StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Steve Swell

This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring trombonist Steve Swell, who will be making his St. Louis debut and kicking off New Music Circle's 2017-18 season with a concert on Saturday, October 7 at at The Stage at KDHX.

Swell will be joined by an all-star assemblage of avant-gardists, including pianist Dave Burrell, known for his solo work and as an associate of major free-jazz artists such as Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders; alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, a longtime collaborator of pianist Cecil Taylor and also a bandleader in his own right; drummer Chad Taylor, who's worked with Sanders, guitarist Marc Ribot, and trumpeter Rob Mazurek's Underground projects; and William Parker, the veteran bassist who has recorded more than 50 albums as a leader and also been a key part of the bands of Cecil Taylor, David S. Ware, Matthew Shipp, Peter Brötzmann, and many others.

Though this will be Swell's first appearance as a bandleader in St. Louis, he is a veteran of the international improv and experimental music scene who has collaborated with many musicians known to fans of the genre. A New Jersey native, Swell, who's now 62, broke into the NYC music scene in the mid-1970s as a jobbing musician, playing Top 40, salsa and Broadway gigs as well as with the big bands of Buddy Rich, Lionel Hampton, and others.

Studies with the famed trombonists Roswell Rudd and Grachan Moncur III and a gig with saxophonist Makanda Ken McIntyre's band helped Swell transition into free jazz, and since then, he's released more than 20 albums as a leader of a variety of ensembles, and appears on at least twice that many as a collaborator or sideman. He's played on tour and on record with Parker, Burrell, and Moondoc and with many other internationally known musicians such as Tim Berne, Joey Baron, Herb Robertson, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, Butch Morris, John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Rob Mazurek, Perry Robinson, and Ken Vandermark.

While there doesn't seem to be any online video available of Swell with the specific group he's bringing to St. Louis, there is footage of him working with all the band's members in various other contexts. So, in the interest of picking up some clues as to what to expect from him as an improvisor, composer and leader, as well as how he interacts with these specific musicians, let's take a look.

In the first clip up above, you can see Swell and Parker, along with saxophonists Dave Sewelson and Richard Keene, guitarist Immanuel Childress, and drummer Michael TA Thompson, playing an outdoor gig just three weeks ago at Children's Magical Garden in NYC.

After the jump, there's a clip of the group Swell calls Kende Dreams, with Moondoc, Chad Taylor, pianist Connie Crothers, saxophonist Rob Brown, and bassist Larry Roland, recorded at a gig during Thanksgiving week 2015 at The Stone in NYC.

The third video features another Swell ensemble, Nation of We (aka NOW Ensemble), from two nights later at The Stone. Providing an outlet for Swell's orchestral concepts, this group includes Swell, Taylor and Dave Sewelson, with saxophonists Darius Jones, Chris Pitsiokos, Ras Moshe Burnett, and Michael Foster; trumpeters Lewis Barnes and Matt Lavelle; French horn player Vincent Chancey, and tuba player Joe Daley, plus a string section including Rosie Hertlein and Sarah Bernstein (violins), Jason Hwang and Stephanie Griffin (violas), Jake Sokolov (cello), and Todd Nicholson (bass).

The remaining videos reach back a bit farther in time, but may further illuminate the interconnections between these musicians. Video #4 features Swell, Dave Burrell, and bassist Michael Formanek, playing a gig under Burrell's leadership in October 2011 at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC.

Lastly, you can see Swell, Moondoc, Parker and drummer Hamid Drake, billed collectively as Fire Into Music, performing (in two parts) a full set at the 2005 Guelph Jazz Festival in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

For more about Steve Swell, check out his two extended interviews published by AllAboutJazz.com earlier this year and back in 2014.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* The "TAP Dynamics" show this Saturday and Sunday at the Grandel Theatre, which features dancers performing to live music from a jazz trio led by drummer Allison Miller, was previewed by Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American, and by Calvin Wilson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

* Wilson also has a story in the Post previewing next week's appearances by saxophonist/singer Grace Kelly (pictured) at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold's new album The Mugician is being released today, and as part of the roll-out, the entire album was previewed on AllMusic.com and Harrold was interviewed by Salon.com.

* Music for Lifelong Achievement's annual musical instrument drive was featured in a report on local CBS affiliate KMOV (Channel 4).

* The deadline for applications for Regional Arts Commission's Artist Support Grants for this year is Thursday, October 12. RAC is presenting a free workshop on how to apply on Monday, October 2; for more on that, and details on the grant program, go to https://racstl.org/grant/artists-support-grants/.

* Composer and flute player Fred Tompkins is offering free downloadable and streamable music, both previously unreleased and from his back catalog, via a new Bandcamp page.

* The Gateway Jazz Festival, a day-long smooth jazz event that debuted this July at Chesterfield Amphitheater, has announced a date for 2018. The fest will return for a second year on Saturday, July 21, 2018, and discounted "early bird" tickets are on sale now at http://www.gatewayjazzfest.com/.

* The Riverfront Times' annual "Best of St. Louis" issue is out this week, and the winners in the annual Readers' Choice poll include the Broadway Oyster Bar for "Best Restaurant" and Record Exchange for "Best Record Store". You can see all the results of the RFT's Readers Choice poll here.

The Wee Trio to play Tuesday, October 17 at SIU Edwardsville's Dunham Hall

The Wee Trio, featuring bassist and St. Louis native Dan Loomis, will return to the St. Louis area to perform at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 17 at SIU Edwardsville's Dunham Hall.

The performance is part of SIUE's "Arts & Issues" serie, and the SIU Edwardsville jazz faculty ensemble will open the show.

