Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Jazz this week: STL Free Jazz Collective, Erin Bode, a tribute to Charlie Christian, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis offers an eclectic selection of shows for Valentine's Day weekend, from free jazz to smooth romantic balladry.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, February 10
As of this writing late on Wednesday afternoon, the 7:30 set of Branford Marsalis' third and final night at Jazz at the Bistro is sold out, but some tickets remain for the 9:30 set and will be available at the door.

If you're shut out of the Marsalis show, you can watch on video in the Bistro's adjoining first floor lounge, which has no cover charge.

Also in the Grand Center neighborhood and with no cover, you can check out the regular weekly gigs featuring bassist Bob DeBoo and friends at the Kranzberg Arts Center or trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's trio at The Dark Room; or head a little farther west to hear pianist Brad Ellebrecht and drummer Kyle Honeycutt at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Thursday, February 11
The STL Free Jazz Collective (pictured, top left) will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne return to Evangeline's; and the Ptah Williams/Eric Slaughter band will pay tribute to the late Maurice White by interpreting some Earth, Wind & Fire songs during their weekly gig at The Dark Room.

Friday, February 12
Continuing the annual Valentine's Day weekend tradition she inherited from former St. Louisans Mardra and Reggie Thomas, singer Erin Bode (pictured, center left) will perform for the first of three nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Friday, New Orleans funk/R&B band Big Sam's Funky Nation will return to the Broadway Oyster Bar; new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound will perform a program focusing on the life and music of composer György Ligeti at the Sheldon Concert Hall; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, February 13
Singer Tony Viviano will perform the first of two Valentine's Day-themed shows at Patrick's Westport Grill, with another on Sunday; and guitarist Brian Vaccaro and keyboardist Ryan Marquez will play for diners at Grapeseed.

Sunday, February 14
Singer Craig Pomranz, back home from NYC for the weekend, will present his cabaret show "Spend The Night With Craig" at The Boom Boom Room; singer Truenessia Combs and saxophonist Tim Cunningham team up for a Valentine's show at Troy's Jazz Gallery; and Coco Rico will play Gypsy jazz and swing at Nathalie's.

Monday,
February 15

Guitarists Dave Black, Tom Byrne, and Steve Schenkel (pictured, bottom left) will join forces for "The Musical Legacy of Charlie Christian, A Centennial Celebration" at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium; and Chicago-based jazz/rock band Marbin returns 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.)

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