So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Post-Dispatch business reporter Tim Bryant writes today that the Music Center of Kirkwood (once known as Mel Bay Music) will relocate later this year from downtown Kirkwood to a former paint store on Watson Rd. in Crestwood. The new store, to be renamed City Music and Education Center, will be triple the size of the current Kirkwood location - and, interestingly, less than a mile from one of two Guitar Center stores in the St. Louis area.

* St. Louis magazine's Stefene Russell has an article from the mag's March issue now online about Jazz St. Louis' 15th anniversary and upcoming benefit gala.

* Back at the Post, Terry Perkins reviewed last Saturday's concert by Chris Botti with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. For a contrasting view, read this blog entry about the trumpeter's St. Louis show from blogger Amy Zopfi, a blogger from Las Vegas who's planning on following Botti across the country for an entire year's worth of concerts.

* The remodeling of Mangia Italiano is done, and the South Grand restaurant and bar reopened this week, with saxophonist Dave Stone's trio set to resume their long-running Friday night gig this evening.

* The St. Louis-based traditional jazz and swing band Cornet Chop Suey (pictured) is on the road this weekend, heading west to Seaside, OR, where they'll be one of 11 bands performing for the 28th annual Oregon Dixieland Jubilee. The festival starts today and continues through Sunday.

* Jay Landesman, former owner of the Crystal Palace nightclub in St. Louis' famed Gaslight Square entertainment district, died this week in London at age 91. You can read the Post-Dispatch obituary by Deb Peterson here, and a piece about Landesman from the Riverfront Times' Aimee Levitt here.

(Edited 2/28/11 to add the blogger's name to the item about Chris Botti.)

East St. Louis HS jazz band named one of 15 finalists in Essentially Ellington competition

The jazz band from East St. Louis High School (pictured) is one of 15 ensembles from across the United States to be accepted as finalists for Jazz at Lincoln Center's 2011 Essentially Ellington jazz band competition. (Link goes to .pdf file.)

The ESL HS band is directed by Delano Redmond, and was selected from among 110 bands that entered this year's competition. The 15 finalists will go to New York City May 12 through May 14 to compete and participate in workshops, jam sessions, and more, with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra serving as clinicians.

The three top-placing bands will perform at Avery Fisher Hall with Wynton Marsalis, JALC's artistic director, as guest soloist, followed by a performance by the 15-piece JaLCO and an awards ceremony honoring outstanding soloists, sections and the top three bands. This is the 16th year for the Essentially Ellington program, which also includes regional festivals, teaching resources, a summer academy for band directors Academy, monthly newsletters, and more.

Jazz this week: Dirty Dozen Brass Band & Jon Cleary, St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, the Bosman Twins, and more

This week's jazz and creative music menu in St. Louis features all sorts of sounds, from big band to cabaret to New Orleans roots music to several different flavors of modern jazz. Let's go right to the highlights...

On Thursday evening, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, directed by bassist Jim Widner, performs at the Touhill Performing Arts Center; and pianist Ptah Williams and guitarist William Lenihan team up to do a free duo concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

On Friday, the multi-instrumentalist Bosman Twins return to Jazz at the Bistro for the first night of a two-night stand; singer and pianist Carol Schmidt will do the first of her two cabaret shows this weekend at the Kranzberg Arts Center for the Presenters Dolan; and Ptah Williams will lead his group at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Saturday, New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band will be back in town, with singer/pianist Jon Cleary opening, for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For a preview, you can see the DDBB in several performance videos included in this post from last Saturday.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday bassist Stanley Clarke and pianist Hiromi will be back in town for one more night at the Bistro, making up the sets canceled earlier this month due to travel delays caused by the inclement weather. Also on Monday, the SIUE student jazz combos directed by Rick Haydon and Reggie Thomas and the SIUE Guitar Ensemble will perform in the theater at Dunham Hall on the SIUE campus; and pianist Dave Becherer's trio plays 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.)

Tony Bennett to perform Saturday, May 7 at the Fox Theatre

Singer Tony Bennett (pictured) is returning to St. Louis this spring to perform on Saturday, May 7 at the Fox Theatre. Bennett's last appearance here was in May, 2009 at the same venue.

Tickets for Bennett's May 7 show at the Fox will priced from $55 to $85, and go on sale at 10:00 a.m. next Monday, February 28 via Metrotix and the Fox box office.

Warren Wolf, Peter Martin to play Sunday, May 22 at the Sheldon

Pianist Peter Martin has announced that he'll continue his series at the Sheldon Concert Hall by joining forces with vibraphonist Warren Wolf (pictured) for a performance at the Sheldon at 7:00 p.m., Sunday, May 22.

