So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* The concert by singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina that streamed live last Saturday from The Pageant now can be viewed online.

* The Kranzberg Arts Foundation has published the results of their survey asking audience members about what would make them feel safe returning to live performance venues in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic..

* Upcoming outdoor concerts at The Dark Room and the National Blues Museum were previewed in a story from St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy Goodwin.

* Pianist Adam Maness' arrangement of "America the Beautiful" has been recorded by singer Malena Smith and musicians from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as part of "Songs of America," a new patriotic-themed video series from SLSO. You can see the music video for the song here, and the rest of the "Songs of America" series here.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* St. Louis magazine has published their annual "A List" of local attractions, organizations, people, and events, and the names of at least a couple of the winners will be familiar to StLJN readers.

The Red and Black Brass Band was mentioned for "Best Use of Brass," while Blue Strawberry was named "Best New Storytelling Venue." You can see a list of all the winners here.

* The current fund-raising efforts of radio station WSIE are the subject of a feature story from the Riverfront Times' Daniel Hill. Thanks in large part to budget cuts by the state of Illinois, WSIE must raise a total of $100,000 by the end of this month or the station may go off the air permanently.

* Job’s Trials: A Jazz Song Cycle, the latest recording from bassist and St. Louis native Dan Loomis, was reviewed by the UK magazine Jazz Journal.

* Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina (pictured) talked about what she's been doing during lockdown and discussed a couple of upcoming livestream performances in an interview with the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson.

* Jazz in St. Louis has gotten some attention from NYC's Jazz at Lincoln Center recently, as last week JALC published a Spotify playlist of St. Louis jazz (accompanied by a short and rather sketchy history of our local scene) as part of a series called "City Soundscapes."

That was followed this week by a St. Louis-themed installment of "On the Road with Riley," an online video series featuring trumpeter Riley Mulkerhar that purports to take "viewers on a virtual road trip...to see how various #jazz scenes around the U.S. are coping with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis." The video features a brief chat with pianist Adam Maness and a streamed performance of "St. Louis Blues" by Mulherkar, Maness, bassist Bob DeBoo, and drummer Kaleb Kirby.

* Dr. Dorothy Steward, the mother of businessman, philanthropist and Jazz St. Louis board member David Steward and one of the namesakes of JSL's headquarters, the Harold and Dorothy Steward Center for Jazz, has died at age 92.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* In a ceremony this past Monday at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, pianist, guitarist and composer Adam Maness (pictured) received a St. Louis Arts Award from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis.

In conjunction with the award recognizing Maness as 2020's top "Arts Collaborator," the Council produced a brief video about him, which you can see here.

* Writing in Syncopated Times, Friends of Scott Joplin board member Magdalene Linck ponders the organization's future after the recent death of board president Bryan Cather.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold was interviewed on the online video series PopkillerTV Plus.

* In an article for American Songwriter magazine, guitarist Pat Metheny tells "Why A Miles Davis Album Changed His Life Forever."

* Rhino Records and the Miles Davis estate have released an official music video for "So Emotional," a track from Davis' "lost" album Rubberband that was released late last year. The track and the video both feature vocalist Lalah Hathaway (daughter of the late singer, pianist and former St. Louisan Donny Hathaway), and you can see the video online here.

Jazz this week: "Such Sweet Thunder," Ben Lamar Gay, Cécile McLorin Salvant, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes visits from a Grammy Award winning singer and an intriguing, genre-busting musician making his debut here, plus a multi-media event bringing together the words of Shakespeare and the music of Duke Ellington, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...


Wednesday, October 2
Pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin will team up for the first of two evenings of duets (plus a Thursday matinee) at Jazz St. Louis.

Also on Wednesday, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra returns for a "Notes From Home" performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Thursday, October 3
"Such Sweet Thunder," a collaboration among Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Big Muddy Dance Company, and Jazz St. Louis, will be presented for the first of three nights at the Public Media Commons in Grand Center.

The event, which is free and open to the public but requires a ticket, will feature the Jazz St. Louis Big Band playing Duke Ellington's score along with the actors, dancers, and big-screen video supplied by Nine Network.

Also on Thursday, singer and bassist Janet Evra and her quartet play at Joe's Cafe; singer Cheri Evans and CEEJazzSoul return to the Chase Club; and Kansas City jump blues band Grand Marquis will take the stage at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Friday, October 4
Jazz St. Louis will present the first of two nights of "Abbey Road at 50," with the Beatles' penultimate release re-imagined as jazz by keyboardist Ryan Marquez, The People's Key, and guest vocalist Lola.

Also on Friday, vibraphonist Tom Rickard leads a trio at Cigar Inn, and multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris will be in his not-so-secret identity as DJ Nune for late night sets at The Dark Room.

