Jazz this week: Ben Reece Unity Quartet, California Guitar Trio, Kevin Bowers' NOVA, "Sculptures in Sound," and more

With performances inspired by pre-historic cave paintings, the upcoming solar eclipse, Bach, Tennessee Williams, French silent film, and more, this week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis draws from a vast variety of influences.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, May 3
Saxophonist Ben Reece’s Unity Quartet will make their debut in the first of the two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

The band features Reece (pictured, top left) and fellow saxophonist Austin Cebulskii (who replaced him in the Funky Butt Brass Band) plus drummer Marty Morrison and bassist Bob DeBoo, playing Reece's original music and arrangements of standards.

Also tonight in Grand Center, Bertha in Paradise, a play-with-music featuring singer Anita Jackson and pianist Charles Creath that's part of the Tennessee Williams Festival, opens a run continuing through Sunday, May 14 at the Curtain Call Lounge, while the rest of the Grand Center Jazz Crawl proceeds as usual.

Elsewhere around town, there are just two days left to catch a local screening of I Called Him Morgan, the new documentary about trumpeter Lee Morgan, at the Tivoli Theatre.

Thursday, May 4
The California Guitar Trio (pictured, center left) performs at the Old Rock House. Although none of them are actually from  California, acoustic guitarists Bert Lams (who's from Belgium), Hideyo Moriya (a native of Japan), and Paul Richards (who grew up in Utah) offer a crowd-pleasing variety of instrumental styles, from jazz to classical to surf music, delivered with technical polish.

Friday, May 5
Drummer Kevin Bowers' NOVA will perform for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro. Named after Bowers' recent album - described as an imaginary "soundtrack to a movie starring Fred Astaire and Lena Horne, directed by Federico Fellini" - the ensemble will play Bowers' original music incorporating influences from Africa, Brazilian samba, and psychedelic rock; solo drum pieces; and more.

Also on Friday, the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles will hold a fundraiser with music from the Sentimental Journey Dance Band; and the Mizzou New Music Ensemble will be in from Columbia to perform "Eclipse Symphony," a new multi-part work by student composers, in a free concert at the McDonnell Planetarium in Forest Park.

Saturday, May 6
On Saturday morning, the St. Louis Art Museum presents a screening of the 1930 French silent film Au Bonheur Des Dames (Ladies' Paradise) with a live musical score by Elsie Parker and The Poor People of Paris.

Saturday night, the St. Louis Artists' Guild will wrap up their "Sculptures in Sound" series this spring with a performance from saxophonist Christopher Braig's Aboriginal Quartet, featuring trumpeter and Indiana University faculty member Patrick Harbison (pictured, bottom left), bassist Ben Wheeler and drummer Steve Davis.

The event will present a long-form work by Braig, inspired by 30,000-year-old cave paintings discovered in southern France in 1994, that will combine "multiple musical styles, movement, live painting, storytelling, lighting and the natural resonances of the St. Louis Artists’ Guild gallery into a multisensory experience."

Sunday, May 7
Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with singer Kim Fuller will perform in a special service at Second Presbyterian Church in the Central West End, and the Friends of Scott Joplin present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site.

Monday, May 8
Saxophonist Jamison Williams and bassist Thomas Milovac, two free improvising players from Florida, will perform at the Grand Center art gallery Duet, with the Vernacular String Trio opening.

Tuesday, May 9
The St. Louis Bach Festival, a month-long celebration of the composer's music, will present "Jazz & Bach" at Jazz at the Bistro. The program features guitarist Steve Schenkel, pianist Kim Portnoy, and singer David Gordon using Bach's music as a springboard for improvisation.

Also on Tuesday, guitarist Tom Byrne and singer Erika Johnson perform at Evangeline's, and the new weekly jam session hosted by drummer Montez Coleman will be happening at Troy's Jazz Gallery.

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.)

"Sculptures in Sound" series launching Saturday, March 4 at St. Louis Artists' Guild

The St. Louis Artists' Guild has announced a new concert series of jazz and creative music called "Sculptures in Sound."

