As 2015 comes to a close, it's time to take a look back some of the jazz-related stories that made news in St. Louis during the last year.
While there was no big event on the scale of Jazz St. Louis' opening of a new headquarters in 2014, generally speaking there were three types of content that drew the most readers over the last 12 months: "Music Education Monday" posts; Saturday Video Showcases, especially those featuring musicians who haven't played St. Louis much before; and, sadly but inevitably, obituaries.
The unveiling of the Miles Davis statue in Alton and news about Don Cheadle's film Miles Ahead also attracted considerable reader interest, but it was spread across so many "Miles On Monday" posts that only one of those managed to make it into the top 30 most-read posts. Note also that because the recurring "Jazz this week," "Sunday Session" and "So What: Local News, Notes & Links" news roundup posts typically deal with multiple subjects, they've been excluded from the list below.
So, without further preamble, here are the 30 most-read posts on St. Louis Jazz Notes during 2015:
This week's list of jazz and creative music performances in and around St. Louis is relatively short, in part because some presenters are still on holiday, and in part because several local venues that regularly present jazz have yet to publish their schedules for the new month beginning on Friday.
So, while the StLJN calendar will be updated with new information as soon as it comes in, there still are some noteworthy performances to talk about, including a list of jazz-related options for New Year's Eve. Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, December 30
Bassist Bob Deboo and friends will perform and host the weekly jam session at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and then just down the street, trumpeter Kasimu Taylor plays his regular weekly gig at The Dark Room.
Thursday, December 31
Looking at new Year's Eve offering by geogrpahy, starting with downtown, the Funky Butt Brass Band will perform at the Broadway Oyster Bar, and the Coleman Hughes Project with singer Adrienne Felton will be the featured New Year's Eve entertainment at Voce.
In Grand Center, The Dark Room will present a jazz jam involving musicians featured in regular weekly gigs there, including guitarist Slaughter, bassist Darrell Mixon, pianist Adam Maness, and more.
In the CWE, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play for the "1930s Speakeasy Soiree New Years Eve Dinner and Dance" at Evangeline's; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham(pictured, lower left) and singer Trunessia Combs will perform at Troy's Jazz Gallery.
On the south side, guitarist Brian Vaccaro and keyboardist Ryan Marquez will play music for diners at Grapeseed. In Webster Groves, Erin Bode will perform for two seatings at Cyrano's, and out at Westport Plaza, Tony Viviano will provide the music for NYE celebrants at Patrick's.
Friday January 1
Drummer Marty Morrison starts the New Year leading a trio at the Cigar Inn.
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.)
It's that time of year again, as jazz journalists, DJs, critics, and bloggers are publishing their annual "Best Of" lists. And once again, for the ninth consecutive year, St. Louis Jazz Notes eschews the compilation of such a list, instead offering a meta-list with links to all of the other "Best Jazz of 2015" lists we can locate.
As in the past, the meta-list is alphabetized by writers' names. When a list was collaborative or presented as a staff-written project, the name of the publication or media outlet is used instead, with the writers' names noted if available. This post will be updated multiple times over the next several weeks as more lists become available. Here's what's out there so far:
Active scouting for more lists will continue for at least a couple more weeks, but your input is welcome, too. If you've seen any other 2015 year-end jazz lists that aren't mentioned here, please use the comments (or send me an email) to share the information. And if you like, please feel free also to use the comments to discuss your own favorite jazz releases, shows and moments of 2015.
Finally, if you want to re-visit StLJN's past "best of" list round-ups, here are the meta-lists for 2007 (parts 1 and 2), 2008 (parts 1 and 2), 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Updated 12/30/15 with 20 more lists. Updated 12/31/15 with eight more lists. Updated 1/1/16 with seven more lists. Updated 1/2/16 with six more lists. Updated 1/3/16 with seven more lists. Updated 1/4/16 with four more lists. Updated 1/5/16 with five more lists. Updated 1/7/16 with four more lists. Updated 1/7/16 with eight more lists. Updated 1/9/16 with three more lists. Updated 1/11/16 with two more lists. Updated 1/12/16 with one more list. Updated 1/14/16 with two more lists. Updated 1/16/16 with two more lists. Updated 1/21/16 with four more lists. Updated 2/2/16 with three more lists.
* The Jazz Connect Conference scheduled for Thursday, January 14, and Friday, January 15 at Saint Peter's Church in New York City will include a session on Miles Ahead, the upcoming feature film about Davis directed by and starring Don Cheadle.
