Jazz this week: Brad Mehldau Trio, Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, Victor Wooten, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the long-awaited return of a critically acclaimed pianist; an all-woman big band headlining a local festival; a couple of free events examining the music of John Coltrane; and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, April 10
Pianist Brad Mehldau returns to St. Louis for the first time since 2011 for the start of a five-night engagement at Jazz St. Louis.

Though Mehldau has a new album of electric music recorded in collaboration with drummer Mark Guiliana coming out next month, this gig will be with his long-running acoustic trio (pictured, top left), which includes drummer Jeff Ballard and bassist Larry Grenadier.

Their most recent recording is Seymour Reads the Constitution!, which came out in 2018, and given how long it's been since Mehldau's last appearance here, it seems likely that this week's run at the Bistro will feature some of that material, as well as selections from 2016's Blues and Ballads.

Also on Wednesday, writer Ashley Kahn will give a presentation for Jazz St. Louis' "Whitaker Jazz Speaks" series on "A Love Supreme: The Music and Message in John Coltrane's Magnum Opus."  The free event will take place at the St Louis Public Library's Schlafly Branch in the Central West End.

Thursday, April 11
There's more Coltrane content on tap for Thursday night, as the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present a free concert featuring saxophonist Paul DeMarinis playing a program of the saxophonist's compositions. DeMarinis will be joined by pianist Nick Schlueter, bassist Jeff Anderson, and drummer Steve Davis, with Ashley Kahn also on hand to deliver some pre-concert remarks.

Also on Thursday, singer Erin Bode will celebrate the release on vinyl of her 2016 album Here and Now with a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall; and guitarist Dave Black and friends return to The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, April 12
The 2019 Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival will present the DIVA Jazz Orchestra (pictured, center left) in concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.


The NYC-based, all-woman big band led by drummer Sherri Maricle last year celebrated their 25th anniversary with an album featuring all-original compositions and arrangements by members of the group.

For more about that, plus some videos of DIVA in action, as well as videos of musicians who will be featured in Saturday's GSLJF concert, check out this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, Second Generation Swing Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom, and singer Anita Jackson returns to The Dark Room.

Saturday, April 13
The 2019 Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival's final concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center will be a tribute to UMSL jazz studies director Jim Widner featuring the "Ultimate Jazz All-Stars," an ad hoc group assembled for the occasion by drummer and producer Gregg Field and featuring musicians such as saxophonist Tom Scott, trumpeter Scotty Barnhart, pianist, saxophonist and arranger/composer Gordon Goodwin, bassist Carlitos del Puerto, pianist Shelly Berg, and more.

Also on Saturday, the Midwest Jazz-tette plays West Coast "cool" jazz at Evangeline's.

Sunday, April 14
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents the St. Louis Stompers playing traditional jazz in a matinee at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St. Louis - Westport

Then on Sunday evening, multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman and pianist Carolbeth True will revisit some of the music from their 1998 album New World Harmonica Jazz at the house concert venue Judson House.

Monday, April 15
Students and faculty of Webster University will perform the music of Cole Porter at the annual "Shepard/Davis Scholarship Concert" at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

Tuesday, April 16
Bassist Victor Wooten (pictured, bottom left) returns with the Wooten Band for a show at Old Rock House. Along with the leader, the Wooten Band includes his brothers Regi and Joseph Wooten on guitars and keyboards and Derico Watson on drums.

The show also will feature the "Wooten Woods Experience," which involves an audience participation segment; guest musicians/educators drawn from a roster including bassist Steve Bailey and saxophonists Bob Franceschini and Bob Hemenger; and "a select group of students from his music and nature camps, an immersive educational program focusing on the relationship between music, nature, and life."

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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* If you're a musician, artist or other creative type in the St. Louis area, the Regional Art Commission really, really wants you to complete their "Artists Count" survey.

You can register to win an iPad upon completing the 20-minute version of the survey, which does require a fair amount of detail regarding hours worked, income earned, and so on. There's also a five-minute version for the time-challenged. You'll find both survey forms online at http://www.artistscount.com/

* Next Monday, April 30 is the first-ever International Jazz Day, with celebrations in various cities around the globe including concerts from some big-name musicians streaming for free online at the link above. Locally, Jazz St. Louis will celebrate the occasion with a jam session at Jazz at the Bistro, with pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson's trio as host musicians.

Unfortunately, saxophonist Willie Akins, who had been announced as a special guest for the jam session, will be unable to appear, as he's been told by his doctor to rest and refrain from playing for a while after a recent hospital stay. Here's hoping for a full recovery and a quick return to action...