The series, curated by saxophonist and educator Christopher Braig, will begin with a concert featuring trombonist Michael Vlatkovich at 8:00 p.m. this Saturday, March 4 at the Artists' Guild, 12 N Jackson Ave in Clayton.

A St. Louis native who moved to Los Angeles in 1973, Vlatkovich (pictured) has toured extensively in the USA, Canada and Europe, and has worked as a collaborator and sideman with a variety of singers and instrumentalists, including Vinny Golia, Peggy Lee, Brian Setzer, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Bryan Adams, Bobby Bradford, Gerry Hemingway, and Rob Blakeslee.

Though he's played jazz, rock, pop and world music, and can be heard on a number of film and TV soundtracks, Vlatkovich's own music emphasizes free improvisation, working in formats including solo performance, in a duo with poet Dorothea Grossman, and leading a trio or quartet.

For his St. Louis show, Vlatkovich will be joined by Braig and fellow St. Louis saxophonist Jay Hutson. And while he's here, the trombonist also will present a free, public open rehearsal and masterclass starting at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, March 3 at the Artists' Guild.

Subsequent concerts in the "Sculptures in Sound" series will feature performances by trumpeter Keith Moyer's quintet on Saturday, April 1, and Christopher Braig's Aboriginal Quartet with trumpeter Pat Harbison on Saturday, May 6.

Single tickets for any of the concerts in the series are $25 for general admission and a CD; $15 for general admission only; or $10 for students with ID, and can be purchased online or at the door. Series tickets are available for $40 for all three concerts, or $70 for three concerts plus three CDs.

Jazz this week: Jamison Ross, Mardra and Reggie Thomas, and more

Though not nearly as packed as last week's calendar, this week's schedule of jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis still offers listeners here their first look at a much-praised, up-and-coming jazz talent; the return of a couple of local favorites who have moved away; and a variety of shows from our own hometown performers.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 5
Drummer and singer Jamison Ross (pictured, top left) makes his St. Louis debut with the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Just 28 years old, Ross has been tagged as a rising star by both the jazz press and the mainstream media, thanks in large part to his self-titled debut album, which came out last year and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Jazz Vocal category.

You can see performances of some of the songs from that album and find out more about Ross in this video post from last Saturday.

Thursday, October 6
Guitarist Vincent Varvel will lead his group in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Friday, October 7
Singer Tony Viviano returns to Fortel's Pizza Den, and singer and impressionist Dean Christopher will perform his cabaret show "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime: A Tribute to Dean Martin" for the first of two nights at The Emerald Room at The Monocle.

Also on Friday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom, and saxophonist Austin Cebulski and guitarist Tom Byrne will perform at Thurman's in Shaw.

Saturday, October 8
Saxophonist Christopher Braig will present a free clinic on jazz improvisation based on his book "Jazz Brain Training" during the day at Mozingo Music in O'Fallon, followed on Saturday evening by a performance celebrating the release of his new CD Blue Morph at the St. Louis Artists Guild in Clayton.

Also on Saturday, Franglais plays Gypsy jazz and swing at The Dark Room, and the Midwest Jazz-tette offers their inerpretation of West Coast cool jazz at Evangeline's

Sunday. October 9
Former St. Louisans Mardra and Reggie Thomas (pictured, bottom left) will be back in town to lend their vocal and keyboard talents, respectively, to the Unity Theatre Ensemble Reunion Tribute at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Monday,
October 10
Dizzy Atmosphere will play swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck.

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:

* The Tavern of Fine Arts (pictured), the Central West End restaurant and bar that has presented numerous jazz, free improv, cabaret, and classical music performances over the past five years, will close permanently at the end of service next Saturday, June 25.

In a message posted on the venue's website, proprietors Aaron Johnson and Matt Daniels wrote, "While the performances have often attracted large audiences, and we have always paid the bills, the business is not profitable." Next week's performances will go on as scheduled, but the closing means the cancellation of a CD release party planned by local free improvisors for next month, as well the loss of the venue for recurring events including poetry readings, a monthly free improv jam session, and Cabaret Project St. Louis' monthly "open mic."