Writer Ashley Kahn will host a panel including trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold and keyboardist Robert Glasper, who worked on the music for the film, plus music supervisor Ed Gerrard, and Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn Jr. They'll show clips from the movie and discuss the creation of the film's soundtrack.
* Keyboardist Jason Miles(pictured), who played on the Marcus Miller-produced sessions for Davis' albums Tutu, Music from "Siesta", and Amandla, was interviewed by Jazzwise magazine about his latest album Across the Miles and his experiences working with Davis.
* This week in Miles Davis history: It was 33 years ago this week that Davis, roughly a year-and-a-half into his comeback after a long period of inactivity, played a New Year's Eve show at NYC's Felt Forum on a split bill with singer Roberta Flack. (Though the Davis/Flack pairing apparently seemed incongruous to New York Times writer Jon Pareles, who penned the linked story, what really sticks out by 2015 standards are the ticket prices for the show: $20 and $30.)
Whether it's as leader of his own bands or as a sideman to the likes of Dave Holland, Paul Motian, and Dave Douglas, Chris Potter(pictured) has been one of the most in-demand saxophonists in jazz for most of the 21st century.
Potter, who will be 45 years old this Friday, has released more than 15 albums as a leader and appeared on more than 150 recordings by others, winning critical acclaim for his technical mastery, harmonic imagination, and rhythmic fluidity.
He's also been the subject of intense study by many young musicians hoping to emulate his improvisational skills, and so today for Music Education Monday, StLJN presents two opportunities to glean some useful knowledge from him via video.
In the first video embed after the jump, you see a master class that Potter presented to students at this year's Jamey Aebersold's Summer Jazz Workshops. The second embed is an extended interview with Potter from 2014 conducted by NYU professor Dr. David Schroeder, in which they discuss the saxophonist's career and various technical and philosophical aspects of his playing.
This week, it's part two of StLJN's winter/spring 2016 jazz preview, featuring bands and musicians who will be visiting St. Louis to perform in the new year. (You can see part one, which covers most of the month of January, here.)
Today's installment picks up the chronological thread in late January with Bonerama, who will be back in town to play on Friday, January 22 at Broadway Oyster Bar. In the first video up above, you can see an excerpt from their set at the 2015 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in which they perform the original tune "Mr. Okra" and their interpretation of the NOLA standard "Indian Red."
After the jump, it's pianist Billy Childs, who will perform Saturday, January 30 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The video clip feature Childs' version of "New York Tendaberry" from his album Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro, and was recorded at the 2015 Monterey Jazz Festival.
Next up is singer Cyrille Aimée, who will be making her St. Louis debut with performances starting Wednesday, February 3 through Saturday, February 6 at Jazz at the Bistro. Aimée and her band are seen here performing the standard "Caravan" in a promotional video for the Crested Butte Music Festival held in July in Colorado.
That same week will mark the long-anticipated return of singer Gregory Porter, whose career has taken off like the proverbial rocket since he last visited St. Louis in January 2013 to perform at the Bistro. It's a measure of how much his star has risen over the last three years that this time, instead of doing a four-night run in the relatively intimate confines of the Bistro, Porter will perform in concert on Saturday, February 6 at a much larger venue, the Touhill Performing Arts Center. You can see him in the fourth video doing his song "Liquid Spirit" in a show earlier this year in Ibiza, Spain.
Two nights after Porter's concert, saxophonist Branford Marsalis will return to St. Louis to perform Monday, February 8 through Wednesday, February 10 at Jazz at the Bistro. Marsalis is seen in the fifth video clip with his long-running band - pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner - playing "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" this past July at the Ravello Festival in Italy.
After that, you can see pianist Marcus Roberts, who will be featured in a week of performances Wednesday, February 17 through Saturday, February 20 at the Bistro. Roberts and his trio, with Jason Marsalis (brother of Branford, Wynton, and Delfeayo) on drums and Rodney Jordan on bass, are seen here performing Thelonious Monk's "Blues Five Spot" at a concert last February in Calgary, Alberta.
The following week, St. Louis jazz fans will have the chance to check out another powerful pianist, as Danilo Perez performs on Saturday, February 27 at the Sheldon. Perez has been part of saxophonist Wayne Shorter's quartet for years now, and earlier this year enlisted the aid of his bandmates in that group, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade, to record a trio album, Children of the Light, which was released in September. In the seventh clip, you can see them performing the title song from that album in a show this past July at the Blue Note Milano in Italy.
