Terence Blanchard featured in Post-Dispatch

Trumpeter Terence Blanchard, who will be in St. Louis this week to perform Wednesday, June 3 through Saturday, June 6 at Jazz at the Bistro, was featured in an article written by Calvin Wilson for this weekend's St. Louis Post-Dispatch. You can read it online here.

Pollstar: The Bad Plus returning to Jazz at the Bistro in January, 2010

The online tour information service Pollstar has added a listing that shows the inventive trio The Bad Plus (pictured) returning to St. Louis in 2010 to perform Wednesday, January 6 through Saturday, January 9 at Jazz at the Bistro.

As always, remember that listings on Pollstar should be considered unconfirmed until officially announced by the venue or presenter. That said, The Bad Plus have been the first booking of the calendar year at the Bistro for the last three years running, so the idea that they'd perform in the same slot again in 2010 seems very plausible. Jazz St. Louis is expected to announce their entire 2009-10 season schedule soon.

Gene Dobbs Bradford profiled in St. Louis Business Journal

Jazz St. Louis executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford is profiled in the “St. Louis Character” column of this week’s St. Louis Business Journal.

If you're a subscriber to the print edition of the StLBJ, you can see the complete article online here. Non-subscribers see a sample of the story now, with full text access available in 30 days.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A Miles Davis sampler

In honor of the 83rd anniversary of Miles Davis' birth this past Tuesday, today we offer a video tribute with samples of sounds from various periods of the trumpeter's storied career, plus an interview with Davis himself. A couple of these clips have been featured before here on StLJN, but it's been a while, and besides, some things are worth watching more than once.

First up is what is probably the single most-viewed Miles Davis video clip online, a version of "So What" recorded for CBS TV in New York on April 2, 1959. The band features John Coltrane on sax, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums; the other musicians seen are part of the Gil Evans Orchestra, who performed on the same telecast.

The second clip is a 1967 rendition of Thelonious Monk's standard "'Round Midnight," a tune that Miles had been playing since the 1950s, here given an update by Davis' classic 1960s quintet with Wayne Shorter (saxophone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) at a show in Stockholm, Sweden.

By 1973, Miles was deep into his electric period, as demonstrated by the version of "Calypso Frelimo" from the Newport Jazz Festival seen in the third position. A couple of years later, Davis began a five-year hiatus from music, battling health and drug problems and eventually returning in 1981 with the album The Man With The Horn.

Video number four was recorded in 1985 in Berlin, and features Davis performing his take on the then-recent R&B hit "Something's On Your Mind". The band here includes Mike Stern on guitar, Bob Berg on sax, Marilyn Mazur on percussion, Robert Irving III on keyboards, Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn on drums, and Angus Thomas on bass.

The fifth clip is from the turn of the 1990s, and shows Davis performing the tune "Hannibal" on the TV show Night Music, which was hosted, as you can see, by another St. Louis native, saxophonist David Sanborn.

Last but not least, there's an interview Davis did in 1989 with the CBS program 60 Minutes. It's in two parts that run about 15 minutes total.

Jazz this week: "Jazz Cavalcade" with Kirk Whalum, Chicago Afrobeat Project, Javier Mendoza, Cornet Chop Suey, and more

From African and Latin rhythms to traditional jazz and swing to a free concert featuring a well-known smooth jazz saxophonist, here's a look at what's going on over the next few days with jazz and creative music in St. Louis.

The polyrhythmic portion of the weekend gets underway on Friday night, when the Chicago Afrobeat Project performs at The Gramophone. The CAB can include from seven to 14 musicians, and draws on influences such as juju, highlife, American funk, and afro-Cuban music as well as the experimental jazz and rock of the Chicago music scene.

Also on Friday, Latin/pop/rock singer-songwriter Javier Mendoza will start a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro, trying his hand at some Latin jazz with an assist from special guest guitarist Dave Black (pictured). Since this is something of a first-time experiment, I don't think anyone quite knows what to expect, but given Mendoza's apparently substantial fan base, it could be a good draw for the Bistro - and if not, well, at least they're trying something a little different, something yr. humble editor generally encourages.

Also on Saturday, there's a benefit at the White Flag Projects art gallery for electronic musician Joe Raglani, who recently had a van-full of equipment stolen while on tour. See this post for details.

On Sunday, the St. Louis Jazz Club presents a concert of traditional jazz and swing from Cornet Chop Suey at Bel-Air Bowl in Belleville. And elsewhere around town, Brandt's has singer Kim Massie on Friday, and the St. Louis Jazz Cafe will feature the Neal Connors Quartet on Thursday, singer Diane Vaughn on Friday, and saxophonist Rod Tate and guitarist Gregg Haynes, aka 2Smooth, on Saturday.

Looking beyond the weekend, the next event in the Twilight Tuesdays series of free concerts at the Missouri History Museum will be "Jazz Cavalcade" featuring saxophonist Kirk Whalum. The Twilight Tuesdays shows generally feature local acts, so the presence of an internationally known, Grammy nominated headliner like Whalum is especially noteworthy.

Of course, the fact that the Memphis native is the nephew of our town's Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum likely played a role in getting him here, and the show will still have a strong local flavor, as he'll be accompanied by what should be a first-rate band of St. Louis musicians, including his uncle "Peanuts" plus Jeff Anderson, Reggie Thomas, Marty Morrison, Eric Slaughter and Danny Campbell. The Twilight Tuesdays shows usually draw a crowd, and as long as the weather is agreeable, look for a big turnout for the Whalums and company.

Also on Tuesday, after things wind down at the History Museum, you've still got time to get over to The Gramophone to hear the band Utter Chaos in another of the club's no-cover-charge shows co-sponsored with Jazz St. Louis.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis 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.)

Benefit for Joe Raglani this Saturday, May 30 at White Flag Projects

Via the fine folks at the Open Lot performance space, news comes that St. Louis electronic musician Joe Raglani recently had thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen while on tour in Brooklyn, NY. To help Raglani recover from the loss, friends and fans are throwing a benefit party at 9:00 p.m. this Saturday, May 30 at White Flag Projects, 4568 Manchester Ave. Here's the official press release:

"For the first four months of this year, local electronic musician Joe Raglani (Kranky Records, 2008 RFT Experimental Musician of the Year) prepared for his first cross-country tour by selling off multiple pieces of equipment and much of his music library, relentlessly producing and recording new material, and scheduling and booking the tour by himself. With the funds, he bought three vintage synths and two new amplifiers, put together some tour-only CDs and tee-shirts, and rented a van, presuming the tour would pay for itself and give him enough money to get home.

