Jazz this week: Eric Slaughter Trio with Jason Swagler, Ally Hany and Addison Frei, and more

The live jazz offerings are a bit sparse around town this long Independence Day weekend in St. Louis, but there still are a few shows worthy of your attention coming up over the next few days.

On Friday and Saturday, guitarist Eric Slaughter will bring his trio (pictured) plus saxophonist Jason Swagler to Jazz at the Bistro. Although Swagler is billed as special guest, he and Slaughter actually have played together fairly often, including co-hosting a jam session the first Sunday of every month at Bossanova restaurant and bar in Alton, and so already have some shared repertoire to draw on.

Update - July 1, 4:00 p.m.: Jason Swagler has had to undergo an emergency appendectomy, and thus will be unable to perform this weekend at the Bistro. Slaughter's aunt, the well-known blues and soul singer Marsha Evans, will perform with the band instead. In the meantime, here's hoping for a quick and complete recovery for Swagler.

Also on Friday, Robbie's House of Jazz will feature a duo gig by two young musicians, trumpeter and Webster Groves native Alexandra "Ally" Hany and Addison Frei, a young pianist originally from Kansas, who have just completed their freshman year in the well-known jazz studies program at the University of North Texas. Hany also is a former member of the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars student ensemble.

That same evening, pianist Tim Garcia will lead a trio with drummer Dave Sweet and bassist Jim Cady at the Cigar Inn in Belleville; guitarist Vince Varvel's trio will perform at Broadway Bean Coffee; and the Funky Butt Brass Band will play The Gramophone, opening for Austin, TX roots-rock band Uncle Lucius.

The FBBB will be back in action Saturday afternoon with a matinee performance at the Blues City Deli, and on Sunday, Slaughter and Swagler will lead the monthly jazz jam at Bossanova in Alton.

If you're up for some live music after the fireworks downtown on Monday evening, bassist David Certain and his band CertainBeat WorldBop will be playing at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.

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 6/30/11 to add the Vince Varvel gig.)

StLJN Audio Archive: Facets: The Legend Of Leon Thomas

Today, we introduce a new recurring feature, the StLJN Audio Archive, that will appear occasionally on Sundays.

As the name implies, the idea is to spotlight out-of-print recordings by St. Louis artists that are available as free downloads somewhere on the Internet. StLJN has featured this sort of thing before at irregular intervals, but after doing some concerted searching for available resources, there seem to be enough out there to warrant a semi-regular feature.

A few caveats: We will link only to recordings that are out-of-print or that never have been commercially available. The purpose of the Audio Archive is encourage discussion, appreciation and knowledge of St. Louis jazz artists, and we encourage you to support them (or their estates) by purchasing authorized recordings and merchandise or, whenever possible, attending live performances.

Note also that these recordings were not ripped or uploaded by me, although I have grabbed copies both for listening and evaluating and as safeties in case the files disappear from the net. Whenever possible, I"ll give credit to the site where the file was found and/or the original uploader, and also try to include cover art, when available, in a size that can be printed out and used in a CD case.

For the first post in the Audio Archive series, we spotlight Facets: The Legend Of Leon Thomas (pictured), a sampler album that collects recordings made between 1969 and 1973 by singer and East St. Louis native Leon Thomas. This rip comes from the blog Flying Dutchman Records, which collects and shares recordings originally issued by the label of the same name, including this one. Here's what Scott Yanow of All Music Guide had to say about Facets:

"This fine 1973 sampler LP features performances by singer Leon Thomas originally on three previous sets. Three numbers (including "Song for My Father" and a short remake of "The Creator Has a Master Plan") are taken from a 1969 album with the mysterious "Little Rock" (a psuedonym for Pharoah Sanders) on tenor. A trio of numbers feature Thomas with an R&Bish band arranged by Pee Wee Ellis (originally issued as part of Blues and the Soulful Truth) and the remaining selections ("Disillusion Blues," the downbeat "Welcome to New York" and "Duke's Place") are from the vocalist's memorable meeting with altoist Johnny Hodges and Oliver Nelson's Orchestra. Throughout, Leon Thomas (a somewhat unique singer whose career has been rather aimless since this period) is heard in prime form."

Personnel for the album includes:

Leon Thomas - vocals, percussion
James Spaulding (A1,B4), Johnny Hodges (A2,A4,B1) - alto sax
Pee Wee Ellis (A3,A5,B3) - baritone sax, organ, marimba
Ernie Royal (A2,A4,B1), Snooky Young (A2,A4,B1), Marvin Stamm (A2,A4,B1), Randy Brecker (A2,A4,B1) - trumpet
Al Grey (A2,A4,B1) - flugelhorn, trumpet
Earl Hines (A2,A4,B1), Lonnie Liston Smith (A1,B4), Neal Creque (A3,A5,) - piano
David Spinozza (A2,B1), Larry Coryell (B3) - guitar
Cecil McBee (A1,B2,B4), Richard Davis (A2,B2,B4), Ron Carter (A2,A4,B1) - bass
Bernard "Pretty Purdie, Grady Tate (A2,A4,B1), Roy Haynes (A1, B2, B4) - drums
Richard Landrum (A1, B2, B4) - percussion

Thomas' music was an interesting combination of avant-garde jazz, blues, and his concept of slick, commercial R&B, and the tracks here provide a good introduction for those who haven't had a chance to hear him before. Note also that it brings Thomas together with another St. Louis jazz legend, saxophonist and composer Oliver Nelson, who arranged the music on the three cuts with Johnny Hodges.

To download a copy, go here, click on the word "LINK" at the bottom of the post, then follow the instructions. Note that since the file resides at a free download site - in this case, Rapidshare - you may have to wait and/or click through a couple of ads to complete the download.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A Dave Black sampler

This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring guitarist Dave Black, who was just voted "Best Jazz Artist" in St. Louis by readers of the Riverfront Times in balloting for the weekly paper's 2011 Music Awards. Black, who's originally from Indiana, has been living, teaching and performing here since the early 1980s, playing solo and duo gigs, leading his own bands, and serving as a sideman and accompanist for other musicians and singers working in a wide variety of styles.

These five clips offer a sample of some of Black's various musical projects, starting up above with the trio billed as the Dave Black Group performing an original tune called "Night Traveler" this past January in the studios of radio station KDHX (88.1 FM). That's Kevin Gianino on drums and Marc Torlina on bass.

