Celebrating 100 years of Clark Terry

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of trumpeter and educator Clark Terry, who remains one of the most famous and significant jazz musicians to be born in St. Louis.

For those who don't know, the brief biography of Terry at AllAboutJazz.com offers a summary of some of his career highlights:

Clark Terry's career in jazz spans more than sixty years. He is a world-class trumpeter, flugelhornist, educator, and NEA Jazz Master. He performed for seven U.S. Presidents, and was a Jazz Ambassador for State Department tours in the Middle East and Africa. More than fifty jazz festivals in all seven continents still feature him. He received a Grammy Award, two Grammy certificates, three Grammy nominations, thirteen honorary doctorates, keys to cities, lifetime achievements and halls of fame awards. He was knighted in Germany and is the recipient of the French Order of Arts and Letters. Clark's star on the Walk of Fame, and his Black World History Museum's life-sized wax figure can both be visited in his hometown, St. Louis, Missouri.

Clark composed more than two hundred jazz songs, and his books include Let's Talk Trumpet: From Legit to Jazz, Interpretation of the Jazz Language and Clark Terry's System of Circular Breathing for Woodwind and Brass Instruments.

He recorded with The London Symphony Orchestra, The Dutch Metropole Orchestra, The Duke Ellington Orchestra and The Chicago Jazz Orchestra, at least thirty high school and college ensembles, his own duos, trios, quartets, quintets, sextets, octets, and two big bands — Clark Terry's Big Bad Band and Clark Terry's Young Titans of Jazz. His career as both leader and sideman with more than three hundred recordings demonstrates that he is one of the luminaries in jazz.

As impressive as that list of achievements is, it omits a couple of yr. StLJN editor's favorite facts about Terry - namely, that he was one of a very few musicians to work with both Duke Ellington and Count Basie, both of whom called Terry the best trumpeter they ever employed; and that he was the first African-American musician to be a regular member of the orchestra led by Doc Severinsen on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, integrating that ensemble in 1962.

StLJN has been paying tribute to Terry this year with a series of Saturday video posts:

Clark Terry plays Duke Ellington
Remembering Clark Terry's Big Bad Band
More from Clark Terry's Big Bad Band
Clark Terry and his famous friends
The further adventures of Clark Terry
Clark Terry speaks!

Also here in his hometown, presenting organization Jazz St. Louis staged their own tribute to Terry, featuring an ensemble of local musicians playing songs written by or associated with the trumpeter. The performance was streamed last Thursday night, and has been archived on YouTube.

After the jump, you can see some of the birthday tributes shared online by fans, DJs, critics, and fellow musicians including Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock. (This portion of the post will be updated several times throughout the day and evening.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The new documentary The Black Artists’ Group of St. Louis: Creation Equals Movement is the subject of an article by Terry Perkins for DownBeat magazine.

* As the centennial of Clark Terry’s birth approaches - the trumpeter was born here in St. Louis on December 14, 1920 - IMDb's online video channel is streaming Keep On Keepin’ On, the 2014 documentary about Terry and his protege Justin Kauflin. The film can be seen for free (with registration) on IMDb's website and via the IMDB channel on Amazon Prime video.

* The Bosman Twins (pictured) were guests this week on Thursday's episode of the online talk show "OwnYourNow." (Their segment begins 34 minutes into the program and runs for about 15 minutes.)

* A recently completed mural honoring the late trumpeter Lester Bowie in his birthplace of Frederick, MD, was the subject of a feature story in the local paper, the Frederick News Post. (Bowie was born in Frederick, but grew up and began his music career in St. Louis)

* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes the death a couple of weeks ago of pianist Herb Drury at age 92 with an unbylined obituary.

* Also from the Post, Dead Wax Records has moved to a new, larger location on the south side and is spinning off a sibling store called Weirdo Records, as reported by Kevin Johnson.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Clark Terry speaks!

This week, StLJN continues our salute to trumpeter, educator and St. Louis native Clark Terry in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of his birth, which is coming up on Monday, December 14. Previous posts in the series include a collection of videos of Terry playing the music of Duke Ellington, a two-part look at his Big Bad Band, a compilation of Terry performing with some of his famous friends, and a look at some of his mid- and late-career performances.

