Jazz this week: Tribute to Count Basie, Clint Baker salutes New Orleans "cornet kings," Webster Groves Piano Festival, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes tributes to one of the greatest big band leaders in jazz and to New Orleans' tradition of producing memorable cornet players, a free outdoor concert featuring four St. Louis pianists, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, August 21
Saxophonist Kendrick Smith (pictured, top left) has assembled an eight-piece band plus vocalist Joe Mancuso to pay "Tribute to Count Basie" in a concert at the Ozark Theatre.

Also on Wednesday, Jazz St. Louis will raise funds with "Cocktails for a Cause" at 33 Wine Shop & Bar, and this week's Grand Center Jazz Crawl features saxophonist Andy Ament at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the  Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor returning to The Dark Room.

Thursday, August 22
The Ptah Williams Trio with bassist Darrell Mixon and drummer Gary Sykes will play at Joe's Cafe, and trumpeter Jim Manley performs at Evangeline's.

Friday, August 23
The Focal Point continues their late-summer traditional jazz series with the Rudy Torrini Swing Project, featuring the St. Louis clarinetist and friends playing music from the 1920s, 30s and 40s.

Also on Friday, Miss Jubilee performs in a free outdoor show for "Jungle Boogie" at the St. Louis Zoo; and keyboardist Ryan Marquez will promote the release of his new CD Cosmic Perspective with a late-night show at The Dark Room.

Saturday, August 24
The first-ever Webster Groves Piano Festival
will feature music from Carolbeth True and Two Times True, Jay Oliver, Michael Silverman and Bach to the Future, and Ptah Williams with Darrell Mixon and Steve Davis, all for free on the front lawn of the Masonic Hall, 12 E. Lockwood Ave in downtown Webster.

Also on Friday, San Francisco-based multi-instrumentalist Clint Baker (pictured, bottom left) will offer "A Tribute to the Cornet Kings of New Orleans" with some help from cornetists T.J. Muller and "Wild" Bill Mason at the Focal Point; and Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at Urban Chestnut Midtown Brewery and Biergarten.

Sunday, August 25
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to play for brunch at the Angad Arts Hotel, and the Folk School of KDHX presents their monthly Traditional Jazz Jam Session.

Monday, August 26
Drummer Kaleb Kirby and friends perform at The Dark Room.

Tuesday, August 27
Pianist Pat Joyce plays solo at Evangeline's.

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.)