Jazz this week: Happy holidays from St. Louis Jazz Notes

With the Christmas holidays falling on Friday and Saturday this year, the live music choices in St. Louis are understandably somewhat limited this weekend, but there nevertheless are a few things to highlight.

Tonight, saxophonist Bhob Rainey returns to St. Louis to headline a night of improvised music at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center. Also tonight, the annual Noel-a-thon, a charity fundraiser which features short sets from a variety of St. Louis blues, rock, folk and jazz musicians, takes place at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

BB's also will have Good 4 The Soul on Sunday in the early evening, and bassist David Certain's CertainBeat WorldBop on Monday.

Beyond that, here's what else we can tell you after checking the schedules around town: Jazz at the Bistro, Robbie's House of Jazz, and The Gramophone are all closed this weekend, as are most concert venues such as the Sheldon, the Kranzberg Arts Center, the TouPAC, and all the halls associated with local colleges and universities. Other restaurants and bars in the area that feature live music may be open for limited hours, but given that the websites of many smaller spots are updated only sporadically, the only way to know for sure is to call ahead.

Here at StLJN, posting likely will be light over the weekend, though the Saturday Video Showcase is pre-scheduled and so will appear at the usual time.

Next week, we'll have lots of year-end material, including a look at the musical options around town for New Year's Eve; a recap of 2010's most significant local jazz-related stories; our annual roundup of lists of the best jazz of the past year, and, as the saying goes, much more.

Until then, here's hoping that you and yours have a happy and peaceful holiday weekend!

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.)