Down below, you can see another of Black's ensembles, the Itti Bitti Swing Orchestra, performing "Swing '39" this past January at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Along with Black and Gianino, the musicians are bassist Willem von Hombracht, violinist Justin Branum and Paul DeMarinis on clarinet.

The third clip is from the same concert at the Sheldon, and shows the ensemble Bridge performing Black's composition "Lost But Not Alone." Bridge features Black, Asako Kuboki on violin, Ranya Iqbal on cello and David DeRiso on bass, with Gianino adding drums here.

The fourth video shows Black and another frequent collaborator, singer and flute player Margaret Bianchetta, in a duo version of the Duke Ellington standard "Do Nothing 'Til You Hear from Me," while the final clip show Black playing a solo version of his composition "Arrival."

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* This week's St. Louis American has an obituary for singer Mae Wheeler, penned by staff writer Kenya Vaughn.

* The Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson has a very short preview story on Monday night's performance by the Monterey County HS All Star Band at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Speaking of student jazz bands, the one from Belleville West High School just got back from a trip to Germany, as chronicled here by the Suburban Journals' Jim Merkel.

* Changes may be coming to the streetscape of the Grand Center district, which includes Jazz at the Bistro, the Sheldon Concert Hall, the Fox Theatre and other venues for musical performances. The Post-Dispatch's Marlon Walker wrote about the public meeting to discuss the plan here.

* Terry Perkins profiled the eclectic roots music band Sins of the Pioneers for the St. Louis Beacon.

* StLJN got a shout-out last week from The Bad Plus' Ethan Iverson in a post on his blog Do The Math that mentioned various blogs devoted to local jazz scenes around the US. Thanks, Ethan!

Denise Thimes to perform at benefit for United Way on Saturday, September 17

Singer Denise Thimes (pictured) will perform for the third annual "Chocolate, Wine and All That Jazz" event kicking off this year's annual campaign for the Tri County Division of United Way. The fundraiser will take place starting at 6:30 p.m., Saturday September 17 at the Grand Opera House, 311 N. Main St in St. Charles.

In addition to music from Thimes and her band, the evening will include wine tastings, chocolate sampling and hors d'oeuvres. Tickets are $55 each if purchased before July 31, or $60 after, and only 300 will be sold. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 636-939-3300.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the United Way of Greater St. Louis, which funds nearly 200 health and human service agencies located throughout a 16-county area in Missouri and Illinois.

Peter Martin reissues first CD The Answer

Pianist Peter Martin has just re-issued his very first CD, making it widely available for the first time in several years. Titled The Answer, it was recorded back in 2000, while Martin was still living in New Orleans and before he made his debut CD for the St. Louis based MAXJAZZ label in 2001.

The self-produced disc features Martin leading a quartet with Brice Winston on tenor sax, Roland Guerin on bass and Adonis Rose on drums. They perform six of Martin's original compositions as well as Herbie Hancock’s “Theme From Blow Up.” The reissue version of the CD features new artwork and mastering.

You can hear music samples from The Answer and purchase a copy of the disc on Martin's website, or buy it as a download from iTunes.

Riverfront Times announces 2011 Music Awards winners

The Riverfront Times announced the winners of the paper's 2011 Music Awards at a ceremony held Tuesday night at the downtown rock club, the Firebird.

Guitarist Dave Black (pictured) was named "Best Jazz Artist" in the RFT's online reader poll, while the combo platter of singer Roland Johnson and the Voodoo Blues Band snagged this year's "Best Blues Artist" award. The Funky Butt Brass Band also were among this year's winners, taking home the trophy for "Best Jam/Funk Band."

You can see the entire list of 2011 RFT Music Awards winners here.

Jazz this week: Norman Brown & Richard Elliot, Denise Thimes, Monterey County All-Star Band, and more

It's jazz festival season in many parts of the US and Europe, so touring jazz groups are bit thin on the ground this time of year in non-festival cities like St. Louis. Still, with many local summer free concert series underway and local musicians at the usual venues, there's a pretty decent variety of live jazz happening around town over the next few days. Here's a look at some of the most noteworthy upcoming events:

On Thursday, the Funky Butt Brass Band will play a free outdoor concert at Strauss Park in Grand Center as part of radio station KDHX's "Music and Movies" series. The film for the evening is, fittingly, The Music Man, though as far as I know, the FBBB has no plans to add 75 additional trombones for the occasion. (And for those who may not know, Strauss Park is the small, triangle shaped park at Washington at Grand, across the street from the Fox Theatre and right outside the front door of the Bistro at Grand Center. )

On Friday and Saturday, singer Denise Thimes returns to Jazz at the Bistro. A popular performer locally who's also developing something of a national reputation thanks to appearances with Clark Terry and other name-brand jazz performers, Thimes usually seems to draw well at the Bistro, so if you plan to go, advance reservations would be a good idea.

Also on Friday, guitarist Farshid Soltanshahi's salsa music group Café Danza will play a free concert at the St. Louis Art Museum as part of SLAM's "Art After 5" series; saxophonist Jim Stevens is doing a free outdoor performance for Ferguson Citywalk in downtown Ferguson; and drummer Marty Spikener and the On Call Band will play at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Moving a bit further from the Arch that same evening, saxophonist Dave Cheli's group Tribal Chicken, with guest Fred Tompkins on flute, will play the St. Charles Coffeehouse; and guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio with drummer Marty Morrison and bassist Nick Jost will return to the Cigar Inn in Belleville.

Saturday brings the week's touring headliner, a double-bill of guitarist and singer Norman Brown and saxophonist Richard Elliot (pictured) at The Pageant. You can read my Riverfront Times Critic's Pick on that show here, and see some videos of Elliot in performance in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also on Saturday, the Gateway City Big Band will play a free, early evening outdoor concert at Kirkwood Park, 111 S. Geyer Rd; and singer Tony Viviano and his band are presenting a dinner-and-a-show package called "Sophisticated Lady" at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Sunday, many local musicians and music fans no doubt will be in attendance at the funeral services for the late singer Mae "Lady Jazz" Wheeler that will be held that afternoon.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday you can check out some of the proverbial "stars of tomorrow" as the Monterey County All-Star Band and Vocal Honor Ensemble, a student band associated with the Monterey Jazz Festival in California, brings their summer tour to Jazz at the Bistro. Also on Monday, bassist David Certain's CertainBeat WorldBop will be back at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

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.)

