Jazz this week: Kenny Barron & Stefon Harris, No BS! Brass Band, Branford Marsalis, and more

Considering that it's still mid-winter and pre-Mardi Gras, it looks like there's a nice variety of jazz and creative music over the next few days in St. Louis, with everything from intimate duets to roaring big bands on the musical menu. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, February 4
Pianist Kenny Barron and vibraphonist Stefon Harris (pictured, top left) begin a four-night run of duo performances at Jazz at the Bistro. You can get a close-up look and listen to Barron's considerable pianistic skills in this video post from last Saturday.

Also tonight, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra offers "A Tribute to Stan Kenton" at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Thursday, February 5
Guitarist Chris Burchett will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, while guitarist Stuart Johnson plays standards at Thurman Grill.

Friday, February 6
The Ambassadors of Swing will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; singer Joe Mancuso fronts a trio at EdgeWild Restaurant & Winery; and keyboardists Matt Villinger and Adam Maness will team up to perform at Thurman Grill.

Over on the east side of the Mississippi, the Midwest Jazz-tette will bring their West Coast "cool jazz" inspired sound to The Abbey Espresso Bar & Cafe in Belleville; and pianist Dave Becherer leads a trio at Cigar Inn.

Saturday, February 7
Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True will play the house concert venue KindaBlue, 6101 1/2 Idaho;  trumpeter Jim Manley and pianist Arthur Toney will be at One 19 North Tapas and Wine Bar; the Sidemen will play vintage swing at Evangeline's; and singer Feyza Eren will lead a quartet in concert at The Chapel.

Sunday, February 8
Inspired by the New Orleans brass band tradition but hailing from Richmond, Virginia, the No BS! Brass Band (pictured, lower left) will perform at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Also on Sunday, the Dave Dickey Big Band plays their monthly gig at Jazz at the Bistro, with an intermission performance by the Ft. Zumwalt North HS Jazz Band.

Monday, February 9
While saxophonist Branford Marsalis' one-nighter at Jazz at the Bistro has been sold out for some time now,  there are several other jazz performances happening on Monday, including pianist Kim Portnoy's trio at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium; singer Dean Christopher's "Rat Pack & More" at One 19 North Tapas and Wine Bar; and Animal Children at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, February 10
The Sheldon Concert Hall will be presenting jazz both morning and night, with the St. Louis Stompers playing a "Coffee Concert" in the morning, and vocal group Java Jived teaming up with the Midwest Jazz-tette for a "Notes From Home" concert in the evening.

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.)