Wolf, who's originally from Baltimore, has worked with Martin previously in bassist Christian McBride's group Inside Straight. He's considered a rising star in jazz, and one of the top vibes players to emerge in recent years. The Sheldon concert will be a quartet performance, with bassist Rueben Rogers and drummer Gregory Hutchinson joining Wolf and Martin to complete the ensemble.

Tickets for the concert are priced at $25 for the balcony, $30 for the orchestra floor, and $50 for special VIP seating, and are on sale now via Metrotix.

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

It's at approximately this point every two weeks or so that we slip in another wholly gratuitous plug for StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds, which each day presents an online music video for your entertainment and edification.

The genres covered include jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock and experimental, and recent posts have included clips featuring McCoy Tyner, Steve Coleman, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, the Jazz Crusaders, Janis Joplin, Ry Cooder, Earl Hines & Jaki Byard, Santana, Fred Wesley & Maceo Parker, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Carla Bley, Sonny Boy Williamson, John McLaughlin & 4th Dimension, Louis Armstrong, Kool & The Gang, James Cotton, Lou Rawls, the Bar-Kays, Dexter Gordon and Tito Puente.

See them all, plus hundreds more videos from the archives, by visiting http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Gettin' dirty with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

This week, we shine our video spotlight on New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who will be back in St. Louis to perform next Saturday, February 26 on a double bill with singer/pianist Jon Cleary at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The DDBB have played here numerous times in recent years, with their last visit coming in November 2009 at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

The four clips featured today are all of fairly recent vintage, starting up above with a version of "John The Revelator" recorded in 2008 at a festival in Burghausen, Germany. Down below is another clip from the same gig, the DDBB staple "Dirty Old Man," in which baritone saxophonist Roger Lewis gets to rap about spankin' somebody.

Below that, we've got the Dirty Dozen's take on a couple of New Orleans classics, an undated-but-looks-to-be-fairly-recent version of "Junko Partner," and "When The Saints Go Marching In," from a 2010 show at the Wolftrap performing arts center in Virginia that roused the audience to get up on their feet and second-line around the perimeter. For more DDBB performances on video, check out this post that ran here before their last appearance in St. Louis.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

* Trumpeter Ray Vega, in town this week to play at Jazz at the Bistro, appeared yesterday on KPLR's afternoon news broadcast. You can see the video here; Vega continues at the Bistro through Saturday.

* Writing for the Post-Dispatch, Terry Perkins interviewed trumpeter Chris Botti (pictured) about his sold-out concert with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra on Saturday.

* Perkins also has a piece online at the St. Louis Beacon previewing Saturday's performance by Quincy Troupe, Kelvyn Bell and Hamiet Bluiett for the Nu-Art Series at the Metropolitan Gallery.

* Back at the Post, pop music critic Kevin Johnson reviewed last week's concert by Al Jarreau at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

* As mentioned here last November, Jazz St. Louis is a winner of one of the 2011 Arts Awards from the Missouri Arts Council. JSL was honored in the category of "Arts Organization," along with this year's other recipients, in a ceremony this week at the state Capitol in Jefferson City. The awards recognize "individuals and organizations that have made profound and lasting contributions to the cultural and artistic climate of the state."

* Lastly, we direct your attention to this editorial published this week by the Post-Dispatch about radio station WSIE and jazz radio in St. Louis. P-D editorial writer Eddie Roth, a jazz fan himself, interviewed yr. humble StLJN editor in conjunction with the piece, and I'm quoted briefly therein. More on this subject in a future post...

Jazz this week: Ray Vega, Chris Botti, "SoundArt" with Troupe, Bell & Bluiett, Craig Pomranz, Todd Clouser, and more

This week's noteworthy jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis include visits from two traveling trumpeters, and two shows featuring St. Louis expats coming home. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, trumpet player Ray Vega (pictured) brings his Latin jazz-meets-hard bop quintet to town to open a four-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro, continuing through Saturday. For more about Vega and some video clips of him in action, see this post from last week.

On Thursday evening, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present a free concert from the St. Louis Jazz X-Tet, with saxophonist David Stone and vibraphonist Peter Schlamb. The concert is co-sponsored by campus radio station KWUR as part of KWUR Week.

On Friday, actor, singer and St. Louis native Craig Pomranz returns home from NYC to open a two-night stand of his cabaret show at the Kranzberg Arts Center under the auspices of the Presenters Dolan. Directed by Ron Cohen with musical direction from Stephen Bocchino, the performance includes a range of material, from Mel Brooks and Ronny Graham to Rodgers and Hart and Cole Porter. For more about Pomranz, see this feature article written by Alisha Alexander for the Vital Voice.

