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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Tomorrow, Saturday, April 2, is the long-awaited official opening day for the National Blues Museum (pictured) in downtown St. Louis, and the museum has a full program of activities on tap, including live music from a number of St. Louis blues performers. You can get all the details of the grand opening weekend schedule via the museum's website.

* In more St. Louis blues news, "Moonshine & Mojo Hands," a new web video series from the creators of the documentaries M for Mississippi and We Juke Up in Here, will get its local premiere at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 20 at that very same National Blues Museum.

The event is free and open to the public, and will include a Q&A session with the film's creators, Jeff Konkel, a St. Louisan who also runs the blues label Broke & Hungry Records, and former St. Louisan Roger Stolle, the proprietor of Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art in Clarksdale, MS.

* Even as the National Blues Museum opens, an historic former musical attraction from the St. Louis riverfront has met its final demise, as St. Louis Public Radio reports that the remains of the Goldenrod Showboat have reached the scrapyard.

* Saturday's dedication ceremony for the new Clark Terry mural in south St. Louis was noted by the Post-Dispatch's Joe Holleman.

* On a related note, while trumpeter Byron Stripling was in St. Louis last week paying tribute to Clark Terry with two nights of big band performances at Jazz at the Bistro, he also was interviewed about Terry and their long personal relationship by Steve Potter of St. Louis Public Radio's "St. Louis On The Air" program.

* The regional edition of Broadway World has reviewed the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis' current production Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing, which includes saxophonist Eric Person in an onstage role. The play continues through April 10 at The Rep.

* The Tritone Guitar Expo, happening Saturday and Sunday at the Cortex complex in the Central West End, got some more coverage this week from Fox 2 news. The Expo's organizers also have published an online "Family Guide" to the event, which will include kid-friendly activities on both days.

* The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra was the subject of a feature story written by Bill Motchan for the KDHX website.

* The 2nd Annual Arts Vibrancy Index by the National Center for Arts Research at Southern Methodist University has ranked St. Louis as 13th and Kansas City 19th among national "hotbeds" of arts and culture.

Jazz this week: Byron Stripling's tribute to Clark Terry, The Necks, and more

From a big band tribute to one of St. Louis' all-time musical greats to the debut appearance by an avant-garde band from Australia, this week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis offers an exceptionally eclectic selection of shows. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, March 23
Burlesque performer Lola Van Ella and her band present the first of two evenings at Jazz at the Bistro, and Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris return to Nathalie's.

Thursday, March 24
Saxophonist Mark Colby will front a quartet for a free performance at Saxquest. Colby, who broke into the business with Maynard Ferguson's band and made a number of well-received albums in the 1980s with keyboardist Bob James, now splits his time between touring and recording activities and teaching at DePaul University and Elmhurst College in Chicago.

Also on Thursday, keyboardist Bill Laurance will perform at the Old Rock House. Laurance probably is best known as one of the keyboardists for Snarky Puppy, but he's had a diverse career as a sideman, session player, and composer for dance companies.

He's currently touring in support of his recently released third solo album Aftersun, described as "a paean to space exploration and life in the cosmos" that was recorded with help from Snarky Puppy bandmates Michael League and Robert "Sput" Searight and percussionist Weedie Braimah.

Elsewhere that evening, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival resumes with singer Natalie Douglas presenting her show "Hello Dolly - The Music of Dolly Parton" at the Gaslight Theater; and drummer Montez Coleman leads a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Friday, March 25
Trumpeter Byron Stripling (pictured, top left, with Clark Terry) returns to join the Jazz St. Louis Big Band for the first of two nights of a "Tribute to Clark Terry" at Jazz at the Bistro.

While Terry was undeniably a singular talent, Stripling (who's toured successfully for years with a tribute to Louis Armstrong) certainly brings both chops and showmanship to the party. He's also bringing a specially composed big-band suite paying tribute to Terry, which was premiered last year by the Columbus Jazz Orchestra (which Stripling directs) and will be expanded for this weekend's performances by a new fourth movement composed by St. Louis trombonist and tuba player Cody Henry.

Nearby in Grand Center, The Dark Room will celebrate two years in business with food and drink specials and live music from its Friday night regulars, keyboardist Mo Egeston, joined for the occasion by his trio, and keyboard player and singer Jesse Gannon.

Elsewhere on Friday, singer and pianist Liam Forde will present the first of two performances this weekend at the Gaslight Theater; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to the Venice Cafe; trumpeter Jim Manley takes the stage at Thurman Grill; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, March 26
On Saturday afternoon, saxophonist Adam Larson will be back in St. Louis to present a free performance and workshop in jazz improvisation at Saxquest.

That evening, the Australian trio The Necks will make their St. Louis debut in a concert presented by New Music Circle at The Stage at KDHX.

Together for nearly 30 years now, The Necks (pictured, bottom left) are a piano-bass-drums trio that defies the familiar conventions of that format, and are known instead for their extended minimalist improvisations, which can last up to an hour each. For some video samples of past performances, plus interviews with the band members, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

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.)

