Jazz this week: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, a Bob Blumenthal book signing, Mardra and Reggie Thomas, a tribute to Thelonious Monk, and more

There's a rather eclectic variety of jazz-related events this week in St. Louis, and since I'm a bit pressed for time this evening, let's go right to the highlights:

The biggest attraction of the week, in terms of both sheer number of musicians and the fame quotient of those musicians, is the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (pictured at left) directed by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who will be performing Saturday night at the Sheldon Concert Hall as part of the Sheldon's annual benefit gala. Stocked with veteran Marsalis associates and some of New York City's top young players, the JaLCO is the resident big band at NYC's Lincoln Center arts complex, and as such serves as both a repertory ensemble reviving jazz classics and a launchpad for new works by Marsalis and others. On their current tour, they're doing a program centered on the love songs of Duke Ellington, along with selected other items from their own book. I'm guessing the pricey patron tickets, which include all sorts of extras, are long gone, but there still may be single tickets available for the concert portion of the evening.

Also visiting St. Louis this week is well-known jazz journalist and author (and former St. Louisan) Bob Blumenthal, who will appear tonight at Left Bank Books to read from and sign copies of his new book Jazz: An Introduction to the History and Legends Behind America’s Music.

Turning from travelers to our fair city to homegrown talent, this evening the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra will do their monthly performance at Jazz at the Bistro, and guitarist Dave Black does a free concert at Washington University as part of the Jazz at Holmes series.

On Friday and Saturday night, the husband-and-wife team of singer Mardra Thomas and keyboardist Reggie Thomas return to Jazz at the Bistro for their annual appearance - which always seems to happen around Valentine's Day, perhaps in hopes that their marital and musical harmony will prove infectious for the couples in the audience - and on Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Jazz Club sponsors a show at Bel-Air Bowl in Belleville featuring the traditional jazz sounds of trumpeter Tom Whitelaw and Four Others.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday pianist Carol Schmidt (pictured at right) leads a tribute to Thelonious Monk at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium. Schmidt, perhaps best known as one-half of the 1980s jazz-pop group Jasmine, will be joined by Paul DeMarinis on saxophones, Henry Claude on vibraphone and percussion, bassist Ric Vice and drummer Kyle Honeycutt. Their concert will include performances of "In Walked Bud," "Misterioso," "Round Midnight," "Four In One," several other rarely performed Monk compositions, and "Joie de Vivre," a Schmidt original written as a tribute to Monk. Also on Monday, the Sessions Big Band performs at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

To see a more comprehensive listing of local jazz-related events, both this weekend and in the future, 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. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)