free Day.

Tickets for Marcus Baylor and Free Day featuring Jean Baylor at Lola are $10 in advance, $15 at the door, and are available now via www.ticketweb.com.

You can see a video of Baylor and Free Day performing the song "Chicken Soulchild" in the embedded window below.

Funky Butt Brass Band releases holiday EP

2011-12-08T01:12:00.005-06:00

The Funky Butt Brass Band has released a holiday EP, Shiny Christmas Balls, as a digital download.

The EP (pictured) includes seven tracks, available individually for $1 each or $5 for all seven. Titles include "I'll Be Your Santa Baby," "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)," "Christmas In New Orleans," "We Wish You A Public Domain Christmas Medley," "Shiny Christmas Balls," "The Dreidel Song" and "Crazy Sleigh."

Shiny Christmas Balls is on sale now via the FBBB's Bandcamp page, and also will be available in CD form as part of the admission price to their third annual "Holiday Brasstravaganza" on Saturday, December 17 at Off Broadway. Tickets for that show are $12 for age 21 and up, $15 for under age 21, and are on sale now.

Jazz St. Louis announces more winter, spring bookings at Jazz at the Bistro

2011-12-07T09:11:00.007-06:00

Jazz St. Louis today announced the bands and musicians who will fill the remaining open dates in the winter and spring 2012 schedule at Jazz at the Bistro. The list includes mostly local players, plus return visits from guitarist Frank Vignola, last seen here in May 2009, and the Wee Trio (pictured), which includes ex-St. Louisan Dan Loomis on bass and made their debut at the Bistro in October 2009.

Also of note, singer Erin Bode and her band, which includes her husband Syd Rodway on bass, will take over the Valentine's Day gig done in recent years by spouses Mardra and Reggie Thomas, who moved to Michigan earlier this year. And pianist Dave Venn, a mainstay on the local scene during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s who's been somewhat less active publicly in recent years, will return to the Bistro stage for a one-nighter on Friday, April 6. (That's the night before pianist Brad Mehldau and saxophonist Joshua Redman arrive for their previously booked two-night gig on April 7 and 8 at the Bistro.)

Here are all the additional shows in chronological order:

Friday, January 13 & Saturday, January 14: Legacy Jazz Quintet plays the music of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers
Friday, January 27 & Saturday, January 28: Wee Trio
Tuesday, February 14: Erin Bode
Friday, March 9 & Saturday, March 10: Rick Haydon Trio
Friday, April 6: Dave Venn Trio
Friday, May 4 & Saturday, May 5: Javier Mendoza
Friday, May 18 & Saturday, May 19: Frank Vignola with Vinny Raniolo

Tickets are $30 for Frank Vignola and $20 for the other shows, and go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Friday, December 9 via Metrotix and the Jazz St. Louis box office.

Jim Manley releases Brass Poison Too

2011-12-05T22:08:00.007-06:00

St. Louis trumpeter Jim Manley has released his new album Brass Poison Too as a download at the iTunes store.

As the name suggests, the album (pictured) is a followup to Manley's previous release Brass Poison, and features a similar instrumental lineup, with Manley on trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone plus a ten-piece band, playing new arrangements of some familiar material plus three of Manley's original compositions. "I think the tunes, playing, arrangements and production on this CD exceeds anything I have done," said Manley, who previously has released nine other CDs as a leader.

Among the thirteen tracks are new arrangements of Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a La Turk," Tom Scott's "King Cobra," Eddie Harris' "Listen Here" and the Beatles' "Michelle." There's also a version of "L-Dopa," a piece made famous by one of Manley's musical heroes and mentors, Maynard Ferguson, whose 1970s and 1980s albums with big-band versions of pop and rock tunes clearly helped inspire the project and its predecessor.

At first listen, Brass Poison Too definitely has a similar vibe to its older sibling, with solid playing by all hands and slick production values. Fans of the 1970s sounds of Ferguson and fellow trumpeter/bandleader Don Ellis, and of more contemporary groups like Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, should find plenty to enjoy.

In addition to the leader, the band includes Frank Goessler, Dan Smith, Greg Grooms and Chris Miller (trumpets); Jason Swagler, Larry Johnson, Joe Bayer, and Aaron Leady (saxophones); Jim Owens (trombone and keyboards); Brett Voelker (drums); Mark Torlina (bass); and Tony Esterly (guitar), with pianist Carolbeth True as special guest on "Blue Rondo A La Turk. "

Released by the local indie label Victoria Records, Brass Poison Too is available now as a download from iTunes; physical CDs will be available starting sometime in January from the label's website, Manley's site and select online retailers.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A Greg Osby sampler

2011-12-03T10:27:00.001-06:00

This week, let's check out some clips of saxophonist, composer and St. Louis native Greg Osby, who will be returning home to play Wednesday, December 14 through Saturday, December 17 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Osby, 51, first left St. Louis in 1978 to study at Howard University, and later Berklee College of Music. He began gaining recognition in the 1980s through his work with veteran leaders such as drummer Jack DeJohnette, pianist Andrew Hill, and others, as well as with peers including saxophonist Steve Coleman and others in the M-Base Collective. Osby launched his career as a solo recording artist in 1987, and since then has created a substantial body of original music - 17 CDs worth - exploring different concepts and using various instrumental lineups.

