Jazz this week: Tim Warfield Organ Band, Bonerama, Keyon Harrold, and more

Given that Mardi Gras is almost upon us, New Orleans-derived music plays a significant role in this week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, but there's also a swinging saxophonist from Philly, a brief return home for a celebrated local trumpeter, and mich more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, February 19
Saxophonist Tim Warfield (pictured, top left) will perform for the first of five nights continuing through Sunday at Jazz St. Louis.

Warfield is a Philadelphia native who's played at the Bistro several times before, but this is his first time at the venue as leader of his Organ Band, which includes keyboardist Pat Bianchi and Warfield's hometown friend and frequent collaborator, trumpeter Terell Stafford.

Also in Grand Center, this week's "Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl" features pianist Dave Venn early and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor late at The Dark Room, plus a jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Thursday, 
February 20
Right on time to warm up for parade Saturday and Fat Tuesday, New Orleans' own Bonerama (pictured, center left) returns to perform at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Their sets likely will feature some music from their most recent album Bonerama Plays Zeppelin, which, as the name suggests, features their trombone-centric interpretations of music from the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. You can find out more about that project, and see some of the music being performed live (on video) in this post from a week ago Saturday.

Also on Thursday, keyboardist Jim Hegarty brings his trio to Evangeline's; singer Cheri Evans and CEEJazzSoul return to the Chase Club; keyboardist Ryan Marquez and his trio are back at The Dark Room; and guitarists William Lenihan and Vincent Varvel will team up to present a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Friday, February 21
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina will perform at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and bassist and singer Janet Evra and her quartet will play at The Judson House.

Also on Friday, guitarist Joe Park will promote the release of his latest recording with a show at Focal Point, and Samba Bom will do carnaval Brazilian style at Bar Italia.

Saturday, February 22
The Nashville-based group Cosmic Collective returns to Evangeline's, and singer Robert Nelson and  Genesis Jazz Project will be the featured performers in "The B3 Experience: Big Band, Burlesque and Bourbon" at .ZACK.

Also on Saturday, the Funky Butt Brass Band plays a post-parade show at The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy; the Mosaic Jazz Sextet brings their hard bop sound to the Dark Room; and Dizzy Atmosphere will play vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at Urban Chestnut Midtown Brewery and Biergarten.

Sunday, February 23
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays for brunch at Evangeline's.

Later that afternoon, singer Anita Jackson and trumpeter Keyon Harrold (pictured, lower left) will headline a matinee "Benefit for Community Women Against Hardship" at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, followed at the venue by a dinner-hour show from singer Chuck Flowers.

Monday, February 24
Webster University faculty members including pianist Kim Portnoy, percussionist David Werfelmann, saxophonist Paul DeMarinis, and violinist Matt Pickart will explore "Improvisational Environments" in a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

Tuesday, February 25
Celebrate Fat Tuesday in a New Orleans style at the "Central West End Second Line Parade," featuring the Saint Boogie Brass Band and Annie and the Fur Trappers, and/or by catching the double bill of the Funky Butt Brass Band and "Funkify Your Life: A Tribute To The Meters" at Broadway Oyster Bar.

Also on Tuesday, electro-jazz trio Vehachi plays in concert at the Gaslight Theater, and the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra returns to The Sheldon.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Bonerama gets the Led out

This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring the New Orleans band Bonerama, who will be returning to St. Louis to perform Thursday, March 20 at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Many StLJN readers will need no introduction, as Bonerama have been frequent visitors to our town over the past decade, most recently playing here in February 2019 at the Bootleg at the Atomic Cowboy. Since that appearance, last spring they released Bonerama Plays Zeppelin, featuring trombone-centric cover versions of songs made famous by the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin.

While some of the material was in Bonerama's live repertoire prior to the release of the album, as they've been touring over the past year in support of the recording, they've naturally been featuring more of it, and so that's the focus of most of today's post.

You can hear some of the music from Bonerama Plays Zeppelin in the first video up above, an excerpt from their show on May 1, 2019, just a week after the album's release, at Louisiana Music Factory in New Orleans.

After the jump, check out their version of Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker," as recorded in August 2019 at the Green Harbor Roots and Blues Festival in Marshfield, MA.

That's followed by two more LZ songs, "The Ocean" and "Immigrant Song," both recorded (though by two different audience members) in June 2019 at the Happy Valley Music Festival in State College, PA.

Next up, Bonerama evokes their hometown with versions of Dr. John's "Such A Night" and Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World," also recorded at the aforementioned Green Harbor Roots and Blues Festival

The final video shows them taking the Happy Valley Music Festival to church, as they perform "Down By the Riverside."