Edited 3/23/16 to correct the name of the composer of the Clark Terry tribute suite's fourth movement.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2016 jazz preview, part 3

Today, it's part three of StLJN's winter/spring 2016 jazz preview, giving you an advance look at some of the noteworthy bands and musicians who will be playing in St. Louis during the next several months. (You can see part one here and part two here.)

Following the chronological progression established in those first two installments, the first video up above features the Chicago-based group Spektral Quartet, who will be coming to town to perform in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, March 5 at the 560 Music Center. The quartet, which plays both new works by contemporary composers and interpretations of canonical classical music, is seen here in a 2015 performance of Philip Glass' String Quartet No 2 "Company".

After the jump, you can see a video of singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, who will be co-headlining shows starting Wednesday, March 16 through Saturday, March 19 at Jazz at the Bistro. Bridgewater and Mayfield last year joined forces to record an album of New Orleans music called Dee Dee's Feathers, and have been touring together in support, playing shows including the one last summer in San Sebastian, Spain that's documented here.

The following weekend, trumpeter Byron Stripling will return to front the Jazz St. Louis Big Band for a "Tribute to Clark Terry" on Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26 at the Bistro. In the third clip, you can see Stripling, who very early in his career played in Terry's big band, being interviewed about his former employer in conjunction with another tribute to Terry presented last year by the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, which Stripling directs.

The week after that, the all-star SFJazz Collective will return to St. Louis for the first time since 2007 as part of their tour featuring interpretations of music made famous by the late singer and self-proclaimed "King of Pop," Michael Jackson. They'll play Wednesday, March 30 through Saturday, April 2 at Jazz at the Bistro, and can be seen here performing a Warren Wolf arrangement of Jackson's "Working Day And Night" at last year's Winter Jazz Festival in NYC.

Next to visit our city will be the veteran pianist Kenny Barron, who's returning with his trio on Wednesday, April 6 and Thursday, April 7 to the Bistro. Barron, who played the Bistro last year in a duo with vibraphonist Stefon Harris, is seen here playing "Triste," backed by bassist Chuck Bergeron and drummer Evan Hyde in a performance last spring at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.

Later that same week, the Bistro will host another ad hoc group of musicians brought to St. Louis to work with students in Jazz St. Louis' various educational programs, as clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen, drummer Matt Wilson, trumpeter Marquis Hill, and bassist Linda Oh join forces to perform on Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Since the group is being assembled specifically for the occasion, the only way to preview it would seem to be to take a look at each of the individual musicians in turn, starting with the sixth video, which shows Cohen performing "In The Spirit of Baden" with her quartet in November 2015 in the studios of KPLU in Seattle.

Below that, you can see Hill's set from the semifinals 2014 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition - which he eventually won - recorded in November, 2014 at UCLA's Schoenberg Hall in Los Angeles, California. Hill is accompanied by the 2014 competition band, with former St. Louisan Reggie Thomas on piano, Rodney Whitaker on bass, and Carl Allen on drums.

Then, you can see Oh leading her quartet in a performance of her original composition "Yoda," recorded in June of last year for the podcast BreakThruRadioTV. Today's final clip features Wilson (who was just at the Bistro in December with his Christmas Tree-O) and his band Arts and Crafts performing "Free Range Chicken" in 2013 at radio station KMHD in Portland, OR.

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

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Columbus Jazz Orchestra, directed by trumpeter Byron Stripling, will pay tribute to the life and legacy of the late trumpet great and St. Louis native Clark Terry with "CT Suite - Three Portraits in Blues," a newly commissioned work by John Clayton, Chad Eby, and Dennis Mackrel that will get its world premiere as part of four concerts presented October 22 - 24 at the Southern Theatre in Columbus.

The performance on Saturday, October 24 will be streamed live online for free by Columbus' WOSU Public Media, an affiliate of PBS and NPR. Stripling (pictured, top left, with Terry at right) will be in St. Louis in March to perform a tribute to Terry with the Jazz St. Louis Big Band at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Euclid Records' annual "Sidewalk Sale" is set for next Saturday, October 24. The Webster Groves retailer will be blowing out CDs and DVDs and offering an expanded selection of more than 8,000 vinyl records with special pricing, including some remaining from the collection of the late DJ Leo Chears.

* Speaking of record stores, a new one called Planet Score Records is setting up shop at 7421 Manchester in Maplewood, with plans to open sometime this month.

* St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts has scheduled more workshops for artists of all disciplines in their "Business Edge" series, including tomorrow's "Career Planning for Creatives, "The Entrepreneurial Artist" on Monday, October 26 and "Your Art, Your Brand: An Artist’s Guide to Being Noticeable and Getting Noticed" on Monday, November 9. For details, costs, and registration info, see the VLAA website.

* The Sheldon Concert Hall has posted to Facebook a photo set from pianist Peter Martin's performance there last Saturday.

* The south side guitar shop J Gravity Strings was featured Wednesday on KSDK's Show Me St. Louis.