Having nurtured the early careers of players such as pianist Jason Moran and vibraphonist Stefon Harris, Osby these days continues to work with young musicians, and has returned to Berklee as a teacher. And after a 14 year relationship with Blue Note Records, in 2008 he also started his own label, Inner Circle Music, to release his own recordings and those of other artists.

Given his wide range of interests, it's difficult to represent the full spectrum of Osby's music in just a few clips, but today's selections should provide at least a solid introduction. We start out up above with some footage from Osby's 2010 stand at NYC's fabled Village Vanguard, with a band that included pianist Marc Copland, guitarist Nir Felder, bassist Joseph Lepore and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. The clip begins with the theme and alto solo from Osby's composition "Please Stand By," then cuts to a full length performance of Copland's "Autumn Wind."

Down below, there are three clips from Osby's performance at the 2009 Montreal Jazz Festival with a band including LePore, Felder, Adam Birnbaum (piano), Mike Pinto (vibes), and John Davis (drums). The songs are Osby's "Vertical Hold," Thelonious Monk's "Ask Me Now," and Pinto's "Tranya."

Below that, there's an excerpt from a 2004 performance of the standard "Jitterbug Waltz" in the UK. Next, you'll see part of a show from 2000 at the Knitting Factory in NYC, featuring a young Jason Moran on piano, plus Liberty Ellman (guitar), Vashon Johnson (bass) and Derek Phillips (drums). The final clip is a freely improvised duo with guitarist John Abercrombie that Osby recorded a couple of years ago for the "Solo Sessions" series at the Music Gallery in Toronto.

For more about Osby, check out NPR's coverage of his 2010 week at the Vanguard, including an archived live broadcast and interview. Also worth a look are these two interviews - one from 2008, the other from 1995 - done with jazz journalist Ted Panken for radio station WKCR.

And for a very different perspective on Osby as a collaborator, check out this interview done after he played some gigs a few years back with former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh and Friends. For still more, Osby's website has links to a selection of older interviews published between 1999 and 2003.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

2011-12-02T00:32:00.001-06:00

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

* New Music Circle yesterday announced that composer and multi-media artist Tony Conrad (pictured) will present a free lecture at 4:00 p.m. today (Friday, December 2) in Room 102 of the Music Classroom Building (behind Tietjens Hall on Forsyth) at Washington University. The event is free and open to the public.

Conrad will perform in concert Saturday night at White Flag Projects. For more about him, see this short article from the Riverfront Times' Ryan Wasoba and StLJN's video showcase post from last Saturday.

* Pianist Ramsey Lewis, in town through Saturday to play at Jazz at the Bistro, talked with the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson for a short article here. Lewis also is scheduled to be interviewed at 11:00 a.m. this morning on public radio station KWMU's "Cityscape" program. You can listen to KWMU's online stream here.

* Gwen Terry, wife of Clark Terry, has posted a new update about the hospitalized trumpeter's condition here. Also posted now on Terry's website is a review (.pdf) by Down Beat's Ted Panken of Terry's recently published autobiography.

* The Meramec Jazz Lab Band has posted photos of their concert Wednesday night at the Black Cat Theatre in a Facebook album here. (You don't need a Facebook account to view the photos.)

* Writing for the St. Louis Beacon, Terry Perkins tells us about Strings Attached, a new not-for-profit organization that provides low-cost music education for aspiring guitarists ages 5 to 17, and even "offers loaner guitars to those young people who can’t afford them."

* Hip-hop star Nelly this week celebrated the opening of his Ex'treme Institute, a music production and recording school located on Laclede's Landing and operated in conjunction with local trade school Vatterott College. The St. Louis American has brief coverage here, and the Post-Dispatch has an article from Kevin Johnson and a photo album from the grand opening ceremonies.

* Music for Lifelong Achievement this week announced that their annual instrument drive collected a record number of musical instruments this year. More than 50 used instruments were dropped off at participating area Starbucks stores during the month-long drive, including a full drum set, several flutes, keyboards, clarinets and trumpets. The instruments will be repaired and refurbished, as needed, and donated to local schools and music programs.

* Saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person has succeeded in funding his next recording project through Kickstarter, an effort that we reported on here last week. The now-greenlighted CD Thoughts on God, which will feature a 13-piece ensemble playing Person's original music, attracted 160 backers who pledged $20,812 by Tuesday's deadline, slightly more than Person's goal of $20,580. The anticipated release date for the CD is July 2012.

Chris Botti to perform Friday, February 24 at Peabody Opera House

2011-12-01T22:26:00.005-06:00

Trumpeter Chris Botti (pictured) is coming back to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m., Friday, February 24 at the recently renovated Peabody Opera House downtown.

Botti has been a relatively frequent visitor here in recent years; his last appearance was in February 2011, playing with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra at Powell Symphony Hall. Another previous performance was at the Fox Theatre, with which the Peabody now would seem to be competing in earnest for bookings of touring concerts, Broadway shows, dance recitals and similar events. The trumpeter's most recent CD here in the USA is 2009's Chris Botti in Boston.

Tickets for Chris Botti at the Peaboy Opera House are priced from at $47, $42 and $37, and go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Saturday, December 3 at the box office of the Scottrade Center (adjacent to the Peabody) and via Ticketmaster.