For more about Bonerama, watch this video interview by bandleader Mark Mullins with Offbeat magazine, recorded last year at the time of the album's release, and read Mullins' 2017 interview with Drea Stein of KDHX radio.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Jazz this week: Ralph Towner, MarchFourth, Oliver Lake, Bonerama, Michael Bublé, Oz Noy, Dave Weckl & Jimmy Haslip, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis is jam-packed with so many noteworthy shows that it defies easy summary, so in the interest of getting to the good stuff as soon as possible, let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, 
March 20
Guitarist Ralph Towner returns to play a solo concert at Graham Chapel on the Washington University campus. (For more about Towner and some video samples of his work, see this post from before his last appearance here in 2017.)

Also on Wednesday, the eclectic mutant-marching-band MarchFourth returns for a performance at the Old Rock House; Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Singers Open Mic" at Sophie's Artist Lounge; and pianist Reggie Thomas and the Jazz St. Louis Big Band celebrate the "Nat "King" Cole Centennial" with a free performance as part of the the "Whitaker Jazz Speaks" series at Jazz St. Louis.

Thursday, March 21
The 442s play original instrumental music at Joe's Cafe, and guitarist Billy Barnett will perform in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Friday, March 22
The Nu-Art Series and St. Louis University  present saxophonist Oliver Lake (pictured, top left) in concert at Xavier Hall on the SLU campus.

The former St. Louisan and co-founder of the Black Artists Group and the World Saxophone Quartet will be reciting some of his poetry as well as playing music, with some help from pianist Greg Mills, trumpeter and Nu-Art Series impresario George Sams, and dancers Antonio Douthis-Boyd and Kirven Douthis-Boyd.

For more about Lake and his artistic pursuits in music, poetry, and painting, see this post from last Saturday. 

Also on Friday, Bonerama (pictured, center left) presents their Led Zeppelin tribute show at The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy; pop-jazz crooner Michael Bublé will perform at the Enterprise Center; and the Funky Butt Brass Band plays for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis.

Saturday, March 23
NYC-based band The Bailsmen will play vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at Focal Point, and a series of shows celebrating the release of the new book St. Louis Sound kicks off with "St. Louis Sound: Experience Jazz," featuring sets from Tonina, the Adam Maness Trio, and trumpeter Danny Campbell with guest vocalist Anita Jackson, at the Grandel Theatre.

Also on Saturday, pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True return to the Parkside Grille, and trumpeter Jim Manley leads a quartet at Evangeline's.

Sunday, March 24
Israeli-born jazz-fusion guitarist Oz Noy wraps up his current tour with drummer and St. Charles native Dave Weckl (pictured, bottom left) and bassist Jimmy Haslip with two shows at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Monday, March 25
Singer and impressionist Dean Christopher returns with his "Rat Pack and More" show to One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar; and Webster University's Student Jazz Combos perform at Webster's Community Music School.

Tuesday, March 26
Nashville-based ensemble The Cosmic Collective plays at Evangeline's.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

Bonerama set to "get the Led out" on Friday, March 22 at The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy

The trombone-centric, New Orleans-based band Bonerama (pictured) is headed back to St. Louis for a show at 8:00 p.m. Friday, March 22 at The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy.

Promoted as "Bonerama Gets The Led Out," the band's current tour features a "special tribute set to Led Zeppelin."

General admission tickets for the 21+ performance are $15 in advance, $18 day of show, and are on sale now via TicketWeb.

Jazz this week: Byron Stripling; Bonearama; Lee, McPhee, Corsano & Orcutt; Dave King & Chris Weller; and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes New Music Circle's first concerts of their 60th season; the return of a popular trumpeter and singer to Jazz St. Louis; the drummer of The Bad Plus in one of his several side projects; and more.

Let's go to the highlights ...

Wednesday, September 19
Trumpeter Byron Stripling (pictured, top left) returns to Jazz St. Louis for the first of five nights of performances.

Stripling, who directs the Columbus (OH) Jazz Orchestra and also is known for his tribute to the music of Louis Armstrong, will be the first musician to do a five-night run at the Bistro since Sunday matinees and evening performances were added for select artists.

Elsewhere in Grand Center, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Singers Open Mic" at Sophie's Artist Lounge & Cocktail Club; and the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features the Jazz Troubadours at The Stage at KDHX, plus the jam session led by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Also on Wednesday, Wright's Project plays jazz-fusion and funk at Al's Lounge, and bassist Glen Smith and guitarist Eric Slaughter perform at Evangeline's.

Thursday, September 20
Guitarist Daryl Darden, back home from California for visit, will lead a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Also on Thursday, The People's Key play at the Chase Club, and the Joe Park Trio performs at The Dark Room.

Friday, 
September 21
New Music Circle presents cellist Okkyung Lee, multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee, percussionist Chris Corsano and guitarist Bill Orcutt (pictured, bottom left) at Joe's Cafe in the first of two nights of improvised duo performances.