Bonerama to play at the Sheldon on Sunday, July 31

The Sheldon Concert Hall and The Gramophone are joining forces to present the New Orleans band Bonerama (pictured) in a performance at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, July 31 in the Sheldon's upstairs ballroom.

Founded by trombonists Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, both veterans of Harry Connick, Jr's band, Bonerama features a front line of four trombones and blends traditional New Orleans jazz and brass band sounds with rock, funk, free improv and more. The group's last appearance in St. Louis was in January of this year at The Gramophone.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 day of show and go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Friday, June 24 via MetroTix.

Mae Wheeler funeral services, memorial concert scheduled

Information on funeral services for Mae Wheeler has been released, as well as details on other events honoring the late singer, who died last week at 77 after a long illness.

* There will be a "Jam Session Celebration" from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. this Friday, June 24 at Eddie Randle & Sons Funeral Home, 4600 Natural Bridge Ave.

* Wheeler's funeral will be held this Sunday, June 26 at Greater Grace Church, 3690 Pershall Rd. Viewing will be from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m., with the funeral program at 4:30 p.m. and a repass immediately following. At 10:00 a.m. on Monday, June 27, Wheeler's body will be taken by horse-drawn carriage from Randle & Sons to Memorial Park Cemetery, 5200 Lucas & Hunt Rd., for interment.

* A memorial concert to benefit Wheeler's charity, a scholarship fund for C students who want to go to college, has been scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Monday, July 11 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

The event will feature performances from singers Jeanne Trevor, Denise Thimes, Gene Lynn, Marsha Evans, Bill Tucker, Renee Smith, A.J. Dickerson Sr, and Wendy Gordon; Elvis tribute artist Steve Davis; the Gateway Men's Chorus; Trio Trés Bien; the Bosman Twins; and classical pianist Kalid McGhee. The house band will include Jeff Anderson (tenor sax and upright bass), Jimmy Hinds (electric bass), Eric Slaughter (guitar), Al Barnes (drums), Carolbeth True (piano) and Tony Simmons (keyboards).

The event will be hosted by jazz broadcaster Don Wolff and KTVI newswoman Bonita Cornute, and St. Louis city license collector Mike McMillan will present a proclamation honoring Wheeler. Tickets are $10 for general admission, and be available at the door starting at 6:00 p.m. the evening of the show.

* A.J. Dickerson Sr tells StLJN there also are plans in the works for a "Gospel Showcase" in honor of Wheeler on August 30 at the Sheldon, with more details to be released at a later date.

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

It's officially summer, and so it's as good a time as any for another shameless plug for StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds. The premise is simple: there's a different music video posted each day, drawn from genres including jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock and experimental. Think of it as extension course in the College of Musical Knowledge, presented one video at a time.

Recent posts have featured video performances by Jimmy Smith, Steely Dan, Don Cherry, David Sanborn, Grover Washington Jr., Dexter Gordon & Benny Bailey, Ry Cooder, Tower of Power, Bill Evans, Santana, Gerry Mulligan, Stanley Turrentine, Earth Wind and Fire, Hound Dog Taylor, Hawkwind, Carla Bley Trio, J Geils Band, Erroll Garner, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Billy Bang Quintet, Solomon Burke and Marion Brown.

You can see them all, plus hundreds more specially selected videos from the archives, simply by visiting http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/.

Webster University jazz combo camp set for July 11 to July 15

Webster University will present a jazz combo camp for high school, college and adult students starting Monday, July 11 through Friday, July 15 on its campus in Webster Groves, 470 E. Lockwood Ave.

Campers will meet daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for a curriculum that includes master classes for specific instruments; ensemble rehearsals; classes in music theory and jazz styles; and seminars covering topics such as big band techniques, rhythm section playing, music technology, composition, music business, Latin music and jazz history.

The camp is directed by Webster's director of jazz studies, saxophonist and associate professor of music Paul DeMarinis (pictured). The list of faculty members includes most of the jazz instructors from Webster: pianists Kim Portnoy, Carolbeth True and Carol Schmidt; guitarists Steve Schenkel, Dave Black and Tom Byrne; bassists Jay Hungerford, Ric Vice and Willem Von Hombracht; trumpeters Randy Holmes, Malcolm McDuffie and Dan Smith; saxophonists Willie Akins, Mike Karpowicz and Chris Braig; trombonists James Martin and Wayne Coniglio; and drummers Kevin Gianino and Ron Carr.

The enrollment fee for the camp is $225. The St. Louis Jazz Club provides educational material for each attendee, plus a limited number of scholarships. The Webster Jazz Studies Program also provides a limited number of reduced tuition scholarships. Primary music instructors of students who may need financial assistance to attend this year’s camp should contact DeMarinis at 314-968-7039.

For more information, see this brochure (.pdf file) or call 314-968-7032.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Gaslight Square Remembered

More often than not, this weekly feature is dedicated to previewing upcoming concerts of jazz and creative music in St. Louis. However, talking this past week with people about the late Mae Wheeler and her long career got me thinking about both the history of jazz in St. Louis and the need to occasionally to remember and celebrate the musicians and singers who made it happen.

With that in mind, this week we're taking a look at St. Louis' Gaslight Square district and some of the people who played and sang there, where Wheeler launched her music career. Lets start at the beginning, as many younger readers and those not from St. Louis may have heard the name Gaslight Square, but may not know much about it.

Briefly, Gaslight Square was a small entertainment district, just a few blocks long really, that flourished in the city of St. Louis during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The area began to decline in the mid-1960s, as crime rose, the city's population dropped, and shady operators tried to cash in on its previous popularity. By the end of the 1960s, it was pretty much all over. Gaslight Square became a collection of mostly vacant buildings, and the area remained in ruins for more than 30 years.

The 2005 documentary Gaslight Square: The Legend Lives On, which you can watch in the embedded video window up above, tells the whole story, at a length of more than 2 hours. The film has lots of archival footage, still photos, and interviews, and remains the most extensive audio/visual presentation of Gaslight Square's history. The producers also created an accompanying website that has still photos and some other material.