The Wee Trio (pictured) last appeared in St. Louis in November 2016 in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, supporting the release of their most recent album Wee + 3.

Tickets for The Wee Trio at SIU Edwardsville are $20 for the general public; $18 for seniors age 65 or older and for SIUE staff, faculty, retirees, and alumni; $15 for students with ID; and are on sale now.

Trumpeter Jim Manley releases new album Funk Factory 2

Trumpeter Jim Manley has a new album, Funk Factory 2, out this month.

The prolific trumpeter's 15th release as a leader, Funk Factory 2 is, as the title suggests, the sequel to Manley's 2015 recording Funk Factory.

It features 12 original tunes in a upbeat, contemporary jazz style similar to its predecessor, as performed by Manley, guitarist Jeff Snider, and keyboardist Chris Swan. 

Funk Factory 2 is available now on all the major streaming services and online music retailers, and as a physical CD from CD Baby. You can hear the title track in the embedded player below.

Jazz this week: A tribute to Art Blakey, TAP Dynamics, Route 66 Jazz Orchestra, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music events in St. Louis features a little cabaret, a little tap-dancing, a tribute to one of the most influential drummers and bandleaders in jazz, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 27
Singer and actor Kyle Dean Massey, a Missouri State University graduate who's appeared on Broadway and in ABC-TV's show Nashville, performs a cabaret-style show for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Wednesday, violinist Alex Cunningham performs music from his latest release atop a bill of experimental and improvisational musicians at Foam.

Thursday, September 28
Drummer Montez Coleman and guitarist Eric Slaughter will co-lead a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; bassist Willem von Hombracht heads up a trio with guest saxophonist Freddie Washington at The Pat Connolly Tavern; and trumpeter Keith Moyer's quintet returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, September 29
Montez Coleman, saxophonist Ben Reece,  trumpeter Danny Campbell, bassist Bob DeBoo and pianist Adam Maness will join forces at Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights of "The Art of Blakey,"  paying tribute to the hard bop sound of the legendary drummer/bandleader and his Jazz Messengers.

Also on Friday, singer Tony Viviano and guitarist Dave Black will perform at Magpie's in St. Charles; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to Evangeline's in the Central West End; and guitarist Tom Byrne leads a trio at Cigar Inn in Belleville.

Saturday, September 30
Dance St. Louis kicks off its 2017-18 season with the first of two performances of "TAP Dynamics" at the Grandel Theatre.  The show features dancers Jason Samuels Smith, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, and Derick K. Grant performing with a live jazz trio - music director and drummer Allison Miller (pictured, top left), pianist Carmen Staaf and bassist Noah Garabedian - playing original music and "favorite selections from Miles Davis." The program repeats on Sunday afternoon.

Also on Saturday, pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson return to the Parkside Grill, and Tropical Mood plays salsa, Latin jazz, and more at the Webster Groves Concert Hall

Sunday, October 1
Trumpeter Jim Manley and pianist Dave Venn play their monthly brunch gig at Scarlett's Wine Bar; saxophonist Tim Cunningham is back for one more matinee at Mount Pleasant Winery; and the Friends of Scott Joplin will present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe.

Monday, October 2 
Singer Debby Lennon performs with the Jeremy Pfeffer Trio in a concert at Webster University's  Winifred Moore Auditorium.

Tuesday, October 3
The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra (pictured, bottom left) plays a show for the "Notes From Home" series at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

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.)

Guitarist Kevin Eubanks to perform Sunday, October 8 at Wildey Theatre

Guitarist Kevin Eubanks and his band are returning to the St. Louis area to perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 8 at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville.

Eubanks (pictured) first gained wide attention in the jazz world in the 1980s, but probably still is best known to the general public for his stint as bandleader for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992 to 2010.

Since Leno stepped down, Eubanks has refocused on his music career, working with bassist Dave Holland in the band Prism, touring with his own group, and putting out a couple of well-received albums, the most recent being 2016's East West Time Line. He last performed in St. Louis in October 2015 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Tickets for Eubanks' show at the Wildey are $50 each, and are on sale now.

Sunday Session: September 24, 2017

Trombone Shorty

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Not Just Jazz: Inside Concord Music's Buying Spree (Billboard)
* Forget Carnegie Hall. Musicians rush to rural Colorado to play the Tank (Los Angeles Times)
* Have we reached peak Hans Zimmer? (The Guardian)
* How Fela Kuti Drummer Tony Allen Rediscovered His Jazz Roots (Rolling Stone)
* Marcus Miller: The Multi-Faceted Musician (Jazz Times)
* Monterey Jazz Festival 2017: Story of Some Grooves (Jazz Times)
* ‘Cash Me Outside’ Girl Signing Marks The Official Split of the Music Industry (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* We Are Never Getting Back Together: How Avoiding a Reunion Can Secure a Band’s Legacy (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Ravi Coltrane brings ‘Love Supreme’ to SFJazz (San Jose Mercury News)
* Why the star of California Symphony’s next concert looks like vacuum cleaner (San Jose Mercury News)
* Mary Hallock Greenewalt’s Illuminated Music (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Can Music Heal Trauma? Exploring the Therapeutic Powers of Sound (Pitchfork.com)
* Remembering Grant Hart, 1961-2017 (City Pages)
* Concord Music Buys Savoy Label Group, Adding Jazz Recordings From Coltrane, Davis And Parker: Exclusive (Billboard)
* Harmonies That Welcomed Imagination—Remembering John Abercrombie (1944-2017) (New Music Box)
* Songs Of Discomposure: Quietus Writers Pick Their Most Disturbing Pieces Of Music (TheQuietus.com)
* Ann Richards: Dreams Have a Way of Fading (Jazz Times)
* Trombone Shorty Is Big On New Orleans, Music Education & Rap (Grammy.com)
* The 50 Best Jazz Singers Of All Time (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* 'An All-Around Musician': Steely Dan Guitarists Share Their Experiences of Working With Walter Becker (Billboard)
* Genres Blur & Swirl in Monterey’s ‘Big Tent’ (DownBeat)
* The Song That Never Ends: Why Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September' Sustains (NPR)
* Notes from the Custerdome: A Jazz Appreciation of Steely Dan (New Music Box)
* Deep Dive with Lewis Porter: The Inspiration(s) Behind John Coltrane's "Impressions" (WBGO)
* A Frank Zappa Hologram Is Going on Tour (Guitar World)
* Esperanza Spalding Talks Recording an Album in 77 Hours, Sexism in Music & Nicki Minaj (Billboard)
* Ageless Corea & Gadd Dazzle at Blue Note in NYC (DownBeat)
* Pete Turner, Photographer with an Eye for Color and an Ear For Jazz, Dies at 83 (WBGO)
* Soul Singer Charles Bradley Dies at 68 (Billboard)
* Charles Bradley Remembered: A Great Soul Man Who Found the Light in Darkness (Billboard)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Saxophonist & singer Grace Kelly to make St. Louis debut