While they're in town, Lee also will present a workshop and artist talk at 3:00 p.m. Thursday at SLU’s Xavier Hall Studio Theatre, and McPhee will do a solo performance at 1:00 p.m. Saturday at the Contemporary Art Museum, responding to CAM’s exhibit of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Both events are free and open to the public.

Also on Friday, New Orleans' Bonerama returns for a show at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, with an opening set from the Funky Butt Brass Band

Elsewhere around town, jazz-fusion band Koplant No plays a free concert at 560 Music Center, and Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson returns to the Parkside Grille.

Saturday, September 22
New Music Circle presents a second evening of improvisational duets from Okkyung Lee, Joe McPhee, Chris Corsano and Bill Orcutt, this time at Off Broadway; and trumpeter Jim Manley leads a trio at Evangeline's.

Sunday, September 23
Drummer Montez Coleman and friends will play for brunch at The Dark Room, while Miss Jubilee performs at Evangeline's.

Then on Sunday evening, drummer Dave King of The Bad Plus and Happy Apple teams with Chicago-based saxophonist Chris Weller for a duo performance at The Dark Room.

Monday, September 24
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz for diners at The Shaved Duck, and guitarist Daryl Darden gets in another gig on his visit home, this time at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, September 25
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo and band perform at The Dark Room.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

Jazz this week: Take 6, Tatsuya Nakatani, Bonerama, Xmas jazz around town, and more

It's going to be a busy few days for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, and though a couple of high-profile shows are sold out (or nearly so), there's still going to be plenty of music - holiday and other - available on local stages. Let's go to the highlights.

Wednesday, December 13
Acappella vocal group Take 6 returns for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro. The run of shows was described by Jazz St. Louis on Tuesday as "nearly sold out," so if you want to hear the multiple Grammy winners in the intimate confines of the Bistro, you'll definitely need to call ahead for advance reservations, and perhaps a bit of luck as well.

As an alternative, you can see a live video stream of Wednesday's shows in the first floor lounge on the west side of Jazz St. Louis HQ, available with no cover charge in conjunction with the free, weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl".

This week's crawl also features the Jazz Troubadours at The Stage at KDHX, plus the jam session led by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Also on Wednesday, the musical show "An Unforgettable Nat King Cole Christmas" resumes its run,  continuing with performances through Sunday afternoon at the Playhouse at Westport Plaza.

Thursday, December 14
Singer Dianne Reeves, who had been scheduled to headline "Gospel Christmas: A Soulful Celebration" with the St. Louis Symphony at Powell Hall, announced on Thursday that she would be unable to perform due to an unspecified health issue. Simultaneously, the SLSO announced that the show would go on as scheduled, with St. Louis' own Brian Owens standing in for Reeves.

Also on Thursday, singer Erin Bode will be in Edwardsville for a holiday concert at the Wildey Theatre; guitarist Dave Black will play at The Pat Connolly Tavern; and trumpeter Keith Moyer and his quintet return to The Dark Room

Friday, December 15
Percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani (pictured, top left) will be back for what has become an annual convening here of his Gong Orchestra, in which he teams up with and trains a group of local musicians in specific techniques for each performance.  This year's edition, presented at the William A Kerr Foundation on the riverfront, will feature a solo percussion set by Nakatani, followed by the Gong Orchestra set with him and 14 collaborators from St. Louis.

Also on Friday, the Funky Butt Brass Band kicks off their annual "Holiday Brasstravaganza" weekend at Off Broadway. As of this writing, a few tickets may remain for Friday, but the Saturday night show and a newly added, family friendly Saturday matinee are already sold out.

Elsewhere around town, the Original Knights of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; singer Feyza Eren performs at the house concert venue KindaBlue Club; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play vintage swing, jump blues and more at the Venice Cafe

Saturday, 
December 16
New Orleans' trombone-centric band Bonerama (pictured, bottom left) returns to perform at The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy.

Currently touring in support of their new album Hot Like Fire - their first release as part of a new deal with New Orleans' Basin Street Records - Bonerama have been regular visitors to St. Louis for most of this decade, playing at venues including the Old Rock House, Broadway Oyster Bar and The Sheldon. If you've missed out on their brass/funk/rock sound up until now, you can find our more and see some video samples of recent performances in this post from last Saturday. 

Also on Saturday, Wack-A-Doo returns to Evangeline's; saxophonist Dave Stone's trio will play at Thurman's in Shaw; and Miss Jubilee performs at the Casa Loma Ballroom .

Sunday, December 17
There's more holiday jazz in the offing, as the Oikos Ensemble presents "Jazz Noel: A Child is Born" at the First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, while the Dave Dickey Big Band celebrates a "Big Band Christmas" with singer Anita Jackson and guest intermission performers, the North County HS Jazz Ensemble, at .ZACK in Grand Center.

Monday, December 18
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays his weekly Monday night gig at Momo's Greek Restaurant.

