Friday, July 31, 2015

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Drummer Mark Colenburg (pictured) has recorded a new promotional video for Zildjian's "Cover To Cover" series, playing a version of Radiohead's "Packed Like Sardines."

* Speaking of videos, the St. Louis Big Band has posted a new one on YouTube featuring excerpts from their shows "Sinatra at 100," which continues through next Sunday at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

* Guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg of Dr. Lonnie Smith's band has posted to Facebook an album of photos from Smith's most recent St. Louis gig with Lionel Loueke in May at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Metro East audio equipment manufacturer Heil Sound is expanding, adding 3,200 square feet of space to their Fairview Heights warehouse.

* The Nevermore Jazz Ball announced this week that advance tickets for 2015's event are sold out. More information on a wait list, pass transfers, and the NJB's free public events will be forthcoming at a later date.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, “Somethin’ Else” host Calvin Wilson will dig into the catalog of tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon.

After that on "The Jazz Collective," host Jason Church will play tracks from Four80East, Dave Koz, The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, James Lloyd, Keyon Harrold, the JT Project, Gato Barbieri, Down To The Bone, Slash, Young-Holt Unlimited, Funky Butt Brass Band, Vincent Varvel, Feyza Eren and Dawn Weber.

Wilson's program begins at 8:00 p.m., followed by Church at 9:00 p.m., and can be heard over the air on 107.3 FM, on HD radio at 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Jazz this week: All That Tap XXIV, "Swinging for the Fences," Good 4 The Soul, and more

It's another sultry mid-summer week in St. Louis, and though there are no major touring headliners in town this week, there's plenty of activity involving local jazz and creative musicians, offering sounds ranging from nostalgic to experimental. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, July 29
Tonight, the Spiritual Revolution Ensemble will make their official debut at the Tavern of Fine Arts. Formed after a jam session in May at ToFA, the group of free improvisors features a core band of saxophonists Jerome “J-Dubz” Williams, Aaron Parker, and Rahtu Johnson, pianist David Parker and percussionist Glenn "Papa" Wright, augmented for this performance by guests including guitarist Kendra Mahr, poets Pacia Anderson and Jana Thomas, and pianist Greg Mills.

Also tonight, Tommy Halloran's Guerrilla Swing will play a free outdoor concert for the Missouri Botanical Garden's Whitaker Music Festival; and guitarist Vincent Varvel leads a trio at Nathalie's.

Thursday, July 30
Jazz St. Louis continues their series of events looking at the relationship between jazz and baseball with "Jazz & the Negro Leagues", a free lecture by author and Washington University professor Gerald Early, followed by a reception at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Thursday, drummer Montez Coleman leads a quartet in a free concert wrapping up the summer edition of the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and the St. Louis Big Band and singer Joe Scalzitti will open the second weekend of performances of their tribute show "Sinatra at 100" at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Elsewhere around town, Miss Jubilee will make up for a rainout earlier this summer with a free concert at Ellisville's Bluebird Park, and singer Erin Bode returns to Nathalie's.

Friday, July 31
Good 4 The Soul (pictured, upper left) returns to Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two evenings, with guitarist Shaun Robinson, bassist John King and drummer James Jackson joined for the weekend by keyboardist Pete Ruthenberg, subbing for Adaron "Pops" Jackson.

Also on Friday, singer Tony Viviano will serenade diners at Fortel's, guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith will take the stage at Thurman Grill; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will be swinging at the Venice Cafe.

Saturday, August 1
The annual St. Louis Tap Festival culminates with All That Tap XXIV, an evening of tap dance performances and music at the Grand Center Arts Academy's Sun Theatre.

This year's event serves as a tribute to Tap Festival founder Robert L. Reed, who died earlier this month in Oklahoma City, and will feature Reed's daughter Robin Reed (pictured, lower left) performing in his stead.

Pianist Carolbeth True's trio once again will provide the music for a lineup of featured dancers including Charon Aldredge, Christopher Broughton, Omar Edwards, Anthony LoCascio, Avi Miller & Ofer Ben, Jason Samuels Smith, and Dorneshia Sumbry-Edwards. You can read a brief preview of the performance from St. Louis magazine here.

Also on Saturday, percussionist Joe Pastor and the St. Louis Legacy Ensemble will play a free outdoor concert at Lafayette Park

Sunday, August 2
The Friends of Scott Joplin will present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous," a free event at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site.

Also on Sunday, Jazz St. Louis wraps up their "Swinging for the Fences" series with a "Town Picnic" at Lafayette Park. The free event is open to the public and will feature a "vintage" baseball game played with period uniforms and rules, followed by Lindy Hop dance lessons and a concert of traditional jazz and swing by the Spats 'n' Flapper Speakeasy Orchestra, who are from Clear Lake, IA.  

Monday, August 3
Singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne will return to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

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.)

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Jazz St. Louis announces changes to
2015-16 Jazz at the Bistro schedule

The vagaries of scheduling and musicians' lives being what they are, Jazz St. Louis has made some alterations to the previously announced 2015-16 season schedule for Jazz at the Bistro.

In the most significant change, the shows from Wednesday, October 21 through Saturday, October 24 originally scheduled for bassist Dave Holland's PRISM with guitarist Kevin Eubanks (pictured) and drummer Eric Harland now will be filled by Eubanks' own trio, sans Holland and Harland. Subscription tickets already purchased for PRISM will be valid for the Eubanks trio.

Also, the tribute to Clark Terry with trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling and the Jazz St. Louis Big Band originally set for Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17 has been moved to Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26 of next year. Subscribers who bought tickets already have had them exchanged for the new dates, based on the original day and set time. The October dates left open will be filled by the Coleman Hughes Project featuring Adrianne Felton.

