So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Miles Davis' landmark 1970 album Bitches Brew "sounded like the future," according to an article in The Guardian about the recording's 50th anniversary.

* If you missed Tuesday's broadcast premiere of the documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool this week on PBS' American Masters, or want to watch it again, the entire film can be seen for the next 30 days streaming from the PBS website. In addition, the film's director Stanley Nelson and Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn also are featured on the latest episode of the American Masters podcast.

* In a related story, the various periods of Davis' musical career were examined, compared and contrasted by the DJs at WBGO radio.

* Singer Katie Karel's show last week at Blue Strawberry was reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi for his blog Stage Left.

* Saxophonist Rev. Cliff Aerie and trumpeter Tim Osiek of the Oikos Ensemble have released Volume 7 in their "Worship Jazz" series of small-group arrangements.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn was the subject of a feature story in the San Jose Mercury News.

* Jazz St. Louis has published on their website a Q&A with pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson.

* Also from Jazz St. Louis (via St. Louis magazine) comes word that Joanna Serenko, a former student in the organization's JazzU program, is a contestant on the current season of the NBC program The Voice,

John Scofield, Sean Jones to headline 2020 Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival

The Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival has announced that guitarist John Scofield and trumpeter Sean Jones (pictured) will be the headliners for the 2020 fest's concerts on Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Scofield will perform on Friday, featuring music from his most recent recording Combo 66 with a band including keyboardist Gerald Clayton, bassist Vicente Archer, and drummer Bill Stewart.

His last gigs in St. Louis were an October 2017 date with the group Hudson at The Sheldon, and a week co-leading a band with saxophonist Joe Lovano in April, 2018 at Jazz St. Louis.

Jones will play on Saturday, teaming up with choreographer, dancer and vocalist Brinae Ali to present "Dizzy Spellz," which is described as "an Afro-futuristic lens exploring the intersection of cultural and spiritual dilemmas within the African Diaspora through the music of Dizzy Gillespie."

A frequent visitor to St. Louis in recent years, Jones' most recent gig here was with the "Bistro All-Stars"(also including saxophonist Tia Fuller, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, and pianist Peter Martin) in February of last year at Jazz St. Louis.

The GSLJF also includes two days of adjudication, clinics, and performances by area high school big bands on the Wednesday and Thursday preceding the public concerts. This year's festival will be the first under the direction of pianist and educator Adaron "Pop" Jackson, who took over leadership of the University of Missouri-St. Louis' jazz program last fall after the retirement of former director and festival founder, bassist Jim Widner.

Tickets for both concerts are scheduled to go on sale, prices TBA, on Friday, January 24 via the Touhill box office.

SIUE, St. Louis Jazz Club to present Essentially Ellington Regional Festival on Friday, March 27

The jazz studies program at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and the St. Louis Jazz Club are teaming up to present the Essentially Ellington Regional Festival on Friday, March 27 at Dunham Hall on the SIUE campus.

Funded by a grant from the Jazz Club and co-produced by NYC's Jazz at Lincoln Center, the festival includes a full day of performances and workshops involving high school jazz ensembles from around the St. Louis metro area, culminating in a public concert at 7:30 p.m. featuring the participating bands, clinicians, and the SIUE Concert Jazz Band.

The visiting clinicians for the event will include saxophonist Ron Carter (pictured), former director of jazz studies at NIU, as well as former Count Basie Orchestra drummer Dennis Mackrel, trumpeter Derrick Gardner; tuba player Bob Stewart; and bassist Jeff Campbell. Participating musicians from the SIUE jazz faculty will include guitarist and jazz studies director Rick Haydon, trombonist Brett Stamps, saxophonist Jason Swagler, trumpeter Garrett Schmidt, pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson, and drummer Miles Vandiver.

Tickets for the concert are $12 for general admission, $9 for seniors and under 18, and free to SIUE students with valid student ID.

Jason Swagler & Adaron Jackson to release Map of The World on Tuesday, January 28

Saxophonist Jason Swagler and pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson have teamed up for a new recording, Map of the World, to be released next Tuesday, January 28.

