Jazz this week: Tony DeSare at the Bistro, Erin Bode at SLAM, and more

This week in St. Louis jazz isn't nearly as busy as the last couple have been, but there are still some shows worth bringing to your attention.

For starters, singer/pianist Tony DeSare (pictured) is this week's featured attraction at Jazz at the Bistro, doing two sets a night through Saturday. DeSare started in musical theater, performing in, among other things, a show celebrating the music of Frank Sinatra. And the Sinatra influence remains present in what I've heard of DeSare's music, along with hints of Bennett, Torme and other Italian-American crooners, Harry Connick, Jr., and other jazz-pop performers.

Those influences may still be somewhat unassimilated at this point, but then again, DeSare is young and still evolving, and few, if any of the other artists mentioned above would do some of the material DeSare covers, such as songs from Carole King and Prince. DeSare made his St. Louis debut with a two-night engagement at the Bistro last season, and now merits a four-night stand, which tells me that he must have made a positive impression in terms of both musical quality and audience response.

You can see and hear a sample of DeSare by checking out the YouTube clip below, which was recorded in January 2007 and shows him doing a solo version of an original tune called "Mundy on Tuesdays".

UPDATE - 3/1/07 - The Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson has a brief interview with DeSare in today's paper, available online here.

Speaking of singers, St. Louis' own Erin Bode is performing a free concert at 6 p.m. Saturday night in the Griggs Gallery of the Saint Louis Art Museum. And speaking of free shows, guitarist Vince Varvel is doing one Thursday night for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series.

There's more at the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, with updates for March in progress over the next couple of days as band and club schedules come in and data gets entered. Or if you're interested in finding out who's at a specific venue, please see the sidebar, where an extensive selection of fine links is available for your clicking and reading pleasure.

(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.)