Saturday, October 5
Multi-instrumentalist Ben Lamar Gay (pictured, top left) and his quartet will make their St. Louis debut in a performance presented by New Music Circle at Off Broadway.

The Chicago native's sound is a bit hard to pin down, involving disparate elements including free jazz, Brazilian music, electronics, and more, but you can get some idea of his musical range by perusing the videos collected in this post from Saturday before last.

Also on Saturday, three-time Grammy Award winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant (pictured, bottom left) returns with pianist Aaron Diehl's trio for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

For a look at what Salvant has been up to since her last appearance here in 2017 (besides snagging that third Grammy for her most recent album The Window), check out this post from last Saturday featuring video from several recent performances.

Sunday, October 6
Dizzy Atmosphere plays swing and Gypsy jazz for brunch at The Dark Room, and the Jazz Troubadours play their monthly first-Sunday gig at Evangeline's.

Monday, October 7
Pianist Carol Schmidt and saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will play a concert of duets at the Thompson Music Building Recital Hall on the Webster University campus.

Tuesday, October 8
Former St. Louisan Mark Deutsch, who's been living in California for much of the last two decades, returns home to perform on his self-invented instrument, the Bazantar, at the Sheldon Concert Hall;  and the Glen Smith/Eric Slaughter Quartet will play a 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.)

Jazz this week: "Double Vision Revisited," Emily Wallace & Adam Maness Trio, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a homecoming gig for one of the most famous jazz musicians ever to come from this area, plus a number of noteworthy performances from local players and singers. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, August 7
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo performs in a free concert to close out this year's Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden, making up for her date that was rained out earlier this summer.

Also on Wednesday, the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" includes trumpeter TJ Muller and friends at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and Farshid Etniko at The Dark Room.

Thursday, August 8
Singer Cheri Evans and CEEJazzSoul return to the Chase Club in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, and saxophonist Kendrick Smith brings his trio to The Dark Room.

Friday, August 9
Singer Emily Wallace (pictured, bottom left) teams up with pianist Adam Maness' trio for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis; the Midwest Jazz-tette plays West Coast-style "cool" jazz at Evangeline's; and drummer Steve Davis' band, featuring singer Feyza Eren, performs at the Ozark Theatre.

Elsewhere around town, percussionist Herman Semidey and Son Montuno play salsa, Latin jazz and more at The Dark Room; and the Schlafly Tap Room presents a three-band bill of improvising musicians, featuring the duo of guitarists Shane Parish and Wendy Eisenberg, Apathist! with guitarist Chris Trull and violinist Alex Cunningham, and bassist Darin Gray.

Saturday, August 10
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents their monthly jam session matinee, hosted by pianist Bob Row and drummer John Gillick at J P's Corner; singer Wendy Gordon and friends will perform in a matinee at Hwy 67 BBQ; and keyboardist Andrew Stephen's Texturz will play the late show at The Dark Room.

Sunday, August 11
Music choices with brunch this Sunday include Miss Jubilee at Evangeline's and Janet Evra at The Dark Room. Later that afternoon, guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran plays at Alpha Brewing Company, and singer Chuck Flowers returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Monday, August 12
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck, and singer-impressionist Dean Christopher and his "Rat Pack and More" show return to One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar.

Tuesday, August 13
The "Double Vision Revisited" tour, featuring saxophonist and former St. Louisan David Sanborn, pianist Bob James and bassist Marcus Miller (pictured, top left), comes to the Sheldon Concert Hall.

For more about Sanborn, who just celebrated his 74th birthday last week, plus some videos of live performances of music from the Double Vision album,  check out this post from last Saturday.

Also on Tuesday, mandolinist Knez Jakovac and his quartet plus guest vocalist Janet Evra will perform 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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Pianists Peter Martin and Adam Maness (pictured) will present a special live-streaming version of their Open Studio podcast "You'll Hear It" next Friday, August 9.

* Thurman's In Shaw was reviewed by Sauce magazine, with a mention of the venue's live jazz offerings alongside the critique of its food and drinks.

* A previously unseen interview from the mid-1980s with drummer and St. Louis native Phillip Wilson has been published in the latest issue of the online 'zine Perfect Sound Forever.

* Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo took time out from her just-concluded European tour to stop in Jazztone Studios in Valencia, Spain to record a music video of the song "Que Lio," originally made famous by Puerto Rican salsa singer Hector Lavoe.

* Singer Valerie Kirchhoff aka Miss Jubilee was one of the musicians interviewed for a Quad City Times article about this weekend's Bix Jazz Festival in Davenport, IA.