Also on Friday, singer Crystal Haywood, profiled last week here by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson, will do a Billie Holiday tribute at Robbie's House of Jazz. .

On Saturday afternoon, poet Quincy Troupe and guitarist Kelvyn Bell, who both grew up in the St. Louis area, will be back home to perform with special guest saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett in a show called "SoundArt," presented by the Nu-Art Series at the Metropolitan Gallery. The St. Louis American's Chris King interviewed Troupe about the gig for a story published in last week's paper, and it's still available online here.

Saturday also is the date for the annual Southwestern Illinois College Jazz Festival, which starts at 9:00 a.m. and continues into the evening at the Main Complex Theatre on SWIC's Belleville campus, 2500 Carlyle Ave. in Belleville. In the morning, jazz bands from area schools will perform and get critiqued. After lunch, saxophonist and noted jazz educator Ron Cart of Northwestern Illinois University will present a master class, followed by more student performances and critiques. Then at 7:00 p.m., Carter will perform a concert with the SWIC Jazz Band and a combo featuring Reggie Thomas (piano), Anthony Wiggins (trumpet), Nick Jost (bass) and Marty Morrison (drums). All events are free and open to the public.

On Saturday night, trumpeter Chris Botti returns to St. Louis to make his debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra at Powell Symphony Hall. The show was heavily promoted, with tickets offered as a pledge premium, by local PBS affiliate KETC, and that, plus Botti's baseline popularity, equals a show that sold out a good while ago. However, the Symphony may have some standing room tickets for sale; call 314-534-1700 for information.

That same night, guitarist Brian Vaccaro's trio, with keyboard player Nick Schlueter and drummer Kyle Hunnicutt, will play at Robbie's.

On Sunday evening, bassist Darrell Mixon's trio will play at Second Baptist Church in Richmond Heights for the St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers series; and pianist Kim Portnoy and his trio, with clarinetist Scott Alberici as special guest, will perform in a concert at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday night guitarist Todd Clouser and his band A Love Electric will make a tour stop at the downtown bar/restaurant Lola. For a bit more about Clouser, who comes from Minneapolis by way of Mexico, see this post.

And 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.)

(Edited 2/16/11 to add info about the SWIC Jazz Festival and fix the date for Chris Botti.)

Peter Martin to play benefit for Kids' Place on Saturday, March 12 at 560 Music Center

On the heels of a solo concert at the Sheldon and a peripatetic series of gigs with singer Dianne Reeves that included an all-star performance at the White House, pianist Peter Martin (pictured) will play a benefit event for Kids Place, Inc at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, March 12 at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity Ave.

Kids' Place, Inc operates a free after-school education and enrichment program for at-risk elementary school students in Martin's hometown of University City.

A $50 ticket to the event includes the concert and dessert; a $100 ticket also comes with an invitation to a pre-concert reception with Martin and the organization's board. Tickets can be purchased by mail before March 7 by sending a check and the number of tickets you want to buy to Kids' Place, Inc. 6901 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63130.

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey performing Thursday, March 31 at Cicero's

Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (pictured) is coming to St. Louis to perform on Thursday, March 31 at Cicero's.

Founded in 1994 in Tulsa, the jazz/funk/jam band has changed personnel and evolved its sound considerably over the years. They started as an eight-piece group, pared down to a trio in 1999, and most recently became a quartet in 2008. The current lineup include founding member Brian Haas on keyboards, with Josh Raymer on drums, Chris Combs on lap steel guitar, and Jeff Harshbarger on bass.

All those changes have been amply documented on 19 recordings, including two in 2010: The Sensation of Seeing Light, a 7" vinyl single released for Record Store Day in April, and Stay Gold, which came out in June on both CD and double 12" vinyl. Last year also saw the premiere of "Ludwig," JFJO's reinterpretations of Beethoven's 3rd and 6th Symphonies, with a 50 piece orchestra at the OK Mozart Festival. They've just completed sessions for another recording tentatively titled Race Riot Suite, inspired by historic events in Tulsa, that features guest performances from saxophonists Jeff Coffin, Peter Apfelbaum and Mark Southerland and trumpeter Steven Bernstein.

The St. Louis trio Juanita Place and Nashville singer/songwriter Lauren Lucas will open. Show time is 8:00 p.m., and tickets are $7 at the door.

