Jazz this week: Rebirth Brass Band, Paa Kow, "Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land," festivals in Alton and Hermann, and more

The fall presenting season gets rolling this week, with a calendar of live jazz and creative music that includes three multi-artist outdoor shows, the return of a New Orleans favorite, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 4
This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" includes cornetist TJ Muller & Friends at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and saxophonist Ben Reese's Unity Quartet at The Dark Room.

Thursday, September 5
Miss Jubilee performs a dinnertime show at Magpie's Cafe, saxophonist Vince Sala leads a trio at The Pat Connolly Tavern, and saxophonist Carlos Brown Jr. returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, September 6
New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band (pictured, top left) returns for an outdoor performance at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, with the Saint Boogie Brass Band opening; and Ghanaian drummer Paa Kow and his Afro-Fusion Orchestra will make their St. Louis debut at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Also on Friday, the annual St. Louis Art Fair begins in Clayton and continues through Sunday with free jazz stage performances from guitarist Tom Byrne, singer Wendy Gordon, pianist Adam Maness, the Jim Widner Big Band, and more. (See the fair's website for a complete schedule.)

Saturday, September 7
It's big day for live jazz around town, with three noteworthy multi-artist outdoor shows happening in three different parts of the metro area.

Starting west of St. Louis in Gasconade County, the Hermann Wine & Jazz Festival will feature a lineup of local and regional talent including The Bosman Twins, Bach to the Future, Jim Manley, Carolbeth True and Two Times True, and the Mo E All-Stars with Cheri Evans at the Clara Eitmann Messmer Amphitheater.

Moving east to Chesterfield, the "Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land" will include sets from multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson (pictured, bottom left), saxophonists Grace Kelly, Eric Darius and Tim Cunningham, and singer Erin Bode at the Chesterfield Amphitheater.

And over on the east side of the Mississippi, the Alton Jazz & Wine Fest will feature music from pianist and singer Diane Schuur plus funk/jazz quartet Good 4 The Soul and the Funky Butt Brass Band at the Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton.

Sunday, September 8
The St. Louis Record Collectors Show presents their fall event at the American Czech Center; singer and bassist Janet Evra plays for brunch at The Dark Room; and drummer Steve Davis' band with singer Feyza Eren will perform at the house-concert venue The Judson House.

Monday, September 9
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck, and the Webster University Jazz Faculty offers a "Riverside Records Retrospective," featuring music from Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk, and others at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

Tuesday, September 10
Trumpeter Kasimu Taylor plays the music of Miles Davis in a concert at the Gasllght Theater.

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: Dave Weckl to headline Chesterfield Jazz Fest

This week, StLJN's video spotlight shines on drummer Dave Weckl, who will be back home to perform next Saturday, June 15 as the headlining act at the Chesterfield Wine & Jazz Festival.

A native of St. Charles, Weckl undoubtedly is one of the most successful working jazz musicians from this area, first gaining international attention working in the 1980s with keyboardist Chick Corea, and subsequently parlaying that exposure into a busy career as both a bandleader and a first-call collaborator and session player.

For his St. Louis show, his band will feature a couple of musical friends who also are St. Louis natives, bassist Tom Kennedy and keyboardist Jay Oliver, as well as saxophonist Gary Meek, another longtime musical associate, and guitarist Buzz Feiten, who's had a diverse career stretching back nearly 50 years with the Butterfield Blues Band, the Rascals, the Larson-Feiten Band with keyboardist Neil Larsen, and more.

Though there seems to be no video footage online featuring this particular lineup, there's certainly no shortage of clips featuring Weckl playing with various ensembles, and so for those looking for a idea of what he's been doing lately, here's a collection of a half-dozen recent performances for your listening and viewing enjoyment.

There's a very recent and complete show in the first video embed up above, recorded on April 4 of this year at New Morning in Paris, France and featuring Weckl as the nominal leader of a group with Kennedy, guitarist Mike Stern, and saxophonist Bob Franceschini.

After the jump, you can see some footage from earlier this year of Weckl and Kennedy jamming at Colos-Saal, a music club in Aschaffenburg, Germany. That's followed by a Weckl solo performance, recorded at the 2019 NAMM show in Los Angeles.