* A post on the UMSL Daily blog recounts the UMSL Jazz Ensemble's recent trip to Europe, which doubled as a farewell to outgoing director of jazz studies Jim Widner.

* The Brothers Lazaroff were interviewed about their new album and shows this weekend at Jazz St. Louis by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson. (Link is paywalled)

* There's a new trailer out this week for director Stanley Nelson's documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, which will play starting later this month in selected theaters across the country.

* Davis also was the subject of a recent episode of MOJO magazine's "Innovators Podcast."

* Continuing on the Davis beat, the trumpeter this week was the latest musician discussed in The Guardian's recurring "20 Greatest Albums Ranked" feature.

* And finally, Jazz Journal has a review of Milestones, a new reissue of some familiar early Davis tracks by the French label Dreyfus Jazz.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis has announced the winners of its 2020 St. Louis Arts Awards, and among the honorees will be pianist Adam Maness (pictured), who will receive the Arts Collaborator award at a banquet and ceremony to be held on January 27, 2020 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

* The Miles Davis Jazz Festival, held last Saturday at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton, was the subject of a feature story in the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

* Stanley Nelson Jr., the director of the new Miles Davis documentary Birth of the Cool, was interviewed about the film by Jazz Times.

* Meanwhile, combination listening sessions and panel discussions on the new reissue of Davis' Complete Birth of the Cool, which was released last Friday, were presented in New York City and Los Angeles.

* Lastly, after putting out excerpts on a four-song EP for this year's Record Store Day, the Miles Davis estate and Rhino/Warner Records will release the full version of the trumpeter's "lost" album Rubberband, recorded in the mid-80s and then shelved in favor of what would become the album Tutu. The vinyl LP includes 11 tracks, which were completed by the original producers and Davis’ nephew Vince Wilburn Jr, with new vocals added by Lalah Hathaway and Ledisi.

* Fire Shut Up In My Bones, the new opera by trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard that premieres tonight at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, was previewed by Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American.

* Pianist and former St. Louisan Tom McDermott wrote about the music of the late Dr. John for The Daily Beast.

* Former Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap, who left the organization last month to take a job as director of the cultural division of Broward County, FL, was profiled in the south Florida publication Art Hive.

* Snarky Puppy's performance last month at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion was reviewed by KDHX's Joseph Ferber.

Jazz this week: Arturo O'Farrill, a tribute to Stevie Wonder, Alexis Lombre, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes pianists visiting from New York City and Chicago, a tribute to the music of a legendary singer/songwriter of soul, a benefit raising scholarship money for local music students, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, May 1
Pianist Arturo O'Farrill performs for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis.

O'Farrill (pictured, top left) is something of a living repository of Latin-jazz lore, but he's also a forward-looking musician whose own artistic output is hard to pigeonhole. He recently completed a four-month residency at NYC's Greene Space that let him show off some different aspects of his musical personality. For some videos of performances from that residency, and more about Arturo O'Farrill, check out this post from last Saturday.

Thursday, May 2
Jazz-fusion trio Tracer returns to The Dark Room, and saxophonist Vince Sala leads a trio at The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, May 3
Singer Brian Owens, pianist Adam Maness' trio and Good 4 The Soul keyboardist Adaron “Pops” Jackson will join forces for the first of two nights of "The Book of Wonder: Celebrating Stevie Wonder" at Jazz St. Louis.

Also on Friday, Chicago-based pianist Alexis Lombre (pictured, bottom left) plays an early evening set at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups, and the Funky Butt Brass Band performs outdoors at The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy.

Saturday, May 4
The Coleman Hughes Project heads out to Mount Pleasant Estates in Augusta for a matinee presentation of "Jazz & Jokes," also featuring comedian Lady Re.

Then on Saturday evening, the Joe Bozzi Band returns to Evangeline's, and Dizzy Atmosphere plays swing and Gypsy jazz at Urban Chestnut Midtown Brewery and Biergarten.

Sunday, May 5
The spring edition of the St. Louis Record Show takes place at the American Czech Center, and later that afternoon, the Genesis Jazz Project returns to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Sunday evening, the Jazz Troubadours play their monthly gig at Evangeline's; and Jazz St. Louis will raise money for local music students with “Swing For The Scholars,” a benefit featuring music from the Adam Maness Trio, Route 66 Alumni Band, Good 4 The Soul, Anita Jackson, and student ensembles from JSL's JazzUprogram.

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.)

Jazz this week: Lea DeLaria,"Music for Piano, Percussion & Drums," and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features visits from a couple of local natives turned expats - one quite famous, the other up-and-coming - plus an assortment of performances in a variety of jazz styles from hometown performers. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, January 23
Singer Emily Wallace presents a one-night-only performance at Jazz St. Louis, backed by pianist Adam Maness' trio.

