Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Jazz this week: Boney James, Linda Presgrave, Good 4 the Soul, Mardra & Reggie Thomas, and more

It's summer, a time when not only is the livin' purported to be "easy," but also a time when smooth jazz musicians take to the road and free concert series in local parks and elsewhere are in full swing. Here's what's going on this weekend with jazz and creative music in St. Louis:

Tonight, the Mardra and Reggie Thomas Quartet open this summer's series of free concerts at O'Fallon Park on the North Side.

On Thursday, saxophonist Boney James (pictured) continues his "comeback tour" at Ameristar Casino's Bottleneck Blues Bar. For more about James (who's recovering from a serious auto accident that happened in May) plus some video samples of him in action, check out this post from last Saturday.

Also on Thursday, pianist, composer and St. Louis expat Linda Presgrave returns to her hometown to lead a quintet and kick off the summer Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University; and the Funky Butt Brass Band will do a free concert at St. Louis Place Park for the Whitaker Urban Evenings series.

On Friday, the jazz/funk/R&B ensemble Good 4 The Soul returns to Jazz at the Bistro to begin a two-night stand, while the Terry Green Quartet plays at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Saturday afternoon, trumpeter and vibes player Joe Bozzi will lead his quintet in the latest in a series of twice-monthly matinees at The Sands, a neighborhood spot in Shrewsbury just outside the city limits; and the Nu-Art Series will present the second in a summer series of concerts spotlighting vocal jazz, with singer Felicia Ezell doing the music of Ella Fitzgerald in a matinee at the Metropolitan Gallery, 2936 Locust St. downtown.

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.)

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