This week, let's get acquainted via video with saxophonist and singer Grace Kelly, who will make her St. Louis debut with shows starting Wednesday, October 4 through Saturday, October 7 at Jazz at the Bistro.

While these will be her first performances in St. Louis, Kelly, 25, already is a music business veteran. She's performed in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, at venues including Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, the Kennedy Center, Boston Symphony Hall, Jazz Standard, and Blues Alley in the USA, and at Ronnie Scott's, Duc des Lombard, Porgy & Bess, and more overseas, as well as major jazz festivals in Detroit, Newport, Montreal, Toronto, and elsewhere.

Born and raised in the Boston area, Kelly was something of a prodigy, releasing her first CD at age 12. During her teen years, she jammed with and befriended respected jazz elders like Phil Woods and Lee Konitz, both of whom wound up recording with her. Kelly earned her GED at 16 and went on to attend Berklee College of Music, graduating in 2011 when she was just 19. In all, she has recorded a total of ten albums as a leader, the most recent being 2016's Trying To Figure It Out, which finished second in the "Jazz Album of the Year" category in DownBeat's 2016 Readers Poll.

Touted as a potential crossover success, Kelly has gained wider exposure as a recurring guest performer with keyboardist Jon Batiste and the house band for CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and as a member of the house band for the NBC variety show Maya & Marty. She also recently was featured in a second-season episode of Amazon's cop show Bosch, playing herself and performing a song in a scene filmed at the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles.

You can see and hear some recent samples of Kelly's playing and singing in today's videos, starting up above with "Lemons Make Lemonade," recorded in April of this year at the studios of public radio station KNKX in Tacoma, WA.

In this clip, and in the one of her funked-up version of the hymn "Amazing Grace" immediately after the jump, she's backed by her working band, which includes keyboardist Julian Pollack, bassist Julia Pederson, and drummer Ross Pederson.

The third video is a full set of Kelly and band recorded in August 2017 at the Cape Cod Jazz Festival in Massachusetts. Given that this set happened just a few weeks ago, it would seem to be a reasonable facsimile of what St. Louis listeners might expect when she gets here.

Kelly shows off a different look and sound in the fourth video, in which she guest-stars with the high-concept cover band Postmodern Jukebox on what's described as a "retro jazz version" of vocal group Fifth Harmony's 2015 pop hit "Worth It." While this sort of thing may raise a few eyebrows among the stodgiest jazz purists, it's an entertaining showcase for (at least some of) her skills that potentially could reel in some new fans.

In the fifth video, Kelly guest-stars on a episode of the web series Studio Jams for a version of the standard "Georgia On My Mind," recorded back in March 2016.

The final clip offers a glimpse of Kelly from earlier in her career. Recorded in 2012, it shows her sitting in on a set at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston with St. Louis' own David Sanborn, organist Joey DeFrancesco and drummer Byron Landham, playing Hank Crawford's "The Peeper" and the blues standard "Let The Good Times Roll."

For more about Grace Kelly, you can check out her 2016 interview with WGBH in Boston; the 2014 episode of Voice of America's Beyond Category that features her, and recent interviews with Las Vegas magazine and AFM's magazine International Musician.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump....

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Jazz St. Louis will be live-streaming video of tonight's 7:30 p.m. set by Yellowjackets at Jazz at the Bistro.

The gig is the first of four this season at the Bistro that will be live-streamed to the public for free, and you can tune in via the Jazz St. Louis website, their Facebook page, or UStream.

* The Playhouse at Westport Plaza has booked the show An Unforgettable Nat "King" Cole Christmas for the 2017 holiday season. The musical, which stars Chicago actor Evan Tyrone Martin (pictured) and features "a festive cocktail of signature songs and yuletide favorites" associated with Cole, will run from Thursday, December 7 through Sunday, December 17.

* To help promote his upcoming release The Mugician - due out next Friday, September 29 via Legacy Recordings/ Mass Appeal Records - trumpeter Keyon Harrold created a playlist of favorite tracks for the music streaming service Tidal.com.

* Improvising trombonist Steve Swell will present a lecture to the Washington University department of music at 4:00 p.m. Friday October 6 in the Music Classroom Building, room 102 on the Wash U campus.