* Speaking of Jazz St. Louis, they've just posted online a setlist from the recent two-night gig at the Bistro by pianist Brad Mehldau and saxophonist Josh Redman.

* The Meramec Jazz Band (pictured), who apparently now have dropped the word "Lab" from their name, have a new promotional video up on YouTube.

* Vintage Vinyl and Euclid Records both have posted photo albums on Facebook documenting last Saturday's Record Store Day festivities at their respective locations.

* When StLJN reached its seventh birthday this week, yr. humble editor got a nice congratulatory email from Michael Ricci, founder and head of the website AllAboutJazz.com, which, along with its original reviews, features, and interviews, republishes StLJN's content and that of many other jazz blogs.

In the message, Ricci passed along word that StLJN recently took over first place in pageviews among the blogs featured on AAJ. While there's no telling if, or how long, we might retain that lofty ranking, it's good to know that people are checking out the news about jazz in St. Louis, and I'm grateful to Ricci and everyone at AAJ for their continued interest and support.

Jazz this week: Laurence Hobgood & Ernie Watts, Brad Mehldau & Joshua Redman, Frank Stemper & Altgeld Chamber Players, Erika Johnson, and more

This week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a variety of sounds, including what amounts to a mini-festival of piano players at Jazz at the Bistro, with the two out-of-town participants bringing along top tenor saxophonists. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, pianist Laurence Hobgood leads a quartet at Jazz at the Bistro for one night only, featuring tenor sax great Ernie Watts as special guest. Hobgood is best known for his long association with Kurt Elling, but he's taking advantage of some downtime in the singer's schedule to get out and do some touring on his own. His band also features drummer Jared Schonig, who was here earlier this year with the Wee Trio, and bassist Matthew Rybicki. For more about what to expect, check out this interview from the start of their tour, published by the Chicago edition of Examiner.com, and this story from last week in the Post-Dispatch.

Also tonight, guitarist Vince Varvel leads a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

On Friday, pianist Dave Venn checks into the Bistro for a rare one-nighter there. A longtime veteran of the local scene, Venn is an accomplished player who began back in the Gaslight Square era and is known particularly for a long association with the Chase Park Plaza hotel. He'll be accompanied by bassist David Troncoso and guitarist and former St. Louisan Rob Block.

Also on Friday, the Funky Butt Brass Band is at the Broadway Oyster Bar; vibraphonist Peter Schlamb leads a quartet at Robbie's House of jazz; drummer Paul Shaw's trio plays at the Cigar Inn; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham returns to Jazz on Broadway.

On Saturday afternoon, the Nu-Art Series will present Erika Johnson singing the music of Betty Carter in a concert at the Metropolitan Gallery. Johnson will be backed by guitarist Eric Slaughter, drummer Montez Coleman and bassist Bob Deboo.

Then on Saturday night, the Bistro completes its weekend trifecta of pianists with Brad Mehldau and saxophonist Joshua Redman (pictured). Longtime friends who worked together in Redman's band early in their respective careers, the two are doing a brief tour together this spring before going back to their respective "day jobs" as bandleaders. In an unusual bit of scheduling, they'll be back at the Bistro on Sunday night for two more sets. For more, check out this feature story by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson.

Also on Saturday night, New Music Circle presents a program of music by composer Frank Stemper, as performed by the Altgeld Chamber Players at the Kranzberg Arts Center; and drummer Marty Morrison will lead a quartet at Robbie's.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Webster University Jazz Combos will perform at Winifred Moore Auditorium the Community Music School on the Webster campus, and pianist Dave Becherer leads a trio at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.

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: Brad Mehldau, Cyrus Chestnut with Jon Faddis, John Pizzarelli, Marlin Bonds, Diverse, New Tricks, and more

It's a very busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with several well-known touring musicians coming to town to perform over the next several days.

Perhaps the most highly anticipated performances are those of pianist Brad Mehldau, who brings his trio with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard to Jazz at the Bistro tonight and Thursday as part of a short spring tour. Mehldau currently is riding a wave of critical acclaim for his two most recent recordings; you can read more about it and see some video of the trio in action in this post from last Saturday. Also, you can read my Critic's Pick on Mehldau for the Riverfront Times here.

Also on Thursday, the young Kansas City band Diverse, featuring trumpet player Hermon Mehari, returns to St. Louis to perform at Robbie's House of Jazz; and pianist Kara Baldus Vandiver plays the music of Bill Evans in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

On Friday, another fine pianist, Cyrus Chestnut (pictured), checks into the Bistro for a two-night engagement with his trio and their special guest, trumpeter Jon Faddis. Chestnut's vivid, gospel-influenced style has made him a local favorite, and he, Faddis and the band are in town all week doing an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis. They're performing at area schools and working with the student musicians in JSL's various educational programs, and Faddis also is doing a free master class this afternoon.

