So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Jazz St. Louis is one of 13 local organizations that will share a total of $115,000 in funding from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis as part of a new program called the Arts and Healing Initiative.

JSL will use their portion of the money for Beat NF, described as "a jazz music motor therapy program for toddlers with special needs," which was developed in conjunction with the Washington University Neurofibromatosis (NF) Center and will be implemented by Jazz St. Louis educational staff and St. Louis Children’s Hospital Therapy Services practitioners.

* Jazz/fusion band Bach to the Future will provide part of the musical entertainment for "Wine and Jazz Under the Stars," a "virtual happy hour" being presented online for the benefit of radio station Classic 107.3 on Saturday, October 24.

The cost is $220 per household, which includes delivery of three bottles of wine from A. Bommarito Wines and appetizers provided by WhiteBox Catering, plus live-streamed entertainment, which also will include music from violinist Anne Akiko Myers, Americana band The Brothers Lazaroff, and more. Proceeds from the event will go to Classic 107.3 (fka Radio Arts Foundation) and its mission to support classical music programming and the arts in the St. Louis region.

* Miles Davis (pictured) is the number one jazz musician of all time, according to the "Jazz 100" poll recently conducted by ABC Jazz radio in Australia.

* If you didn't get the opportunity to see trumpeter Terence Blanchard's opera Champion when it was premiered by Opera Theater of St. Louis back in 2013, now you've got another chance. Presenting organization SFJAZZ will be streaming a video of their 2016 co-production of the work with San Francisco's Opera Parallèle for three days later this month, from Wednesday, October 21 to Saturday, October 24. You can get details and sign up at https://sfjazz.org/.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and STLtoday.com last Friday published their annual "Go List" for 2020, and in the "Music & Clubs" section, the winner for "Favorite Place to Hear Jazz" is BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, followed by Jazz St. Louis and The Dark Room. The Dark Room also is the newspaper's staff pick this year for "Best Jazz Brunch."

In "The Arts" section, the 2020 winner for "Favorite St. Louis Cabaret Performer" is singer Erin Bode, with Ken Page finishing in second place and Ken Haller in third. The Gaslight Theater is designated "Favorite Place to See Cabaret," followed by the Boom Boom Room and Jazz St. Louis.

* A previously unheard live album by Miles Davis, The Lost Septet, is out now on CD and digital from Sleepy Night Records. Recorded for a radio broadcast in November 1971 at the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria, the double album features Davis on trumpet with Gary Bartz (soprano & alto sax), Keith Jarrett (electric piano, organ), Michael Henderson (electric bass), Ndugu Leon Chancler (drums), Don Alias (percussion), and James "Mtume" Foreman (percussion).

* Saxophonist Larry Johnson (pictured) was the guest on last week's episode of Shock City School of Music's "Coffee Conversations" podcast.

* The Red and Black Brass Band was the subject of a short feature story on the Nine Network program Living St. Louis.

* Singer and keyboardist Katarra Parson was featured on last week's episode of the KTRS radio program "In The Know with Ray Hartmann."

* The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis has announced their St. Louis Arts Awards for 2021, and among the honorees will be “Such Sweet Thunder,” a joint presentation from Jazz St. Louis, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Nine Network, and the Big Muddy Dance Company that won the annual award for "Arts Collaboration." The awards will be presented at the council's annual event on January 25, 2021 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

* The Kranzberg Arts Foundation once again is surveying potential audience members to find out what measures will make people comfortable returning to their venues, which include the Grandel Theater, The Dark Room, and more. You can complete the survey at https://www.kranzbergartsfoundation.org/covid-19/coronavirus-survey/.

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.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist, clarinetist and former U Citian Marty Ehrlich (pictured) was the subject of an "Overdue Ovation" profile in Jazz Times.

* The world premiere production of trumpeter Terence Blanchard's opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones at Opera Theatre of St. Louis continues to generate press coverage, including preview stories from Bob Duffy in St. Louis magazine and St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy Goodwin, and reviews from Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Paul Friswold of the Riverfront Times, Mark Bretz of Ladue News, and John von Rhein on the website Chicago Classical Review. The production continues in "rolling rep" at OTSL until the end of the month.

* Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True appeared Tuesday on the morning newscast from KTVI (Fox 2).

* The new Miles Davis set Complete Birth of the Cool was reviewed by Nate Chinen for Pitchfork.