Swell and his quintet, with pianist Dave Burrell, bassist William Parker, saxophonist Jameel Moondoc, and drummer Ches Smith, will perform in a concert sponsored by New Music Circle the next evening, Saturday, October 7, at The Stage at KDHX.

* Registration is open now for Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation's 8th annual St. Louis Teen Talent Competition. The competition is open to all high school students in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and offers more than $30,000 in college scholarships, cash awards, and prizes, plus performance opportunities for the participating teens.

The entry deadline for 2018 is December 1, 2017. For more information or to register, go to http://www.foxpacf.org/programs/teen-talent-competition/.

* And speaking of local students, Music for Lifelong Achievement's annual drive gathering musical instruments for school and community music programs serving disadvantaged young people in St. Louis starts next Monday, September 26. For more information about MFLA and how to donate, go here.

Jazz this week: Yellowjackets, Pangea, Greater St. Louis Hispanic Festival, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features the return of a jazz-fusion favorite; a weekend of Latin jazz and salsa at a free outdoor festival, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 20
Jazz-fusion band Yellowjackets (pictured, top left) opens a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

Although Jazz St. Louis at this writing is describing the shows as "almost sold out," a few tickets remain; call the box office for availability.  For those that can't make it in person, video of the set at 7:30 p.m. Friday will be streamed live on the Jazz St. Louis website and Facebook page and on UStream.

Thursday, September 21
Saxophonist Freddie Washington leads a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and saxophonist Harvey Lockhart will perform at The Dark Room.

Friday, September 22
Percussionist Herman Semidey and Orquestra Son Montuno will play salsa, Latin jazz, and more at the Greater St Louis Hispanic Festival, a free event running through Sunday at Soulard Park; and the Funky Butt Brass Band returns to the Broadway Oyster Bar

Saturday, September 23
Pangea,"a contemporary world music band" featuring composer/multi-instrumentalists Hong Wang and Albert Chang, plays at the Touhill Performing Arts Center; singer Erin Bode will perform at Missouri Baptist University's Pillsbury Chapel Fine Arts Center; and Chicago Latin Groove (pictured, bottom left) provides the soundtrack for the evening at the Hispanic Festival.

Sunday, September 24
Jazz brunch possibilities for the day include Miss Jubilee at Evangeline's and drummer Montez Coleman and friends at The Dark Room; and later that afternoon, the Folk School of KDHX will present their monthly "Traditional Jazz Jam Session." 

Monday, September 25
Bassist Ben Wheeler leads a quartet in a concert at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

Tuesday, September 26
Farshid Etniko will present their brand of multi-ethnic fusion in a free outdoor concert for the Missouri History Museum's "Twilight Tuesdays" series

 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.)

Sunday Session: September 17, 2017

Linda May Han Oh

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Mapping The Vast Influence Of Holger Czukay, Alchemist Of Krautrock Legends Can (NPR)
* Lisa Fischer: From Back to Front (Jazz Times)
* What Would the Next Golden Record Carry? (The Atlantic)
* A Conversation with Mark Turner / Ben Ratliff (MusicAndLiterature.org)
* Walter Becker, Glenn Frey, and a Sobering Realization About Dad Rock (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Designing a world of immersive sound (Rochester.edu)
* The Music Industry Bands Together to Finally Get Paid Online (Wired)
* Bokanté: Blues & Roots (Jazz Times)
* Esperanza Spalding's 'Exposure': A Creative Marathon, Live In The Studio (NPR)
* A New Mural Rising to Honor John Coltrane (WRTI)
* Tokyo Jazz Joints: Capturing An Old Love Story (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Blue Note All-Stars Present Their ‘Point Of View’ (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Toronto: Eric Clapton on Rock Music Now: "Maybe the Guitar Is Over" (Hollywood Reporter)
* Photos: Chicago Jazz Festival 2017 (Jazz Times)
* Inside the Americana Genre's Identity Crisis (Rolling Stone)
* Ambitious Rhode Island music fest ends in chaos (Boston Globe)
* Norah Jones' NYC Residency Reveals the Best Contradictions of the Singer/Songwriter's Career (Paste)
* The Most Expensive Music of Today Is Recorded on Mediums from the Past (Robb Report)
* The Right Music Can Change How Your Date Sees You, Say Scientists (Inverse.com)
* These are the biggest pop songs to sample classical music in the last 25 years (ClassicFM.com)
* Interview: Linda May Han Oh (Monterey County Weekly)
* Sun Ra in Sin City (LaphamsQuarterly.com)
* 38th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Musicals back in vogue, and business, as genre lights up Broadway and TV (The Guardian)
* Musician Fred Hersch Recounts A Life 'In And Out Of Jazz' In His New Memoir (NPR)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2017 jazz preview, part four

Here's the fourth and final part of of StLJN's Fall 2017 jazz preview, featuring videos of jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting St. Louis in the next several months. (You can see part one here, part two here, and part three here.)

Picking up the chronology at the point when part three left off, today's first video features trumpeter and East St. Louis native Russell Gunn, who will be coming back home to perform Wednesday, November 15 through Saturday, November 18 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Gunn's "Blackhawk Revisited" band celebrates Miles Davis' sound at the turn of the 1960s, as exemplified by the box set In Person Friday and Saturday Night at the Blackhawk, recorded in 1961 at the Black Hawk nightclub in San Francisco.

On hand to lend authenticity to the proceedings will be Jimmy Cobb, the octogenarian drummer who played on the original Blackhawk dates and is the only musician from Davis' landmark album Kind of Blue still living. This video was recorded last October at Dizzy's in New York, and features Gunn, Cobb and bandmates Morgan Guerin (tenor sax), Kevin Bales (piano), and Corcoran Holt (bass) doing a full set of the Blackhawk material.