The remaining videos show recent performances by Weckl in three different musical settings: with keyboardist Steve Weingart and bassist Benjamin Shepherd performing Weingart's composition "Village" at the 2018 Hollywood Drum Show in Los Angeles, California; in the studio with keyboard player Oz Ezzeldin playing "'Dis Kinda Place," in a clip released in March 2019 as a promo for Weckl's online school; and with La Escuela de Música y Audio Fernando Sor performing "Nothing Personal" in October 2018 in Bogotá, Colombia.

For more about Dave Weckl and what he's been up to recently, read his 2018 interview with AustralianMusician.com, and watch him in an episode of "Yamaha Drummers Talk" from December 2018 and in a video interview on the topic of "Mindset For Success" from March 2019.

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

Jazz this week: Gateway Jazz Festival, celebrating Dennis Owsley, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a multi-artist bill of contemporary jazz and R&B, a celebration of a longtime local jazz radio personality, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, July 18
The Ambassadors of Swing return to Tin Roof St. Louis, and singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will perform at Parkside Grille.

Also on Wednesday, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Broadway Open Mic" at Sophie's Artist Lounge & Cocktail Club, and Wright's Project plays jazz/fusion and funk at Al's Lounge.

Thursday, July 19
St. Louis Public Radio will celebrate broadcaster, author and photographer Dennis Owsley and his 35 years of service to the station and the local music community with a free, public event - including live music from saxophonist Paul DeMarinis, guitarist Eric Slaughter, bassist Jeff Anderson and drummer Steve Davis - at UMSL at Grand Center.

Also on Wednesday, Chicago saxophonist Greg Ward, out on the road with his trio for a brief tour, stops off for a performance at The Dark Room; guitarist Vince Varvel plays a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and singer Feyza Eren returns to Evangeline's.

Friday, July 20
Singer/songwriter Emily Wallace (pictured, bottom left) and friends, including members of the Funky Butt Brass Band, perform for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis; and Ken Haller reprises his popular cabaret performance "The Medicine Show" for the first of two nights at the Kranzberg Arts Center

Saturday, July 21
The Gateway Jazz Festival returns for its second year at the Chesterfield Amphitheater. This time, the bill includes saxophonist Boney James, trumpeter Cindy Bradley, and singer and guitarist Jonathan Butler (pictured, top left), plus singer Will Downing, keyboardist Alex Bugnon, and two of St. Louis' own, saxophonist Tim Cunningham and keyboardist Mike Silverman of Bach to the Future. 

You can check out videos of all these performers in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, The Gaslight Squares play traditional jazz at Das Bevo, and keyboardist Mo Egeston and friends hold down the late night slot at The Dark Room.

Sunday, July 22
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents the St. Louis Stompers at the  DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St. Louis - Westport, and Miss Jubilee plays a free concert at Oak Knoll Park,

Monday, July 23
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck.

Tuesday, July 24
Bassist, guitarist and singer Tonina Saputo and her band host "The Tuesday Night Hit" 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Previewing the Gateway Jazz Festival

This week, let's take a look at some videos of the musicians who will be performing at the Gateway Jazz Festival, which will take place next Saturday, July 21 at the Chesterfield Amphitheater. Now in its second year, the festival will present a day-long program of contemporary jazz and R&B performers.

Here's a collection of recent clips featuring those artists, starting with the headliner, saxophonist Boney James, who can be seen up above performing "Tick Tock" in November 2017 at The Wave/Honda Soundstage in Los Angeles.

After the jump, you can see R&B vocalist Will Downing in an excerpt from his set in May of this year at the ATL Soul Life festival in Atlanta.

Next up is trumpeter Cindy Bradley, performing "Lifted" in January 2018 at the restaurant and music venue South in Philadelphia.

Then it's singer/guitarist Jonathan Butler, playing "Living My Dream"  in january at the 2018 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show in Anaheim, CA.

That's followed by a clip of keyboardist Alex Bugnon, performing his version of War's 1970s hit "The World Is A Ghetto," also recorded last year at South.

