
This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the return of a legendary vocalist; two different events paying tribute to this city's most influential jazz musician ever; several free outdoor events featuring live jazz, and more.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, June 7
Singer
Tony Bennett (pictured, top left), who remarkably is still touring regularly as a nonagenarian, returns to perform at the
Fox Theatre. Some tickets are still available as of this writing; for details, visit
the "rush" section of the Fox's website. To when your appetite with some live performance videos of Bennett, check out
this post from last Saturday.
Also on Wednesday, the weekly
Grand Center Jazz Crawl continues with live music at four different venues in the district; and the
Route 66 Jazz Orchestra performs at
First Unity Church of St. Louis.
Thursday, June 8
Pianist
Adam Maness returns with his trio to
Thurman's in Shaw.
Friday, June 9
Keyboardist Adaron Jackson, guitarist Eric Slaughter, saxophonist Ben Reece
(pictured, center left) and drummer Montez Coleman, doing business as
Jackson, Slaughter, Reece & Coleman, will revisit the sounds of some of the classic organ/tenor soul-jazz combos of 1950s and '60s for the first of two nights at
Jazz at the Bistro.
Also on Friday, trumpeter Randy Holmes leads his quintet in the first of two nights of the
"St. Louis Miles Davis Festival," performing music associated with Davis at the
Webster Groves Concert Hall (formerly the Ozark Theatre).
Elsewhere around town,
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play for dancers at the
Casa Loma Ballroom; ; and saxophonist
Paul DeMarinis and guitarist
Dave Black, collaborators in several past bands, will debut a new group called
Breathtet, also featuring bassist Mark Wallace and drummer
Kevin Cheli, in a show at
The Focal Point,
Saturday, June 10
It's a good day to hear some jazz at a free outdoor festival, with three different events happening in the afternoon and evening.
Starting in mid-afternoon, the
U City Jazz Festival will feature music from drummer Demarius Hicks, pianist
Ptah Williams (pictured, bottom left), guitarist Dave Black,
Bach to the Future, and the St. Louis Jazz All-Stars, continuing through the evening at
Heman Park,
A little later in the afternoon and just a few miles away, the
City of Clayton Music + Wine Festival will include performances from The Gaslight Squares, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes, and
Miss Jubilee as part of a free outdoor concert at Carondelet Plaza.
At the same time a little further to the east, the
Central West End Cocktail Party will include a stage at Euclid and McPherson with live performances from bands including the Twin Cities'
Gatsby Gang and St. Louis' own
Funky Butt Brass Band.
Also on Saturday, the Alton Museum presents the 12th annual
Miles Davis Jazz Festival in the town where the iconic trumpeter was born, featuring music from blues singer Big George Brock Jr. and the NGK Band, piano/vocal duo Bob and Me, guitarist Tim Jarden, and saxophonist
Fred Walker at the
Jacoby Arts Center.
Sunday, June 11
The
St. Louis Symphony presents a
"Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and the Ladies of Swing" featuring singer
Dee Daniels at Powell Symphony Hall; the
St. Louis Jazz Club's monthly show will feature
John Gillick and the Impacts with pianist
Bob Row at the
DoubleTree Hotel; and the
Ambassadors of Swing return to
Kirkwood Station Brewing Company.
Monday, June 12
Trumpeter
Jim Manley will play his weekly gig serenading diners and drinkers at
Momo's Greek Restaurant.
Tuesday, June 13
Saxophonist
Adam Larson will be in town to present a free masterclass and performance at
Saxquest, backed by guitarist Matt Sewell, bassist Bob DeBoo, and drummer Matt Wilson.
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.)