After the jump, it's singer Jane Monheit, who will perform Wednesday, November 29 though Saturday, December 2 at the Bistro. She's seen here singing "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" in May 2016 at the studios of KNKX Public Radio in Tacoma, WA.

The third clip features Battle Trance, the all-tenor-sax quartet who will be presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, December 2 at The Luminary. It's a video of the title track from their album Blade of Love, as performed in January at the Vandoren Studio in Los Angeles.

Next, it's pianist and singer Freddy Cole, seen here performing "Songs for Lovers" in February 2017 at Dizzy's. Cole and his band, with guest saxophonist Harry Allen, will be in St. Louis starting Wednesday, December 6 through Saturday, December 9 at Jazz at the Bistro.

That same weekend, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra will make their St. Louis debut with a holiday-themed show called "Salsa Navidad" on Friday, December 8 at Sheldon Concert Hall. The sixth video depicts highlights from that show, as performed last year at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.

The penultimate video features vocal group Take 6, who will be back to perform starting Wednesday, December 13 through Saturday, December 16 at the Bistro. You can see them here singing "Stand By Me" and "Straighten Up and Fly Right," as recorded in August at the studios of Hawaii Public Radio. 

Last but not least, it's actor, singer, and Belleville native Lea DeLaria, who will perform her cabaret show on Wednesday, December 27 and Thursday, December 28 at Jazz at the Bistro. She's seen in the final video doing an impromptu version of "Since I Fell For You" last October at an NYC spot called the Duplex.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

MFLA's musical instrument drive for local students starts Monday, September 25

Do you have an old, unused, or extra musical instrument taking up space in the basement, garage or spare room? If so, consider donating it to Music for Lifelong Achievement (MFLA).

MFLA is a local not-for-profit organization based at the Sheldon Concert Hall that collects used and new musical instruments and donates them to school and community music programs serving disadvantaged young people. Since its inception, MFLA has provided nearly 600 instruments to music students all over the St. Louis area.

This year's MFLA instrument drive will begin on Monday, September 25 and continues through Sunday, October 29.

There are two ways to help: by giving a musical instrument, or giving cash. Selected St. Louis-area Starbucks stores once again will serve as drop-off locations for used and new musical instruments during the drive. The donated instruments then will be repaired, if needed, and distributed to students who otherwise would not be able to afford an instrument. Donors get a letter documenting the value of the instrument for tax deduction purposes.

If you don’t have an instrument to donate, MFLA also happily accepts cash contributions, which are used to help pay for necessary repairs of donated instruments and provide accessories such as strings, reeds, and sheet music. These donations also are tax deductible. For more information or to make a donation, call The Sheldon at 314-533-9900 or visit www.supportmfla.org.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold was interviewed about his forthcoming album The Mugician by Billboard magazine.

* Last Saturday's Alton Wine and Jazz Festival, which was headlined by Harrold, was the subject of a feature story from the Alton Riverbender's Steven Spencer.

* In other Harrold family news, drummer Emanuel Harrold (pictured), who's Keyon's younger brother, was interviewed by Tony Minvielle of the UK online radio station Jazz FM. 

* The Brothers Lazaroff promoted their gigs this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro with an appearance on the morning news at KTVI - FOX 2.

* Multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris was interviewed about his score for Shakespeare Festival St. Louis’ presentation of Blow, Winds by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

The production, a re-imagining of King Lear written by Nancy Bell, will be performed at 8:00 pm nightly starting Friday, September 15 through Sunday, September 17 outside of the St. Louis Public Library’s Central Library Branch downtown.

* Saxophonist Donny Piela of the St. Louis Big Band was profiled by the Washington Missourian.

Jazz this week: Brand X, Tony Grey, Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a bit of a British invasion, with two shows featuring headliners with roots in England's homegrown jazz-rock movement, plus several other noteworthy performances.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 13
The reunited British fusion band Brand X, touring in support of a live album recorded on tour last year, will perform at the Old Rock House.

Also on Wednesday, the "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" will feature saxophonist Austin Cebulski at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, plus the weekly jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor and band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, September 14
Bassist Tony Grey will perform in the first concert of the semester for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Born in England and trained at Berklee School of Music, Grey (pictured) probably is best known as the regular touring bassist for the single-named pianist Hiromi, but he's also released five albums as a leader, written several bass instruction books, and even has recorded a bit with famed guitarist John McLaughlin, who's his uncle.

Friday, September 15
The Brothers Lazaroff will play for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, promoting the release of their new live album, which was recorded at the Bistro in the summer of 2016.

Also on Friday, pianist Ptah Williams and his trio continue their weekly gig at The Dark Room, and drummer Steve Davis' "Super Band" featuring singer Feyza Eren will play a free show at Webster Groves Concert Hall.

Saturday, September 16
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays for brunch at Evangeline's, and it's also the date of the annual Old Webster Jazz & Blues Festival, which takes place in what's known as the Old Webster Business District, centered at the intersection of Lockwood and Gore in suburban Webster Groves.

Performers at the free, day-long event will include Miss Jubilee, the Webster University faculty jazz band, SpaceShip, Funky Butt Brass Band, Two Times True, and the Webster Groves HS jazz band, plus blues acts including Marquise Knox, Aaron Griffin, Roland Johnson & Soul Endeavor, and the Green McDonough Band.

Monday, September 18
Saxophonist Paul DeMarinis leads his band in a program of original music at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium, and guitarist and St. Louis native Daryl Darden, back from California for a visit, will play at 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.)

