Pollstar: Chris Botti, Jason Moran, John Pizzarelli coming to St. Louis this fall

The online tour information service Pollstar recently has added listings for three concerts this fall that will be of interest to St. Louis jazz fans:

* The first listing shows trumpeter Chris Botti scheduled to return to the Fox Theatre on Saturday, September 13. Botti performed at the Fox last August while touring with pianist and singer Diana Krall, and also played two shows at the Touhill Performing Arts Center in January 2008. The September date also is showing up on Botti's Web site, though there's been no announcement yet from the Fox, and there's nothing about it yet on Metrotix.com, which handles ticket sales for the venue.

* Pianist Jason Moran, who had been scheduled to play at Jazz at the Bistro earlier this year but canceled the dates, is shown as performing at the Missouri History Museum on Sunday, October 5. So far, neither Moran's site nor the History Museum site have any mention of the show.

* Another frequent visitor to St. Louis, guitarist and singer John Pizarelli (pictured), is shown on Pollstar as playing the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Saturday, October 11. The date in question also is shown on the itinerary page of Pizzarelli's Web site, but the accompanying "buy tickets" link goes to a page on the Ritz-Carlton site that makes no mention at all of the performance.

As always, while Pollstar's listings generally have proven to be accurate, any dates listed there should be considered tentative until officially announced by the venue in question. StLJN will have updates as the situation warrants.

StLJN jazz site of the week: The Jazzcat

The StLJN jazz site of the week is The Jazzcat, the online home of California jazz radio personality and blogger LeRoy Downs. Downs' site offers audio files of interviews with noteworthy jazz performers musicians, as well as his photos of concert and club performances and news items related to jazz events in southern and central California. The audio and visual content on the site and Downs' obvious enthusiasm for the music and for his work make The Jazzcat definitely worth a click and/or a bookmark for anyone interested in what's going in jazz on the left coast.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Spotlight on Cedar Walton

From time to time throughout the summer, our Saturday video showcase will offer previews of some of the musicians who are coming to St. Louis this fall and/or next year. Today, we turn the spotlight on Cedar Walton, a veteran pianist who, in addition to leading his own groups, has worked with musicians such as Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Abbey Lincoln, J.J. Johnson and Lee Morgan. Walton will be in the Gateway City from September 24 through September 27 to play with his trio at Jazz at the Bistro.

The two clips above show Walton leading a quartet in a performance of John Coltrane's composition "Naima" at the 1976 Umbria Jazz Festival. In addition to the leader on piano, the band includes George Coleman on tenor sax, Sam Jones on bass and the great Billy Higgins on drums. Down below, you'll see Walton in a trio performance of his own composition "Bremond's Blues," backed by Higgins and David Williams on bass. The fourth embedded video window has an interview with Walton from 1997.

MAXJAZZ releasing new CD from Jeremy Pelt

The St. Louis-based record label MAXJAZZ has set July 15 as the release date for the latest CD from trumpet player Jeremy Pelt. Entitled November, the CD was recorded live to two-track and features Pelt's original compositions for an all-acoustic ensemble that includes saxophonist J.D. Allen, pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Dwayne Burno and drummer Gerald Cleaver.

A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Pelt has recorded three previous CDs for MAXJAZZ and has been the recipient of numerous honors, including the Rising Star award on trumpet in DownBeat magazine's annual Critic's Poll and the Young Composers.Award from ASCAP. When not leading his own bands, Pelt also plays with groups such as the Cannonball Adderly Legacy Band, led by drummer Louis Hayes, and the Wayne Shorter Big Band. Among many other upcoming gigs, Pelt and his Quintet will perform in October at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Steve Lilley profiled in Lincoln County Journal

Trumpeter Steve Lilley, who performs with traditional jazz bands the St. Louis Stompers and Jean Kittrell and the St. Louis Rivermen, was profiled this week in the Lincoln County Journal, which is published in Troy, MO, near Lilley's hometown of Elsberry. You can read the article online here.

Garaj Mahal featured in Post-Dispatch

Guitarist Fareed Haque of the jazz-fusion/jam/worldbeat band Garaj Mahal talked to writer Terry Perkins for a feature in the Post-Dispatch about the band's show next Wednesday at Lucas School House. You can read the article online here.

For a sample of Garaj Mahal's music, see the embedded video below, which features a performance of the tune "Mondo Garaj" recorded in April at the Bamboo Room in Schaumberg, IL.

Notes from the Net: More on Miles From India, an appreciation of Oliver Nelson, plus reviews, interviews and more

It's now officially summer time, and the linkin' is easy...to yet another collection of news bits about jazz musicians with a St. Louis connection, recent visitors and coming attractions, pus assorted other items of interest:

* First up, some links related to the Miles Davis-inspired project Miles From India, starting with another review of the two-CD set, written by ContemporaryJazz.com's John Luciano. The CDs have also spawned a limited series of concerts, including one in Los Angeles, reviewed here, and one in San Francisco that inspired an article about how the jazz now is incorporating musical influences from all over the world, Last but not least, AllAboutJazz.com has an interview about the project with former Davis sideman, guitarist Pete Cosey (pictured).

* The film blog Cinema Styles recently had a nice appreciation of saxophonist and St. Louis native Oliver Nelson's film and TV scoring, with an accompanying .mp3 of his composition "A Typical Day in New York."

* Saxophonist Oliver Lake is featured in Breakin' Glass, a new book in the Photonality Jazz Series

* Saxophonist and composer John Zorn recently designed a sound installation/experiment for a San Francisco museum.

* Composer, sound artist and St. Louis native Ben Manley is taking part in NYC performance space Roulette's annual Mixology Festival, which focuses on new and unusual uses of technology in music.

* Here's a review of No Strangers Here, bassist Ben Wolfe's new CD from the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label, and a review of Wolfe's recent gig at NYC's Jazz Standard.

* Check out these two interviews with saxophonist John Ellis, who guests on the new Erin Bode CD The Little Garden - one in print from AllAboutJazz.com, the other on radio with blogger and DJ LeRoy "The Jazzcat" Downs.

* The Return to Forever reunion tour, which came through St. Louis last week for a date at the Fox Theatre, is getting lots of press, starting with news that group's two-CD Anthology has been released; the collection gets an AllAboutJazz.com "extended analysis" here. Also, check out reviews of the band's shows in Denver, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles, and this interview with drummer Lenny White in Drum Magazine

* Since playing at Jazz at the Bistro last October, bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding's star has contined to rise. She recently was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered, and the New York Times has reviewed her new CD.

* Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli, who's performed in St. Louis at both the Bistro and the Sheldon Concert Hall , has released a new CD devoted to the songs of Richard Rodgers

* Singer Paula West will perform at the Sheldon next season; here's a review of her recent gig in Charleston, SC.

* Trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot have been added to the lineup of this fall's Dave Koz Cruise, produced by St. Louis-based Jazz Cruises LLC. Braun, Elliot and Koz all will perform at The Pageant this summer.

* Pianist Les McCann and saxophonist Javon Jackson, who will team up for a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro in October, were a last-minute replacement for pianist McCoy Tyner at the jazz festival earlier this month in Telluride, CO.

* The National Endowment for the Arts has announced its 2009 Jazz Masters honorees, including guitarist and singer George Benson, drummer Jimmy Cobb, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, guitarist and harmonica player Toots Thielemans and trumpeter Snooky Young. Recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder will receive the 2009 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.

* Last but not least, composer and blogger Darcy James Argue recently had a couple of insightful and amusing posts about the phenomenon of "fan service," which he defines as "a marker or signifier that serves no legitimate aesthetic purpose, but is there to stroke those in the in-crowd while simultaneously alienating even the most sophisticated and open-minded newbies."

Jazz this week: Musica Slesa, Debby Lennon, Hot Club Caravan, Dave Black and more

There are no major touring jazz musicians visiting St. Louis this week, but there's still plenty of worthwhile musical activity involving local performers, including several free outdoor concerts. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, keyboardist Tony Simmons will play a free concert at Missouri Botanical Garden as part of the Whitaker Music Festival.

On Thursday, the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, a student ensemble made up of the most accomplished young musicians participating in the organization's education programs, will open the show for pop-soul singer Ralph Butler, who's performing a free concert at St. Louis Place Park as part of the Whitaker "Urban Evenings" series. Also on Thursday, multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman will bring his group Hot Club Caravan to Brandt's.

Then on Friday and Saturday nights, Latin jazz group Musica Slesa returns to Jazz at the Bistro. (Sorry, no link, as apparently Musica Slesa have not yet gotten around to putting up a Web site or even a MySpace page.) Also on Friday, guitarist Dave Black and his trio will play at Brandt's. And on Saturday, singer Debby Lennon (pictured) will perform at the Cabaret at Savor.

On Sunday, singer Anita Rosamond will do a free concert at Carondelet Park, and on Monday, pianist Michael Lacey bring his traditional jazz band to St. Louis Square Park for yet another free show.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events 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. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Stan Fornaszewski Orchestra featured in Press-Record

Drummer Stan Fornaszewski's big band is the subject of a feature article in the Granite City Press-Record and other Suburban Journal papers serving the Metro East. You can read the article online here, but one word of caution: If you know anything about jazz, or 20th century American music in general, you may do a spit-take of your beverage of choice and/or find your blood pressure rising after reading this particular passage:

"According to Web sites, big band music attracted a large following in the 1930s and 1940s. Abe Lyman, Rudy Vallee and Vincent Lopez were popular artists in the genre."

One can understand that a young general assignment reporter may not have a lot of specific knowledge of music history to draw upon when writing a piece like this. However, that doesn't excuse publishing unsourced information of extremely dubious accuracy.

Yes, Lyman, Vallee and Lopez all were active during the period in question, but citing them as "popular artists in the genre" without mentioning, say, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey or the many other better-known bands of the era is like leaving the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Beach Boys out of a history of rock music so as to devote more space to Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Archies and the Surfaris. And since when is "according to Web sites," considered adequate sourcing for a newspaper published by a major media conglomerate? Does the Press-Record not employ any editors at all?

StLJN jazz site of the week: Hard Bop Homepage

The StLJN jazz site of the week is Hard Bop Homepage, which, as the name implies, covers the swinging, soulful yet complex jazz style that first became popular in the 1950s and continues to be an important influence on many contemporary musicians. Though the site still retains a bit of that late-1990s early-WWW look, the content is extensive - there are critical appreciations and mini-biographies of key musicians, lists of important recordings from the hard bop canon, a links page, a blog (that, alas, seems to be updated very sporadically), and more.

As a primer on the genre, the HBHP is a useful reference - for example, if you're a jazz novice who has found yourself getting into the music of, say, Horace Silver or Art Blakey, and would like to find out more about others who have done similar work, the HBHP is definitely worth a look. And even veteran jazz fans will find food for thought and, perhaps, argument, in site creator Eric B. Olson's opinions of hard bop music and musicians both familiar and relatively obscure. If you want to know more about this important period in the ongoing evolution of jazz, check out the Hard Bop Homepage.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Russell Gunn plays "Walkin'" and "Stablemates"

This week's videos showcase trumpeter Russell Gunn, who grew up in East St. Louis and has made a name for himself as one of the top jazz trumpet players of his generation. The first clip shows Gunn performing "Walkin'," a hard bop standard frequently played back in the day by Miles Davis. It's taken from a performance on January 24 of this year at Churchill Grounds in Atlanta, where Gunn now lives. The second clip shows Gunn playing "Stablemates" during a jam session with drummer Bernard Linnette's band on March 3, 2008 at Star Jazz and Blues in Atlanta.

Don Wolff's I Love Jazz TV program taping at the Bistro on Tuesday, June 24

Don Wolff will be taping the July edition of his I Love Jazz television program starting at 7:00 p.m. next Tuesday, June 24 at Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave in Grand Center, and you're invited to be part of the live audience.

Wolff's guests will be two longtime St. Louis jazz favorites, singer Jeanne Trevor and pianist Dave Venn, and audience members can look forward to interviews with both plus a live musical performance. There's no charge to attend, but because space is limited, you must reserve your place by emailing Wolff's producer Madeline Dames at maddie@damesandassociates.com no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, June 23. You will receive an email confirmation of your reservation.

Audience members are asked to arrive at the Bistro by 7:00 p.m., and the taping should last about two hours, Dames said. I Love Jazz airs locally on the HEC-TV cable network.

Todd Mosby, students of Imrat Khan playing benefit for Nature Conservancy on July 12

Guitarist Todd Mosby, his band, and the students of master Indian musician Imrat Khan will play a benefit concert for the Nature Conservancy at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, July 12 at Lucas School House.

The concert will feature new compositions from Mosby that are intended to evoke the Ozark and Meramec regions of Missouri. Mosby, who also plays the Imratgitar, a 20-string, one-of-a-kind hybrid hybrid instrument that incorporates aspects of both guitar and sitar, will be joined by Ron Carr on drums, Carl Caspersen on bass and Nick Schlueter on keyboard.