In the early morning of Sunday, May 16th, one night after playing a set at the No Fun Fest in Brooklyn, Joe stepped away from the van to get some food, and a professional thief broke in and stole nearly $10K worth of equipment, much of it custom-tweaked, which took over a decade to assemble. This included the laptop onto which Joe had ripped much of the music he'd sold to buy the synths and amps, which were among the gear stolen. Caught in the act while loading the last piece of equipment into his car, the thief tried to run Joe over. When Joe told the cops that he wasn't able to get a license plate number because of this, they laughed.

This Saturday, May 30th, we will attempt to redress this wrong as best we can, in the only appropriate way: by throwing a big party.

DJS SCHEDULED TO APPEAR SO FAR:
GHOST ICE
ASHLEY VULTURE (ATOMIC COWBOY)
D-GRETS (FOUND FUTURE, UPSTAIRS LOUNGE)
RAGLANI (THE VICTIM)
MATT LEACH (DIRTY MONEY, UPSTAIRS LOUNGE)
ONE VISION
JOHN TAMM-BUCKLE

SPINNING EVERYTHING FROM GARAGE ROCK TO MINIMAL SYNTH, NEW WAVE TO NEW JACK SWING, ELECTRO AND DUB TO HAPPY HARDCORE AND IDM.

SCHLAFLY KEGS, CUP INCLUDED IN DOOR FEE; $1 CANS FROM STEVE POWERS' POUR BOX. RAFFLE, DONATED ARTWORK AND MERCH.

MAY 30th, 9PM @ WHITE FLAG PROJECTS . $10-$15 STRONGLY SUGGESTED DONATION (IT'S A BENEFIT, Y'ALL).
spookyinfo@gmail.com FOR MORE INFO, OR TO VOLUNTEER SERVICES, ARTWORK, OR SUGGESTIONS."

Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club to meet Tuesday, June 9

The next meeting of the Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club will take place at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 9 at Borders Books, 1519 S. Brentwood Blvd.

JSL executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford will lead the discussion of this month's featured CD, Atomic Basie, a 1957 release featuring arrangements by Neal Hefti that has proved to be one of the Count Basie Orchestra's most popular and enduring recordings of that period.

Admission to the CD Listening Club is free and open to the public. However, because space is limited, Jazz St. Louis asks that you reserve a spot in advance by calling communications manager Kedra Tolson at 314-289-4034.

KMOX 2009 Jazz and Wine Festival set for Saturday, June 20 in Forest Park

Radio station KMOX (1120 AM) has scheduled its 2009 Jazz and Wine Festival for Saturday, June 20. The event will run from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on the grounds of the historic Cabanne House in Forest Park (at the corner of Lindell and Union).

The station's Web page for the event promises "fine wine, delicious food & delightful music," and displays the logos of more than a dozen participating winemakers, but at present there's no information at all about who's performing - just the exhortation to "CHECK BACK SOON FOR MORE DETAILS". That said, singer Erin Bode's schedule for June, which went out to her email list today, shows her as playing the KMOX Jazz and Wine Festival on that date, with the performance time TBA.

Tickets for the KMOX Jazz and Wine Festival are $10 in advance, $15 at the gate, with a $3.00 fee per transaction for online ticket purchases.

Jazz St. Louis podcast interview with Terence Blanchard now online

Jazz St. Louis has put online a new podcast featuring an interview with trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard, who will be in St. Louis to perform Wednesday, June 3 through Saturday, June 6 at Jazz at the Bistro. The interview with Blanchard was done by JSL director of operations Bob Bennett, and is about 10 minutes long. You can download the MP3 of the interview here, or access an online stream from the podcasts page on JSL's Web site.

Linda Presgrave featured on "The Jazz Room"

This just in: Pianist, composer and St. Louis expat Linda Presgrave (pictured) will be the featured artist on the Internet radio program "The Jazz Room" starting at 6:00 p.m. EDT tonight, Wednesday, May 27. Among other topics, Presgrave will discuss her interest in women jazz composers and her most recent CD Inspiration.

"The Jazz Room" is a weekly program that presents the music of independent jazz artists through the Web site www.cyberstationusa.com. Programs are archived on their site for two weeks after the initial airing. To listen, follow the link, then click on the tab "The Shows". Scroll down the page, and you'll see a listing for "The Jazz Room" that lets you choose "This Week" or "Last Week" to stream the program.

Notes from the Net: More Miles Davis news; a new solo CD from Rick Braun; NEA names 2010 Jazz Masters; and more

Though it's a bit smaller than usual, thanks to some slow news days over the holiday weekend and a still somewhat-gimpy computer here at StLJN HQ, here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Though we've had a couple of Miles Davis-related items already during his birthday week, there's even more, starting with this review from Popdose.com of That's What Happened, a new DVD release of a 1987 Davis concert in Munich with a band featuring Kenny Garrett on sax and flute and go-go/funk master Ricky Weltman on drums.

Courtesy of Miles Davis Online, we also have news of a Miles "50th Anniversary T-Shirt; a brief audio interview Davis did with UK musician and broadcaster Jools Holland; and an essay about The Complete Columbia Recordings: Miles Davis & John Coltrane by Horace Mungin of BlogCritics.com

* Opening the "recent visitors" file, trumpeter Rick Braun (pictured), who was here in April with Jazz Attack at the Ameristar Casino's Bottleneck Blues Bar, will release a new solo CD called All It Takes in July. It's Braun's first solo release in four years.

* To round out this installment of NFTN, we've got some items of general interest to jazz fans. The National Endowment for the Arts has named eight Jazz Masters for 2010, including pianists Muhal Richard Abrams, Kenny Barron and Cedar Walton, composer/arranger Bill Holman, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, saxophonist Yusef Lateef, singer Annie Ross, and, for his work as a "jazz advocate," producer, manager, critic and educator George Avakian. Congratulations to all the honorees.

* If it's really true that misery loves company, then perhaps St. Louisans who are lamenting this year's "hiatus" of the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival will take some small solace in the fact that even the jazz capital of the world is having festival troubles right now, as seen in this New York Times article "New York Loses its Jazz Festival": "Around this time of year, posters for the JVC Jazz Festival would be appearing on the streets of New York, and jazz tourists would be finalizing plans to arrive in the middle of June for two weeks of bragworthy shows. But for the first time in 37 years, there will be no major summer jazz festival in New York. Nor will there be related series in Miami or Chicago, as the concert company behind them is suffering a financial crisis."