At the time The Legend Lives On documentary was made, redevelopment plans for Gaslight Square were stalled for the umpteenth time and the area was still blighted. Since then, some small progress has been made, with a few new homes built and some older buildings rehabbed. That brings us to the video down below, which was produced in 2008 by the staff of KETC's Living St. Louis. Over 25 minutes, producer/host Margie Newman recounts the history of Gaslight Square and looks at the still-ongoing efforts to renew the neighborhood for the 21st century.

Of course, the buildings weren't really what made Gaslight Square memorable - it was the people. One performer from the era who remains active is singer Jeanne Trevor, who no longer gigs every week but still plays out with some regularity. In the second window below, you can see Trevor with pianist Curt Landes singing "God Bless The Child" during a show last year at the alternative performance space Joe's Cafe.

Another Gaslight Square veteran still working is pianist Jeter Thompson, who played back in the day with Quartette Tres Bien and now performs with his brothers Harold, a bassist, and Howard, a drummer, as Trio Tres Bien. They can be seen in the third window below backing Harold's daughter, singer Danita Mumphard, in a version of the Burt Bacharach song "A House Is Not A Home." (Jeter Thompson's piano solo starts about at 3 minutes, 50 seconds into the tune.)

In the window below that, you can hear Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, yet another mainstay of the Gaslight Square district, playing "I Close My Eyes" at a 2006 gig in Santa Monica, CA. The band includes St. Louisan Jeff Anderson on bass and former St. Louis resident Rob Block on guitar, and that's Peanuts' nephew, the well-known contemporary jazz saxophonist Kirk Whalum, sporting the fedora. Now 82 years old, Peanuts Whalum has not been seen playing out in a while, and, sadly, I've heard talk that he's had health problems, but no specific information has been made public.

For today's final video, there a Mae Wheeler clip that went unposted the other day, a feature story about a tribute to her filmed back in 2007 for KETC's Living St. Louis.

If you'd like to learn more about the history of Gaslight Square, there have been two books written on the subject in recent years. The first, Gaslight Square: An Oral History by Thomas Crone, came out in 2004 and chronicles "the rise and fall of Gaslight Square" in the words of people who worked, played and/or lived there.

The second, Gaslight Square Illuminated: The Rise & Fall of St. Louis' Premier 'Hot Spot'" by Richard Fuegner and David Roth, was released earlier this year and purports to offer a more comprehensive historical look at the district. (Note that if you use the links above to buy a copy of either book from Amazon.com, a few pennies in commission will eventually find their way back to StLJN, thereby supporting the continued operation of this website.)

Last but not least, for those who want to wear their nostalgia and/or local pride on their chests, stlstyle.com offers for sale a Gaslight Square t-shirt. (No commission for StLJN on this, just thought maybe you'd dig the shirt.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* The Jazz Crusaders concert presented by Jazz St. Louis last Saturday at the Touhill Performing Arts Center was reviewed by Calvin Wilson for the Post-Dispatch.

* And speaking of Jazz St. Louis, they're looking for a Membership and Special Events Manager. If you're interested in applying for the job, click the link or email director of development Melissa Jones at melissa @ jazzstl.org.

* Terry Perkins is doing another series for the St. Louis Beacon of weekly profiles of bands playing various local outdoor concert series this summer; this week's article is about the Funky Butt Brass Band.

* Music for Lifelong Achievement (MFLA) has wrapped up an instrument drive for Horns to Havana, during which they collected seventeen instruments, including a trumpet, saxophone, keyboard, three guitars, three trombones, four flutes and four clarinets. MFLA was the first organization in the US to partner on this project with Horns to Havana, a non-profit organization based at The Center For Cuban Studies in New York City. The current goal is provide a full set of jazz band instruments to each of four Cuban schools.

* Filmmakers Alan Hicks and Adam Hart are using Kickstarter to raise money for Keep On Keepin' On, a proposed documentary that "follows the lives of 3 up-and-coming musicians, linked by their close association with one of the last living Jazz Legends, the great Clark Terry."

The film is already well along, with lots of footage shot of all four subjects, and now the makers are trying to come up with $35,000 by Monday, August 8. As of this writing on Friday, June 17, they have 94 "Backers" and $18,636 pledged toward their $35,000 goal, with 51 days to go. (If you're unfamiliar with the Kickstarter concept, see this.)

More about Mae

Following up on the death of the iconic singer Mae Wheeler, yesterday I talked with people who knew and worked with her for another article that's now up on the Riverfront Times website. Check it out!

Update - More coverage from around town of Wheeler's passing:

The Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson recalled the first time he met Wheeler, and reposted the story that resulted from that encounter. He followed up with a more detailed story/obituary, including comments from family members and Wheeler's musical colleagues, here.

Meanwhile, Sauce Magazine dug into their vaults for a 2007 article about Wheeler by Thomas Crone.

Local NBC affiliate KSDK ran a brief item about Wheeler's passing on their newscasts yesterday. It's good that they covered the story, but bad in that the text published on KSDK's site looks to be nothing more than a thinly disguised, condensed rewrite of my piece that ran Wednesday on the Riverfront Times website. A giant media corporation like Gannett, which owns KSDK and reportedly took in $5.4 billion (with a b) in revenues in 2010, really ought to be able to do their own reporting, don't you think?

That's what local CW affiliate KPLR did, sending a camera crew out to interview one of Wheeler's daughters.

On a related and happier note, Jazz Times mentioned and linked to StLJN's coverage of Wheeler and two other items in their weekly wrap-up of the jazz blogosphere, for which yr. humble editor is most grateful.

Finally, for those who'd like to hear more of Mae Wheeler's singing, Michael Major of Major Creative has posted several free MP3s of Mae Wheeler holding forth during a jam session at Brandt's. The recording date isn't specified, but given the location and the personnel announced by Wheeler during "Killer Joe" - Jeff Anderson on bass, Arthur Toney on keyboards, and "Marty" (perhaps Marty Spikener or Marty Morrison?) on drums - it's fairly recent.

