Mardra and Reggie Thomas
While the weather is reminding us this week that winter in St. Louis is far from over, jazz performers will be doing their best to warm up local stages this weekend.
Pianist Beegie Adair is the most noteworthy touring jazz musician in town this week, set to perform two shows on Saturday at Finale. (Adair will also be doing a CD signing event at Webster Records on Sunday.)
Meanwhile, the husband-and-wife team of Reggie and Mardra Thomas will be spreading the love, appearing at Jazz at the Bistro both nights this weekend and next Tuesday for their annual Valentine's Day engagement, a gig that's turning into something of a local tradition.
Elsewhere in town, Erin Bode is doing a free show on Thursday night as part of the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University . If you didn't have the cash to check out her recent CD release event at the Bistro, this would seem like a good chance to catch her in a concert-type setting for free. Thursday would also seem to be a busy night for piano players, with Dave Venn bringing his group to Crossings, Curt Landes performing at Cookie's, and "Peanuts" Whalum working at Brandt's.
On Friday, smooth saxophonist Tim Cunningham will be at Finale, vocalist Ron Wilkinson performs at Cookie's, and yet another local pianist, James Matthews, will play at Brandt's. On Saturday, vocalists take over as Kim Massie is working at Cookie's and Mae Wheeler sings at Brandt's, while the fine clarinetist Scott Alberici wields his mighty licorice stick at Crossings.
Finally, jumping ahead to Monday night, Webster University will present a program at the Winifred Moore Auditorium called "Who's Afraid of the Big Band Monk," which, as the name implies, will feature large ensemble versions of Thelonious Monk compositions. On the same night, Maynard Ferguson brings his Big Bop Nouveau band to Belleville East High School. Both should offer worthy sounds for the big band aficionado, but personally, I'd go see the Monk program simply because Ferguson is a frequent visitor to these parts.
As always, you can find out more about this week's menu of local gigs by consulting the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar. And if you're a musician, venue or presenter who would like to have your event listed, just email the relevant details to stljazznotes at yahoo dot com.
No comments:
Post a Comment