(Edited after posting. Updated 3/2/11 with a new photo of the band.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Four from Ray Vega

This week, we've got some video clips featuring trumpet player Ray Vega, who will be in St. Louis next week to play Wednesday, February 16 through Saturday, February 19 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Vega grew up in the South Bronx, and has an extensive resume as a gigging musician in NYC playing both salsa and jazz. He's worked with top Latin performers including Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria, Mario Bauza and many others, as well with more jazz-oriented big bands including Lionel Hampton, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Chico O’Farrill's Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and the Lincoln Center Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

He made his solo debut in 1996 with a self-titled album for the Concord label, and since has released four more CDs as a leader. Vega's most recent recording is East-West Trumpet Summit, a collaboration with Seattle trumpeter Thomas Marriott that came out last summer on Origin Records. He also recently has worked with the composer Osvaldo Golijov, performing first and solo trumpet in his critically acclaimed orchestral piece "La Pasion Segun San Marco".

In addition to performing and recording, Vega is a senior lecturer at the University of Vermont, where he coaches jazz combos and teaches trumpet and jazz history. His band for the gig at the Bistro will feature pianist Zaccai Curtis, bassist Andy Eulau, percussionist Chembo Corniel and drummer Diego Lopez.

Today's first clip is from 2008, and shows Vega in a performance at the Black Note Jazz Club in Adelaide, South Australia. Down below are two performances from the Bern Jazz Festival, each split into two parts due to YouTube's restrictions. Last but not least, we see Vega with some of his university students, playing at a club in Burlington, VT. Check them out for a taste of Vega's Latin-jazz-meets-hard-bop style.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The St. Louis American's Chris King has written an article previewing next Saturday's performance featuring poet Quincy Troupe, guitarist Kelvyn Bell (pictured) and (now added to the bill) saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett, to be presented by the Nu-Art Series at the Metropolitan Gallery downtown. Get the story online here.

* If by chance you're heading down to Columbia, MO for Sunday's concert by pianist Ellis Marsalis, know that the pre-show discussion featuring Marsalis and Washington University's Gerald Early has a new time, date and location. The talk, with Q&A session to follow, has been moved to 2:00 p.m. Sunday in the Piccadilly Room of the Holiday Inn Select. It's free, but space still is limited, so make advance reservations by calling 573-449-3001. Marsalis will perform in the hotel's ballroom that evening at 8:00 p.m.; for tickets, contact the We Always Swing jazz concert series.

* Lisette Dennis of the Regional Arts Commission sends word that the music department of Howard University will be holding scholarship auditions for St. Louis area high school seniors starting at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, March 3 in the band room at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, 3125 S. Kingshighway. Additional auditions will be held as needed on Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5. For more information, or to schedule an audition, email Cherri at cherri_t2002 @ yahoo.com.

* Musician and author Peter Buffett is coming to the St. Louis area next week to perform in a benefit for the Virtual Learning Center of Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis, which helps to integrate technology into area classrooms. Buffett, the son of investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett, will present his "Concert & Conversation" at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 16 at the St. Charles Convention Center. The show is billed as the live companion to Buffett's New York Times best-selling book Life is What You Make It: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment, and features live piano, vocals and cello along with video clips of his film and TV work. Tickets are $30 in advance, $35 at the door, $25 for college students with valid student ID, and can be purchased online here.

* When bassist Stanley Clarke was in town last week to perform with pianist Hiromi at Jazz at the Bistro, the staff at Jazz St. Louis got him in front of a video camera for a few minutes to talk about our city's jazz legacy. You can see the clip online here, and check out some photos of Clarke and Hiromi's performance on the JSL Facebook page here.

Bill Frisell to perform Thursday, May 12 at the Old Rock House

Guitarist Bill Frisell (pictured) is coming to St. Louis to perform on Thursday, May 12 at the Old Rock House, 1200 S. 7th St.

Though considered primarily a jazz guitarist, Frisell incorporates a variety of influences into his music, including country, folk and Americana; classical; noise; and free improv. He's worked with a diverse range of artists from jazz, rock and pop, including Paul Motian, John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Elvis Costello, Bono, T-Bone Burnett, Paul Simon, McCoy Tyner, Ornette Coleman, Brian Eno and Ry Cooder.

Frisell's St. Louis show is part of the ORH's "Listening Room Series," for which the club adds more tables and chairs and offers reserved seating to create a cabaret-type setting. It will feature the guitarist in a quartet with trumpeter Ron Miles, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen.

Doors open at 7:00 p.m., with showtime at 8:30 p.m. Tickets will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. next Wednesday, February 16 via Metrotix. Prices are $35 for reserved seating, $26 for general admission, and the show is open only to ages 21 and over.