* Jazz Journal reviewed the new reissue of Davis' Cup, a 1956 compilation of some of Davis' early recordings for the Prestige label, originally issued only in Europe.

* Twenty local arts organizations have won operating support grants for the next year from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, including Jazz St. Louis, the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the Radio Arts Foundation.

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.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Two St. Louis venues made it onto the music business trade publication Pollstar's list of the Top 200 Club Venues for worldwide ticket sales in 2018. The Pageant came in at number four on the list, while its sibling just down the street, Delmar Hall, was ranked at number 54.

* Keyboardist and singer Jesse Gannon was interviewed about his new eponymous album by the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer.

* Saxophonists Dave Liebman and Jeff Coffin are featured on On The Corner Live: The Music of Miles Davis, a tribute to Davis' "electric period" that will be released Friday, March 1 on Ear Up Records. Liebman was part of Davis' band from 1970 to 1974. The album (pictured), which was recorded live in 2015 in Nashville, also includes bassist Victor Wooten, drummer Chester Thompson, guitarist James DaSilva, and keyboardist Chris Walters.

* The Arts and Education Council is offering a $20,000 prize for arts entrepreneurs in the St. Louis region via its the third-annual stARTup Creative Competition. The purpose of the competition is "to identify and support organizations filling a hole in the local arts economy." The deadline to apply is Friday, March 1; for more information or to submit an application, go here.

* In what must be the weirdest local music-business story of the week, St. Louis media are reporting that organizers of the ill-fated Loufest are suing the firm that was contracted to provide sound and lights for the event. The suit claims intentional sabotage, and alleges an attempt to hijack the festival's concept after the 2018 event was cancelled.

* The Missouri History Museum has launched "The Townsend Piano Project," a campaign to raise $25,000 to restore a piano that belonged to the late St. Louis blues musician Henry Townsend and incorporate it into the museum's "St. Louis Sound" exhibition planned for 2021. The Museum is accepting donations online, and will stage a fund-raising concert on Sunday, May 26 at BB’s Jazz, Blues and Soups.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold this week was on NPR as a guest performer on singer Erykah Badu's Tiny Desk Concert.

* The latest episode of the cable TV series STL Live previewed Saturday's Hermann Wine & Jazz Festival.

* Saxophonist and educator Harvey Lockhart's HEAL Center for the Arts is one of several local organizations getting a grant for 2018-19 from the Arts and Education Council's Monsanto Creative Impact Fund.

* Singer and producer Wendy Gordon (pictured), saxophonist Kendrick Smith, and other cast members appeared on FOX 2's Thursday morning newscast to promote the latest installment of Gordon's "Jazz Heaven" series, happening this Saturday at the Florissant Civic Center Theater.

* Flute player and composer Fred Tompkins has reissued his late 1970s album Cécile on CD. The re-release includes all the tunes from the LP version, which feature performances from notable musicians such as bassist Anthony Jackson, guitarist Chuck Loeb, and others, plus some bonus tracks of more recent material.

* Thurman's in Shaw is adding a Sunday brunch, which will debut with a "soft opening" on Sunday, August 26. The venue also will celebrate two years of operations under the current ownership with an all-day event on Saturday, September 1 featuring live music, drink specials, and more.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Two new releases of previously unheard live recordings helped guitarist and St. Louis native Grant Green make the cover (pictured) of the July/August 2018 issue of Jazz Times nearly 40 years after his death.

Though the article about Green isn't online (yet), the magazine is on sale now, and they're also conducting an online poll asking readers to name their favorite Grant Green album.

* St. Louis native Mark Colenburg is profiled in the August 2018 issue of Modern Drummer magazine.

* Colenburg also will be one of the featured clinicians at the Australia Ultimate Drummer's Weekend, held August 25 & 26 in Victoria, Australia.

* Singer Denise Thimes, who recently moved from St. Louis to Chicago, is the subject of a brief profile by the Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich. 

* Here's a review of trumpeter Keyon Harrold's performance at last weekend's Love Supreme festival in England.

* The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis has posted to YouTube a video of a performance by violinist Regina Carter and pianist Peter Martin at the 2018 St. Louis Arts Awards.

* Bassist Darin Gray has collaborated with Japanese singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eiko Ishibashi on a new album, Ichida, which will be released on Friday, July 20 by the Black Truffle label.

