So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Shirley Bradley LeFlore, St. Louis poet laureate and member of the Black Artists Group who performed throughout her career with the city's jazz and creative musicians, died this past Sunday, May 12. She was 79 years old.

Formerly married to the late trumpeter Floyd LeFlore, she performed and/or recorded at various times with musicians including her ex-husband, saxophonists Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett, J.D. Parran and Don Byron, pianist Ptah Williams, trumpeter George Sams, and more. Ms. Bradley LeFlore's funeral will take place today (Friday, May 17), with a visitation at 11:00 a.m. followed by services at noon at Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust St. downtown.

* Drummer Dave Weckl (pictured) was interviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's Jim Worsley.

* Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo is releasing a new album, St. Lost, that comes out today, and was interviewed Monday about the recording and her career by KSDK's Art Holliday.

* The new documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool was the subject of a review/reminiscence by FYIMusicNews' Bill King.

* Speaking of Miles Davis, a 1979 interview with pianist Bill Evans unheard for 40 years has re-surfaced online, in which Evans discusses his work with Davis and the recording sessions for the trumpeter's landmark album Kind of Blue.

* And speaking of Birth of the Cool, an article in DownBeat has more details on the new LP box set Complete Birth of the Cool Sessions, which will be released on Friday, June 7.

* Multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris' shows this weekend at Jazz St. Louis are previewed in an article by Kevin Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and in an interview with Harris published on the Jazz St. Louis website.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Singer and bassist Tonina Saputo (pictured) is the latest musician to be featured as one of NPR's 2018 "Slingshot" artists, in what's described as "a collective effort among taste-making music stations to introduce exceptional up-and-coming artists."

* A video of guitarist Dave Black performing his original composition "Still The Same" is the latest release in the St. Louis Open Media Integration Center's "Songday Afternoon" series.

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn has released another track from the forthcoming album by his Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, previewing “Sybil’s Blues” via a post on Revive Music.

* The LouFest music festival has announced its 2018 lineup, which includes trumpeter Keyon Harrold on the main stage, as well as a secondary stage featuring jazz musicians from the Kranzberg Arts Foundation's artists-in-residence program.

* Teenage piano phenom Royce Martin, who's headed for Berklee College of Music this fall, was profiled in a story by Art Holliday of KSDK.

* The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis has announced seven honorees for their 2019 St. Louis Arts Awards, and the group includes actor and singer Ken Page for "Lifetime Achievement in the Arts" and Chris Hansen of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation for "Arts Innovator." The awards will be presented at a celebratory dinner next January.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio Network has added another product to their line of instructional videos, as singer Dianne Reeves' new course "Define Your Voice" went online this week.

* The recently issued box set Miles Davis & John Coltrane—The Final Tour from Columbia/Legacy Recordings’ has inspired a feature story about the record and the tour from DownBeat's James Hale.

* Singer and pianist Diana Krall's performance last week at the Peabody Opera House was reviewed for the Post-Dispatch/STLtoday by Dan Duchholz. (Link may be paywalled)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Metrotix and the Grandel Theatre are offering a "buy one, get one free" discount on tickets to the concert by trumpeter Terence Blanchard (pictured) on Sunday, May 20 at the Grandel. To take advantage of the offer, go here and use the discount code TBLIVE.

* St. Louis County Library once again is inviting local musicians to participate in "Listen Up STL," which makes original recordings from St. Louis bands and solo performers available for streaming to library patrons. Submissions are being accepted from May 1 through May 31; for details on the program and how to submit, visit the library's website.

* Trumpeter Jim Manley was interviewed last week by KSDK's Art Holliday for a story about Record Store Day.

* On a semi-related note, you can hear tracks from the two new Grant Green recordings released on Record Store Day via last week's episode of WBGO's "The Checkout."

* Pianist and St. Louis native Lawrence Fields can be seen in a new music video for "Libra," a track from the new album by Sound Prints, the quintet co-led by trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxophonist Joe Lovano that also includes Linda May Han Oh on bass and Joey Baron on drums.

* Drummer Dave Weckl will lead a a group of Drum Fantasy Camp students on a tour of Cuba in January of next year. You can see a promotional video for the trip here.

* Singer Chuck Flowers was interviewed on the online radio program "Jazz in the AM."

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold will join pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya for their tribute to Ibrahim's ground-breaking Jazz Epistles this Sunday, April 29 at the Annenberg Center in Philadelphia. Harrold will play the parts originally intended for the late Hugh Masekela, a role that has been filled on Ibrahim's other recent dates by trumpeters Terence Blanchard, Wadada Leo Smith, and, in their show last week here in St. Louis, Freddie Hendrix.