Tuesday, December 19
Still more holiday jazz on tap, as the Jazz St. Louis Big Band will play Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker" Suite (plus additional Ellingtonia) for the first of three nights at Jazz at the Bistro, and The 442s present their "Holiday Spectacular" at 560 Music Center

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Bonerama puts low brass on top

This week, StLJN's video spotlight shines on Bonerama, who will be back in St. Louis to perform on Saturday, December 16 at The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy.

The New Orleans-based band puts the low brass on top, thanks to a three-trombone front line plus a sousaphone standing in for electric bass. Formed in 1998 by trombonists Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, both veterans of Harry Connick Jr.'s big band, they've forged a distinctive sound that incorporates their hometown musical traditions into funky yet hard-rocking covers of songs by the likes of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, using trombones to deliver the heavy riffs originally played by fuzzed-out guitars.

Bonerama tours frequently outside their hometown, and have been coming to St. Louis at least once a year since the late 2000s, playing several different venues including the Broadway Oyster Bar and the Old Rock House. Most recently, since their last visit here in early 2016, they signed with the New Orleans-based Basin Street Records and in October released Hot Like Fire, their first album for the label.

If you haven't been able to catch one of their previous shows here, you can sample their sound and get an idea of what to expect from their live show via today's collection of videos, starting up above with "Swamped In," recorded in May 2016 at Generations Hall in New Orleans for the local TV program New Orleans Live.

After the jump, you can see a video of "Mr. Okra," Bonerama's tribute to a beloved local New Orleans character/vegetable vendor, that was recorded for the same program.

That's followed by two clips shot in April 2016 at the CrawDebauchery Food & Music Festival in Pompano Beach, FL, namely Bonerama's storied "Led Zeppelin Medley: In My Time Of Dying~Black Dog~Good Times Bad Times" and a cover of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android."

Lastly, if you're ready for more after that, you can see videos of two complete Bonerama shows, recorded in February of this year at Ardmore Music Hall in Ardmore, PA (near Philadelphia) and in September at the Blues, Views and BBQ Festival in Westport, CT.

For more about Bonerama and Hot Like Fire, check out the two short interview features about them published in October by Offbeat magazine and CEGPresents.com.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Sunday Session: August 14, 2016

"A Great Day In Harlem"

Some interesting music-related items that have landed in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* We’ve Passed Peak Vinyl – Here Comes The Collapse (Stereogum)
* What It Takes for an Independent Record Store to Survive Now (Pitchfork)
* Twang Time: Scofield Explores Country Music on New Album (DownBeat)
* A Conversation With ... Norah Jones (FYIMusicNews.ca)
* Norah Jones Teams with Jazz Icons for Day Breaks (DownBeat)
* Kittens, Kisses, And Razorblades: Behind Star Trek's Iconic Sounds (AudibleRange.com)
* 5 Musicians Pick Their Favorite Herbie Hancock Recordings (NPR)
* The Collapse of Music Dealers and Music Licensing’s “Race to the Bottom” (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Harry Connick Jr. joining daytime talk world and all that jazz (Fresno Bee)
* Herman Leonard’s intimate portraits of jazz greats draw viewers into smoky clubs (Washington Post)
* Paul McCartney Looks Back: The Rolling Stone Interview (Rolling Stone)
* SoundGirls Go To Camp (Pro Sound News)
* Bonerama Sends Love to Roswell Rudd (MySpiltMilk.com)
* Reviving a Detroit jazz legacy: Terry Jean Pollard was queen of the vibes (Detroit Metro Times)
* Tunisia’s Dying Jazz (Foreign Policy)
* From Gladiators to Bog Bodies: How inventive, evocative museum sound design is created today (ASoundEffect.com)
* Epic Records Whips Up Hit Album Out of Thin Air (and Online Streams)(New York Times)
* Tony Bennett's Season of Celebration: At 90, the Singer Reflects On A Life Rich with Collaborations, from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga (Billboard)
* Randy Weston Archive Provides Glimpse Into the History of Jazz in America and Africa (Harvard.edu)
* A visual chronicle of Tokyo’s disappearing jazz bars (TheVinylFactory.com)
* 12 Sound Artists Changing Your Perception of Art (Artnet.com)
* Cruisin’: Vintage photos of cars tricked out with record players (DangerousMinds.com)
* Stoop Summit - How a Harlem brownstone was immortalized when the living legends of jazz assembled there for an iconic photograph (New York Daily News)
* Inside Elvis Presley's Legendary Man-Cave Studio (Rolling Stone)
* Review: Herbie Hancock, Basking in a Boundless Legacy of Fusion (New York Times)
* Saving American Music: Heather West (ElmoreMagazine.com)
* Robert Glasper Experiment Returns with Eclectic ArtScience (DownBeat)

Sunday Session: February 14, 2016

Thad Jones

For your Sunday reading, some interesting music-related items that have turned up recently in StLJN's inbox:

* Jazz Record Mart Owner Reaches Deal to Sell All His Records, Closing Soon (DNAInfo.com)
* After Seven Years, Maxwell Will Release The Sequel To ‘BLACKsummers’night’ This Year (Vibe)
* Thad Jones: 50 years of big band jazz in present tense (Detroit Free Press)
* Jazz Night In America At The DC Jazz Loft (NPR)
* 5 Production Lessons from Dave Stewart’s New Autobiography (Pro Sound News)
* The .00005¢ Handshake: More Reasons Why No Talent Buyer Cares About Streaming (MusicTechPolicy)
* Brian Eno and David Byrne’s cultural appropriation – 35 years of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (Get Into This)
* Why Branford Marsalis is the man (Blavity.com)
* Mark Mullins of Bonerama Keeps Trombones Hummin’ & Rockin’ (INTERVIEW) (Glide Magazine)
* The Sound Of Film To Come: how jazz fell in love with the movies (The Guardian UK)
* How skateboarders and jazz musicians make the same moves (KnightFoundation.org)
* Jarrett Thrills the Faithful at Sold-Out Carnegie Hall (DownBeat)
* Five reasons why SoundCloud might be doomed (FactMag.com)
* The Creative Imperative and FONT Music - Dave Douglas’ “Solo” presentation at the 2016 Jazz Connect Conference (Jazz Times)
* The International Electronic Music Association and the Cassette Underground (Percorsi Musicali)
* Coltrane Church Says It’s Under Threat of Being Priced Out of San Francisco (KQED)
* Interview: Bassist/Producer Bill Laswell (SFSonic.com)
* How “Vinyl" and Lee Ranaldo Turned a Lost ’70s Act Into TV's Next Great Fictional Band (Pitchfork)
* Leading independent record shop shuns Record Store Day (TheVinylFactory.com)

Jazz this week: Warren Wolf, Susan Alcorn & Frank Rosaly, Bonerama, and more

While the winter weather may have taken a turn for the worse this week in St. Louis, the jazz and creative music touring activity here is heating up, with three (or four, depending on you count) visiting headliners in town over the next few days, plus an eclectic assortment of shows from local performers. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, January 20
Vibraphonist Warren Wolf (pictured, upper left) and his band Wolfpack will begin a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro

Wolf, now considered one of the top mallet percussionists in jazz (and who also plays piano and drums) was here most recently in November 2014, co-leading a band with trumpeter Sean Jones and saxophonist Tia Fuller for a weekend at the Bistro. This time, he's fronting his own group, which includes saxophonist Tim Green, who also contributes as a composer, plus pianist Alex Brown, bassist Kris Funn and drummer Billy Williams Jr.

Also on Wednesday, Cabaret Project St. Louis will present their monthly "Open Mic Night" at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Thursday, January 21
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play vintage swing and blues in the Ritz Carlton Hotel's Lobby Lounge; guitarist Dave Black and Friends featuring singer Feyza Eren will perform at Nathalie’s; and actress/singer Anna Blair offers her latest cabaret show, "I am Reddy, Hear Me Roar" at The Emerald Room at The Monocle.

Friday, January 22
Pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn, who usually works solo, will team up with drummer Frank Rosaly (pictured, lower left with Alcorn) for a duo concert of improvised music presented by New Music Circle at Joe’s Cafe.

Also on Friday, New Orleans-based brass/funk/rock band Bonerama is back for another performance at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Elsewhere around town, the Original Knights of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; singer Joe Mancuso leads a quartet at Nathalie's; and guitarist Tom Byrne's trio will play at Cigar Inn.

Saturday, January 23
On Saturday afternoon, singer Wendy L. Gordon returns to J&C BBQ and Blues, and the Stan Coleman - Darrell Mixon Quartet performs at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Saturday evening, Wack-A-Doo serves up swing, pop, and Americana at Evangeline's; singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne will duet at Thurman Grill; and guitarist Brian Vaccaro's trio plays at the house concert venue Kinda Blue Club.

Sunday, January 24
The Jazz Edge Big Band returns to Kirkwood Station Brewing Company, and trumpeter Jim Manley plays at Nathalie's.

Monday, January 25
Trumpeter Randy Holmes leads his quintet in a concert at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2016 jazz preview, part 2

This week, it's part two of StLJN's winter/spring 2016 jazz preview, featuring bands and musicians who will be visiting St. Louis to perform in the new year. (You can see part one, which covers most of the month of January, here.)

Today's installment picks up the chronological thread in late January with Bonerama, who will be back in town to play on Friday, January 22 at Broadway Oyster Bar. In the first video up above, you can see an excerpt from their set at the 2015 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in which they perform the original tune "Mr. Okra" and their interpretation of the NOLA standard "Indian Red."