* Closing out on a somewhat more hopeful note, if you're an independent musician who'd like to make more money and sell more recordings, you may find some useful information over at Music Think Tank, which seems to have lots of ideas about marketing music in the digital age. You can see a list of some of the site's most popular posts here.

Happy birthday, Miles Davis

The most famous jazz musician to come from the St. Louis metropolitan area, Miles Davis was born May 26, 1926 in Alton, IL and raised in East St. Louis. To help commemorate the 83rd anniversary of his birth, StLJN is pleased to present this guest post from Jeffery Hyatt, who blogs about the legendary trumpeter at Miles Davis Online and The Miles Davis Movie:

Miles Davis, 2009

Eighteen years after his passing and a generation or two removed from when his songs were considered "popular music," Miles Davis’ place in our cultural and musical foundation remains secure. And in this wired age, the discovery and experience of Miles Davis, one of the most influential musicians in jazz history, is as immediate and exciting as ever.

There are only a handful of entertainers that transcend art, those titanic names whose mythology becomes more absorbing with each passing year. In time, the lies and truths may blur, but the artistry is forever genuine.

Think Sinatra. Elvis. Perhaps James Dean and Marilyn Monroe, or The Beatles, James Brown and Louis Armstrong. Miles Davis is definitely on the list of the most important pop culture figures of the 20th century; those timeless icons that mystify and delight.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue this year, the tribute concerts, magazine articles and countless Internet posts reflect not only an artistic triumph much-deserved of such commemoration, but also that in 2009, there's still an active, healthy interest in listening to, writing about and appreciating the legacy of Miles Davis.

If anything, the Kind of Blue anniversary has generated a cottage industry around its recognition, providing a wealth of great commentary and multimedia.

Perhaps the best way to gauge the popularity of Miles Davis these days is by simply speaking with those not interested in jazz. They might not listen to Miles Davis' music, but they know "Miles Davis." Perhaps for most people nothing springs to mind quicker when hearing “Miles Davis” than the word "cool," a multi-functional expression almost exclusively associated with Miles Davis in popular culture.

There’s that funny line of
dialogue in the comedy Billy Madison that ends with the oft-repeated phrase, "...consider me Miles Davis." That, perhaps, cemented the "cool" association to the general public, even though the relationship between musician and descriptor run back 60 years.

"Cool" as Miles Davis might be (or has always been), how does a music legend long since passed exist in the media landscape today when the zeitgeist seems to shift with each new episode of American Idol?

It’s hard out here for a jazz legend. Of course nostalgia never hurts. Great music, just like movies and literature, never gets tired, and can receive more heaping praise every year.

That’s fine for entertainment preference, but let’s give praise to how well "Miles Davis," the brand, the business, has converged with today’s frenetic digital culture; it’s a testament to everyone involved, from fans and writers to the musicians and businessmen, that Miles Davis continues to be a viable part of art, commerce and pop culture.

No denying the brand thrives – someone is buying all those CDs, books and posters. A new generation is discovering the music via the Web, the great conduit for stumbling upon an MP3 of “If I Were A Bell.”

It’s cliché to repeat the adage that Kind of Blue is the one jazz CD even non-jazz fans own, but it makes a strong point about pop culture and being part of something ‘special.’

Miles Davis fits that bill. He brings the mythology to the party, and we are compelled to take notice. People care and people are interested. Technology is our means to tap the source and engage Miles Davis from all angles.

His story and music are a click away. The web is packed with vintage images shot through the lenses of famous photographers, and admirers can peruse thousands of random and creative photos on Flickr. Blogs track every reference and detail, and Web sites are dedicated portals of fandom, built on the ideas and opinions of likeminded admirers.

There are books, waves of critical analysis, skateboard designs, theatre productions and gallery retrospectives. YouTube is invaluable (thanks to the content owners) in presenting classic footage. There’s even a
Miles Davis movie in the pipeline.

Consuming Miles. It can be quite...consuming, but oh-so enjoyable.

Miles Davis would be celebrating his 83rd birthday today. And while he is no longer with us, "Miles Davis" is truly alive and well in 2009.

- Jeffrey D. Hyatt is a writer and web producer living in Los Angeles, CA. He is the author of Miles Davis Online and The Miles Davis Movie. His favorite Miles Davis albums, if you were wondering, are Steamin’ and Seven Steps to Heaven.

(Cross posted to Miles Davis Online.)

Miles Davis' 1970 Fillmore East concert available as free download

Attention Miles Davis fans: The Web site Big O has a free download of a 1970 Davis concert at the Fillmore East that has never been commercially released.

It features two sets from shows that Davis opened for singer/guitarist Neil Young (!) on March 6, 1970, after the initial release of the album Live/Evil but before the release of Jack Johnson.

The personnel includes Davis on trumpet, plus Chick Corea (electric piano), Dave Holland (acoustic and electric bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Airto Moreira (percussion) and, in his last live gig with Davis before leaving to form Weather Report with Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter on tenor and soprano saxophone.

As with all the downloads offered in Big O's "Recordings of Indeterminate Origin" series, you also can grab a CD cover (pictured) and tray card to go with the MP3 files, and thus create your own physical CD if you like. To download the files and artwork, go here; however, you'd better act quickly, as the ROIO downloads usually are available for only a very limited time.

Sheldon Concert Hall producing concerts in downtown St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve

Continuing its recent trend of producing concerts in other locations, the Sheldon Concert Hall organization is sponsoring two different concert series this summer: a set of free Thursday afternoon outdoor performances in downtown St. Louis during June, and a series of concerts at the historic Orris Theatre in Ste. Genevieve, MO.

The downtown St. Louis series will take place starting at 5:30 p.m. for four consecutive Thursdays at the Old Post Office Plaza at 801 Locust between 8th and 9th streets. At least a couple of the shows look to be of interest to jazz listeners, starting with a performance on June 4 by the Jeff Anderson Trio. Then there's a June 11 show by the Boneheads, an all-trombone quartet that does blues, jazz, classical, ragtime and doo-wop. Concerts featuring Los Flamencos (June 18) and the "acoustic folk-blues-swing" of Mayor Taylor (June 25) round out the series.

The series at the Orris Theater in Ste. Genevieve starts on Friday, June 5 with traditional jazz from the St. Louis Stompers. Other jazz shows in the series include
performances by vibist Jonathan Whiting's trio on July 10 and Gypsy jazz/swing group Hot Club Caravan on July 17. The Boneheads, Mayor Taylor and Los Flamencos also will perform in the Ste. Genevieve series, as will chamber music group Trio D'Anches and the Confluence Chamber Ensemble brass quintet.

