This week, let's take a look at some more jazz documentaries, this time focusing on films that tell the stories of individual musicians. (You can see part one, published last week and featuring movies with more of a broad historical focus, here).
The first video in the embed window up top is The Wonderful World Of Louis Armstrong, which tells the story of the famed trumpeter (and the first great jazz soloist) and was released by the BBC in 1999.
That's followed by Earl "Fatha" Hines, a 1975 film about another influential figure in the development of jazz piano. It was shot at the Blues Alley nightclub in Washington DC for Britain's ITV television channel.
Next up is Let's Get Lost, a critically acclaimed 1988 film by director Bruce Weber about "the turbulent life and career of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker."
Then it'sRonnie Scott and All That Jazz, a 1989 BBC film about the tenor saxophonist-turned-proprietor of London's most famous jazz club.
The penultimate video is Mal: A Portrait Of Mal Waldron, a 1997 film about the pianist who worked with some of the most important musicians and singers of his time, including Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln, Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus and Jackie McLean.
Last but not least, it's The Jazz Baroness, a 2009 biography of Pannonica de Koenigswarter, the British jazz fan and sometimes writer who famously befriended Thelonious Monk and was known as "the patron saint of bebop."
You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...
Jazz St. Louis this week announced their season schedule for 2021-22, with normal operations set to resume this September after the long shutdown necessitated by the COVID pandemic.
Several of the artists who were canceled in the spring of 2020 when lockdowns began have been re-booked for the upcoming year. So St. Louis audiences finally will get the chance to see famed vocal group Manhattan Transfer in the intimate confines of JSL's Bistro, along with debut performances at the venue from singer and pianist Kandace Springs, pianist Connie Han, and singer Nicole Henry.
The schedule also includes two productions that originally were intended for what would have been the 2020-21 season - a celebration of the great trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry, whose birth centennial was in December 2020; and "Jazz St. Louis @ 25," a birthday party for the entire organization, now scheduled to close out the 2021-22 season. Both will feature all-star ensembles put together especially for the occasion.
Other highlights will include the return (after more than a decade) of singer Sara Gazarek, who's coming off the most critically acclaimed album of her career; the local debut of the Eubanks Evans Experience, featuring guitarist Kevin Eubanks and pianist Orrin Evans; and a week of shows from trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold, who was named "creative advisor" to Jazz St. Louis earlier this year.
JSL also once again will co-present a series of shows with the Cabaret Project of St. Louis, including appearances by cabaret grande dame Marilyn Maye and the Grammy-nominated singer Stacey Kent.
All of which still leaves room for many other familiar favorites, too. And so, trumpeter and singer Jeremy Davenport will be back from New Orleans for Thanksgiving weekend; trumpeter Jim Manley will present his annual holiday show in December; and The Bad Plus will return as the first touring act to play the club after New Year's Day, albeit in a still-unknown configuration after parting ways with Orrin Evans earlier this year.
Other returning acts that have played the Bistro multiple times before will include the fusion band Yellowjackets; Latin jazz percussionist Poncho Sanchez; pianist Kenny Barron, this time with his trio; vibraphonist Warren Wolf; and bassist Christian McBride, who will be revisiting his Ray Brown tribute band with pianist Benny Green and drummer Greg Hutchinson.
Musicians making their second appearances as headliners at the Bistro - this time with five-night runs - will include pianists Harold Lopez Nussa and Matthew Whitaker and steel guitarist Roosevelt Collier, who'll be joined by the Funky Butt Brass Band's horn section.
Here's the entire schedule in chronological order:
Friday, September 17 & Saturday, September 18: Scooter Brown Friday, September 24 & Saturday, September 25: Adam Maness Sextet plays Coltrane
Friday, October 1: Kara Baldus Mehrmann Quartet Wednesday, October 6 - Sunday, October 10:Yellowjackets Wednesday, October 13 & Thursday, October 14:Paulo Szot Friday, October 15 & Saturday, October 16:BeBe & the Neosouls Wednesday, October 20 - Sunday, October 24:Harold López-Nussa Wednesday, October 27:Antonio Foster & Friends Thursday, October 28:Sample Kulture Friday, October 29 & Saturday, October 30:Good 4 The Soul
Wednesday, November 3 - Sunday, November 7: Kandace Springs Wednesday, November 10 & Thursday, November 11:Marilyn Maye - "Here’s to Life" Friday, November 12 & Saturday, November 13: Kendrick Smith & Fusebox Wednesday, November 17 - Sunday, November 21: Matthew Whitaker Friday, November 26 & Saturday, November 27:Jeremy Davenport
Wednesday, December 1 - Sunday, December 5:Keyon Harrold Wednesday, December 8 & Thursday, December 9:Storm Large Friday, December 10 & Saturday, December 11: "A Very Manley Christmas" w/Jim Manley's Mad Brass & Rhythm Wednesday, December 15 - Sunday, December 19: "Clark Terry Centennial Celebration" with John Clayton, Sylvia Cuenca, Aaron Diehl, Jimmy Greene, and Sean Jones
Wednesday, February 2 - Sunday, February 6:Warren Wolf & Reincarnation Wednesday, February 9 & Thursday, February 10:Anita Jackson sings Nina Simone: Legacy Wednesday, February 16 - Sunday, February 20: "Ray Brown Tribute Band" with Christian McBride, Benny Green, & Gregory Hutchinson
Wednesday, March 2 - Sunday, March 6:Connie Han Wednesday, March 9 & Thursday, March 10:Stacey Kent Wednesday, March 16 - Sunday, March 20:Sara Gazarek Wednesday, March 30 - Sunday, April 3:Melissa Aldana
Season tickets will be available to the public starting June 30, with single tickets on sale in early September. Subscriptions and single tickets can be purchased online at jazzstl.org; via phone during box office hours at 314-571-6000, or in person at Jazz St. Louis HQ, 3536 Washington Ave.
