Jazz this week: Jamison Ross, Mardra and Reggie Thomas, and more

Though not nearly as packed as last week's calendar, this week's schedule of jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis still offers listeners here their first look at a much-praised, up-and-coming jazz talent; the return of a couple of local favorites who have moved away; and a variety of shows from our own hometown performers.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 5
Drummer and singer Jamison Ross (pictured, top left) makes his St. Louis debut with the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Just 28 years old, Ross has been tagged as a rising star by both the jazz press and the mainstream media, thanks in large part to his self-titled debut album, which came out last year and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Jazz Vocal category.

You can see performances of some of the songs from that album and find out more about Ross in this video post from last Saturday.

Thursday, October 6
Guitarist Vincent Varvel will lead his group in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Friday, October 7
Singer Tony Viviano returns to Fortel's Pizza Den, and singer and impressionist Dean Christopher will perform his cabaret show "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime: A Tribute to Dean Martin" for the first of two nights at The Emerald Room at The Monocle.

Also on Friday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom, and saxophonist Austin Cebulski and guitarist Tom Byrne will perform at Thurman's in Shaw.

Saturday, October 8
Saxophonist Christopher Braig will present a free clinic on jazz improvisation based on his book "Jazz Brain Training" during the day at Mozingo Music in O'Fallon, followed on Saturday evening by a performance celebrating the release of his new CD Blue Morph at the St. Louis Artists Guild in Clayton.

Also on Saturday, Franglais plays Gypsy jazz and swing at The Dark Room, and the Midwest Jazz-tette offers their inerpretation of West Coast cool jazz at Evangeline's

Sunday. October 9
Former St. Louisans Mardra and Reggie Thomas (pictured, bottom left) will be back in town to lend their vocal and keyboard talents, respectively, to the Unity Theatre Ensemble Reunion Tribute at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Monday,
October 10
Dizzy Atmosphere will play swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck.

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.)