Smooth jazz returning to the Pageant this summer

The Pageant has announced the scheduling of three smooth jazz concerts for summer 2008. Presented under the auspices of radio personality Rick Sanborn's "Smooth Summer Party," the concerts will feature the 2008 edition of Guitars and Saxes, with guitarists Peter White and Jeff Golub, saxophonist Gerald Albright (pictured) and keyboard player Jeff Lorber, on Sunday, June 22; R&R, with saxophonist Richard Eliot and trumpeter Rick Braun, on Friday, July 25; and saxophonist Dave Koz on Friday, August 8.

Tickets for each show are $35 and $40, with a $5 per ticket discount if you buy seats for all three concerts. Tix will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, May 2, via Ticketmaster and the Pageant box office.

Carolbeth True Trio to perform at All That Tap XVI on July 26

All That Tap XVII, the 2008 installment of the annual celebration of tap dancing created and produced by St. Louis tap dancer, choreographer, teacher and historian Robert L. Reed (pictured), will take place starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 26 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

The event is the culmination of the weeklong St. Louis Tap Festival, and will feature a multi-generational cast of dancers from all over the country performing in styles from Jazz to Funk to Broadway with live musical accompaniment from pianist Carolbeth True's jazz trio. For ticket information, see the TouPAC's Web site.

Win a free trip to the Montreal Jazz Festival

Down Beat magazine is giving away a free trip for two to one weekend of the Montreal Jazz Festival, which takes place from June 26-July 2.

The festival is billed as "the largest in North America" and offers performances at a variety of venues by a diverse roster of musical artists including Return to Forever, Al Green, Hank Jones, McCoy Tyner, Dave Brubeck, Omara Portuondo, Cassandra Wilson, Charlie Haden's Quartet West, Leonard Cohen, Steely Dan, Aretha Franklin, Woody Allen, Saxophone Summit with Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman and Ravi Coltrane, and many more.

The prize package include two round-trip flights from the U.S., for either festival weekend; three pairs of tickets for selected concerts at the festival; two nights luxury hotel accommodation at the Hyatt Regency Montreal, which is right on the festival site; two official festival T-shirts and programs; and two meals in restaurants on the festival site. As with most such contests, you've got divulge some personal info to enter, but assuming you're OK with that, you can submit your entry here.

There's still time to see the NEA Jazz Masters online

As Jazz Appreciation Month winds down, you still have a couple of days left to see the special online video program created by the producers of the PBS series Legends of Jazz to honor the National Endowment for the Arts' 2007 Jazz Masters.

The 45-minute program is hosted by Ramsey Lewis, and features profiles of and music from 2007 honorees Frank Wess, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Curtis Fuller (pictured), Phil Woods and Jimmy Scott, plus a special appearance from Nancy Wilson. You can see the entire special online for free here. (If you don't want to watch the entire program, you also can see the individual segments on each Jazz Master by following the links at the bottom of the linked page.)

StLJN jazz site of the week: Avant Music News

If you're interested in music that is "challenging, interesting, different, progressive, introspective, or just plain weird," check out Avant Music News, which is StLJN's site of the week.

AMN covers avant-garde and free jazz, improvisation, contemporary classical, electronic and experimental music, and many other variant genres and sub-genres, offering links to reviews, concert schedules, CD release information and more from musicians and venues all around the world. There's usually not much in the way of commentary or annotation, but the scope and volume of the links provided definitely makes Avant Music News worth a look and/or a bookmark for fans of adventurous sounds.

Downtown Belleville will present Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival on June 7

The city of Belleville, IL will hold its first-ever Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 7 in the public square downtown.

Festival goers can sample food and drink from local restaurants and wineries during the day-long event, and there will be three performance venues showcasing music from singers Anita Rosamond, Brian Owens (pictured) and Mary Dyson as well as the Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project, Good 4 The Soul, Phil Dunlap's Legacy Jazz Quintet, pianist Nathan Jatcko and his trio, and guitarist John Farrar with Straight Eight.

Admission is free. For a schedule of musical performances, check out the festival's Web site (which also offers some additional info, though it seems to be still under construction.)

Miles Davis Jazz Celebration on May 18 to feature Willie Akins, Arlin Strader

Among its many other charms, the riverside town of Alton, IL is known as the birthplace of Miles Davis, and in recent years the community has staged various events to honor the jazz trumpet great around the time of his birthday, which is May 26.

This year, St. Louis saxophonist Willie Akins (pictured) and drummer Arlin Strader of Myrtle Beach, SC will headline the Alton area's third annual Miles Davis Jazz Celebration, scheduled from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 18 in Trimpe Hall on the campus of Lewis and Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Rd in nearby Godfrey, IL.

Strader is a jazz and show drummer, educator and clinician who works steadily in the Carolinas and has toured the U.S. and Canada with the Tommy Dorsey band, while Akins is well-known to St. Louis area jazz fans as a mainstay of our local scene for more than 40 years. The concert also will feature a group from Lewis and Clark Community College co-led by drummer Howard Neal and multi-instrumentalist Tim Jarden, and including tenor saxophonist Herb Hutchinson, guitarist/trombonist Kenny King and trumpeter Kerry Walter. In addition, there will be a tribute to the late R&B vocalist and songwriter Luther Ingram, a native of Madison County, IL who was known for hits such as "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right)." Ingram passed away in 2007 after a long illness.

General admission tickets for the Miles Davis Jazz Celebration are $20 in advance, $25 at the door and can be purchased at the Alton Museum of History and Art and at Bossanova Martini Lounge, 112 W. Third St. in Alton.

Glendale Jazz Festival set for Friday, May 23

The 2008 Glendale Jazz Festival will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Friday, May 23 on the lower parking lot of the Glendale City Hall complex, 424 N. Sappington Rd.

This year's event, hosted once again by jazz broadcaster Don Wolff, will have a decided New Orleans flavor, with sets from the traditional jazz band the St. Louis Stompers and the Louisiana-style funk and R&B group Gumbohead. Completing the musical lineup is Terry Thompson's Swing Alive band featuring singer Dean Christopher (pictured), who's known for his Rat Pack tribute show featuring musical impressions of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and others.