Last, but certainly not least today, is saxophonist James Carter, who will be returning to perform with his organ trio starting Wednesday, March 2 through Saturday, March 5 at Jazz at the Bistro. Carter is seen here fronting a big band on a typically effusive performance of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," recorded in June of this year at the Festival Django Reinhardt 2015 in Samois-sur-Seine, France.
Next week, it's part three of StLJN's winter/spring 2016 jazz preview. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...
* When The Bad Plus returns to St. Louis in January to play Jazz at the Bistro for the tenth consecutive year, they'll be adding something new to their musical menu: a free pancake lunch.
More specifically, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, January 8, TBP will take part in a free, public performance and discussion at the Bistro that also will feature free "imaginative pancakes" from St. Louis artist/chef Dr. Dan the Pancake Man. Although there's no charge for the event or the pancakes, since space is limited, those wishing to attend are asked to reserve a spot online or call the JSL box office at 314-571-6000.
* Sauce magazine reports that the owners of the recently expanded Broadway Oyster Bar (pictured)will open a second restaurant next year in Grafton, IL. No word yet, though, as to whether or not the new location will feature live music, which has been a staple of the original in downtown St. Louis.
* The Curtain Call Lounge has officially opened in the storefront space on Grand Ave. next to the Fox Theatre. The lounge will open at 5:00 p.m. before evening performances at the Fox, and stay open for two hours afterwards. Management has said they plan to offer occasional live jazz and cabaret music on the weekends.
The proprietors of Groove Jazz are appealing for donations to help offset the cost of the increased fees, and say the station could be shut down on January 1 if fundraising efforts fall short.
Edited 1/5/16 to correct the day & time of The Bad Plus event.
While big-name touring musicians generally are off the road during major holidays, there still are some notable performances by local jazz and creative musicians happening over the next few days in and around St. Louis. Let's go to the highlights...
Friday, December 25
Byrne and singer Erika Johnson will host a Christmas night jam session at Evangeline's, and trombonist and former St. Louisan John Wolf will back in town to sit in with guitarist Dave Black at the River City Casino's 1904 Steakhouse.
Saturday, December 26 Good 4 The Soul(pictured, top left) plays jazz, funk, and more for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro; Miss Jubilee performs for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and Wack-A-Doo plays swing and Americana at Evangeline's.
Also on Saturday, singer Joe Mancuso brings a quartet to Nathalie's, and guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith will play duets at Thurman Grill.
Sunday,
December 27
St. Louis and Chicago musicians will join forces for a performance by a group dubbed the Midwest Quintet at the Kranzberg Arts Center.
Saxophonist Christopher McBride(pictured, lower left) and trumpeter Quentin Coaxum will be representing the City of Big Shoulders, teamed with Eric Slaughter on guitar, bass phenom Nathan Pence (back home after his first semester at UMKC), and ESL's own Montez Coleman on drums.
Tuesday, December 29
Pianist Greg Mills will perform at the Tavern of Fine Arts.
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.)
* In an interview last week with CBS This Morning, Davis' ex-wife Cicely Tyson talked about her seven-year marriage to the trumpeter. Tyson (pictured with Davis), who just celebrated her 91st birthday over the weekend, was married to Davis from 1981 to 1988.
The eight-disc set includes the studio albums Tutu, Amandla, Aura, and Doo-Bop; Davis' contributions to the film soundtracks Music from Siesta and Dingo: Original Soundtrack; the concert albums Live Around the World and Miles and Quincy Live at Montreux; a DVD of a previously unreleased performance at the 1986 Nice Jazz Festival; and a 60-page bound booklet with photos and liner notes from jazz writer Ashley Kahn.
* A brief encounter between Davis and a street musician is the subject of an excerpt (shared last week by blogger Scott K Fish) from Miles to Go: The Lost Years. An Intimate Memoir of Life on the Road with Miles Davis 1973-1983, a book by Davis' former road manager Chris Murphy.
Unless you follow Latin jazz and/or jazz education fairly closely, you might not know Oscar Stagnaro by name, but the veteran bassist has the knowledge and the chops to rank with the best in the business.
A native of Peru, Stagnaro (pictured) has been a professor at Berklee College of Music since 1988, and has written three books and numerous magazine articles about Latin jazz bass techniques and concepts. He's also been the regular bassist for saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera since 1992, and has performed and recorded with many other well-known jazz and Latin musicians.