The program also will feature music from North India, with the students of Imrat Khan performing an ancient rag from the Gharana, plus audio-visual presentations on the work done by Nature Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is "to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive."

Tickets for the "Concert for Conservation" are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, and a matching donation will be made to Nature Conservancy for every ticket purchased.

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

Since the beginning of June, StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds has featured online music videos from artists including Charles Mingus, Gato Barbieri, Freddie King, Medeski Martin & Wood, World Saxophone Quartet, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Al Green, Dave Douglas Quintet, Earth Wind and Fire, Friends of Distinction, Average White Band, Miles Davis, Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition, The Rascals, Johnny Griffin and the Art Taylor 4tet, Return to Forever, Count Basie Orchestra, and Thelonious Monk.

There's a different music video posted every day, drawing from genres including jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock, experimental and more. You can see all the clips listed above, plus hundreds more from the archives, by visiting http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/

Three MAXJAZZ releases nominated for 2008 International Jazz Awards

Three CDs released over the past year by the St. Louis-based label MAXJAZZ have been nominated for 2008 International Jazz Awards.

* Trio Da Paz and Joe Locke's Live at Jazz Baltica is nominated for Outstanding Brazilian Jazz Performance in a Duo or Group/Instrumental.

* Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and his band WiRED's release Shock Value: Live at Smoke is up for an award in the category of Outstanding Performance of a New Artist – Vocal/Duo or Group/Instrumental.

* Trumpeter Terell Stafford's Taking Chances: Live at the Dakota is nominated for Outstanding Performance in a Live Album.

Intended as an annual event, the IJA makes its debut this year with a gala ceremony to be held Sunday, June 29 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. The show will be hosted by actor/comedian D.L. Hughley, and recorded for future broadcast. Nominees were based on Soundscan’s top jazz sellers, and will honor jazz in categories including Contemporary/Smooth, Traditional, Swing, Latin, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, Fusion and Dixieland.

Gerald Albright interviewed in Post-Dispatch

Saxophonist Gerald Albright talked to Terry Perkins for a Post-Dispatch feature prompted by the Guitars and Saxes tour, which stops at The Pageant on Sunday night. You can read the article online here.

Jazz this week: Guitars and Saxes, Hamiet Bluiett, the music of the Crusaders, "Sworn To The Drum," and more

The major touring jazz attraction in St. Louis this week is the 2008 edition of Guitars and Saxes, which will be here on Sunday to play The Pageant as part of Rick Sanborn's "Smooth Summer Party" series. The featured performers for this year's version of Guitars and Saxes are guitarists Peter White and Jeff Golub, saxophonist Gerald Albright and keyboard player Jeff Lorber (pictured) .

Though the Guitars and Saxes headliners may have the marquee names, there's also plenty of good music this week from St. Louis' hometown talent, including several free concerts. The freebies start this evening, when Le Jazz Hot, featuring pianist Ptah Williams, saxophonist Chad Evans, drummer Bensid Thigpen and bassist Darrell Mixon, performs a free concert as part of the Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden

On Thursday, there are two more free shows, as pianist Curt Landes plays for the summer Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and the Whitaker Urban Evenings series at St. Louis Place Park (located at Rauschenbach Ave and St. Louis Ave) kicks off with a concert by singer Kim Massie. Working his second job as a blues harmonica player, Jazz St. Louis executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford and the Blues Inquisition will open the show for Massie.

On Friday and Saturday, you can get in a jazz-funk groove with Adaron "Pops' Jackson, keyboard player for the group Good 4 The Soul, as he performs the music of the Crusaders during a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro, or soak up a retro-Vegas vibe from singer Dean Christopher, who brings his Rat Pack-themed show featuring the music of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and more.for two nights at the Cabaret at Savor. Also this weekend, Cookie's Jazz and More will present two longtime St. Louis favorites, with Trio Tres Bien and singer Danita Mumphard taking the stage on Friday and singer/pianist Sherry Drake doing "A Tribute To Ella" on Saturday.

Sunday offers two more free performances, with the internationally known baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett and his Improvising Youth Orchestra playing outdoors at Ivory Perry Park, while Black Artists Group presents "Sworn To The Drum" featuring "Baba" Mike Nelson and friends indoors at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe. Also on Sunday, there's a blues benefit show for former Ike and Tina Turner saxophonist Jim Koerber at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. Though you probably won't hear any jazz at this last performance, there will be a nice selection of St. Louis blues talent, including the Soulard Blues Band and the Mighty Big Band, performing for a good cause.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events 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. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

(Edited 6/18/08 to correct the location of St. Louis Place Park.)

Benefit for former Ike and Tina Turner saxophonist to be held this Sunday, June 22 at BB's

St. Louis' blues musicians once again are banding together to help one of their own, as four popular local blues groups will present a concert to benefit Jim Koerber, former saxophonist with the Ike and Tina Turner Review, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. this Sunday, June 22 at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, 700 S. Broadway.

For a $10 admission fee, listeners will hear sets from the Soulard Blues Band, the Mighty Big Band, Los Carnales Blues Band, and Alvin Jett and the Phat noiZ Blues Band. All proceeds will go to medical and living expenses for Koerber, who has been battling tongue cancer and no longer is able to work as a musician.

Originally from North St. Louis, Jim Koerber played in many local bands, including the Classmen, whose lead singer Gayle McCormack later went on to record the national hit "Baby, It's You" as a member of the group Smith. After moving to Los Angeles, Koerber toured and recorded with Ike and Tina Turner during the duo's most popular years in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He can be heard on a number of their recordings, including their hit version of "Proud Mary," and appeared with them on national TV programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Upon leaving the music industry, Koerber returned to St. Louis and established a new career running his own delivery business. However, due to his illness, he has been unable to devote full time to it, and now is facing financial difficulties as well. In response, Koerber's old friends, including Art Dwyer and Tom Maloney from the Soulard Blues Band, have organized this benefit show. "We hope people will come out to the show, have a great time, and raise some money to help Jim Koerber, a great R&B sax player in the St. Louis tradition of Oliver Sain, Erskine Oglesby and Harry Simon," said Maloney.

StLJN jazz site of the week: Jerry Jazz Musician

The StLJN jazz site of the week is Jerry Jazz Musician, a site that's somewhat hard to describe in just a few words.

Billed as "a website devoted to jazz and American civilization," JJM is a somewhat idiosyncratic online jazz magazine with all sorts of original material, including interviews with musicians and authors, critical essays, reviews, and original art and photos. It's been online since 1998, which makes it one of the longest-running continuously updated jazz sites on the Web, and it does have a somewhat retro look and navigation system that may be a little off-putting at first for some users.