Admission is free, and food and beverages from Westwood Catering and Caitos Restaurant will be available for purchase. You can download a .pdf flyer for the event here.

Ann Hampton Callaway to headline May 9 show to benefit Ross Gentile

Singer, songwriter and pianist Ann Hampton Callaway (pictured) will return to St. Louis on Friday, May 9 to headline an event benefiting longtime WSIE (88.7 FM) radio personality Ross Gentile. Gentile recently returned to work after a long illness, and funds raised at the benefit jazz concert and dinner will help pay for some of his medical costs.

The event will be held at Royal Orleans Banquet Center, 2801 Telegraph Rd. in South County. It gets underway at 6:00 p.m. with a cash bar and music by the Gary Dammer Sextet, with special guests including Anita Rosamond, Denise Thimes and others. Dinner will be catered by Giuseppe's Restaurant, followed by the performance at 8:00 p.m. by Callaway and the Reggie Thomas Trio. Tickets are $45 per person for dinner and the concert, or $30 per person for the concert only, and can be purchased in advance online from Ticketmaster or by calling 314-241-1888. (There will be no ticket sales at the door.)

Rose, Speer and Raglani to perform at Open Lot this Sunday, April 27

This just in: The arts collective and performance space Open Lot is presenting a concert at 9 p.m. tomorrow, Sunday, April 27, featuring touring musicians Jack Rose (pictured) and D. Charles Speer and an opening set from St. Louis-based multi-instrumentalist Joe Raglani.

Rose is a Philadelphia guitarist whose sound is described as having made the journey from electric noise/drone music to "acoustic maximalism", while D. Charles Speer is the nom de musique of NYC singer/guitarist Dave Shuford, who blends influences from folk, blues and experimental music. Open Lot is located at 1310 S. 18th Street, and admission to the Rose/Speer/Raglani concert is $10.

(Edited after posting to add the photo. Edited again to correct the ticket price. )

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Karrin Allyson sings "Moanin'" and "O Barquinho (Little Boat)"

This week's videos feature singer and pianist Karrin Allyson, who's coming to St. Louis to perform at Jazz at the Bistro from Wednesday, May 7 through Saturday, May 10.

In these two clips, recorded in 2003 at the Montreux Jazz Festival, you can see and hear her singing the hard bop standard "Moanin'" (above) and demonstrating her affinity for Brazilian music with "O Barquinho (Little Boat)" (below).

Three is a magic number

It was three years ago today that St. Louis Jazz Notes first went online. Over the past year, the site's readership has continued to grow, and I've tried my best to continue the mission of documenting what's going on in St. Louis with regard to jazz, creative music and improvisation.

Though there have been occasional goofs, screwups and missed opportunities, I'm proud that StLJN has been able to break many stories of relevance to the local jazz community, and to give attention to many others that may have received short shrift from other local media.

Of course, I couldn't do this without you - the readers, commenters, assorted tipsters, musicians, music students and educators, presenters, club owners, publicists, media people, record label employees and many others who have helped make the site what it is.

I thank you all for your emails, comments, ideas, suggestions and news tips, and, most of all, for your time and attention, and once again I look forward to another year of doing whatever I can to make St. Louis Jazz Notes a useful and entertaining resource. In the meantime, please feel free to use the comments for your heartiest "birthday" wishes & congratulations, suggestions, random jazz-related thoughts, and/or (if you must) bitter complaints.

Riverfront Times announces 2008 Music Awards nominees

The Riverfront Times has announced the nominees for the paper's 2008 Music Awards. Oddly, the list of nominees in the jazz category is identical to last year's, with Willie Akins, Hamiet Bluiett (pictured), Erin Bode, the Dave Stone Trio and the Brian Sullivan Quartet up for the award again this year.

If past years are any guide, ballots will be available soon both online and in the paper. You can see the complete list of nominees in all categories here. The RFT's annual music showcase, which features performances by many of the nominated bands at venues in and around the Delmar Loop, is scheduled for Sunday, June 1. Award winners will be announced in a subsequent issue of the paper.

Pollstar: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue coming to Broadway Oyster Bar on June 7

The online tour information service Pollstar has just added a listing indicating that New Orleans-based funk band Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue will be in St. Louis on Saturday, June 7 to perform at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Bandleader Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews (pictured), who plays trumpet as well as trombone, is one of New Orleans' most popular musicians these days. He won top honors at the Big Easy Music Awards in New Orleans earlier this month, earning the Best Male Performer award, and was voted as Offbeat Magazine's 2007 Best of the Beat Performer of the Year, while Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue won Best R&B/Funk Band.

The 22-year-old has already made several high-profile appearances on national television, performing for the re-opening of the New Orleans Superdome on the NFL’s Monday Night Football pre-game show on ESPN, and making his acting debut on the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Andrews' Studio 60 performance leading a group of New Orleans musicians in a brass band rendition of “O Holy Night” became a popular online video download. For more on Andrews, see this interview he did last year with USA Today.

In addition to Andrews, Orleans Avenue includes Mike Ballard on bass, James Martin on tenor sax, Pete Murano on guitar, Charlie Smith on keyboards and Joey Peebles on drums. You can see them performing in the video window embedded below, which shows an excerpt from a club performance last October in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

(A caveat for the reader: Although Pollstar's listings are usually accurate, shows should be considered unconfirmed until officially announced by the venue in question. )

Jazz this week: Ray Brown Tribute Band, Billy Harper, Carla Cook, Mike Vax Big Band, The Wee Trio, Amina Figarova, and more

There's quite a variety of live jazz happening this week in St. Louis, so let's go right to the highlights, presented in chronological order:

Tonight, the Ray Brown Tribute Band featuring bassist Christian McBride (pictured), pianist Benny Green and drummer Greg Hutchinson opens a four-night run which continues through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Brown, who worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald - whom he also married - and many others, was pretty much the gold standard of mainstream swing bass-playing throughout his more than 50 years in jazz. McBride and Green - both well versed in tradition, yet young enough to have been shaped by vastly different experiences than musicians of Brown's generation - would seem to have both the skills and the sensibility to do justice to his legacy. Here's hoping they're using the opportunity to explore some of Brown's own compositions, as the bassist did build up a catalog of tunes over the years.

