Jazz this week: Erin Bode's CD release, Nu-Art's jazz singers series, and more

The weekend of Independence Day usually isn't a busy one for live jazz performances in St. Louis, and this year is no exception. However, there are a few noteworthy shows coming up over the next several days, most of which seem to involve female vocalists:

Tonight, singer and trumpet player Dawn Weber will perform a free concert at the Missouri Botanical Garden for the Whitaker Music Festival series. Since this show features Weber's Electro-Funk Assembly, the emphasis will be on danceable grooves, not improvisation, but you can probably expect a bit of jamming during the show.

On Thursday, singer Erin Bode (pictured) opens a three-night run at Jazz at the Bistro promoting the release of her new CD Photograph. With no advance copy in hand, all we can tell you is that the CD is self-released, with no record company involved; features all-new original songs written and performed by Bode and her longstanding bandmates; and purportedly finds them using more electronic instruments and a more pop-oriented production style.

You can read a bit more about the release in this preview story, written by Terry Perkins for the Post-Dispatch. Also, if you hunt around a bit here, you may still be able to access a clip of a recent Bode appearance on the morning news at local Fox affiliate KTVI (Channel 2).

On Friday, keyboardist Tony Simmons and singer Cheryl Brown will perform at Robbie's House of Jazz, and on Saturday afternoon, the Nu-Art Series will present singer Nikki Washington doing the songs of Sarah Vaughan. The show at the Metropolitan Gallery is the first in a set of four concerts in July featuring St. Louis singers performing work associated with famous jazz vocalists.

Looking beyond the weekend, BB's Jazz Blues and Soups will feature drummer Joe Pastor's trio on Monday night.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(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 7/1/10 to correct a typo in the name of Erin Bode's CD.)