So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of links and short local news items of interest that you may have missed:

* This Sunday, November 21 at 9:00 p.m., KDHX's Al Becker (pictured) will broadcast the final edition of his jazz vocal program "Voices In The Night." Becker spent a total of 18 years doing the program, plus three years on the KDHX board, two years as VP of radio, and 4 and half years on the station's program committee. KDHX's site doesn't say what will fill that time slot next, but it very well could be that Becker's departure will leave Josh Weinstein's All Soul, No Borders, which airs at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, as the only jazz-oriented program on the community radio station.

* Singer Erin Bode has announced two holiday themed performances next month - one on Saturday, December 5 at the Third Baptist Church in Grand Center, and another featuring a guest appearance from Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra violinist and concertmaster David Halen on Friday, December 10 at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles.

* The Chesterfield restaurant formerly known as Seasons St. Louis (and before that, Peppertini's) is reopening under new management as Seasons American Cuisine. The space had featured occasional live jazz in its two previous incarnations before closing earlier this year, but there's no indication yet if live music will be part of the mix this time around.

* Guitarist Todd Mosby recently revamped his website to include a blog, and lays out some interesting thoughts about creating music for specific environments in a couple of recent posts here and here.

Photo of Al Becker from KDHX.org.

KDHX rearranges broadcast schedule

Community radio station KDHX (88.1 FM) has rearranged it broadcast schedule effective Monday, August 11.

While some familiar programs have ended, most of the station's mainstays seemed to have survived the shakeup. And while the new lineup seems to have a few more rock and pop music offerings, two KDHX programs of continuing interest to jazz fans now can be heard on Sunday nights, starting at 9:00 p.m. with "Voices in the Dark" hosted by Al Becker, who focuses on "the best of female jazz and blues vocalists of the twentieth century."

Becker's program has been a fixture on Sundays, and it now will be followed at 10:30 p.m. by "All Soul, No Borders," which is hosted by Joshua Weinstein and moves over from Thursdays. As Weinstein noted on his page on the KDHX site, "Tonight marks the end of "jazz" in St. Louis on a Thursday night. KDHX has presented Great Black Music for over a decade or longer during this time slot. 'All Soul, No Borders' first aired in September of 2000...ASNB will now be heard on Sunday night from 10:30-Midnight."

While I'm glad to see Weinstein's program continue, and the pairing with Becker's broadcast makes sense, it's also somewhat unfortunate that both now are airing directly opposite Dennis Owsley's Jazz Unlimited program on KWMU (90.7 FM). For the radio stations, it's all the more reason to offer online streams and/or archived programs, I suppose, but for listeners it's too bad that the two stations are now offering comparatively rare jazz programming in direct competition with one another.