Steve Tyrell is performing this Saturday
at Jazz St. Louis' annual fundraiser
There are several jazz headliners performing in St. Louis this week, as well as some out-of-the-ordinary programs featuring local musicians, so for space reasons, this week's preview will concentrate on concert highlights.
On Saturday night, trumpeter Terence Blanchard brings his sextet to the Sheldon Concert Hall. (This show is a replacement for the Dave Holland concert that was originally announced for that date; Holland cancelled after determining that two of his regular quintet members had other commitments.) Blanchard is probably best known these days for composing film scores, but he's still a formidable player and will, I'm sure, have a talented supporting cast.
On Sunday, the Sheldon plays host to a concert by alto saxophonist Charles McPherson and the Northern Illinois University Jazz Ensemble, directed by Ronald Carter. McPherson is a bopper from the old school, and also spent more than a decade with Charles Mingus, serving as a sort of Charlie Parker surrogate for the Bird-loving bassist. Carter is well-known as a jazz educator and clinician, and he and the band will have had at least a couple of dates with McPherson under their belts before they get here, so things should be meshing nicely.
Jazz at the Bistro is dark this weekend, because the annual fundraising gala for parent organization Jazz St. Louis - a dinner and concert featuring vocalist Steve Tyrell at the Renaissance Grand Hotel - is this Saturday.night. Not my sort of thing, but if you've got the bucks to spend (tickets start at $50 per for the concert portion of the evening only) and enjoy hanging out with the swanky folk, it's certainly a worthy cause.
Elsewhere around town, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra continues its new series of modern chamber music concerts at the Pulitzer Foundation building on Thursday and Friday with a program of music by Eric Satie, John Cage and Frederic Rzewski. Washington University resumes its Jazz at Holmes series this week with a free show on Thursday night by Chris Burchett, about whom I must admit to knowing absolutely nothing - but hey, it's free, right? .
On Friday, Crossings Concerts presents "Early In the Evening," a jazz program at Christ Church Cathedral curated by Washington University Professor Gerald Early and performed by a band led by keyboardist Reggie Thomas. And just beyond the weekend, Webster University's Monday night concert series will feature a tribute to the music of Bill Evans as performed by a faculty ensemble including Michael Parkinson on trumpet and flugelhorn, Willie Akins on tenor sax, Kim Portnoy and Dave Venn on piano, Steve Schenkel on guitar, Willem von Hombracht on bass and drummer Kevin Gianino.
There's plenty happening on local club stages, too, and you can check it out by visiting the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar (which will be getting a major update this afternoon and evening, as April info from clubs has trickled in over the last week). If you can't wait for the update, you can just use the links in the sidebar to go directly to the Web site of your favorite club.
(If you're a band, musician, presenter or venue who like to have your event listed in the calendar, please email your news release or schedule information to stljazznotes at yahoo dot com.)
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