Lastly, bassist Jahmal Nichols' performance on Saturday, September 12 has been cancelled, due to Nichols being on tour with singer Gregory Porter. No replacement show will be booked for that date, and there's no indication as to when Nichols might be rescheduled.

Suubscribers who have questions about any of this can contact the Jazz St. Louis box office at 314-571-6000.

Monday, July 27, 2015

Music Education Monday: A master class
with Jason Moran and Vijay Iyer

In addition to being two of the top pianists in contemporary jazz, both Jason Moran and Vijay Iyer (pictured) are past winners of much-coveted MacArthur Fellowships (aka "the genius grant"), and both have developed accompanying reputations as deep thinkers.

For this week's "Music Education Monday," here's a small window into the minds of both men, via a video of a joint masterclass they did in September 2014 at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Moran is a member of the NEC faculty, while Iyer is now a professor at Harvard in nearby Cambridge, MA.


Miles on Monday: Miles Ahead to close
New York Film Festival, and more

This week in Miles Davis news:

* Miles Ahead, the film about Davis directed by and starring Don Cheadle, finally has a US premiere date. The movie will be shown on Sunday, October 11 in New York City as part of the closing night of the New York Film Festival, though Cheadle still is seeking a distributor for a wider release.

* The Newport Jazz Festival this coming weekend will include a number of events and performances celebrating the 60th anniversary of Davis' historic debut at the event, and the Associated Press has an overview. (And speaking of Newport, many more reviews of the Miles Davis at Newport box set released on July 17 have been published over the past week, and we'll have a look at some of those next week.)

* Meanwhile, Davis' fashion sense and visual style during the 1950s was the subject of an article at Ivy Style

* On a much more serious note, David Hoppe of the Indianapolis alt-weekly Nuvo compares a well-known encounter Davis had with NYC police in 1959 with the case of Sandra Bland, the African-American woman who recently died in a Texas jail while being held on charges stemming from a traffic stop.

* Lastly, the photo above and the three after the jump offer the latest look at the site of the Miles Davis Memorial Project in Alton. The plaza designed by architect Barry Moyer to resemble a musical staff has now been completed, with a pedestal styled after an eighth-note awaiting installation of the statue of Davis by sculptor Preston Jackson before the unveiling on Saturday, September 12. You can see the Davis family's commemorative block right next to the eighth note.

The pix come to StLJN courtesy of Ken Whiteside, who works with both the Memorial Project and the Miles Davis Jazz Festival. You can see the rest of the photos after the jump...

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Sunday Session: July 26, 2015

Kamasi Washington
For your Sunday reading, here are some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* After 20 Years, New Orleans Band Galactic Lifts Off With New Voices (NPR)
* This Year’s DownBeat Critics Poll Kerfuffle (Outside-Inside-Out)
* Digitized and Now Available: Mahler’s Marked Score of Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony (New York Philharmonic)
* 'Inside Out' composer Michael Giacchino is on a roll (Los Angeles Times)
* The key to perfection: how a Steinway piano is made (Financial Times)
* How Hip-Hop Is Becoming the Oldies (New York Times)
* Swing It Loud: Duke Ellington’s Early Black-Pride Music (WFIU)
* How MTV Is Trying to Reinvent Itself to Combat Sinking Ratings and Disinterested Teens (Billboard)
* 'Kid Charlemagne': A Close Reading Of Steely Dan's Ode To Haight Street's LSD King (SFist)
* To Stream or Not to Stream? That is the Wrong Question (New Music Box)
* How Music Magazines Are Changing to Stay Alive (Billboard)
* Why do pop singers like Lady Gaga keep releasing jazz albums? The upsides are tremendous. (Washington Post)
* Apple Music is a nightmare and I'm done with it (The Loop)
* SpokFrevo Orquestra, Redman Spark North Sea Jazz Festival (DownBeat)
* LA jazz: how Kamasi Washington and Thundercat are breathing new life into the west coast scene (The Guardian UK)
* Impulse To Release Haden-Rubalcaba Duo Album (DownBeat)
* Zappa Family Gives Access For New Frank Zappa Documentary (JamBase.com)

Saturday, July 25, 2015

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase:
Six from Harry Connick Jr.



This week, let's check in via video with singer and pianist Harry Connick Jr., who will be performing in St. Louis this coming Tuesday, July 28 at the Peabody Opera House.

If you're enough of a jazz fan to have found your way here, you're likely already familiar with Connick, as he's among the most prominent of the relatively small number of jazz musicians who have crossed over to significant pop success in the last couple of decades. (If not, please consult his website, linked above, for the relevant biographical details.) Given that, and the fact that it's summer vacation time, let's skip any additional preamble and go straight to the videos.

Up top, you'll find a clip from Connick's recent stint as one of the celebrity judges on TV's American Idol, but thankfully, it's not one drawn from the ample supply of videos showing him schooling a clueless contestant. It's a straight-up performance, featuring Connick singing and playing "City Beneath the Sea," a song about New Orleans that he first recorded on his 1996 album Star Turtle.

After the jump, you can see the official music video for "One Fine Thing," which was the single released from Connick's most recent album, 2013's Every Man Should Know.

The next two clips are even farther removed from the commercial slickness of American Idol, as both were recorded during a visit Connick made in 2013 to the Agape House Fellowship Church in Bridgeport, CT.

These audience-shot videos, which to date have only a few thousand views each on YouTube, show Connick singing the gospel standards "The Old Rugged Cross" and "You Are My Sunshine." While the production values obviously are not professional quality, it's an interesting chance to see him in a different environment than usual.

Last but not least, we close out with two more videos showing Connick performing two more songs about New Orleans, "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" and "Take Her To The Mardi Gras."