UPDATE, 1:00 a.m., 4/24/08: Calvin Wilson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a preview story about the Ray Brown Tribute Band in today's paper. Read it online here.

On Thursday, pianist Amina Figarova, who's originally from Azerbaijan, brings his group to St. Louis for a free concert in the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and Brooklyn-based alterna-jazz band The Wee Trio, with former St. Louisan Dan Loomis on bass, performs at Lucas School House.

On Friday, former Stan Kenton trumpeter Mike Vax and his Big Band are doing a concert at Principia High School. Although Vax's band is not officially a Kenton tribute, the band does include a number of Kenton alumni and reportedly plays a few charts from Kenton's book, too.

And speaking of beloved big band bosses of a bygone era, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, still carrying on without its long-departed leader, is in the St. Louis area on Saturday, with a matinee and an evening show at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Elsewhere on Saturday, singer Carla Cook, who's familiar to local audiences because she has recorded for the St. Louis based MAXJAZZ label and performed at Jazz at the Bistro, takes the stage at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and tenor saxophonist Billy Harper plays at Luna Bar in the Central West End.

On Sunday, western swing stalwarts Asleep at the Wheel will cram themselves on to the smallish outdoor stage at Beale on Broadway, a venue that would seem to have the right vibe but insufficient room to accommodate the number of fans likely to show up for such a relatively well-known act. If you happen to dig the blend of jazz and country music that is western swing, Asleep at the Wheel are about as good as it gets these days.

Other noteworthy shows this weekend include singer Jeanne Trevor at Brandt's and Wild, Cool and Swingin' at Cookie's Jazz and More on Friday; and singer Erin Bode at Lucas School House and Trio Tres Bien with Danita Mumphard at Cookie's on Saturday.

For still more St. Louis jazz and creative music 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.)

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds offers a different music video every day, drawn from genres including jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock, experimental and more.

So far this month, the site has featured video clips by artists including Al Kooper, Jeff Beck, the J Geils Band, Gil Scott-Heron, Tower of Power, Mingus Dynasty, the Gap Band, Ben Webster and Oscar Peterson, Otis Spann, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Al Green, Dave Douglas Quintet, Earth Wind and Fire, Bill Bruford Band, the Horace Silver Quintet and the Elvin Jones Trio, Stevie Wonder, Curved Air, Carla Bley Big Band, Johnny Griffin and the Art Taylor 4tet, the Rascals, Return to Forever and Ray Charles.

You can still see them all, plus hundreds more from the archives, by visiting http:://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com.

Billy Harper to perform at Luna Bar this Saturday, April 26

This just in: Tenor saxophonist Billy Harper will be in St. Louis this Saturday, April 26 for a performance at Luna Bar, 13 Maryland Avenue (next to Bar Italia) in the Central West End. Harper is a veteran of the NYC scene who, in addition to his work as a bandleader, composer and teacher, has played with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Elvin Jones, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, Gil Evans and Max Roach.

Despite that stellar resume and his considerable skills, Harper is a bit underappreciated, perhaps in part because he draws on a unusually wide range of influences, from gospel and blues to bop and swing to post-Coltrane modernism and free jazz, and thus is hard to pigeonhole. He first caught my ear on a couple of Gil Evans' recordings in the late 1970s, showing off an aggressive tenor sound and an adventurous sensibility that seemed a good fit with Evans' arranging style.

Harper will be joined Saturday night by trumpeter and former St. Louisan Marlon Bonds, plus Ptah Williams on piano, Darrell Mixon on bass and Jerome "Scrooge" Harris on drums. He'll perform at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., and admission is $25.00, with a $5.00 discount if you dine at Bar Italia.

The performance is being presented by the Nu-Art Series, the brainchild of trumpeter, arts administrator and entrepreneur George Sams, and for more information you can call the Nu-Art Series office at 314-535-6500. You can see and hear a brief sample of Harper's playing in the embedded video window below, which contains an excerpt from the song "Cry of Hunger" on the Arkadia DVD release Billy Harper in Concert: Live from Poland.



(Edited after posting to correct the performance time.)

Cornet Chop Suey, Jean Kittrell to headline Madison jazz festival's 20th anniversary party

Two St. Louis-based jazz groups are headed north to Madison, WI this week to headline the 20th anniversary celebration of the Capital City Jazz Fest there.

Traditional jazz festival circuit favorites Cornet Chop Suey and Jean Kittrell and the St. Louis Rivermen will be featured at the fest's birthday party on Thursday night, and also will perform this weekend. The three-day Capital City Jazz Fest is produced by the Madison Jazz Society.

StLJN jazz site of the week: Casa Valdez Studios

The StLJN jazz site of the week is Casa Valdez Studios, the blog of David Valdez, a working jazz saxophonist in Portland, Oregon. The site includes a mix of local and national jazz news; Valdez' original interviews; opinion pieces on various musicians, recordings and live shows; and a lot of jazz education content, with plenty of links to useful online resources such as free downloads of fake books, sheet music and recordings.

Valdez has a clear, straightforward writing style that's easy to follow, and though his posting schedule is a bit irregular, he offers quality information when he does post. His site is a good read for anyone interested in jazz, and music students will find Casa Valdez Studios to be an especially useful resource.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Zappa Plays Zappa plays "Call Any Vegetable," plus some vintage Return to Forever

This week, let's take a look at some videos from a couple of electric bands who 1) are working a certain nostalgic vibe, redolent of the fusion music of the 1960s and 1970s; and 2) will be appearing in St. Louis later this spring. First up is Zappa Plays Zappa, the FZ repertory ensemble led by Frank's son Dweezil, who will be returning to St. Louis on Monday, June 9 to play The Pageant concert club. In this clip from 2007, they're seen and heard performing a faithful version of Frank Zappa's 1966 composition "Call Any Vegetable," which served as a set opener for some of the shows on ZPZ's first tour.

