Jazz this week: Eldar, Donald Harrison, Original Superstars of Jazz Fusion, and more

There's a good variety of jazz events in St. Louis this week, with three very different shows featuring touring headliners and, as always, a diverse selection of local music as well.

For starters, the much-heralded young pianist Eldar stops in town to do a one-nighter at Jazz at the Bistro, performing two sets at the usual times on Thursday night. To read a bit more about him and see a couple of videos featuring his prodigious chops, check out this post from a couple of weeks ago.

While Eldar was a late addition to the Bistro's schedule this month, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison's visit to the same venue on Friday and Saturday is officially part of the 2006-07 "Discovery Series," dedicated to talent deserving wider recognition. A New Orleans native and son of a Mardi Gras Indian chief, Harrison was part of the post-Wynton Marsalis wave of Crescent City "young lions" who broke in during the 1980s. Early in his career, Harrison's time as a member of Art Blakey's band helped him get noticed, and he later co-led a group with trumpeter Terence Blanchard for a number of years. On his own, Harrison has stayed primarily within the mainstream jazz idiom, but incorporates a variety of musical influences, including R&B, Latin, hip-hop and avant garde, into his own recordings. You can hear some excerpts from an NPR interview Harrison did with Dr. Billy Taylor, along with some short musical samples, here,

Also on Saturday, a package show dubbed "Original Superstars of Jazz Fusion" (pictured) comes to The Pageant. It's an rather eclectic collection of musicians, most of whom recorded for Blue Note at some point in the 1970s and early 1980s, including vibraphonist Roy Ayers, singers Jean Carne and Jon Lucien, saxophonist Ronnie Laws, keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith, flute player Bobbi Humphrey and trombonist (and founding member of the Jazz Crusaders) Wayne Henderson. Calling them "superstars" might be a bit of a stretch - wouldn't the real superstars of jazz fusion be the first-wave people like Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, etc, who have gone on to have major careers? - but there's certainly enough talent, as well as sufficient hit records and/or recognizable material in the catalogs of the various participants, to make for an enjoyable listening experience.

Elsewhere in town: On Thursday, singer Jeanne Trevor will perform her tribute to Billie Holiday at Finale Music and Dining, while pianist Carolbeth True and saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will appear in a free concert at Washington University as part of the Jazz at Holmes series. Then on Friday, smooth jazz saxophonist Tim Cunningham takes the stage at Finale. Saturday night finds guitarist Todd Mosby performing at Crossings Taverne and Grille, while singer Ron Wilkinson brings his band to Cookie's Jazz and More.

On Sunday afternoon (as mentioned in the previous post), singer Anita Rosamond will do a free in-store performance at Webster Records, and Monday is the night when the Webster University student jazz combos will present their fall semester concert at the Winifred Moore Auditorium on campus. Also, don't forget that noted jazz historian, author, and critic Dan Morgenstern is coming to town on Tuesday for a couple of speaking engagements.

All in all, that seems like a fairly substantial amount of jazz activity for one week, but if you're hungry for more, you can of course find additional gig listings by consulting the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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. No attachments, please.)