Jazz St. Louis announces changes to 2015-16 Jazz at the Bistro schedule

The vagaries of scheduling and musicians' lives being what they are, Jazz St. Louis has made some alterations to the previously announced 2015-16 season schedule for Jazz at the Bistro.

In the most significant change, the shows from Wednesday, October 21 through Saturday, October 24 originally scheduled for bassist Dave Holland's PRISM with guitarist Kevin Eubanks (pictured) and drummer Eric Harland now will be filled by Eubanks' own trio, sans Holland and Harland. Subscription tickets already purchased for PRISM will be valid for the Eubanks trio.

Also, the tribute to Clark Terry with trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling and the Jazz St. Louis Big Band originally set for Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17 has been moved to Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26 of next year. Subscribers who bought tickets already have had them exchanged for the new dates, based on the original day and set time. The October dates left open will be filled by the Coleman Hughes Project featuring Adrianne Felton.

Lastly, bassist Jahmal Nichols' performance on Saturday, September 12 has been cancelled, due to Nichols being on tour with singer Gregory Porter. No replacement show will be booked for that date, and there's no indication as to when Nichols might be rescheduled.

Suubscribers who have questions about any of this can contact the Jazz St. Louis box office at 314-571-6000.

Jazz this week: Peter Martin & Federico González Peña, Byron Stripling, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a duo concert pairing two prolific pianists, a return visit from a top trumpeter, three different big band performances, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Thursday, February 26
Pianist Kara Baldus, guitarist William Lenihan, and drummer Steve Davis will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, with Wash U provost Holden Thorpe also sitting in on piano. In keeping with the evening's theme of different approaches to improvisation, they'll reportedly be using Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's infamous Oblique Strategies as inspiration for a freeform piece or two.

Also tonight, the Tavern of Fine Arts presents their monthly "Experimental Arts Open Improv Night" with live improvised music.

Friday, February 27
Pianist Peter Martin (pictured, top left) will wrap up this season of his eponymous series at the The Sheldon performing a duo concert with keyboardist Federico González Peña, who's played with Marcus Miller, Grégoire Maret and Gene Lake, Sting, Chaka Khan and Meshell Ndegeocello.

Also on Friday, trumpeter Jim Manley and guitarist Randy Bahr will be duet at Thurman Grill; singer Joe Mancuso leads a quartet at Nathalie's; and the Ambassadors of Swing will play for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom. Over on the east side, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will be perform in concert at the Wildey Theatre, and keyboardist Matt Villinger leads a quartet at Cigar Inn.

(In case you were wondering, Friday also is when Jazz St. Louis will hold their annual fundraising gala at the Ritz Carlton, with music by Jonathan Batiste and Stay Human and an "after-hours cabaret" with Denise Thimes. While tickets for the event were sold in advance, if you've got the requisite $500 per person and want to attend, you can contact JSL's development director Wendy Rosenblum at wendy at jazzstl dot org or 314-881-3085 to see if any seats remain available.)

Saturday, February 28
Trumpeter Byron Stripling (pictured, center left) who's been in town this week doing educational events for Jazz St. Louis, will play two sets at Jazz at the Bistro. For some video of Stripling in action, check out this post from before his appearance here in 2012

Also on Saturday, Miss Jubilee will play swing and jump blues at Casa Loma Ballroom, and Wack-A-Doo returns to Thurman Grill.

Sunday, March 1
The Friends of Scott Joplin present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site; and the Dave Dickey Big Band will play their monthly gig at Jazz at the Bistro. Dickey will be featuring charts from the late trumpeter Clark Terry's Big Bad Band, and student jazz ensembles from Seckman High School and Middle School will perform at intermission.

Monday, March 2
Guitarist Tom Byrne and singer Erika Johnson will perform at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, March 3
The St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, directed by bassist Jim Widner, will feature guest vocalist Mardra Thomas (pictured, lower left) performing material associated with Billie Holiday at the Touhill Performing Arts 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.)

Jazz this week: Jeff Lorber Fusion, Lotte Anker & Okkyung Lee, and more

This week's jazz and creative music offerings in St. Louis run the gamut from fusion to free improvisation, with plenty of mainstream sounds as well. Let's go to the highlights... 

Wednesday, February 18
Keyboardist Jeff Lorber and the latest iteration of his Fusion group featuring bassist Jimmy Haslip and saxophonist Eric Marienthal (pictured, top left) will begin a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. You can see a video preview of the performances here, and Lorber, Haslip and Marienthal also are featured in this week's "Music Education Monday" post.

Also tonight, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Open Mic Night" at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Thursday, February 19
Saxophonist Kristian Baarsvik plays a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; The 442s will perform in the "community room" at St. Louis Public Radio in Grand Center; and singer Feyza Eren returns to Nathalie’s.

Friday, February 20
Trumpeter Randy Holmes' quintet with singer Kim Fuller will present "A Tribute to the Music of Billie Holiday" at Voce; Second Generation Swing will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; singer Joe Mancuso, guitarist Dave Black and bassist Willem von Hombracht will perform at Element STL; and the Midwest Jazz-tette will bring their West Coast "cool jazz' sound to Cigar Inn.

