StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2015 jazz preview, part 5

Today, it's the fifth and final part of StLJN's winter/spring 2015 jazz preview, offering a look at the touring bands and musicians who will be performing here during the first half of the year.

(Parts one through four can be found here, here, here, and here. And speaking of part four, last week in this space we were remiss in not mentioning tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, who will be performing with Freddy Cole from Wednesday, April 1 through Saturday, April 4 at Jazz at the Bistro. You can see and hear Allen in action in this post from before his last gig here with Cole in 2013.)

Resuming our preview chronology in mid-April, today's first video features singer Kurt Elling, who will be returning to St. Louis to perform Wednesday, April 15 through Saturday, April 18 at Jazz at the Bistro. Elling has been a frequent visitor here in recent years, appearing most recently in June of last year at the Sheldon. He's seen here in a full set from the 2013 Jazz TM Festival in Timișoara, Romania, accompanied by his former pianist and music director Laurence Hobgood, bassist Clark Sommers, guitarist John McLean and drummer Kendrick Scott.

After the jump, you can see a clip featuring guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli and singer Jane Monheit, who will be teaming up on Saturday, April 18 to play for the annual benefit gala for the Sheldon Concert Hall. This version of "They Can't Take that Away From Me" was recorded in 2006 for PBS' Legends Of Jazz program. (For more, read this review of Pizzarelli's show last November at the Bistro, and check out this video showcase post featuring Monheit that was posted before she played the club in May of last year.)

Next is pianist Benny Green, who will be leading his trio from Wednesday, April 29 through Saturday, May 2 at Jazz at the Bistro. This clip of Green playing "Taking a Chance on Love" with drummer Lewis Nash and bassist Christian McBride in 2013 at The Blue Note in New York City.

Today's fourth video features singer Cécile McLorin Salvant, one of the most talked-about new performers in jazz, who will be making her St. Louis debut on Saturday, May 2 at the Sheldon. She's seen here singing and playing Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz" in 2014 at the Victoires du Jazz festival in Paris.

A couple of weeks later, violinist Regina Carter and her Southern Comfort project will be here for performances from Wednesday, May 13 through Saturday, May 16 at Jazz at the Bistro. Carter and company are seen here playing "I'm Going Home" in April, 2014 in the studios of WNYC radio.

After that, you can see saxophonist Tim Berne's Snakeoil, who will perform in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Friday, May 18 at The Stage at KDHX. This video shows the second half of a Snakeoil set recorded in 2013 at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, Connecticut.

The next two clips featuring organist Dr. Lonnie Smith and guitarist Lionel Loueke, who will be paired for a series of shows starting Wednesday, May 27 through Saturday, May 30 at Jazz at the Bistro. Clip #7 shows Smith and his trio in 2011 at the Lamantin Jazz Festival in Szombathely, Hungary, while clip #8 captures a brief solo number by Loueke in 2014 at the Asheville Percussion Festival in North Carolina.

Today's final video features trumpeter Terence Blanchard with his latest project, E- Collective, performing "Oscar Groove" on October 23, 2014 at the Blue Note Milano. Blanchard, who spent a good chunk of 2013 here working with Opera Theatre St. Louis on the premiere of his opera Champion, will be back to play Wednesday, June 10 through Saturday, June 13 at Jazz at the Bistro.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...