Jazz this week: Freddy Cole, Claudia Quintet with Theo Bleckmann, Koplant No, and more

It's another busy week for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with performances from both touring and local acts ranging from ragtime, traditional New Orleans jazz, and swing to thought-provoking modern jazz influenced by a variety of contemporary genres. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, singer and pianist Freddy Cole returns to St. Louis to open a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Cole, the brother of the legendary Nat "King" Cole, has proved to be a popular attraction here in recent years, and though he even has a song titled "I'm Not My Brother, I'm Me," the two siblings do share a certain relaxed elegance and propensity for mainstream-style swing. Cole usually is a good draw when he plays the Bistro, so advance reservations definitely are recommended. You can see and hear some of his music in this video showcase post from his last appearance here in 2010

Also tonight, the Meramec Jazz Lab Band, directed by Bob Boedges, will perform in a concert at the Black Cat Theatre.

On Thursday, guitarist Steve Schenkel and pianist Kim Portnoy will team up for a free concert featuring the music of George Gershwin for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. Also on Thursday, the Dixie Dudes bring their traditional jazz sound back to Jazz on Broadway in Alton for a no-cover-charge show.

On Friday, the Claudia Quintet (pictured) will perform at 560 Music Center in a concert presented by New Music Circle. The critically acclaimed group, which combines jazz with a variety of other influences informed by a sort of post-modern compositional sensibility, will be making their St. Louis debut. Their most recent album, What Is The Beautiful?, was released late last year, and features the Quintet's original music with the words of poet Kenneth Patchen as interpreted by vocalists Kurt Elling and Theo Bleckmann. Bleckmann, a rising star who's garnered plenty of critical praise for his own work, will be in St. Louis with the group, which only raises the concert's "must hear" score even higher.

For much more about the Claudia Quintet, including a half-dozen video clips of them in action, check out this post from last Saturday. Also, last week I interviewed the group's drummer/leader John Hollenbeck for the Riverfront Times' RFT Music Blog, and that article will be going online soon; once it's up, I'll add a link to it here.

Also on Friday, Koplant No, a "progressive jazz electronic rock band" from the Quad Cities area in Iowa, will be in town to headline a three-band bill with Funky Butt Brass Band and guitarist Teddy Presberg at Jumpin' Jupiter; saxophonist Tim Cunningham returns to Jazz on Broadway; pianist Tim Garcia is at the Cigar Inn; and Robbie's House of Jazz will present a trio featuring drummer Steve Davis, saxophonist Christopher Braig and bassist Ben Wheeler.

On Saturday, the veteran big band trumpeter Roger Ingram will be in town to present a master class that afternoon at UMSL. That evening, singer Gene Lynn will appear at the Frontenac Grill, and Robbie's will feature the 1920s and '30s-style swing and hot jazz of Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes.

Then on Sunday, this quarter's St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show will take place at the American Czech Center. Also on Sunday afternoon, the Funky Butt Brass Band will head out to St. Louis Community College at Meramec, where they'll join forces with the Meramec Symphonic Band and Jazz Lab Band for a concert featuring some (vastly) expanded arrangements of FBBB and New Orleans favorites. And Sunday also is when bassist Willem von Hombracht and singer Joe Mancuso will kick off their new weekly event "Willem's Sunday Jazz Jam" at Johnny Gitto's bar and restaurant.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday, BB's Jazz Blues and Soups will feature guitarist Tom Byrne's Have You Heard. Then on Tuesday morning, the St. Louis Ragtimers will play the first of two "coffee concerts" at the Sheldon Concert Hall. (The program repeats on Wednesday.) That evening, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra under the direction of bassist Jim Widner will perform a concert paying tribute to the music of big band leader, composer and arranger Stan Kenton at the Touhill Performing Arts Center; and guitarist Dave Black will play at BB's.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

Kickstarter rep to present "crowd funding" workshop on Monday, March 19 at RAC

A representative from Kickstarter, the website that bills itself as "the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects," is coming to St. Louis to headline a workshop on "crowd funding" for artists.

Stephanie Pereira, Kickstarter's director of art programs, will be the featured presenter at the event, which will take place at 7:00 p.m., Monday March 19 at the offices of the Regional Arts Commission (RAC), 6128 Delmar (across from the Pageant).

Founded in 2009, Kickstarter says they've helped launch more than 13,000 creative projects so far. For example, saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person recently used the site to raise money for his next recording project.

Pereira's presentation will include information on how to structure a project, what kind of rewards to offer supporters, and "other helpful tips and valuable stats." She'll be followed by a panel of three local artists who previously have used Kickstarter for their own projects.

The event is presented by RAC, Contemporary Museum St. Louis and St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts, and is free and open to the public.

(Edited after posting to add a link.)

StLJN Audio Archive: Oliver Lake - Ntu: The Point From Which Creation Begins

As Black History Month winds down for this year, it seems an appropriate time to revisit an historic session involving musicians from St. Louis' original Black Artists Group of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Recorded in 1971 here in St. Louis, saxophonist Oliver Lake's album Ntu: The Point From Which Creation Begins was issued in 1976 on the Arista Freedom label, which was putting out a lot of avant-garde and "loft" jazz around that time. It's been out of print for years, but fortunately Ntu has been preserved online and can be downloaded, thanks in this case to the (seemingly now dormant) music sharing blog Botched Surgery.

Though delayed in reaching the public, Ntu actually is one of the earliest recordings involving the BAG crew, and shares some personnel and sensibility with another early session, Solidarity Unit, Inc's Red, Black & Green (which recently got a limited edition reissue on vinyl from the small label Eremite Records.)

In addition to Lake on alto sax, soprano sax, flute and "small instruments," Ntu features a number of musicians who were important parts of the Black Artists Group, most of whom went on to have substantial careers. (Interestingly, the LP's title also wound up serving as inspiration for author Benjamin Looker's 2004 history of BAG.)