Finally, there are videos of the two St. Louis musicians who will be opening the show, both recorded by the prolific St. Louis videographer James Ross (aka JRoss-TV).

Saxophonist Tim Cunningham is featured in the sixth clip, performing "That's What I Like" in a show earlier this year at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and pianist Mike Silverman is seen in the seventh and final clip, showing off the new Steinway piano acquired earlier this year by his Clayton Studios facility.

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

Jazz this week: L.A. Swing Barons, John Wiese, Chesterfield Jazz Festival, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes something for almost every taste, with shows on tap featuring traditional jazz; big band swing; contemporary jazz-fusion; the music of John Coltrane; original works by local composers; and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, June 20
This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran at The Stage at KDHX, 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, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Cabaret Open Mic" at its new location, Sophie's Artist Lounge & Cocktail Club in the .ZACK Building at 3224 Locust in Grand Center.

Thursday, June 21
Thursday is "Make Music Day," an international holiday celebrating music, and several local venues are taking part with extended or day-long programming. For example, Evangeline's will present a different band or performer every hour starting at lunch time, with a lineup including Jim Manley and Chris Swan, Eric Slaughter and Glen Smith, Valerie "Miss Jubilee" Kirchhoff and Ethan Leinwand, Tommy Halloran, and more.

Meanwhile, the National Blues Museum downtown will supplement their roster of blues bands with sets from bossa nova trio The Bonbon Plot and the STL Free Jazz Collective. 

Thursday evening, the L.A. Swing Barons (pictured, bottom left), a 14-piece big band from Los Angeles heavily influenced by Count Basie and Duke Ellington, will perform for a swing dance at the Intersect Arts Center.

You can find out more about them and see some videos of the band in action in this post from last Saturday.

Elsewhere around town, saxophonist Paul DeMarinis and pianist Kim Portnoy will team up with poet and author David Clewell for "Cocktails + Conversation: No Hard Feelings - A Night of Poetry + Jazz" at Laumeier Sculpture Park.

Friday, June 22
Veteran saxophonist Freddie Washington will be backed by pianist Adam Maness' trio as they "Celebrate Coltrane" at Jazz St. Louis.

Saturday, June 23
The Chesterfield Jazz Festival will present a lineup including drummer Simon Phillips' band Protocol (pictured, top left) as headliner, plus sets from St. Louis' own Bach to the Future with violinist Tracy Silverman, Trace, Two Times True, and Maurice Carnes.

Also on Saturday, electronic musician, filmmaker and St. Louis native John Wiese, who did an ambitious show here last year for New Music Circle, will headline a bill of experimental musicians in a free show at El Lenador; The 442s will perform at Jazz St. Louis; and the Funky Butt Brass Band returns to the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Sunday, June 24
The St. Louis Record Collector & CD Show will hold their summer event at the American Czech Educational Center, and the St. Louis Jazz Club presents Cornet Chop Suey playing traditional jazz and swing at the Moolah Shrine Center.

Monday, June 25
Dizzy Atmosphere plays for diners at The Shaved Duck.

Tuesday, June 26
Singer Joe Mancuso has organized "Voices of St. Louis,"  a benefit concert raising money to fight MS, with performers including former American Idol contestant Ashley Lusk, Richie G. Kihlken, Erika Johnson, and more at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

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: Gateway Jazz Festival, Ptah Williams, Emily Wallace, and more

Due to some temporary time constraints and computer-related difficulties here at StLJN HQ, this week's survey of upcoming live jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis may be a day later than usual, but there still are shows worth noting, so let's go straight to the highlights...

Thursday, July 27
This week's performance wrapping up the Jazz at Holmes "Jazz in July" series of free concerts at Washington University will feature a trio with pianist Ptah Williams, drummer Stephen Haake, and bassist Jacob Zengerling.