Sunday Session: September 10, 2017

Art Tatum

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Steely Dan Guitarist Walter Becker Dies at 67 (DownBeat)
* EWS: Walter Becker (1950-2017) R.I.P. (London Jazz News)
* Walter Becker Was A Master Of Musical Understatement (NPR)
* Vijay Iyer On Jazz's 'History Of Defiance,' His Influences And Playing In A Sextet (NPR)
* Gunter Hampel at 80: Still Ahead of Time (JazzDaGama.com)
* Every Night Perfect (Popular Mechanics)
* The Rise And Fall Of Tower Records (Flashbak.com)
* Wadada Leo Smith's Defiant And Fearless Elegy For Emmett Till (In 360˚ VR) (WBGO)
* Roscoe Mitchell, Who Helped Invent New Chicago Jazz Sound, Comes Home (Chicago magazine)
* Chicago Jazz Fest Shines Spotlight on Hometown Talent (DownBeat)
* Holger Czukay, sampling pioneer and co-founder of Can, has died at age 79 (FactMag.com)
* Holger Czukay obituary (The Guardian)
* Tower Of Power Singer Rick Stevens Dies (Pollstar.com)
* BassDrumBone and the New Haven Jazz Renaissance (AllAboutJazz.com)
* In Praise of Art Tatum, Stealth Radical in the Jazz Piano Pantheon (WBGO)
* Looking back at 20 years of neglected promise at 18th and Vine — and forward to 2020 (Pitch Weekly)
* Ella Fitzgerald Sings With London Symphony Orchestra On New Album (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Berklee To Turn A Legendary Recording Studio Into Its New York City Home Base (WBUR)
* Jimmy’s Blues (Los Angeles Review of Books)
* A Nation of Tinkerers: How a Canadian University Shaped Electronic Music in North America (Vice.com)
* The World’s Largest Music Publishers Just Declared War on Spotify — In No Uncertain Terms (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* We Talked to People at the Largest Free Jazz Festival on the Planet (Vice.com)
* Iggy Pop: Croon & Destroy - From his Stooges days to a surprising recent collaboration, the punk pioneer discusses his jazz past (Jazz Times)
* World’s oldest jazz band in Shanghai a rare constant amid China’s breakneck modernisation (South China Morning Post)
* Should Spotify Try to Become the 'Netflix Of Music'? Not So Fast (Billboard)
* 'Germans Love Their CDs': Universal Music Exec on How Germany's Music Market Is Transforming 'Differently' (Billboard)
* Two Years Later, Is New Music Friday Doing Its Job? (Forbes)
* What if you used synthesizers to emulate nature and reality? (CDM.link)
* Why Esperanza Spalding Is the Most Audacious Innovator in Jazz (Time)
* How We Can Support the World’s Rich Musical Diversity (Smithsonian)
* Review: Detroit Jazz Festival 2017 - Artist-in-residence Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and others impress at this outstanding free fest in the Motor City (Jazz Times)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2017 jazz preview, part three

Welcome to part three of StLJN's Fall 2017 jazz preview, presenting videos featuring noteworthy jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting St. Louis over the next few months. (You can see part one here, and part two here.)

Continuing in chronological order from where part two left off, today's first clip features singer and pianist Eric Comstock and singer Barbara Fasano, whose show "Downton Abbey Road: The Best of Britain" will be presented as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Friday, October 27 at the Gaslight Theater.

Although no excerpts of that show are available on video, you can see them up above performing "When In Rome (I Do As The Romans Do)" as recorded in April 2015 during the weekly "Cast Party" event at Birdland in NYC.

After the jump, there's a clip featuring guitarist, singer and St. Louis favorite John Pizzarelli, who's returning to headline the annual "ArtSounds" benefit on Saturday, October 28 at Sheldon Concert Hall.

Recorded last month at KNKX in Tacoma, WA, it features Pizzarelli and Daniel Jobim, the grandson of Brazilian music legend Antonio Carlos Jobim, performing "The Girl From Ipanema" from Pizzarelli's latest album Sinatra & Jobim @ 50.

The third video features saxophonist Houston Person, who will be back in town to perform Wednesday, November 1 through Saturday, November 4 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Person, who usually works with local rhythm sections on gigs like the one he's doing at the Bistro, is seen here in a video from March of this year that documents his team-up with fellow saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person for a gig at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC. Along with the two Persons, the band includes pianist Zaccai Curtis, bassist Kenny Davis, and drummer McClenty Hunter.

Next, it's singers Farah Alvin and William Michals, who will join forces to present "Broadway's Greatest Hits of All Time" for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Friday, November 3 and Saturday, November 4 at the Gaslight Theater.

In their individual clips, Michals is performing "This Nearly Was Mine" from South Pacific, recorded last month at Feinstein's/54 Below in NYC, while Alvin is singing "Infinite Joy" as part of a show last month at the the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, MA.

Today's sixth video features a full set from singer Cécile McLorin Salvant, recorded in December 2016 at Dizzy's with a band including pianist Aaron Diehl, bassist Paul Sikivie, drummer Lawrence Leathers, and guest star Anat Cohen on clarinet.

Salvant has a new album called Dreams and Daggers coming out at the end of this month, and her tour in support of the record will include a performance on Saturday, November 11 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

That same evening, electronic musician John Wiese will be headlining an event for New Music Circle at St. Louis University's Xavier Hall.

Billed as "a site-specific composition that includes over 20 local musicians, utilizing both traditional and non-traditional instrumentation," the performance can't really be previewed here, but you can get an idea of the sort of thing Wiese does in today's penultimate video, which documents a performance in August 2016 at the Artifex Guild in Bloomington, IN.