The personnel on Ntu includes Baikida E.J. Carroll (trumpet, small instruments); Floyd LeFlore (trumpet, small instruments); Joseph Bowie (trombone, small instruments); Richard Martin (guitar); John Hicks (piano); Clovis Bordeaux, Jr., misspelled on the original cover as "Bordeux" (electric piano); Don Officer (electric bass); Charles "Bobo" Shaw (drums); and the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Don Moye (conga).

There are five tracks in all: "Africa," "Tse'lane," "Electric Freedom Colors," "Eriee," and "Zip." As you might expect given the parallel development of BAG and Chicago's AACM, the alternating sparse and dense textures and free-form improvisations of Ntu suggest some kinship with the Art Ensemble, but there also are passing resemblances to Sun Ra's Arkestra, the various "New Thing" recordings by Coltrane, Shepp and others on the Impulse! label, and some of the music Miles Davis was doing around the same time. If you have any interest in this period or style, it's certainly worth hearing for both aesthetic and historic reasons.

To download a free copy of Oliver Lake's Ntu: The Point From Which Creation Begins, go here, scroll down about a third of the way through the post until you see the text "Ntu: The Point From Which The Creation of Botched Surgery Begins," which links to a Rapidshare page containing the actual download.

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

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A Claudia Quintet sampler

Today, let's take a look at some video clips featuring the Claudia Quintet, who will be making their St. Louis debut in a concert sponsored by New Music Circle at 7:30 p.m. next Friday, March 2 at the 560 Music Center.

Formed by drummer John Hollenbeck in the late 1990s to play his small group compositions with some of his favorite collaborators, the Claudia Quintet also includes Chris Speed (clarinet, tenor saxophone), Matt Moran (vibraphone, percussion), Drew Gress (acoustic bass), and the newest addition, accordion player and keyboardist Red Wierenga, who replaced original member Ted Reichman late in 2011. (There's no "Claudia" in the group - the name is derived from an overenthusiastic fan who showed up at one of their early gigs, spent the whole evening gushing about how much she liked the music and planned to return every week, and then never was heard from again.)

Though nominally a jazz group, the Claudia Quintet incorporates a variety of influences, also drawing on minimalism and other styles of contemporary composition as well as pop music. They released their first, eponymous recording in 2001, and since have issued five more albums. Their most recent, What Is The Beautiful?, was released late in 2011, and features poems by Kenneth Patchen set to music with vocals by Kurt Elling and Theo Bleckmann.

Bleckmann also will be on hand for the Quintet's St. Louis date, which Hollenbeck said will feature much of the material from that latest CD. (Look for yr. humble editor's interview with the drummer/leader next week on the Riverfront Times' RFT Music Blog)

Because What Is The Beautiful? just came out in December, there really are no videos online yet featuring live performances of those particular songs. Instead, today we have a sampling of slightly older clips from 2009 and 2010 that nevertheless serve to show off some Hollenbeck's compositional ideas and demonstrate the musicians' interactions in a live setting.

Up above is a version of "Royal Toast," the title track from the Quintet's 2009 CD, seen here in a version recorded at the Jazz Baltic festival that year. Down below, you'll find the song "Rainy Days" from the same show.

Below that are four numbers from the Claudia Quintet's show at a festival in 2010 in San Sebastián, Spain: "Be Happy," "Paterna Terra," "Jazz Envy" and "They point, Glance...". (Note that this gig featured electric bassist Trevor Dunn subbing for Gress.)

To wrap up, we've got a short snippet of an improvised duo performance featuring Hollenbeck and Bleckmann, who have worked together in that format for more than a decade. Bleckmann also has a thriving solo career of his own, having released several albums as a leader and worked with a variety of high-profile musicians including avant-garde composer Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson, Anthony Braxton, Steve Coleman, Dave Douglas, Phillip Glass, John Zorn, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and many others.

For more on the Claudia Quintet, check out this interview Hollenbeck did in 2011 with New Music Box; this 2009 interview with PopMatters; and this 2010 piece from Spinner.

Jack Wright to perform Thursday, March 8 at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center

Saxophonist Jack Wright (pictured) is returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, March 8 at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center.

The free-improvising reedman (and occasional pianist) has played here a number of times since the mid-1990s, both at LNAC and at various venues under the auspices of New Music Circle, but this will be his first show in St. Louis in four years. Opening the concert will be epicycle, aka LNAC's head honcho Mark Sarich.

Tickets for Jack Wright and epicycle at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center are $5 at the door.

(Edited after posting.)

Roger Ingram to present master class Saturday, March 3 at UMSL

Trumpet player Roger Ingram (pictured) will be in St. Louis to present a trumpet clinic and master class at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, March 3 at the Villa Annex on the South campus of the University of Missouri – St. Louis (UMSL).

Ingram is a noted jazz educator and clinician whose performing resume includes tours and recordings with the big bands of Louis Bellson, Quincy Jones, Woody Herman, Frank Sinatra and Harry Connick Jr. as well as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The clinic at UMSL is open to the public and admission is $10, with no advance registration required.

Ingram also will be offering a limited number of private lessons that day, with a special rate to high school and middle school students of $75 for a one-hour lesson; his usual charge is $200 for a two-hour lesson. Advance registration is required; for more information, visit his website at http://rogeringram.com/lessons.php, or send an email to Vic @ RogerIngram.com.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* We regret to report that there's some more difficult news on Clark Terry's health this week, as the legendary trumpeter had to go back into a hospital near his home in Arkansas and undergo surgery to amputate his left leg. Terry's wife Gwen has details about his condition in a blog post titled "Quitting Is Not An Option".

There is some good news, though - the amputation site on Terry's right leg, which doctors removed just a few weeks ago, is "healing very well." And according to a Twitter message sent out last night by JazzCorner.com, which hosts Terry's web site, "Clark Terry's leg amputation went well. He's in ICU & resting comfortably. Prayers r being answered!"