Today's post spotlights Terry in his role as sage, storyteller and raconteur, starting up above with a conversation from 1995 in which the famed trumpeter sat around swapping stories with his former colleague from the Count Basie Orchestra, singer Joe Williams, for nearly an hour.

After the jump, you can see a video playlist of ten segments of an interview Terry did in 2008 for the National Visionary Leadership Project, which includes him reminiscing about his early days as a musician; discussing how he integrated the Tonight Show orchestra in the 1960s; sharing his perspectives on some of the famous musicians he's known, such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Miles Davis and Quincy Jones; and much more. (The clips are configured as a playlist, which should unreel them in order once you click the first video.)

Next up, you can see an interview that Terry did with the late St. Louis broadcaster Don Wolff in 2009 before a concert at Harris-Stowe State University, followed by Terry's acceptance speech when he recieved a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Grammys in Los Angeles.

Last but not least, you can see a profile of Terry from the Nine Network program Living St. Louis, originally aired in 2012 and updated when he passed away in 2015.

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

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The further adventures of Clark Terry

This week, we're continuing our tribute to the late trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry to celebrate the centennial of his birth, which is coming up on Monday, December 14. (Previous installments have included a collection of videos of Terry playing the music of Duke Ellington, a two-part look at his Big Bad Band, and a compilation of Terry performing with some of his famous friends.)

Today's post features a handful of later-career performances from Terry, plus what appears to be a genuinely little-seen rarity. That would be the first video up top, which has nearly half an hour of film of Terry in 1967, fronting a big band for a local telethon performance on WHAS, then the CBS affiliate in Louisville, KY.

This clip seems significant for several reasons - not only is it an extended performance, documented with reasonably good sound quality, but the film is in color, which would have been somewhat unusual for a local broadcast at the time. (The national networks had just gone all-color the previous year.) Moreover, at a time when rock music was dominating radio, TV, and popular culture, a local TV station in the US giving this much time to jazz would have been unusual in itself.

Given that this video currently has fewer than 100 views on YouTube, it would seem that it hasn't yet been discovered by Terry's fans around the world, but perhaps this post will help call a bit more attention to it.

After the jump, you can see the first of several later performances by Terry, a concert staged in December 1990 at the University of New Hampshire (which eventually named its annual jazz festival after him) to celebrate his 70th birthday.

That's followed by a quartet performance from August 1994 at the New Morning Jazz Blues Festival in Geneva, Switzerland, for which Terry was backed by pianist Dado Moroni, bassist Pierre Boussaguet and drummer Alvin Queen.

Next, there's another performance at the University of New Hampsire, marking Terry's 75th birthday in December 1995 with a special for local public television and featuring a lineup of musicians including Hal Crook (trombone), Fred Haas (tenor sax), Bill Humphrey (alto sax), Doc Cheatham (trumpet), Ryan Kisor (trumpet), Herb Pomeroy (trumpet), Gray Sargent (guitar), James Williams (piano), Milt Hinton (bass), and Louis Bellson (drums).

The last two videos document more small group performances from jazz festivals overseas. The penultimate clip shows Terry with drummer Sylvia Cuenca, pianist Don Friedman, bassist Marcus McLaurine, and alto saxophonist David Glasser, performing in 2000 at the Internationale Jazzwoche Burghausen in Germany.

The final performance was recorded in 2001 during the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival on the Carribbean island of the same name, and features Terry leading a quintet with Donald Harrison on alto sax, Anthony Wonsey on piano, Curtis Lundy on bass, and Victor Lewis on drums.

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

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Clark Terry and his famous friends

This year marks the centennnial of the birth of legendary trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry. As we approach what would have been his 100th birthday on December 14, StLJN will be paying tribute by sharing videos of Terry, starting today with just a few of his many collaborations and encounters with other famous musicians and singers.

The first video up above shows Terry with another American musical icon, blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters, sitting in on a version of T-Bone Walker's standard "Stormy Monday." It was recorded in July, 1977 in Nice, France, with Muddy's band, which included Bob Margolin (guitar), Guitar Junior (guitar), Pinetop Perkins (piano), Calvin Jones (bass), and Willy "Big Eyes" Smith (drums).