Down below, it's Return to Forever, who are reuniting for the first time in more than 25 years and will be in St. Louis on Tuesday, June 17 to perform at the Fox Theatre. This clip shows them playing "The Magician" in a 1976 appearance on the long-running British TV program The Old Grey Whistle Test. As a little lagniappe, there's also a third embedded window featuring a brief promo video for the RTF reunion tour, with a bit of footage from an early rehearsal.

(Edited 4/25/08 to correct the dates of the shows.)

Exhibit of jazz photos by Herb Snitzer to open May 16 at Sheldon Art Galleries

The Sheldon Art Galleries will celebrate the opening of the new exhibition Herb Snitzer: Jazz Photographs from the Last Years of Metronome with a complimentary wine and cheese reception from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, May 16 (which is also the date of the next Grand Center Gallery Walk).

As the name implies, the exhibit focuses on the work that freelance photographer Herb Snitzer made during the late 1950s and early 1960s for yesteryear jazz magazine Metronome. Snitzer's career spans more than 50 years, including work for top national publications such as Life, Look, The Saturday Evening Post, Fortune, and Time as well as for the New York Times and Herald Tribune. In 1958, he began freelancing for Metronome, becoming photography editor, and then associate editor of the magazine in 1960. During those years, he met, befriended and photographed many jazz greats including Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Count Basie, and Nina Simone. Still active in his 80s, Snitzer now lives in Florida, where he continues to do freelance and fine art photography with a special interest in issues of civil and social rights.

The exhibit was curated by historian and jazz specialist Benjamin Cawthra and will continue in the Sheldon Art Galleries' History of Jazz Gallery through September 20. Cawthra, an assistant professor of history at California State University - Fullerton, previously spent nine years working at the Missouri Historical Society, where he researched and curated numerous exhibitions, including Miles: A Miles Davis Retrospective, the first major museum exhibition on Davis' life. An exhibition catalog, published by the Sheldon Art Galleries with an essay by Cawthra and a foreword by Gallery director Olivia Lahs-Gonzales, accompanies the exhibition, and a limited edition portfolio of ten gelatin silver prints of some of Snitzer's greatest jazz photographs, published by Palm Press, Concord, MA, also will be available for purchase.

Gallery hours are noon to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays; noon to 5:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays; 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays; and one hour prior to Sheldon performances and during intermission. Admission is free. For more information on the exhibition, visit the Galleries’ Web site.

Euclid Records, Vintage Vinyl to celebrate Record Store Day this Saturday, April 19

In noting this weekend's musical highlights, I was remiss in not mentioning that this Saturday, April 19 is the first ever National Record Store Day - an event intended as a celebration of independent music stores, many of which are important outlets for jazz and creative music - and at least a couple of local retailers noted for their jazz selections are throwing parties for the occasion.

In Webster Groves, Euclid Records is featuring free live performances from a variety of musical genres all afternoon, including sets from world-music/Latin-jazz group Farshid Etniko at 1 p.m. and tenor saxophonist Dave Stone at 4 p.m.. The store's blog Lockwood and Summit also promises "free goodie bags chock full of CDs and 7" singles and other assorted record label gifts," a barbecue concession operated by the nearby Highway 61 Roadhouse, and DJ sets in between the live performances.

Meanwhile, over in University City, Vintage Vinyl will present free live rock and hip-hop performances plus DJ spins from a variety of local notables, include a half-hour jazz set from Don Wolff at 4:30 p.m..VV's Web site also says the store will be paying the sales tax for customers on all purchases made on Saturday, and they'll also be giving away free Pabst Blue Ribbon beers.

St. Louis Jazz Club featured in Kirkwood-Webster Journal

The St. Louis Jazz Club is the subject of a feature story written Julie Randle in this week's Kirkwood-Webster Journal. You can read it online here.

The online version of the piece is illustrated by a photo of Cornet Chop Suey, who, as fate would have it, are headlining a concert for the SLJC at 2 p.m. this Sunday at Bel-Air Bowl, 200 South Belt West in Belleville.

Anita Rosamond sings national anthem at St. Louis Cardinals game

Via email from manager Terry Perkins, we learn that charity-minded chanteuse Anita Rosamond sang "The Star Spangled Banner" at Busch Stadium before today's baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers. Rosamond also was scheduled to pay a visit to longtime announcer and fan favorite Mike Shannon in the Cardinals' radio broadcast booth, the better to plug Someone To Watch Over Me, the compilation CD created last year by Perkins, Rosamond and a number of other St. Louis musicians to benefit the BackStoppers.

According to the BackStoppers' Web site, copies of the CD are still available at St. Louis area Schnucks, Dierbergs and Borders locations, Webster Records, Euclid Records, and through the BackStoppers office. All proceeds go toward the organization's work on behalf of the families of police officers, fire fighters and emergency medical personnel who have been killed in the line of duty.

In other Rosamond-related news, one of her "Cabaret in Blue" performances last weekend at the Cabaret at Savor was reviewed for KDHX (FM 88.1) by theater critic Chuck Lavazzi. You can read the review online here.

Jazz this week: Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, Juilliard Jazz Small Ensemble, and more

It's sort of an unofficial jazz education week here in St. Louis, with the major events centered on student-friendly programming, starting with the concert by the Juilliard Jazz Small Ensemble directed by drummer Carl Allen (pictured) at the Sheldon Concert Hall tonight. Allen and the Juilliard musicians have been working with local school ensembles for the past two days, and several of those bands will take the stage tonight to perform one number each before turning the stage over to Allen, best known for his work with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and his proteges.

Workshops, clinics and master classes also are an important part of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, which began yesterday and will culminate this weekend with concerts on Friday and Saturday night at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Both shows will feature the UMSL Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Jim Widner; Friday's featured guests are pianist Shelly Berg, saxophonist Tom Scott, drummer Gregg Field, bassist Chuck Berghofer and trombonist Paul McKee, while Saturday's guest soloists will be clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and trumpeter Wayne Bergeron.