Jazz this week: Ramsey Lewis, Jane Monheit, Tony Conrad, "The Music of Bluiett," Bonerama, Cornet Chop Suey, and more

2011-11-30T09:59:00.002-06:00

From traditional jazz to contemporary grooves to experimental minimalism, this week's menu of jazz and creative music in St. Louis has offerings for a wide variety of tastes. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, pianist Ramsey Lewis (pictured) brings his Electric Band for the first time to Jazz at the Bistro, where he'll be performing through Saturday. As chronicled in this video retrospective from a couple of weeks ago, Lewis has been a significant figure on the international jazz scene for nearly 50 years now, and the Electric Band seems set up specifically to present many of his most popular tunes in a crowd-pleasing format. At last word, there still were some tickets available, but advance reservations definitely are suggested for this one.

Also tonight, the Meramec Jazz Lab Band, with Valerie Tichacek on vocals, continues its ongoing series of monthly performances at Black Cat Theatre in Maplewood.

Tomorrow evening, the New Orleans based Bonerama will perform at the Old Rock House. This will be the third St. Louis appearance this year for the trombone-centric ensemble, following shows at The Gramophone in January and the Sheldon Concert Hall's ballroom in June.

Also on Thursday, singer Jane Monheit, who was here last December to play Jazz at the Bistro, visits the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts at McKendree College in Lebanon, IL for a holiday themed concert.

On Friday, singer Danita Mumphard will perform at the Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe, and pianist Tim Garcia leads a trio with bassist Willem von Hombracht and drummer Clancy Newell at the Cigar Inn in Belleville. That same evening, Jazz on Broadway in Alton has an early show with traditional jazz from the Dixie Dudes, and Robbie's House of Jazz will present blues singer Barbara Carr.

Saturday afternoon, the Nu-Art Series presents "The Music of Bluiett" at Metropolitan Gallery, featuring saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett directing performances of his compositions by several different ensembles from the East St. Louis High School music department.

Then on Saturday evening, musician, composer and multi-media artist Tony Conrad will perform at White Flag Projects under the auspices of New Music Circle. For more about Conrad, including extensive video footage and links to several in-depth interviews, check out this post from last Saturday.

Also Saturday evening, saxophonist Rod Tate returns to Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe, and Robbie's will present the group Cammie & Carnivale, featuring singer Cammie Middleton-Helmsing and guitarist Wayne Kimler.

Sunday afternoon, Cornet Chop Suey plays traditional jazz and swing in a matinee concert presented by the St. Louis Jazz Club at the Doubletree Hotel at Westport. On Sunday evening, BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups has a double bill featuring jazz, funk & R&B from Good 4 The Soul in the early evening slot and Latin jazz from Clave Sol later on.

Monday night, the Webster University Jazz Singers perform their semester-end concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus, and guitarist Tom Byrne's Pat Metheny inspired band Have You Heard? plays at BB's.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Nu-Art Series announces concerts featuring "The Music of Bluiett," Freddie Washington

2011-11-29T18:15:00.005-06:00

The Nu-Art Series has announced two concerts in December:

* Saxophonist and composer Hamiet Bluiett (pictured) will direct a performance of his music by the East St. Louis Senior High School music department, including the woodwind ensemble, percussion ensemble, jazz orchestra and combo, at 3:00 p.m. this Saturday, December 3.

* Saxophonist Freddie Washington will perform with his band at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, December 10. Washington, a mainstay on the local club scene from the 1960s through the 1980s, recently moved back to St. Louis and has begun performing publicly again.

Both concerts will take place at the Metropolitan Gallery, 2936 Locust Street downtown. Doors open at 2:00 p.m., and general admission is $10.00.

WSIE to hold fundraising weekend Friday, December 2 through Sunday, December 4

2011-11-29T17:46:00.007-06:00

WSIE (88.7 FM), the only radio station in the St. Louis area to devote significant airtime to jazz music, will be holding an on-air fundraiser beginning at 4:00 p.m. this Friday, December 2 and continuing until 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Premiums for financial supporters of the station will include underwriting announcements, CDs from local indie jazz label MAXJAZZ, and the chance to appear on-air as a newsreader or, for $300, as host of a two-hour jazz show. The station hopes to raise a total $50,000 for continuing operations.

Here's hoping St. Louis area jazz fans will show some support for WSIE, which, due in part to cutbacks in money from the state of Illinois, has operated on a very modest budget in recent years. If the station can develop its own regular fund-raising successfully, as other local public media outlets such as KDHX (88.1 FM), KWMU (90.7 FM) and KETC (Channel 9) have done, it could go a long way toward ensuring that WSIE continues to program jazz for the foreseeable future.

Galactic returning to the Pageant on Wednesday, March 14

2011-11-29T17:24:00.006-06:00

The New Orleans funk/jazz/hip-hop band Galactic (pictured) is returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 14 at The Pageant. Los Angeles funk band Orgone will open the show.

The gig will be almost a year to the day since Galactic's last appearance here at the same venue, and as with last year's show, they're bringing along some guests - specifically, vocalist Corey Glover of the rock band Living Color and trombonist Corey Henry of the Rebirth Brass Band, who also guested on their last show here.

This time, they'll be touring behind a new album, Carnivale Electricos, which the press release says explores "the connections between the Mardi Gras in their native New Orleans and the mighty megacarnivals of Brazil" and is set for release on February 21 by the Anti- label.

Tickets for Galactic at The Pageant will be $25 for general admission, with a $2 surcharge for minors, and go on sale at 5:00 p.m., Friday, December 9 via the Pageant box office and Ticketmaster.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Tony Conrad

2011-11-26T13:19:00.001-06:00

This week, let's look at some video clips of musician, composer and multimedia artist Tony Conrad, who will be in St. Louis for a performance sponsored by New Music Circle next Saturday, December 3 at White Flag Projects.

