Jazz this week: Legacy Jazz Quintet, Maurice Carnes, Mardra Thomas, and more

It's the dog days of summer, and as often happens this time of year, once again this weekend the St. Louis area is bereft of touring jazz performers. That makes it a good time to sample some of the proverbial home cookin', so here's a brief look at some of the next few days' highlights:

On Thursday evening, drummer Maurice Carnes will do a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

On Friday, the Legacy Jazz Quintet, , led by Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap (pictured) will open a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. The performances are being presented in association with Washington University's National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute "The New Negro Renaissance in America, 1919-1941," and so Dunlap and company will perform what's being billed as "music of the Harlem Renaissance." (No word as to how the Magnus Chord Organ seen in the photo with Dunlap figures into this scenario.) Also, Jazz St. Louis is offering a two-for-the-price-of-one discount on tickets for both nights; for details, see this post.

Meanwhile, this weekend Robbie's House of Jazz will feature keyboardist Curt Landes and his trio with singer Mary Dyson on Friday, and pianist Carolbeth True on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, singer Mardra Thomas continues the Nu-Art Series' current slate of shows featuring St. Louis vocalists, performing songs associated with Nancy Wilson in a matinee at the Metropolitan Gallery.

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.)