And though our town no longer has a large-scale, multi-day fest since the unfortunate demise of the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival a few years back, local jazz fans can take some solace in two smaller festivals plus many other jazz-related events happening around town this weekend. Let's go to the highlights...
Tonight is the final show at Robbie's House of Jazz in Webster Groves, as the club ends its five-year run with New Hampshire-based singer Wendee Glick fronting pianist Dave Venn's sextet. (Robbie's co-owner and GM Dorothy Edwards has said she's looking for a new location with greater visibility; StLJN will have more information on that as it becomes available.)
Also tonight, the Tavern of Fine Arts presents their monthly "Experimental Arts Open Improv Night" with live improvised music; and Dizzy Atmosphere and Coco Rico offer a double dose of string band swing and Gypsy jazz at Thaxton Speakeasy.
Tomorrow, saxophonist and East St. Louis native Andre Delano is back home to perform a one-nighter at the Rustic Goat; and The People's Key, with special guests multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris and saxophonist Matt McKeever, will present "Never Can Say Goodbye: Jazz Memories of Michael," their tribute to the music of Michael Jackson, at the Kranzberg Arts Center.
Also on Friday, singer Joe Mancuso's quartet will perform at Nathalie's; keyboardist Matt Villinger leads a trio at Cigar Inn; trumpeter Jim Manley plays at Thurman Grill; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will be at C.J. Muggs in Webster Groves.
On Saturday, the second Chesterfield Wine and Jazz Festival will take place at Chesterfield Amphitheater. Unlike last year's ticketed show, this year's event is free and open to the public, and will feature a lineup topped by the electric jazz group Yellowjackets (pictured).
Also on the bill are Bach to the Future with special guest saxophonist Eric Marienthal; a group fronted by saxophonist Freddie Washington and drummer Maurice Carnes; pianist Ptah Williams' tribute to Chick Corea, and saxophonist Christopher Braig's band with singer Erika Johnson. For a closer look at a recent Yellowjackets show, check out this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.
Also on Saturday, the second day of the Wine, Dine & Jazz Festival in Belleville will feature keyboardist Pete Ruthenburg interpreting the music of Herbie Hancock, plus sets from singer Zena; Latin jazz band Son Montuno; and Soul Cafe.
Elsewhere around town, trumpeter Keith Moyer's quartet will play at Evangeline's; saxophonist Sam Hargadine's group with guitarist Tom Byrne and singer Feyza Eren will be at Bar Italia; and the Gateway City Big Band will play a free outdoor concert at Kirkwood Park Amphitheater.
On Sunday, the summer edition of the St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show will take place at the American Czech Hall on the south side.
Later that afternoon, keyboardist and singer Patrice Rushen, who lately has been doing more teaching and film scoring than performing, will be in town for a rare appearance at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For more about Rushen and some video samples from recent performances, see this post from last Saturday.
Also on Sunday, the Missouri Association for Jazz Education will present a jam session at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company.
Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective return to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups, and on Tuesday, Miss Jubilee will play a free outdoor concert at Fanetti Park.
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.)
Edited after posting to fix an incomplete sentence.