Conrad, 71, originally is from New Hampshire and has a background in math and computer programming. He has been making music and art since the 1960s. His film The Flicker (1966) is considered an important early example of the structural film movement, and his work around that same time as a co-founder of the Theater of Eternal Music helped pave the way for the minimalist composers of the 1970s and 80s.

He currently teaches at the State University of New York at Buffalo's Center for Media Studies, and in recent years has developed a repertoire of solo performances for specially tuned, amplified violin. Today, we've got several examples of those performance for your audio-visual delectation, starting up top with a complete hour-long concert recorded in January 2011 at the University of Chicago's Renaissance Society.

Down below, you can see three excerpts from a 2006 performance by Conrad at the Emporium in Knoxville, TN. Below that, there's a clip in which Conrad comes out from behind the curtain, so to speak, at a performance in May of this year in London. Finally, for a glimpse of Conrad's offstage persona and working methods, we wrap up with an excerpt from the work-in-progress documentary Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present that shows Conrad preparing to take his mobile recording setup on location in NYC.

For more about Tony Conrad, check out this 2011 interview from Frieze magazine, this 2005 interview from Bomb magazine, and this 1996 interview from EST magazine.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

2011-11-25T13:01:00.004-06:00

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

* Trumpeter and singer Jeremy Davenport, who's back home from New Orleans to play tonight and tomorrow night at Jazz at the Bistro, was interviewed by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson.

* St. Louis-based Mel Bay Publications has just released a book of sheet music by pianist Vijay Iyer (pictured). The publisher's website also is offering a "Black Friday" special, today only, of 50% off all items (excluding accessories and instruments). To get the discount, use promo code MBBF50.

* Following up on recent stories on KSDK and in the Riverfront Times about deteriorating conditions at Miles Davis's childhood home in East St. Louis, the Post's Marlon A. Walker has more on the sorry state of the Davis home and similar problems with vandalism and theft at the former home of legendary dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham.

* Jazz St. Louis has posted on their Facebook page an album of photos of Kurt Elling's master class last week at Kirkwood High School.

* "Party pic" photos from last Saturday's benefit at the Sheldon have been posted by both Ladue News and St. Louis magazine. Unfortunately, none of the shots are from the concert featuring the Peter Martin-led New Orleans Modern Jazz Masters, but the Funky Butt Brass Band, who entertained at the reception, do make several appearances.

* The November 2011 episode of HEC-TV's I Love Jazz now is available online. Perhaps appropriately for a day when many are enjoying some leftovers from their Thanksgiving dinner, the episode features performances from Freddy Cole, the Bosman Twins and Tony Desare & Bucky Pizzarelli that previously were un-aired due to time constraints, as well as part one of an interview with bassist Stanley Clarke and a holiday song from Jane Monheit.

Jazz this week: Jeremy Davenport, SLSO plays Ellington's "Nutcracker," and more

2011-11-23T14:23:00.006-06:00

If you're looking to follow your Turkey Day dinner with some jazz and creative music this weekend in St. Louis, here's what's on the menu:

On Friday and Saturday, Jeremy Davenport returns to Jazz at the Bistro for his annual Thanksgiving week homecoming shows. The trumpeter, vocalist and University City native continues to serve as the house act for the Davenport Lounge in New Orleans' Ritz-Carlton Hotel, but he'll be back home this weekend, accompanied by fellow U Citians Peter Martin on piano and Chris Thomas on bass plus two musicians from his New Orleans band, drummer Troy Davis and saxophonist Aaron Fletcher.

You can see some video footage of Davenport performing in this post from a couple of years ago, and for more about what he's been up to to lately, check this interview that Terry Perkins did with the trumpeter that was published yesterday by the St. Louis Beacon.

Also on Friday, saxophonist Rod Tate performs at the Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe; drummer Paul Shaw leads a trio with pianist Ptah Williams at the Cigar Inn in Belleville; and the Funky Butt Brass Band plays at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

And although it's not a jazz show, some readers of this site also may be interested in Friday's fifth annual edition of the Soulard Blues Band's St. Louis Blues & Soul Revue at the Sheldon Concert Hall's upstairs ballroom. For more about that, see this piece I wrote for the RFT Music blog and published earlier today.

On Saturday night, saxophonist Freddie Washington, back in town after a hiatus, leads a quartet at Robbie's House of Jazz; and saxophonist Michael Fitzgerald performs at Jazz on Broadway in Alton.

On Sunday afternoon, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will present a holiday themed "family concert" at Powell Symphony Hall that will include a performance of Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker Suite".

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Seeking funds for his next project via Kickstarter, Eric Person joins growing crowd of creative types

2011-11-22T23:20:00.011-06:00

Saxophonist Eric Person is down to the last week of his Kickstarter campaign to fund his proposed next album Thoughts on God-Project of Hope.

The 48-year-old St. Louis native, who has performed with jazz luminaries including McCoy Tyner, Dave Holland, Chico Hamilton, and the World Saxophone Quartet, so far has attracted 110 backers who have pledged $10,597 toward his $20,580 Kickstarter goal. That figure represents the amount Person will need to produce the CD, including recording studio time, mixing, mastering, and manufacturing, as well as rehearsal and recording fees for a dozen musicians.