After the jump, it's pianist Billy Childs, who will perform Saturday, January 30 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The video clip feature Childs' version of "New York Tendaberry" from his album Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro, and was recorded at the 2015 Monterey Jazz Festival.

Next up is singer Cyrille Aimée, who will be making her St. Louis debut with performances starting Wednesday, February 3 through Saturday, February 6 at Jazz at the Bistro. Aimée and her band are seen here performing the standard "Caravan" in a promotional video for the Crested Butte Music Festival held in July in Colorado.

That same week will mark the long-anticipated return of singer Gregory Porter, whose career has taken off like the proverbial rocket since he last visited St. Louis in January 2013 to perform at the Bistro. It's a measure of how much his star has risen over the last three years that this time, instead of doing a four-night run in the relatively intimate confines of the Bistro, Porter will perform in concert on Saturday, February 6 at a much larger venue, the Touhill Performing Arts Center. You can see him in the fourth video doing his song "Liquid Spirit" in a show earlier this year in Ibiza, Spain.

Two nights after Porter's concert, saxophonist Branford Marsalis will return to St. Louis to perform Monday, February 8 through Wednesday, February 10 at Jazz at the Bistro. Marsalis is seen in the fifth video clip with his long-running band - pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis, and drummer Justin Faulkner - playing "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" this past July at the Ravello Festival in Italy.

After that, you can see pianist Marcus Roberts, who will be featured in a week of performances Wednesday, February 17 through Saturday, February 20 at the Bistro. Roberts and his trio, with Jason Marsalis (brother of Branford, Wynton, and Delfeayo) on drums and Rodney Jordan on bass, are seen here performing Thelonious Monk's "Blues Five Spot" at a concert last February in Calgary, Alberta.

The following week, St. Louis jazz fans will have the chance to check out another powerful pianist, as Danilo Perez performs on Saturday, February 27 at the Sheldon. Perez has been part of saxophonist Wayne Shorter's quartet for years now, and earlier this year enlisted the aid of his bandmates in that group, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade, to record a trio album, Children of the Light, which was released in September. In the seventh clip, you can see them performing the title song from that album in a show this past July at the Blue Note Milano in Italy.

Last, but certainly not least today, is saxophonist James Carter, who will be returning to perform with his organ trio starting Wednesday, March 2 through Saturday, March 5 at Jazz at the Bistro. Carter is seen here fronting a big band on a typically effusive performance of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," recorded in June of this year at the Festival Django Reinhardt 2015 in Samois-sur-Seine, France.

Next week, it's part three of StLJN's winter/spring 2016 jazz preview. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Jazz this week: "Jazz St. Louis at 20," "3 Nights in September," Bonerama, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in and around St. Louis includes an anniversary celebration for the city's most prolific jazz presenter, plus a gathering of our town's free improvisors, the return of a favorite New Orleans band, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 23
The "3 Nights in September" festival of improvised music continues at Tavern of Fine Arts, with sets from Ghost Ice, Mister Ben, and Dave Stone with Henry Claude, Glenn "Papa" Wright, and Joe Hess. The event wraps up on Thursday with music from the Experimental Arts Ensemble STL, Vernacular String Trio (pictured, top left), STL Free Jazz Collective, and George Sams and Charles "Bobo" Shaw.

Also on Wednesday, Jazz St. Louis presents the first of four nights of "Jazz St. Louis at 20," an anniversary celebration featuring an all-star band comprised of musicians who have played Jazz at the Bistro multiple times over the last 20 years.

Since the group has been put together just for this occasion, there's no video footage available of all of them together, but you can see individual clips of bassist Christian McBride, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, drummer Gregory Hutchinson, guitarist Russell Malone, trumpeter Terell Stafford (pictured, center left) and saxophonist Tim Warfield in part 1 of StLJN's fall jazz preview.

Elsewhere around town, the jazz-inflected hip-hop group Sidewalk Chalk will perform at the Old Rock House, heading a bill that also includes Lamar Harris in his "DJ Nune" identity. To kick off their two-month tour of more than 50 cities, last week the group released a video of their cover of Kendrick Lamar‘s “Alright.”

Thursday, September 24
Pianist Ptah Williams leads a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; singer Joe Mancuso and bassist Willem von Hombracht will be in duo mode at Thurman Grill; and pianist Brad Ellebrecht and singer Diane Vaughn will perform at Evangeline's.

Friday, September 25
Orquesta Son Montuno will bring the salsa for a free outdoor concert as part of the Greater St. Louis Hispanic Festival at Soulard Market Park; guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith will play duets at Thurman Grill; and the Matt McCallie Orchestra will make their debut at Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, September 26
Singer Feyza Eren will lead a quartet in a concert at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton; multi-instrumentalist Joe Bozzi and band return to Evangeline's; trumpeter Randy Holmes and his quartet will perform in a benefit for local food pantries at the Ozark Theatre; and guitarist Larry Brown Jr. will be back home to celebrate the release of his latest album, The Music And The Moment, at 2720 Cherokee.