After the jump, you can see Terry performing his signature song "Mumbles" in 2001 with the "Queen of Soul," Aretha Franklin, backed by a band including Herbie Hancock (keyboards), Russell Malone (guitar), Ron Carter (bass), Roy Haynes (drums), and James Carter (saxophones).

In the third clip, Terry returns to his former place of employment, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, sometime around 1980 to front the show's famous orchestra for a couple of numbers.

That's followed by a choice cameo appearance by Terry on another late night talk show, as he offers single choruses of flugelhorn and vocals on a version of Quincy Jones' "Soul Bossa Nova" recorded in 2001 for Late Night with David Letterman with Jones' orchestra and saxophonist Phil Woods, who takes the solo before Terry's.

After that, you can see a full concert from the long-running "Jazz at the Philharmonic" series, which was started by producer Norman Granz in 1944 and continued through the 1950s in the US and into the 1980s in Europe. This all-star performance was recorded in 1967 in London by the BBC, and along with Terry, the ensemble includes Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), James Moody (alto sax, flute), Zoot Sims (tenor sax), Teddy Wilson (piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass), and Louis Bellson (drums).

The final clip shows another all-star session, billed as "A Trumpet Summit" at the 1999 edition of the Jazz in Marciac festival in France. It features Terry will fellow trumpeters Benny Bailey, Stepka Gut, Jon Faddis, Terell Stafford, Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, and Wynton Marsalis, backed by pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Pierre Moussaguet, and drummer Alvin Queen.

Look for more videos celebrating Clark Terry in the coming weeks. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: More from Clark Terry's Big Bad Band

This week, let's continue our trip into the history of one of the most famous jazz musicians from our area with more videos featuring trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry's Big Bad Band. (You can see part one, featuring video of performances from 1974 and 1978, here.)

Today's first group of videos were recorded in July 1979 at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague, Netherlands. In addition to Terry, this version of the band included Dale Carley, John Melito, Bob Montgomery, and Oscar Gamby (trumpets), Hal Crook, Buster Cooper, Chuck Conners, and Richard Boone (trombones), Chris Woods, Bill Saxton, Charles Williams, Herman Bell, and Charles Davis (saxophones), plus Charles Fox (piano), Victor Sproles (bass), and Dave Adams (drums).

They begin with a nod to Duke Ellington in the form of Terry's arrangemnet of "Take The A Train" up above, followed after the jump by "Carney," featuring baritone saxophonist Charles Davis in a tribute to longtime Ellington sideman Harry Carney.

That's followed by six more selections from the North Sea festival, starting with "Tee Pee Time," "On The Trail" (from the "Grand Canyon Suite"), and "Etoile," and then "Randy," "Una Mas (One More Time), and "Blues In My Shoes."

The final video contains three songs recorded in 1991 in Paris for broadcast on the French TV program Le Grand Echiquier, including a reprise of "Take the A Train" plus performances of "Over The Rainbow" and "Sheba."

This version of the band included a couple of musicians who would go on to have prominent careers of their own, with a young Branford Marsalis in the saxophone section, and an equally young Byron Stripling among the trumpets. The rest of the band includes saxophonists Chris Woods, Danny House, Randy Russell, Ned Otter, and Diane DeRosa; trumpeters Steve Rentschler, Tony Lujan, and Gary Blackman; trombonists Conrad Herwig, Kenny Crane, Ron Wilkins, and Matt Finders; plus pianist John Campbell, bassist Peter Dowdall, and drummer Mike Baker.

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

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Remembering Clark Terry's Big Bad Band

Among his many accomplishments, trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry was one of just a handful of musicians who worked with both Duke Ellington and Count Basie - fellow trumpeter and St. Louis native Harold "Shorty" Baker is another - and later went on to integrate TV's most famous big band, the Tonight Show orchestra. Given those experiences and more with the big band format, it's not surprising that he eventually formed his own large ensemble.

