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.)