Jazz this week: A tribute to Joe Sample & George Duke, free outdoor concerts, and more

While things may be relatively quiet for the next week in terms of touring artists visiting St. Louis, the calendar of live jazz and creative music does feature a variety of sounds from hometown performers to suit almost any taste, including several free outdoor concerts.

Here's a look at what's coming up...

Wednesday, 
June 27
Acoustik Element plays a free concert for the Missouri Botanical Garden's Whitaker Music Festival, and the Ambassadors of Swing are back at Tin Roof for another "Shake & Shout Wednesday."

Elsewhere around town, this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features bassist Glen Smith and guitarist Dave Black at The Stage at KDHX along with the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, June 28
Guitarist and violinist Christopher Voelker of Dizzy Atmosphere leads a trio at The Pat Connolly Tavern, and singer Joe Mancuso will do what's now a regular Thursday night gig at 50/Fifty Kitchen.

Also on Thursday, saxophonist Ben Reece's Unity Quartet is back at The Dark Room, and this month's edition of Nathan Cook's "Bruxism" series will features experimental music from William Morris, Tony Patti, and Deux Plex at the Schlafly Tap Room.

Friday, June 29
Funk/jazz quartet Good 4 The Soul teams up with keyboardist Reggie Thomas (pictured) plus other special guests to offer a one-night-only tribute to "The Sounds of Joe Sample & George Duke" at Jazz St. Louis.

Saturday, June 30
Catch some vintage jazz sounds for free at an outdoor concert with Tommy Halloran's Guerrilla Swing at Eckert's in Belleville or Miss Jubilee at Kirkwood Park.

Also on Saturday, the Funky Butt Brass Band headlines a bill of funk and Louisiana-influenced bands at the Old Rock House 's day-long "Summer Gras" event.

Sunday, July 1
The Friends of Scott Joplin present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe.

Monday, July 2
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays his weekly gig at Momo's Greek Restaurant.

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.)