* The Sheldon Concert Hall announced this week that drummer Karriem Riggins will be replacing Ulysses Owens, Jr. on the upcoming concert by Peter Martin on Saturday, March 10. The show will mark the debut of Inner Circle, Martin's new band that "interprets classic pop and R&B songs and originals through a jazz lens." In addition to Martin and Riggins, the concert also will feature bassist Robert Hurst and guest singer Vivian Sessoms.

No reason for the switch was announced, but Riggins (pictured) certainly brings an interesting resume to the mix. His first big jazz gig at age 19 was with bassist Ray Brown's trio, and he currently works with singer/pianist Diana Krall, among others. But he's also has done production work with hip-hop artists included Common, J Dilla, The Roots, Talib Kweli and others, and is featured on the new album by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney.

* Guitarist Larry Brown Jr, a native of Venice, IL and alumnus of SIUE who's now living in Chicago, is the subject of the latest "Jazz Preview" segment airing on radio station WSIE (88.7 FM). The interview with Brown will be broadcast at 10:00 a.m. Friday, February 24; 2:00 a.m. Saturday, February 25; 2:00 p.m. Saturday, February 25; 6:00 p.m. Sunday, February 26; and 2:00 p.m. Monday, February 27.

* Jazz on Broadway has posted on their Facebook page an album of photos from saxophonist Tim Cunningham's weekly "Jazzy Friday" gig, which currently is scheduled to continue through the end of April.

* New Orleans funk band Galactic, who will be in St. Louis on Wednesday, March 14 to play The Pageant, have released a new music video, "Heyna," from their new album Carnivale Electricos.

(Edited after posting to fix a typo.)

Jazz this week: Chris Botti, Byron Stripling, Bill Watrous, UNT One O'Clock Lab Band, St. Louis Rivermen, and more

If there's a keyword for this weekend's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis, it's "brass." The next few days will see three stellar touring brass players - two trumpeters and a trombonist - playing here as soloists or bandleaders, plus a somewhat larger-than-usual number of big band performances, and some other noteworthy shows, too. Let's go the highlights:

On Thursday evening, the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band will be in town for a concert at Webster Groves High School, 100 Selma Ave. The One O'Clock band, which gets its name from the time of day the ensemble meets for class, is the top big band at one of the most storied and long lived collegiate jazz programs in the country; WGHS's jazz groups will open the show.

Also on Thursday, pianist Ptah Williams will play the music of Herbie Hancock in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio will perform at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Friday night is when local music fans have a choice among among those three stellar brassmen. The popular trumpeter Chris Botti will be in town that evening for what has become an annual visit, playing this time at the Peabody Opera House. No doubt he'll draw a good crowd, but given that Botti's next local appearance has already been booked, for next year at Powell Hall with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, anyone on the fence about going might want to consider skipping it in favor of one of the other shows happening the same night.

That same evening, trumpeter Byron Stripling will open a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. He's been in town all week doing an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis, and as is the custom, will cap it off with some public performances, fronting a quartet. Though not nearly as well known as Botti, Stripling is a versatile and highly accomplished player and a polished entertainer who can hit the high notes, solo with feeling, and even sing the blues. For more about him and some video clips showing off various aspects of his talents, check out this post from last Saturday.

And as if that weren't enough for one night, Friday also is when the virtusoso trombonist Bill Watrous will be here for a concert at the Scottish Rite Cathedral Auditorium, accompanied by trumpeter Scott Vignassi and the Big Little Big Band. A veteran of the big bands of Quincy Jones, Maynard Ferguson, Johnny Richards and Woody Herman, Watrous is capable of some truly astounding stuff, so if you're specifically a trombone aficionado - as opposed to a brass fan in general - this one's got to be your pick for the weekend, especially since Stripling is playing at the Bistro for two nights.

Update - 3:00 p.m, 2/24/12: Just got an email from trumpet player/educator Adam Hucke, who teaches at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, saying that Bill Watrous also will be playing at SWIC on Saturday night. The concert starts at 7:00 p.m. in the main auditorium on campus (directions at the link above) and will feature Watrous performing with both the SWIC Big Band and The Big Little Big Band. Best of all, it's free and open to the public.

On the other hand, if you'd rather dance to a big band than listen to one in concert, the relatively new group that calls themselves the St. Louis Big Band, made up primarily of younger musicians in their 20s and 30s, has worked their way into the rotation at the Casa Loma Ballroom and will be playing there on Friday. And if brass isn't your thing, or you're just not in the mood (sorry!) that evening, you can hear guitarist Dave Black's trio at the Cigar Inn in Belleville or saxophonist Tim Cunningham at Jazz on Broadway on Alton.

On Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Rivermen will play traditional jazz and ragtime in a concert presented by the St. Louis Jazz Club at the Doubletree Hotel at Westport. Not long after that event wraps up, trombonist Dave Dickey's big band will return to Kirkwood Station Brewing Company for the first time after securing a monthly slot at the venue with their initial appearance there in January. The Webster Groves HS big band will play at intermission.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

Sheldon, Metrotix offering online presale of tickets for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones

The Sheldon Concert Hall and Metrotix are offering online customers an advance opportunity to buy tickets for the concert by Béla Fleck & The Flecktones (pictured) on Thursday, March 29 at the Sheldon. The show is part of a tour that reunites the group's original lineup for the first time in 18 years.

Tickets go on sale to the general public this Saturday, February 25, but online buyers can get a day's jump on that by taking advantage of a presale starting at 10:00 a.m. Friday, February 24. Tickets for the show are priced at $40, $50 and $65. To access the presale, go to http://metrotix.com/promotions, select the Sheldon from among the list of venues, and when prompted, enter the promotion code BELA12.

The Sheldon also still has on sale a limited number of patron tickets, which help support the venue's education programs. Priced at $150 and $125, they include preferred seating, a pre-concert reception, complimentary parking and a tax deduction. For more information, call the Sheldon directly at 314-533-9900.