However, there's definitely enough interesting content to justify spending some time digging around. JJM also has a monthly newsletter that highlights the new items on the site as it is updated. Jerry Jazz Musician has been nominated twice by the Jazz Journalists Association as "Best Web site focusing on jazz," and I'd agree that it's well worth a look and/or a bookmark.

BAG presenting "Sworn To the Drum" on Sunday, June 22

The Black Artists Group is presenting another free event on Sunday, June 22. From their news release:

"Join “Baba” Mike Nelson (pictured) and friends on Sunday, June 22 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for "Sworn to the Drum," a musical salute to the spirit of the drum, at Scott Joplin House State Historic Site in the Rosebud Café.

A native of St. Louis, Nelson has earned the title of “Omo Anà” or sacred drummer in a global brotherhood of musicians. “This brotherhood is national, international and world-wide. A community that we are expanding by welcoming all to come and share this music with us,” says Nelson.

“This is a musical journey of drumming using local accomplished drummers who have taken an oath to the drum. “Sworn to The Drum” means that we have dedicated our lives to the preservation and protection of drum culture. Singers, dancers and musicians will also accompany the various styles of drumming.

“Part of what we want to speak to is the fact that in the past this style of drumming was relegated only to kings and queens. We’re widening the circle to bring this to the people. Making it accessible to the people and welcoming everyone into the circle,” says Nelson.

“These drummers have dedicated their lives to teaching and the proper social context of the styles of the drumming that we will be sharing on Sunday night. We need to widen the circle, and that is what this event is all about...

...Sunday’s line-up will include Haitian, West African and Afro- Cuban drumming with a tinge of improvisational jazz. Everyone will be invited to take a journey.

“As we have been taught, we want to empower the community with the power that we have, sharing the journey,” says Nelson, “We hope to have people walk away with a new respect for traditional music. An awareness of the sacred drum tradition.”

All BAG events are free and family friendly. Everyone is welcome."

For more information, call 314-340-5790 or send an email to bag_blackartistsgroup@yahoo.com.

Cynthia Prost to head Arts & Education Council

The organization that produces the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival is losing its executive director. From Post-Dispatch gossip columnist Deb Peterson:

"PROST PRO: Cindy Prost has ankled her post as executive director of Cultural Festivals of St. Louis to become president of the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis. Prost will succeed James F. Weidman, who is retiring. She will assume her new role at the end of the month. Prost became executive director of the St. Louis Art Fair in 1997 and grew it into an organization that also presents the St. Louis Jazz & Heritage Festival and The Big Read. Weidman has headed the council since 2002."

What does this mean for the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival? It's hard to say, at least until Cultural Festivals names a new executive director.

The organization has a small permanent staff, with just four employees (including Prost) listed on its Web site. Laura Miller, whose title is Director of Operations & Programming, would appear to be the highest ranking staff member after Prost. Will the organization will promote her to the top job, or look outside its current ranks for a new leader? With the Art Fair just three months away, it would seem that whatever they decide to do, they'll need to act quickly. (Readers who may have more insight into the situation are hereby invited to share their information, thoughts and/or opinions in comments.) StLJN will have more on this story as developments warrant.

Sheldon offering "Choose Your Own" subscriptions

The Sheldon Concert Hall is offering ticket buyers a "Choose Your Own" subscription plan for the 2008-09 season. Concert goers who purchase tickets for three or more concerts from the Sheldon's jazz, folk or classical series will get a 5% discount off single ticket prices plus "Preferred Seating and Great Subscriber Benefits!"

The Sheldon's jazz series for 2008-09 will include concerts by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Paula West, the Dave Holland Quintet, the John Jorgenson Quintet, and Rachael Price.

The "Choose Your Own" subscriptions will go on sale by phone at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 24; call 314-533-9900 to order. Online sales begin Wednesday, June 25 at www.thesheldon.org.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Spotlight on Terreon Gully

This week's videos showcase the very talented drummer Terreon Gully. Since moving to NYC a decade ago, the East St. Louis native has worked with a variety of musicians and groups in jazz, hip-hop and reggae, including David Sanborn, Stefon Harris, Russell Gunn, Burning Spear, Lauren Hill, Roy Ayers, Common, Christian McBride and many others.

Up top, you can see and hear Gully playing and soloing on Weather Report's "Boogie Woogie Waltz" with McBride's group, which includes the leader on bass, Geoff Keezer on keyboards, and Ron Blake on saxophones. Down below is a clip of a brief interview with Gully, who now makes his home in Atlanta.



(Edited 6/18/08 to fix a problem with the tags.)

More coverage of Return to Forever, Erin Bode in the Riverfront Times and Post-Dispatch

Here are some links to more local press coverage of upcoming jazz-related events:

* The Riverfront Times' Ryan Wasoba talked to Return to Forever drummer Lenny White about the group's reunion tour for a story found online here.

* Yr. humble StLJN editor has written two items for the RFT this week about Erin Bode and her new CD - one in print, and one online-only. This week's paper has a brief Critic's Pick for Bode's shows this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro, which you can read online here. Also, sometime Friday morning, the RFT's music blog "A to Z" should be posting a short feature based on an interview I did with Bode about the CD, The Little Garden. The main page for "A to Z" is here; I'll update with a permalink to the story when it becomes available.

* Meanwhile, the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson also talked to Bode for his column this week, which also includes a bit about the opening of the Saxquest Saxophone Museum.

Band Director Academy still accepting applications

Speaking of Jazz St. Louis, it looks like they are still accepting applications for the Band Director Academy to be held July 17 - 19 on the SIU-Edwardsville campus. The BDA is presented by Jazz St. Louis, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville. From this week's JSL email:

"Enroll in this July's Band Director Academy to learn about Teaching Rhythm Section Techniques! BDA, led by jazz's foremost educators, is a three-day intensive professional development workshop emphasizing hands-on learning with concepts and techniques that can be applied immediately in the classroom!

For more information:
Visit: www.jalc.org/bda
Call: 212-258-9812
Email: bda@jalc.org"

Young Friends of Jazz St. Louis schedule three listening parties

From this week's Jazz St. Louis email:

"The Young Friends of Jazz St. Louis will be hosting a trio of outdoor listening parties. Join the Young Friends for great music on the patio of Jazz at the Bistro for these fine performances: June 28, Musica Slesa hosted by Ben Terrill, Regan Tadrus and Alexis Gueco; July 25, Good 4 the Soul hosted by Melissa Glauber, Phil Dunlap and Ivy Hartman; September 12, Tony DeSare hosted by Clayton McDonnell, Corinne Henyan and Beth Bishop. Cash bar, menu options and valet parking are available. RSVP to Regan Tadrus at regan@jazzstl.org.