Also on Wednesday, the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features guitarist Jacob Weisman and friends at The Stage at KDHX, the weekly jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, January 24
Saxophonist Stephen Martin is back home from Kansas City to lead a quartet at The Dark Room, and singer Joe Mancuso will welcome singer Jan Shapiro and pianist Dave Venn as the guests for his gig this week at 50/Fifty Kitchen.

Friday, January 25
Belleville native Lea DeLaria (pictured, top left) may be best known as an actor and one of the stars of the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black, but she also has extensive credits in cabaret, musical theater and stand-up comedy. All those skills likely will be on display when DeLaria takes the stage for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis as part of the series JSL is co-presenting this year with Cabaret Project of St. Louis.

Also on Friday, singer Tony Viviano presents a tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin for the first of two nights at Table Three; soul/jazz quintet Hip Grease returns to The Dark Room; trumpeter Jim Manley performs at One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, January 26
Pianist Greg Mills and percussionist Glen "Papa" Wright will present a free concert of "Music for Piano, Percussion & Drums" at St. Louis University's Xavier Hall; and The Gaslight Squares play vintage jazz at The Frisco Barroom, a recently opened spot in the Old Orchard neighborhood of Webster Groves.

Sunday, January 27
The Folk School of KDHX will host their monthly traditional jazz jam session, and DJ Pockets will present his monthly "1950s/60s Jazz Record Spin" at The Royale.

Monday, January 28
Bassist Willem von Hombracht leads a trio in a concert at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium, and singer/impressionist Dean Christopher brings his "Rat Pack & More" show back to One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar.

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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Pianist Adam Maness' trio is profiled as another of the Riverfront Times' "STL 77" for 2018.

* WSIE 88.7 FM "The Sound" will have a new boss as of next Monday, May 21, as Jason Church is leaving his job as news director at talk radio station KFTK-FM to become the new general manager of WSIE, which is based on the campus of SIU Edwardsville.

Church has been involved in various jazz radio ventures in St. Louis for more than a decade, including doing on-air and program development work at smooth jazz station WSSM, internet radio station The Oasis, and Hip 96.3 HD-3; and hosting Radio Arts Foundation's "The Jazz Collective" on Saturday nights, a job he'll continue along with his new duties at WSIE.

* The Young Friends of Jazz St. Louis are accepting applications from individuals who would like to serve next season on their board of directors. Board members plan and lead the group's various activities and events to support the mission of Jazz St. Louis.

For more information, go to http://www.jazzstl.org/support/young-friends, or email youngfriends@jazzstl.org for an application.

* Pianist and St. Louis native Lawrence Fields (pictured) can be seen with the band Sound Prints, co-led by trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxophonist Joe Lovano, in a new video of Wayne Shorter's composition "Juju," recorded earlier this month at New Morning in Paris.

* Pianist Peter Martin has posted to Facebook a video of a full set from his shows with bassist Chris Thomas and drummer Brian Blade two weekends ago at Jazz St. Louis. (The music starts at approximately 17:40 into the video, which is an unedited recording of a live stream from that night.)

* Saxophonist Eric Person has posted to YouTube a video clip of "Juicy Lucy," recorded during his team-up with fellow saxophonist Houston Person in March 2017 at Dizzy's in NYC.

* Also just up on YouTube, the STL Free Jazz Collective's complete first set from last Saturday's performance at the 14th St. Artists Community.

* The latest dispatch from the St. Louis American's Delores Shante offers her impressions of a recent performance by singer Anita Jackson at The Dark Room.

* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch/STLtoday has put online a gallery of photos from singer Denise Thimes' Mothers' Day show at the Touhill. 

* Trumpeter Terence Blanchard talked about his new album Live and his gig this Sunday at the Grandel Theatre for a story by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake is featured in a new instructional video for Jazz at Lincoln Center's "Jazz Academy."

* Trumpeter/singer and U City native Jeremy Davenport's song "One Way Ticket to New Orleans," written to commemorate the city's tricentennial, was the subject of a feature story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

* Grant Green Jr. will take his father Grant Green's music on the road this summer to help promote Resonance Records' release of two previously unheard albums by the guitarist and St. Louis native (pictured).

In addition to Green Jr, who is Green's eldest son and also a guitarist, the band billed as "Grant Green's Evolution of Funk" will include saxophonist Donald Harrison, keyboardist Marc Cary and drummer Mike Clark, and will make their debut with performances from June 28 to July 1 at NYC's Jazz Standard.