Saturday, February 21
New Music Circle presents a double bill featuring cellist Okkyung Lee (pictured, center left) and saxophonist Lotte Anker at the "house concert" venue Joe’s Cafe.  You can see some performance videos of Lee in this Saturday video showcase post (which also has a link to an earlier post about Anker.)

Elsewhere around town, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will return to Evangeline's; guitarist Tom Byrne and clairnetist Scott Alberici will duet at Thurman Grill; and The Wire Pilots will play original jazz-fusion compositions at Focal Point.

Sunday, February 22
St. Louis musicians from a variety of genres will join together in a benefit concert for bassist Phil Burton (pictured, bottom left) at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups. Burton has played with numerous rock, blues and jazz bands around town since the 1980s, and also works as a musical instrument and audio repair technician at Winston Electronics. He recently suffered a heart attack, and the performance will raise funds to help with some of his expenses while he recovers.

Monday, February 23
Trumpeter Byron Stripling will be featured in a free "Happy Hour" of music and conversation with Jazz St. Louis' Phil Dunlap at the Tavern of Fine Arts;  the Webster University Jazz Collective will perform music by Charles Mingus, Horace Silver and more in a Black History Month concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus; and saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will play their monthly date at BB's Jazz, Blues & 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.)

Byron Stripling set for "Happy Hour" on Monday, February 23 at Tavern of Fine Arts

Have you ever wished for a chance to chat with trumpeter Byron Stripling? You might just get the opportunity a week from next Monday, as Jazz St. Louis has announced a free "Happy Hour" program featuring Stripling at 5:30 p.m., Monday, February 23 at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Stripling (pictured) will be in town that week to do some educational programs for Jazz St. Louis and perform on Saturday, February 28 at Jazz at the Bistro.

He'll be joined for what's billed as "an hour of music and conversation" at the Tavern of Fine Arts by pianist and JSL education director Phil Dunlap. The event is free and open to the public.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2015 jazz preview, part 3

Today, it's part three of StLJN's preview of touring jazz and creative music performers who will be coming to St. Louis in the first part of 2015. (You can see parts one and two, covering January and the first part of February, here and here.)

Our first two clips feature cellist Okkyung Lee and saxophonist Lotte Anker, who will be performing separate sets in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, February 21 at Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Ave.

The video up above is from Lee's performance at the High Zero 2014 festival, held in September at a venue called Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood in Baltimore. After the jump, you can see Anker perform a rather unusual piece for saxophone and bow, recorded October 21, 2014 at Jazzhouse in Copenhagen, Denmark. (For lots more of Anker, see this previous video showcase posted before her appearance here in St. Louis in March, 2013.)

After the edgy improvisations of Lee and Anker, you can enjoy some more traditional sounds courtesy of trumpeter Byron Stripling, who will perform for one night only on Saturday, February 28 at Jazz at the Bistro. Stripling played here in St. Louis most recently in May 2014, doing his "Gospel According to Swing" show with the St. Louis Symphony. 

In this clip from 2013, he's fronting the Naples Jazz Orchestra in a version of the standard "Bourbon Street Parade." For more of Stripling, see this post, which ran before last appearance at the Bistro in 2012.

The next video features singer Rene Marie, who was a familiar face in St. Louis in the early 2000s. She made a number of live appearances here while signed to the locally based label MAXJAZZ, for whom she recorded five albums between 1999 and 2004. She'll return for the first time in a decade to perform Wednesday, March 4 through Saturday, March 7 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Those gigs likely will feature some material from I Wanna Be Evil (With Love to Eartha Kitt), her most recent recording released in 2013 on the Motema Music label. This live-in-the-studio clip of "I'd Rather Be Burned As a Witch" from that album features a band including trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and trumpeter Etienne Charles.

The following week, New Music Circle will present On Fillmore, aka percussionist Glenn Kotche and bassist and Belleville, IL native Darin Gray, in a concert on Saturday, March 14 at The Stage at KDHX.

The duo have made four albums and a couple of soundtracks together since first joining forces in 2000, and gained additional notice in 2013 when they toured with "Apocalyptical," a live show produced by the makers of public radio program "Radiolab." In this clip, recorded in 2013 at Audio Rebel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, they're playing a piece called "Complications."

Today's sixth clip features Kneebody, who will be making their St. Louis debut with performances from Wednesday, March 18 through Saturday, March 21 at Jazz at the Bistro. Band members Adam Benjamin (keyboards), Shane Endsley (trumpet), Ben Wendel (tenor sax) and Kaveh Rastegar (bass) first met in the late 1990s while they all were students at the Eastman Conservatory.

With drummer Nate Wood, they formed Kneebody in 2000 and since then have recorded nine albums of eclectic instrumental music that touches on styles from jazz to punk rock to the compositions of Charles Ives. In this clip, they're playing "Cha Cha" from their 2013 album The Line in a gig at the Blue Whale in Los Angeles.