Tickets for the Orris Theater shows are $10 each, and can be purchased in advance from the Ste. Genevieve Area Chamber of Commerce, 251 Market Street. For more information call the Chamber at 573-883-3686 or send email to stegenchamber@sbcglobal.net

Live on the Levee once again snubs jazz and blues

The lineup of free concerts for the 2009 Fair St. Louis and Live on the Levee series has been announced by presenting organization Celebrate St. Louis, and once again, our town's indigenous musical forms of jazz and blues have been snubbed.

To be fair, the organizers did make some small progress this year in diversifying the lineup. Booking seminal alt-rockers Sonic Youth, who will appear on July 17, demonstrates a certain degree of risk-taking mostly unseen in recent years. (Mind you, what's considered "risky" in St. Louis might be rather mundane elsewhere.)

In addition, the past lack of hip-hop shows has been addressed, and fans can look forward to an August 1 concert by Lupe Fiasco and Black Spade. Neo-soul fans can check out Angie Stone on July 24, and country music aficionados also will get a Live on the Levee show, with southern Illinois native Gretchen Wilson of "Redneck Woman" fame performing on July 25.

Rock bands Counting Crows (July 3) and Train (July 4) will headline the two days of Fair St. Louis, with Little Feat (July 18) and Guster (July 31) rounding out the Live on the Levee schedule.

What's missing, once again, are any shows including jazz or blues, which seems simply absurd for a city with St. Louis' musical history. For more on why this is a disservice to the entire community, please check out any of these four past posts on the subject; any further extended repetition here seems redundant, in a beating-my-head-against-the-wall sort of way.

Suffice it to say that, in addition to having rather dull taste in pop and rock music, the "powers that be" in the city of St. Louis apparently are still unable to grasp either the importance of jazz and blues in our community's culture or the potential present-day appeal of jazz and blues music in terms of marketing, tourism, and so on.

From New Orleans to Chicago, Austin to Nashville, there are plenty of examples of cities that, to one degree or another, do embrace embrace their local music cultures, and have realized significant benefits from that emphasis. It's a shame our local leaders seem unable to learn from those successes, and continue to promote events allegedly "celebrating St. Louis" that have nothing to distinguish them from concerts in, say, Des Moines, Denver or Phoenix.

Lea DeLaria to perform in Belleville on Saturday, June 20

Singer, actress and comic Lea DeLaria, a native of Belleville, IL, will return to her hometown on Saturday, June 20 to perform for the Metro East Pride festival.

DeLaria started her show business career as a stand-up comic, and has gone on to utilize her acting and singing talents in cabaret, Broadway, one-woman shows, and jazz clubs. In a review of a DeLaria performance last October at the NYC jazz club Smoke, Stephen Holden of the New York Times wrote "Lea DeLaria’s jazz singing is like her stand-up comedy. Loud, brash, rude and impatient, it pushes its way to the microphone, all knees and elbows. All smiles too, for Ms. DeLaria is an innately funny jazz clown...There is sophisticated jazz method in Ms. DeLaria’s raucous bluster. She swings hard, and scats and bends notes in a style that suggests a no-frills Betty Carter on steroids."

The Metro East Pride festival will take place on West Main Street in downtown Belleville, and is free and open to the public. For more information, visit their Web site.

Site news: Getting back to normal

After crashing hard early last week, the main computer here at StLJN HQ is back up and running, and though there are a couple of software programs that stubbornly still refuse to reinstall, for the time being the major technical impediments to blogging seem to have been resolved.

Still, yr. humble editor has spent way too much time over the last few days staring at a computer screen. So, after posting some short items that came in over the last few days while I was otherwise occupied, I'll be taking a day off tomorrow. The weekly "Notes from the Net" post will be delayed until Tuesday, and, barring a breaking story of major importance or - perish the thought - further equipment malfunctions, regular posting will resume thereafter.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The musical worlds of Eugene Chadbourne

This week, we've got some video clips featuring Eugene Chadbourne, the guitarist, banjo player, composer, improviser and occasional inventor who's coming to St. Louis on Thursday, June 4 to perform two free shows at the Schlafly St. Louis Brewery and Tap Room downtown.

Chadbourne is difficult to categorize, as his music contains elements of psychedelic rock, free jazz, punk, folk, noise, and country as well as influences from various cultures outside the Unites States. The specific mix of ingredients may differ from project to project - and Chadbourne is an especially prolific recording artist, with dozens of albums as a solo artist and with various collaborators to his credit - but it's all informed by his surreal sense of humor and penchant for the unexpected.

While it's impossible to document the myriad aspects of Chadbourne's musical personality with a handful of short videos, today's clips should provide at least a taste of what one of his shows can be like. First up is a video that features him in a solo performance, playing an original song called "Your USA and My Face" last December at Salvage Vanguard Theatre in Austin, TX.

Next we have a clip of Chadbourne and former Mothers of Invention drummer, the late Jimmy Carl Black, offering a rather knotty re-interpretation of Captain Beefheart's "Dropout Boogie" in a 2008 show in Shinjuku, Japan.

In the third slot is an excerpt from a gig at the 2008 Copenhagen Jazz Festival that featured Chadbourne alongside saxophonist (and St. Louis expat) Luther Thomas and the Danish rhythm section of bassist Niels Davidsen and drummer Kresten Osgood. (This clip is just the first of nine segments of similar length from that show that are posted online; to see the rest, check out Thomas' YouTube page.)

Last but not least, in the fourth position there's a short film about Chadbourne titled "Where's The Stage," which is purported to be "The ONLY documentary on the legendary Eugene Chadbourne. See the RAKE see the DRUM SET OF DOOM - see the RAVING STREET PERSON! Filmed on location at the Chadbourne mansion in Greensboro,North Carolina."

Jazz this week: Glendale Jazz Festival, Kim Massie, Matthew Von Doran, and more

With Memorial Day weekend coming up, it's a relatively light few days in the offing for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis. Moreover, with StLJN HQ still in recovery mode after a computer crash Tuesday night, yr. humble editor has his hands full right now with software re-installs, restoring files from backup, and similar fun-inducing tasks. Still, there are a few noteworthy shows on tap this weekend, so here's a brief look:

The tenth annual Glendale Jazz Festival is this Friday night at the city hall complex in Glendale. This year's event will feature music from the St. Louis Stompers, singer Denise Thimes, and Terry Thompson's band Swing Alive with vocalist Dean Christopher, plus jazz radio personality Don Wolff as MC. It's free and open to the public.

