Imani Winds
The Smithsonian Institution, national repository of objects representing America's history, recently received a donation of artifacts from the estates of two of jazz's greatest, pianist Thelonious Monk and our own local legend Miles Davis. It was also announced this week that Monk has won a special "lifetime achievement" Pulitzer Prize for music...Meanwhile, four saxophonists with St. Louis connections are staying busy with live performances on both coasts: Way out west, Eric Person performed last week in Santa Monica, CA - Leroy "The Jazzcat" Downs has a review with photos - while Greg Osby is getting ready to do a trio gig at the Jazz Bakery in LA. Back east, Oliver Lake is playing a concert to benefit the arts center at Bloomfield College in New Jersey, while J.D. Parran is one of many performers this month at John Zorn's NYC space The Stone...Also in NYC, former St. Louisan Ben Manley will play with pianist Connie Crothers as part of a piano series at the performance space Roulette next week. Originally a percussionist, Manley now makes music based on found instruments and sounds, often incorporating ordinary household objects and electronics used in unpredictable ways as sound sources.
Coming attractions: Vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater will be in St. Louis this weekend to perform as part of the Josephine Baker tribute at the Sheldon, and you can read two more reviews of her recent Chicago gig here and here. And Imani Winds and vocalist Rene Marie are also coming to town with a Baker-related program at the Edison Theatre; here's a review of their recent performance in Pittsburgh...Pianist Ramsey Lewis, set to perform in July just across the river in Elsah, IL, gives an interview about the new Legends of Jazz TV series.
The reading list: Our town's prolific jazz scribe Terry Perkins has a new (albeit truncated-for-tax-season) "Gateway Grooves" column for April up at All About Jazz.com. (And thanks to Terry for linking to StLJN again this month.)...Those contemplating larger questions may also enjoy perusing this review of Stuart Nicholson's controversial new tome Is Jazz Dead?, as well as this essay/rant from veteran pianist Kenny Drew Jr. and subsequent discussion on the subject of "What the F*ck Happened to Black Music?"...As the annual Jazz Fest kicks off in New Orleans, Wynton Marsalis speaks out to criticize political foot-dragging that's slowing the rebuilding of the devastated city, but there is at least one good piece of news, too - Preservation Hall is set to reopen soon.
(Edited 4/20/06 to correct a typo, and on 4/24/06 to fix a broken link.)
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