Three new jams added to local musical menu

The jam session has proved to be a durable institution in jazz for a number of reasons. For musicians, a jam session can be a proving ground, a laboratory and a networking opportunity. For listeners, it's a source of novel, spontaneous entertainment. And for bar, restaurant and club owners, a jam session can be a way to vary their musical offerings and perhaps attract additional patrons at times when business otherwise might be a bit slack.

No surprise then, that even as the rest of the music business has changed drastically, the jam session has remained something of a staple over the years. One current local example of the format is the weekly Tuesday night session at Robbie's House of Jazz, a venue that also hosts a "jam" expressly for vocalists on Wednesday nights. Certain other regular gigs, such as the Voodoo Blues Band's weekly Sunday matinees at Hammerstone's, may not be billed specifically as jam sessions, but have developed a reputation as being open to sit-ins from visiting musicians.

Now, whether it's a sign of impending Spring or just a coincidence, it looks like the local jam session scene is about to enjoy a growth spurt, with three recurring events being added to the musical menu:

* The group Nu-Element, which previously has been involved with jam sessions at a couple of different local venues, now will hold forth from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. every Thursday at Hwy 61 Roadhouse in Webster Groves. Trumpeter/leader Keith Moyer says the band, which also includes Grant Krener (guitar), Charlie Brown (piano), Rich Mendoza (bass) and Ron Carr (drums), will welcome sit-ins on the gig - and with thriving jazz programs nearby at both Webster University and Webster Groves High School, there's already a good-sized pool of potential jammers right in the neighborhood.

* The Tavern of Fine Arts, located in the Central West End at 313 Belt Ave. (near Pershing), now is sponsoring a monthly "Avant-Garde Arts Night" starting at 7:30 p.m. the last Tuesday of every month, with the next one scheduled this coming Tuesday, February 28. While it's not quite an open jam per se, percussionist Thomas Zirkle leads a core group of players - some associated with presenting organization New Music Circle - in a free form improv session, with guest musicians joining in and painters or sculptors creating new works on the spot.

* Starting on Sunday, March 4, bassist Willem von Hombracht, a mainstay of Tuesday nights at Robbie's, will add another session to his portfolio with "Willem's Sunday Jazz Jam," a weekly event at Johnny Gitto's bar and restaurant, 6997 Chippewa (just inside the city limits). Singer Joe Mancuso, who's organizing the sessions with von Hombracht, says the bassist will anchor a three-piece rhythm section for an open jam from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. each week. Gitto's also will be offering specials on food and drink during the weekly sessions, said Mancuso.

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

Looking for a momentary escape from the midwinter, post-Carnival blahs? Perhaps you may find a bit of diversion in a brief visit to StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds, where each day there's a different online music video posted for your listening and viewing enjoyment.

The clips come from a variety of musical genres, including jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock and experimental. For example, recent posts have featured bands and musicians including Was (Not Was), Bruce Springsteen, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Dave Holland Quintet, Steely Dan, Wes Montgomery, Sonny Rollins, Greg Osby, Oscar Peterson, Archie Shepp, Chick Corea, Jackie McLean and Woody Shaw, Van Morrison, Ornette Coleman, Carla Bley Big Band, Bob Dylan, Gerry Mulligan, Lester Young, Jack DeJohnette, Charles Lloyd, and Joe Henderson.

You can see them all, plus hundreds more carefully curated clips from the extensive archives, by simply pointing your trusty computer to http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/.

Arson charges filed against owner of Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe

In the latest development in a story that's attracted a lot of interest over the past two days, STLtoday.com and the Post-Dispatch are reporting that Florissant police have charged Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe owner Lozell Stiles, 40, with second-degree arson in connection with the fire that destroyed the club early Sunday morning.

"Sgt. Kyle Lewis said Stiles was taken into custody Sunday and charged Monday. His bail was set at $10,000." the story continued. "Lewis said police did not have a motive for the arson at the restaurant and jazz club at 3425 North Highway 67."

It's understandable why neither police nor the Post can comment about motive, but anyone who's watched enough news reports and/or TV cop shows about arson cases probably can make their own suppositions. (For those unfamiliar with the conventions of televised crime fiction in the present-day USA: Generally, the business that gets torched during an episode of, say, CSI or Law and Order is losing money but covered by insurance, and thus worth more to its owners dead than alive.)

Having never visited the Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe in its most recent incarnation, yr. humble StLJN editor likewise has no specific insights to offer about these particular circumstances. It is a bit odd, though, whenever a venue that ostensibly is relying on live music to draw in customers seems to have ongoing difficulties with booking and publicizing a schedule of performers in advance. That possibly could be an indicator of some sort of nefarious intent, but in my experience, can just as easily be plain old garden-variety ineptitude, too. In any event, if further information comes to light, this post will be updated as necessary.

And there is one bit of good news in this otherwise somewhat depressing tale: The cafe's next-door neighbor, a retail store called the Music House, came through relatively unscathed, thanks to a very substantial firewall separating the two businesses, and should be able to reopen soon.

Fire destroys Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe

STLtoday and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch are reporting that a fire early on Sunday morning has destroyed the Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe.

"No one was injured in the fire, which started in the Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe, 3425 North Highway 67, about 1:30 a.m.," the story said. Known for years as simply the Halls Ferry Inn, the restaurant and bar reopened under new ownership last fall with a new menu, new look, and live music policy, featuring musicians such as saxophonists Rod Tate and Michael Fitzgerald.

Firefighters are investigating the cause of the fire, the Post story said. Local CBS affiliate KMOV also has a brief story and a photo of the Cafe's burned-out storefront here. No word yet on whether the owner, Florissant businessman Lozell Stiles, plans to rebuild, but if/when there's more information released, we'll have it for you here.

UPDATE - 4:45 p.m., 2/20/12: The other local TV news operations also covered this story; you can see the report from NBC affiliate KSDK here, and the one from Fox affiliate KTVI here.

