Jazz this week: Joshua Redman Trio, Tierney Sutton, Rebirth Brass Band, Nicole Johänntgen, Bee vs. Moth, and more

It's another busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with several touring acts in town offering a variety of musical styles. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, saxophonist Joshua Redman begins a four-night stand with his trio, featuring bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Gregory Hutchinson, at Jazz at the Bistro. For more about Redman and some video samples of the trio in action, see this post from last Saturday.

Thursday night offers several interesting choices, with the Rebirth Brass Band at the The Gramophone; saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen performing a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, directed by bassist Jim Widner, doing what's being billed as their first concert at their new home, the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Also on Thursday, bassist David Certain will play a solo set at the The Vine to help kick off the south side cafe's "Felafel Fest," then return on Friday and Saturday with his CertainBeat WorldBop group.

On Friday, Robbie's House of Jazz has the Kaleb Kirby Trio with Charles Clements on bass and Jo-el Williams on saxophone; and on Saturday, singer and actor Roland "Bob" Harris takes the Robbie's stage. Also on Friday, the eclectic instrumental rock band Bee vs. Moth will play at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center.

Saturday will bring saxophonist Dick Oatts, a veteran of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, doing a mid-day performance and master class at Saxquest, and singer Tierney Sutton (pictured) returning to the Sheldon Concert Hall. (Sutton superfans take note: After her St. Louis date, the singer heads to Columbia, MO on Sunday to perform for the We Always Swing series at Murry's.)

UPDATE - 4:00 p.m., 10/6/10: The Sheldon and Metrotix are offering a "buy one, get one free" deal on ticket's to the Tierney Sutton concert. To get the discount, go here and enter the promo code SUTTON10.

On Sunday, guitarist Tom Byrne's trio does the early set at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups. Then on Monday, singer Debby Lennon and friends will perform at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium, while the Next Generation Jazz Band plays at BB's.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Bee vs. Moth to play Friday, October 8 at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center

Bee vs. Moth, an Austin-based "instrumental art rock combo" is coming to St. Louis to perform on Friday, October 8 at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center.

The date is part of a Midwest tour supporting their new album Acronyms. The self-described "wild and brassy quintet" with "one foot in the world of jazz and creative improvisation, and the other firmly planted on a distortion pedal" consists of Ivo Gruner (trumpet), Thomas van der Brook (baritone and tenor saxes), Aaryn Russell (guitar), Philip Moody (electric and upright basses) and Sarah Norris (drums and percussion). Bee vs. Moth's press materials also make reference to Tom Waits, Frank Zappa and New Orleans jazz, making for a potentially interesting blend of influences.

You can see Bee vs. Moth in the embedded window below, which contains the music video for "Ugly Is The New Black," a song from Acronyms. The tune begins with a placid sax/trumpet melody and ends up in a frantic, shred-style electric guitar solo, and thereby serves to illustrate the band's self-description rather neatly.

Showtime for Bee vs. Moth at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center is 8:00 p.m., and tickets for the all-ages show are $5 at the door.