Earlier this month, Stagnaro visited the NYC "Artist Loft" of amp maker Aguilar to present a bass clinic, in which he demonstrated a variety of Latin feels and grooves and took questions from the audience. You can see that clinic in its entirety in the embedded video below.
This week, it's the first part of StLJN's video preview of jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting St. Louis during the winter and spring months of 2016.
First up are The Bad Plus, who will be returning to our town to perform Wednesday, January 6 through Wednesday, January 9 at Jazz at the Bistro. Given that this will be the tenth consecutive year that the provocative piano trio has played the Bistro in the month of January, many local jazz fans will already be familiar with them, but if you'd like to catch up with StLJN's coverage of their past appearances here, including posts compiling various performance videos from the last ten years, just click on the tag at the bottom of this post that says "The Bad Plus."
As for what they've been up to since their last St. Louis gig, The Bad Plus spent much of 2015 on two projects that augmented their lineup with additional musicians. One of those was a series of live performances of all the music from Ornette Coleman's 1971 album Science Fiction, aided by saxophonists Tim Berne and Sam Newsome and trumpeter Ron Miles. The other project was a critically acclaimed album and string of gigs with saxophonist Josh Redman, a string that, alas, won't extend to their dates here.
As you may have noticed if you're a regular reader of this weekly feature, the default practice is to try to include the most recent footage available of the performers in question. Unfortunately for purposes of this particular preview, there's no good-quality video available online that was 1) shot during the past year and 2) features just The Bad Plus; the best yr humble editor could find was a handful of audience-shot clips from the Seoul Jazz Festival with adequate audio that were rendered headache-inducing by terribly shaky camera work. So, even though Redman won't be here in St. Louis, the first clip at the top of this post shows one of those Bad Plus gigs with him - specifically, a full set recorded in May of this year at the Detroit Jazz Festival.
Next to arrive here in January will be an ad hoc ensemble billed as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, featuring four musicians who have varying degrees of affiliation with that NYC institution, but who all are heavily involved in jazz education. Their performances on Thursday, January 14 and Friday, January 15 at the Bistro will cap a week of working with students in Jazz St. Louis' various education programs and in selected local school districts.
The group features the homecoming of saxophonist and University City native Todd Williams, a contemporary of trumpeter Jeremy Davenport and pianist Peter Martin who's spent much of the last 15+ years under the wing of Wynton Marsalis, working as a member of both the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Marsalis' own septet.
Williams has moved on from JaLC to a teaching job at Indiana Wesleyan University, and according to his website, he's also now working on a doctorate from Indiana University, so perhaps it should be no surprise that recent footage of him performing seems to scarce online. In fact, aside from some older clips of the JaLC Orchestra and Marsalis' small band, most of which feature Williams only briefly, the best video of him seems to be a clip he recorded not long ago for JaLC's education program, in which he talks about blues inflections for the saxophone and plays "St. Louis Blues," and that's what you'll find right after the jump.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Group at the Bistro also will include another former member of the JaLC Orchestra, trumpeter Terell Stafford. Stafford also should be quite familiar to local jazz fans, thanks to his recordings for the St. Louis based MAXJAZZ label and a number of headlining appearances here over the past decade, most recently as part of the band assembled to play the Bistro this past September to commemorate Jazz St. Louis' 20th anniversary.
Stafford, who's now teaching at Temple University and directing the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, can be seen in the third clip playing his song "Favor" during a performance recorded in September at the Network for New Music in Philly.
Rounding out the group will be the veteran tuba player Bob Stewart, who's not a member of any regular Jazz at Lincoln Center ensemble but serves as an "educational consultant" to the organization; and drummer Jeff Hamilton, who lives all the way across the country in Los Angeles and whose affiliation with JaLC seems limited to appearing in some educational videos and leading his trio in the occasional gig at JaLC's club venue, Dizzy's.
You can see Hamilton expertly driving that trio in the fourth video clip, which features four songs recorded in May of this year at Dizzy's, and catch can see Stewart in the fifth video, in which he plays a duet with trombonist Ray Anderson on Arthur Blythe's "Lenox Avenue Breakdown," recorded in 2012 at NYC's Cornelia St. Cafe.
After that, vibraphonist Warren Wolf will be in town to lead his group in a series of shows from Wednesday, January 20 through Saturday, January 23 at the Bistro. Wolf, who played the club last season as a co-leader with trumpeter Sean Jones and saxophonist Tia Fuller, can be seen in the sixth clip performing "Things Were Done Yesterday" in May of this year at a northern California venue called Silo's Napa.