On Friday and Saturday, singer Kim Massie is at Jazz at the Bistro, while the St. Louis Jazz Cafe this weekend will feature saxophonist Readus Miller on Thursday, the Sky West Trio on Friday, and 3 Central on Saturday.

Singer Erin Bode has a busy weekend planned, with a gig at Cyrano's in Webster Groves tonight, a free show on Saturday afternoon at the Crestwood Court mall, another show that same night at Peppertini's in Chesterfield, and a Sunday afternoon performance at the Blumenhof Winery in Dutzow.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday night, guitarist Matthew Von Doran (pictured) will do a free show at The Gramophone.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis 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.)

Site news: Possible downtime ahead

Posting here may may be light to non-existent for the next day or two, as the primary computer at StLJN HQ suffered a near-fatal crash last night, and it may take a while to reinstall all necessary software and get up and running at full speed again. (I do have a backup system, but am having some trouble with it getting online and logged in to my Yahoo mail and Blogger accounts.)

In a related development, if you've sent me an email in the last week to 10 days and have not yet received a response, please resend. I managed to clear most of my backlog of unanswered mail before the machine went belly-up, but some email records were lost in the crash, and I'm not sure if they can be recovered. If I owe you a reply, please re-send your original message, and I promise to get back to you as soon as possible.

Peter Martin releases new solo piano CD Set of Five

Jazz pianist and St. Louis native Peter Martin has released a new CD of solo piano music entitled Set of Five. The EP-length release includes five tracks: "Dr. Jazz", "I Can’t Help It", "Intimate Dance", "Basin Street Blues" and "Viva La Vida".

Set of Five is available as either an MP3 download or CD directly from Martin's online store, and should be on iTunes in the near future. You can hear samples on his Web site, which recently was redesigned and now includes an RSS feed, blog, podcast and various other features. Martin is also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pianopeter.

He continues to work as pianist and musical director with singer Dianne Reeves, and recently performed with her and the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Martin will be playing in St. Louis on Wednesday, June 3, headlining a free concert to open this summer's Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Sonny Rollins to play at the Touhill on Saturday, September 19

He's been called the "Saxophone Colossus," "the heavyweight champion of the tenor sax," and even "the world's greatest jazz improviser." Whatever superlatives you choose to apply, there's no doubt that even after more than fifty years in the music business, Sonny Rollins remains one of the most intriguing and important musicians in jazz.

The rumors of a Rollins appearance in St. Louis have been percolating for a couple of months, fueled in part by a listing for a date here that appeared, then disappeared, then reappeared on the saxophonist's Web site.

Now it can be confirmed that Rollins is returning to St. Louis for the first time in nearly a decade on Saturday, September 19 to play at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The show is being presented by Jazz St. Louis, which is renting the Touhill for the occasion, and sponsored by St. Louis-based World Wide Technology, Inc.

Tickets will be priced at $125, $50 and $35, and will go on sale to the general public on Monday, August 3. Tickets can be purchased over the phone by calling 314-516-4949 or online by visiting www.touhill.org.

(Edited after posting to correct the information on who's presenting the concert.)

Notes from the Net: An 8-bit tribute to Miles Davis, David Sanborn interviewed, plus news, reviews, and more

Here's this week's compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* As is customary, we begin with the Miles Davis beat, where the news is that an exhibition of Davis' drawings and oil paintings will be showcased during the first week of June at The Exchange Court Gallery in London. On another non-musical note, via Miles Davis Online, here's an article from the Web site of clothing designer Ralph Lauren about Davis' "Ivy League" sartorial style of the 1950s and early 1960s.

As for news of Davis' music, check out the review/essay "The Arab Roots of Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain" written for AllAboutJazz.com by John Murnane, which connects Davis' interpretation of "Concierto de Aranjuez" to traditional Spanish music, which in turn was influenced by Arab musical ideas.

And in a year full of remembrances of the late, great trumpeter, one of the most unusual homages to Davis has to be "Kind of Bloop," a planned reworking of Kind of Blue in the electronic music style known as "8-bit," or "chiptune," which utilizes sound chips from vintage video game consoles and early home computers as primary sound sources.

* In other news of former St. Louisans, saxophonist David Sanborn (pictured) was interviewed recently about his latest CD for AllAboutJazz.com by Jason Crane (who also does the Jazz Session podcast series).

* Opening the "coming attractions" file, guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli, a frequent visitor to St. Louis who likely will be returning next year, will be honored next month at the Montreal Jazz Festival with the Fest's 2009 Ella Fitzgerald Award, which is given in recognition of "the versatility, improvisational originality and quality of repertoire of a jazz singer." It's one of several prizes awarded annually by the Festival to artists "who have made extraordinary contributions to the evolution of music."

* Speaking of frequent visitors to St. Louis, those habitués of our town's Jazz at the Bistro The Bad Plus just performed at NYC's Merkin Concert Hall on a bill with the Benevento-Mathis-Barr Trio, and the show was reviewed here for the New York Times by Nate Chinen.

* If you missed the Blue Note 7 at the Sheldon Concert Hall in February, or just want to hear more of the all-star ensemble, you can catch highlights of their recent performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC streaming online here, courtesy of NPR's "Jazz Set" program.

* Keyboardist John Medeski, who was in town last month with Medeski, Martin and Wood to play the inaugural Loyal Earth Festival, has a new CD for which he teams up with the band Sex Mob. Sex Mob Meets Medeski is reviewed here for AAJ.com by Lyn Horton, who calls it "a great ride with a hard-driving nearly rock sensibility that does nothing but cause sweat and a fabulous feel-good vibe."

* Next up, a couple of items with at least a tangential local connection, starting with the news that Broadway producer and impresario Rocco Landesman - the nephew of Fran and Jay Landesman, who operated the famous Crystal Palace nightclub in St. Louis' Gaslight Square - has been nominated to chair the National Endowment for the Arts. The consensus in various news reports seems to be that Landesman is a no-nonsense guy who will be a strong advocate for the arts in Weshington; here's hoping that turns out to be the case.

* Have you ever wondered about the man who wrote the song "St. Louis Blues"? If so, you may be interested in the new biography W. C. Handy: The Life and Times of the Man Who Made the Blues by David Robertson. A review in the New York Times by David Hajdu says the book "casts overdue light on Handy's essential role in establishing the blues as a popular art "

* Last but not least, of interest to all is an item from veteran jazz journalist and critic Howard Mandel over at his blog Jazz Beyond Jazz, in which he muses about women jazz listeners, sexism, and related topics: "The problem is that no one in the jazz world, with the exception of jazz educators, has pleasantly invited women to partake of the music. Rather than being marketed to, women have been neglectfully, perhaps unconsciously, shut out."