Photo: Clockwise from top, Manhattan Transfer, Keyon Harrold, Orrin Evans and Kevin Eubanks; Sara Gazarek
* Merci, Miles! Live at Vienne, featuring previously unrelased recordings of one of Miles Davis' final live shows in the summer of 1991, is out today as a 2-CD set or vinyl double LP.
This week, let's revisit what has become something of a tradition for this feature in summertime, when previewable shows usually slow down dramatically in St. Louis: the "screening" of some jazz-related documentary films available for free viewing online.
Today's first film A Great Day in Harlem is a 1994 American documentary that tells the story behind the famed photograph of the same name. The picture, shot on August 12, 1958 by freelance photographer Art Kane for Esquire magazine, depicts 57 jazz musicians, including many of the biggest names then active in the music, gathered in from of a building on East 126th St. in Harlem.
After the jump, you can see the 1975 BBC documentary Born To Swing, which looks at changes in the post-WWII jazz scene through the eyes of several alumni of the Count Basie band of 1943, including Buddy Tate, Earle Warren, Joe Newman, Dickie Wells, Buck Clayton, and more.
Next up, it's 1959: The Year that Changed Jazz, another BBC documentary from 2009 that looks at how the music was affected by the release that year of four landmark albums - Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Dave Brubeck's Time Out, Charles Mingus' Mingus Ah Um, and Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come.
That's followed by Inside Out In The Open, a 2001 American film subtitled "An Expressionist Journey Into The World Known As Free Jazz." As the name suggests, the movie looks at free and experimental jazz via performances by and interviews with practitioners such as Marion Brown, Roswell Rudd, John Tchicai, Alan Silva, Burton Greene, Joseph Jarman, William Parker, Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, Susie Ibarra, and St. Louis' own Baikida Carroll.
The fifth film, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool is from 1994, and it both explores the consequences of AIDS for the African American community and also spotlights collaborations between jazz performers and hip-hop and "acid jazz" artists, including Donald Byrd, Guru and Ronny Jordan; MC Solaar and Ron Carter; Me’Shell NdegéOcello and Herbie Hancock; The Roots and Roy Ayers; Digable Planets and St. Louis native Lester Bowie; and more.
The last two films aren't jazz documentaries per se, but instead look at a couple of genres closely associated with jazz. Our Latin Thing is a 1972 documentary about the explosion of salsa music in 1970s New York, featuring performances, interviews and in-studio footage, while Blues Story from 2003, looks at modern electric blues and includes interviews and performance footage from a variety of musicians, including B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Little Milton, Ruth Brown, Bobby "Blue" Bland, St. Louis mainstay Henry Townsend, and many more.
You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...
* The Riverfront Times reports that the Way Out Club, a fixture of south city nightlife and alternative music for 27 years, will close permanently next month.
St. Louis musicians associated with jazz studies at Webster University will perform in support of an international jazz education program in "Bebop, Blues, Ballads and Bossas," a concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 21 at the First Congregational Church, 10 W. Lockwood Ave. in Webster Groves.
The participating musicians all are current and former faculty members and alumni from Webster U, including trumpeter and former department of music chair Mike Parkinson; pianists Kim Portnoy, Carol Schmidt, and Carolbeth True; bassists Willem von Hombracht and Ben Wheeler; drummers Kevin Gianino and Joe Meyer; violinist Abbie Steiling; and saxophonists Paul DeMarinis, Hugh Jones, Mike Karpowicz, Chris Hubbard and Zac Minor.