* St. Louis photographer Tiffany Sutton last week launched a crowd-funding campaign for "Black, Brown and Beige," a series of portraits inspired by the Duke Ellington suite of the same name. Her plans also include an exhibition of the photos with a choir performing Ellington's music for the exhibit's opening. Find out more and, if you wish, donate at the project's GoFundMe page.

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:

* "Rubberband," a "lost" Miles Davis recording made after the trumpeter's mid-'80s switch of record labels from Columbia to Warner Brothers and then shelved, will be released as a vinyl EP (pictured) for Record Store Day 2018.

* On a related note, Paste magazine has posted online some tracks featuring Davis' band recorded live in 1970 at NYC's Fillmore East, just before the release of the trumpeter's landmark album Bitches Brew.

* And while we're on the subject of Miles Davis, Pitchfork's ongoing series of retrospective album reviews this week found a lot to like about his album Get Up With It, a compilation of tracks from various early '70s sessions released in 1974, just before Davis' infamous six-year hiatus from performing.

* Speaking of Record Store Day, pianist and St. Louis native Lawrence Fields performs on a special RSD release from Sound Prints, the band co-led by trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxophonist Joe Lovano. The limited-edition, green vinyl 45 RPM record on Douglas' Greenleaf Music label features Lovano’s new original tune “On Pebble Street” and an alternate take of "Scandal," a Douglas composition that's the title track of the band's forthcoming album.

* Trumpeter Kasimu Taylor, The Dark Room, saxophonist Kendrick Smith, and Thurman's in Shaw all were mentioned this week in an article about St. Louis by the New York Times' "Frugal Traveler" columnist Lucas Peterson.

* Applications for program grants from the Arts & Education Council of Greater St. Louis are due on Friday, April 20.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn recently sat down with journalist/author Cal Fussman for an episode of Fussman's new podcast "Big Questions." The interview goes online soon at https://www.calfussmanpodcast.com/.

* Singer Denise Thimes was interviewed on the latest episode of the "Chicago Jazz" podcast from  ChicagoJazz.com.

* Jazz St. Louis is now accepting applications for their 2018-19 JazzU program for middle school and high school student musicians, with auditions set for Monday, June 4 through Thursday, June 7. Applications are due by Friday, April 27.

* Trumpeter and former East St. Louisan Russell Gunn's residency this week at Columbia College Chicago is the subject of an article in DownBeat.

* The Funky Butt Brass Band has posted to SoundCloud more than 30 tracks of audio from last weekend's gigs at Jazz at the Bistro.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Funky Butt Brass Band's "Holiday Brasstravaganza" tonight and tomorrow night at Off Broadway is previewed by St. Louis magazine. (Saturday's show is sold out, but some tickets may remain for tonight.)

* The Bosman Twins are featured on the cover of December 15 issue of Town & Style magazine. The cover photo (pictured) illustrates a story inside about the 2016 winners of the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis' Arts Awards. The Bosmans and the other winners will receive their awards at a ceremony and dinner on Monday, January 25 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

* For the second consecutive year, Jazz St. Louis has received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, a national evaluator of non-profit organizations. A news release from JSL said that only 21% of the charities evaluated get at least two four-star evaluations (the top score possible) in a row. More specifically, in 2015 JSL spent more than 90% of its total budget on programs and services, which is higher than required to earn the four-star rating.

Jazz St. Louis currently is raising funds for a new education initiative called The Jazz Academy, which provides jazz training for middle school students to support the music programs in the financially pressed Normandy, Riverview Gardens, and East St. Louis school districts. You can find out more or make a contribution via the Jazz Academy project's page on Gladitood, an online fundraising service.

* Speaking of Jazz St. Louis, they've posted to Facebook a photo set from yesterday's appearance by drummer Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O at Cool Valley Elementary School.

* And speaking of jazz education, saxophonist Christopher Braig and his teaching methods were the subjects of a feature story this week on St. Louis Public Radio.

* The STL Free Jazz Collective has posted to YouTube some video footage from their recent "Notes From Home" concert at The Sheldon.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Bosman Twins (pictured) are among the winners of 2016 Arts Awards from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis.

The awards honor "individuals, organizations and businesses who achieve a legacy of artistic excellence and enrich St. Louis’ arts and cultural community" and will be presented at a ceremony and dinner on Monday, January 25, 2016 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

* Singer, actor, stand-up comic and Belleville native Lea DeLaria has a new album out this week called House of David, offering her jazz interpretations of the music of David Bowie.