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

Friday, July 24, 2015

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trombonist, singer and St. Louis native Joseph Bowie (pictured) is the subject of In Groove We Trust: A Joe Bowie Experience, a 2014 documentary film that now can be streamed online.

The movie, produced by the Dutch public broadcasting system Boeddhistische Omroep, offers an intimate look at the Defunkt founder's life both on and off-stage, and includes some footage shot here in St. Louis as well as interviews with St. Louis musicians including Ronnie Burrage, Oliver Lake, Kelvyn Bell, and more.

* Trumpeter, St. Louis native, and former Jazz St. Louis student All-Star Joshua Williams and his band Shades of Jade are prepping a new album, Fingerprinted Memories Part 2, for release in the fall. The Kansas City based ensemble will drop an advance track, a jazz-infused R&B slow jam called "That One" featuring guest singer Derick Cunigan, on Thursday, August 20.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn's latest album Time and the River is on sale for a discounted price at Amazon from now until the end of the month.

* The Sheldon Concert Hall has posted on Facebook an album of photos from last Friday's tribute to the late pianist and St. Louis native Ray Kennedy.

* Trumpeter Andy Tichenor has landed a gig in the band for the national tour of the musical theater production of "Dirty Dancing." Tichenor will join the tour in Chicago after the end of the Muny season here in St. Louis. 

* St. Louis based sound and lighting contractor Logic Systems is in the running for two industry awards: Front of House Online's 2015 Hometown Hero Sound Company award, which allows for reader voting, and an ESPRIT Award from the International Special Event Society, the results of which will be announced on August 22.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's program “Somethin’ Else,” will focus on jazz versions of soul and R&B songs such as "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" as performed by musicians including Joshua Redman, John Scofield and Marcus Miller. The program can be heard over the air on 107.3 FM, on HD radio at 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Then on Sunday night, Dennis Owsley's "Jazz Unlimited" program on KWMU/St. Louis Public Radio will be the second part of a special featuring music from the labels run by the late jazz impresario Norman Granz. You can listen in from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Sundays over the air at 90.7 FM and online at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/listen.php.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Jazz this week: Harry Connick Jr., St. Louis Cabaret Festival, Russell Gunn with Montez Coleman, and more

It's looking like a good week to get out and hear some live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, particularly for fans of vocalists.

With three headliners performing for the St. Louis Cabaret Festival, plus the opening of a locally produced show paying tribute to a legendary singer, plus the much-anticipated return of one of today's most popular crossover performers, and more, there are plenty of options from which to choose. Let's go to the highlights....

Wednesday, July 22
Marilyn Maye (pictured, top left), considered by many to be the grande dame of cabaret singers, begins the concert portion of the St. Louis Cabaret Festival with a performance of her show "Sinatra Her Way" at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Produced by Cabaret Project of St. Louis, the festival is the performance portion of their annual St. Louis Cabaret Conference, and continues through Saturday night. You can find out more and see videos of Maye and the festival's other headliners in this post from last Saturday.

Also tonight, guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran's Guerrilla Swing will perform for the World Chess Hall of Fame's music series, and Dizzy Atmosphere returns to The Shaved Duck.

Thursday, July 23
The St. Louis Cabaret Festival continues with a performance by singer, songwriter and pianist Jason Robert Brown at the Sheldon, while a couple of blocks away at Jazz at the Bistro, Jazz St. Louis will be presenting "Swingin’ for the Fences: Big Bands & Baseball," the first in a series of three free events over the next two weeks highlighting the connections between jazz and baseball. 

Also in the Grand Center district, the tribute show "Sinatra at 100" with singer Joe Scalzitti and the St. Louis Big Band begins a three-week run at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Elsewhere around town, the Wire Pilots will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes summer series at Washington University; Franglais returns to Howard's in Soulard; and singer Erin Bode will perform in a free outdoor concert at  Kirkwood Station Plaza in downtown Kirkwood.

Friday, July 24
It's an East St. Louis reunion in Grand Center, as trumpeter Russell Gunn (pictured, center left) comes back from his current home in Atlanta to join drummer and fellow Lincoln HS alum Montez Coleman and his group for a weekend of shows at Jazz at the Bistro.

While Gunn's recent album Electric Butterfly showed a heavy rock influence, with songs built on distorted, riffing guitars, the musical menu for this weekend's collaboration with Coleman remains undisclosed, as Jazz St. Louis' promo for the show has been light on specifics. But regardless of whether they're playing Gunn's funk and rock-oriented material, swinging jazz, or a mix, the gig definitely should be worth hearing.

Also on Friday, the Cabaret Festivial continues with a performance by Christine Ebersole at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and pianist Carolbeth True, her band Two Times True and singer Christi John Bye will play a concert at St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Ferguson.

Elsewhere around town, singer Joe Mancuso leads a quartet at Nathalie's; Wack-A-Doo will play swing, hot jazz and Americana at Thurman Grill; and the Original Knights of Swing perform for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom

Saturday, July 25
The St. Louis Cabaret Festival wraps up with a showcase for Cabaret Conference participants at the Kranzberg Arts Center; Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham will be at Troy's Jazz Gallery.

Sunday, July 26
Gaslight Square veterans Trio Trés Bien emerge for a rare public live performance, joined by singer Danita Mumphard for a free outdoor concert at Ivory Perry Park, 800 N. Belt.

Monday, July 27
"Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective are back for their regular monthly gig at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, July 28
Singer and pianist Harry Connick Jr. returns to St. Louis to perform at the Peabody Opera House. The New Orleans native (pictured, lower left), who has enjoyed wide attention the past couple of years as a celebrity judge on TV's American Idol, released his most recent album Every Man Should Know back in 2013.

