It looks like a mainstream swing kind of week here for jazz fans in St. Louis, with three very familiar names in the area to perform over the bext several days.Most notably, veteran pianist Ahmad Jamal (pictured) and his trio are at Jazz at the Bistro, doing two sets a night through Saturday night. While some critics may have derisively labeled him a "cocktail pianist" early on, that was some fifty-plus years ago, and Jamal is now recognized rightfully as a stylist who has maintained the integrity of his personal musical conception over a lengthy career. Though he's scheduled to be back in St. Louis next year to perform in concert at the Sheldon, true fans nevertheless will want to take advantage of the opportuniry to see him up close and personal in a club setting.
Speaking of the Sheldon, singer and pianist Freddie Cole will be playing a concert there on Saturday, mining roughly the same vein of swing, standards and the occasional blues as his more famous brother Nat, but fashioning the raw material according to his own designs. The Sheldon is offering a discounted tickets for this show, so if you've ever wanted to see Cole, this would seem to be a good time.
Also on Saturday, the Glenn Miller Orchestra will be performing in the Meridian Ballroom at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. While the current band consists almost exclusively of musicians who weren't even born yet when Miller passed away, the band's songbook obviously has an enduring appeal that keeps them working more than 60 years later.
Other shows worth noting this week include the return of Chicago-based singer Typhanie Monique and guitarist Neal Alger to Finale Music and Dining on Thursday night; Dizzy Atmosphere performing a free show at the Saint Louis Art Museum's Griggs Gallery early Friday evening; "Roadtrip USA," a program of travel-themed songs from singer Debby Lennon and pianist Carolbeth True on Saturday morning at the Sheldon; and a Sunday matinee performance sponsored by the Saint Louis Jazz Club featuring Jean Kittrell and the Old St. Louis Levee Band at the Swansea Improvement Association in Swansea, IL.
As always, these are just some of the week's highlights; to see a more complete list of jazz-related events for this weekend and beyond, please visit 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.)
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