On Saturday afternoon, trumpeter and St. Louis native Marlin Bonds, who's also enjoyed success as a producer for various hip-hop performers, comes home to play the music of Herbie Hancock in a concert for the Nu-Art Series at the Metropolitan Gallery. See this post for more on Bonds and the Nu-Art Series' spring schedule.

Then on Saturday evening, singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli, another frequent visitor to St. Louis, returns with his band the Swing Seven to play the music of Duke Ellington for the Sheldon Concert Hall's annual benefit gala. Some single tickets may remain for the show; check Metrotix for the latest.

On Sunday, the Webster University jazz faculty will do a matinee performance for the St. Louis Jazz Club at the Doubletree Hotel at Westport Plaza; and New Tricks, a quartet co-led by saxophonist Mike Lee and trumpeter Ted Chubb, will play an early evening show at the Bistro at Grand Center, with the Webster Groves High School jazz combos as opening acts.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday pianist Dave Becherer's trio plays at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. On Tuesday morning, Swing Deville will play the first of two Coffee Concerts this week at the Sheldon. (The performance will be repeated at the same time on Wednesday.) On Tuesday evening, bassist Bob Deboo and his quartet will play Brandt's, and Robbie's will host their weekly jazz jam session.

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.)

(Edited after posting to add a link to the RFT item on Brad Mehldau.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A Brad Mehldau sampler

With pianist Brad Mehldau bringing his trio back to Jazz at the Bistro
this Wednesday and Thursday, it seems an opportune time to offer some video footage of him, bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard in action.

One of the more heavily hyped jazz players of his generation, the 40-year-old Mehldau currently is enjoying a new round of critical acclaim for his two most recent recordings, 2010's trio-plus-orchestra outing Highway Rider, and the just released solo piano set Live at Marciac. Though he's been involved in various musical projects since his last St. Louis appearance in 2008, Mehldau has continued to return to the trio format, and more specifically his longtime collaborators Grenadier and Ballard, on a regular basis.

Up above, you can hear them perform Thelonious Monk's "We See," pushing the tempo to give the piece a different feel from Monk's version. Down below, there's a clip of Radiohead's "Knives Out," which has become something of a staple of Mehldau's repertoire since the trio recorded it on the 2005 CD Day Is Done. Below that, they tackle the standard "All The Things You Are," with an extended solo intro by Mehldau, in a performance shown in two parts. Finally, you can get a taste of Mehldau's solo playing with a version of the Massive Attack song "Teardrop" recorded last year at the Jazz á Vienne festival.

Brad Mehldau to play April 6 & 7 at Jazz at the Bistro

Jazz St. Louis has announced that pianist Brad Mehldau (pictured) is returning to St. Louis to play Wednesday, April 6 and Thursday, April 7 to play at Jazz at the Bistro.

You can find out the details, including the on-sale date for tickets, by reading this post I wrote for the Riverfront Times' music blog A to Z.

Jazz this week: Brad Mehldau, "Cabaret In Blue" kicks off with Anita Rosamond, and more

While this week's menu of jazz and creative music offerings isn't quite as extensive as last week's, there's still some good stuff to be heard out there on St. Louis stages.

The biggest name in town this weekend is pianist Brad Mehldau (pictured) who brings his trio to Jazz at the Bistro for performances beginning tonight and running through Saturday. Mehldau is one of the most talked-about and written-about pianists of his generation, earning favorable comparisons from jazz critics to greats like Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett as well as attracting attention from pop and rock fans for his interpretations of music from artists like Radiohead and the Beatles.

Elsewhere in town, singer Anita Rosamond will perform at the Cabaret at Savor on Friday and Saturday night, inaugurating the venue's new "Cabaret In Blue" series. "Cabaret in Blue" will showcase several St. Louis singers in the intimate 65-seat room, performing a set of music that's intended to reflect the influence of the blues on their own personal styles. For this weekend's shows, Rosamond will sing and play piano and will be accompanied by the fine guitarist Shaun Robinson of Good 4 the Soul and the always-impressive Sandy Weltman on harmonica. (Full disclosure: Yr. humble editor will be taking part in a couple of these presentations next month, playing piano behind singers Renee Smith and Uvee Hayes during their respective performances.)

On Sunday, conductor and former Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra musical director Leonard Slatkin returns to St. Louis to host a benefit for classical radio station KFUO (99.1 FM) at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The concert will feature performances from well-known musicians in a variety of genres, including Latin-jazz pianist Michel Camilo and versatile bassist Edgar Meyer, who's worked in jazz, classical and bluegrass.