The EP (pictured) includes duo versions of four ballads from an eclectic group of songwriters, starting with Pat Metheny's "A Map of The World," and continuing with Henry Mancini's "Dreamsville," Ivan Lins' "Choro Das Águas," and Randy Newman's "When She Loved Me."

"As we worked through arrangements for a full length ballads album, these four tunes began to stand out almost as a collection or suite," said Swagler in an email to StLJN. "The original idea was to create an intimate and introspective backdrop, and these four songs did just that, and they stood best on their own. So we decided to release the four tunes as a singular statement, rather than as part of a traditional full length album."

Map of the World was produced by Swagler, engineered by Miles Vandiver, and recorded and mixed in the studio at SIU-E. It will be available as a digital download from iTunes and Amazon, and as a physical CD available for purchase via CD Baby and at Swagler's and/or Jackson's live shows.

Coincidentally, Swagler, Jackson and guitarist Rick Haydon also will be performing at 7:00 p.m. this Saturday, January 25 at Jacoby Arts Center in Alton. While the concert is not specifically intended to promote the album release, Swagler said they may have advance copies for sale if they arrive from the manufacturer in time for the show.

Edited 1/29/14 to add links to iTunes and CD Baby.

Jazz this week: Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Bonerama, "88 Squared," and more

For a lot of St. Louis jazz fans, there's a hole in this weekend approximately the size and shape of tenor saxophone giant Sonny Rollins, who, up until a couple of weeks ago, had been scheduled to play this Saturday night at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Unfortunately, Rollins' continuing health issues forced him to cancel the show here, along with the rest of his summer schedule. Fortunately, there are lots of other jazz and creative music events on tap over the next few days, and while none of them are Sonny Rollins, there's still some good stuff in the offing. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, the second-ever STL Fringe Fest begins, with a variety of events at venues along Locust St., just to the east of the Grand Center district. Though it's oriented mostly toward theater and performance, the Fest once again will include some events that may be of interest to jazz fans, including tonight's set by singer Christy Strickland and the Randy Holmes Quartet at Satori and "Hey, Minnie the Moocher: A Musical Tribute to Cotton Club Swing Jazz Legends," the title of which seems self-explanatory.

(Both productions will be repeated at various times over the weekend, and interested listeners should note that admission requires both a Fringe Fest wristband and a separate ticket for the specific performance you want to see; consult the Fest's website for details.)

Tomorrow night, pianists Adaron "Pops" Jackson of Good 4 the Soul and Phil Dunlap, Jazz St. Louis' director of education, will team up for "88 Squared" at Jazz at the Bistro. The one-off performance will feature the two keyboardists playing together, backed by bassist Jahmal Nichols and drummer Marty Morrison.

Also on Friday, singer Joe Mancuso and his quartet will revisit a concept that dates back to the Beat era, as they'll perform at Robbie's House of Jazz while artist Vesna Delevska paints "live" in accompaniment. That same evening, pianist Ptah Williams, drummer Montez Coleman and bassist Darrell Mixon will play at Cigar Inn; and singer Ann Dueren and her trio will be at Il Bel Lago.

On Saturday, New Music Circle will be taking part in Open Studios STL, presenting what's being called "a group sound environment" at the William A Kerr Foundation building on Laclede's Landing. (The free, all-day Open Studios event, organized by the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, is designed to encourage visitors to artists' studios throughout the area.)

Musicians playing as part of NMC's presentation will include Tracy Andreotti (cello), Joseph Raglani (modular synthesizer), John Tamm-Buckle (computer), Michael Williams (electronics), Connie Su (electronics), Ajay Khanna (guitar/computer), Nathan Cook (electronics), Laura Dempsey (electronics), Fred Tompkins (flute), Dave Stone (saxophone), Henry Claude (percussion), Gwenyth Merner (theremin/electronics), and Patrick Boland (percussion).

There also will be an Open Studios "after party" Saturday night at 2720 Cherokee with music from funky organ trio Downstereo and Moon Hooch, a group of former NYC subway buskers made up of two saxophonists and a drummer.