He first conceived the project way back in 1987, and decided to try to make it a reality now after seeing other jazz musicians successfully fund recording projects through Kickstarter, a website that calls itself "the world's largest funding platform for creative projects."

Under the Kickstarter model, "a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands....Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk." Each creator determines what funders will receive, and depending on the project and amount pledged, the backer's rewards may range from an autographed copy of the finished product to a public credit in the liner notes to more elaborate customized thanks, like a private live performance.

Person, who previously has recorded eight CDs as a leader, has not only written the music but also already has a cast of players in mind, including himself and Craig Bailey on alto saxophones; Patience Higgins and Sylvester Scott on tenor saxophones; James Zollar and Duane Eubanks on trumpets; and Curtis Hasselbring on trombone, with a rhythm section including Brian Carrott (vibraphone), Adam Klipple (keyboards), Corcoran Holt (bass) and Shinnosuke Takahashi (drums). You can see and hear Person speak about Thoughts on God-Project of Hope in the video in the embedded window below.

Although Person is using Kickstarter as a vehicle for a personal pet project of long standing, he's just one of a number of well-known musicians, artists, technologists and other creative individuals turning to the site as a way to raise money for all sorts of endeavors.

For example, pianist Matthew Shipp, who performed in St. Louis in October, is working with multimedia artist and filmmaker Barbara Januszkiewicz on funding an independent film called The Composer through Kickstarter. Saxophonist Azar Lawrence, who's played with major artists such as McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis, is seeking funding for a live CD of his original music to be recorded at the Jazz Standard in NYC. And the producers of Mingus on Mingus, a documentary on the legendary bassist and composer Charles Mingus to be directed by his grandson Kevin Ellington Mingus, also currently are trying to raise money via Kickstarter.

It'll be interesting to see what role Kickstarter and other novel funding ideas can play going forward in the creation and dissemination of new music. In the meantime, it provides a way for even those of modest means to support projects of interest without much risk. Here's hoping Person makes his goal, and perhaps StLJN's always-perspicacious readers will show a little hometown love to help him get there...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Ramsey Lewis, then and now

2011-11-19T14:24:00.002-06:00

Today, let's look at some performance videos from throughout the long career of pianist Ramsey Lewis, who will be in St. Louis with his Electric Band to perform Wednesday, November 30 through Saturday, December 3 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Lewis, 76, is a Chicago native who first gained wide attention in the 1960s with a series of hit singles that included the gospel-inflected "Wade In The Water" and bluesy versions of then-current pop tunes such as Dobie Gray's "The In Crowd" and the McCoys' "Hang On Sloopy." You can see a live TV performance of "Sloopy," recorded back in 1967, in the first embedded video window up above.

Down below, there are a couple of clips from Lewis' performance in 1980 at the Montreal Jazz Festival. The first starts off with a hard-driving "In Crowd," then segues into a piano solo that demonstrates Lewis' affinity for the blues. Next, guitarist Henry Johnson, a longtime collaborator who still performs with Lewis, kicks off an abbreviated version of "Sun Goddess," the funk tune that was a hit for Lewis and Earth, Wind and Fire in 1974.

The second clip from that concert shows Lewis and band playing Chick Corea's "500 Miles High," one of a number of songs by well-known jazz musicians that Lewis has adapted for his own purposes.

For the fourth clip, we fast-forward to 1987 and a performance of "711" on The Arsenio Hall Show. The video on this one, seemingly taken from an old VHS tape, is pretty rough, but the audio quality is fine, and the tune offers a nice taste of the commercial funk sound Lewis offered on several recordings around this time.

Clip number five brings us into the 21st century for a solo performance of "Dear Lord," taken from Legends of Jazz, the public television series hosted by Lewis in 2006.

The final clips show off the 2011 edition of Lewis' band, presumably the same group that will be playing with him at the Bistro. The sixth clip is a full-length version of "Sun Goddess," recorded in Paris in August, and the seventh and final video takes us back to the the pianist's roots with contemporary version of "The In Crowd" from a concert in Glasgow, Scotland last January.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

2011-11-18T00:14:00.000-06:00

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

* Singer Tony Bennett's concert Wednesday night at the Fox Theatre was reviewed for the Post-Dispatch by Terry Perkins. And if you're curious about Bennett's new CD Duets II, check out this review of the disc from Jazz Times' Christopher Loudon.

* Meanwhile, Kurt Elling, who's in town through Saturday performing at Jazz at the Bistro, went on the afternoon newscast Thursday at local Fox affiliate KTVI to perform a duet of "The Waking" with bassist Clarke Moore. See the video here.

* The RFT Music Blog has video of electronic musician Eric Hall's performance last weekend At Laumeier Sculpture Park.

* Speaking of electronic musicians, Keith Fullerton Whitman has posted online an 11-minute audio excerpt of his performance here last weekend for New Music Circle at White Flag Projects.

* And speaking of the RFT Music Blog, a recent post by Jaime Lees entitled "100 St. Louis Bands, 100 Drink Pairings: A Comprehensive Guide" includes drink recipes (auto-generated from search results by the website Drinkfy.org) for several St. Louis jazz musicians, including Hamiet Bluiett ("1 bottle Red Wine. Serve on rocks. Stir vigorously. Garnish with maraschino cherry.") and Peter Martin ("10 oz. Vodka, 10 oz. Grenadine, 6 oz. Monster Energy Drink. Combine in highball glass and serve. Stir quickly. Garnish with glowstick.") Martin (pictured) plays tomorrow night at the Sheldon Concert Hall with the New Orleans Modern Jazz Masters.

Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra to play Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker Suite" for family concert on Sunday, November 27

2011-11-17T23:33:00.005-06:00

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, working in partnership with Jazz St. Louis, will perform Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker Suite" as part of a "family concert" at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, November 27 at Powell Symphony Hall. The suite, which is Ellington's jazz interpretation of "The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky, originally was recorded for Columbia Records and released in 1960.

The concert will be conducted by Ware Stare, SLSO's resident conductor and director of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra (SLSYO), and also will include George Gershwin's "An American in Paris" and Leonard Bernstein's "On the Town." Tickets are priced from $7 to $16 and are on sale now at the Powell Hall box office, by phone at 314-534-1700, or via the SLSO's website.

You can see excerpts from a studio performance of the "Nutcracker Suite" by the Duke Ellington Orchestra and a brief promotional interview with Ellington about the project in the embedded video window below.

Jazz this week: Tony Bennett, Kurt Elling, Peter Martin & Wendell Brunious, "Drum Line II" and more

2011-11-16T09:26:00.001-06:00

Along with an assortment of jazz and creative music instrumentalists, this week brings two outstanding male vocalists to St. Louis - one representing the tradition of jazz-influenced popular singing, the other offering what amounts to a survey of the current state of the art in contemporary jazz vocals.

The representative of tradition is, of course, the great Tony Bennett, who returns to our city tonight to perform at the Fox Theatre. Bennett is currently enjoying another popular success with his recently released album Duets II, which finds him mixing it up with a gaggle of pop, rock, R&B and country singers ranging from Willie Nelson to Lady Gaga. To get an idea of how this plays out in concert, check out this review of Bennett's November 4 show in Philadelphia by AllAboutJazz.com's Lewis J. Whittington.

The contemporary singer, then, would be Kurt Elling (pictured), who's just a little more than half Bennett's age but for the last 15 years has helped define the state of contemporary male jazz singing. While Bennett is on stage at the Fox tonight, Elling will be opening a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. This will be Elling's first appearance in St. Louis since the release earlier this year of his most recent recording, The Gate. For more about him, the album, and some video clips of songs from it, see this post from last Saturday.

On Thursday, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University wraps up their fall slate of free concerts with "Bass 3 - Basses with Drums," described in this week's promotional email from JAH as "an avant-garde take on the standard jazz trio. As with last week, the performers in the group have yet to be announced, so come for a surprise in this atypical jazz setting." UPDATE - 11/16/11, 10:50 a.m.: Bassist Willem von Hombracht has posted on his Facebook page that he'll be playing this gig along with fellow bassist Bob DeBoo and Eric Stiller.

Also on Thursday evening, saxophonist Jim Stevens' group plays an early show at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; and Webster Groves High School's award-winning jazz combos will give a public performance at Highway 61 Roadhouse in Webster.

On Friday, guitarist Brian Vaccaro will celebrate the release of his new CD Going Through the Motions with a concert at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood. Guitarist Teddy Presberg's band will share the bill. Also on Friday, guitarist Dave Black's trio plays at the Cigar Inn.

On Saturday afternoon, the Nu-Art Series presents "Drum Line II," a collaboration among jazz and creative music percussionists including Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Gary Sykes, and others, at Metropolitan Gallery downtown.

Then that evening, the Sheldon Art Galleries will stage a benefit at the adjoining Sheldon Concert Hall with music from a group billed as the New Orleans Modern Jazz Masters, which features native New Orleanians Wendell Brunious on trumpet and Jason Marsalis on drums, along with St. Louisans Peter Martin on piano and Chris Thomas on bass, both of whom who have spent time living in NOLA.

Also on Saturday evening, pianist Ptah Williams will lead a trio with bassist Bob Deboo and drummer Demarius Hicks at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Sunday, singer Denise Thimes will do a free concert for the St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers series at Second Baptist Church, 9030 Clayton Rd. in Richmond Heights

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Webster University Big Band performs at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus, and drummer Joe Pastor's trio plays at BB's.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

"Follow That Star: A Jazz Nativity" to be performed December 10 & 11 at Pilgrim United Church of Christ

2011-11-14T22:57:00.000-06:00

The national jazz ministry The Oîkos Ensemble will be joined by St. Louis singer Denise Thimes and other local musicians for performances of "Follow That Star: A Jazz Nativity" at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, December 10 and 3:00 p.m. Sunday December 11 at Pilgrim United Church of Christ, 826 Union Blvd. in St. Louis.

The Oikos Ensemble, led by the saxophonist Rev. Clifford Aerie and pianist Christopher Bakriges (pictured, from left), will present "the Midwestern launch of the East Coast tradition of Jazz Nativity—a unique way to tell the age-old Christmas story through the decidedly modern American voice of jazz." TV broadcaster Gina Kurre, formerly with KTVI and KDNL, will host and narrate the program, which is sponsored by the Missouri Mid-South Conference United Church of Christ.

Both concerts are free and open to the public. A freewill offering will be collected to support two ministries: Every Child’s Home, formerly known as the Evangelical Children’s Home, and efforts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There also will be collection points for shelf-stable canned and boxed food items for the food pantry at Pilgrim UCC. Parking will be available on the east side of Union Avenue, where police will have marked off space especially for the event.

