Jazz this week: James Carter Organ Trio, Gary Peacock, Spektral Quartet, and more

As March comes into St. Louis in mostly lamb-like fashion, the first week of the new month offers several intriguing jazz and creative music headliners on local stages, plus an assortment of performances from local musicians in a variety of styles, and a rare chance to see a film scored by Miles Davis on the big screen.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, March 2
Saxophonist James Carter returns with his organ trio for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Carter (pictured, top left) brings plenty of soul and swagger to go with his prodigious technique on tenor, soprano, and baritone saxes, and more, and the spare instrumentation of this band, with just organ and drums behind him, offers him plenty of room to stretch out. For some recent samples of Carter in action, see this video post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also tonight, singer Tony Viviano and guitarist Dave Black will play for diners at Candicci's, and saxophonist Jerry Greene leads his Greene Jazz Project trio at Evangeline's.

Update - 5:00 p.m., 3/2/16:  Both Tony Viviano and Dave Black have posted messages on social media saying that their Wednesday gig has been moved to Patrick's Westport Grill.

Thursday, March 3
Bassist Gary Peacock's trio with pianist Marc Copland and drummer Mark Ferber will perform in a ticketed show for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Peacock may be best known these days as a member of pianist Keith Jarrett's "Standards Trio,"  but over the past half-century, he's played in styles from avant-garde to West Coast with notable musicians ranging from saxophonist Bud Shank to pianist Paul Bley and saxophonist Albert Ayler, and many more.

His own music, recorded since the 1970s mostly for the ECM label, has run the gamut from fairly conventional post-bop to the sort of spare, icy soundscapes frequently associated with that European imprint. Given Copland's piano style, which has been compared to both Jarrett and Bill Evans (another pianist that Peacock played with back in the day), the trio's set may lean more toward the former than the latter, but whatever they do should be worth hearing. . 

Also on Thursday, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival begins their spring series with singer Emily West presenting her show "In From Nashville" for the first of two nights at the Gaslight Theater.

Friday, March 4
The Schlafly Tap Room downtown will offer a multi-band lineup for their 2016 Stout & Oyster Festival that includes a headlining set from the Funky Butt Brass Band; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom; and drummer Marty Morrison leads a trio at Cigar Inn.

Saturday, March 5
The Schlafly Tap Room's stout-and-oyster-related festivities continue throughout the afternoon and evening, starting at noon with a set from The People's Key and including a headlining performance from New Orleans favorites Big Sam's Funky Nation.

Also on Saturday, the Spektral Quartet (pictured, center left) will make their St. Louis debut in a concert presented by New Music Circle at 560 Music Center.

The Chicago-based string quartet will be performing new music by composers Hans Thomalla and  Beat Furrer, and while they're here, they'll also be taking part in some free events: an "artists' talk" on Friday afternoon at Washington University, and an open rehearsal Saturday afternoon at Tavern of Fine Arts. For more about Spektral Quartet and some video samples of past performances, check out last week's Saturday video showcase.

That same evening, Cinema St. Louis' Classic French Film Festival will screen the 1958 Louis Malle film Elevator to the Gallows at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium. The movie features an original score by Miles Davis (pictured lower left, with the film's star Jeanne Moreau.)

Sunday, March 6
The St. Louis Record & CD Collector Show will present their first event of 2016 at the American Czech Hall, and Good 4 The Soul plays an early evening show at Troy's Jazz Gallery.

Monday, March 7
"Blind" Willie Dineen & the Broadway Collective return for their monthly gig at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, March 8
The Saxquest Nonet Jazz Orchestra returns to 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.)