Young Friends of Jazz St. Louis is a dedicated group of men & women who raise awareness of Jazz St. Louis's contributions to the community. Its efforts include preserving jazz & promoting & presenting the music to a new generation."

Jazz concert series will accompany fall exhibition at Kemper Museum

A news release sent out by the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University says that the museum "will sponsor free Saturday afternoon jazz concerts throughout the fall" in conjunction with the exhibition Birth of the Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury.

The exhibition, which will be on display at the Kemper from September 19 through Jaunary 5, "takes a look at the broad cultural zeitgeist of "cool" that influenced the visual, graphic, and decorative arts, furniture, architecture, music, and film produced in California in the 1950s and early 1960s."

It's listed on the "Upcoming Exhibitions" page of the Kemper's Web site, but there's nothing more specific about the concert series, such as a schedule of performances, either in the news release or, so far, anywhere else on the Kemper's Web site. Still, it sounds like a promising notion, and so yr. StLJN editor will monitor the situation and have more info here when it's released.

Saxophone museum opening this Saturday, June 14

It looks like St. Louis is gaining another music-related attraction of potential interest to jazz fans. According to this story in the Southside Journal, the Saxquest Saxophone Museum will celebrate its grand opening from noon to 6:30 p.m. this Saturday, June 14.
The museum, located on the second floor at 2114 Cherokee Street (at Illinois Ave), is the latest addition to Saxquest, a business run by husband-and-wife saxophonists Mark and Elke Overton. Saxquest sells saxophones, clarinets and accessories; does repair and maintenance work; and operates Saxquest.com, a popular Web site devoted to all things saxophonic.

The Saxquest Saxophone Museum's collection includes more than 200 saxophones, among them a fully restored quartet of rare, original pre-Civil War instruments made by Adolphe Sax, who invented the instrument that bears his name in 1846. Visitors can even play the vintage saxes in a special "whisper room." You also can get a preview of some of the Overtons' vintage treasures in the online photo gallery here.

The museum is free and open to the public, and the grand opening celebration will feature free performances from Chamber Project St. Louis, James Bunte, the Paul DeMarinis Quartet and others, as well as clinics, master classes and an open jam. For a complete schedule of events, see this page from the Saxquest Web site.

The Gramophone, Jazz St. Louis teaming up for Tuesday night series

From the weekly email sent out by the The Gramophone:

"The Gramophone and Jazz St. Louis will partner on a weekly Tuesday night jazz series beginning Tuesday, June 17th, at The Gramophone.

Through this partnership, Jazz St. Louis and The Gramophone will co-present and co-promote local, regional and national acts. Universal Sound Ensemble, an eclectic five-piece instrumental group playing jazz standards ranging from bebop to fusion, will kick off the series. Raw Earth will round out the month of June."

Sounds like a logical collaboration to me, as The Gramophone gets the benefit of Jazz St. Louis' expertise and contacts, while JSL gets to extend its outreach to a new venue, on a night they when they usually don't have any competing programming. Also, given that Tuesday isn't normally a big night for live music in St. Louis, any new options to hear some quality music are always welcome. It will be interesting to see which bands and musicians get booked for these Tuesday night shows, and if any of them eventually show up on weekends at The Gramophone or perhaps even at JSL's flagship venue Jazz at the Bistro.

Erin Bode wins Riverfront Times Music Award

The readers of the Riverfront Times have voted for singer Erin Bode as the Best Jazz Artist in the weekly newspaper's 2008 Music Awards. You can see the complete list of 2008 Music Awards winners by visiting RFT music editor Annie Zaleski's "A to Z" blog here.

Post-Dispatch has interview with Stanley Clarke

The Post-Dispatch has a package of stories related to next Tuesday's concert by Return to Forever at the Fox Theatre, including an interview with bassist Stanley Clarke by the P-D's Calvin Wilson, plus sidebars on the most important musicians and key recordings of the 1970s jazz-fusion scene that RTF helped popularize. You can read the articles online here.

Jazz this week: Erin Bode, "Decades of Divas 2008," Two Times True, Return to Forever, and more

Time is short, and so the prose may be rather terse this week, as deadlines for actual paying work loom ominously. Still, you definitely should know about these jazz and creative music-related events that are happening in St. Louis over the next few days:

This evening, the Whitaker Music Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden continues with a free concert by Two Times True, featuring pianist Carolbeth True and her son David True on drums. For this performance, the two Trues will be joined by singer Christi John Bye, bassists Glen Smith and Marc Torlina, and saxophonist Larry Johnson.

Also this evening, the Sessions Big Band performs a free concert across the river at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, IL. And later in the evening and back in south St. Louis, the performance space Open Lot will present music from Zimbabwe Nkenya's Mbira Duo and a Chicago group called Spires That In The Sunset Rise, who are described as "an all-female free folk band...whose musical palette includes the spike fiddle, cello, bul bul tarang, various drums and bells, ecstatic yelps and cackles, and all manner of plectra." Admission to the Open Lot show is $7, and the doors open at 9:00 p.m.

On Thursday evening, there's another free concert, as the Jazz at Holmes summer series on the Washington University campus gets underway with a performance by singer and woodwind player Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris.

On Friday, singer Erin Bode and her band begin a three-day, six-show run at Jazz at the Bistro celebrating the release of her new CD The Little Garden. The disc, Bode's first since early 2006, features all original songs (save one), and will be available for purchase at the Bistro gigs. Bode will do sets at 8:30 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, plus matinee performances at 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. (Watch this space for more Bode-related linkage in the next day or two.)

On Saturday, several more of St. Louis' favorite female vocalists will be displaying their respective talents during the two performances of "Decades of Divas 2008" at the Edison Theatre. The show features singers Jeanne Trevor, Kim Massie, Anita Rosamond and Monya performing songs associated with Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, Patti LaBelle, Etta James and Gladys Knight. Bernie Hayes will MC, and provide some narration about the famous divas from a script penned by Terry Perkins. Performances are at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Some other noteworthy shows this weekend include Trio Tres Bien at Brandt's and Banda Caribe at Riddle's, both on Friday; and singer/pianist Sherry Drake at the Cabaret at Savor on Saturday.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday the Return to Forever reunion tour makes a stop in St. Louis for a concert at the Fox Theatre. The tour features the first reunion in 25 years of key band members Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Al DiMeola and Lenny White (pictured, as they were back in the day), and the reviews and press reports from the shows so far sound promising. Tickets are still available as of this writing, and until Friday, the Post-Dispatch also has a promotion giving away some passes to the show.

