StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Terell Stafford, with his Quintet, and Matt Wilson's Arts and Crafts

This week's video spotlight shines on trumpeter Terell Stafford, who's coming to St. Luis for a week-long educational residency for Jazz St. Louis, capped by a weekend gig at Jazz at the Bistro on Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23.

Stafford should be quite familiar with St. Louis already, since he records for the locally based label MAXJAZZ and has performed here in the past. He'll certainly get plenty more exposure to the Gateway City as he does a week's worth of school performances, workshops with student musicians in JSL's JazzU program, and whatever else they've cooked up for him. With that in mind, let's look at two sides of Stafford, first as he leads his own band and then supports one of his close musical colleagues.

The first clip is of Stafford's Quintet, seen here performing "A Nick Off The Mark," a song the trumpeter recorded on his CD Taking Chances. This performance is from 2006 at the Jazz Baltica festival in Germany. In addition to Stafford on trumpet, the ensemble includes fellow MAXJAZZ artist Mulgrew Miller on piano, plus bassist Martin Wind, saxophonist Tim Warfield and Matt Wilson on drums.

Wilson is the designated leader in the second video, which shows his well-regarded band Arts and Crafts, featuring Stafford on trumpet. The song is "The Scenic Route," and the performance is from the 2007 Elmhurst (Illinois) Jazz Festival. Besides Wilson and Stafford, Arts and Crafts as seen here also includes Gary Versace on organ and Dennis Irwin on bass.

In addition to his performances at the Bistro and his various education-related activities, while he's in town Stafford also will take part in one of Jazz St. Louis' "Jazz Perspectives" lecture/conversations on Tuesday, February 19. For more details on that, go here.