Jazz this week: Stanley Jordan, Frank Vignola's Gypsy Grass, Airmen of Note, and more

It's a good weekend in St. Louis for fans of jazz guitar, as two very fine players are doing multi-night stands here in the Gateway City.

Stanley Jordan (pictured) will show off his distinctive two-handed tapping style at Finale Music and Dining on Thursday and Friday nights. This is the third time Jordan has played Finale in the last couple of years. From what I understand, he's been been a good draw for them, and so I'd expect a good turnout for these shows as well.

While Jordan is known for a very particular style of playing and specifically for his solo work, fellow plectrist Frank Vignola has toured and recorded in a variety of contexts, from straight-ahead concepts like his recent all-Gershwin CD for St. Louis-based Mel Bay Records to the Frank and Joe Show, which incorporated everything from Sinatra covers to TV cartoon theme songs into a more entertainment-oriented presentation. Vignola has also worked quite a bit with "dawg music" mandolinist David Grisman, and some of that same bluegrass-meets-hot-jazz sensibility is evident in Vignola's own group Gypsy Grass, which will perform at Jazz at the Bistro Wednesday through Saturday.

UPDATE - 3:15 p.m., 10/18/07: I see that the Bistro's Web site has deleted previous references to the Gypsy Grass band and is now billing this week's engagement as the Frank Vignola Quintet; ditto the the Bistro's weekly promotion email. I have no specific information about why this particular change was made, but usually, this sort of billing revision means there's been a last-minute change by the artist due to specific musicians not being available, illness, or other circumstances beyond their control.

The Bistro's parent organization Jazz St. Louis is actually competing with itself one night this week, since they also are presenting the Airmen of Note in a free concert at the Sheldon Concert Hall on Wednesday night. This show is part of JSL's effort to reach out to local band directors and their students, and from what education director Phil Dunlap tells me, plenty of both will be in the audience to see the group billed as the U.S. Air Force's premiere jazz big band. If you're interested in attending but don't already have tickets, I'd suggest calling ahead.

Other noteworthy gigs this weekend: On Saturday, pianist Ptah Williams will be leading his trio at Cookie's Jazz and More, while big band aficionados can check out the Tommy Money Orchestra at Finale. Sunday evening offers a couple of free concerts - BAG is presenting drummer Gary Sykes doing a tribute to fellow drummers Phillip Wilson, Joe Charles and Sonny Hamp at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe, and guitarists Steve Schenkel and Dan Rubright will duet on jazz versions of sacred songs at Emmanual Episcopal Church in Webster Groves.

Beyond the weekend, the annual TKT Memorial Scholarship Concert, which benefits music scholaships for students at Webster University, takes place Monday night at Webster's Winifred Moore Auditorium. This year's event features singers Debby Lennon and Sherry Drake performing "Music from the Movies" with the Webster Faculty Jazz Ensemble. Last but not least, on Tuesday Jazz St. Louis and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will team up to present another free show, a triple bill headlined by bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding at Lucas School House.

For a more extensive listing of local jazz-related events, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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.)

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Stanley Jordan plays "Eleanor Rigby" plus the Airmen of Note's "No, I Don't Fly Planes"

Once again, this week's videos are devoted to previews of upcoming jazz performances in St. Louis. One clip features a big band, the other a guitarist who often manages to sound like an entire band all by himself.

The guitarist is Stanley Jordan, whose solo playing involves a two-handed tapping technique similar to, but developed independently of, the method used to play the Chapman Stick. Here, Jordan is doing his version of the Beatles' tune "Eleanor Rigby," and he'll be in St. Louis to perform at Finale Music and Dining on Thursday, October 18 and Friday, October 19.

The big band is the Airmen of Note, the official jazz band of the U.S. Air Force, who will be in town to do a free concert sponsored by Jazz St. Louis at the Sheldon Concert Hall on Wednesday, October 17. In this clip from a performance on August 29, 2007 at the Air Force Memorial in Washington DC, they're playing an original chart called "No, I Don't Fly Planes," a title that sounds like something that must have come from some band member's real-life experience.

Airmen of Note to play free concert at the Sheldon on October 17

The Airmen of Note (pictured), the premier jazz ensemble of the United States Air Force, will perform a free concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 17 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Formed in 1950 to carry on the tradition of Glenn Miller's Army Air Corps dance band, the Airmen of Note adopted a more contemporary style under the direction of Sammy Nestico, who went on to arrange for Count Basie. They regularly tour the United States and also have performed in Europe, South America and Japan. The Airmen of Note have collaborated with well-known jazz performers such as Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan and Cleo Laine, and present an annual concert series in Washington D.C. that has included top guest stars like Clark Terry, Louis Bellson, Arturo Sandoval and Randy Brecker.

Their St. Louis concert is sponsored by Jazz St. Louis, and free tickets (limit of four per person) are available by calling JSL's office at (314) 289-4030.

(Edited 9/15/07 to correct the phone number.)