StLJN Audio Archive: Oliver Nelson and the Berlin Dreamband - Berlin Dialogue For Orchestra

For today's Audio Archive post, we revisit an out-of-print session by saxophonist, arranger and composer Oliver Nelson. Berlin Dialogue for Orchestra originally came out in 1971 on the long defunct Flying Dutchman label, and has been preserved online thanks to the music sharing blog Flying Dutchman Records (which, as the name suggests, is devoted expressly to collecting all of that particular label's output).

The album (pictured) features two extended suites, "Berlin Dialogue for Orchestra" and "Impressions of Berlin," that Nelson wrote on commission specifically for the Berlin Dreamband. The group was comprised mostly of German musicians, along with Nelson and, on this occasion, three other Americans: trumpeter Carmell Jones, trombonist Slide Hampton and alto saxophonist Leo Wright.

To download a free copy, go to this post, scroll down and look for the links labeled "MP3 @320k or FLAC." Click on the link of your choice, and it'll take you to the download page for that format. (For more information about .rar files and how to use them, go here.)

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

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Trumpet in the tradition with Byron Stripling

This week, our video spotlight shines on trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling, who's coming to town next week to do an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis and perform on Friday and Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

Stripling, who will turn 51 in April, was born in Atlanta, the son of a classically trained singer and choir director, and he actually has a couple of connections to the St. Louis area in his past. His youth was spent in several locations, including Atlanta, Kentucky, Colorado, Minnesota, Texas and right here in St. Louis, before he enrolled at the Eastman School Of Music with plans to become a classical trumpeter.

Then during his freshman year, Stripling met trumpet legend and St. Louis native Clark Terry, who offered him a 12-week tour of Europe as part of his big band. After completing the tour, Stripling went back to school, but ultimately left again just three months before graduation to go on the road with Lionel Hampton. After a year, Stripling took a job with the Woody Herman Orchestra, and then in 1985, joined the Count Basie Orchestra.

In 1988, he was selected to play the lead in the musical Satchmo: America's Musical Legend, and he has continued to perform music associated with Louis Armstrong ever since. Stripling also has developed several different shows that he performs with orchestras, appearing so far with more than 50 different symphony and pops orchestras as well as with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and the GRP All Star Big Band.

Stripling currently is the artistic director and conductor of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, a job he's had since 2002, and he continues to make guest appearances with other orchestras, work as a clinician, and tour with his own quartet. He has recorded three albums as leader and is featured with the New York All Stars on two CDs paying tribute to Louis Armstrong. Stripling also can be heard on recordings by Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Lena Horne, Sonny Rollins, Paquito D'Rivera, Gerry Mulligan, J.J. Johnson, Carla Bley, Jim Hall, Jack McDuff, Freddie Cole, Carol Sloane, Benny Green and the Joe Henderson Big Band, as well as various Broadway cast albums and film soundtracks.

Today's clips feature Stripling playing in a variety of musical settings, starting with his own big band in the first clip up above. The song is "Shine," and it was recorded during one of the trumpeter's Louis Armstrong tributes back in 2000 in Bern Switzerland.

Down below, you can hear Stripling dig into another traditional number, "Tiger Rag," with the Boston Pops Orchestra, complete with a teaser ending.

Below that, there are a couple of clips showing Stripling performing with college jazz bands: a 2007 performance of trumpeter Allen Vizzutti's modern chart "Zamba" with the Illinois State University band, and another old standard, "On The Sunny Side of the Street," with the jazz ensemble from Utah State University.

The fifth clip goes back to Stripling's days with Woody Herman, showing the trumpeter's feature number "Dog Day Blues" as performed way back in 1984. We close today's sampler with an example of Stripling's vocal skills, as he works out on the old Joe Turner blues number "Jump For Joy" (also recorded under the title "Rool "em Pete" with an all-star group of local players from Columbus including organist Bobby Floyd, drummer Bob Breithaupt and bassist Chris Berg.

For more about Byron Stripling, check out this podcast interview he recently recorded with Jazz St. Louis' Phil Dunlap; and this 2007 interview he did with radio station KJZZ.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saturday's concert by guitarist Tom Byrne's group Have U Heard at the Wildey Theatre is the subject of a preview story by Bill Tucker of the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

* Jazz St. Louis has a new podcast online, featuring an interview and "blindfold test" with trumpeter Byron Stripling. Stripling (pictured) will be here next week to do an educational residency for JSL and perform on Friday and Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Radio station KDHX's (88.1 FM) website has a brief review of last Saturday's performance by Chucho Valdés at the Sheldon Concert Hall, written by the station's Jared Corgan.

* Writing on Facebook, saxophonist Oliver Lake says he's just completed the first of two recording sessions for his next album, which will feature his Big Band. Lake is trying to raise money for the production via the website IndieAGoGo. As of this writing, he's raised $1,460 toward a goal of $6,000, with 44 days left in the campaign.

* Time magazine has just put online 13 never-before-published photos of Miles Davis, from the archives of now-defunct sister magazine Life.

* Because of the snowy weather on Monday, the St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts had to reschedule the workshop "Inside the Music Biz: Legal Essentials" that was to have been presented that evening. The new date is Monday, April 16; registration info is at the first link above.

* New Orleans funk band Galactic will be in St. Louis to perform on Wednesday, March 14 at The Pageant in support of their new album Carnivale Electricos, which is being released to the public next Tuesday. However, you can get a first listen to the new album online right now, via a free audio stream on the website of talk show host Conan O'Brien.

Jazz this week: Anat Cohen, Cory Pesaturo, Funky Butt Brass Band, and more

Although there actually won't be any jazz at St. Louis' official Mardi Gras celebration this weekend - something yr. humble editor has ranted about in this space before - there are a fair number of jazz shows happening around town over the next few days, if you know where to find them. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen (pictured) and her quartet will open a four-night engagement that continues through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Considered a rising star and already the winner of several "best clarinetist" awards in various jazz polls, Cohen played the Bistro a couple of years ago as a member of Waverly Seven, but this will be her debut as a leader at the club. Given her wide-ranging musical interests, Cohen's sets this weekend could include traditional, modern and/or Latin jazz; Brazilian music; klezmer; classical music; or a bit of all of those, and more. For more about Anat Cohen and some video samples of her in action, see this post from last Saturday.