They'll be playing in support of the International Summer Jazz Academy (ISJA) in Krakow, Poland, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. ISJA serves high school and college students from Poland and other countries, offering a curriculum that includes small combos, vocal jazz ensemble, music theory, history and improvisation, master classes, and nightly jam sessions for students and faculty. More than 100 students are expected at this year's session.
Parkinson was the ISJA's artistic director from 1995 to 2004, and von Hombracht served in the same capacity from 2008 to 2014. In addition, a number of Webster U faculty members and gradate students over the years have served as guest instructors or teaching assistants for the program.
Now, as the organization celebrates its 25th anniversary, both Parkinson and von Hombracht (pictured) have been invited to return for the anniversary festivities, which will be held July 25 through August 1 at the Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow. Proceeds from the June 21 concert will help to underwrite their travel expenses to and from Krakow.
General admission to "Bebop, Blues, Ballads and Bossas" is $10 per person, and tickets will be available only at the door.
This week, let's take a look at "St. Louis Music Box," a video project created and produced over the past year by hassist/singer Janet Evra and guitarist Will Buchanan.
When the pandemic hit last spring and all gigs were canceled, Evra and Buchanan, who are married as well as musical partners, like a lot of musicians found themselves with some time on their hands. One of the projects they devised to fill the void was the "St. Louis Music Box" series, in which they and various musical friends team up to collaborate remotely on new arrangements of familiar popular tunes from the 70s and 80s.
Singer Anita Jackson has been a mainstay on the project, doing lead vocals on five of the six videos released so far, while Evra concentrated on bass and co-production duties. While most of tghe musicians are from St. Louis, the remote-collaboration nature of the project has made it possible to enlist some famous guest stars, most notably veteran trumpeter Randy Brecker and piano phenom Taylor Eigsti.
The "St. Louis Music Box" series kicked off last year in July with a video cover of the Kool and the Gang disco-era hit "Ladies' Night," performed by Evra, Buchanan, Jackson, keyboard player Andrew Stephen, and drummer Tim Moore.
After the jump, you can check out their version of "Ain't Nobody," a song written by Prince that in 1984 was one of singer Chaka Khan's last hits as a member of the band Rufus. The recording features Randy Brecker and the same band as "Ladies' night," except with drummer Dhoruba Hill in for Moore.
The next song, a cover of Natalie Cole's "This Will Be," uses mostly the same musicians, but with tenor saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown instead of Brecker and Tim Moore back behind the drum kit.
That's followed by another disco-era song, Leo Sayer's "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," with both Jackson and Evra on vocals and Paul Brackens playing the bass, and then by a cover of the Beatles' "Octopus's Garden" with Evra as vocal soloist accompanied by Brackens, Moore, and keyboard player Ryan Marquez.
The final video and most recent in the series is "Some Kind of Wonderful," made famous in 1974 by Grand Funk Railroad, and here featuring Taylor Eigsti on piano along with Evra, Buchanan, Jackson, and Noore. No word yet as to when and if another installment might be forthcoming, but you can keep an eye out for one by checking in on Evra's YouTube channel,
You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...
Here's StLJN's weekly wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:
* The Kranzberg Arts Foundation this week announced that they'll be taking applications for their 2021-22 artist-in-residency program
starting Tuesday, June 15. The program is open to all individual artists - visual arts, writers, filmmakers, etc - as well as musicians. The deadline to apply is August 1; for more information or to submit an application, go to https://www.kranzbergartsfoundation.org/residencies/.
* Drummer and educator Henry Ettman will be teaching a jazz course online next month via the Washington University Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. "New Sounds, New Artists, New Scenes: Jazz in the 21st Century" will explore "new and evolving artists and groups, changing jazz styles from mainstream to avant-garde, and the impact of external forces such as technology, political/cultural turbulence and the pandemic." The course will meet (online) from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Wednesdays starting July 7, continuing through July 28. To register, go to https://osher.wustl.edu/course-registration-2/ or call (314) 935-4237.
* Pianist Peter Martin's company Open Studio is introducing another weekly webcast, this one starring drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. in "a journey through all things #DRUMS with various guest drummers, musicians, artists, and music industry professionals." The program will air live at 5:00 p.m. Wednesdays on the company's Facebook page, starting next week with drummer Lewis Nash as the featured guest/interviewee.
The nearly ubiquitous Miles Davis notwithstanding, which jazz musician from the St. Louis area has been heard by the most people throughout the world? It's probably impossible to measure something like that with any degree of exactitude, but one certainly can make an informed guess.
Any short list would have to include trumpeter Clark Terry, famed for nearly seven decades as a high-profile jazz soloist and recording artist, member of the Ellington and Basie big bands, and veteran of television and session work; and saxophonist David Sanborn, who has had a very popular career as a solo artist, as well as being one of the most recorded session players of his era and the host of various radio and television programs.