Update - 7:20 p.m., 6/17/11: Funeral arrangements for Mae Wheeler have been announced. Here's the full text of a post made today on her Facebook account:

"THE FUNERAL FOR MAE "LADY JAZZ" WHEELER WILL BE HELD @ THE GREATER GRACE CHAPLE@3690 PERSHALL RD ST.LOUIS, MO - JUNE 26,2011. VIEWING AND VISITATIONS WILL BE HELD FROM 3 PM TO 4:30 PM FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BEGIN @ 5 PM REPASS TO FOLLOW.. *(FOR MAP GO TO WWW.GGCSTL.ORG)*
**THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS**"

Mae Wheeler 1934 - 2011

Singer Mae Wheeler (pictured), known to generations of St. Louis music fans as "Lady Jazz," died this evening at her home in Maryland Heights after a long illness. She was 77.

Wheeler, known for her charity fundraising efforts as well as for a musical career that spanned six decades, had been battling colon cancer since 2006, and was diagnosed two years ago with leukemia. Her doctors had sent her home from the hospital last month, saying that further treatment would be ineffective. In recent weeks, Wheeler was surrounded by and cared for by family and friends, including a granddaughter who established a Facebook account for her so friends and fans could send their best wishes. During that time, she gave a final interview to Terry Perkins of the St. Louis Beacon, which you can read here.

Born on May 15, 1934 in Memphis, TN, Wheeler moved with her family to the St. Louis suburb of Richmond Heights when she was five. She graduated in 1951 from Douglass School in Webster Groves, and according to published reports, later attended Forest Park Community College for about a year, majoring in music and communications, before meeting her husband Jimmie Lee, who was in the landscaping business.

The couple had five children, but when Jimmy Lee died of kidney disease in 1964, Wheeler was left as the family's sole breadwinner. She worked as a restaurant cook, took in laundry, and cleaned houses to make ends meet, but never gave up on her desire to sing. Wheeler eventually broke in to the music business at the tail end of St. Louis' Gaslight Square era, crediting fellow singer Jeanne Trevor for helping her to get her first gigs at places such as Vanity Fair, the Black Horse, the Dark Side and the Red Carpet.

Wheeler often referred to herself not as a jazz singer, but as a "song stylist" who interpreted a wide variety of material, from jazz and blues to pop, rock, Broadway and more. In the 1970s and into the 1980s, Wheeler was a regular performer at Hannegan's on Laclede's Landing and also worked at other spots such the Moose Lounge in north St. Louis and an early incarnation of Kennedy's, also on the Landing. In later years, she performed frequently at the now-defunct Brandt's in University City, as well as at other restaurants, lounges and clubs around town.

Over the course of her career, Wheeler worked with hundreds of St. Louis musicians and singers, and also appeared with nationally known entertainers including Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Sonny Stitt, Mitch Miller and Arthur Prysock. As best as can be determined, she released two recordings, Live in 2000, and Just Friends in 2002. Both seem currently to be out of print.

Wheeler also became known as an event producer and philanthropist, putting on the first version of what would come to be called "The Divas Show" in 1996 at Westport Playhouse. Subsequent editions of the concert would follow annually for the next dozen years, showcasing many St. Louis female vocalists and raising money for Wheeler's favorite charity, a scholarship fund for high school graduates with C averages who wanted to attend college. One of the best known recipients of one of Wheeler's $1,000 scholarships is drummer Kim Thompson, who put the money toward her education at Manhattan School of Music and has gone on to become a successful professional musician, performing with pop singer Beyonce and many others.

“Maybe now, she’ll reach back,” Wheeler said of Thompson in a 2010 interview with Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American. “In doing all of this I just want people to know that we need to help one another. Plus, I want these children to know to always reach for the sky and don’t ever stop trying to be a winner.”

Wheeler moved from her longtime home in Richmond Heights to Maryland Heights in 2007, as her old neighborhood was bought out for a redevelopment project. Her final production "Unforgettable Legends" took place on Halloween night 2010 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Mae Wheeler is survived by a brother, Darde Smith; three sisters, Delores Laster, Samella Miller and Ernestine Stith; two daughters, MarYam Aaten and Mary Wheeler, and three sons, Steve Wheeler, Kenneth Wheeler and Khamaron Wheeler, as well as 15 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. As of this writing, there's been no announcement made yet about funeral arrangements or a memorial service.

For more about Mae Wheeler's life and career, see the embedded video below, which is a segment aired on local PBS affiliate KETC's program Living St. Louis earlier this year when Wheeler won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis. You also may enjoy the video below that, which features an brief informal conversation between Wheeler and a fan at Brandt's back in 2006.

A personal note: Although I didn't know Mae Wheeler well, I had a chance to perform with her (and for her) a few times in recent years at various benefits and all-star shows, and to cover her as a journalist. I liked her as a person, and admired her philanthropic efforts and fighting spirit. The St. Louis community certainly is diminished by her passing, but our town also benefited greatly from the things she did while she was passing through. Rest in peace, Lady Jazz.





(Photo of Mae Wheeler courtesy of BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.)

(Updated 6/17/11 to correct the information on Mae Wheeler's survivors.)

Jazz at Holmes sets summer series schedule

Although there's been no formal announcement yet, the Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University apparently has set their schedule for this summer.

A recent update to their site (linked above) lists four concerts for July 2011, starting with a performance on Thursday, July 7 by Ritmo Caliente, "one of St. Louis' premier Latin Jazz groups fusing modern improvisation with Caribbean and Brazilian music."

The following Thursday, July 14, it will be the St. Louis Jazz Ensemble with Maurice Carnes playing "straightahead modern repertoire and original music. The ensemble rotates a roster of the best of St. Louis' jazz community."

Next up on Thursday, July 21 is a trio led by guitarist Brian Vaccaro (pictured), playing "modern jazz...new sounds and music for the traditional instrumentation of guitar, bass and drums."

The Jazz at Holmes summer 2011 series will wrap up on Thursday, July 28 with The Poor People of Paris, "presenting traditional jazz along with European song."

All Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public, and begin at 8:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, which is located in Ridgley Hall, on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.

Jazz this week: Tim Cunningham and Jim Stevens, Oleta Adams, Wayne Coniglio's live recording, Larry Brown Jr., and more

While St. Louis no longer has a major jazz festival in June since the demise a couple of years ago of the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival, that doesn't mean the local scene is completely devoid of jazz and creative music activity this time of year. Here's what's going on around town this weekend...