You can hear DeLaria's takes on "Fame" and "Modern Love" from the album here. She currently can be seen as part of the cast of the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black.

* And speaking of Belleville, the Wine Dine and Jazz Festival taking place downtown there this weekend was previewed in the Belleville News-Democrat and featured on local NBC affiliate KSDK.

* Saxophonist Oliver Lake's most recent album To Roy, a duo with bassist William Parker paying tribute to to trumpeter Roy Campbell, was reviewed by Stefan Wood  of the Free Jazz blog.

* The results of the annual Riverfront Times music poll are are in, and singer-guitarist Tommy Halloran has won readers' approval in the "Best Jazz" category again this year, with the Funky Butt Brass Band once again triumphing in the "Best Soul/Funk" category. You can see the complete list of winners here.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's program “Somethin’ Else” will feature new music from contemporary trumpeters Terence Blanchard, Dave Douglas and Jeremy Pelt.

After that on "The Jazz Collective," host Jason Church will feature music from Grover Washington, Jr., Brother Strut, Chieli Minucci & Special EFX, Marc Antoine, Sonny Rollins, Amp Fiddler, Euge Groove, Sarah Jane & The Blue Notes, Feyza Eren, Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, and mor.

Wilson's program can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by Church at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Local cable network HEC-TV's program I Love Jazz, hosted by Don Wolff, has been nominated for two Emmy Awards by the Mid-America chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts And Sciences.

One nomination is for the complete episode that originally aired in December 2010, which you can see online here, along with most of the other episodes of I Love Jazz produced to date. The other is for an educational segment featuring trumpeter Adam Hucke and Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap, and you can see that here.

Overall, HEC-TV received a total of 24 Emmy nominations, including "Station of Excellence." Along with Wolff, the team producing I Love Jazz includes John Baker, Madeline Dames, Julie Winkle and Christopher Martinez. This year's local Emmy winners will be named at a ceremony on October 22 at the Renaissance Grand Hotel.

* Speaking of awards, pianist Peter Martin (pictured) will be one of six recipients of the 2012 St. Louis Arts Awards, which will be presented by the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis at a gala event on January 23 at the Chase Park Plaza hotel. Martin will be honored for Excellence in the Arts. His next local performance will be on Friday, September 23 in a duo concert with pianist David Torkanowsky at the Sheldon.

* The Post-Dispatch had a nice feature by Amy Betrand on Sunday about the family of saxophonist Carlos Brown Jr., who plays with the East St. Louis High Sschool jazz band and the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars.

* The St. Charles Municipal Big Band recently was the subject of a feature story published by the St. Charles edition of Patch.com.

(Edited after posting to fix a typo.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Willie Akins (pictured) talks to the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson about playing the music of John Coltrane this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Author, illustrator and blues aficionado Kevin Belford has a new blog post about St. Louis' Palladium building, which long ago housed a club presenting well-known jazz and blues musicians, and has fallen into disrepair.

* The Fox Theatre will be closed for the next seven weeks for a bit of refurbishment, as outlined here by the P-D's Kevin Johnson.

* The Arts & Education Council of Greater St. Louis is seeking nominees for its 2012 Arts Awards, which recognize "individuals who achieve a legacy of artistic excellence, and organizations and businesses that enrich St. Louis’ arts and cultural community." Those interested in nominating a person or organization can do so online here.

* Guitarist Glenn Burleigh, who plays with the St. Louis rock band The Union Electric, had a prized Telecaster stolen in a burglary last week, and local musicians are urged to be on the lookout for the purloined instrument. You can see a photo of the Tele and read more in this story from Riverfront Times music editor Kiernan Maletsky.

Jeanne Trevor to receive St. Louis Arts Award

Singer Jeanne Trevor (pictured), a longtime favorite of St. Louis audiences for her work in jazz clubs, concerts and musical theater, will receive a St. Louis Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts as part of a ceremony to be held Monday, January 26 at the Chase-Park Plaza hotel.

The St. Louis Arts Awards are sponsored by the Arts & Education Council, and serve to honor "groups and individuals who help preserve a legacy of artistic excellence and enrich St. Louis’ cultural community." Other 2009 recipients will include philanthropists Laurance and Virginia Browning, educator Sister Patricia Giljum, artist Robert Powell, Circus Day Foundation executive director Jessica Hentoff, and Cinema St. Louis.