I found this to be an interesting notion, and I'm particularly curious as to how any female StLJN readers might react to Mandel's thoughts. Do you ever feel "shut out" with regard to listening to, playing, discussing or enjoying jazz? Is the jazz world more sexist than society in general; less sexist; or about the same? If you like, please feel free share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

Belleville's Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival set for Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6

Belleville's Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival has announced the lineup of performers for this year's event, which will be held on Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6 in the square in downtown Belleville, Illinois.

Friday night's musical menu includes the Scott Air Force Base "Shades of Blue" combo at 5:00 p.m.; Two Times True, featuring pianist Carolbeth True and her son, drummer David True, at 6:45 p.m.; and singer Brian Owens at 8:30 p.m.

On Saturday, the festival kicks off at 2:00 p.m. with Tony D. and the Groove Merchants, featuring organist Tony DiPasquale and saxophonist David Fatek, followed by funk/rock band Fresh Heir at 3:30 p.m. and singer Mary Dyson (pictured) and the Brock Walter Trio at 5:00 p.m. The day wraps up with sets by singer Anita Rosamond at 6:45 p.m. and Wild, Cool & Swingin' at 8:30 p.m.

The Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival is free and open to the public. For more details and a complete schedule of events, visit the festival's Web site.

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

It's time once again to let you know what's been going on over at StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds, which features a different online music video every day for your listening and viewing pleasure.

Yes, you'll see lots of jazz artists, but also vintage blues, soul, funk, classic rock and prog rock, plus occasional forays into the experimental and/or inexplicable. So far this month, featured bands and musicians have included Charles Lloyd, Taj Mahal, Billy Cobham-George Duke Band, Soft Machine, William Parker Quartet, Junior Wells, The Crusaders, Ben Webster, Edgar Winter, Gentle Giant, Roy Hargrove and the RH Factor, Marvin Gaye, Tom Waits, Wilson Pickett, Meade Lux Lewis, Freddie Hubbard, and Bill Evans.

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

African Arts Festival, St. Louis Art Museum to present Mamadou Diabate, Zimbabwe Nkenya

Next weekend's St. Louis African Arts Festival includes a couple of events at the Saint Louis Art Museum that may be of interest to local fans of jazz and creative music.

Kora player Mamadou Diabate (pictured) will give a free concert at 7:00 p.m, Friday May 22 in the Grigg Gallery as part of the Museum's Art After 5 series. A native of Mali, Diabante has played at festivals and concert halls across North America, performing music that blends his African griot heritage with jazz and other contemporary sounds.

Then at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 24, the Museum will present St. Louis' own bassist, composer and mbira player Zimbabwe Nkenya in a musical "listen-and-learn" session as part of its Family Sunday series.

Both programs are free and open to the public, and admission to the Saint Louis Art Museum is free to all every day. For more information about the Saint Louis Art Museum, call 314-721-0072 or visit www.slam.org.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Terence Blanchard

This week, our video spotlight shines on trumpeter Terence Blanchard, who will be in St. Louis from Wednesday, June 3 through Saturday June 6 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro. Many jazz fans in St. Louis are already familiar with Blanchard, as he's played before at both the Bistro and the Sheldon Concert Hall in recent years. Even those who haven't seen him perform live may have heard some of Blanchard's music, thanks to his work scoring many feature films for director Spike Lee.

While Blanchard is well known as a composer, today's video clips provide glimpses of him as a player, teacher and spokesman. First up is an excerpt from a gig in September 2007 at the Dakota in Minneapolis, featuring Blanchard with bassist Derrick Hodge, tenor saxophonist Brice Winston, drummer Kendrick Scott and pianist Fabian Almazan, playing Scott's composition "Mantra."

Down below, there's an excerpt from a lesson in improvisation that Blanchard gave to students at the Thelonious Monk Institute, which is now affiliated with Loyola University in New Orleans. The third video is an interview with Blanchard that was done on the night of the 2009 Grammy Award ceremony, at which he performed.

Jazz this week: Frank Vignola, David Fiuczynski, the Miles Davis Jazz Festival, Mae Wheeler's 75th birthday gala, and more

This weekend's menu of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a couple of first-rate guitar players with very different styles, and birthday tributes to a couple of St. Louis' most beloved jazz performers.

Let's start with guitarist Frank Vignola (pictured), who's playing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Vignola draws on influences ranging from swing and the Gypsy jazz sound of Django Reinhardt to bluegrass, and somehow manages to make it all work together. For some video samples of his playing, see this post from last Saturday.

Then there's the fourth annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival on Saturday at the new riverfront amphitheater in Alton. Saxophonist Willie Akins; trumpeter Jim Manley; drummer Howard Neal and his band, and the Alton High School Jazz Band will perform in celebration of the legendary trumpeter, who was born in Alton on May 26, 1926.

UPDATE - 10:55 a.m., 5/16/09: For more about the new Alton amphitheater and the Miles Davis Jazz Festival, check out this post I wrote for the Riverfront Times' music blog "A to Z".

On Saturday evening, guitarist David Fiuczynski will perform at The Gramophone. While the aforementioned Frank Vignola often can be found playing acoustic or lightly amplified guitar, "Fuse" Fiuczynski is best known as a plugged-in fusionmeister who comes out blazing, and then cranks it up from there. He'll be playing in a trio setting at The Gramophone, which should allow maximum room to stretch his considerable chops.

Then on Sunday, what I can only assume will be a constellation of St. Louis musical luminaries will gather for Mae Wheeler 75th birthday gala at the Sheldon Concert Hall. I say "assume" because, as best as I've been able to determine, there's been no announcement of the lineup of performers for this event.

(The Sheldon's Web site and the event's page at Metrotix both call it "An Affair To Remember," but don't list any singers or musicians. Similarly, while a Cotton Club-themed flyer received here at StLJN HQ notes that there will be a prize for the best vintage 1930s/1940s attire, and lists some other "Celeb's" who share Ms. Wheeler's astrological sign - Taurus, in case you wondering - there's no mention of who's performing. Calls to Ms. Wheeler, who has been battling cancer, were not returned.)

All of that said, given the esteem in which the local music community holds "Lady Jazz," and her long-established practice of assembling a whole parade of talented singers and musicians for her productions, the proceedings should be worth checking out even if the exact details are a bit vague before show time. There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of fans, friends, musicians, singers and students who have been touched over the years by Ms. Wheeler's music, philanthropy and fighting spirit, and surely many of them will show up Sunday at the Sheldon to help celebrate her 75th.