On Friday, jazz accordionist Cory Pesaturo will be in town to play two sets at Cyrano's in Webster Groves, a spot probably best known to local music fans as the site of occasional gigs by Erin Bode. Pesaturo is a 24-year-old graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music who's played with saxophonist George Garzone and his band The Fringe. To hear what Pesaturo can do with the squeezebox in a modern jazz context, check out the video clip at this link.

Also on Friday, percussionist "Baba" Mike Nelson and Rhythms of the Caribbean will perform at Robbie's House of Jazz; saxophonist Tim Cunningham returns to Jazz on Broadway; pianist Carolbeth True and guitarist Randy Bahr will play at Third Degree Glass Factory's free "Third Friday" event; and it's also the night of the opening reception for "The Beat Goes On: Instruments from the Hartenberger World Music Collection," and other new exhibits at the Sheldon Art Galleries.

On Saturday, guitarist Tom Byrne and singer Ralph Butler will bring their Pat Metheny tribute project Have U Heard to the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, and "Rat Pack and More" singer Dean Christopher will perform at Frontenac Grill, accompanied by Carolbeth True on piano and Dave Troncoso on bass.

As alluded to at the beginning of this story, Saturday also is parade day for the St. Louis Mardi Gras celebration. But if you head down to the parade route or to the Soulard neighborhood expecting to hear jazz or Louisiana-style music, you may end up disappointed, as the music for the official Mardi Gras events in recent years has tended toward DJs and rock cover bands. The best bet for some thematically appropriate post-parade sounds this year would seem to be the gig featuring the Funky Butt Brass Band and Gumbohead at the Old Rock House, which gets started at 5:00 p.m.

On Sunday, the St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers series will present a free concert by saxophonist Willie Akins' quartet at Second Baptist Church, 9030 Clayton Rd (at McKnight).

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Webster University Jazz Collective plays a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on campus; and on Fat Tuesday, Funky Butt Brass Band will be back in action again sharing a bill with Gumbohead, this time at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

Exhibit at Sheldon Art Galleries to feature African drums, experimental instruments, and more

The Sheldon Art Galleries once again will display musical instruments from the collection of St. Louis music educator Dr. Aurelia Hartenberger in a new exhibit, "The Beat Goes On: Instruments from the Hartenberger World Music Collection," that will open this Friday, February 17 in the Sheldon's History of Jazz gallery.

"The Beat Goes On" will include one room filled with drums and other rhythm instruments from Africa, such as the one pictured at left; a room featuring rare, experimental and one-of-a-kind instruments, some once owned by famous jazz musicians, including Clark Terry and Artie Shaw; and a room showcasing musical instruments from the American Civil War, including rare drums, saxhorns and OTS (Over the Shoulder) horns.

The Hartenberger collection includes more than 2,000 instruments from Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Australia, and parts of it were featured in a previous exhibit at the Sheldon in 2009.

"The Beat Goes On" opens with a reception in the galleries from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 17, and continues through August 18. Admission is free. Gallery hours are noon to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday; noon to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday; and one hour prior to Sheldon performances and during intermission.

Presenters Dolan announce new cabaret shows from Donna Weinsting & Lara Buck, Jeffrey M. Wright

The Presenters Dolan have announced dates for two cabaret shows to be presented this spring at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand.

Singer/actors Lara Buck (pictured, above left) and Donna Weinsting (below left) will team up for "Bold, Bawdy, Blonde - and Funny," an election-year themed show billed as "standards meet standup and politics greets parody" that will play at 8:00 p.m., Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31.

Buck has done political parody before, spending two years in the satiric musical revue Political Idol, while Weinsting is a veteran of local theater productions and winner of a Kevin Kline award for "outstanding lead actress in a play" in the New Jewish Theatre's 2006 production of From Door To Door. Tim Schall will direct, with Greg Schweizer serving as music director.

The following month, Jeffrey M. Wright will return to the Kranzberg stage with "Southern Roots" at 8:00 p.m. Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14. Described as "an evening of songs inspired by growing up south of the Mason-Dixon line," Wright's show will feature Carol Schmidt as music director.

Tickets are $25 each for "Bold, Bawdy, Blonde - and Funny," $20 each for "Southern Roots," and can be purchased online at http://www.licketytix.com/ or by phone at 314-725-4200, ext 10.

(Edited 2/14/12 to fix a strange-looking line break.)

VLAA to present workshops on music business essentials, and more

St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts has announced several additions to their schedule of "Business Edge" workshops for artists, starting this Monday, February 13 with a presentation called "Inside The Music Biz: Legal Essentials."

UPDATE - 6:30 p.m., 2/14/12: Because of snowy weather, the workshop originally scheduled for February 13 was postponed, and has been rescheduled for Monday, April 16.

Entertainment lawyer Gary Pierson of the Husch Blackwell firm will discuss "the most essential legal and strategic information," including protecting band names and songs, which type of business entity is right for you, how music publishing works, and when you need a lawyer. Other upcoming workshops and their dates are:

Monday, March 12: "Anatomy of a Contract," presented by attorneys Jim Reeves and Kim Kirn.

Monday, April 9: "Copyright Clinic," featuring a 15-minute in-person consultation with a volunteer lawyer (advance registration required).

Monday, April 23: "Is It Okay? Fair Use For Filmmakers," presented by attorneys Mark Sableman and Jennifer Visintine of Thompson Coburn.

All the workshops take place from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Regional Arts Commission building, 6128 Delmar, across from the Pageant. The cost per person per workshop is $10 in advance, $15 at the door. You can download a registration form online here, or register by email for the "Inside The Music Biz" workshop before noon on Monday by sending a message to VLAA @ stlrac.org.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Anat Cohen's clarinet concepts

This week, let's get better acquainted with clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen, who will be in St. Louis to play at Jazz at the Bistro starting next Wednesday, February 15 and continuing through Saturday, February 18.