And last but not least, on the radio this week, Tony Renner will be spinning some traditional jazz finds on this Thursday's installment of his program The Scientific Method, heard at 10 a.m. on KWUR (90.3 FM); Don Wolff settles in to his second month broadcasting his show I Love Jazz at its new time, 10:00 p.m. Fridays, on its new home KFUO (99.1 FM); and Dennis Owsley has scheduled a brand-new Jazz Unlimited program at 9:00 p.m. Sunday on KWMU (90.7 FM)

For more St. Louis jazz-related events 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. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Win free tickets to Return to Forever

From the Department of "Because Everyone Likes Free Stuff": STLtoday.com and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch are giving away tickets to see Return to Forever's concert next Tuesday, June 17 at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis. The winner of the promotional giveaway will receive a "VIP Package for 2 to the Return to Forever Show that Includes access to Pre-Show Party, Meet and Greet, and Merchandise!".

You have to have (or be willing to create) an STLtoday.com ID to enter the drawing, which closes at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, June 13. You can see the rules and submit your entry here.

StLJN jazz site of the week: Kosmigroov Konnection

The StLJN jazz site of the week is Kosmigroov Konnection, a site that pays tribute to a sound it defines as "a transgressive improvisational music which combines elements of psychedelia, spirituality, jazz, rock, soul, funk, and African, Latin, Brazilian, Indian and Asian influences culminating into an all encompassing cosmic groove."

Like last week's featured site Ear of the Behearer, Kosmigroov Konnection is mostly a place to list, analyze and discuss recordings, and, as with Behearer, music made during the 1970s and early 1980s gets serious attention and reconsideration.

As you might expect, the electric music of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Weather Report and the avant-garde "arkestra" of Sun Ra figure prominently in the kosmigroov canon. However, the site also includes many older and newer recordings that somehow relate to the governing aesthetic, and stretches the definition far enough to include music by artists ranging from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa.

Still, it all seems to hang together somehow, and though the site is showing its age a bit - it originally was created back in 1997 - Kosmigroov Konnection provides an interesting perspective that encourages thoughtful consideration, discussion, and further exploration of the music it documents.

Freedonia Music releases five new CDs

The St. Louis-based label Freedonia Music, which specializes in free jazz and improvisation, has just added five new CD titles to its catalog. The new releases are:

* Autonomous Oblast from The James Marshall Human Arts Ensemble, which originally was recorded in 1975 and has been digitally remastered from the original studio tapes. The CD (pictured) is described as "big band old school free-blown' free jazz. Featuring rare performances by Maurice Malik King, James Marshall, Luther Thomas, Thurman Thomas, Jim Miller, Carl Arzinia Richards, Papa Glen Wright, and others."

* Esfoma, a 1984 set of solo improvisations by pianist Greg Mills, also digitally remastered.

* Dave Stone Solo, featuring newly recorded improvisations from Stone on tenor, soprano and baritone saxes and alto, soprano and bass clarinets.

* Kokopilau, from poet Michael Castro and multi-reedman J.D. Parran, described as "a ceremony of the ancient future celebrating a 30 year collaboration...Retelling mythic tales of life, death & rebirth with voice, tenor sax, indigenous hand crafted instruments and postmodern techniques."

* Endless Root, a 1996 live recording of performance poetry with music, from Michael Castro and multi-instrumentalist Joe Catalano.

The label, which is headed by saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Jay Zelenka, also has a revamped Web site with a new look, improved functionality and more information about the various products and artists. Listeners can hear numerous short excerpts from each CD on the home page, and download full length MP3s of selected tunes. All Freedonia Music releases are available from the site for $10 each, which includes shipping in the USA and Canada.

Summer concert series in Godfrey to feature three jazz big bands

Three St. Louis area big bands will be featured as part of a free jazz concert series this summer in Godfrey, Illinois. The Sessions Big Band leads off the 2008 Jazz in the Park series at 7:00 p.m. this Wednesday, June 11, followed by the Sentimental Journey Dance Band on Wednesday, July 16, and Shades of Blue, the jazz ensemble of the US Air Force Band of Mid America at Scott Air Force Base, on Wednesday, August 12.

Although the concert series has been known as Jazz in the Park since its inception five years ago, this year's performances will take place indoors in the Commons at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey. In a story published in the Alton Telegraph, the president of one of the local groups sponsoring the series said that the move was made because of "unpredictable weather."

Ross Gentile of WSIE (88.7 FM) will serve as host and MC. All three concerts are free and open to the public. Concert goers also may reserve a picnic-style dinner catered by Carver's Barbecue for $15 per person or $27 per couple; plates must be reserved in advance by calling 618-466-6110 no later than the Monday preceding each concert.

Organizers say Belleville fest drew 10,000

It appears that the city of Belleville's first-ever Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival, held yesterday in the southern Illinois town's public square, was a success. An article in the Belleville News-Democrat quotes one of the organizers as saying that the free event, which featured music from ten local and regional jazz groups, drew a crowd estimated at 10,000 people before 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. You can read the whole story here.

The Sheldon, Cardinals Care team up to teach young baseball players about jazz music

Jazz music and major league baseball grew up together during the 20th century, and later this month the Sheldon Concert Hall and the St. Louis Cardinals' Cardinals Care charity will team up to teach a new generation of potential fans and players about the connections between the two.

The two organizations are sponsoring free educational jazz concerts featuring the Jeff Anderson Quartet that will be be presented to kids participating in the "Redbird Rookies" program at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 25 and Thursday, June 26 at the Sheldon, 3648 Washington Boulevard.

A news release sent out by the Sheldon says that the program will tell the story of jazz through the music of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and other greats, and also teach that jazz, like baseball, requires "practice, creative improvisation, teamwork and respect for diversity." Students attending the concerts also will receive a free CD, Red Hot St.Louis Jazz, that features tracks recorded by local jazz musicians such as Willie Akins, Carolbeth True, Reggie and Mardra Thomas, Ptah Williams, Rick Haydon, Erin Bode, Kim Portnoy, Montez Coleman and more.

