Student bands to perform at Jazz at the Bistro, Black Cat Theatre

Upcoming events at Jazz at the Bistro and the Black Cat Theatre will give St. Louis area jazz fans some opportunities to catch some of our town's up-and-coming student musicians:

* The Meramec Jazz Lab Band from St. Louis Community College - Meramec, directed by Bob Boedges, will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10 and Wednesday, April 28 at the Black Cat Theatre. Tickets for each concert will be available at the door for $10 general admission, $5 for students with ID.

* Jazz St. Louis will present its first-ever High School Invitational at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 11 at Jazz at the Bistro. The concert will feature the East St. Louis Senior High School Jazz Band, directed by John Barnes and Delano J. Redmond, and the Webster Groves High School Jazz Band (pictured), directed by Kevin Cole. All ages are welcome to attend. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door, by calling 314.289.4030 or 314.534.1111, or online at www.metrotix.com.

(Full disclosure: Yr. humble StLJN editor is an alumnus of the aforementioned Webster Groves High School, though not of the WGHS jazz band itself. Back in the day, you had to be in the marching band in order to participate in the jazz ensemble, and that left yr. piano-playing editor - an ill-advised, ultimately futile summer-long attempt to learn to play the baritone sax notwithstanding - out in the cold. )