He last performed here in March 2014 as headliner for Variety's "Dinner With The Stars," also at the Peabody, and though that gig was well-received by all accounts, no doubt fans will be looking forward this time to the full-length version of his touring show.

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.)

Monday, July 20, 2015

Music Education Monday: Songwriting with Jason Robert Brown, and more

This week's St. Louis Cabaret Conference includes a number of workshops and master classes presented by visiting artists, some of whom also will be performing in public concerts later in the week.

One of those visitors is Tony Award winning Broadway songwriter, singer and pianist Jason Robert Brown (pictured), best known for his scores for the musicals Parade, The Last Five Years, The Bridges of Madison County, and others.

Registration for the educational part of the conference is closed - concert tickets are still on sale here - but thanks to a video produced by The Dramatists Guild of America, you can see a master class in songwriting from Brown for free via the embedded YouTube player below.

Note that though a lot of what he says pertains to songs with lyrics, and more specifically Broadway songs, much of it also can be applied to instrumental compositions. And from a jazz musician's perspective, it's worth remembering that Broadway shows were the original sources for much of what has come to be known as "The Great American Songbook," and a better understanding of their construction can have plenty of benefits for instrumentalists and vocalists alike.

If you're looking for more on the craft, the website Coursera has a free online course in songwriting, taught by Berklee College of Music professor Pat Pattison. The class has six units, totaling nearly 15 hours of instruction, and to access the material, all you have to do is create a free Coursera account (if you don't already have one) and sign up.

Some other potentially useful resources include the websites of the magazines American Songwriter and Performing Songwriter, which both have plenty of free content, as does the songwriter's website Muse's Muse once you drill down into its old-school user interface.

Also worth a look, though suffering from a bit of age-related linkrot, are the lists of songwriter resources compiled by the promotion company Taxi and the website Songwriting.net; and "50 Great Lyric Writing Resources," from the online tutorial site TutsPlus.

You can see the video of Jason Robert Brown after the jump...

Miles on Monday: Another Memorial Project update, plus reviews of Newport box set

Miles Davis at the 1969 Newport Jazz Festival
This week in Miles Davis-related news, there's another update from the Miles Davis Memorial Project, plus a bunch of reviews of the newly released box set Miles Davis at Newport: 1955-1975:

* The Memorial Project reports that work has been completed on the plaza on Third St. in downtown Alton, IL where a statue of Davis will be installed in September. You can see pictures of the site on Facebook.

* Keying on the release of the Miles Davis at Newport box set, Minnesota Public Radio highlighted what proved to be an important comeback performance for Davis with Thelonious Monk at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival.

Meanwhile, at the Newport Jazz Festival's home in Rhode Island, Zeke Wright of the Newport Mercury offered an overview of the plans to celebrate Davis at this year's event with special events and musical tributes.

* As for the reviews of the Newport box set, which officialy came out last Friday, they're largely positive so far. The Seattle Times' Paul de Barros calls the set "a delight," while John Fordham of The Guardian (UK) says it's "coolly swinging" and "typically classy."

Writing for the New York Daily News, Jim Farber says the set "does more than most such boxes to prove the planetary breadth of Miles’ work," while Will Layman of PopMatters contrasts Davis' music with a half-dozen recent releases showing his influence, stating that "the legacy of Miles’s late period is not a single style or a subset of musicians. Miles Davis was simply too big for that...Jazz, a beautiful living thing that evolves, will carry Davis in its DNA forever."

In other reviews, Greg Tate of Rolling Stone noted, "'I'll play it first and tell you what it is later,' Davis used to say. Well, then, how soon is now?"; and Peter Jones of London Jazz News says that "even completists will surely be satiated by the Bootleg series as a whole," while observing that "the long gap between 1958 and 1966 means no Gil Evans and no Kind Of Blue, which for many will mean there is nothing to represent Miles’ most melodic period."

Lastly, while noting that "like many such releases involving a titanically influential heritage act, the music is basically unassailable," Chris Barton of Los Angeles Times wonders if the Davis estate has hit the point of diminishing returns in an article headlined "'Miles Davis at Newport: 1955-1975': How many Miles do we have left?"

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Sunday Session: July 19, 2015

Horace Silver
For your Sunday reading, here are some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Red Bull, Awolnation And The Evaporating Division Between Bands And Brands (Forbes)
* Robert Glasper: 'When hip hop took over the world' (TheArtsDesk.com)
* New Coryell Box Set Features Unreleased Live Recordings (DownBeat)
* Jamming with the cosmos: CERN and the music of physics (CERN)
* The portable wilderness of John Luther Adams (Boston Globe)
* Jazz at Lincoln Center and Sony Music Team Up for Blue Engine Records (New York Times)
* Lost Jack Bruce Cream Tapes X: 'Albert King Asked Me, Where's The Money?' For Bad Sign (Forbes)
* Is The Music Industry Sleepwalking Into Disaster? (HypeBot.com)
* Multiple Generations Salute Horace Silver at Pittsburgh JazzLive Fest (DownBeat)
* Review: John Zorn Brings Avant-Garde Style to the Stone (New York Times)
* Jazz exhibit opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago with 'music you can see' (Art Daily)
* Rooting Around The Tonight Show's Sound (Pro Sound News)
* Talking Turntable: How Not To Launch A Music Tech Startup (HypeBot.com)
* Is Transparency The Music Industry's Next Battle? (NPR)
* How the Multi-Story Orchestra has transformed a car park in to a concert hall (Classical Muse)
* Why musicians need to get off Apple Music and Spotify immediately (DailyDot.com)
* Shipp, Malaby Embrace Revolutionary Spirit at New York’s Vision Fest (DownBeat)
* What Songs Look Like as 3-D Printed Sculptures (Wired)
* Sounds of the solar system: probing Pluto's predicted score (The Guardian UK)
* 20-50% of Royalties Never Reach the Artist, Study Finds (DigitalMusicNews.com)

Saturday, July 18, 2015

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase:
2015 St. Louis Cabaret Festival



Today, let's take a look at some video clips featuring the stars of next week's St. Louis Cabaret Festival. Produced by Cabaret Project of St. Louis, the festival serves as the performance portion of their annual St. Louis Cabaret Conference, a week-long event offering educational programs, professional development, networking, and other activities for aspiring and established cabaret performers.