* On a related note, London Jazz News has reviewed Green's two new Resonance albums, Live at Oil Can Harry's and Funk in France, which will be released officially this Saturday, April 21 for Record Store Day.  You can find much more on this year's RSD jazz releases in this article from DownBeat.

* Drummer Kevin Bowers was interviewed about his shows this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson.

* Multi-instrumentalist Adam Maness has composed and produced music for a new video honoring the St. Louis Cardinals' Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson on the 50th anniversary of his historic performance in 1968, aka "The Year of the Pitcher."

With some coaching from Maness and singer Brian Owens, kids from the not-for-profit LIFE Arts, Inc wrote and performed the lyrics for the video, which can be seen on Major League Baseball's site MLB.com.

* Speaking of baseball, the Cardinals' Ernie Hayes was among the MLB ballpark organists featured in a recent post by JazzWax's Marc Myers.

* The Sheldon Concert Hall has posted to Facebook an album of photos from Ramsey Lewis' performance at last Friday night's benefit gala and an album from last Saturday's performance by pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya.

* Singer Denise Thimes' Mothers Day show raising money to fight pancreatic cancer, which will be held this year at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, was previewed in an article by Ladue News' Emma Dent.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold has been on tour in the UK and Europe, and his show last week at Jazz Cafe in London got a rave review from Jazzwise magazine.

* Miles Davis was the subject this week of a BBC program hosted by Adrian Utley of the British "trip-hop" band Portishead. Also on the Miles beat, the recently released box set Miles Davis & John Coltrane — The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6 was reviewed by the Village Voice's Michael J. Agovino.

* HEC-TV has produced a video featuring testimonials from two local students, Kendall Blumenthal and Brittany O'Reilly, who have benefited from music scholarships awarded by Jazz St. Louis.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Pianist and St. Louis native Stephanie Trick and her husband/piano duo partner Paolo Alderighi (pictured) are headed across the Atlantic for some gigs in the UK.

* Singer Denise Thimes was interviewed about her performances next week at Dizzy's Club in NYC by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson.

* Bassist and singer Tonina Saputo was profiled by the Columbia Daily Tribune's Aarik Danielsen in advance of her show at the True/False festival in CoMo.

* Singer Valerie "Miss Jubilee" Kirchhoff and pianist Ethan Leinwand were featured in a recent post on the blog Jazz Lives.

* Singer Alicia Olatuja has posted to Facebook some photos from her gig last month at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio Network has released a new episode of Martin's podcast "The Process" featuring an interview with The Bad Plus.

* Pianist Adam Maness' weekly Thursday night gig at Thurman's in Shaw is the subject of a short feature story by the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer.

Jazz this week: John Pizzarelli, Sammy Miller and the Congregation, a tribute to Thelonious Monk, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the St. Louis debut of an up-and-coming young band; a tribute to a distinctive jazz composer and pianist; the return of a longtime local favorite for a benefit performance; and more. 

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 25
Pianist Adam Maness, bassist Bob DeBoo and drummer Montez Coleman will salute one of the greatest composers in jazz in the first of two nights of a "Thelonious Monk Centennial Celebration" at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Wednesday, the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features cornetist and singer T.J Müller at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, a jam session at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, October 26
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents "Streams of Extremity II," a free concert featuring pianist Ptah Williams, guitarist/bassist William Lenihan, drummer Steve Davis, and a string trio performing and improvising based on the music of Bela Bartok, Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and more.

Elsewhere around town, New Orleans keyboardist and singer John "Papa" Gros returns to the Broadway Oyster Bar, and trumpeter Keith Moyer leads a quintet at The Dark Room

Friday, October 27
Drummer/singer Sammy Miller and the Congregation (pictured, center left) will make their St. Louis debut and wrap up a week-long educational residency for Jazz St. Louis with the first of two nights of performances at Jazz at the Bistro.

For more about Miller and his band of twenty-somethings, plus some sample performances on video, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival presents singer and pianist Eric Comstock and singer Barbara Fasano in a one-night-only performance of their cabaret show "Downton Abbey Road: The Best of Britain" at the Gaslight Theater.

Elsewhere around town, the Midwest Jazz-tette returns to Evangeline's, and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, October 28
Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli (pictured, top left) will perform for the annual "ArtSounds" benefit gala at the Sheldon Concert Hall. (For those interested in just hearing the music, the Sheldon may have some concert-only tickets available; check with their box office for details.)

Also on Saturday, the Funky Butt Brass Band returns to Broadway Oyster Bar.