Tonight, trombonist (and sometimes bassist) Wayne Coniglio will perform with his band and guest trombonist Scott Whitfield for a live CD recording session at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Whitfield is perhaps best known for his ten years as lead trombonist for NYC's Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra; the band also will include Ken Kehner (piano), Eric Warren (bass) and Kevin Gianino (drums).

On Thursday, singer Erin Bode and her band will perform a free outdoor concert in downtown Kirkwood as part of the city's annual summer concert series.

On Friday and Saturday, St. Louis gets its own local version of one of those contemporary jazz package shows, as the R&B-oriented saxophonists Tim Cunningham (pictured) and Jim Stevens will team up for the first time to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Friday, Michael Silverman's Classical Jazz Quartet (basically the Downtown Trio plus one) will perform at the Focal Point; Chicago-based guitarist Larry Brown Jr. is playing at Robbie's House of Jazz; guitarist Dave Black's trio, with drummer Kevin Gianino and bassist Willem von Hombracht, will perform at the Cigar Inn in Belleville; and the Original Knights of Swing will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

That same evening, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will present "Vegas and the Rat Pack," with orchestral versions of songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr featuring singer and conductor Matt Catingub and singer Anita Hall.

Also on Saturday, Swing Set will perform in the afternoon at Montelle Winery, and that evening Robbie's has drummer Brian Sullivan's trio, with Dave Becherer on keyboards and Darrell Mixon on bass.

On Sunday, the jazz-influenced singer Oleta Adams will perform at the Missouri History Museum as part of a Juneteenth commemoration.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday drummer Joe Pastor's trio will play at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups, and on Tuesday, Robbie's will present their weekly open jam session.

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 to add details on Erin Bode, SLSO and Swing Set.)

Site news: A new mobile version, gig info wanted, and more

It's been a slow news week in St. Louis, and for yr. humble editor, some gigs and deadlines for actual paying work additionally have made for light blogging over the last few days...so this seems as good a time as any to catch up on a few site-related housekeeping items:

* Blogger has added an option to offer a mobile version of the site, which I've enabled for StLJN. (We've been without a mobile version for a few months, since the previous third-party provider shut down their free service.)

The new mobile site should come up automatically when you access StLJN from a smart phone or tablet. It's not fancy - much like the earlier incarnation, it's basically a re-skinning of the RSS feed. However, if you have any feedback on how well it works (or doesn't work), please feel free to let me know in the comments or via email.

* Once again, a reminder to all the musicians reading this site: StLJN wants your gig information for the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar! To get a free listing, just send an email to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. Your gig will get added to the site calendar, and it also could get featured in a post, mentioned in the "jazz this week" update, or otherwise selected for more extensive coverage.

The minimum information needed for a calendar listing is the name of the band or musician, the date, the place, and the starting time and ending time. Additional information - ticket prices, web addresses, more details on the event, whatever - may be helpful, and will be included in the listing as appropriate, but it's not required.

Again, this is a completely free service - but to continue to make the calendar as complete as possible, I need your help. After more than six years of publishing, I can usually get reasonably good information on performances put on by the larger jazz presenters, venues and concert series. However, information often is harder to come by for gigs like self-promoted concerts or charity benefits, or at places like neighborhood bars, coffeehouses or churches that may not regularly present jazz. That's where it's very helpful to hear directly from musicians; if you don't tell me about the gig, I may not find out about it all. So, send in those listings!

* StLJN is getting close to 500 "Likes" on Facebook, and near 400 followers on Twitter. If you use either service and don't already like/follow StLJN, please consider doing so, thereby helping us to reach those curiously gratifying round numbers.

* Lastly, if the current lull persists for a bit, there may be some dead-link pruning and minor adjustments to the current layout in store - nothing too dramatic, but if the site looks a bit strange on an upcoming visit, it's because you've stopped by while renovations were in progress, and things should stabilize soon.

I also anticipate launching a couple of new recurring features for StLJN in the not-too-distant future, about which I hope to have more later this week.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Four from Richard Elliot

Whether headlining his own show, playing with the Jazz Attack package tour, teamed with trumpeter Rick Braun in the group RnR, or in some other configuration, it seems like saxophonist Richard Elliot has turned up in St. Louis every summer in recent years for a gig of some sort. This time around, he'll be sharing a bill with guitarist and singer Norman Brown on Saturday, June 25 at The Pageant.

To mark the occasion, today we've got four clips of Elliot performing some favorite tunes in his groove-oriented, R&B-flavored style. The first clip up above shows the saxophonist and his band covering Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" at a gig last August in San Antonio. Down below, the second clip has a version of "Who" from the same gig.

The third clip shows Elliot playing the title track of his 2009 CD Rock Steady, a tune made famous, of course, by Aretha Franklin. And just for fun, the fourth clip goes back to the early 1990s, showing Elliot performing the song "Stiletto Heels" on the German TV show Ohne Filter. As this clip demonstrates, Elliot's basic approach to music hasn't changed all that much over the years, but I for one am glad he's not still sporting that mullet or the purple suit...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* Looking at more news coverage of the closing of Brandt's, it appears that the commenters at the Riverfront Times' Gut Check blog and at the University City edition of community news site Patch.com agree that the venue's biggest problems were poor food and service, not rising crime in the Delmar Loop neighborhood.

* Terry Perkins wrote a piece for this week's St. Louis American about the news conference announcing the upcoming Miles Davis Festival.

* The southside music venue 2720 Cherokee (pictured) has made some adjustments to their format, and now will present two or more performances or events simultaneously on different floors of the building. The Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson has more here.

* A new episode of Don Wolff's TV program I Love Jazz is set to air starting next Thursday, June 16 on cable station HEC-TV. The episode features performance footage of the Bosman Twins live at Jazz at the Bistro, as well as coverage of the Nu-Art Series' recent presentation of "SoundArt," featuring poet and author Quincy Troupe, saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett and guitarist Kelvyn Bell.

Jazz this week: The Jazz Crusaders, Wine Dine & Jazz Festival, Sylvia McNair, Coco Soul, and more

Mid-summer heat has arrived in St. Louis several weeks ahead of schedule, but if you can brave the unseasonable temperatures, there are a number of jazz and creative music events worth checking out over the next few days.

Today at lunchtime, the band Swing Set will play a free concert from noon to 1 p.m. at the Old Library Plaza at 8th and Locust as part of the St. Louis Public Library's "Not So Quiet" concert series.