Today's seventh and final video features the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Experience, who will be in St. Louis to perform on Saturday, March 21 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The tribute group is led by bassist John Lee, who played with Gillespie for many years, and also includes percussionist Mario Grillo, aka "Machito Jr," son of the famed Latin bandleader Frank "Machito" Grillo.

The band's front line features trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, who's played frequently with former St. Louisan Oliver Lake, and saxophonist Sharel Cassity, with guitarist Yotam Silberstein and drummer Robby Ameen completing the lineup. They're seen here in an excerpt from a show in 2013 in Sofia, Bulgaria, playing "Manteca," the seminal Latin-jazz number composed in 1947 by Gillespie, percussionist Chano Pozo, and Gil Fuller.

Look for part four 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.

Jazz this week: Jazz Edge Big Band with Russell Gunn & Keyon Harrold, Byron Stripling, Chicago Afrobeat Project, Alarm Will Sound, and more

Yes, St. Louis jazz fans, Jazz at the Bistro is closed for the next four months, but don't despair; while we wait with bated breath for the newly expanded and swankified Bistro to reopen in the fall, there's still a good deal of jazz and creative music to be heard around town, and StLJN will help you find it. Let's go to this week's highlights...

On Thursday night, the 13th annual John L Baker Memorial Concert, featuring a big band made up of Parkway West HS faculty, friends and alumni, will take place at Sky Music Lounge. Proceeds benefit a scholarship fund named after Baker, who was band director at Parkway West from 1978 to 1994.

Also on Thursday, the Tavern of Fine Arts presents their monthly "Experimental Arts Open Improv Night" with live improvised music; and guitarist Tom Byrne brings his Pat Metheny-inspired project Have U Heard to the house concert venue Joe's Cafe.

Friday offers several intriguing possibilities in widely disparate styles, starting with the Jazz Edge Big Band's "Tribute to St. Louis Trumpeters" at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, for which they've assembled a constellation of guest performers including trumpeters Russell Gunn and Keyon Harrold (pictured), pianist Danny Mixon and singer Denise Thimes. 

Also on Friday, trumpeter Byron Stripling is back in town, this time to perform his show "The Gospel According to Swing" with the St. Louis Symphony at Powell Hall; the Chicago Afrobeat Project returns to 2720 Cherokee; and the Original Knights of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

And if all that weren't enough, Friday also is when the new music chamber orchestra Alarm Will Sound* closes out their second St. Louis season at the Sheldon Concert Hall  with a performance including some of their students from Webster University's Community Music School. You can read more about that in two preview stories, one by Terry Perkins for St. Louis Public Radio, and one by Stef Russell for St. Louis magazine. 

On Saturday afternoon, woodwind mouthpiece guru Mike Lomax will give a free workshop and clinic at Saxquest. (The event originally was scheduled last month, but was canceled at the last minute due to illness.)

Also starting on Saturday afternoon and continuing through the evening, Thurman Grill will present their annual "Loopfest" event, with music from The Freedom, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes, trumpeter Keith Moyer's quartet, and more

Elsewhere on Saturday evening, saxophonist Jason Swagler leads a quartet at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and Miss Jubilee will perform at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

On Sunday, the Friends of Scott Joplin will present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site; and Sound Unlimited will welcome a variety of guest players for a mini "jazz fest" at Vito's in the Valley.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday singers Joe Mancuso and Charles Glenn will host up-and-coming vocalists Michelle Knollhoff, Andrew Patrick, Jeanitta Perkins and Paige Alyssa in a show they're calling "The Voices of St. Louis" at 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.)

*Disclaimer: As mentioned here before, yr. humble editor is retained by the local public relations firm Slay & Associates, with duties including helping Alarm Will Sound with promotional activities in St. Louis and Columbia. As also mentioned here before, I'd still recommend this concert to StLJN readers even if I weren't working with the band.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Congratulations to the proprietors and staff of Vintage Vinyl, which this week was named one of USA Today's 10 Best Record Stores in America. 

* Trumpeter Byron Stripling was interviewed about his upcoming show with the St. Louis Symphony by the St. Louis American's Chris King.

* The 442s sold-out album release event tonight was previewed in a story written by Terry Perkins for St. Louis Public Radio.

* Singer Erin Bode and guitarist Dave Black are among the St. Louis musicians who are profiled in the newest issue of the glossy local lifestyle mag Studio 3.

* Bassist Darin Gray will tour this summer with singer/guitarist Jeff Tweedy's new solo project. Gray's not the first musician with lots of free improv experience hired by Tweedy, who also employs guitarist Nels Cline in his main band Wilco.

* The new Miles Davis at the Fillmore box set was reviewed for AllAboutJazz.com by both Ian Patterson and Doug Collette.

* And speaking of Davis and AAJ, the new book Miles Davis: The Collected Artwork was reviewed for the site by Nenad Georgievski.

* Saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person's big band will make their Jazz at Lincoln Center debut with a performance next Wednesday, May 28 at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola.

