Jazz this week: Block, Gibson & Recoder, Jim Manley, Frank Catalano, Tom McDermott, Cornet Chop Suey, and more

It's potentially another very busy weekend for fans for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with so many performances, workshops and film screenings going on that yr. humble StLJN editor got a bit behind schedule and worn out just assembling the basic info for all the events of interest. So, assuming you're willing to forgive this week's relative lack of description and/or commentary, let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents "Freedom Jazz Dance," a free concert featuring dancers from choreographer Ashley Tate's Ashleyliane Dance Company performing with live music.

Also tonight, Good 4 The Soul checks in for their monthly gig at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups; Dizzy Atmosphere plays at The Shaved Duck; the Dixie Dudes perform at Jazz on Broadway; and The 442s are at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

On Friday, New Music Circle and the St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) will present a "live cinema" performance of music and film by Olivia Block, Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. For more about that, check out Stef Russell's interview with the artists published on St. Louis magazine's Look/Listen blog.

Also on Friday, trumpeter Jim Manley (pictured) opens a two-night engagement with his Mad Brass and Rhythm ensemble at Jazz at the Bistro. For more about Manley's latest CD release, and why you won't be hearing any of the tunes from it this weekend, check out this post from last week. And for still more about about the CD and this weekend's shows, see Terry Perkins' article about Manley for the St. Louis Beacon.

Elsewhere around town on Friday, guitarist Rick Haydon will lead a quartet in concert at the Wildey Theatre; guitarist Tom Byrne plays solo at the Big Sky Cafe; singer Tony Viviano returns to Talayna's in Chesterfield; and singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Randy Bahr play the first of two nights this weekend at Chaser's Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

On Saturday afternoon, the fine Chicago saxophonist Frank Catalano will be in town to present a free clinic and performance at Saxquest.

Then on Saturday evening, SLIFF will present a screening of Bayou Maharaja: The Tragic Genius of James Booker, a biography of the New Orleans pianist, at Winifred Moore Auditorium at Webster University. The screening will be accompanied by a Booker-inspired piano performance by former St. Louisan Tom McDermott.

Also on Saturday, electronic music legend Morton Subotnick will be at the Kranzberg Arts Center; the Chicago-based piano/drums duo The Claudettes, aka Johnny Iguana and Michael Caskey, perform at Pop's Blue Moon; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes trio play at The Wine Press; and guitarist Farshid Soltanshahi and pianist/singer Curt Landes are doing a duo show at the house concert venue KindaBlue, 6101½ Idaho.

On Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Jazz Club presents the traditional jazz and swing sounds of Cornet Chop Suey at the Doubletree Hotel-Westport; and SLIFF will offer a screening of The Pleasures of Being Out of Step, which looks at the life and work of journalist, author and jazz critic Nat Hentoff, at the new KDHX headquarters on Washington Ave. in Grand Center. Hentoff's daughter Jessica Hentoff, who lives in St. Louis, will be present for the screening. 

Later on Sunday, the Funky Butt Brass Band will team up with members of the St. Louis Low Brass Collective for a free concert and jam session at the J.C. Penney Auditorium on the UMSL campus.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday members of the Webster University jazz faculty, performing as the Webster Jazz Collective, will play a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium; and trumpeter Keith Moyer's quartet returns to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

On Tuesday morning, the St. Louis Ragtimers will play the first of two "Coffee Concerts" this week at the Sheldon Concert Hall, with a repeat performance on Wednesday morning.

Then on Tuesday night, the SIUE Concert Jazz Band - featuring alumni of school's jazz program and the return of former director Brett Stamps, who retired last year - will play at Jazz at the Bistro; Lindy Hop St. Louis presents their Tuesday night swing dance at the Grandel Theatre with music from Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes; and Robbie's House of Jazz will pre-empt their usual weekly jam session for an evening of blues from Nashville-based Andy T and the Nick Nixon Band.  

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.)