One group of student musicians who won't be hanging out the TouPAC this weekend is the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, the band of high-school age players affiliated with Jazz St. Louis' ongoing educational programs, who will do their annual performances at Jazz at the Bistro on Friday and Saturday.

Other noteworthy events over the next few days: Tonight, singer Tony Viviano performs a free concert featuring the music of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett as part of Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series. On Saturday, improvising percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani will do a solo performance sponsored by New Music Circle at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, and the Randy Holmes Quintet does a tribute to the music of Duke Ellington at Cookie's Jazz and More. On Sunday, the St. Louis Jazz Club presents Cornet Chop Suey in a concert of traditional jazz and swing at Bel-Air Bowl in Belleville.

Beyond the weekend, the Genesis Jazz Project will do a free big band concert at the TouPAC on Monday night, and on Tuesday, singer and pianist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum performs at Brandt's, while the BAG Trio, featuring Zimbabwe Nkenya, Gary Sykes and Michael Nelson, takes the stage at The Gramophone.

For more local 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 after posting to correct the location of the Cornet Chop Suey show.)

James Davis Quintet to play Underground at Red Sea on May 14

The Chicago-based James Davis Quintet is coming to St. Louis on Wednesday, May 14 to perform at the Underground @ Red Sea, 6511 Delmar in the University City Loop.

The band includes leader James Davis (pictured) on trumpet, Caroline Davis on saxophone, keyboard player Sean McCluskey, bassist Jeff Greene and drummer Jon Deitemyer. They're hitting the road to promote their debut CD Angles of Refraction, "making our way down to TX and back," says Davis via email. The trumpeter earned his master's degree from the storied jazz program at the University of North Texas, and currently is on faculty at Triton College in River Grove, IL as director of the school's jazz band.

Pollstar: Bonerama to play Broadway Oyster Bar on July 6

The online tour information service Pollstar has just added a listing indicating that the New Orleans-based funk/jazz/rock band Bonerama will be back in St. Louis to play the Broadway Oyster Bar on Sunday, July 6.

The group was formed in 1998 by trombone players Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, who also have worked with Harry Connick Jr's big band. Bonerama features four trombonists, tuba, guitar and drums, and draws on a variety of musical traditions to produce a brassy, high-energy sound. You can see and hear them playing "Big Fine Woman" in the embedded video window below.

VLAA offering workshops on copyright, entertainment law

The St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts have a couple of low-cost workshops coming up that may be of interest to musicians, composers and songwriters: .

"Copyright Clinic - Monday, April 21
Do you have pressing questions about copyright? Here's your chance to learn the basics. Then you'll have an opportunity to spend 15 minutes talking to a volunteer lawyer. Consultations will be scheduled in person that evening and may not be available if you do not register in advance.

Ask the Entertainment Lawyer - Monday, May 5
Here's your chance to hear from an expert panel of local entertainment attorneys — Daniel Friedman, Barbara Graham-Alexander, Emmett McAuliffe and Jeff Michelman. You'll also learn what services they provide in addition to drafting agreements with record labels.

The seminars will be held in the Regional Arts Commission's building, 6128 Delmar, which is located across the street from the Pageant and just west of the Delmar MetroLink station. They will begin at 7:00 p.m. and conclude by 9:00 p.m. The advance registration fee is $10."

To download a registration form, visit VLAA's Web site. For more information, see the Web site, or call 314-863-6930.

Sheldon Concert Hall offering $5 discount on tickets for Carla Cook performance

The Sheldon Concert Hall is offering a $5 discount to ticket buyers who go online to purchase seats for the concert by singer Carla Cook (pictured) next Saturday, April 26.

To get the discount, go to www.metrotix.com/promotions and enter the promotional code 5OFF08.

AAJ Daily Download features Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project

The Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project were the featured artists yesterday on AllAboutJazz.com's Daily Download. You can still get their song "Arrival," from their latest CD In The Middle, for free by going here.

Percussionist and bandleader Russo is from Springfield, IL, while several other members of the group reside a little further up the road in Champaign/Urbana. They've performed in St. Louis at Finale Music and Dining and at the 2006 St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival; their next appearance in the area will on June 7 at the "Wine, Dine and Jazz" festival in Belleville, IL.

StLJN jazz site of the week: The Big Bands Database

The StLJN jazz site of the week is The Big Bands Database, which is described on its main page as "an ongoing project dedicated to Bands, Jazz, and Popular Music History -- the music now known to the world as 'American Popular Song'." It's definitely another handy site to have bookmarked if you have interest in older jazz styles.

Though the site design is a bit dated, with that late-1990s, early-World Wide Web look, it still functions perfectly well, allowing you to search "by band, musician, song, or keyword to learn about the big band era in this country and abroad; study chords; find out about Dixieland, jazz, the Harlem scene, swing,and Latin bands; learn dances; see the charts; find working bands; and lots more." Whether you're a longtime fan doing research on some old favorites; a relative novice seeking to learn more about the historic importance of big bands to American music; or just somebody who enjoys the sound of fifteen or twenty musicians swinging together, there's certainly lots of useful information to be found at The Big Bands Database.

Don Wolff's I Love Jazz coming to KFUO beginning Friday, May 9

Longtime St. Louis radio personality and jazz advocate Don Wolff is bringing his I Love Jazz program back to broadcast radio on KFUO (FM 99.1) beginning Friday, May 9.

The new radio incarnation of I Love Jazz will air from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday evenings, and will feature a mix of music, interviews with touring and local musicians, and news of local jazz events. “‘I Love Jazz’ is a beloved St. Louis institution, and we’re delighted to share it with CLASSIC99 listeners,” said Dennis Stortz, director of broadcast operations, in a news release. “The rich history of the jazz genre, along with Don Wolff’s passion for music and the arts, makes the show a perfect fit for CLASSIC99."