* The jury was unable to reach a verdict in the trial of the accused killers of Patrice Thimes, sister of singer Denise Thimes. The circuit attorney's office expressed sympathy for the Thimes family and said they will "evaluate as we move forward on our next steps." Patrice Thimes was killed by a stray bullet on St. Patrick's Day 2011 as she unknowingly drove into the middle of a gunfight on a city street. The trial of a third suspect is set to begin in June.

* Alton's Jacoby Arts Center, site of last week's Miles Davis Jazz Festival and other musical performances throughout the year, has launched a fundraising effort via Kickstarter. The solicitation says that "we may have to shut our doors after eight years. But with your help, we’ll be able to Save Jacoby." With nine days to go, the campaign has raised $2,840 in pledges toward a $10,000 goal.

* Saxophonist Peter Brötzmann was interviewed by the music website Something Else. Brötzmann, bassist William Parker and percussionist Hamid Drake will perform in St. Louis on Wednesday, June 4 at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center.

* So, here's a thing that happened: StLJN now is ranked by one leading online authority as the #6 jazz blog IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!1!!

Seriously, though, while StLJN has been been listed for some time in Blogmetrics.com's "Top 25 Jazz Blogs," usually ranking somewhere in the mid-teens, apparently they've rejiggered their algorithms or something, and as a result, the site has moved up the list. While yr. humble editor tries not to put much stock in this sort of thing, as the ratings have a tendency to fluctuate up and down, it did seem worth a mention, so...consider it mentioned. 

* Jazz radio update:  On this Saturday's episode of Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis' “Somethin’ Else,” host Calvin Wilson will feature recordings by jazz musicians who have been recipients of MacArthur "genius" grants,   including violinist Regina Carter, drummer Dafnis Prieto and saxophonist Ken Vandermark

After that on "The Jazz Collective," host Jason Church will re-play segments from an interview with trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold and spin some of his music, as well as sounds from Pieces of a Dream, Native Vibe, Chris Standring, Steve Oliver, Horace Silver, Lou Donaldson, Dave Brubeck, 3rd Force, The Rippingtons, Marcus Miller, and more.

Wilson's program airs 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.

St. Louis Symphony offers 2-for-1 tickets for Byron Stripling's "Gospel According to Swing"

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is offering two tickets for the price of one for "The Gospel According to Swing," featuring trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling (pictured) at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 30 at Powell Hall.

As described by SLSO, the program ranges "from Mahalia Jackson to Aretha Franklin, with the influences of Bessie Smith and Duke Ellington," with selections including "Down by the Riverside," "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and "He's Got the Whole World.”

The two-for-one offer is good only through next Thursday, May 15, and applies to seats regularly priced from $30 to $45 each.

To purchase tickets, click here or call 314-534-1700. Box seats and prior sales are excluded, and while there's no promo code as such, for phone orders you must mention the 2-for-1 offer.

Byron Stripling, St. Louis Symphony presenting "The Gospel According to Swing" on Friday, May 30

Trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling will be making a return trip to St. Louis next year to perform with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 30, 2014 at Powell Symphony Hall.

Stripling, the artistic director and conductor of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, performed his show "Sounds of New Orleans: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong" with the SLSO in June, 2012. He also did an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis and two nights at Jazz at the Bistro in February, 2012. (For more about Stripling and some video samples of his playing, check out this post from last year.)

For his next appearance with the orchestra, which is part of the SLSO's "Live at Powell Hall" series, Stripling (pictured) will offer a program entitled "The Gospel According to Swing," exploring the link between gospel music and jazz through familiar songs such as "Down by the Riverside," "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and "He's Got the Whole World.”

Tickets for Byron Stripling and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's presentation of "The Gospel According to Swing" are priced from $25 to $55, and are on sale now via the SLSO website.

Jazz this week: Byron Stripling's tribute to Louis Armstrong; Kirk Whalum plays Keilwerth; free outdoor jazz concerts; and more

Though the official start of summer still is a couple of weeks off, the summer season of free outdoor concerts around St. Louis already is well underway. This time of year also usually brings some visitors to StLJN who find the site by searching for "free jazz concerts in the park" or something similar, as well as a few emails from people asking where those free outdoor jazz concerts can be found.

Well, the short answer to that question is, all over the place. While there's no free outdoor summer concert series in the St. Louis area devoted specifically to jazz, local jazz musicians definitely will be turning up in various locations around town as part of different concert series over the next three months. All of those listings that I've been able to locate have been added to the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, and during the summer months, I'll also make an effort to spotlight at least of few of those free concerts every week in this space.

For example, tonight saxophonist Tim Cunningham is playing a free outdoor concert at Bluebird Park in Ellisville. Also on Thursday evening, pianist and electronic musician Jim Hegarty and bassist Willem von Hombracht will be improvising freely at the Tavern of Fine Arts; Good 4 The Soul will do an early evening set at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; and Robbie's House of Jazz will present the Sidemen, featuring clarinetist and saxophonist Eric Sager, guitarist Jon Ferber, pianist Carl Pandolfi, bassist Richard Tralles and drummer John Marshall.

