Jazz this week: Notes from the dog days

It's still the dog days of August in St. Louis, and thus still one of the slower times of the year for jazz in our town, but if you're in the mood to hear some music over the next few days, here are a few possibilities you may want to consider:

On Friday, popular singer Erin Bode and her band return to The Gramophone, while Gaslight Square veterans Trio Tres Bien (pictured) with singer Danita Mumphard are at Cookie's Jazz and More, and the Second Generation Swing Band plays for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom. On Saturday, tenor saxophonist Willie Akins performs his weekly early evening gig at Spruill's, and on Sunday, the New St. Louis Jazz Xtet do their regular thing at Riddle's.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band is back at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups. On Tuesday, you can check out singer Jeanne Trevor at Brandt's, or head to The Gramophone for their free Tuesday night jazz series, which this week features a new band called Utter Chaos.

Utter Chaos are not, as the name might suggest, some sort of free-improv group, but rather are, according to The Gramophone's promotional email, "dedicated to recreating the unique sounds of the Gerry Mulligan/Bob Brookmeyer piano-less quartets of the mid 1950s. Baritone saxophonist Andy Ament is joined by Cody Henry on trombone, Chris Turnbaugh on bass and Jerry Mazzuca on drums. All members of the quartet are graduates of the SIUE jazz department."

To get your dose of free improv this week, you'll have to amble on down Wednesday to Apop Records, 2831 Cherokee St, , for the electric free jazz band Squid Choir Orkestra's concert in the store's Camp Concentration performance space. You can hear some samples of the SCO over on bandleader Jay Zelenka's Freedonia Music site.

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.