Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Jazz this week: Scott Alberici & Reggie Thomas, St. Louis Jazz Club picnic, Big Muddy Blues Festival, and more

It looks like we'll have some good weather in St. Louis leading up to and during the Labor Day weekend, and there are plenty of opportunities to get out and hear live jazz, both indoors and outdoors, over the next few days. Here's a look at some highlights in chronological order:

Tonight, the City of St. Louis' O'Fallon Park concert series wraps up with a free performance by singer Denise Thimes.

On Friday and Saturday, clarinetist Scott Alberici (pictured) leads a band including pianist Reggie Thomas for a two-night stand that kicks off the fall season at Jazz at the Bistro. Alberici is an accomplished technician who can play traditional jazz very effectively, but generally takes a slightly more modern. swing-to-bop approach, while Thomas is one of the city's finest pianists. The pairing should make for some good solid mainstream jazz.

Though it's not a jazz event per se, the annual Big Muddy Blues Festival, a free event held this Saturday and Sunday on Laclede's Landing, will include a taste of jazz. In addition to the lineup of local blues bands and touring performers such as Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Joe Louis Walker and Kenny Neal, there will be a set at 1:00 p.m. Saturday from a group of local musicians billed as the St. Louis Jazz Coalition, which includes Dawn Weber (trumpet), Jim Stevens (alto sax). Charles Brown (piano), Mark Youngbauer (guitar), Andy Hainz (bass) and Grover Stewart (drums).

(Yr. humble StLJN editor also will be there at the Big Muddy, playing keyboards with the Oliver Sain Revue as we revive a number of Sain's funk/jazz/instrumental R&B compositions for a set on Sunday night.) For the complete schedule, check the festival's site linked above.

On Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Jazz Club presents its annual picnic at the Concord Farmer's Club in South County. Featured performers at this year's event will be the St. Louis Stompers, the Jazz Club All-Stars and The St. Louis Banjo Club.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday the Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club has its first meeting of the season at Borders in Brentwood. The featured CD this month is Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus, with a discussion led by JSL executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford and celebrity guest Glenn Zimmermann, meteorologist for local Fox affiliate KTVI (Channel 2).

For more jazz and creative music events this weekend and beyond, check the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, available for viewing on the left sidebar or by clicking here.

(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.)

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