Although KFUO's FM signal won't reach as far as the clear-channel AM signal that previously carried I Love Jazz to listeners all over the Midwest, the program also will be available via the station's online stream at classic99.com. The news release said Wolff also plans to continue both the television version of I Love Jazz on local cable channel HEC-TV, and the Internet radio version of the program on Live365.

It'll be good to have Don Wolff back on the local airwaves again. Congratulations to him, and kudos to Dennis Stortz and KFUO for having the wisdom and good taste to make Wolff's return a reality.

BAG II now on MySpace

Bassist and composer Zimbabwe Nkenya sends word via email that the reconstituted Black Artist Group (a.k.a BAG II) now has a MySpace page, which will feature both information on the organization's current activities and historical material related to the group's earlier incarnation, which helped launch the careers of performers such as Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, Hamiet Bluiett, Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Baikida Carroll, Luther Thomas, Joseph Bowie, Floyd LeFlore and many others. .

"We're looking for CDs, photos and other BAG related material from the 1960s and 1970s for the web page. We can upload and post music/recording samples and scan and return photos. Let us know if you have something to share," writes Nkenya. You'll find the BAG II page at http://www.myspace.com/blackartistgroup.

Sheldon Concert Hall announces 2008-09 season

The Sheldon Concert Hall has announced its season schedule for 2008-09. The hall's five-concert jazz series will include performances by legendary pianist and composer Dave Brubeck (pictured) and his Quartet (October 4) and acclaimed bassist Dave Holland's Quintet (January 24) as well as guitarist John Jorgenson and band doing a tribute to Django Reinhardt (April 18) and shows featuring singers Paula West (November 22) and Rachael Price (March 14).

Local jazz performers are featured prominently in the Sheldon's series of 10 a.m. "Coffee Concerts." Jean Kittrell and Red Lehr with the Old St. Louis Levee Band will kick off that series on October 27 and 28, followed by Swing Set on December 9 and 10, Mardra and Reggie Thomas doing a Mardi Gras-themed program on February 23 and 24, and traditional jazz and swing band Cornet Chop Suey on April 29 and 30. And of course, other St. Louis jazz performers can be expected to show up in the "Notes From Home" schedule as those concerts are announced throughout the year.

So, what's the takeaway on this lineup? Well, word of the Holland and Jorgenson shows had already leaked via the online tour information service Pollstar, and Brubeck is making a return visit to the Sheldon after appearing in the jazz series a few years back and again at the hall's 2007 benefit gala. Although all three have played St. Louis in recent years, all would seem to be good bets to deliver satisfying performances. I'm especially glad to see Holland on the schedule, as his group continues to be one of the very best small ensembles in jazz, and Brubeck, a genuine innovator who at age 87 can't have too many more years of touring left, is always welcome. Jorgenson, though not a big name, is a first-rate picker who's made Reinhardt's music an ongoing project, and if you dig that style of playing, he delivers the goods.

West also has performed in St. Louis recently, appearing at the Cabaret at Savor earlier this year. I've gotten divergent reports from a couple of people I trust who heard her then - one favorable and one not so favorable - but West certainly has gotten many good reviews for performances elsewhere. The sole local debut performance in the jazz series will be from Price, a 22-year-old who's just now getting out of the New England Conservatory of Music but has attracted some good notices in the press based on a handful of relatively high-profile festival appearances and work with drummer T.S. Monk's band.

I'm all in favor of the presentation and promotion of new talent, and maybe this is just a manifestation of my deep skepticism of most of the current glut of female singers, but what I've seen and heard about Price so far seems suspiciously like press-agent hype of the sort associated in recent years with the pleasant but ultimately forgettable Jane Monheit. In any event, two singers in a five-concert series is one too many; I would much rather have seen one of those slots devoted to another, more challenging instrumental performer or band that we haven't heard before in St. Louis.

If recent seasons are any guide, it's likely that the Sheldon will add another jazz concert or two to next year's lineup along the way, slotted into the schedule as a non-subscription show. However, unless they're able to snag a really major performer - someone on the order of Sonny Rollins or Ornette Coleman, who hasn't played St. Louis either for a long while, or at all - it won't be quite enough to offset the shortcomings of a schedule that seems less ambitious than it ought to be.

While the need to sell tickets is both understandable and indisputable, a major not-for-profit presenter gets held to a high standard. Unlike commercial, for-profit concert promoters, they have a certain obligation to educate, challenge and lead their audiences, not pander to them. The Sheldon remains a very fine place to hear a concert, with excellent acoustics and sightlines and a very capable, professional production staff led by veteran operations director and all-around-good-guy Dale Benz. I don't want to be too harsh here, because overall the Sheldon obviously is a major asset to the St. Louis music community. But for the sake of St. Louis' jazz fans, I wish their booking policy showed just a bit more vision and, dare I say it, guts.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Previewing the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival

Today's deluxe super-sized video post features six of the seven guest artists who will be appearing at the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival this week. Alas, footage of trombonist Paul McKee was nowhere to be found online, but I did manage to locate clips featuring the other six musicians who will be taking part in the GStLJF.

From the top down, the featured videos are:

* Pianist Shelly Berg playing at the 2007 International Association of Jazz Educators convention in NYC;

* Saxophonist Tom Scott performing "Say You Love Me";

* Trumpeter Wayne Bergeron playing a blues at the Yamaha booth at the 2007 National Association of Music Merchants convention;

* Drummer Gregg Field performing the Count Basie chart "Whirly Bird" with the 2007 Disneyland All-American College Band, which features musicians from colleges and universities around the country;

* Bassist Chuck Berghofer playing "Zoot's Theme" at Dante's, a Los Angeles club, with saxophonist Zoot Sims, pianist Roger Kellaway and drummer Larry Bunker. (Fun fact: Berghofer, a veteran of LA studios and stages for five decades, is the guy who played the famously funky bass lick that kicks off the theme song for the television sitcom Barney Miller.)

* Clarinetist Buddy DeFranco in a vintage performances of "One O'Clock Jump" with a small group led by Count Basie. DeFranco gets the first solo, followed by St. Louis' own Clark Terry on trumpet and Wardell Gray on tenor sax.

The Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival is presented by the University of Missouri - St. Louis and Jazz St. Louis, with events at Jazz at the Bistro on Wednesday and Thursday and at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on Friday and Saturday. More than 750 students from 30 different St. Louis area schools will take part in the festival's educational programs. Public performances will include a Wednesday night small-group session at Jazz at the Bistro, and big band concerts with the UMSL Jazz Orchestra on Friday and Saturday at the TouPAC. For ticket information, call 800- 516-4949 or 800-239-5949.

The story of "Sweet Georgia Brown"

From the Department of Shameless Self-Promotion: The Harlem Globetrotters are in St. Louis tonight to perform at St. Louis University's new Chaifetz Arena, and I've got a short piece in this week's Riverfront Times tracing the history of their theme song, the jazz standard "Sweet Georgia Brown." You can read it online here.

Jazz this week: Brad Mehldau, "Cabaret In Blue" kicks off with Anita Rosamond, and more

While this week's menu of jazz and creative music offerings isn't quite as extensive as last week's, there's still some good stuff to be heard out there on St. Louis stages.

The biggest name in town this weekend is pianist Brad Mehldau (pictured) who brings his trio to Jazz at the Bistro for performances beginning tonight and running through Saturday. Mehldau is one of the most talked-about and written-about pianists of his generation, earning favorable comparisons from jazz critics to greats like Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett as well as attracting attention from pop and rock fans for his interpretations of music from artists like Radiohead and the Beatles.

Elsewhere in town, singer Anita Rosamond will perform at the Cabaret at Savor on Friday and Saturday night, inaugurating the venue's new "Cabaret In Blue" series. "Cabaret in Blue" will showcase several St. Louis singers in the intimate 65-seat room, performing a set of music that's intended to reflect the influence of the blues on their own personal styles. For this weekend's shows, Rosamond will sing and play piano and will be accompanied by the fine guitarist Shaun Robinson of Good 4 the Soul and the always-impressive Sandy Weltman on harmonica. (Full disclosure: Yr. humble editor will be taking part in a couple of these presentations next month, playing piano behind singers Renee Smith and Uvee Hayes during their respective performances.)

On Sunday, conductor and former Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra musical director Leonard Slatkin returns to St. Louis to host a benefit for classical radio station KFUO (99.1 FM) at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The concert will feature performances from well-known musicians in a variety of genres, including Latin-jazz pianist Michel Camilo and versatile bassist Edgar Meyer, who's worked in jazz, classical and bluegrass.

Other noteworthy shows this weekend include singer and pianist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum at Brandt's on Friday night, and a morning concert by trombonist Brett Stamps and his band at the Sheldon Concert Hall on Saturday.

For more local 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 after posting to add more tags.)

StLJN jazz site of the week: Point of Departure

The StLJN jazz site of the week is Point of Departure, the "online music journal" published by veteran jazz writer and editor Bill Shoemaker. POD is set up like a magazine, with new content coming online once a month in regular categories that include a review section, columns, a roundtable discussion and more. It is especially strong in its coverage of more adventurous and/or experimental artists in the U.S. and Europe, so if you have an interest in those aspects of the contemporary jazz scene, you'll definitely want to check it out.

(Edited 4/9/08 to ungarble the last sentence.)

Erin Bode, Cornet Chop Suey hit the road this week

St. Louis-based singer Erin Bode and her band will be on the road this week, heading east to Asheville, NC for a concert on Friday at the Diana Wortham Theatre. You can read a preview story from the local paper here.

Meanwhile, St. Louis' own Cornet Chop Suey, a favorite on the traditional jazz festival circuit, is head west to Three Rivers, CA to perform this weekend at the city's 35th annual "Jazzaffair." You can read more about the event in this story from the Fresno Bee.

Jim Widner featured in JazzEd magazine

St. Louis bassist, bandleader and music educator Jim Widner is the subject of the cover story in the current issue of JazzEd magazine.

The interview, which covers Widner's musical background, his approach to jazz education, and more, can be read online here.

Mike Vax Big Band to perform at Principia High School on April 25

Former Stan Kenton trumpeter Mike Vax is bringing his big band stocked with fellow Kenton alumni to St. Louis on Friday, April 25 for a concert and clinic at Principia High School, 13201 Clayton Road.

Saxophonist Kim Richmond, trumpeter Dennis Noday, trombonist Kenny Shroyer and pianist Bob Florence are some of the better-known Kenton veterans who will be performing with Vax during the band's Midwest dates. Tickets for the 8 p.m. concert are $15 for adults and $10 for students.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies:The World Saxophone Quartet plays the music of Jimi Hendrix

This week's videos feature the World Saxophone Quartet performing a couple of selections first heard on the 2004 CD Experience, the WSQ's tribute to the music of guitarist Jimi Hendrix. The clips were recorded at a show in Seattle (Hendrix's home town) and feature founding members Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett and David Murray along with latter-day member Bruce Williams performing Hendrix's "If 6 Was 9" (above) and "Foxy Lady" (below).

Brad Mehldau featured in Post-Dispatch

Pianist Brad Mehldau, who will be in St. Louis with his trio to perform next Wednesday through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro, is the subject of a feature story by Calvin Wilson in today's Post-Dispatch. Read it online here.

Jazz this week: Jeanne Trevor, Kim Portnoy Jazz Orchestra, "Cool Art & Hot Jazz," Audrey Chen and Frederic Blondy, and more

Although there are no huge marquee names performing in St. Louis this weekend, the next several days nevertheless are packed with a variety of events that will appeal to fans of jazz and creative music. Let's go to the highlights:

On Thursday night, saxophonist Jerry performs a free concert featuring the music of John Coltrane at Washington University as part of the Jazz at Holmes series, while the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, directed by bassist Jim Widner, does its regular monthly gig at Jazz at the Bistro.