Sunday, 
September 27
The sound of multiple trombones will be thundering on South Broadway as New Orleans'
Bonerama (pictured, lower left) returns to the Broadway Oyster Bar, while just up the street, blues/rock guitarist Billy Barnett and friends will present a "Tribute to Danny Gatton" at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Also on Sunday, the Jazz Edge Orchestra and singer Marsha Evans return to Kirkwood Station Brewing Company; and guitarist Vincent Varvel plays at Nathalie's.

Monday, September 28
Saxophonist and Webster University faculty member Paul DeMarinis and his ensemble will perform a program of original compositions and more at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

Tuesday, September 29
The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra presents a "Tribute to Frank Sinatra" as part of the Sheldon Concert Hall's "Notes From Home" series.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

Jazz this week: Stooges Brass Band, Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, Bonerama, Johanna Ballou, and more

For the middle of January, it's a comparatively busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with tastes of NYC and New Orleans on the musical menu along with plenty of home-cooked favorites. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, January 14
Saxophonist/clarinetist Victor Goines, one of the group of Jazz at Lincoln Center musicians doing an educational residency this week for Jazz St. Louis, will present a free performance and clinic at Saxquest.

Also tonight, singer Eve Seltzer (pictured, top left), a St. Louis native who with her husband, guitarist Ben Wood, recently moved back home after nearly twenty years living and working in New York, will perform at Nathalie's in the first instance of what's projected as a recurring monthly show for her.

Thursday, January 15
New Orleans' Stooges Brass Band, known for infusing the city's venerable brass-band tradition with a serious dose of hip-hop, will play at the Broadway Oyster Bar; and guitarist Dave Black and friends, including singer Feyza Eren, will be at Nathalie's.

Friday, January 16
Billed as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Group for their two nights this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro, Victor Goines, trumpeter Terell Stafford (pictured, center left), trombonist Chris Crenshaw, and drummer Alvin Atkinson all are veterans of the JALC Orchestra who are in town leading workshops and master classes with local students as part of Jazz St. Louis' education program.

As is customary, the clinicians are finishing their week by joining forces to perform, and while the ad hoc nature of the ensemble makes their precise repertoire difficult to predict, expect feature numbers for each member drawn from their own personal song catalogs, with perhaps some additional standards in the mix, too. Regardless, the standard of musicianship no doubt will be high, and you can at least get a sense of what each of the front-line players can do via this video showcase post from a few Saturdays ago.

Also on Friday, the Broadway Oyster Bar presents another slice of New Orleans, courtesy of the trombone-centric funk-rockers Bonerama; singer Nnenna Freelon appears in the multi-media performance “The Clothesline Muse” at Washington University's Edison Theatre; and the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, January 17
New Music Circle presents St. Louis pianist Johanna Ballou (pictured, below left) playing a program of music from contemporary composers at the 560 Music Center. One of the selections, Frederic Rzewski's "Les Mountons de Panurge," involves some audience participation, which will be facilitated by an open rehearsal of it at noon Saturday at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Also on Saturday, guitarist Brian Vaccaro's trio will be joined by singer Feyza Eren for a performance at the south side house concert venue KindaBlue, 6101 1/2 Idaho.

Sunday, January 18
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents Miss Jubilee in a matinee performance at the Doubletree Hotel St. Louis at Westport; and jazz/funk/R&B quartet Good 4 The Soul plays an early evening gig at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Monday, January 19
Guitarists Eric Slaughter and Tom Byrne will co-lead a quartet at BB's.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2015 jazz preview

Today, it's the first part of StLJN's winter/spring 2015 jazz preview, in which we bring you music videos from jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting our city in the first part of next year.

First up are The Bad Plus, who will be back in St. Louis from Wednesday, January 7 through Saturday, January 10 to play at Jazz at the Bistro. The group has been visiting the Bistro early in January for nearly a decade now, and since their last trip here, they've put out a new recording of all original music, Inevitable Western. In the video up above, you can see them playing a song from that album, "Gold Prisms Incorporated," during a gig in September at the Blue Note in Milano, Italy.

After the jump, you'll see the Stooges Brass Band playing "Hot." They'll be in town on Thursday, January 15 at the Broadway Oyster Bar; the video was recorded in July of this year in New Orleans for the web series "Jam in the Van."

Below that you can see their fellow New Orleanians Bonerama, who will be here the very next night, Friday, January 16, also at the Broadway Oyster Bar. The clip is an audience-shot video of them performing "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do" last month at the Cutting Room in NYC.

That same weekend, the Bistro will feature a band being billed as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, an ad hoc assemblage made up of musicians doing week-long educational residencies for Jazz St. Louis that will culminate in public performances on Friday, January 16 and Saturday, January 17. The front line features two familiar faces, trumpeter Terell Stafford and saxophonist/clarinetist Victor Goines - both of whom have fronted their own bands here - along with trombonist Chris Crenshaw, with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra drummer Alvin Atkinson quarterbacking the rhythm section with a bassist and pianist TBA.