Elsewhere on Saturday, pianist Matt Villinger leads a trio at Robbie's, while Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes hold forth around the block at C.J. Muggs.

On Sunday, there's a double-header of music from two well-known New Orleans bands, starting with a 2:00 p.m. matinee from the "brass funk rock" ensemble Bonerama at Broadway Oyster Bar. Bonerama's show originally was scheduled for Sunday evening, but got moved to the afternoon, presumably to minimize conflict with the performance by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured) on Sunday evening at Off Broadway.

Both bands have played here numerous times in recent years, but if you'd like to sample some of their music, you can see some videos that will give you a taste of both in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also on Sunday, the Dave Dickey Big Band will play their monthly gig at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company. UPDATE - 6/21/13, 10:20 a.m: Notwithstanding that the gig still is listed on the venue's website as of this writing, Dickey has just told StLJN that the band is taking this month off and will return in July.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday guitarist Denny Jiosa will be in town to present a free workshop at Mozingo Music, and "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will play at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

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 St. Louis announces summer lineup for Jazz at the Bistro

Jazz St. Louis has announced the lineup of local acts that will play this summer at Jazz at the Bistro. The schedule is:

Friday, May 31 & Saturday, June 1:
Two Times True with Larry Johnson

Friday, June 7 & Saturday, June 8:
Rick Haydon Group

Friday, June 14 & Saturday, June 15:
Willie Akins/Montez Coleman Group

Friday, June 21: Adaron “Pops” Jackson & Phil Dunlap with Jahmal Nichols and Marty Morrison

Friday, June 28 & Saturday, June 29: Erin Bode sings the Great American Songbook

Friday, July 5 & Saturday, July 6: Farshid Etniko featuring Sandy Weltman

Friday, July 12 & Saturday. July 13: Anita Jackson

Friday, July 19 & Saturday, July 20: Tim Cunningham (pictured)

Friday, July 26 & Saturday, July 27: Good 4 The Soul

Tickets are priced at $25 for the Akins/Coleman group, Jackson & Dunlap, and Bode, and $20 for the other shows. Tickets go on sale at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, May 7 and can be purchased via Metrotix or by calling the Jazz St. Louis box office at 314-289-4030.

Happy International Jazz Day!

In addition to being the final day of Jazz Appreciation Month 2013, Tuesday, April 30 is the second-ever International Jazz Day, a worldwide celebration of jazz presented by UNESCO, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the Republic of Turkey and the city of Istanbul, which will host a "Global Concert" featuring an lineup of top jazz talent.

The extravaganza will be streamed live on the Internet, with scheduled performances featuring Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding, Joss Stone, Marcus Miller, John McLaughlin, Terence Blanchard, Ruben Blades, Ramsey Lewis, Hugh Masekela, Eddie Palmieri, Al Jarreau, Dianne Reeves, George Duke, Lee Ritenour, Jean-Luc Ponty, Milton Nascimento, John Beasley, Igor Butman, Anat Cohen, Vinnie Coliauta, Imer Demirer, James Genus, Bilal Karaman, Pedrito Martinez, Keiko Matsui, Terri Lyne Carrington, Hüsnü Şenlendirici, Joe Louis Walker, Ben Williams, Liu Yuan and others.

It all begins at 1:00 p.m. St. Louis time, and you can watch the live stream in the embedded video window down below. (For readers elsewhere, that time translates to 9:00 p.m. in the host city of Istanbul, 7:00 p.m. in London, 2:00 p.m. in NYC and 4:00 a.m. the next day in Sydney.)

Here locally in St. Louis, tonight's live performances will include a free International Jazz Day jam session, hosted by pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson's trio, at Jazz at the Bistro; a revue of Billie Holiday songs by Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes at the Sheldon Concert Hall; and a free concert by the fusion band Steizuello and the Lindbergh High School orchestra at Lindbergh HS.

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.



(The video of the 2013 International Jazz Day concert will be available on YouTube until midnight on May 2.)