On Friday, singer Erin Bode and her group will return to Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights. Given Bode's popularity, there's usually a good turnout for her shows at the Bistro, so advance reservations are recommended.

Also on Friday, Cornet Chop Suey will play a free outdoor concert at Schroeder Park, 359 Old Meramec Station Rd. in Manchester; and singer Joe Mancuso and his quartet, with guest saxophonist Jerry Greene, are performing at the Italia-America Bocce Club, 2210 Marconi Ave. on the Hill.

On Saturday, singer Feyza Eren's trio will perform at mid-day at Rue Lafayette, 2026 Lafayette Ave., which now is featuring live music, mostly jazz, regularly during brunch/lunch on Saturdays and Sundays.

On Saturday evening, trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling (pictured) will be back in town to team up with with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra at Powell Hall for "Sounds of New Orleans: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong." For more about Stripling, who also played here earlier this year at Jazz at the Bistro after doing a week-long educational residency for Jazz St. Louis, see this post from back in February. And for some video samples of the tribute's subject, Louis Armstrong, in action, check out this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday night, the Gateway City Big Bend will play at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 808 N. Mason Rd in Creve Coeur; and percussionist Henry Claude and cellist Tracy Andreotti, using the nom de guerre "The Steve and Jennifer Project," will perform "spontaneous acoustic and electro-acoustic music" at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

On Sunday afternoon, saxophonist Kirk Whalum will be at Saxquest for a free performance and promotional event called "A Taste of Keilwerth," demonstrating the manufacturer's latest models of saxophones.

Also on Sunday, the St. Charles Community Big Band plays a free outdoor concert at Frontier Park on the riverfront; guitarist Tom Byrne plays at the Schlafly St. Louis Brewery & Tap Room; and funky organ trio Downstereo will hold forth at the Delmar Lounge.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the University City High School Jazz Band will play a free outdoor concert at Heman Park in U. City, and the Sessions Big Band returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups for their monthly gig.

On Tuesday, the St. Louis Big Band with vocalist Dave Gill Joe Mancuso will present a show called "The Soul of Sinatra" at the Sheldon Concert Hall; and Swing Deville will play a free outdoor concert at Fanetti Park, which is located at the intersection of Michigan and Schirmer on the south side.

Las tbut not least, on Wednesday, the Meramec Jazz Band will be back for an encore performance at the Black Cat Theatre in Maplewood.

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.)

(Edited after posting. Edited again to update the name of the singer for the St. Louis Big Band show on Tuesday.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The genius of Louis Armstrong

This week, in anticipation of Byron Stripling's gig next Saturday, June 9 at Powell Hall in which the trumpeter and singer will join forces with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra to deliver a tribute to Louis Armstrong, we're going back in time to check out some clips of Armstrong himself. (For more about Stripling, check out this Saturday video post from back in February, when he performed at Jazz at the Bistro.)

The headline of this post refers to several things: It was the title of a best-selling but now out-of-print double album reissuing some of Armstrong's key early recordings; the subtitle of a biography of Armstrong by the noted jazz critic Gary Giddins; and, ultimately, it's a simple statement of fact.

Armstrong was the first international jazz superstar, a virtuoso soloist who set the bar for every jazz musician who followed him, an innovative vocal stylist, and one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century. Though he may have lacked formal education, there's no question that Armstrong was a genius, and nearly 40 years after his death, his music remains both worthy of extended study for musicians and composers and genuinely entertaining to just about everyone.

Although the short glimpses of Armstrong seen on film and TV throughout his career could only capture a portion of that genius, it's a portion that's still worth revisiting and appreciating, and so today, we have a half-dozen clips of Armstrong in action.

The first video up above dates from 1934, and shows Armstrong and band performing "I Cover The Waterfront," "Dinah" and "Tiger Rag" in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Down below is a clip of "Stompin at the Savoy" from a 1959 performance in Stuttgart, Germany. Armstrong is backed by Trummy Young (trombone), Peanuts Hucko (clarinet), Billy Kyle (piano), Mort Herbert (bass) and Danny Barcelona (drums).

Below that, it's a rather relaxed version of "When The Saints Go Marching In," taped in March, 1963 in Sydney, Australia and featuring Armstrong, Young, Kyle, Barcelona, clarinetist Joe Darensbourg and bassist Arvell Shaw.

Next up, it's the classic "Basin Street Blues," recorded in February, 1964 for the US TV program The Bell Telephone Hour: The American Song. It's the same band as the 1963 clip, except with trombonist Russell "Big Chief" Moore in place of Young.

The fifth clip features Armstrong and country music great Johnny Cash performing "Blue Yodel No 9" in 1970 on Cash's TV show. Armstrong appeared as an unbilled guest star on the original version recorded in 1930 by Jimmie Rodgers.