Also on Thursday, percussionist Joe Pastor breaks out his vibes to lead a trio at The Dark Room; guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran's Guerrilla Swing will play at Joe's Cafe & Gallery; and this month's edition of the Bruxism experimental music series, with GristleMcThornbody, ChelseaGray and AVPlug, will be presented at Schlafly Brewery & Tap Room

Friday, July 28
Singer Emily Wallace, accompanied by the Funky Butt Horns, will perform for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Wallace (pictured, bottom left), who is making her debut as a headliner at the Bistro, is best known as part of the folk/Americana duo The Sleepy Rubies, in which she sings with her sister Ali Ruby, and has made guest appearances on various Funky Butt Brass Band gigs.

Also on Friday, singer Erin Bode will perform outside the St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park before the museum's film series screens Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief. Both the concert and the film are free and open to the public. 

Saturday, July 29
The Gateway Jazz Festival at Chesterfield Amphitheater will present a day-long bill of acts including Pieces of a Dream (pictured, top left); singer Maysa; saxophonist Najee; the "Gateway Jazz All-Stars" with saxophonist Steve Cole, guitarist Nick Colionne, and keyboardist Brian Simpson; guitarists Chieli Minucci, Steve Oliver and Chris Standring; bassist Julian Vaughn; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham. You can see video samples of the performers in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, Latin jazz/salsa band El Caribe Tropical will be staging a reunion gig at Club Viva.

Sunday, July 30
The Usual Suspects Trio will perform for brunch at The Dark Room while Miss Jubilee plays at Evangeline's. Later that afternoon, the Folk School of KDHX will present their monthly traditional jazz jam session.

Monday, July 31
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays for diners at Momo's Greek Restaurant.

Tuesday, August 1
Rhythms of the Caribbean plays a free outdoor concert at Lucier Park in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood.

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: Previewing the Gateway Jazz Festival

When commercial radio abandoned smooth jazz as a format a few years back, the audience for the music played on those stations didn't just disappear, and neither did the musicians who played it.

And while St. Louis never had what you'd call a surfeit of live smooth jazz shows, even when the format was at its peak, the limited number of such bookings that previously existed - at the Pageant, at local casinos, and occasionally at other venues like long-departed Finale - has dwindled off in recent years to almost nothing. That would seem to represent a potential business opportunity for someone able to reunite an under-served audience with the musicians they enjoy.

Enter Summerset Jazz LLC, an Alabama-based production company that is presenting the Gateway Jazz Festival* next Saturday, July 29 at the Chesterfield Amphitheater.

Apparently modeling their St. Louis event on the Music City Jazz Festival, which they've presented for the past two years in Nashville, the company has put together a day-long bill of acts, headed by saxophonist Najee and singer Maysa, and featuring a number of other names familiar to smooth jazz fans.

To help give you an idea of what to expect, today StLJN has compiled videos of all the featured performers. They're presented here in alphabetical order, starting up above with a set from saxophonist Steve Cole and guitarist Nick Colionne, recorded when they teamed up for a gig in May of this year at Pizza Express in London.

After the jump, you can see Maysa performing "Inside My Dream" in May 2016 at the KSBR Birthday Bash Jazz Festival in Mission Viejo, CA.

Next it's guitarist Chieli Minucci with his band Special EFX in 2016 at Long Beach Jazz Fest, delivering a surprisingly faithful version of the Allman Brothers Band's "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed."

That's followed by a full set of Najee, recorded in July 2016 in Riviera Beach, FL; and then a clip of guitarist Steve Oliver doing "Soul Deep" in a performance recorded at the Carvin guitar factory in San Diego.

The veteran duo Pieces of a Dream is next, seen here performing "Fo-Fi-Fo" in October 2016 at the Catalina JazzTrax Festival in California.

Then it's keyboardist Brian Simpson, performing his song "WWonderland" at the 2017 Mallorca Smooth Jazz Festival in Spain; guitarist Chris Standring, playing "Oliver's Twist" in February 2017 at Pizza Express; and last, but not least, bassist and Kansas City native Julian Vaughn doing his showcase "Ju Ju's Groove" at a show in May in Houston, TX.

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

*Not to be confused with the identically named event presented in recent years over the Labor Day weekend by the St. Louis Jazz Club.