Three of the best-known singers involved in the conference will headline public performances at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The concerts begin with Marilyn Maye, who's still remarkably spry and vocally sharp at age 87 and considered by many to be the matriarch of contemporary cabaret. She was a main attraction at last year's conference and will return this year to perform a program of songs associated with Frank Sinatra on Wednesday, July 22 at the Sheldon.

In the first video up above, you can see Maye singing "Here's to Us" at the 2014 Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) Awards, where she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

After the jump, there's a clip of Maye performing "The Man That Got Away," recorded in March 2014 at The Allen Room by Jazz at Lincoln Center, with assistance from her musical director, pianist Billy Stritch, along with bassist David Katzenberg and drummer Daniel Glass.

Next up is singer and pianist Jason Robert Brown, who will perform on Thursday, July 23 at the Sheldon. Known more as a composer and songwriter than a performer, Brown has won two Tony Awards for writing the scores for Parade and The Bridges of Madison County.

But though he may spend most of his time behind the scenes, Brown also is quite capable of capturing an audience's attention on stage, as you can see in the third video, which features him performing "When You Say Vegas" from the short-lived Broadway musical Honeymoon in Vegas. Brown is backed by Charlie Rosen's Broadway Big Band in the clip, which was recorded last October at 54 Below.

In the fourth video, you can see Brown talking for a couple of minutes about the process of making changes in a new show during previews, and then performing a solo piano/vocal version of "Being A Geek," which was written for, and then cut from, the musical 13.

The festival's final headliner is Christine Ebersole, who will perform on Friday, July 24 at the Sheldon. Ebersole is a two-time Tony Award-winning actress and singer who has had many roles in TV and film and has starred in Broadway shows such as 42nd Street, Grey Gardens, Dinner at Eight, and Blithe Spirit.

Ebersole also is a veteran concert and cabaret performer, and the fifth video embed shows her singing "Something There" from her album Strings Attached in a show last year at the NYC venue 54 Below. In today's final clip, she can be seen performing "After All," from the musical Ever After, in May of this year on an episode of Sirius/XM radio's theater-talk show Seth Speaks.

In addition to the concerts by the three headliners, the festival also will include a showcase performance by conference participants on Saturday, July 25 at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

For more about the St. Louis Cabaret Festival and the Cabaret Conference, you can listen to an interview with Marilyn Maye and Tim Schall, producer and co-founder of the conference, from yesterday's “Cityscape” program on KWMU/St. Louis Public Radio.

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

Friday, July 17, 2015

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli, in town to play a benefit for the family of the late pianist Ray Kennedy on Saturday at the Sheldon, was interviewed about the performance on KWMU's "CityScape" program.

* DownBeat magazine's 80th annual Reader's Poll is open for voting, and you can cast your ballot here.

* Drummer Dave Weckl (pictured) has recorded a new demo video for Sabian's "HHX Evolution Performance Cymbal Pack," which can be seen online here.

* The Funky Butt Brass Band took a road trip this past weekend to play a gig in Boyne City, MI, and they've posted on Facebook a photo album of the journey

* Also on Facebook, an album of pictures from Sound Unlimited pianist John Pyatt's birthday celebration last Sunday at Candicci's.

* StLJN sends condolences to bassist Willem von Hombracht, whose wife Ira passed away earlier this month. A memorial celebration of Ira von Hombracht's life is planned for Sunday, August 2 upstairs at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* Applications for Regional Arts Commission's 2016 Artists' Fellowships are due on Friday, August 7.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis' “Somethin’ Else,” host Calvin Wilson will feature the music of pianist Robert Glasper, including tracks from his new trio album, Covered. You can listen over the air on 107.3 FM, on HD radio at 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Then on Sunday, and a bit to the left on your radio dial, bassist Darrell Mixon will be the featured guest this week on WSIE's "Jazz Talk". The program can be heard from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Sundays over the air on 88.7 FM and online.

Sunday night on KWMU/St. Louis Public Radio, Dennis Owsley's "Jazz Unlimited" program will feature music recorded for labels run by the late jazz impresario Norman Granz. Starting in 1957, Granz founded labels including Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve and Pablo, and recorded important jazz musicians including Oscar Peterson, Ben Webster, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Jazz at the Philharmonic, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Kenny Barron, Charlie Parker, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, Clark Terry, and more. The program can be heard from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Sundays over the air at 90.7 FM and online at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/listen.php

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Jazz this week: A tribute to Ray Kennedy, "Music at the Intersection," Marquis Hill, Mike Dillon Band, and more

If you're trying to shake the mid-summer doldrums after some punishing heat and humidity over the past few days in St. Louis, getting out to hear some live jazz and creative music could be just the thing.

This weekend's musical menu features a benefit for the family of a well-known local musician, a visit from a fast-rising trumpet talent, a free evening of music at multiple venues in Grand Center, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, July 15
Warming up for next week's St. Louis Cabaret Conference, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Open Mic Night" at Tavern of Fine Arts.