Cohen, who's in her early 30s, originally is from Tel Aviv, Israel, and grew up in a musical family. Her brothers, trumpet player Avishai Cohen (not to be confused with the bassist of the same name) and saxophonist Yuval Cohen, also are professional musicians, and the siblings have recorded three CDs together, billed as The 3 Cohens.

Classically trained in her native country, Cohen first came to the United States in 1996 to attend Berklee College of Music, where, her bio says, her teacher Phil Wilson encouraged her to play more clarinet. In 1998, she moved to NYC, where she's performed and recorded with groups including the Anzic Orchestra, Choro Ensemble, and Waverly Seven as well as under her own name. Cohen has been voted top clarinetist in both the Down Beat and Jazz Journalists Association polls, and has recorded four albums as a leader, the most recent being 2010's Clarinetwork - Live at the Village Vanguard, which was inspired in part by the centennial of the birth of Benny Goodman.

Although influenced by a variety of different styles, including Brazilian music and klezmer, Cohen has a real affinity for vintage swing that's nicely demonstrated in the first clip above, a 2008 duet with guitarist Howard Alden on the standard "After You've Gone."

Down below are two more examples of Cohen performing familiar material, with a video of her in 2010 at NYC's Jazz Standard playing "Cry Me A River" with Anzic Orchestra, and below that, a clip of "Body and Soul" played with pianist Benny Green, drummer Obed Calvier and bassist Barack Mori in 2010 at the Litchfield Jazz Festival in Connecticut.

Cohen isn't just a revivalist, though, and you can hear her approach to more contemporary material in the fourth clip. It's a version of her song "J Blues," recorded in 2010 with guitarists John Scofield and Gilad Hekselman, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Daniel Freedman.

Martin and Freedman are on board for the next video, too, along with pianist Jason Lindner. The song is Freedman's "Oh Brother," recorded at the 2011 Detroit Jazz Festival, and since it features Cohen playing soprano sax, there's a nice opportunity for some compare-and-contrast with her clarinet work.

The final video is a brief interview with Cohen done in 2011 at the Montreal Jazz Festival, during which she talks a bit about the specifics of the gig and then segues into more general topics, like what she looks for when hiring musicians.

For more about Anat Cohen, check out this interview on the website Rootsworld; the extensive past coverage of her work on NPR, including recordings of several concerts; and these two video interviews she did last year at the Newport Jazz Festival with Jazz Times' Lee Mergner.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Post-Dispatch has brief features on two pianists appearing in St. Louis this weekend. Robert Glasper, who's playing Jazz at the Bistro tonight and tomorrow, was interviewed by Kevin Johnson, and Chucho Valdés (pictured), who's at the Sheldon Concert Hall tomorrow night, had a few words (through a translator) with Calvin Wilson.

* After being hospitalized since October, trumpet legend and and St. Louis native Clark Terry finally is back home again and resting up. You can read the latest on his condition in a blog entry from Terry's wife Gwen.

* KDHX has posted online some photos of last Wednesday's performance by Dr. Lonnie Smith at Jazz at the Bistro taken by the station's Wil Wander.

* Ladue News has an article by Diane Alt relating a brief history of Jazz St. Louis and plugging JSL's upcoming fundraising gala.

* And completing today's trilogy of Jazz St. Louis-related items, JSL is looking for an intern who's seeking college credit and/or hand-on work experience in a not-for-profit organization. Get the details at http://jazzstl.org/our-organization/careers/

* City Music and Education Center in Crestwood will inaugurate a new series of Friday night in-store performances on March 16 with a concert by guitarist Dave Black. If you're a musician interested in being included in the series, contact Brian Vaccaro at brian@citymusicstl.com or 314-961-8700.

* Singer Erin Bode has a new single, inspired by a young heart patient at St. Louis Children's Hospital, and both singer and subject were featured in a story this week from local NBC affiliate KSDK's Mike Bush.

* Pianist Mike Silverman (of the Classical Jazz Quartet and U City Jazz Festival) sends word that sheet music of his piano compositions now can be purchased online.

* The St. Louis Jewish Light has an article by student journalist and musician Jake Weisman spotlighting Israeli jazz musicians including Anat Cohen, who will be performing next week at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold, back home this week to perform at the Scottrade Center with Cirque du Soleil's "Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour," got lots of press coverage while in town. In addition to his interview with yr. humble StLJN editor published by the Riverfront Times' RFT Music Blog, Harrold also was interviewed or featured on KMOX radio, local Fox affiliate KTVI, the Post-Dispatch, and Patch.com.

Jazz this week: Chucho Valdés, Robert Glasper, Ligertwood/Garfield/Stevens, Michael Zerang, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Bonerama, and more

It's definitely a busy week for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with so many touring musicians in town that we can barely fit them all into the headline of this post. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, singer Alex Ligertwood, who's worked with Santana and Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, will team up with keyboardist and St. Louis native David Garfield, who's currently working with George Benson, and saxophonist Jim Stevens for a show at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. For more on how this collaboration came to be and what to expect from the gig, see this post.

Also tonight, pianist Ken Kehner will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio will perform at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Tomorrow night, pianist Robert Glasper (pictured) make his long-awaited St. Louis debut as a leader with the first of two nights Jazz at the Bistro. Glasper has just released a new album, Black Radio, with his group the Experiment that includes guest appearances from R&B and hip-hop performers such as Erykah Badu, Lalah Hathaway, Lupe Fiasco, Bilal, Ledisi, Mos Def and Meshell N'degeocello. Although he's bringing his trio, rather the larger and therefore more costly Experiment, to the Bistro, don't be surprised if a few numbers from the new album turn up reworked in Glasper's sets anyway.