And just to close out with a local reference, the final clip is a version of "St. Louis Blues" recorded in 1959 in Belgium by the same band seen in the "Stompin' at the Savoy" clip, plus vocalist Velma Middleton.

For more about Armstrong and his influence on jazz and popular music in general, start with the Louis Armstrong Museum official site. You also may enjoy the video of "The Artistry of 'Pops': Louis Armstrong at 100," a presentation of the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University from 2000 that features trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and critic Stanley Crouch. Armstrong's page at RedHotJazz.com and the tribute site Satchmo.net also are worth a look.

Tickets for Byron Stripling and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra's tribute to Armstrong are priced from $25 to $55, and are on sale online at www.stlsymphony.org or by phone at 314-534-1700.

SLSO to present Byron Stripling in tribute to Louis Armstrong on Saturday, June 9

Having just completed an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis back in February, trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling already has gotten his ticket punched for a return trip here. The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will present Stripling (pictured) in "Sounds of New Orleans: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 9 at Powell Symphony Hall.

Stripling first became known for performing Armstrong's music back in 1988, when he was selected to play the lead in the musical Satchmo: America's Musical Legend. He subsequently developed his own show based on Armstrong and has performed it with orchestras all over the country to good reviews. For more about Stripling and some video samples of his playing, check out this post from back in February.

Under the baton of resident conductor Ward Stare, the SLSO and Stripling will perform a program including “St. Louis Blues," “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “What a Wonderful World” and “When the Saints Come Marching In” and other songs associated with Armstrong and New Orleans jazz.

Tickets for Byron Stripling and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra are priced from $25 to $55, and are on sale now online at www.stlsymphony.org or by phone at 314-534-1700.

Jazz this week: Chris Botti, Byron Stripling, Bill Watrous, UNT One O'Clock Lab Band, St. Louis Rivermen, and more

If there's a keyword for this weekend's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis, it's "brass." The next few days will see three stellar touring brass players - two trumpeters and a trombonist - playing here as soloists or bandleaders, plus a somewhat larger-than-usual number of big band performances, and some other noteworthy shows, too. Let's go the highlights:

On Thursday evening, the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band will be in town for a concert at Webster Groves High School, 100 Selma Ave. The One O'Clock band, which gets its name from the time of day the ensemble meets for class, is the top big band at one of the most storied and long lived collegiate jazz programs in the country; WGHS's jazz groups will open the show.

Also on Thursday, pianist Ptah Williams will play the music of Herbie Hancock in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio will perform at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Friday night is when local music fans have a choice among among those three stellar brassmen. The popular trumpeter Chris Botti will be in town that evening for what has become an annual visit, playing this time at the Peabody Opera House. No doubt he'll draw a good crowd, but given that Botti's next local appearance has already been booked, for next year at Powell Hall with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, anyone on the fence about going might want to consider skipping it in favor of one of the other shows happening the same night.

That same evening, trumpeter Byron Stripling will open a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. He's been in town all week doing an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis, and as is the custom, will cap it off with some public performances, fronting a quartet. Though not nearly as well known as Botti, Stripling is a versatile and highly accomplished player and a polished entertainer who can hit the high notes, solo with feeling, and even sing the blues. For more about him and some video clips showing off various aspects of his talents, check out this post from last Saturday.

And as if that weren't enough for one night, Friday also is when the virtusoso trombonist Bill Watrous will be here for a concert at the Scottish Rite Cathedral Auditorium, accompanied by trumpeter Scott Vignassi and the Big Little Big Band. A veteran of the big bands of Quincy Jones, Maynard Ferguson, Johnny Richards and Woody Herman, Watrous is capable of some truly astounding stuff, so if you're specifically a trombone aficionado - as opposed to a brass fan in general - this one's got to be your pick for the weekend, especially since Stripling is playing at the Bistro for two nights.

Update - 3:00 p.m, 2/24/12: Just got an email from trumpet player/educator Adam Hucke, who teaches at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, saying that Bill Watrous also will be playing at SWIC on Saturday night. The concert starts at 7:00 p.m. in the main auditorium on campus (directions at the link above) and will feature Watrous performing with both the SWIC Big Band and The Big Little Big Band. Best of all, it's free and open to the public.

On the other hand, if you'd rather dance to a big band than listen to one in concert, the relatively new group that calls themselves the St. Louis Big Band, made up primarily of younger musicians in their 20s and 30s, has worked their way into the rotation at the Casa Loma Ballroom and will be playing there on Friday. And if brass isn't your thing, or you're just not in the mood (sorry!) that evening, you can hear guitarist Dave Black's trio at the Cigar Inn in Belleville or saxophonist Tim Cunningham at Jazz on Broadway on Alton.

On Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Rivermen will play traditional jazz and ragtime in a concert presented by the St. Louis Jazz Club at the Doubletree Hotel at Westport. Not long after that event wraps up, trombonist Dave Dickey's big band will return to Kirkwood Station Brewing Company for the first time after securing a monthly slot at the venue with their initial appearance there in January. The Webster Groves HS big band will play at intermission.

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.)