Jazz this week: Jane Monheit, Kenny G, and more

As the winter break begins for local universities and we head toward the holidays, the amount of jazz and creative music activity here in St. Louis tends to drop rather precipitously for a couple of weeks and then pick up again in the new year.

That said, there are several noteworthy events happening this week, starting with singer Jane Monheit (pictured), who this evening will open a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. Monheit's got a considerable fan base here in St. Louis, and word is that the early shows are already sold out. So if you're interested in going, advance reservations would seem to be a must.

Tomorrow night, saxophonist Kenny G brings his holiday show at the Family Arena in St. Charles. While the popular performer certainly has plenty of detractors, he's got his share of fans, too. (In fact, the stats show info on Mr. G's St. Louis performance has been one of the most-searched-for items here on StLJN over the last month.) If you're one of those fans, it appears that as of this writing, some tickets remain on sale.

Elsewhere around town, the Funky Butt Brass Band will present their second annual "Holiday Brasstravaganza" on Saturday at the south side rock club Off Broadway, and Robbie's House of Jazz has blues from singer/guitarist and teenage phenom Marquise Knox on Friday and Latin jazz from pianist Phil Gomez and Clave Sol on Saturday. On Sunday afternoon, Robbie's will host a jazz brunch and CD release event for trumpeter Randy Holmes.

That same afternoon and just around the corner, Webster Records will present free in-store performances from singer/pianist Anita Rosamond, guitarist Steve Schenkel and vocalist Kiersten Rose, and trumpeter Jim Manley. All the musicians will donate a portion of sales of their CDs that day to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, and Webster Records will kick a donation based on CD sales as well.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups for their final performance of the year.

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 after posting.)