Terry first put together The Big Bad Band (sometimes styled as "Big BAD Band" or even "Big B-A-D Band") around 1970, and the group was active into the early 1980s. Given the music industry economics of the time, much of their work was in Europe, though their 1975 album Clark Terry's Big B-A-D Band Live at the Wichita Jazz Festival was recorded right here in the USA.

Fortunately, the Big Bad Band's European itineraries over the years included several opportunities to appear on television, and those TV appearances yielded the material that, more than 40 years later, found its way online and will be featured here, starting up above with what seems to be the earliest video documentation available of the Big Bad Band, recorded on August 3, 1973 and broadcast in 1974 by the Norwegian TV network NRK's program Jazz Forum.

Along with Terry, this edition of the group included Richard Williams, Stan Shafran, Oscar Gamby, and Vince DiMartino (trumpets); Sonny Constanzo, Richard Boone, and Jimmy Wilkins (trombones); Jack Jeffers (bass trombone, tuba), Chris Woods and Arnie Lawrence (alto saxes), Jimmy Heath and Ernie Wilkins (tenor saxes), and Bobby Johanson (baritone sax), with Horace Parlan on piano, Eddie Jones on bass, and Grady Tate on drums.

After the jump, you can see selections from a 1978 performance in Lugano, Switzerland, starting with "Tee Pee Time," a Terry composition first recorded as a small group piece in 1967 that subsequently became a staple of the Big Bad Band's repertoire.

In addition to Terry, the band's personnel for this gig included Greg Bobulinski, Mike Vax, Willy Singleton, and Willy Cook (trumpets); John Gordon, Sonny Costanzo, and Dee-Dee Shirley (trombones); Chuck Connors (bass trombone), Bill Saxton and Herman Bell (tenor saxes), Charles Williams and Chris Woods (alto saxes), Charles Davis (baritone sax), plus a rhythm section featuring Hilton Ruiz on piano, Victor Sproles on bass, and Ed Soph on drums.

The selections are, in order, "Jeep's Blues," "Sheba," "Just Squeeze Me" and "Shell Game," followed by "Everybody's Blues," "On The Trail," "Here's That Rainy Day," and wrapping up with Terry's signature tune "Mumbles."

Look for part two, with videos of the Big Bad Band in Paris and at the North Sea Jazz Festival, next week. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Clark Terry plays Duke Ellington

With live music in St. Louis shut down for at least a couple of months, this weekly feature - which frequently, though not exclusively, previews performances by jazz and creative music artists coming to town - will need a different focus for a while. While yr. humble editor isn't exactly sure right this minute what that will be, it likely will involve showcasing the work of St. Louis' own bands and musicians, with some sort of theme or unifying element to tie each post together.

In the meantime, after what has been a rough week for a lot a people, today's entry is essentially a visit with an old friend - trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry, who not only was a great musician, but who exemplified the sort of resilience and good humor that we could all use right about now. (This year also marks 100 years since Terry's birth, a subject which we will return to a later date.)

More specifically, today's topic is Terry's relationship with the music of Duke Ellington. It began, formally at least, in the 1950s when Terry played in Duke's orchestra, and continued for the rest of the trumpeter's life, as he included some Ellington works in just about every gig he played.

You can get a taste of that enduring relationship by perusing today's compilation of videos, which show Terry in three different musical settings - quartet, big band, and duo.

In the first video up above, Terry is playing Ellington's "Satin Doll" at a gig in April 1985 at Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark, accompanied by pianist Duke Jordan, bassist Jimmy Woode, and drummer Svend Nørregaard. After the jump, you can see a performance of "Mood Indigo" from the same session.

Next, there's a clip of Terry's Big BAD Band from 1981, performing a new arrangement of Ellington's theme "Take The "A" Train" at a gig in France. (Look closely and you can spot a very young Branford Marsalis in the sax section.)

That's followed by a clip of Terry with the actual Ellington band, recorded in November 1958 as part of an Italian TV broadcast. The performance of "El Gato" features the entire Ellington trumpet section, which at the time included Terry, high-note specialist Cat Anderson, Ray Nance, and another St. Louis native, Harold "Shorty" Baker. While Anderson gets to do all the splashy high-register playing, all four men get a solo for a bit, and given that any one of them might have been considered the "star" of another band, it's a vivid reminder of the formidable stockpile of talent Ellington had in his orchestra at the time.

