Jazz this week: Trio Globo, Box Deserter Trio, Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, and more

After a veritable banquet of musical activity last week, the menu of jazz, improvisation and creative music this weekend in St. Louis is a bit shorter, but still offers some potentially tasty choices. Also notable in these recessionary times is the fact that the two touring attractions in town are both doing shows with no admission fees or cover charges, which is certainly good news for anyone who may have already spent their live music budget for the month. .

One of those touring groups is Trio Globo, featuring keyboardist/harmonica player Howard Levy, cellist Eugene Friesen and percussionist Glen Velez (pictured). They'll be in residency at St. Louis Community College-Meramec on Thursday and Friday, doing a series of free workshops and rehearsing during the day, and then closing things out with a free concert on Friday night in the Meramec Theatre on campus, accompanied by the Meramec orchestra and choir. For more on Trio Globo and a complete schedule of events, please see this post.

The other touring ensemble in question is the Box Deserter Trio, featuring pianist Thollem McDonas, saxophonist Skeeter Shelton, and bassist/multi-instrumentalist Joel Peterson. They're also performing on Thursday and Friday, doing a pair of free shows downtown at the Schlafly St. Louis Brewery and Tap Room. On Thursday, the opening acts will be the bands Holy! Holy! Holy! and Allgorithms, and on Friday, it's poet K. Curtis Lyle with multi-instrumentalist David A.N. Jackson and bassist and mbira player Zimbabwe Nkenya.

This is also the weekend when the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, the ensemble featuring the top students from JSL's educational programs, does their annual gig at Jazz at the Bistro. They'll be on stage for two sets a night on Friday and Saturday, showing off what they've learned over the past year of rehearsing, performing, workshopping with visiting artists including Greg Osby and Bruce Barth, and studying with their regular instructors, trumpeter Anthony Wiggins and pianist/JSL education director Phil Dunlap.

UPDATE - 4/23/09, 12:10 p.m.: Drummer T. S. Monk, son of the legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, is also in the St. Louis area this weekend, performing with his sextet on Saturday night at SIU-Edwardsville as part of the University's Arts and Issues series. Tickets are $27 for general admission, $12 for students, and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Meridian Ballroom of the Morris University Center.

Elsewhere this weekend, the St. Louis Jazz Cafe has smooth jazz saxophonists Readus Miller on Thursday and Michael Anthony Fitzgerald on Friday, then singer Danita Mumphard on Saturday night and the Usual Suspects Duo for Sunday brunch. On Sunday, Bud Shultz and the You Can't Beat Experience Jazz Band will offer their monthly session of traditional jazz at the Alton VFW hall, and on Tuesday, neo-swing group Swing DeVille will play at The Gramophone/

As always, these are just some of the noteworthy shows happening around St. Louis over the next few days. To see more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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.)

Coming attractions include FLOW, BoxDeserter Trio, Skeletonbreath

The last couple of days have brought announcements of upcoming St. Louis shows by three touring trios that may be of interest to fans of jazz and creative music:

* The New York-based organ trio FLOW will perform on Friday, April 17 at The Gramophone. Formed in 2006, FLOW includes saxophonist Kim Bock (pictured), organ player Soren Moller and drummer Peter Retzlaff, whose collective experience include performances and recordings with artists such as Kenny Werner, Greg Osby, Maynard Ferguson, Dick Oatts, Antonio Sanchez and Jason Marsalis.

According to their press kit, FLOW's music includes "straight grooves, lyrical modernism, free explorations and hard core swing." Tickets are $10, the show is 21-and-older only, and the music starts at 10:00 p.m. FLOW is being co-presented by Saxquest, where Bock will do a saxophone clinic earlier that day.

* The BoxDeserter Trio, featuring pianist Thollem McDonas, saxophonist Skeeter Shelton, and multi-instrumentalist Joel Peterson, will play free shows in two different rooms at the Schlafly St. Louis Brewery and Tap Room on Thursday, April 23 and Friday, April 24. On Thursday, they'll be part of three-band bill starting at 9:00 p.m. in the Eliot Room along with St. Louis bands Holy!Holy!Holy! and Allgorithms. Then on Friday, they'll play in the Club Room, with poet K. Curtis Lyle and bassist Zimbabwe Nkenya opening the show at 8:00 p.m.

The BoxDeserter Trio "encompasses a whole world of music-making that is part erudite composition, part virtuosic improvisation, part populist affability...melodic modernism, classical economy and elemental Free Jazz all inform (their) direction." McDonas is from the Bay Area and has toured almost non-stop for the past several years, previously performing in St. Louis both as a solo artist and as a member of the Bloom Project. Shelton and Peterson (whose primary instrument is bass) are both from Detroit, and have wide-ranging experience encompassing jazz, free improv, world music and more.

* Lastly, the online touring information service Pollstar has just added a listing showing a performance by the Brooklyn, NY-based instrumental trio Skeletonbreath at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center on Thursday, May 7. Skeletonbreath is comprised of Andrew Platt (electric bass), Bob Pycior (electric violin), and Tris Palazzolo (drums), and their Wikipedia page says they "play dark, technical, melodic music that has been self-described as "Transylvanian Surf Rock" and "Halloween party music.""

As is always the case with Pollstar listings, this show should not be considered confirmed until officially announced by the venue or presenter. StLJN will have more on the ticket price and show time if/when such an announcement is made.