The final video features actress and singer Emily Skinner, who will perform "Broadway Her Way" for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Saturday, November 11 at the Gaslight Theater.

Word came down this week that Skinner already has sold out this single performance, but since this post was mostly written by the time that news reached StLJN HQ, you might as well enjoy a clip of her performing "Could I Leave You" last fall in the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis' production of Follies.

Look for part four of StLJN's Fall 2017 jazz preview next week in this space. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Jazz St. Louis announced this week that they'll be live-streaming online video of selected performances this season at Jazz at the Bistro.

According to a news release, "the series will highlight four artists from the 2017-18 performance season through pre-recorded videos hosted by local jazz pianist Peter Martin and live-streaming activities of the programs which will be available on the Jazz St. Louis website, Facebook page and Ustream".

Featured performances to be streamed include Yellowjackets (pictured) on Friday, September 22; Sammy Miller and the Congregation on Friday, October 27; The Bad Plus on Friday, January 19; and Sean Jones Quartet on Friday, March 2.

* The Alton Jazz and Wine Festival, set for tomorrow at the Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton, is the subject of a preview story in St. Louis magazine.

* Former St. Louisan Mark Deutsch, now living in California, has released The Picasso Tunings, a set of four related albums featuring the Bazantar,  the instrument he invented that combines acoustic bass and sitar. You can hear the new recordings, plus a newly remastered version of Deutsch's first solo album Fool, on his BandCamp page.

* The Gaslight Cabaret Festival was previewed by the West End Word.

* Applications for the latest round of Regional Arts Commission's Artist Support Grants are open now through Thursday, October 12. Grants are available from $500 to $3,000 to artists from all disciplines for a variety of purposes. For more info or to apply, go to https://racstl.org/grant/artists-support-grants/.

* Megan Kirk's cabaret show "Out of My Head," performed last week at The Stage at KDHX, was reviewed for the station by Chuck Lavazzi.

* Wide Open, the forthcoming album from singer, keyboardist and St. Louis native Michael McDonald, features guest performances from several well-known jazz musicians including Robben Ford, Marcus Miller and Branford Marsalis.

It's McDonald's first record of original material since 2000's Blue Obsession and is scheduled for release next Friday, September 15, but you can hear the whole thing now via an online stream from NPR Music’s “First Listen.” McDonald will support the release with a fall tour than includes a stop here on Friday, November 3 at Peabody Opera House.

Freedonia Music releases two new albums

The St. Louis-based label Freedonia Music, which documents the city's experimental and avant-garde music of the past and present, has two new releases out this month.

New Music for Clarinet and Piano features eight tracks of "spontaneous compositions" from clarinetist Eric Mandat and pianist Greg Mills, recorded "live" last year at Jackson Pianos.

The label's other new release Kuvuka teams Greg Mills with percussionist Glenn "Papa" Wright for "a summit conference for piano and drum set."

Recorded in June at Clayton Studios, it features four tracks of "free improvisation showing postmodern jazz and classical influences by two master musicians at the height of their expressive powers."

Both albums are available as downloads or physical CDs, and you can hear samples from both via the Freedonia website. And speaking of downloads, the entire Freedonia catalog is now available in downloadable form from the label's Bandcamp page for $7 per album.

Jazz this week: Alton Jazz and Wine Festival, Koplant No, a Horace Silver tribute, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features the return of a rising jazz star with local roots, a tribute to an iconic pianist and composer, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 6
The "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" presents guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Jacobs at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe;  a jam session with bassist Bob Deboo and friends at the Kranzberg Arts Center;  and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor and band at The Dark Room.

Also on Wednesday, trumpeter Jim Manley plays his weekly gig at Sasha's Wine Bar.

Thursday, September 7
Saxophonist Ben Reece's Unity Quartet returns to the The Dark Room, and pianist Adam Maness' trio will be back at Thurman's in Shaw.

Friday, September 8
The annual St. Louis Art Fair opens in downtown Clayton, running through Sunday afternoon with free live music from singer Wendy Gordon, Feyza Eren, and Erin Bode; guitarist Dave Black; the  Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, Jim Widner Big Band, and more. (Check the fair's website or the StLJN calendar for days and set times.)

Also on Friday, electronic jazz-fusion band Koplant No begins a two-night gig recording a live album at Jazz at the Bistro, and singer-guitarist Tommy Halloran promotes his latest release with a show at Focal Point.

Elsewhere around town, singer Tony Viviano returns to Fortel's Pizza Den in Creve Coeur, singer Ralph Williams is back at Cigar Inn and the St. Louis Big Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, September 9
The free Alton Jazz & Wine Festival at the Alton Amphitheater will feature a headlining set from trumpeter and Ferguson native Keyon Harrold (pictured, top left), plus music from pianist Ptah Williams, the Funky Butt Brass Band, and trumpeter Dawn Weber.

Also on Saturday, Carolbeth True will be on the piano bench for a "Tribute to Horace Silver" at the Webster Groves Concert Hall, joined by trumpeter Randy Holmes, saxophonist Larry Smith, bassist Eric Warren and drummer Kevin Gianino; and the University of Missouri's ZouM New Music Ensemble, featuring members of the school's music faculty, will play a free concert at 560 Music Center.

Sunday, September 10
The St. Louis Record and CD Collector's Show will take place at the American Czech Educational Center in south St. Louis, and trumpeter/vibraphonist Joe Bozzi and band will present a matinee performance at the St. Margaret Mary Alacoque parish hall.