Thursday, July 16
Drummer Maurice Carnes leads a quintet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; guitarist Dave Black and friends, with singer Feyza Eren, perform at Nathalie’s, and singer Joe Mancuso and pianist Nick Schlueter will boldly go where no jazz musician has gone before with a happy-hour show at the dueling-piano bar Jive and Wail in Westport Plaza.

Friday, July 17
"A Celebration of the Life & Music of Ray Kennedy," featuring singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli's trio along with his dad, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, at the Sheldon Concert Hall will pay tribute to the late St. Louis pianist (pictured, top left, with the Pizzarellis) and raise money for his widow and two young daughters.

Also on Friday, Grand Center presents the first evening of its new "Music at The Intersection" series, this month featuring free sets by local jazz and blues acts at eight different venues throughout the district. 

That same evening, the St. Louis Big Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and the trio of pianist Jim Hegarty, bassist Paul Steinbeck, and drummer Gary Sykes will play the music of Miles Davis, Oliver Nelson, and more at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton.

Saturday, July 18
St. Louis Community College-Meramec and Saxquest present a day-long "Saxfest" on the Meramec campus with workshops and performances from saxophonists Paul DeMarinis, Christopher Braig, Jason Swagler, Arthur White, Jeffrey Collins, and more. Following the events at Meramac, Braig also will lead a quartet for an evening after-party at Tavern of Fine Arts.

Also on Saturday evening, singer Anita Jackson will perform at Jazz at the Bistro; Gypsy jazz quartet Franglais plays at Evangeline's; pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True return to the Ozark Theatre; and pianist Matt Villinger, who's moving to Kansas City shortly, will present a "going-away" show at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Sunday, July 19
Chicago-based trumpeter Marquis Hill (pictured, lower left), winner of the 2014 Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition, will be in town to raise funds for Community Women Against Hardship with a performance at the Ferring Jazz Bistro.

Billed as "A Tribute to Freddie Hubbard," the benefit will feature Hill fronting a group of St. Louisans including Villinger, Jerome "Scrooge" Harris (drums), Jeff Anderson (bass), and Chad Evans (alto sax).

Also on Sunday, percussionist Mike Dillon and band will headline an all-ages matinee also featuring The Feed and Richie Kihlken Band at 2720 Cherokee.

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.)

Monday, July 13, 2015

Music Education Monday: Vocal tips from Kurt Elling and Frank Sinatra, and more

This week for "Music Education Monday," here are some free resources for aspiring jazz vocalists.

If you're just getting started, the website JazzSingers.com offers a good overview of the history of jazz singing and its most important practitioners, and includes a lot of potentially useful links.

For example, that's where yr. humble editor found the text for Tips On Popular Singing, a instructional book published in 1941 that's credited to none other than Frank Sinatra, "in collaboration with his vocal teacher John Quinlan."

While it's doubtful that the young version of Ol' Blue Eyes spent too many hours sweating over a hot manuscript, the involvement of his teacher presumably means that the book's contents bear at least some relationship to what Sinatra was doing at the time. For another perspective, Australian singer Tom Benjamin acknowledges the Sinatra/Quinlan book as a training method, then offers his own take via an essay in PDF form called "How to Sound Like Sinatra."

Here in the present day, Kurt Elling is one of the most acclaimed singers in jazz, and after the jump, you can see a video of an excerpt from a master class he did in 2011 at the North Sea Jazz Festival, in which he talks about what it takes to be a jazz singer.

That's followed by another short video, produced in 2012 by Jazz Times magazine, in which Elling (pictured) talks about his early years as a jazz vocalist, his teachers and mentors, and some of his favorites from the Great American Songbook.

The third clip, "Vocal Improv and Warm Ups for Jazz Singers," is part of a series of short instructional videos produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center, and features singer Marion Cowings demonstrating vocal warm-up exercises and discussing "how to use the words and melody of a song to inspire your improvised vocal solo."

Last but not least, in today's fourth and final video, Dennis DiBlasio, best known for his stint as baritone saxophonist and music director with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson's big band, presents some very practical tips on scat singing that could be used by just about any musician or singer, regardless of technical ability or experience level.

Coincidentally, singer and educator Michele Weir has written a short essay with musical examples called "Fearless Vocal Improvisation" that ties in to some of what DiBlasio talks about, and you can download a PDF copy here.

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

Miles on Monday: Miles Davis At Newport
box set reviewed, and more

This week in Miles Davis-related news:

* The CD box set Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 will be released this Friday, July 17 by Columbia/Legacy Recordings. The much-anticipated collection (pictured) includes nearly four hours of previously unreleased live material drawn from Davis' performances over the years at Newport-affiliated events, including a track called "Untitled Original" that was put out as an advance promo last week and can be streamed at Playboy.com.

* The first review of the Newport box set also is in. It's from Richard Brody of The New Yorker, who praises the music, noting that it "reflects crucial musical ideas and decisions in the twenty crucial years of Davis’s musical development, from the age of twenty-nine through forty-nine—and his personal evolution and musical revolution is itself one of the grandest artistic dramas of the dramatic time." You can read the whole thing here.

* British jazz trumpeter Henry Lowther reminisced with Jazzwise magazine about his meeting with Davis in 1969.