Tomorrow, there are several options for the discerning listener, including the first night of the Wine Dine and Jazz Festival in downtown Belleville. Friday's performers at the free event include the Usual Suspects with Gypsy Brown, the Dawn Weber Group and the Jim Stevens Group, while Saturday's lineup includes the USAF Starlifter Jazz Band, Tony D and the Groove, the Santana tribute band Stantana, and blues from guitarist and singer Vince Martin. (Full disclosure: Yr. humble StLJN editor will be playing keyboards with Martin. Consider yourself warned.)

Also on Friday, singer Coco Soul opens a two-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. Soul (nee Rochelle Walker) is known mostly as an R&B singer, former host of the open mic event Cafe Soul, and occasional performer in musical theater at venues including the Black Rep, Stages and Westport Playhouse. The promo blurb for her Bistro debut suggests that "her jazz influences, coupled with a strong R&B and soul background will surely delight listeners," but to these ears, the songs on her MySpace page sound more like straight R&B, albeit with the occasional brass background and/or trumpet obbligato.

Elsewhere on Friday, singer and pianist Bruce Hornsby and his band the Noisemakers are playing at The Pageant - you can read my Riverfront Times Critic's Pick on that show here - and singer Cheri Evans is at Robbie's House of Jazz

The most significant jazz show of the week, however, happens on Saturday, when the Jazz Crusaders (pictured) play at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. With original members Joe Sample, Wilton Felder and Wayne Henderson reuniting for the first time since Henderson left the band in the mid-1970s, this tour definitely counts as a special occasion. And with Jazz St. Louis offering tickets at half price, the least expensive seat is only $17.50, which is quite affordable. For more about the Jazz Crusaders, including videos of performances of six of their best-known songs, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, pianist and singer Curt Landes teams with singer Mary Dyson for a gig at Robbie's House of Jazz; and on Sunday, BB's Jazz Blues & Soups has Latin jazz in the early evening from Clave Sol.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band will be back at BB's, and on Tuesday, singer Sylvia McNair will give a special cabaret performance in the Sheldon Concert Hall's upstairs ballroom,

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.)

Jazz St. Louis offering half-price tickets for the Jazz Crusaders concert this Saturday

Jazz St. Louis has just announced an offer of half-price tickets to hear the Jazz Crusaders (pictured) this Saturday, June 11 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

The offer applies to the tickets regularly priced at $50 and $35, but not to the "Gold Circle" tickets selling for $100.

Half-price tickets can be purchased by calling the Touhill ticket office at 314-516-4949 and using the promo code "STREETLIFE," or in person at the Touhill by using the promo code.

To purchase tickets online, go to www.touhill.org and click the calendar link at the top of the page. Enter the promo code "STREETLIFE" in the promo code box at upper right, and click the black arrow next to the box to submit the promo. A listing for the Jazz Crusaders should be the only performance you see. Complete the order form and then click "purchase." The discount is good only until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 10.

Brandt's Cafe and Red Carpet Lounge closes

St. Louis has lost another venue for live jazz, as Brandt's (pictured), the health food deli-turned-bar and restaurant that's been a staple in the Delmar Loop for 25 years, has closed. The announcement was posted Sunday on Brandt's Facebook page, and the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson has a story on the closing here.

In the Post article, Brandt's co-owner Adam Brandt (nephew of founder and former owner Jay Brandt) blames recent street crime in the Loop area for the venue's demise. His assertion is disputed by quotes from Joe Edwards, owner of Blueberry Hill and other business ventures on the street, and vehemently contradicted by the story's commenters, who place the blame for Brandt's collapse on poor management and substandard food and service.

Based on the available evidence, I'd have to side with the commenters. Clearly, whatever crime issues the Delmar Loop may be experiencing at present, many businesses, including numerous restaurants and bars, continue to thrive there. Moreover, there's been an ongoing pattern of Brandt's communications with customers and the press getting fewer and further between over the four years since Jay Brandt sold out. Weekly emails touting food and drink specials and the live music lineup were discontinued, and the website and music schedule went without updates for weeks at a time, with the site eventually falling into the hands of domain-jackers. While the ability to run a website doesn't necessarily correlate with the skills needed to run a restaurant and music venue, a failure to promote can doom almost any business.

In March, yr. humble StLJN editor greeted reports of an "ultralounge" makeover to Brandt's club with what in hindsight has turned out to be quite justifiable skepticism. (Johnson's story notes that the manager responsible for the makeover actually was fired before the "grand reopening" took place.)

In the post, I asked, "Is this latest attempt to cater to the trendy crowd a savvy business decision, or a desperation move?" Guess we know the answer to that now, eh? Not long after that, I got several reports from local musicians about last-minute cancellations and disagreements over previously agreed-upon wages, which usually are a reliable indicator that a place is going down for the last time.

It's never good to lose a venue for live music, and I feel badly for former owner Jay Brandt, a decent guy and a genuine friend to many St. Louis musicians. Although the space formerly occupied by Brandt's no doubt will be snapped up by another business without delay, the club's unique connection to St. Louis music history - Jay's parents operated a club in Gaslight Square, and he booked many musicians from that era into his place - is something that's now gone forever.

Update - 5:00 p.m., 6/8/11: In the wake of yesterday's story getting more than 120 comments, the Post published another article on the Brandt's closing today, co-credited to Stephen Deere and Kevin Johnson. It recaps yesterday's story, quotes a couple of U. City council members on crime in the Loop and the difficulties of the restaurant business, and notes that Brandt's had received unfavorable reviews on websites like urbanspoon.com and yelp.com. Adam Brandt is quoted as saying he lost $300,000 on the venture, but as for specific evidence that crime is up in the Loop area, "The University City Police Department could not immediately provide statistics to refute or support the statement. Capt. Mike Ransom said it would take time to look up the numbers."

The comments on this story are similar to the earlier responses, though there seems to be a few more commenters contending that "thugs" are a significant problem in the neighborhood. However, there are very few mentions of specific incidents, and, other than a report of a cell phone being stolen from a sidewalk table, none seem to have a connection to Brandt's.

