StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2020 jazz preview, part one

With 2019 winding down and 2020 coming up fast, it's time for StLJN's semi-annual video preview of bands and musicians who will be coming to St. Louis to perform over the next few months. Today's post is part one of the winter/spring 2020 preview, starting with what's coming up in January and continuing chronologically in subsequent posts.

First up are The Bad Plus, who will keep up their decade-plus long tradition of being the first visiting act to play the Bistro at the start of a new year when they return to perform Wednesday, January 8 through Sunday, January 12 at Jazz St. Louis. They can be seen in the first video up above, which chronicles their visit in March 2019 to the studios of public radio station KNKX in Tacoma, WA.

After the jump, you can see the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, who will be making their St. Louis debut starting Wednesday, January 22 through Sunday, January 26 at Jazz St. Louis. The video shows them in May 2019 at Paste Studios in New York City, playing a short set that includes "Brotha James," "Memphis" and "Hole in One."

Next, it's pianist Matthew Shipp, who will be returning to play in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Friday, January 24 at 560 Music Center. The video shows him in a solo performance in July of this year at Michiko Rehearsal Studio in New York City.

The following week, the cabaret series co-produced by Jazz St. Louis and Cabaret Project of St. Louis will welcome singer and actor Norm Lewis, who replaces the originally announced Lindsay Mendez. Lewis, who will perform on Wednesday, January 29 and Thursday, January 30 at Jazz St. Louis, is seen in the third video after the jump singing "Home" from the Broadway show The Wiz in September 2019 at Feinstein's/54 Below in New York City.

Following Lewis that same week, the Bistro also will host the Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, an ad hoc ensemble put together from among musicians visiting to do educational residencies for Jazz St. Louis. In this iteration, the group includes saxophonist Camille Thurman, trumpeter Pharez Whitted, bassist Endea Owens, and drummer Steve Fidyk, who will team up to perform on Friday, January 31 and Saturday, February 1 at Jazz St. Louis

Thurman can be seen in the fifth video with her band, the Darrell Green Trio, playing a show last week in the studios of WGBH radio in Boston. That's followed by a clip of Whitted and his group, recorded in October 2017 at BLU Jazz+ in Akron, OH.

The penultimate video is an episode of the web series "The Indie Beat" from November 2018, featuring an interview with and performance by Endea Owens. And last but not least, the final clip features Steve Fidyk, performing "Time Check" in 2008 as a tribute to Buddy Rich with the US Army Blues band.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump. Look for part two of the winter/spring 2020 jazz preview next week in this space.