Jazz this week: Acoustic Alchemy, Jazz at Holmes summer series, Tommy Money Orchestra, and more

Compared to some past years, it's been a relatively busy summer so far for jazz in St. Louis, but the activity level will be dropping a bit in the month of August, as it's the height of vacation season, and most of the not-for-profit presenters, concert series, university affiliated programs, and so on won't resume until the beginning of September.

Still, the cupboard is not entirely bare this weekend - for starters, the British smooth jazz group Acoustic Alchemy (pictured) will be in town tonight to do two sets at Finale Music and Dining, providing fans with the opportunity to see them up close in an intimate club setting.

Also tonight, Washington University's Jazz at Holmes summer series of free concerts continues with pianist Ptah Williams and singer Tony Viviano teaming up for a program focused on the music of Tony Bennett. At first consideration, this seems like an odd pairing - Williams is a hard-driving pianist with a distinctly modern, post-bop style, while Viviano is a genial crooner specializing in classic pop and tunes from the Great American Songbook. Then again, sometimes musicians with contrasting styles can draw each other into new places, and I certainly wouldn't put it past these two to find an interesting middle ground.

On Saturday, trumpeter Tommy Money will squeeze his big band onto the stage at Cookie's Jazz and More, which is reopening this weekend after a brief mid-summer vacation.

Other noteworthy gigs over the next several days include a troika of singers: Jeanne Trevor at Brandt's on Thursday; Debby Lennon doing a Cole Porter tribute at Finale on Saturday; and Mae "Lady Jazz" Wheeler in an early evening show at Brandt's on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, radio host, jazz historian, author and occasional StLJN co-conspirator Dennis Owsley continues his "Jazz Decades" series of broadcasts with a program featuring three house of music recorded in the years 1965-1969 by artists such as Albert Ayler, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, John Handy, Charles Lloyd and Anthony Braxton. To hear it, tune in to KWMU 90.7 FM from 9 p.m. to midnight, or catch the online stream at KWMU's Web site.

For a more extensive listing of local jazz performances, please consult 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. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)