Moreover, several of the most vociferous complaints come from commenters who seem to feel threatened by the mere presence of groups of young people, black people, young black people, and/or people with piercings and/or tattoos - seriously, a couple of commenters actually mention this - and so should be considered with that in mind. Absent credible reports of serious crimes in the area, or statistical evidence that there's recently been a significant increase in crime, from here it still looks like Brandt's problems were, alas, mostly of their own making.

Jazz St. Louis adds more performers to 2011-12 season

Jazz St. Louis today announced several more performances by touring jazz artists that will be part of their 2011-12 season.

A double bill of singer Dianne Reeves and pianist Ahmad Jamal, each appearing separately with their own group, has been booked for Sunday, November 6 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, filling the third date in Jazz St. Louis' new "Legends" series that was listed as "TBA" when the bulk of JSL's 2011-12 season was announced last month.

In addition, pianist Robert Glasper (pictured) has been booked to play at Jazz at the Bistro on Friday, February 10 and Saturday, February 11; and vibraphonist Stefon Harris and trumpeter Sean Jones will team up to perform on Thursday, April 19 at the Bistro as part of that week's Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival.

The big surprise here is Glasper, who at one point seemed to have burned his bridges with JSL after canceling some previous dates at the Bistro on relatively short notice. Obviously, those bridges got repaired, and now St. Louis jazz fans finally will get a chance to see Glasper, whose attempts to combine jazz, hip-hop and experimental sounds have made him one of the most talked-about pianists of his generation.

Reeves, Jamal, Jones and Harris all have played St. Louis within the past couple of years - and Reeves has an additional connection to our town in the person of her pianist and music director Peter Martin - but the double bill involving the first two and the collaborative effort of the latter two should put slightly different twists on the respective performances, and both pairings certainly offer additional value for ticket buyers.

Tickets for Dianne Reeves and Ahmad Jamal are priced at $150, $60 and $40 and go on sale at 10:00 a.m. next Tuesday, June 14 via the Touhill ticket office or by phone at 314-516-4949. Tickets for Robert Glasper will be $25 and $10 for students; and for Harris and Jones, $30 and $10 for students. Those shows go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 16 online via Metrotix or by phone at 314-534-1111.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Six favorites from the Jazz Crusaders

Today, let's check out some clips of the Jazz Crusaders, who will be in St. Louis next Saturday, June 11 to play a concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center under the auspices of Jazz St. Louis.

The four original Crusaders - pianist Joe Sample, saxophonist Wilton Felder, trombonist Wayne Henderson and drummer Nesbert "Stix" Hooper - first met in the late 1950s playing in various bands in their home town of Houston. Moving to Los Angeles in 1960, they adopted the name Jazz Crusaders, and gained national attention for a series of releases on the Pacific Jazz label.

The first two videos show that original lineup, augmented by a bassist (possibly Jimmy Bond, who played on the record), performing two of their best-known tunes from those early Pacific Jazz recordings. The versions of "Freedom Sound" up above and "The Young Rabbits" down below both were recorded in 1962 in LA for a local television program called Frankly Jazz, and both are fine examples of the Crusaders' early hard bop sound. Both clips also include some footage of the show's host Frank Evans, a well-known jazz DJ on the West Coast, as well as a bit of the Crusaders playing what seems to be the program's theme song, a swinging straight-ahead blues.

In the 1970s, the band dropped the word "jazz" from their name and made a series of very successful recordings using electric bass and guitar (often played by Larry Carlton, who was an official member of the band for several years), funk backbeats and more electric keyboards. Henderson departed the band in 1975 to pursue a solo career, but the other three continued on, as you can see in the third clip, a version of Henderson's tune "Keep That Same Old Feeling" recorded in 1984 by a lineup featuring Sample, Felder and Hooper with bassist Eddie Watkins, guitarist Barry Finnerty and percussionist Paulinho Da Costa.

The last three clips - "Put It Where You Want It," "Street Life," and "Way Back Home" - all come from the 2003 Montreux Jazz Festival, for which the lineup consisted of Sample, Felder and guitarist Ray Parker Jr., along with trombonist Stephen Baxter, drummer Kendrick Scott, bassist Freddie Washington, and, on "Street Life," singer Randi Crawford. All three of these tunes were popular upon first release, and given their enduring appeal, certainly could get played at next week's concert at the Touhill.

The current touring lineup, officially billed as the Original Jazz Crusaders, reunites Henderson with Sample and Felder, and also include Sample's son Nick on bass as well as drummer Doug Belote. According to this review of their performance in April at the Berks Jazz Festival in Pennsylvania, the set list includes "a tasty gumbo of their classics, a jazz standard or two and some tunes that could make a dead man tap his toes." You can see some nice photos of that gig here, and for more on the Jazz Crusaders' somewhat convoluted history, see their Wikipedia page.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short local news items of interest:

* PBS' Newshour ran a story this week about Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington competition that included brief appearances by East St. Louis High School's Carlos Brown, Jr. and ESLHS jazz band director Delano Redman. See it online here.

* And while we're on the subject of East St. Louis, the Belleville News-Democrat has coverage of last week's Miles Davis birthday celebration at ESL City Hall.

* With everything else going on this week, there hasn't been time until now to tell you about the first Float Yr Face festival of experimental music being held this weekend at Floating Laboratories on the south side. (It also didn't help that organizers somehow neglected to send any info on the event our way.) Fortunately, the Riverfront Times' Diana Benanti has the scoop and a schedule of events here.

* St. Louis native and jazz trumpet legend Clark Terry (pictured) has finally penned his autobiography, which will be released October 1. Amazon currently is offering a substantial discount on pre-orders placed now, selling the book at $23.07 when it eventually will list for $34.95.

Titled simply Clark: The Autobiography of Clark Terry, it tells the story of Terry's life and his long and storied career, which, among many accomplishments, has included work with both Duke Ellington and Count Basie as well as helping to break the network TV color barrier when he joined the band of NBC's Tonight Show in 1960. The book also includes a preface from Quincy Jones and a forward from Bill Cosby, as well as jacket blurbs written by famous names ranging from Dave Brubeck to Snoop Dogg.

(If you place your pre-order using this link, you'll not only get the discount, but a few pennies from the purchase will accrue to yr. humble StLJN editor; I promise the funds will be used for the purchase of blogging essentials such as tacos, caffeinated beverages, and bandwidth.)

(Edited 6/4/11 to fix a garbled sentence.)