In the fourth clip, you can see Stafford performing a very nice version of Billy Strayhorn's "Day Dream" at the 2013 International Trumpet Guild convention, backed by pianist Bruce Barth. Below that, there's a clip of Goines working out on his composition "Turning Points" during a 2011 gig with pianist Aaron Diehl, bassist Phillip Kuehn, and drummer Marion Felder. Crenshaw is represented by a clip compiling excerpts from a concert for a Smithsonian traveling exhibit that the trombonist played in March 2013 in his hometown of Thomson, GA; the rhythm section is Josef Patchen (keyboard), Travis Shaw (bass), and Edwin G. Hamilton (drums).

Today's final video features the Arturo O'Farrill Sextet, who will visit St. Louis Wednesday, January 21 through Saturday, January 24 to play at Jazz at the Bistro. O'Farrill, a pianist, composer/arranger and son of the famous bandleader Chico O'Farrill, was here a decade ago with his Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra to play the long-defunct St. Louis Jazz Festival in Clayton, but this will be his first visit here since. To get an idea of what to expect, check out the video of O'Farrill's octet recorded in September 2013 for an NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert.

Look for the second part of StLJN's winter/spring 2015 jazz preview in this space next week. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Bonerama returning to Broadway Oyster Bar on Friday, January 16

It's been a while since we've had a sighting of Bonerama in St. Louis, but there's news this week that the New Orleans-based "brass-funk-rock" band (pictured) will be returning here early next year to perform at 9:00 p.m. Friday, January 16 at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

After doing a half-dozen gigs here in as many years, Bonerama last played in St. Louis in June, 2013, also at the Oyster Bar. Their most recent recording, Shake It Baby, came out in the spring of 2013.

General admission for Bonerama at the Broadway Oyster Bar will be $15 at the door.

Jazz this week: Matt Wilson Quartet with John Medeski, Bonerama, Dave Easley, and more

While winter weather has delayed one of this week's headliners for a day, there's still plenty of live jazz and creative music happening in and around St. Louis for those willing to get out and brave the cold. Let's go to the highlights...

If it weren't for the big snowstorm hitting the East Coast, tonight would have been the first of four nights featuring drummer Matt Wilson's quartet with special guest pianist John Medeski at Jazz at the Bistro. However, because of the inclement weather, Wilson (pictured) and company couldn't get a flight that would arrive in St. Louis in time to play tonight's shows.

So, they'll open at the Bistro tomorrow and continue through Saturday; go to Columbia on Sunday for a show there; and then return to St. Louis on Monday to perform one more night at the Bistro in lieu of tonight's postponed sets. The shows here will be the group's first in support of a new album, Gathering Call, that was released just this week. For more about Wilson, including some video samples of his playing and links to several reviews of Gathering Call, go here. 

Elsewhere around town tonight, Dizzy Atmosphere will play at The Shaved Duck, and drummer Montez Coleman will lead a jam session at Nathalie's.

On Thursday, in addition to the delayed opening for Wilson and Medeski, singer Feyza Eren will begin this semester's Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University, and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play at Schlafly Bottleworks.

Then on Friday, multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris will team up with The People's Key to present "The Shawn Carter Jazz Suite," featuring interpretations of the music of Jay-Z, at Kranzberg Arts Center. Also on Friday, saxophonist Kendrick Smith performs at Robbie's House of Jazz; Second Generation Swing plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; keyboardist and singer Jesse Gannon will be at the Engine Room; and pianist Ptah Williams leads a trio at Cigar Inn.

On Saturday night, New Orleans' Bonerama will be back in town to perform at the Broadway Oyster Bar; saxophonist Jason Swagler, pianist Adaron Jackson and guitarist Rick Haydon will play a trio show at Jacoby Arts Center in Alton; and singer-guitarist Tommy Halloran will promote the release of a new album with his band Guerrilla Swing via a show at Mad Art Gallery.

On Sunday afternoon, the Funky Butt Brass Band will be the featured entertainment for a first look at the new Urban Chestnut Grove Brewery and Bierhall on Manchester, and the Dave Dickey Big Band will celebrate two years of monthly gigs at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday Webster University will present its first jazz faculty concert of the year in Winifred Moore Auditorium, a "Basses Only" performance featuring Jay Hungerford, Ben Wheeler, Ric Vice and Willem von Hombracht.

Also on Monday, steel guitarist Dave Easley, who's played with drummer Brian Blade's Fellowship and several other jazz acts, will be in town to perform a duo set with guitarist Dave Black at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. If you can't make it to BB's, Easley and Black also will play on Tuesday night at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, 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.)