Sunday October 29
The Folk School of KDHX presents their monthly traditional jazz jam session; the Bosman Twins (pictured, bottom left) will headline a benefit at the Sheldon raising money for the Royal Vagabonds scholarship fund; and the students of the JazzU Big Band will perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

Monday, October 30
Saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will lead a quintet of members of the Webster University jazz faculty in "1967: Jazz in Transition" at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

The program will feature performances of songs first released in 1967 by artists including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Lloyd, Gary Burton, Sam Rivers, Chick Corea, and more.

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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* St. Louis magazine's annual "A-List" issue is out, and among the honorees for "Culture and Amusements" are the STL Free Jazz Collective (pictured) and Yaquis on Cherokee, which features live traditional jazz and blues on weekends.

* Also in St. Louis magazine, pianist Adam Maness' regular Thursday night gig at Thurman's in Shaw is the subject of a brief feature story by Thomas Crone.

* Mr. Handy's Blues, a new documentary about the life and legacy of "St. Louis Blues" composer W.C. Handy, will get its first showing this Sunday at a private event at the MX theater on Washington Avenue.

* St. Louis native Greg Osby will join fellow saxophonists Joe Lovano and Dave Liebman as the newest member of "Saxophone Summit" for a five-night run next week at Birdland in NYC. The group, which in this iteration also includes bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Billy Hart, and pianist Phil Markowitz, will play the club starting Tuesday, June 27 through Saturday, July 1.

* A video with highlights from pianist Ethan Leinwand's St. Louis Piano Festival, which showcased an assortment of ragtime, blues, and stride pianists earlier this month at BB's Jazz Blues & Soups, has been posted to Vimeo.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio Network is rolling out a new video course, "Elements of Jazz Piano," featuring Martin and Adam Maness. You can find out more and see a preview here.  

* Jazz St. Louis is looking to hire a part-time box office associate. For details on the job and how to apply, visit their website.

* Guitarist Todd Mosby has posted on YouTube a new live performance video of his composition "Moon Song."

* Multi-instrumental Lamar Harris' Isley Brothers tribute show "Ballad of Atlantis," which is being presented this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro, was previewed on KTVI's morning newscast and in a Post-Dispatch feature story by Kevin Johnson.

* Drummer Maurice Carnes has posted to YouYube a video of his band Avant Gardians playing the music of Ornette Coleman earlier this month at the U City Jazz Festival.

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn, originally from East St. Louis and now residing in Georgia, is one of alt-weekly Creative Loafing's "6 rising Atlanta music MVPs for 2017". As mentioned last week in this space, Gunn recently launched a crowd-funding campaign to finance his next recording.

Jazz this week: Alfredo Rodriguez & Pedrito Martinez, Tim Rushlow, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a couple of noteworthy duo performances, a country singer turned big-band crooner, a new location for one of Grand Center's jazz spots, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, February 1
Pianist Alfredo Rodriguez and percussionist/vocalist Pedrito Martinez will perform for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

The two Cuban natives will be joining forces as a duo for the first time at their gigs here and then next week at NYC's Jazz Standard, likely drawing from both their respective personal songbooks and perhaps touching on traditional Cuban music as well. For more about Rodriguez and Martinez (pictured) and some video samples of recent performances, check out this post from last Saturday.

Thursday, February 2
Trumpeter Randy Holmes and pianist Carolbeth True will perform as a duo in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Elsewhere around town, pianist Adam Maness starts a new weekly Thursday night gig with his trio at Thurman's in Shaw; and pianist Ptah Williams and guitarist Eric Slaughter will help inaugurate the new incarnation of The Dark Room, which this week moves into the Grandel Theatre from its previous spot on Grand. 

Friday, February 3 
Singer Tim Rushlow (pictured, bottom left), best known for his work in country and contemporary Christian music, is mixing up his genres a bit these days, touring with a big band and presenting what's being billed as "a 1960s-style Las Vegas supper club experience" at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Saturday, February 4 
Trumpeter Jim Manley will play for brunch at Evangeline's, singer Danita Mumphard will perform in concert at the Jacoby Arts Center, and Miss Jubilee will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Sunday, February 5
The Friends of Scott Joplin present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe.

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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's this week's wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* One of singer of singer Cyrille Aimée's performances last week at Jazz at the Bistro was reviewed for DownBeat magazine by St. Louis writer Terry Perkins.

* Writing for the Post-Dispatch a couple of days later, Perkins then covered singer Gregory Porter's show on Saturday at the Touhill, an event also reviewed by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

* Saxophonist Jim Stevens (pictured) announced this week via Facebook that he, drummer James Jackson and bassist John King will go to Jakarta, Indonesia the first week of March to perform with guitarist Larry Coryell and keyboardist and former St. Louisan David Garfield at the Java Jazz Festival.