Gateway Jazz Festival presenting a day of "smooth jazz" performers Saturday, July 29 at Chesterfield Amphitheater

After the "smooth jazz" format disappeared from commercial radio a few years back, St. Louis bookings of live shows featuring musicians popular on those stations began to taper off to almost nothing as well.

Now, a new event called the Gateway Jazz Festival - not to be confused with the identically named festival run by the St. Louis Jazz Club over Labor Day weekend the past couple of years - aims to fill at least some of that void with a full day's worth of popular "smooth jazz" performers starting at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 29 at the Chesterfield Amphitheater.

The announced lineup for the event includes saxophonists Najee (pictured) and Steve Cole; singer Maysa; Pieces of a Dream; guitarists Nick Colionne, Chieli Minucci, Chris Standring, and Steve Oliver; keyboardist Brian Simpson; and bassist Julian Vaughn.

Tickets are on sale now, with general admission tickets still listed on the event's website at the "early bird" price of $50, VIP reserved chairs for $117, and VIP tables for eight priced at $1,100.

Jazz this week: Freddy Cole & Harry Allen, Eric Marienthal, The New Mastersounds, and more

There are a number of notable shows from visiting jazz and creative music performers coming up this week in St. Louis, offering something for fans of genres ranging from straight-ahead swing to fusion to experimental, free improv, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, May 25
Pianist and singer Freddy Cole and his band, teamed once again with tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, return to Jazz at the Bistro for the first evening of a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday.

Cole (pictured top left, with Allen) shares a number of musical virtues with his older brother, the late Nat "King" Cole, including a relaxed vocal style, a sure sense of swing as a pianist, and an appreciation of classic popular songs, but he's managed to chart his own course as a musician, acknowledging his brother's influence without being dominated by it.

Add in the saxophone stylings of Allen, whose playing has been influenced by Swing Era giants like Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, and Paul Gonsalves, and the result should be four nights of satisfying old-school sounds.

Also on Wednesday, pianist Phil Dunlap and his quintet will play for the monthly music series at the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Thursday, May 26
Saxophonist Eric Marienthal (pictured, center left) will join St. Louis' own Bach to the Future for a free concert at the Chesterfield Amphitheater.

Also on Thursday, the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound closes out their St. Louis season with a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall, featuring music from their "Alarm System" collaborations with Medeski, Martin and Wood, composers Tyondai Braxton and Mira Calix, and others.

Elsewhere around town, the Tavern of Fine Arts will host their monthly "Experimental Arts Open Improv Night" with live improvised music; the Saint Boogie Brass Band plays an early evening show at Taze Mediterranean Street Food downtown; and guitarist Vincent Varvel lead a trio at Evangeline's.

Friday, May 27
The annual Glendale Jazz Festival will feature sets from the St. Louis Big Band with singer Joe Scalzitti plus singer and pianist Anita Rosamond and R&B vocalist Coco Soul on an outdoor stage at Glendale City Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Meanwhile, downtown on the riverfront, percussionist and composer Eli Keszler will headline a multi-artist bill of experimental and improvising musicians including Marissa Anderson, 18&Counting with Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Demonlover, Ghost Ice, and more at the William A Kerr Foundation on Laclede's Landing.

Also on Friday, trumpeter Kasimu Taylor leads a quartet at Bossanova Martini Lounge and Restaurant in Alton, and guitarist Tom Byrne and Have U Heard? will play music inspired by Pat Metheny at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Saturday, May 28
In what's being billed as a dual display of "extreme saxophone," the saxophonists PedroSaxo and Derek Brown will show off their extensive repertoires of extended techniques in a free afternoon performance and workshop at Saxquest.

Saturday evening, The New Mastersounds (pictured, bottom left) will perform at The Bootleg at the Atomic Cowboy.

The British funk/jazz quartet is touring in support of The Nashville Sessions, their latest album that was released last month. For more about that, plus some video samples of them in action, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, singer Erin Bode will celebrate the release of her new album with a concert at Lindenwood University's J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts; singer Joe Mancuso brings his organ trio to The Dark Room; The Wire Pilots play original fusion music at the Tavern of Fine Arts; and saxophonist Rhoda G and singer Ralph Williams will be the featured performers for "Jazz in Paris" at the Jones Banquet Plaza in Fairview Heights.

