Jazz this week: Glenn Miller Orchestra, Chicago Cellar Boys, Funky Butt Brass Band, "Django Guitar Summit," and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis has a definite retro vibe, with shows coming up featuring one of the Swing Era's best-known bands, several performances by traditional jazz groups, and even a look back at local music history by a currently popular group. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, August 14
The Glenn Miller Orchestra (pictured, top left) brings their deep catalog of Swing Era hits to the Sheldon Concert Hall. You can see some videos of the present-day version of the Miller band in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Wednesday, this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and bassist Ben Wheeler's band Solid Ghost at The Dark Room at the Grandel Theatre.

Thursday, August 15
Saxophonist Larry Johnson and guitarist Randy Bahr will play duets at Rendezvous Cafe & Wine Bar; keyboardist Ryan Marquez brings his trio to The Dark Room; and singer Robert Nelson returns to the Chase Club in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

Friday, August 16
The Funky Butt Brass Band performs for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis. It's the first official gig for the band's newest member, saxophonist Bryan Fritz, and reportedly will feature cover versions of songs by famous St. Louis bands and musicians.

Also on Friday, guitarists Joe Park, Gary Hunt, Paul Davis and Eric Slaughter will be featured in the  "2nd Annual Django Guitar Summit" at Focal Point.

Elsewhere around town, the Hard Bop Messengers return to Evangeline's; Schlafly Tap Room has a triple bill of experimental music including Temporal Marauder, John Wiese, and Flanger Magazine; and fusion trio 3XGroove plays at Troy's Listening Room.

Saturday, August 17
On Saturday afternoon, Dennis Owsley, host of the "Jazz Unlimited" program airing Sunday nights on St. Louis Public Radio, will sign copies of his new book St. Louis Jazz: A History at the Book House in Maplewood.

Then on Saturday evening, traditional jazz band Chicago Cellar Boys (pictured, bottom left) with singer Roya Naldi will play at Focal Point, and guitarist Todd Mosby leads his World Fusion Ensemble in a performance at First Congregational Church of Webster Groves.

Also on Saturday, singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina will headline a show at Delmar Hall, and pianist Carolbeth True and singer Kim Fuller will perform music associated with Billie Holiday at the Ozark Theatre.

Sunday, August 18
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents Red Lehr and the St. Louis Rivermen playing traditional jazz at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St. Louis - Westport, and Cornet Chop Suey plays a free concert at Carondelet Park.

Monday, August 19
The Dark Room introduces "Monday Night Mix-Up," a new event aimed at music and hospitality industry workers, this week featuring sounds from bassist and beatsmith Tristaño.

Tuesday, August 20
Nashville-based quintet The Cosmic Collective returns to Evangeline's, and guitarist Tom Byrne leads a trio in a concert at the Gaslight Theater.

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.)