UPDATE - 10:34 a.m., 5/16/09: An updated version of the flyer for Wheeler's birthday gala arrived in my email inbox last night, listing the following as scheduled to perform: Adrianna Larkin, Babz Robnett, Denise Thimes, Kecia Davis, Kim Massie, Eneazer Moore, Jeff Hardin, Wendy Gordon, Renee Smith, Jeanne Trevor, Gene Lynn, Janice Battle, Craig Cervantes, Sherrie White, Merry Keller, Joyce Hines and Satin. Also, for a bit more about Wheeler, check out the Critic's Pick on the show I wrote for this week's Riverfront Times, available online here.

Elsewhere around town this weekend, the St. Louis Jazz Cafe has saxophonists Readus Miller on Thursday and Rod Tate on Friday, with Trio Tres Bien and vocalist Danita Mumphard on Saturday. Also on Saturday, guitarist Rex Bauer and his trio are at Brandt's.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis 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.)

Chicago Afrobeat Project playing Friday, May 29 at The Gramophone

The Chicago Afrobeat Project (pictured) is returning to St. Louis on Friday, May 29 to perform at The Gramophone. The CAbP's high-energy, percussive mix of funk, rock, jazz, Afro-Cuban, high life and juju music was heard most recently in these parts last fall at the now-closed Lucas School House.

The Gramophone will open the doors for the Chicago Afrobeat Project's May 29 performance at 8:00 p.m., with show time at 10:00 p.m. Admission is $10, age 21 and over only, and advance tickets are available here.

Edison Theatre announces 2009-10 season

Washington University's Edison Theatre has announced its 2009-10 season, and among the venue's offerings of theater, dance and music next year will be three performances that may be of interest to St. Louis fans of jazz and creative music:

On Saturday, January 23, 2010, the "action percussion" ensemble ScrapArtsMusic will take the Edison stage, using "kinetic, one-of-a-kind instruments built from recycled and salvaged materials such as sewage pipe and artillery shells."

Then on Saturday, February 27, the Edison will feature Abraham Inc., described as "an all-star ensemble fusing funk, jazz, hip-hop and klezmer...led by virtuoso clarinetist David Krakauer, trombonist Fred Wesley (pictured) and "beat architect" Josh Dolgin, aka SOCALLED."

The Edison's season concludes on Friday, March 26 with Tiempo Libre, a Grammy-nominated group that performs timba, a Cuban version of salsa that's "an irresistible mix of high-voltage Latin jazz and seductive rhythms."

Single tickets are are priced at $32, $28 for seniors and Washington University faculty and staff, and $20 for students and children. Subscriptions are available at two levels: three, four or five events at $28 per ticket, and six or more events at $24 per ticket.

The Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd, on the Washington University campus. For more information or to order tickets, call the box office at 314-935-6543 or email edison@wustl.edu.

SIU-E officials silent as rumors fly about possible changes at WSIE

A story published in last Friday's Belleville News Democrat says that Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville is contemplating what could be major changes in the operation of WSIE (88.7 FM), the St. Louis area's only all-jazz radio station. However, SIU-E officials so far have refused to disclose any details about the review process or the committee studying the issue.

From the story by BND staff writer Elizabeth Donald:

"University officials confirmed that recently a committee was formed tore-examine the station's format and structure. "So far the university has declined to release any details about the committee or its deliberations, and rumors are spreading."..."There has been a committee set up to look at the radio station, but at this point there is no plan to pull the plug," (University spokeswoman Bethany) Forsythe said. "They're looking at ways to attract more listeners and make it more attractive to people, but there has been no decision made at this point."

Rumors have ranged from changing the all-jazz station to an all-sports format or selling it to a private company. Station director Frank Akers declined comment on the station's future until the committee's decision is announced.

Forsythe confirmed that the committee had made a recommendation to Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift, but "there will be more discussion before we can say anything." Vandegrift could not be reached for comment."

In another story published Friday by the St. Louis Beacon, the chair of the committee is identified as John Danley, acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The Beacon story, written by Beacon staffer Dale Singer, says Danley also "declined to elaborate on what it may have recommended or to speculate on what decision may be made about the station."

Both articles also make reference to a Facebook group called "Save 88.7 The Jazz Station," which, as of late Monday night, has 25 comments posted and a total of 556 members.

Unfortunately, the "Save 88.7" page contains some factual errors. Chancellor Vandegrift is not "new," having been in his current job since 2004. Also, as far as can be determined, he has not said "he wants to turn 88.7 into an all sports and rock radio station to reach a “younger” audience." Looking at speeches, news reports and other publicly available statements, Vandegrift appears to have said nothing at all about WSIE for public consumption in the five years he's been at SIU-E. .

The "Save 88.7" page also says that WSIE "is also the only way to hear about many live, jazz performances in the St. Louis area," which suggests that there are no other sources of information about live jazz in St. Louis. With this Web site as Exhibit A, yr. humble StLJN editor obviously would beg to differ with that assertion, and I'm guessing a few other folks involved in local radio and/or newspapers might, too.

Still, as a jazz fan, I certainly do agree with the page's underlying sentiment that a change in format at WSIE would be a major loss to the local jazz community and to the St. Louis metropolitan area in general.

Certainly, University officials have not just the right, but the obligation, to make wise use of the institution's resources, and there's nothing inherently wrong with forming a committee to study an issue.However, the University's lack of transparency to date about the process is, at the very least, troubling.

As a publicly funded institution, SIU-E has many stakeholders, from Illinois taxpayers to its faculty, staff and students. Those stakeholders deserve to know what's going on, as do WSIE's listeners, and to have input into the station's eventual fate. Right now, there are too many answered questions: Who are the other members of the committee? What specifically was their charge? What sources of data did they use? Who did they interview? What other information did they obtain, and from where? What criteria were used to evaluate the information they discovered, and to reach a decision? If SIU-E wants its constiuencies and the larger community to accept changes at WSIE, they need to answer these questions quickly, candidly and completely.

Consider also that any format change likely would put WSIE into direct competition with several better-established and better-funded competitors. In particular, the St. Louis radio market would appear to already have a surfeit of both rock music and sports talk stations, but other formats such as country, hip-hop/urban, and news/talk all have established leaders, too. Moreover, given the current economic downturn, the depressed market for advertising time, and the fact that big radio chains like Clear Channel are cutting staff and, in some cases, selling off stations they bought just a few years ago, it also would seem to be an inopportune time to try to sell the station.