Sunday, May 29
As often happens on major holidays, the live music offerings around town thin out quite a bit in the latter half of the Memorial Day weekend, but you can still hear some jazz for Sunday brunch, courtesy of trumpeter Jim Manley at Nathalie's and/or Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes 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.)

Concert with Spyro Gyra, Mindi Abair canceled; Ferguson unrest cited

Promoters of the Eco Music Festival have canceled the event, which was to have featured Spyro Gyra, Mindi Abair (pictured) and two St. Louis acts in concert on Saturday, August 30 at the Chesterfield Amphitheater.

No replacement date was announced, and although a story by Calvin Wilson on STLtoday.com refers to the event as "indefinitely postponed," an email from a representative of promoters Sky Promotions used the word "canceled," suggesting that none will be forthcoming.

The email also stated that "the processing of refunds on Eventbrite is underway," but the Eventbrite page for the concert still had no mention of any cancellation, postponement or refund procedure as of 12:15 p.m. Thursday. However, the show has been removed from the Chesterfield Amphitheater site, and the URL ecomusicfestivals.org that originally was used to promote the event is now redirecting to the EventBrite page.

Wilson's story says that the promoters are citing the current unrest in Ferguson as the reason for the cancellation; the story also drily notes that the Chesterfield Amphitheater is located more than 20 miles away from Ferguson.

Given that promoters were still soliciting vendors for the event via Twitter as recently as this past Tuesday, August 19 - 11 days after people took to the streets to protest the shooting of 18-year-old Mike Brown by a Ferguson police officer - and tensions on the ground there seem to have eased somewhat since then, one can't help but wonder what's happened in the last two days to prompt the cancellation now. Perhaps a report indicating poor advance ticket sales?

Discounts available on advance tickets for Spyro Gyra/Mindi Abair concert

Promoters of the Eco Music Festival, which will feature performances from jazz/fusion band Spyro Gyra and saxophonist Mindi Abair (pictured) on Saturday, August 30 at the Chesterfield Amphitheater, are offering a 15% discount to online buyers for tickets purchased before next Tuesday, July 15.

The nominal advance prices for the show, which also will feature St. Louis' Bach to the Future and Tim Cunningham as opening acts, are $28 for lawn seats, and $48 for general admission "preferred seating" in the auditorium's fixed seats.

With a 15% discount, those prices would drop to $23.80 and $40.80, respectively. (Day-of-show prices are $33 and $53.)

To get the online discount, go to the event website at www.ecomusicfestival.org/, and when prompted, enter the discount code JAZZBISTROSTL.

Spyro Gyra, Mindi Abair to perform Saturday, August 30 at Chesterfield Amphitheater

Jazz/fusion band Spyro Gyra and saxophonist Mindi Abair are coming to St. Louis to perform as part of the Eco Music Festival starting at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, August 30 at the Chesterfield Amphitheater.

Also on the bill are St. Louis' own Tim Cunningham and Bach to the Future.

Led by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein, Spyro Gyra first gained wide notice in the 1970s for their self-produced hit singles "Morning Dance" and "Shaker Song," and subsequently have made more than two dozen albums, many of them best-sellers on the jazz and/or smooth jazz charts.

In addition to Beckenstein, the group's current lineup (pictured) includes longtime keyboardist Tom Schuman plus bassist Scott Ambush, guitarist Julio Fernandez, and drummer Lee Pearson. Their most recent album, The Rhinebeck Sessions, came out last year.

Abair has collaborated with contemporary jazz performers including Bobby Lyle, Jonathan Butler, Peter White and Rick Braun and also has made forays into pop with likes of the Backstreet Boys, Duran Duran, Mandy Moore, Aerosmith, and numerous others. Her most recent recording is 2014's Wild Heart.

Advance tickets for the Eco Music Festival with Spyro Gyra and Mindi Abair are $28 for lawn seats, and $48 for general admission "preferred seating" in the auditorium's fixed seats. Tickets purchased at the door will be $33 and $53. Also, six VIP tables for 10 are available for $1,000 each. Tickets are on sale now via EventBrite.