Nu-Art Series to present "Drum Line II" this Saturday, November 19 at Metropolitan Gallery

2011-11-14T22:27:00.007-06:00

Veteran jazz and creative music percussionists Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, Charles "Bobo" Shaw and Gary Sykes once again will join forces for "Drum Line II" a performance to be presented by the Nu-Art Series from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. this Saturday, November 19 at Metropolitan Gallery, 2936 Locust St downtown.

This is the second annual "Drum Line" performance at the Metropolitan Gallery, with this year's edition also featuring percussionists Johnnie Johnson (who, as far as we know, is no relation to the late blues/rock pianist) and Eddie Brown.

Harris, Shaw and Sykes are all St. Louis natives who gained early experience in local African-American drum & bugle corps, which since their founding in the 1930s also have included well-known musicians such as Clark Terry, Philip Wilson and Oliver Lake. Tickets for "Drum Line II" are $10 for general admission; doors open at 2:00 p.m..

Craig Pomranz to perform “Love and the Clock” on Saturday, December 17 at Kranzberg Arts Center

2011-11-14T22:16:00.001-06:00

Singer and St. Louis native Craig Pomranz (pictured) will return to his hometown for performances of his new cabaret show "Love and the Clock" at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 17 at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand.

Called "one of New York's most critically-acclaimed saloon singers" by New York magazine, Pomranz will be accompanied by music director Stephen Bocchino. His new show, which most recently played to sell-out crowds in Los Angeles, deals with "the tick tock of love and how the clock rules the heart" and includes songs from writers ranging from Stephen Sondheim to Cindy Lauper.

Tickets for Craig Pomranz' "Love and the Clock" are $25 each, and are available in advance by phone at 314-965-2526 or online at www.brownpapertickets.com.

StLJN Audio Archive: Charles "Bobo" Shaw & Lester Bowie - Bugle Boy Bop

2011-11-13T23:32:00.004-06:00

For this installment of the StLJN Audio Archive, we tune into Bugle Boy Bop, an album of duos recorded by drummer Charles "Bobo" Shaw and trumpeter Lester Bowie issued on the Muse label in 1983.

The original LP (pictured) was recorded live at saxophonist Sam Rivers' NYC loft venue Studio Rivbea on February 5, 1977, with famed producer Michael Cuscuna overseeing the eventual release. Although Bugle Boy Bop never has been reissued on CD, you can still hear it via a free download from the music-sharing blog Nothing Is V2.0, which had this to say about the session:

"This is a trumpet & drum duet that will please fans of AEC & Human Arts Ensemble. If you are someone who loved Don Cherry & Eddie Blackwell's album Mu, you'll probably like this one.

The title track gets things off to a high-energy start. The second track ("Go Bo") is where Shaw cuts loose & Bowie lays low (at least somewhat). A barnburner. "Cootie's Caravan Fan" slows things down, but just barely, with a pulsating rhythm giving the tune a very trance-like feel. The title "Latin Recovery" is fairly self-explanatory, with Shaw going bossa nova as Bowie freaks out on the trumpet. The flipside starts with what amounts to a free improv ballad "The Girth of the Cool" - slow-tempo late night feel to it, but by mid-song builds in intensity and eventually the duo picks up the pace and the ferocity. "Chop'n Rock" is characterized by a choppy, rockish beat through much of the tune, seemingly nodding to an old AEC tune, "Rock Out". "Finito, Benito" ends the album on an entropic note. Be aware, the mp3s on this one are a bit dodgy, and the last tune seems to cut off in the middle. As the saying goes, better dodgy mp3s than no music at all.

I don't know if there ever will be a proper digital reissue of this album. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. In the meantime, these mp3 files help to document just a bit of what was going on during the late 1970s NY jazz loft scene."

To download a free copy of Charles "Bobo" Shaw and Lester Bowie's Bugle Boy Bop, go here, scroll down to the bottom of the post, and look for the link that says "Download Bugle Boy Bop," which will take you to a Rapidshare page. Look for the green button marked "Download," click it, and follow the instructions from there.

The StLJN Audio Archive links only to recordings that are out-of-print or that never have been commercially available. The purpose of the Audio Archive is encourage discussion, appreciation and knowledge of St. Louis jazz artists, and we encourage you to support them (or their estates) by purchasing authorized recordings and merchandise or, whenever possible, attending live performances.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Through The Gate with Kurt Elling

2011-11-12T12:33:00.001-06:00

When singer Kurt Elling last visited St. Louis in December 2009 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro, he was touring in support of his then-recent CD Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane & Hartman. Elling will be back again next week to play the Bistro from Wednesday, November 16 through Saturday, November 19, and this time he'll no doubt include material from The Gate, his most recent album released earlier this year.

Produced by Don Was, who's overseen recordings for Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and others but is not known specifically as a jazz producer, The Gate includes interpretations of songs associated with Stevie Wonder, the Beatles, Joe Jackson, Earth Wind and Fire, and other rock and pop muscians.

One of those songs, Jackson's "Steppin' Out," is today's first video clip up above. The performance is from a show earlier this year at the club Anthology in San Diego, with a band including Elling's longtime collaborator and pianist Laurence Hobgood, plus Harish Raghavan on bass and Ulysses Owens on drums.