Monday, September 11
Jazz faculty from Webster University will join forces for "The Jazz Legacy of Atlantic Records 1955-1975" at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus. The performance will feature music from the label's roster of jazz artists during that period, which included Ornette Coleman, John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Charles Lloyd, Mose Allison, Chris Connor, Eddie Harris, and Les McCann.

Tuesday, September 12
The Missouri History Museum's "Twilight Tuesdays" series will present a free concert featuring singer Anita Jackson and guitarist Eric Slaughter.

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.)

Sunday Session: September 3, 2017

Thelonious Monk

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Elvis Presley’s Archivist on the Heartbreak of Tapes Trashed by RCA, Scouring the South for Lost Recordings (Variety)
* Esperanza Spalding’s Pop Culture Loves (Smithsonian)
* Tin Men and the Telephone: the jazz band you control with a smartphone (The Guardian)
* Review: The Mingus Prom (Jazz Journal)
* The Devo De-Evolution Of Golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez (WBUR)
* Close Encounters of the 4th Kind with the Sun Ra Arkestra in San Francisco (PopMatters.com)
* Pharaoh’s Den, the Sun Ra-themed grocery store in Philadelphia (DangerousMinds.net)
* Kurt Rosenwinkel: A Whole New Vista (Jazz Times)
* Hancock-Washington Double Bill Rocks the Hollywood Bowl (DownBeat)
* INTERVIEW: Marilyn Mazur (London Jazz News)
* Review: Oslo Jazz Festival 2017 (Jazz Times)
* Q&A with Sean Jones: The Spirit Calling (DownBeat)
* Woody Shaw Takes on “’Round Midnight,” the Trumpeter’s Supreme Challenge (The New Yorker)
* The Omnivorous Mind of Pamela Z (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* Where's the Best Seat in the Concert Hall? (WQXR)
* The South Side’s Last Remaining Jazz Landmarks (Chicago magazine)
* Rock ’N’ Roll: America’s Midlife Crisis (Talkhouse.com)
* Pop music is rejecting the piano. Why? (The Economist)
* ‘The Simpsons’ Composer Alf Clausen Fired (EXCLUSIVE) (Variety)
* Review: Jazz re:freshed Live at Nublu in NYC (Jazz Times)
* Traditional Radio Faces a Grim Future, New Study Says (Variety)
* How we made Roy Ayers' "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" (The Guardian)
* Stevie Wonder Reflects On Motown, God And Prince (NPR)
* Off Minor Prophet: Thelonious Monk at 100 (Think Christian)
* Son of Jazz Great Thelonious Monk Sues California Brewery (USNews.com)
* Hudson: Upstate New York’s Supergroup (Jazz Times)
* From Jazz Clubs to Classrooms (The Nation)
* Revitalization project honors jazz great, Toledo native Art Tatum (Toledo Blade)
* Kirk Knuffke’s Time: The Story of Some of the Year’s Best Jazz (Village Voice)
* Avant-garde elder Roscoe Mitchell celebrates 50 years of Nessa Records (Chicago Reader)
* Quincy Jones Looks Back on the Making of Michael Jackson's 'Bad' (Rolling Stone)
* A Brand You Can Trust? Record Nerds’ 20 Favorite Labels From the 20th Century (Variety)
* Jazz trumpeter Hino attacks schoolboy drummer (The Asahi Shimbun)
* First Listen: Arturo O'Farrill & Chucho Valdés, 'Familia: Tribute To Bebo & Chico' (NPR)
* Meet the Ace of Cups, the Haight’s (Almost) Forgotten All-Girl Band (KQED)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2017 jazz preview, part two

This week, it's part two of StLJN's Fall 2017 jazz preview, featuring videos of noteworthy performers who will be coming to St. Louis in the next several months. (You can see part one, published last week, here.)

Picking up the chronology in mid-October where part one left off, today's first video features trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, who will be back in St. Louis to perform on Friday, October 13 and Saturday, October 14 at Jazz at the Bistro. The video shows a full set from Sandoval and his band, recorded in February of this year in Moscow, Russia.

After the jump, it's singer Paula West, who will open the fall series of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Friday, October 13 and Saturday October 14 at the Gaslight Theater. West is seen here performing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" as part of a tribute to Bowie in February 2016 at Feinstein's in San Francisco.

Next, it's the recently formed "supergroup" Hudson, featuring drummer Jack DeJohnette, guitarist John Scofield, keyboardist John Medeski, and bassist Larry Grenadier. They'll perform here on Saturday, October 14 at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and can be seen in today's third clip vamping for a few minutes on the title track from their eponymous first album, as recorded on June 30 of this year at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

The fourth video features the young Cuban-born pianist Harold Lopez-Nussa, who will make his St. Louis debut here with performances starting Wednesday, October 18 through Saturday, October 21 at Jazz at the Bistro. He's seen here performing music from his most recent album El Viaje in March of this year at the Banlieues Bleues Festival in Seine-Saint-Denis, France.

The fifth video features actor and singer Alice Ripley, the Tony Award-winning Broadway star who will perform as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Friday, October 20 and Saturday October 21 at the Gaslight Theater. The video shows Ripley singing "As If We Never Said Goodbye" (from the musical Sunset Boulevard) and was recorded on June 5, 2017 at Feinstein's/54 Below in NYC.

Today's final clip spotlights Sammy Miller and the Congregation, a young band from New Orleans who will cap off a week-long educational residency for Jazz St. Louis with shows on Friday, October 27 and Saturday, October 28 at Jazz at the Bistro. Miller and his flock are seen here performing "Ain't Misbehavin'" in April of this year at the studios of radio station KNKX in Tacoma, WA.

Look for part three of StLJN's Fall 2017 jazz preview in this space next week. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...