For more about Glasper, you can see and hear an interview with him talking about Black Radio here; and two more short video interviews, titled "Jazz with Hiphop is Music of the NOW" and "Make Jazz Cool Again," provide some additional insight into his approach to music.

Elsewhere on Friday evening, the Chicago-based free-improvising percussionist Michael Zerang, who played here last fall with multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee, will return for a duo concert with bassist Darin Gray at Floating Laboratories, 4528 Ohio. Nathan Cook and Rick Weaver will open, with Jeremy Kannapell and Joshua Weinstein serving as hosts and pre-show DJs.

Also on Friday evening, the Glenn Miller Orchestra ghost band makes its annual appearance in the area with a concert in St. Charles at Lindenwood University's Scheidegger Center for the Arts; and there are two Mardi Gras-themed shows featuring local musicians, with the Funky Butt Brass Band and Dogtown Allstars sharing a bill at the Sheldon Concert Hall's upstairs ballroom, and pianist Curt Landes leading a group including Cornet Chop Suey's trumpeter and vocalist Brian Casserly at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Saturday, there's a chance to hear another outstanding pianist, as the Cuban-born virtuoso Chucho Valdés and his Afro-Cuban Messengers play at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For much more about Valdés, who first came to fame in this country as one of the co-founders of the group Irakere, see this post from last Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, Bach to the Future will play a matinee at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville; and that night, the New Orleans based group Bonerama brings their four-trombone front line back to St. Louis for a show at the Old Rock House. The local group Metrobones, which features 14 student trombonists from around the area under the direction of Dave Dickey, will open the show.

Looking beyond the week, on Monday there's a chance to catch two more big bands in action, as Webster University's student big band plays a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on campus, while downtown, the Sessions Big Band holds forth at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Then on Tuesday, singer Erin Bode and her band will perform at Jazz at the Bistro, taking over the room's Valentine's Day gig from the husband-and-wife team of Reggie and Mardra Thomas, who had played the Bistro on February 14 for several years running but moved to Michigan last summer. (And in case you were wondering, the tradition of spousal harmony on the gig will continue, as the Erin Bode Group's bassist Syd Rodway also is Bode's husband.)

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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 2/9/12 to add the Erin Bode Valentine's Day gig.)

Larry Ochs and Kihnoua to play Wednesday, March 28 at Kranzberg Arts Center

New Music Circle has announced that saxophonist Larry Ochs will be bringing his group Kihnoua (pictured, above left) to St. Louis for a performance at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 28 at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

In addition to Ochs, the group features Scott Amendola on drums and electronics and Dohee Lee on vocals, plus bassist Trevor Dunn, who will be a special guest on their St. Louis date.

Kihnoua's sound is described as "music that intermingles the very new thoughts, sounds and structures of jazz (or perhaps better said as “Western improvised music”) with influences from very ancient sounds of Korea and from other folk-music/ blues influences of Asia, Africa and the USA."

Tickets for Larry Ochs and Kihnouha are $15 for general admission, $7 for students/artists with a valid ID, and can be purchased online at NMC's website or at the door.

NMC also has announced that singer Theo Bleckmann (pictured, below left) will be performing with drummer John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet at their previously scheduled concert on Friday, March 2 at 560 Music Center.

Bleckmann perhaps is best known for his 15 years with composer Meredith Monk's ensemble, but he also has released a series of critically acclaimed solo recordings and has collaborated with musicians and composers including Laurie Anderson, Uri Caine, Philip Glass, Sheila Jordan, Phil Kline, David Lang, Kirk Nurock, Ben Monder, Kenny Wheeler, John Zorn, and the Bang on a Can All-Stars. He's a promising addition to what already was shaping up to be one this spring's most intriguing creative music shows.

Tickets for the Claudia Quintet concert also are priced at $15 and $7, and can be purchased from NMC's website or at the door.

SLSO's 2012-13 season to feature concerts with Wynton Marsalis and JaLCO, Chris Botti

The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra tonight announced its season schedule for 2012-13, and the lineup of concerts includes a few performances that could be of potential interest to local jazz fans.

As part of its "Live at Powell Hall" series, the SLSO will present a program called "The Music of Ray Charles" on Friday, September 21. Charles' vast catalog certainly provides plenty of material to work with, and with the right songs and vocal soloists, it could be a solid program - as long as no one at the SLSO makes the mistake of thinking they can sound credible trying to play Charles' early rhythm and blues material.

Much more problematic, however, is the booking of Kenny G to perform with the orchestra the following evening, Saturday, September 22. Given the near-universal critical revulsion of the saxophonist, the rather insubstantial nature of his material, and the bland mediocrity of his playing, it's hard to see this show as anything but a blatant, pandering money grab, unless you choose to view it as a carefully studied insult to the tastes of both local jazz enthusiasts and the SLSO's own patrons. Either way, it seems a terrible lapse in artistic judgment that one can only hope won't ever be repeated.

(And yes, yr. humble editor remembers writing back in 2010 that all the critical vitriol expended on the G-Man was basically a waste of everyone's time. However, it's one thing for him to play his own show somewhere, and another thing entirely for him to be endorsed by an ostensibly serious musical organization like the SLSO.)

On a more harmonious note, the SLSO has booked trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (pictured) and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as the musical main attraction for the organization's annual fundraising gala, which will be held on Saturday, October 20 at Powell Hall. The concert will feature the St. Louis premiere of Marsalis’ Swing Symphony, which received its world premiere in 2010 in Berlin and later was broadcast as a PBS special.

The SLSO also has set a return appearance for trumpeter Chris Botti, who will perform with the orchestra on February 23 at Powell Hall. Botti appeared with the SLSO last February, and will be here in a couple of weeks on Friday, February 24 to play the Peabody Opera House.

The 2012-13 season also will include performances of contemporary orchestral works by Thomas Adès, Cindy McTee, John Adams and Christopher Rouse, as well as a continuation of the SLSO-sponsored concerts at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, which also have featured music by living composers. To see the entire season schedule and purchase tickets, visit the SLSO's website.