The "Redbird Rookies" program was started in 2004 to allow kids to play baseball free of charge; it provides donated equipment and uniforms as well training for volunteer coaches and parents that emphasizes the character-building aspects of sports.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Saxophones, St. Louis style, as playedby Greg Osby and Eric Person

This week's videos showcase two versatile saxophonists originally from St. Louis who have established successful careers as touring artists, composers and bandleaders. Up top, we've got two clips featuring Greg Osby, who usually concentrates on alto sax, but also has performed on soprano sax, clarinet and flute. In addition to leading his own bands, Osby has worked with Andrew Hill, the World Saxophone Quartet, Jim Hall, Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition and many others, and even did a tour with Grateful Dead successors The Dead a few years back.

The first video up above shows Osby fronting his own group in a performance of "The End Of A Love Affair," with a little bit of interview footage as a bonus. In the second clip he's seen in a less formal setting, jamming alongside guitarist John Abercrombie on a variation of the tune "Solar" that here is called "Improvisation #3."

Down below, we've got two videos featuring Eric Person, who divides his time between soprano, alto, and tenor saxes and flute. Like Osby, Person has done some gigs with the WSQ and has toured with a rock band, performing with Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals. Person also has played and recorded with Chico Hamilton, Dave Holland, Ronald Shannon Jackson and lots more, but these days he puts the bulk of his efforts into his own band, Meta-Four.

The first clip shows Person playing soprano sax on his own composition "Undercurrents." It's short but sweet, shot in artsy black-and-white with a Super-8 camera by Todd Boebel, with video editing by April Smith. In contrast, the second clip is about as informal as it gets - camcorder footage of Person jamming at a small club, this time playing alto sax. The tune is John Coltrane's "Impressions," and the other musicians are drummer Marvin "Bugalu" Smith, pianist John Esposito and bassist Andy McCloud, whose contributions are, alas, almost inaudible. While the audio is rough, you can hear Person pretty well, and the interaction between him and Smith suggests that they've both spent some time listening to those classic 1960s 'Trane recordings with Elvin Jones on drums.

Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival set for Saturday, September 20

The Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival has announced the musical lineup for its eighth annual event, which will be held from noon to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 20 in the Webster Groves Historic District at Gore and Lockwood Avenue.

A total of ten bands will be featured on two outdoor stages, with headlining sets from singer Erin Bode (on the Allen Avenue stage) and the New Orleans-style funk/R&B/zydeco band Gumbohead and special guests the Funky Butt Brass Band (on the Gore Avenue stage).

The event also will include jazz performances from guitarist Todd Mosby (pictured), the Pfeffer Trio with Debby Lennon, Anita Rosamond, the Webster University Faculty Jazz Band and the Webster Groves High School Jazz Band, as well as blues from the Soulard Blues Band, the SteamRollers, and Marquise Knox.

The Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival is free and open to the public, and goes on rain or shine. For more information, visit their Web site.

Jazz at Holmes announces summer 2008 schedule

The Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University is presenting a summer schedule again this year, and they released information on the lineup for summer 2008 to the public today:

The series kicks off next Thursday, June 12 with the French cabaret and jazz sounds of vocalist and woodwind player Elsie Parker (pictured) and The Poor People of Paris. The rest of the schedule is as follows:

Thursday, June 19 - Pianist Curt Landes
Thursday, July 10 - Drummer Bensid Thigpen & group play the music of Wayne Shorter
Thursday, July 17 - Guitarist Vincent Varvel
Thursday, July 24 - Drummer Miles Vandiver
Friday, August 8 - Trumpeter Randy Holmes and his sextet
Thursday, August 14 - Pianist Ptah Williams (outdoors in Brookings Quadrangle.)

All performances are free and open to the public and take place from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, unless otherwise noted. Holmes Lounge is located in Ridgley Hall, on the western side of Brookings Quadrangle. For more information, you can call 314-862-0874 or send an email to staylor@wustl.edu.

Download of Hamiet Bluiett's S.O.S. available at Pharoah's Dance

Attention Hamiet Bluiett fans: The music sharing blog Pharoah's Dance has a download of an out-of-print Bluiett live recording from 1977. Originally issued on LP as S.O.S. (and later reissued in 1996 on CD under the title Im/possible To Keep, also now out of print) the session was recorded at an NYC venue called Axis and features Bluiett (pictured) on baritone sax, clarinet, and flutes; Don Pullen on piano; Fred Hopkins on bass; and Famoudou Don Moye on "sun percussion."

It's online as four .zip files, which unzip into two discs worth of music. Following what seems to be a common convention among music sharing-sites, the locations of those files are listed in the comments section rather than hot-linked in the post itself. (While one could link directly to those files, that's looked upon dimly among music-sharing bloggers, because it deprives the blogger of hits and of interaction with fellow music fans.)

So, here's what you have to do: To download, go to the post's permalink here, scroll down to the comments, and use your mouse to highlight them, rendering the black-on-black text visible. In the first comment from site proprietor "vesper," you'll find the names of four files located on Rapidshare. Copy and paste the first file name into your browser's address bar, hit enter, and once the Rapidshare page comes up, follow the instructions to download the file. Repeat for parts two through four, then unzip the files, and enjoy. It's a somewhat convoluted process, but I suppose it keeps the 'bots and scrapers from eating up too much bandwidth, or something like that. And with all four musicians in excellent form, it's certainly worth the time it takes for a few extra keystrokes. .

Although I couldn't find any other recordings from St. Louis artists on Pharoah's Dance, the site does seem to have a lot of other interesting modern and avant-garde jazz stuff, so do take a good look around while you're there - and if you download, it's certainly polite to leave a comment or send an email to the blogger to say thanks.

As always, there's no telling how long this material will stay available online, so move fast if you want to snag a copy. And also as always, StLJN does not endorse, condone, participate in or publicize downloads of material that currently is available for purchase from a record label or artist. I'll only link to downloads of music that is out-of-print or that has never been commercially issued, such as radio broadcasts, board tapes, and so on. Please support your favorite musicians by attending their live performances and/or buying their legally available recordings.

Jazz this week: Zappa Plays Zappa; Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival; Erin Bode; Trombone Shorty; Gary Dammer; Linda Presgrave; and more

It's a busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with concerts, a free festival, and club gigs that will offer something for musical tastes ranging from traditional jazz to mainstream to seriously warped.

Speaking of warped, for yr. humble editor, a confirmed Zappaphile since my teens, the highlight of the next few days will be the return of Zappa Plays Zappa to The Pageant on Monday evening. Based on the band's 2006 appearance at the same venue, I can heartily recommend the ZPZ show to anyone who enjoys, or just is curious about, Frank Zappa's music. Along with the core band led by Frank's eldest son Dweezil, the special guest on this year's tour is singer-guitarist Ray White, so expect at least a portion of the show to be devoted to FZ's output from the 1980s, when White was a mainstay of his touring ensemble. However, the 2006 tour successfully incorporated music from just about every period of Zappa's long and diverse career, and I'd look for a similarly varied mix this time around as well.

