It's another busy and diverse week for creative music in St. Louis, with several special events worth noting.The biggest name in town this week belongs to the Brubeck Brothers Quartet (pictured), who will perform Saturday night at the Sheldon Concert Hall. As mentioned in the previous post, I've got a Critic's Pick on the BBQ in this week's RFT. While that will give you my basic take on them, what I couldn't find a way to fit into the article is how much I enjoyed Sky King, the quirky, obscure funk band that bassist/trombonist Chris Brubeck played in back in the mid-1970s. They had a lot energy and an inventive approach to the genre, two characteristics Brubeck still exhibits even though he's working in a very different idiom now, and I wish someone would reissue their music on CD or as a digital download.
UPDATE - 2/22/07, 8:00 a.m.: Today's Post-Dispatch has a feature story about the BBQ by Calvin Wilson, based on an interview with Chris Brubeck. Read it online here.
A couple of blocks away, saxophonist Ronald Carter and OGD will be on stage Friday and Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Known internationally for his work in jazz education, Carter will perform two sets each night with the organ trio led by keyboardist Reggie Thomas, and he's also staying in town long enough to take part in a public conversation with Jazz St. Louis' Gene Dobbs Bradford on Tuesday at the Centene Center for the Arts.
That conversation is free to attend, although you must make reservations if you plan on going; see this post for details. And there are several other free jazz-related events this week, starting on Thursday night, when drummer Maurice Carnes leads his group, the Jazz Machine, in a free concert at Washington University's Holmes Lounge as part of the Jazz at Holmes series.
On Saturday, there's another free concert, as the Black Arts Guild - the group recently referred to in these pages as the Black Arts Group aka BAG II, and not some sort of villainous band of rogue sorcerers from a Harry Potter novel - will present the Contemporary Music Quartet in a free concert at 6 p.m. at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site. BAG II is hoping to rekindle some of the same spirit once engendered by the original Black Artists Group, and this show represents one of the first outings for this new ensemble with Floyd LeFlore on trumpet, Jerome "Scrooge" Harris on drums, J-Dubbs on reeds and Zimbabwe Nkenya on acoustic bass and mbira. Given the track records and styles of the musicians, I'd expect something that's rooted in the jazz tradition, not necessarily bound by it, but also including elements of free improvisation.
The Scott Joplin House will host another jazz event at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, a free Black History Month program featuring music from Mardra and Reggie Thomas and a talk on St. Louis jazz history from City of Gabriels author/Jazz Unlimited radio host Dennis Owsley.
Also worth noting beyond the weekend is Monday night's program at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium, which is entitled "Ellington Is Forever" and will feature the Webster Big Band and Mini Big Band and the St. Louis Air National Guard Big Band working out on various favorites from the Ducal repertoire. This concert is also free.
If that's not enough to sate your musical appetites, there's much more to hear around town (though some of it will cost you) and, as usual. you can get the scoop 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.)
(Edited after posting to add a link.)
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