The same week Wolf is in town, steel guitarist Susan Alcorn and percussionist Frank Rosaly also will be in St. Louis to play a concert for New Music Circle on Friday, January 22 at Joe's Cafe. You can see Alcorn in the seventh video, performing solo and with bassist Michael Formanek and saxophonist Derrick Michaels in July 2015 at Normal's Books and Records in Baltimore. The eighth (and final) video features an excerpt from a Rosaly solo set in August 2013 at the Milwaukee Noise Fest.
Next week's post will pick up at the end of January 2016 for part two of StLJN's winter/spring 2016 jazz preview. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...
* For the second consecutive year, Jazz St. Louis has received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, a national evaluator of non-profit organizations. A news release from JSL said that only 21% of the charities evaluated get at least two four-star evaluations (the top score possible) in a row. More specifically, in 2015 JSL spent more than 90% of its total budget on programs and services, which is higher than required to earn the four-star rating.
Jazz St. Louis currently is raising funds for a new education initiative called The Jazz Academy, which provides jazz training for middle school students to support the music programs in the financially pressed Normandy, Riverview Gardens, and East St. Louis school districts. You can find out more or make a contribution via the Jazz Academy project's page on Gladitood, an online fundraising service.
The band Pink Martini, "a rollicking around-the-world musical adventure" drawing on classical, jazz, Latin music and "old-fashioned pop," is coming to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m., Monday, March 21 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.
Formed in 1994 in Portland, OR by pianist and bandleader Thomas Lauderdale, the group (pictured) is fronted by singer China Forbes and has released seven albums, the most of recent of which, Dream A Little Dream, came out in 2014.
They've toured extensively throughout the US and internationally, but will be making their St. Louis debut with their performance at The Sheldon, which is being co-produced by cabaret impresarios The Presenters Dolan.
Singer Storm Large, who sometimes substitutes for Forbes as Pink Martini's frontwoman, has performed in St. Louis a couple of times for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival, also a Dolan production, and that connection helped bring about the band's St. Louis performance, said The Sheldon's Chris Peimann.
Tickets for Pink Martini are $44 for orchestra seats, $38 for the balcony, and will go on sale to the public at 10:00 a.m. this Friday, December 18 via MetroTix outlets, the Sheldon's website, and by phone at 314-534-1111.
There also will be an online-only pre-sale beginning at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, December 17. To access the pre-sale, go to the Metrotix website and when prompted for a promotional code, enter MARTINI15.
With the holidays fast approaching, this week's calendar of jazz and creative in music in St. Louis offers seasonally themed shows from both touring and local musicians, as well as one more tribute to Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday from a rather authoritative source.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, December 16
Drummer Matt Wilson will be spreading holiday cheer with his band Christmas Tree-O(pictured, top left) for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.
Wilson - a first-call percussionist, wily bandleader, and natural showman - is well-known to St. Louis jazz fans, having played here multiple times in recent years with his quartet, his group Arts and Crafts and, in a one-nighter last year at Joe's Cafe, the Christmas Tree-O.
Obviously, that gig was received well-enough to prompt a more extended engagement, and so you can find out more about Christmas Tree-O and see video of some of their skilled yet skewed renditions of seasonal favorites in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.
Friday, December 18
The Funky Butt Brass Band brings their very popular "Holiday Brasstravaganza" back to the south side rock club Off Broadway for the first of two evenings. (As of this writing, Saturday already is sold out, so if you want to attend and don't already have a ticket, it's Friday or nothing.)
Saturday, December 19
Speaking of Ol' Blue Eyes, his son Frank Sinatra, Jr will pay tribute to his famous father with a performance of "Sinatra Sings Sinatra - The Centennial Celebration" on Saturday at Lindenwood University's J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts.
The multi-media extravaganza features Sinatra Jr. (pictured, bottom left) telling stories and singing some of his dad's most popular songs, accompanied by a big band with strings as well as historic photos, video and audio of Sinatra the elder.
UPDATE - 2:15 p.m., 12/16/15: Due to illness, Frank Sinatra Jr's performance at the Scheidegger Center has been postponed until Saturday, May 21, 2016. UPDATE - 2:30 p.m. 12/17/15: The Scheidegger Center says box office staff members will get in touch with ticket holders individually to exchange tickets or make refunds.
Tuesday, December 22
Drummer Bernard Long Jr. and band will play a benefit for the Normandy HS jazz band program at NV Social Life in Ballwin.
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.)
