* Jim Widner may have retired last year as director of jazz studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, but the veteran bassist and educator is continuing his long-running business of running summer jazz camps, setting up this year at St. Charles Community College. Widner's summer 2021 camp will run June 13-17 and is open to high school, middle school and college students as well as adults who "want to hone their skills in the art of jazz."
Instructors will include trumpeter Bijon Watson (Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra), trombonist Scott Whitfield (Bill Holman and Bob Florence Big Bands), and saxophonists Chip McNeill (Doc Severinsen, Maynard Ferguson) and Mary Fettig (Stan Kenton Orchestra), plus local musician/educators such as Rick Haydon, Kevin Gianino, Brett Stamps, Jim Martin, and Ken Kehner. For more information, visit www.stchas.edu/yatp.
* Drummer Dave Weckl's new album Live In St Louis at the Chesterfield Jazz Festival was featured on the April 13 episode of the "Bitches Brew" podcast.
* Dozens of St. Louis musicians have teamed up to release a new compilation album (pictured) paying tribute to poet, promoter and former KDHX DJ Brett Underwood for his work promoting adventurous music in St. Louis as a collaborator, on his radio program "The No Show," and as a presenter of live performances, most recently at the Schlafly Tap Room downtown.
Produced by electronic musician Eric Hall, Horsey Can’t Swim - A Love Letter To Brett Underwood includes 43 tracks encompassing free improv, alt-rock, noise, experimental music, and more. Contributors to the the project include Jaap Blonk & Damon Smith, Syna So Pro, Ghost Ice, Raglani, Michael Williams, NNN Cook, Alex Cunningham, caveofswords, Tory Starbuck, and a number of others.
All the proceeds from the recording's pay-what-you-want sales on Bandcamp will go to Underwood, whose hours as a bartender and show booker at the Tap Room were cut back drastically when the COVID pandemic began.
* And speaking of the COVID pandemic, the efforts of the group "Keep Live Alive Saint Louis" to support local workers in the entertainment industry over the past year were spotlighted in a feature by Andrea Smith of Ladue News
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