That said, there are plenty of other noteworthy shows happening this week, starting this evening when singer Erin Bode (pictured) opens the 2008 Whitaker Music Festival series of free concerts at the Missouri Botanical Garden. It's a busy week for Bode, whose new CD The Little Garden will be available for the first time anywhere at tonight's show. She's also appearing at the Cabaret at Savor on Thursday, and will be doing concerts on Friday and Saturday at the Innsbrook Music Institute with her band and members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

If your taste runs more toward straight-ahead swing, veteran St. Louis trumpeter Gary Dammer, best known for his long-running big band, will lead a small combo dubbed the I-70 Jazz Connection in performances on Friday and Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro .

To sample a varied musical menu in a single outing, check out the first-ever Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival, which will take place on Saturday in and around the square in downtown Belleville, IL. The free event starts at 11:00 a.m. and runs until 9:00 p.m., featuring performances by the Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project, Anita Rosamond, Good 4 The Soul, Brian Owens, the Nathan Jatcko Trio, Phil Dunlap's Legacy Jazz Quintet, Mary Dyson, John Farrar & Straight Eight, and the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars student ensemble.

Also on Saturday, New Orleans brass man Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews brings his funk band Orleans Avenue to the Broadway Oyster Bar, and pianist and St. Louis native Linda Presgrave returns home from her current base in NYC to lead her quartet in a performance at Cookie's Jazz and More.

Last but not least, on Sunday the St. Louis Jazz Club will present the traditional jazz sounds of pianist Jean Kittrell's Old St. Louis Levee Band in a show at the Moolah Shrine Center, 12545 Fee Fee Rd.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events 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. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Pollstar: Dr. John, Neville Brothers to perform at the Sheldon in February

The online tour information service Pollstar has added a listing indicating that pianist and singer Dr. John (pictured) and his fellow New Orleans natives and "first family of funk" the Neville Brothers will be performing at the Sheldon Concert Hall on February 12, 2009.

Since February is when the Sheldon usually has one of their major benefit concerts for the year - the 2008 event featured Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra - it seems possible, perhaps even likely, that the good Doctor and the Nevilles may be coming to St. Louis for the 2009 edition of the fund-raising event. Also, given the popularity of New Orleans music in St. Louis, this double bill would certainly be a good draw for a major event such as a benefit gala. Dr. John last appeared here at the 2006 St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival, while the Nevilles have been relatively frequent visitors to the Gateway City for more that 20 years, most recently as the headliners for Jazz St. Louis' 2007 fundraiser.

Of course, plans can change, and, as always, any information disseminated by Pollstar should not be considered official until confirmed by the venue. If and when such confirmation comes from the Sheldon, we'll have the news for you right here.

UMSL fires KWMU GM

The University of Missouri-St. Louis has fired KWMU general manager Patricia Wente after completing a review of the public radio station's financial and management policies. A story by reporter Greg Jonsson in today's Post-Dispatch says that the University does not anticipate making any further personnel changes, which one would hope means that the program schedule also will remain unaffected.

Although most of the station's programming consists of news and talk, KWMU does broadcast the long-running music program Jazz Unlimited, hosted by Dennis Owsley, on Sundays from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Post-Dispatch critic reviews jazz photo exhibit at the Sheldon Art Galleries

In other jazz-related news from the Post-Dispatch, visual arts critic David Bonetti has reviewed the exhibit of jazz photos by Herb Snitzer now on display at the Sheldon Art Galleries, calling it "the most engrossing" of the three shows currently running there. Read the whole thing online here.

As an aside, though Bonetti may know his stuff about visual art, he's apparently quite a bit less well informed about music, as his review calls the late 1950s and early 1960s - the time when Snitzer took the photos now on exhibit at the Sheldon - "the twilight of an art form." Many jazz fans, yr. humble editor included, would disagree fervently with this assessment, and a professional critic from any discipline ought to know better that to confuse commercial popularity, or the lack thereof, with aesthetic and artistic merit. By tacitly admitting his ignorance of all the great jazz music recorded since then, and the many jazz artists who continue to do significant work today, Bonetti undermines his own credibility and does a disservice to his readers and to the jazz community.

Post-Dispatch has reports from Jazz and Heritage Festival

The 2008 St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival, held Saturday at Shaw Park in Clayton, once again this year was plagued by bad weather, bringing the set of pianist and Joe Sample and singer Randy Crawford to an early conclusion and forcing the cancellation of the performance by headliner Cassandra Wilson. The Post-Dispatch has two reports from the festival online: a blog post from pop critic Kevin Johnson detailing the event's weather woes, and a review, written by Terry Perkins, of the acts that were able to get their sets in before the rain came.

(Edited 6/4/08 to add a tag.)

StLJN jazz site of the week: Ear of the Behearer

The StLJN jazz site of the week is Ear of the Behearer, a site devoted to jazz and creative music recorded between 1970 and 1989. Spawned by discussions in the jazz blogosphere of the music of those years, EOTB uses a Wikipedia-style look and interface and offers year-by-year documentation of what it calls "one of the richest — most overlooked and underrated — eras" of jazz.

Clark Terry back home after heart surgery

It's a pleasure to be able to relay the news that after undergoing surgery to remove what was described as a 95% heart blockage, trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry was released from a Kansas City hospital on May 19 and is now recuperating at his home in Pine Bluff, AR. (This information comes from the "News" section of Terry's Web site, but since the site is built using Flash, there's no way to link directly to any of the internal pages.) Fans can still send their "get well" wishes to Terry via this thread at JazzCorner.com's "Speakeasy" message board.

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

If you enjoy watching music videos online, but don't have time to search through YouTube trying to find the good stuff, you should know about StLJN's sibling site, Heliocentric Worlds, which presents a different music video every day, drawing on genres including jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock and experimental.

Over the past couple of weeks, featured artists have included Thelonious Monk, Nucleus Revisited, Maceo Parker, Traffic, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Stevie Wonder, Brian Auger, Aretha Franklin, Sonny Rollins, Al Kooper and the Blues Project, Jeff Beck, Tower of Power, Charles Mingus, the Gap Band, Ben Webster, Muddy Waters and Otis Spann, Medeski Martin and Wood, the World Saxophone Quartet and Louis Armstrong. You can still see them all, plus hundreds more music videos from the archives, by pointing your browser to http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/.