Described as "one of the largest jazz festivals in the world and arguably the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere," the event also will feature performances this year from Chris Botti with Sting, the jazz-fusion band Yellowjackets, singers Patti Austin and Kurt Elling, saxophonist Candy Dulfer, and more.

* Multi-instrumentalist Adam Maness of The 442s (and several other bands) has joined pianist Peter Martin's company Open Studio Network as "creative content manager." The firm produces and sells online video music lessons featuring Martin, drummer Gregory Hutchinson, guitarist Romero Lubambo, and others.

* In an interview with San Francisco Classical Voice, trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard talked about developing and premiering his opera Champion in St Louis with support from Opera Theatre St. Louis and Jazz St. Louis. A new production of Champion being mounted this month by SFJAZZ and Opera Parallèle features a revised orchestration for fewer musicians.

* St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts will present a workshop on crowdfunding for artists at 7:00 p.m. this coming Monday, February 15 at the Regional Arts Commission. Attendees will hear from the author of a book on crowdfunding, a panel of artists who have used crowdfunding, and an attorney who will talk about related legal issues. Admission is $10 in advance; $15 at the door.

Victor Goines to perform benefit concert Sunday, December 6 at The Sheldon

Saxophonist and clarinetist Victor Goines is returning to St. Louis for a performance benefiting the North County Big Band at 7:00 p.m. Sunday, December 6 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Goines, a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra since 1993, also directs the jazz studies program at Northwestern University and is active as a solo artist, performing and recording with his own quartet as well as with Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Roberts, Diana Krall, Dianne Reeves, and more. He's played here in St. Louis several times over the past decade, both as a member of JaLCO and as a headliner at the Sheldon and Jazz at the Bistro.

For this performance, Goines (pictured) will accompanied by a rhythm section of St. Louis musicians including Adam Maness on piano, Jahmal Nichols on bass, and Montez Coleman on drums.

The North County Big Band, which will play an opening set before Goines, is made up of students from several St. Louis area high schools, including Riverview Gardens, Normandy, Hazelwood Central, Central Visual and Performing Arts, and University City. The group is led by saxophonist Harvey Lockhart, band director for Riverview Gardens HS, and has performed several times at the Sheldon and at community events since its inception earlier this year.

Tickets are $35 for general admission orchestra seats, $30 general admission balcony, and $15 for students, and are on sale now via MetroTix at 314-534-1111 and online.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Jazz St. Louis' observance of today's "National Donut Day" holiday was the subject of a feature story on Fox 2/KTVI's morning newscast.

* Multi-instrumentalist Adam Maness and guitarist Tim Fischer have formed the First Tuesday Composers Club "to give an outlet for professional and amateur musicians and composers to experiment and share new music".

The "informal, open" group will meet monthly at The Dark Room in Grand Center, with the first session scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 7.

* The soundtrack from the Clark Terry documentary Keep On Keepin' On will be released as as a double vinyl album on June 23. Promo materials for the two-LP set call it "basically a Best Of collection from legendary trumpet player Clark Terry (that) features many of his most iconic recordings, including his performances with some of the all-time jazz greats: Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, and Quincy Jones."

* East St. Louis' own Terreon Gully (pictured) drums and gets a co-producer credit on vibraphonist Joe Locke's latest album Love Is A Pendulum, released last week by Motéma Music. The recording features all original compositions by Locke, performed with help from Gully, Robert Rodriguez (piano), and Ricky Rodriguez (bass), plus special guests Rosario Giuliani (alto/soprano sax), Donny McCaslin (tenor sax), Victor Provost (steel pan), Theo Bleckmann (voice), and Paul Bollenback (guitar).

* The recently formed STL Free Jazz Collective has set up a BandCamp page with a free-to-download live album recorded at Tavern of Fine Arts. The group also has posted on YouTube a short promotional video with some live footage from ToFA.

* In a new blog post, saxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby shares some responses to a post from last fall about how jazz critics might benefit from a greater knowledge of the day-to-day life of working musicians.

* The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra has posted on Facebook a photo album from their performance Wednesday night at Jazz at the Bistro. Also on Facebook, photo albums from the North County Big Band on Sunday at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and a recent Sound Unlimited show at Candicci's

* First Capitol News offered some impressions of singer Tony Viviano's recent Bobby Darin tribute show at Patrick's in Westport.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's program “Somethin’ Else” will celebrate 80 years since the birth of soulful guitarist and St. Louis native Grant Green by showcasing some of Green's finest recordings, including tracks from his quartet with pianist Sonny Clark.

After that, "The Jazz Collective" and host Jason Church return with a new program featuring tunes from Craig Sharmat, Freddie Hubbard, Donald Fagen, Joshua Redman, Bob James, Maxwell, Down To The Bone, Big Brother Thunder & The MasterBlasters, The Brian Vaccaro Trio, Dawn Weber and Feyza Eren.

