Jazz this week: Route 66 Jazz Orchestra, "Miles Ahead" in concert, Bosman Twins, Vernacular String Trio, and more

There's not much going on this week in terms of well-known touring jazz and creative musicians visiting St. Louis, but fortunately, our town's plentiful contingent of local players has some noteworthy things planned.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, May 17
The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra (pictured, top left) returns to Jazz at the Bistro, the Sidney Street Shakers will play traditional jazz and swing at their monthly gig at Foam, and trumpeter Jim Manley will be back at Sasha's Wine Bar.

Thursday, May 18
The Jazz St. Louis Big Band, directed by pianist Phil Dunlap, will celebrate the upcoming birthday of iconic trumpeter Miles Davis with "Miles Ahead: Miles Davis, Gil Evans and the Birth of Cool," a free lecture/concert program featuring re-creations of arrangements from Davis' famed collaboration with arranger/pianist Evans, at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Thursday, Cabaret Project St. Louis marks the five-year anniversary of their monthly "Broadway Open Mic" night in the event's latest location, the Curtain Call Lounge, next to the Fox Theatre.

Friday, May 19
The Bosman Twins (pictured, center left) will return for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, and drummer Steve Davis's band, featuring vocalist Feyza Eren, will perform in a free concert at the Webster Groves Concert Hall (formerly the Ozark Theatre).

Also on Friday, singer Ann Dueren's trio will perform for diners and drinkers at Gerard's in Des Peres.

Saturday, May 20
The Funky Butt Brass Band will play their monthly gig at Broadway Oyster Bar, and trumpeter and vibraphonist Joe Bozzi and his band return to Evangeline's.

Sunday, May 21
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents The Gaslight Squares with guest trumpeter Bill Mason at the Webster Groves Concert Hall, and the Vernacular String Trio (pictured, bottom left) will promote the release of their album Parlance with a free in-store performance at Vintage Vinyl.

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.)