Other noteworthy shows this weekend include singer and pianist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum at Brandt's on Friday night, and a morning concert by trombonist Brett Stamps and his band at the Sheldon Concert Hall on Saturday.

For more local jazz-related events 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.)

(Edited after posting to add more tags.)

Brad Mehldau featured in Post-Dispatch

Pianist Brad Mehldau, who will be in St. Louis with his trio to perform next Wednesday through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro, is the subject of a feature story by Calvin Wilson in today's Post-Dispatch. Read it online here.

Metheny/Mehldau concert reviewed in Post

Our esteemed colleague Terry Perkins has a review in today's Post-Dispatch of Wednesday night's concert at the Sheldon by Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau. Read it online here.

Jazz this week: Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau, Jan Shapiro, BAG II, Bosman Twins, Leon Thomas memorial concert, and more

This week's highlights post is a bit earlier than usual, due to a major jazz event in mid-week, and will also be a bit terse, as Blogger is being difficult today.

The major jazz event in question is Wednesday night's concert by Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau (pictured at left) at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Their collaboration already has produced two best-selling CDs in the last year, but this tour is the first time they've gone on the road together, and it's been getting plenty of publicity in both the jazz and mainstream press. StLJN has also had quite a bit of previous Metheny/Mehldau-related coverage, which you can see here.

On Thursday, singer and St. Louis native Jan Shapiro returns to St. Louis to do a free concert as part of the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. That same night, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, directed by Jim Widner and featuring Mardra Thomas on vocals, will take the stage at Jazz at the Bistro for two sets.

On Friday, the Black Arts Guild aka BAG II kicks off what they're calling their spring season with another concert at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, this time featuring vocalist Thomasina Clarke along with bassist Zimbabwe Nkenya, drummer Glen "Papa" Wright and saxophonist Jerome Williams.

Friday is also the night for the second annual concert benefitting the Leon and Curtis Thomas Memorial Scholarship fund, featuring an all-star aggregation of local players performing at East St. Louis High School, and it's also the opening evening of a two-night stand for the Bosman Twins (pictured at right; Web site seems to be offline right now) at Jazz at the Bistro.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday night Webster University will present a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium called "South American Sketches," which will feature music by Luis Bonfa, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astor Piazzola performed by Erin Bode, Debby Lennon and Valerie Tichacek with the Webster Faculty Jazz Ensemble.

As always, you can find a more extensive list of this week's jazz events by visiting 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. No attachments, please.)

Pollstar predicts piano performances

If for some reason you're interested in, but can't attend, the upcoming shows by Brad Mehldau (at the Sheldon with Pat Metheny on Wednesday, April 4) and/or Ahmad Jamal (at Jazz at the Bistro from Wednesday, April 25 through Saturday, April 28), it looks like you'll get another chance to hear both men play St. Louis in 2008.

That's because the oracular online entity known as Pollstar has recently revealed that Mehldau now is scheduled to play the Bistro from April 9 - 11, 2008, and Jamal is set to perform at the Sheldon on January 26, 2008. In semi-related news, blues pianist/vocalist Marcia Ball also will be making a return trip to St. Louis next year, to play at the Sheldon on January 11.

These bookings are, as best I can tell, the first public inklings of next year's season schedules at both venues, and thus should be taken with the appropriate measure of skepticism until officially announced.

Still, this kind of back-and-forth between the Bistro and the Sheldon is not at all unprecedented, as jazz performers including Jane Monheit, Freddie Cole, John Pizzarelli and Joey DeFrancesco have appeared at both venues in recent years. I suppose these sorts of recurring bookings are good news for the fans of those particular musicians, and both Mehldau and Jamal are artists who warrant continued attention.

However, artistic quality and/or audience demand notwithstanding, our local not-for-profit presenters' propensity to go back to the same wells is something of a disappointment for those of us who would like to see them embrace as much musical variety and risk-taking as possible. There are, as mentioned before in this space, many prominent jazz musicians who haven't played St. Louis in years, or in some cases, at all. Here's hoping that when the Sheldon and Jazz St. Louis announce their full 2007-2008 schedules, we'll hear at least some of those names, too.

UPDATE - 1:23 p.m., 3/22/07: While I was writing this post, another Pollstar alert came in, revealing that the Sheldon has scheduled a date for San Francisco-based traditional jazz/swing revivalists Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers on November 7, 2007. So, for those of you who are now keeping score, that's one act for the 2007-08 season that, while they may be playing an older style of music, will be something new for St. Louis concertgoers.