Jazz this week: Jeremy Davenport, SLSO plays Ellington's "Nutcracker," and more

If you're looking to follow your Turkey Day dinner with some jazz and creative music this weekend in St. Louis, here's what's on the menu:

On Friday and Saturday, Jeremy Davenport returns to Jazz at the Bistro for his annual Thanksgiving week homecoming shows. The trumpeter, vocalist and University City native continues to serve as the house act for the Davenport Lounge in New Orleans' Ritz-Carlton Hotel, but he'll be back home this weekend, accompanied by fellow U Citians Peter Martin on piano and Chris Thomas on bass plus two musicians from his New Orleans band, drummer Troy Davis and saxophonist Aaron Fletcher.

You can see some video footage of Davenport performing in this post from a couple of years ago, and for more about what he's been up to to lately, check this interview that Terry Perkins did with the trumpeter that was published yesterday by the St. Louis Beacon.

Also on Friday, saxophonist Rod Tate performs at the Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe; drummer Paul Shaw leads a trio with pianist Ptah Williams at the Cigar Inn in Belleville; and the Funky Butt Brass Band plays at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

And although it's not a jazz show, some readers of this site also may be interested in Friday's fifth annual edition of the Soulard Blues Band's St. Louis Blues & Soul Revue at the Sheldon Concert Hall's upstairs ballroom. For more about that, see this piece I wrote for the RFT Music blog and published earlier today.

On Saturday night, saxophonist Freddie Washington, back in town after a hiatus, leads a quartet at Robbie's House of Jazz; and saxophonist Michael Fitzgerald performs at Jazz on Broadway in Alton.

On Sunday afternoon, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will present a holiday themed "family concert" at Powell Symphony Hall that will include a performance of Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker Suite".

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.)