Jazz this week: Catherine Russell & John Pizzarelli, Natural Information Society, Glendale Jazz Festival, two tributes to Miles Davis, and more

The calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis for this week leading up to Memorial Day features two shows celebrating the birthday of the most influential jazz musician ever to come from this area, plus a tribute to two of the most enduring vocalists in American music; the end of an important anniversary season for a local presenter; and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, May 22
Singer Catherine Russell teams up with guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli (pictured, top left) and his trio to present their show "Billie & Blue Eyes" for the first of five nights at Jazz St. Louis.

The show spotlights Russell and Pizzarelli's contemporary interpretations of songs associated with Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. You can find out more and see some video from previous performances, plus songs from both of their latest recordings, in this post from last Saturday.

Thursday, May 23
Saxophonist Ben Reece's Unity Quartet returns to The Dark Room, and pianist Adam Maness' trio plays at Thurman's in Shaw.

Friday, May 24
The Glendale Jazzfest celebrates its 20th year with Miss Jubilee, the Funky Butt Brass Band, and Dean Christopher providing the music for the free, public outdoor event at Glendale City Hall.

Saturday, May 25
New Music Circle wraps up their 60th season with a concert featuring Natural Information Society, augmented by keyboardist Cooper Crain of Bitchin' Bajas, at Off Broadway.

Also on Saturday, trumpeter Jim Manley brings his band to Evangeline's, and pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson return to Parkside Grille.

Sunday, May 26
Sunday marks 93 years since the birth of the late, legendary trumpeter Miles Davis, and two current St. Louis trumpeters are presenting tributes to him, as Randy Holmes headlines a "Double Tribute to Miles Davis & Kind of Blue" at the Ozark Theatre while Kasimu Taylor leads a "Tribute to Miles Davis" at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Tuesday May 28
Guitarist Steve Schenkel's trio plus guest vocalist Kim Fuller will perform 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.)