* KDHX has posted online photo albums from Genesis Jazz Project's concert last Thursday at Chesterfield Amphitheater; the New Orleans Suspects' show on Friday at the Broadway Oyster Bar; and Saturday's "Summer Gras" at Old Rock House.

* Bjorn Rannheim of The 442s was interviewed about the band's new release RELAY on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis.

* Saxophonist Christopher Braig has started a podcast called, fittingly enough, Sax St. Louis Podcast, offering "an eclectic mix of music, jazz, saxophone history, interviews, performing and educational topics relating to the greater St. Louis music community." Episode 1 is online now, with a second installment promised soon.

* The culinary offerings at The Dark Room were the subject of features this past week in the Ladue News and on the morning newscast at KTVI/Fox 2.

* In a new entry on his blog Devil at the Confluence, author, historian, and illustrator Kevin Belford takes a deep dive into the question of how Jelly Roll Morton got credit for a recording of the song "Soap Suds" that actually was made by the St. Louis Levee Band.

* Belford also posted to Vimeo a 30-second clip from Blues for Charlie O'Brien, a "doc in progress" about the former St. Louis police detective who in the 1950s helped revive interest in the city's early blues and jazz performers.

* A new entry on Marc Myers' blog Jazzwax looks into the connection between guitarist Grant Green's 1965 album I Want to Hold Your Hand and the line of "Little LPs" produced for stereo jukeboxes by Blue Note records.

* Drummer Kimberly Thompson was honored for her work on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers at the SESAC Film & Television Composers Awards Dinner held on June 1 in Santa Monica, CA. The performing rights organization presented more than 100 awards to music composers in the categories of network TV, local TV, cable TV, film composing, jingles, and streaming media.

* Bassist and St. Louis native Dan Loomis will debut "Job's Trial's - Our Trials," a new jazz oratorio he composed for bass, guitar, drums, voices, and a narrator, in a performance next Friday, June 24 at IBeam Brooklyn in NYC.

* The website Boiler Room has posted online a video of trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold's performance at Revive Music's 10th anniversary event last month in NYC.

* Saxophonist Eric Person and his band Meta-Four are booked to perform at the 2016 Hudson Valley Jazz Festival, which takes place August 11-14 in Peekskill, NY.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Funky Butt Brass Band's "Holiday Brasstravaganza" tonight and tomorrow night at Off Broadway is previewed by St. Louis magazine. (Saturday's show is sold out, but some tickets may remain for tonight.)

* The Bosman Twins are featured on the cover of December 15 issue of Town & Style magazine. The cover photo (pictured) illustrates a story inside about the 2016 winners of the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis' Arts Awards. The Bosmans and the other winners will receive their awards at a ceremony and dinner on Monday, January 25 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

* For the second consecutive year, Jazz St. Louis has received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, a national evaluator of non-profit organizations. A news release from JSL said that only 21% of the charities evaluated get at least two four-star evaluations (the top score possible) in a row. More specifically, in 2015 JSL spent more than 90% of its total budget on programs and services, which is higher than required to earn the four-star rating.

Jazz St. Louis currently is raising funds for a new education initiative called The Jazz Academy, which provides jazz training for middle school students to support the music programs in the financially pressed Normandy, Riverview Gardens, and East St. Louis school districts. You can find out more or make a contribution via the Jazz Academy project's page on Gladitood, an online fundraising service.

* Speaking of Jazz St. Louis, they've posted to Facebook a photo set from yesterday's appearance by drummer Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O at Cool Valley Elementary School.

* And speaking of jazz education, saxophonist Christopher Braig and his teaching methods were the subjects of a feature story this week on St. Louis Public Radio.

* The STL Free Jazz Collective has posted to YouTube some video footage from their recent "Notes From Home" concert at The Sheldon.