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Sunday Session: July 12, 2015

Miguel ZenĂ³n
For your Sunday reading, here are some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Facebook Is Negotiating Music Video Licensing With Major Labels. (Digital Music News)
* Paul McCartney Opens Up About Lennon, Yoko, and More (Esquire)
* Here’s What Apple Music Looks Like to Artists (Create Digital Music)
* ZenĂ³n Spotlights Identities Project at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase (DownBeat)
* The Wall of Sound (Vice.com)
* Sonifying the world (Aeon)
* The Anxious Ease of Apple Music (The New Yorker)
* The Finger’s on the Self-Destruct Button - The Ugly Truth about Apple, Google, Spotify, and the Rest of the Music Streaming Universe (Medium.com)
* SESAC to Buy HFA (New Music Box)
* SubCulture in New York Cancels Much of Its Schedule (New York Times)
* Rdio bets big on curation with new label and influencer radio station (Venture Beat)
* Why the AACM and AfriCOBRA still matter (Chicago Reader)
* I’m An Independent Artist And Apple Music Screwed Up My Entire Discography (Digital Music News)
* Masters Behind the Mix: A Behind the Scenes Glimpse Into Music Making With Audio Engineer Jim Anderson (Atlantic Records)
* This Is What 70 Years of Computing Sounds Like (Vice.com)
* Violinist Kevin Yu Invents a High-Tech Tux Shirt (Violinist.com)
* Why We’ll Never Have an Iconic Record Cover Like ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ Again (Medium.com)
* Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
* The Power of Creation in an Age of Destruction (New Music Box)
* Glasper, Valdés Joyfully Explore Diverse Material in San Francisco (DownBeat)
* Sony Music Tells Court It's Not Their Job To Make Artists Money (Hypebot.com)
* Did Rock and Roll Pacify America? (The Atlantic)

Saturday, July 11, 2015

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Remembering Ray Kennedy



Next Friday, July 17 at the Sheldon Concert Hall, musical colleagues of the late pianist Ray Kennedy will present a concert paying tribute to the St. Louis native, who died in May after a long bout with multiple sclerosis.

With proceeds benefiting Kennedy's widow and two young daughters, the show will be headlined by singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli, who featured Kennedy as the pianist in his working group for more than a decade, and Pizzarelli's dad Bucky, the veteran jazz guitarist with whom Kennedy also performed and recorded. Also on hand will be Martin Pizzarelli, son of Bucky, brother of John, and longtime bassist in his trio; and Konrad Paszkudzki, the current pianist in John Pizzarelli's group.

Although Ray Kennedy came of musical age during the height of fusion, his playing for the most part eschewed the usual influences on his generation (Hancock, Corea, Tyner, et al) for that of older pianists such as Erroll Garner and Teddy Wilson. Kennedy left behind a fairly extensive discography, recording numerous times with John Pizzarelli and also leading a number of small-group dates, often with his brother, bassist Tom Kennedy. Videos featuring Kennedy are a bit harder to find online, but here are a few clips, drawn from his work with the Pizzarelli clan, that demonstrate his considerable pianistic prowess, albeit in relatively small doses.

Up above, you can see and hear Kennedy's solo on "Oscar Night," an original piece of his that John Pizzarelli incorporated into his performances as a showcase for the pianist. This version was recorded in 2000 at Jazzwoche Burghausen in Germany.

After the jump, you can check out Kennedy's solo on a version of "Just You Just Me" from an appearance by the Pizzarelli trio in 2003 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and there's another tasty solo on their version of the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face" recorded at the Montreal Jazz Festival, probably around the time Pizzarelli released his album Meets the Beatles in 1998.

Rounding out today's offerings are two more John Pizzarelli performances featuring solos from Kennedy, "After You've Gone" and "O, My Heart Beats For You," and a short clip showing Ray Kennedy and Bucky Pizzarelli in the studio recording Harold Arlen's "Let's Fall In Love," made to promote the 2008 album Bucky Pizzarelli & The Kennedy Brothers Play Harold Arlen.

If you'd like to help Ray Kennedy's family but can't attend next Friday's performance, you still can make a contribution via this YouCaring.com page.

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

Friday, July 10, 2015

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Greg Osby's latest blog post wonders if NYC is now suffering from a "talent overload" of young musicians.

* In advance of her gig this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro, singer Denise Thimes did a brief interview with St. Louis magazine's Sarah Kloepple.

* Bassist John King (pictured), who plays with Good 4 The Soul, saxophonist Jim Stevens, and various other local acts, has more reasons than most to dislike the rainy weather we've had recently in St. Louis, as both his car and his bass amp were washed away last week in a flood. If you'd like to kick in a few bucks to help replace them, you can do it at this GoFundMe page.

* Dr. Aurelia Hartenberger, who recently donated her multi-million dollar collection of unusual and historic musical instruments to the Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries, will speak about the instruments of Africa, Asia and Latin America in a gallery talk at 6:00 p.m. this coming Tuesday, July 14 at the Sheldon.

Presented in conjunction with the exhibit "A World of Music: Africa, Asia and Latin America ~ Instruments from the Hartenberger World Music Collection," the talk is free and open to the public, but seating is limited so you must reserve a place in advance by emailing ssheppard@thesheldon.org or calling 314-533-9900, extension 37. 

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's program “Somethin’ Else” will feature music from throughout the career of the late saxophonist and musical innovator Ornette Coleman. You can tune in at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

The next evening on KWMU/St. Louis Public Radio, Dennis Owsley's "Jazz Unlimited" program will present alternate takes of famous tracks by musicians including Louis Armstrong, Charlie Christian, Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Ahmad Jamal, Art Blakey, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Herbie Hancock, and others. The program can be heard from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Sundays over the air at 90.7 FM and online at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/listen.php

Thursday, July 09, 2015

Jazz this week: Andre Delano, Denise Thimes, Cornet Chop Suey, and more

This week's lineup of jazz and creative music shows in and around St. Louis includes a well-known expat back home for a couple of "summer vacation" shows, showcase performances for one of the city's reigning vocals divas and one its top traditional jazz bands, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Thursday, July 9
Saxophonist and former East St. Louisan Andre Delano (pictured, top left), who now lives in California, is back home this week for a pair of shows, performing Thursday at Bistro Six Eighteen in East St Louis and Friday at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Also on Thursday, guitarist Vincent Varvel's trio will get Jazz at Holmes "Jazz in July" summer series started with a free concert at Holmes Lounge in Ridgley Hall on the Washington University campus; and bassist Willem von Hombracht will play duets with guitarist Chip Katz at Thurman Grill.