Perhaps the best thing the University could do with WSIE is to give it more resources. From what I can tell, the station seems to operate with a very small staff and limited budget. Perhaps they could hire a full-time development director, and use some of the time-honored fundraising methods employed by other public broadcasters, such as membership drives and corporate sponsorships. The money raised could be used to upgrade the station's signal, to do more promotion, and to decrease the reliance on syndicated programming by employing more local on-air talent, both student and professional.

People in St. Louis have shown over the years that they will support public broadcasting with their hard-earned dollars, and WSIE already has a unique and significant role in the community. With more financial support and a bit of TLC, "The Jazz Station" could grow, prosper and continue to serve SIU-E and St. Louis for many years to come.

Notes from the Net: More on Kind of Blue's 50th anniversary; Quincy Jones speaks out on music education; plus news, reviews, and more

Here's this week's compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Starting, as we usually do, with news of the St. Louis area's most famous jazz musician, it seems that the Montreal Jazz Festival will honor Miles Davis with a series of concerts, including "Sketches of MD," featuring new compositions from saxophonist and former Davis sideman Kenny Garrett; a show by the "Miles From India" ensemble, performing selections from the recent CD project fusing Indian culture with Davis' music; and a 50th anniversary celebration of Davis's landmark album Kind of Blue with drummer Jimmy Cobb (the last surviving musician to play on the album) and his So What Band.

Speaking of Kind of Blue, this weekend's Los Angeles Times has a retrospective piece called "Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue' at 50" by Scott Timberg that makes for an interesting read. And in related news, the Kind of Blue: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition released by Columbia Legacy has been nominated for a Jazz Journalists Association Award as "Historical Box Set Recording of the Year."

* Also up for a JJA Award this year is the St. Louis area's own Hamiet Bluiett, who's nominated as "Baritone Saxophonist of the Year." The JJA Awards will be handed out June 16 at the Jazz Standard in NYC. For more on the awards and ceremony, see this post from JJA president Howard Mandel's blog Jazz Beyond Jazz.

* Trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry is performing in a six-show run of The Cat Who Went to Heaven, a children’s jazz puppet show at The Harlem School of the Arts Theater. The show also features pianist Kenny Barron, saxophonist/flutist Frank Wess and the voice of Grady Tate in a story about "the intertwined fates of a struggling Japanese artist, his housekeeper, a Buddhist priest from the local temple and an inspirational cat named Good Fortune."

* Another former St. Louisan, the late, great pianist John Hicks, is the common element uniting three CDs - bassist Mickey Bass' Live at the Jazz Corner of the World, drummer Alvin Queen's Jammin' Uptown, and the tribute CD Mind Wine: The Music of John Hicks - reviewed here by Graham L. Flanagan for AllAboutJazz.com.

* Turning to coming attractions, singer Kurt Elling, who Pollstar says will be coming to St. Louis in December to play Jazz at the Bistro, is releasing a new CD called Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman on Concord Jazz. Recorded in January 2009 in Manhattan as part of Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, the CD offers Elling's reinterpretation of the music performed by saxophonist John Coltrane and singer Johnny Hartman on their eponymous duet album, long considered a jazz classic.

* Last but not least, from the "general interest" file, producer/arranger/composer and all-around cool cat Quincy Jones (pictured) had a noteworthy essay in the Huffington Post about the decline of music education and America's neglect of its indigenous musical culture: "I consider it a tragedy on the part of our educational institutions that our children are virtually devoid of their home-grown culture while that same culture is accepted and celebrated all over the world...Our country has a long history of discarding and devaluing our cultural resources particularly where music is concerned. And although we have thankfully evolved in this pursuit, we still have much further to go before we can claim that we are diligent protectors of our cultural heritage." Preach it, Q!

Tony Bennett concert reviewed in Post-Dispatch

Singer Tony Bennett was in St. Louis on Friday night to perform at the Fox Theatre, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch sent veteran jazz journalist and occasional StLJN co-conspirator Terry Perkins to review the show. You can read Terry's review online here.

Don Wolff's "I Love Jazz" radio program moving to 8:00 p.m. Fridays, expanding to four hours

On Friday night, longtime St. Louis radio personality and jazz advocate Don Wolff celebrated the one-year anniversary of the move of his long-running program "I Love Jazz" to KFUO (99.1 FM).

Wolff's anniversary broadcast brought some additional good news, as he announced that starting on May 29, "I Love Jazz," which for the past year has been broadcast from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Fridays, will expand to four hours and move to an earlier time slot, airing from 8:00 p.m. to midnight every Friday.

Wolff tells StLJN he plans to kick off the four-hour format on May 29 with a show on Benny Goodman's 100th birthday celebration, featuring as his special guest the historian and Goodman expert Jim Ryan. "I will be playing rare & unreleased selections along with my own favorites in the weeks leading up to the birthdate," he said via email.

(Edited 5/22/09 to correct the date of Wolff's first four-hour show.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The Return of Frank Vignola

Today, let's check out some video clips featuring guitarist Frank Vignola, who's returning to St. Louis next week to perform from Wednesday, May 13 through Saturday, May 16 at Jazz at the Bistro.

The versatile Vignola was last seen here in March 2008, performing at the Sheldon Concert Hall and recording a DVD for release by the St. Louis-based Mel Bay Records. Before that, Vignola also played the Bistro in the fall of 2007.

Vignola's music mixes swing, Gypsy music, bluegrass, modern jazz and more, all delivered with impressive technical facility, as you'll see in today's clips. The first video up above is a promotional clip from the DVD of Vignola's Sheldon show. Though the musical exceprts are short, it does give an idea of Vignola's stylistic range (and for us St. Louisans, it's kind of fun to see the familiar Sheldon stage, too).

Down below, there's a live clip from earlier this year of the guitarist and his band playing a jaunty little tune called "Salad and Donuts," and at the bottom, just for fun, there's a video from 2005 of Vignola's version of "Flight of the Bumblebee," which should serves as an ample demonstration of his speedy picking technique.

Symphony schedules "Simply Sinatra" show

Tickets are now on sale for the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra's presentation of "Simply Sinatra with Steve Lippia" at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 13 at Powell Symphony Hall.

The concert will feature the SLSO accompanying vocalist Lippia, who has done Frank Sinatra tribute shows with symphony orchestras all around the country as well as in Las Vegas and Atlantic City showrooms. You can see a short video of excerpts from his show at the bottom of this post.

Tickets for "Simply Sinatra" are priced from $20 to $75 and can be purchased online here.