During the day on Saturday and Sunday, there's "Cool Art & Hot Jazz", a festival sponsored by the Greater St. Louis Art Association at the Greensfelder Recreation Center in Queeny Park. The event features 125 visual artists from across the country and a children's art discovery program as well as live music. Saturday's performers include the John Chiecsek Trio, Dave Black (pictured) playing solo guitar and with his Quartet, and the duo of singer Al Oxenhandler and keyboardist Curt Landes. Sunday will feature smooth jazz from the Readus Miller Project and something called Curtis Blackstar - Music Extravaganza, about which neither the GSLAA's site nor Google has much to say.

Saturday evening features a couple of events that fall into the "creative music" category, starting with cellist Audrey Chen and pianist Frederic Blondy, who will perform at Open Lot, the arts collective and performance space at 1320 S. 18th St. For more about Chen and Blondy, see this post from last Saturday.

That same night, New Music Circle presents a multimedia performance at the Mildred E. Bastian Performing Arts Center at St. Louis Community College - Forest Park. The event will feature spoken word artist Chris Mann and the 2007 edition of composer Rob Voisey’s "60x60," with video by St. Louis multimedia artist Zlatko Cosic. Mann is described as a "pioneer in the field of compositional linguistics" who has performed with Thomas Buckner, Annea Lockwood, and Larry Polansky and received commissions from the BBC, NPR, John Cage, and Ars Electronica. "60x60" is a recorded music project directed by Voisey that showcases 60 electronic works of 60 seconds or less in length, each by a different composer, that are played in succession to create a one-hour concert.

If you're more in the mood for something mainstream on Saturday, singer Jeanne Trevor is having a CD release party at Cookie's Jazz and More. I wish I could tell you more about the event and/or the CD, but neither Trevor nor Cookie's has sent out any details, at least not to me. Suffice it to say that Trevor has been one of St. Louis' most esteemed and most reliable performers over the past four or five decades, and I'd expect the show and the CD both to be up to her usual standards.

And let's not forget that Saturday is also when Jazz St. Louis has its annual fundraising benefit gala and auction, featuring a performance by singer and pianist Tony DeSare. I don't know if there are still tickets available for this event, but if you've got the dough - $500 per person - and want to go, I'd suggest that you get in touch with JSL development director Melissa Jones and see if they can squeeze you in.

On Sunday, guitarist Todd Mosby brings his group to BB's Jazz Blues and Soups to perform his signature blend of jazz, fusion and Indian classical music. Also on Sunday, BAG presents a spoken word event titled "Rivers of Women, a National Poetry Month Tribute to Women" that will feature performance poetry from Shirley Bradley LeFlore, Marsha Cann, Blue-Mashibini and others. The event is free and takes place in the Rosebud Café at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday pianist and composer Kim Portnoy and his Jazz Orchestra are doing a show for the "Notes From Home" series at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Portnoy has assembled an impressive lineup of musicians to play his original compositions, including bassist Ric Vice, drummer Kevin Gianino, guitarist Tom Byrne, trumpeters Randy Holmes and Paul Hecht, saxophonists Paul DeMarinis, Mike Karpowicz and Rob Hughes, and trombonists Brett Stamps and Jim Martin. The program will feature all of the music from their CD Wash Away The Dust of Everyday Life, plus some newer work. Also on Tuesday, singer Valerie Tichacek performs Brazilian-influenced jazz at The Gramophone, and Brandt's features the swinging mainstream sounds of Trio Trés Bien.

That ought to be enough choices to hold all but the most voracious music fan for a little while, but if you're still looking for more, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar for additional listings of jazz events this weekend and beyond.

(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.)

MAXJAZZ releases new CD by Trio da Paz and Joe Locke

The St. Louis based MAXJAZZ label has released a new CD that teams Brazilian jazz group Trio da Paz with American vibes player Joe Locke. Live at JazzBaltica, which is out this week, documents a 2007 performance at the JazzBaltica festival in Salzau, Germany, and represents the first entry in what the label is calling its "band series".

Trio da Paz was formed in 1990 and consists of drummer Duduka da Fonseca, bassist Nilson Matta and guitarist Romero Lubambo, while Locke is known for his ability to tackle a variety of jazz styles from funk to free-form. You can hear some excerpts from Live at JazzBaltica via the eCard on the MAXJAZZ Web site.

The Wee Trio to perform April 24 at Lucas School House

Bassist and former St. Louisan Dan Loomis will be back in his old hometown with the jazz group The Wee Trio on Thursday, April 24 to perform at the Lucas School House.

The band, which also includes vibraphonist James Westfall and drummer Jared Schonig, came together through a series of jam sessions in Brookyn, NY, where Loomis now lives. Their debut CD Capital Diner Vol. 1 features original compositions by the trio along with their versions of songs composed by Kurt Cobain, Sufjan Stevens, and Thelonious Monk.

Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month with the NEA Jazz Masters

April is Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), an annual event created by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History "to draw greater public attention to the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz and its importance as an American cultural heritage. In addition, JAM is intended to stimulate the current jazz scene and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz — to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz, and support institutional jazz programs."

To promote the event, the Smithsonian has once again commissioned a poster of a jazz legend, this year featuring singer Ella Fitzgerald as illustrated by artist Jeffrey Fulvimari. The museum has printed 250,000 posters for free distribution to music and jazz educators, librarians, music merchants and manufacturers, radio stations, arts presenters, and U.S. embassies worldwide. To request a copy, send an email to jazz@si.edu. You can also download the poster in PDF format.

In addition, to help celebrate this year's JAM, the NEA Jazz Masters program and the producers behind the PBS series Legends of Jazz have collaborated on a video special for the online jazz community that honors the NEA 2007 Jazz Masters. The 45-minute program is hosted by pianist Ramsey Lewis, and features profiles of and music from the 2007 honorees, including saxophonist, arranger and composer Frank Wess, pianist and composer Toshiko Akiyoshi, trombonist Curtis Fuller, saxophonist Phil Woods and singer Jimmy Scott, plus a special appearance from singer Nancy Wilson.

I'd hoped to be able to offer the video as an embed right here on StLJN, but there were some technical issues with the code provided to me, and so for now, you can see the program, either in its entirety or a series of clips focusing on the individual artists, by going here.