"Somethin' Else" airs at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by "The Jazz Collective" at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Then on Sunday, Dennis Owsley's "Jazz Unlimited" program on St. Louis Public Radio will present “West Coast Jazz-Part 1,” with music from Dave Brubeck, Wardell Gray, Hampton Hawes, Stan Kenton Orchestra, Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Shelly Manne, Shorty Rogers, Bud Shank, Laurindo Almeida, Russ Freeman, Milt Bernhart, Jack Montrose, Clifford Brown & Max Roach, Teddy Edwards, Carl Perkins, Russ Freeman, Jack Sheldon, Bob Cooper, Claude Williamson, Dexter Gordon, John Graas, Bill Perkins, Marty Paich, Andre Previn, Art Pepper, and more.

You can listen in from 9:00 pm to midnight Sundays on KWMU (90.7 FM) and online at http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org.

The 442s to celebrate release of debut album Friday, May 23 at Centene Center

The 442s will celebrate the release of their first album with a live performance at 8:00 p.m. Friday, May 23 in the Rialto Ballroom of the Centene Center for the Arts, 3547 Olive St. in Grand Center.

The eclectic, mostly instrumental quartet is comprised of two members of singer Erin Bode's band, bassist Sydney Rodway (who's also Bode's husband) and multi-instrumentalist Adam Maness, plus two members of the St. Louis Symphony, cellist Bjorn Ranheim and violinist Shawn Weil.

Financed via Kickstarter, their self-titled album (pictured) features 13 tracks composed by Maness, who plays piano, guitar, accordion, melodica and glockenspiel, in collaboration with the rest of the group.

Adding a family feeling to the proceedings, Erin Bode performs on two tracks as a guest, as does flute player Judy Ranheim, aka Bjorn Ranheim's mother.  The recording was engineered by Paul Hennerich of the Pan Galactic Company over six days this past December and January at Shock City Studios in St. Louis.

You can hear streaming audio samples from the album for free on The 442s' Bandcamp page, and purchase it as a digital download there, from the band's website, or on Amazon, Spotify or iTunes. A physical CD also will be available, but not until after the album release event.

Tickets for The 442s album release event are priced at, appropriately enough, $4.42 each, and are on sale now.

Nu-Art Series announces spring concerts

The Nu-Art Series has announced a schedule of spring Saturday matinee concerts beginning on April 2 and continuing until May 14 at the Metropolitan Gallery, 2936 Locust St. in downtown St. Louis.

The concerts, put together by Nu-Art's George Sams, will feature a mix of St. Louis musicians and returning expats, plus a couple of Sams' musical colleagues from when he lived in the San Francisco area. As with last year's spring series, the theme is "Re-Arrangements and Nu-Compositions," and each performer will offer his or her interpretation of the work of a well-known musician.

Singer Felicia Ezell, who last year performed a program of songs associated with Ella Fitzgerald for Nu-Art, will get it started on Saturday, April 2 performing "Favorites of Dionne Warwick" with accompaniment from pianist Brock Walker.

Next up, St. Louis native Marlin Bonds, now based in New York, comes home to play the music of Herbie Hancock on Saturday, April 9. Bonds began his musical career as a trumpet player, but lately has been working as a producer and arranger with hip-hop performers such as Twista, Bow Wow, and Swizzbeats. Sams says Bonds will pick up his horn again for this concert, with pianist Adam Maness, drummer Marc Colenburg and bassist Nick Jost serving as the rhythm section.

And speaking of picking a trumpet again, Sams will get his own horn out for the concert on Saturday, April 23, re-teaming with saxophonist Lewis Jordan (pictured at top left) in a new edition of their group The Sound Clinic to perform music by Ornette Coleman. Sams and Jordan, who lives in the Bay Area, will be joined by Chicago bassist Yosef Ben Israel and St. Louisan Charles "Bobo" Shaw on drums.

After a week's respite, the series will feature another visitor from the Bay Area, as keyboardist Rudi Mwongozi (pictured at left) plays a program of music by Duke Ellington on Saturday, May 7. Mwongozi, who's from Oakland and leads a jazz/R&B/reggae group called SONWA (Sound Of New World Afrikah) , will play with Sams, Shaw, bassist Claude Montgomery and alto saxophonist Kendrick Smith.

The spring series wraps up on Saturday May 14 with another St. Louis native, guitarist Marvin Horne, playing the music of Grant Green. Horne, now based in NYC, will be backed by Brock Walker, Nick Jost and Charles "Bobo" Shaw.

Doors open at 2 p.m. for all concerts, with music from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission.