Jazz this week: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Alicia Olatuja, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a return visit from one of the top big bands working today and homecoming shows from a couple of St. Louis natives, plus a bunch of holiday-themed performances and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, December 4
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis will be getting in the seasonal spirit with a program called "Big Band Holidays" at Powell Hall.

Also on Wednesday, singer and St. Louis native Alicia Olatuja performs for the first of five nights at Jazz St. Louis.

Olatuja (pictured, top left) earlier this year released her second album, Intuition: Songs from the Minds of Women, which features original material and songs from female composers including Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush and more. For more about that, plus some videos of recent live performances by Olatuja, check out this post from Saturday before last.

Thursday, December 5
Pianist Kim Portnoy and guitarist William Lenihan will lead a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Also on Thursday, singer Debby Lennon presents her cabaret show "My Favorite Christmas" at Blue Strawberry, and the Funky Butt Brass Band will be "warming up" for their annual Holiday Brasstravaganza later this month with a performance at Joe's Cafe.

Friday, December 6
Singer and St. Louis native Craig Pomranz (pictured, bottom left) will be back home for a visit from his current digs in NYC to perform his cabaret show “The Power of Song!” for one night only at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Also on Friday, singer and impressionist Dean Christopher brings his "A Rat Pack Christmas"  show to Blue Strawberry, and Miss Jubilee returns to the Frisco Barroom.

Saturday, December 7
Singer Anita Jackson will perform for brunch at The Dark Room, and singer Wendy L. Gordon and friends return for a matinee at Hwy 67 BBQ.

Saturday evening, Wright's Project will play funk and fusion at Troy's Listening Room, and keyboardist Mo Egeston and company are back at The Dark Room.

Sunday, December 8
The St. Louis Jazz Club's annual Christmas party will feature traditional jazz and swing from Cornet Chop Suey at the Moolah Shrine Center, and the UMSL Jazz Orchestra, Vocal Point and Wind Ensemble will present their free, annual "Jazz for the Holidays" concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Also on Sunday, the students of the City of Music All-Star Chorus and North County Big Band will perform in a free concert at The Sheldon, and The 442s make a special appearance at Thurman's in Shaw

Monday, December 9
Dizzy Atmosphere returns to the The Shaved Duck.

Tuesday, December 10
The Jazz St. Louis Big Band will perform Duke Ellington's arrangements of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" plus additional Ellingtonia for the first of three nights at Jazz St. Louis; and guitarist Vincent Varvel and bassist Ben Wheeler will play a duo 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.)