Elling's trio is joined by guitarist John McLean in the second clip for a version of the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood." Below that, there's an early version of another track that wound up on The Gate, a re-imagining of bassist Marc Johnson's "Samurai Hee-Haw" renamed "Samurai Cowboy" by Elling and recorded in 2009 at Pizza Express in London.

Below that, you'll see Elling singing Stevie Wonder's "Golden Lady," taken from a 2009 performance in Paris with Hobgood, Raghavan, drummer Otis Brown III and saxophonist Ernie Watts.

That's followed by an interview with Elling, conducted this past summer for the Chicago arts magazine show Fear No ART, and an excerpt from a vocal master class that Elling presented earlier this year at the North Sea Jazz Festival.

For more about The Gate, check out this NPR interview with Elling and Don Was. You may also be interested to read StLJN's past coverage of the singer, including a critical reconsideration and review of his live show from 2006, and a previous Saturday Video Showcase post from 2009.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

2011-11-11T00:01:00.000-06:00

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

* While in St. Louis last week to play at Jazz at the Bistro, guitarist John Scofield was interviewed by KSDK's Art Holliday on the NBC affiliate's 4:00 p.m. newscast.

* Jazz St. Louis has posted photo albums with shots of pianist Ahmad Jamal in performance last Sunday at the TouPAC, and of the reception following the concert by Jamal and singer Dianne Reeves.

* Retro-swing string band Wack-A-Doo (pictured) was spotlighted this week in the Post-Dispatch's "Listen" music video feature, performing "By The Sea" at the Fox Theatre.

* Bassist and luthier David Certain sends word that bassist and St. Louis native Mark Peterson will be playing a CertainBass Model One on an upcoming recording with pianist Bob James. You can see Peterson and his instrument with singer Ben E. King's band here.

* In more celebrity recording news, keyboardist Michael Silverman of the Classical Jazz Quartet says that famed fusion guitarist Scott Henderson has agreed to record on CJQ's next album project, The Rebirth of Fusion. Henderson, known for his work with Tribal Tech and Chick Corea's Elektrik Band, will lay down his tracks in January.

* St. Louis Kids magazine is giving away four tickets to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra's November 27 performance of the "The Nutcracker Meets Jazz," featuring music by George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and Duke Ellington. The performance is presented in partnership with Jazz St. Louis, and specifically designed to introduce children to the symphony. To enter the drawing for the free tickets, go here.

* NPR's Kevin Whitehead last week reviewed the new, limited-edition CD reissue of saxophonist Julius Hemphill's landmark debut album Dogon A.D., with the NY Times Ben Ratliff weighing in on the disc here. The reissue is limited to 1,500 copies, and was done by the small International Phonograph label, which earned plaudits for its earlier re-issue of another long-out-of-print session, trumpeter Bill Dixon's Intents and Purposes. The reissue already is out of stock or back-ordered at some online retailers, but if you like, you still can download and hear a free .mp3 rip of the original recording via this StLJN Audio Archive post from back in August.

Jazz this week: Keith Fullerton Whitman, Scratch, Mark O'Connor, a tribute to women in jazz, and more

2011-11-10T12:47:00.005-06:00

There's an eclectic selection of jazz and creative music coming up on St. Louis stages over the next few days, from classic bop to contemporary electronics. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents a free concert by an ad hoc ensemble dubbed "St. Louis Bebop," featuring trumpeter Randy Holmes, saxophonist Jason Swagler, pianist Ken Kehner, bassist Bob DeBoo and drummer Marty Morrison playing music associated with bop pioneers Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

Also tonight, the Chicago-based saxophonist Mark O'Connor is in town, playing at Robbie's House of Jazz to promote his new CD release Suspended Reality. O'Connor will be joined by pianist Lara Driscoll, trumpeter Chris Davis, drummer Todd Howell and bassist Willem von Hombracht.

On Friday, the Crusaders tribute band Scratch performs for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, featuring a lineup of St. Louis area players including trombonist and arranger Cody Henry, saxophonist Ben Reece and pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson.

Also on Friday, saxophonist Jerry Greene and his group perform at Robbie's, and vibraphonist Dustin Sholtes leads a quartet at the Cigar Inn in Belleville.

On Saturday afternoon, there are a ouple of free educational opportunities for local musicians, as saxophonist Bob Reynolds gives a free master class at Saxquest, and electronic musician Keith Fullerton Whitman (pictured) will present a free workshop at the Luminary Center for the Arts.

Then on Saturday evening, Whitman will perform at White Flag Projects in a concert presented by New Music Circle. For more about Whitman and some performance videos of him in action, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, Robbie's will present a concert paying tribute to "women in jazz," featuring three performers visiting from Indiana: pianist Monika Herzig, singer Janiece Jaffe and violinist Carolyn Dutton. Herzig, who teaches at the University of Indiana, was in St. Louis most recently for a couple of gigs last May; Jaffe and Dutton will making their local debuts.

On Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Jazz Club presents the Funky Butt Brass Band at the SLJC's customary east side venue, Bel-Air Bowl in Belleville.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band plays at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and student jazz combos from the music program at Webster University will perform at Webster's Community Music School.

Then on Tuesday, the SIUE Concert Jazz Band, under the direction of trombonist Brett Stamps, will play at Dunham Hall on the SIU-Edwardsville campus. The set list will include music from the Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis, Clayton-Hamilton, Rob McConnell, and Tonight Show big bands, with featured performances from SIUE vocal jazz majors Zelina Bott-Goins and Nicole Jonas.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)