Another, more unexpected contender for the title would have to be saxophonist, arranger and composer Oliver Nelson, who packed a lot of music into his all-too-brief 43 years on planet Earth. Born in St. Louis on June 4, 1932, Nelson was working with local bands by age 15 and joined saxophonist Louis Jordan's big band at 18, playing alto sax and arranging.
After serving in the Marine Corps and attending Washington University in St. Louis and Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Nelson moved to New York, where he established himself as a soloist, bandleader and arranger/composer. His big breakthrough came with the album The Blues and the Abstract Truth, which featured his tune "Stolen Moments," now a standard played by musicians everywhere.
Nelson went on to record many big-band albums and to work as an arranger for a number of well-known jazz musicians, including Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Johnny Hodges, Wes Montgomery, Buddy Rich, and Jimmy Smith. In 1967, he moved to Los Angeles, where, along with his old pal Quincy Jones, he became one of the first African-American composers to get significant amounts of work scoring television and films.
Nelson wrote music for hugely popular TV shows such as Ironside, Night Gallery, Columbo, The Six Million Dollar Man, and The Bionic Woman, reaching tens of millions of people every week. He also wrote the score for the film Death of a Gunfighter, arranged Gato Barbieri's music for the movie Last Tango in Paris, and produced and arranged popular music for singers including Nancy Wilson, James Brown, the Temptations, and Diana Ross.
Tragically, Nelson died of a heart attack on October 28, 1975. Given the vast quantity and generally high quality of the music he wrote during his short life, one can't help but wonder how much more he could have accomplished had he lived longer.
Even so, Nelson's legacy is quite impressive - his recordings still hold up well today; his film and TV music remains emblematic of its era; and "Stolen Moments" likely will continue to be played forever. Moreover, the path he helped to pave in Hollywood has been well-utilized by subsequent generations of musicians; for example, it's hard to imagine someone like Terence Blanchard getting the chance to write all those film scores absent the pioneering work of Nelson and Jones.
Today, as a tribute to this under-appreciated St. Louis jazz great, we've got what seem to be the only videos online of Nelson in live performance. The first three videos show of Nelson performing and conducting the multi-national Berlin Dream Band playing his arrangements for a TV program recorded in 1970 in Berlin.
The first video, "Black Brown and Beautiful," is a Nelson original that also features him as the soloist, while the second, "Milestones" has solos by Leo Wright and Klaus Marmulla on altos and Rolf Roemer on tenor. The third video shows the band playing Nelson's arrangement of the gospel standard "Down By The Riverside."
Those clips are followed by two short excerpts of a performance of Nelson's composition "Swiss Suite," recorded in 1971 at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The existence of these excerpts suggests there might be more video out there, but until and unless something else surfaces, these clips would seem to be the only film or video recordings of any Nelson performances.
(This is an edited version of a post originally published in June 2009.)
You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...
* A little-heard live audio recording of drummer Phillip Wilson(pictured) from March 1979 in Rome has surfaced on YouTube. The bootleg recording, nearly 2 1/2 hours long, features Wilson leading a trio with trumpeter Olu Dara and pianist/vocalist Donald Smith, joined on three tracks by trombonist Joseph Bowie, saxophonist Luther Thomas, and bassist Darrell Mixon.
* And speaking of archival material, a newly colorized version of footage of the Miles Davis Quintet performing at the Teatro dell'Arte in Milan, Italy in October 1964 has been uploaded to YouTube.
* St. Louis is one of the cities mentioned by Rolling Stone magazine in a newly published article about "7 Bucket List Destinations for Blues Lovers." The story namechecks BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups, the National Blues Museum, and, in an indication that the piece may have been in the works for a while, Beale on Broadway, which closed more than two years ago in January 2019.
It's the start of another new month, and that means it's time to check in on StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds, where each day there's posted a new online music video, drawing on genres including jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock, experimental, and more.
The five most-watched videos added to the site last month were:
Other recent posts have featured perofrmances on video by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joni Mitchell, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers with Gary Moore, Max Roach Quartet, Jeff Beck, NRBQ, Delbert McClinton, Larry Coryell and Eleventh House, Pink Floyd, Gary Burton Quintet, McCoy Tyner Sextet, Dexter Gordon, Klaus Doldinger's Passport, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Fleetwood Mac, John McLaughlin, Johnnie Taylor, Lee Ritenour, Carole King, Howlin' Wolf, Roscoe Mitchell, Ike & Tina Turner, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Rickie Lee Jones, Eddie Harris Funk Project, and Buddy Guy and Junior Wells.
If you've somehow missed out on all this up until now, no worries - all these videos, plus thousands more from the archives, can be seen by going to https://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/.
