Pollstar predicts piano performances

If for some reason you're interested in, but can't attend, the upcoming shows by Brad Mehldau (at the Sheldon with Pat Metheny on Wednesday, April 4) and/or Ahmad Jamal (at Jazz at the Bistro from Wednesday, April 25 through Saturday, April 28), it looks like you'll get another chance to hear both men play St. Louis in 2008.

That's because the oracular online entity known as Pollstar has recently revealed that Mehldau now is scheduled to play the Bistro from April 9 - 11, 2008, and Jamal is set to perform at the Sheldon on January 26, 2008. In semi-related news, blues pianist/vocalist Marcia Ball also will be making a return trip to St. Louis next year, to play at the Sheldon on January 11.

These bookings are, as best I can tell, the first public inklings of next year's season schedules at both venues, and thus should be taken with the appropriate measure of skepticism until officially announced.

Still, this kind of back-and-forth between the Bistro and the Sheldon is not at all unprecedented, as jazz performers including Jane Monheit, Freddie Cole, John Pizzarelli and Joey DeFrancesco have appeared at both venues in recent years. I suppose these sorts of recurring bookings are good news for the fans of those particular musicians, and both Mehldau and Jamal are artists who warrant continued attention.

However, artistic quality and/or audience demand notwithstanding, our local not-for-profit presenters' propensity to go back to the same wells is something of a disappointment for those of us who would like to see them embrace as much musical variety and risk-taking as possible. There are, as mentioned before in this space, many prominent jazz musicians who haven't played St. Louis in years, or in some cases, at all. Here's hoping that when the Sheldon and Jazz St. Louis announce their full 2007-2008 schedules, we'll hear at least some of those names, too.

UPDATE - 1:23 p.m., 3/22/07: While I was writing this post, another Pollstar alert came in, revealing that the Sheldon has scheduled a date for San Francisco-based traditional jazz/swing revivalists Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers on November 7, 2007. So, for those of you who are now keeping score, that's one act for the 2007-08 season that, while they may be playing an older style of music, will be something new for St. Louis concertgoers.