Friday, July 10
Singer Denise Thimes (pictured, center left) returns to Jazz at the Bistro to headline a weekend of shows; and pianist Greg Mills will play solo and improvise freely at Tavern of Fine Arts.

Also on Friday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes perform at Nathalie's; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, July 11
Saturday morning, TrailNet and Jazz St. Louis will present the first-ever St. Louis jazz history bike tour, led by JSL executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford and starting at Jazz St. Louis HQ on Washington Ave.

That evening, saxophonist Tim Cunningham begins a series of summer Saturday performances at Troy's Jazz Gallery; and singer Tom Kavanaugh and pianist Tim Garcia will perform at Tavern of Fine Arts.

Sunday, July 12
The St. Louis Jazz Club present presents traditional jazz and swing band Cornet Chop Suey (pictured, lower left) in a matinee at the Doubletree Hotel in Westport; while the Friends of Scott Joplin will hold their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous"at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site.

On Sunday night, the St. Louis Big Band will play a free outdoor concert at Zion United Methodist Church in South County.

Monday, July 13
Singer Dean Christopher offers an encore of his "Rat Pack and More" show at One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar ; and trumpeter Keith Moyer's group plays at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, July 14
Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris perform jazz and French pop music at Nathalie'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.)

Tony Bennett returning for concert on Saturday, September 19 at Scheidegger Center

Legendary singer Tony Bennett is booked to return to the St. Louis area this fall to perform at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, September 19 at Lindenwood University's J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts, 2300 W Clay in St Charles.

Bennett (pictured) last appeared in St. Louis in November 2011 at the Fox Theater. Since then, his duet album with pop diva Lady Gaga, Cheek to Cheek, and a followup live album, both released last year, became unexpected hits, and the ever-swinging octogenarian, now 88 years old, is touring once again this summer with Gaga.

Bennett's concert on September 19 will be the first in Scheidegger Center's 2015-16 "main stage" performing arts series, which also will feature another event of potential interest to jazz fans, as Frank Sinatra, Jr. presents "Sinatra Sings Sinatra - The Centennial Celebration" on Saturday, December 19.

Described as "a one-of-a-kind multi-media experience," the tribute performance incorporates "stories, photos, videos, and songs," and features a big band including former sidemen of Sinatra, senior.

Other shows in the venue's "Main Stage" series will include the Doobie Brothers (October 10), Natalie Cole (December 12), standup comic Sinbad (January 30), Michael Bolton (February 11), BeeGees tribute act Stayin' Alive (March 19), a touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (April 7): and "Roots and Boots," with country singers Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin, and Pam Tillis (April 16).

Tickets for Tony Bennett are priced from $69.50 to $99.50, while ducats for "Sinatra Sings Sinatra - The Centennial Celebration" will set you back from $59.50 to $89.50. Tickets for all the shows in the Scheidegger Center's "main stage" series will be on sale online only at http://luboxoffice.com/ starting next Monday, July 13, and then also at the Scheidegger Center box office beginning Monday, July 27.

Tuesday, July 07, 2015

Presenters Dolan set fall schedule
of cabaret shows at Gaslight Theater

The Presenters Dolan have announced their fall schedule of cabaret shows, featuring 15 different acts performing over seven weekends in October and November at the Gaslight Theater, 358 Boyle Ave in the Central West End.

Though apparently without the "Gaslight Cabaret Festival" branding used recently, the series will welcome several new performers, including Wendee Glick, the New Hampshire-based jazz singer who gave the final performance in June 2014 at Robbie's House of Jazz; folk-influenced singer-songwriter Susan Werner; and Kat Edmondson (pictured), a one-time American Idol contestant who has sung with Lyle Lovett and toured as opening act for Jamie Cullum.

There also will be encores from several acts featured previously, including Lina Joutrakos and Rick Jensen, Storm Large, Jeffrey Wright, and Ken Haller, as well as cabaret debuts from the acappella group One Too Many, rock duo Sleepy Kitty, and more.

Here's the complete schedule in chronological order:

Thursday, October 8: Wendee Glick - "Moon Over The Mississippi"
Friday, October 9: Maxine Linehan - "An Immigrant’s Journey From Ireland To America"
Thursday, October 15: Shanara Gabrielle - "Rated SG"
Friday, October 16: One Too Many
Saturday, October 17: Chuck Flowers - "Popping In"
Thursday, October 22: Dean Christopher - "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime: A Tribute to Dean Martin"
Friday, October 23: Ken Haller - "Mama's Boy"
Saturday, October 24: Jeffrey M. Wright
Sunday, October 25: Lina Koutrakos and Rick Jensen - "Two For The Road"
Thursday, October 29 & Friday, October 30: Kat Edmonson - "The Big Picture"

Thursday, November 5: Sleepy Kitty (Paige Brubeck and Evan Sult)
Friday, November 6 & Saturday, November 7: Storm Large
Thursday, November 12: Sleepy Kitty (Paige Brubeck and Evan Sult)
Friday, November 13 & Saturday, November 14: Karen Oberlin - "His Aim Is True - The Songs of Elvis Costello"
Thursday, November 19: Brian Owens - "The Soul of Cash - Johnny Cash"
Friday, November 20 & Saturday, November 21: Susan Werner

All shows start at 8:00 p.m.. Prices for most performances range from $25 to $35, except for Storm Large, which is priced at $45 and $40. Tickets are on sale now via LicketyTix.com.