After that, there are two videos of duets by Terry and bassist Red Mitchell, recorded at a gig in 1987, in which they deliver more intimate versions of "Mood Indigo" and "Take The "A" Train."

Last but not least, there's an excerpt of an interview with Terry in which he talks about how he was recruited by Ellington and discusses their musical and personal relationship.

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

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn (pictured) has launched a crowd-funding campaign to pay for the next recording by his Royal Krunk Jazz Orchestra.

* Reid Anderson, bassist for The Bad Plus, was interviewed about the group's return to Jazz St. Louis next week by the Post-Dispatch's Daniel Durchholz.

* A new article in DownBeat recalls how the late trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry "fostered generations of performers."

* The closing last weekend of the south side venue Foam was the subject of stories by St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy D. Goodwin and St. Louis magazine's John J. Goddard.

* Singer Katie McGrath's show last Saturday at Blue Strawberry was reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

* Funeral arrangements for the late pianist, singer and saxophonist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum have been announced. A wake and memorial jam session is scheduled from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. today at Archway Memorial Chapel, 111 Taylor Road in Hazelwood. A funeral Mass will take place at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, January 4, at St. Elizabeth Mother of John church, 4330 Shreve Ave in St. Louis, with a repast immediately following. Burial will be at 10:00 a.m. Monday, January 6 at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

Whalum's obituary as published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch can be seen here, and his passing also was noted in a story by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

* Radio host, author and photographer Dennis Owsley bade farewell to listeners of his "Jazz Unlimited" radio show with a message on Facebook (also published in abbreviated form on the St. Louis Public Radio website). In that message, he revealed that the program's Sunday night time slot will be filled, at least for the time being, by music from the nationally syndicated "Jazzworks" service (also heard on one of StLPR's digital sub-channels).

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold was among the featured performers at "A Great Night in Harlem," held recently at the Apollo Theater to honor singers Harry Belafonte and Tony Bennett and to raise funds for the Jazz Foundation of America. DownBeat's article about the evening includes a quote from Harrold, who, along with fellow trumpeter Wallace Roney, performed "Grazing In The Grass" as a tribute to the late Hugh Masekela.

* Harrold also has been tapped as a member of New Masters, “a rotating ensemble of today’s leading, up-and-coming and established jazz musicians” assembled by Sony Music Masterworks to record jazz interpretations of contemporary hits "originally performed by the likes of Cardi B, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and SZA."

The group, which also includes pianist Sullivan Fortner, drummer Eric Harland, guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Burniss Earl Travis, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins and percussionist Bashiri Johnson, will release their debut album ReWORKS Volume 1 on Friday, July 12.

* "Why Jazz Still Matters" is the title of an article in the spring 2019 issue of Daedalus magazine co-authored by Washington University professor Gerald Early with Ingrid Monson, professor of African American Music at Harvard University.

* Seven musicians who worked with Miles Davis during the trumpeter's electric period, including bassist Michael Henderson, saxophonists Dave Liebman and Gary Bartz, and drummer Lenny White, talked about their experiences at a Jazz Congress conference panel this past January in NYC, which now has been transcribed for an article in Jazz Times.

* In more Davis news, the trumpeter's landmark album Birth of the Cool will be re-released in a deluxe 70th anniversary edition (pictured) on Friday, May 17. The vinyl and digital set will include the complete studio and live recordings made in 1949-50 by Davis' nine-piece ensemble.

* Lastly, in a story published on April 1 by the Alton-area weekly Riverbender, Davis' ghost is credited with saving the lives of three area residents in separate incidents.

* Trumpeter Clark Terry's mentoring of young musicians, particularly pianist Justin Kauflin, is the subject of a recent article in Vail Daily.

* In an article in the Edwardsville Intelligencer, vibraphonist Lee Roth credits the sounds of radio station WSIE with helping him recover from recent brain surgery.

* Jazz St. Louis, The Dark Room and Broadway Oyster Bar are among the spots mentioned in a Post-Dispatch feature about local venues offering "dinner and a show."

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* A public memorial gathering for the late pianist Nathan Jatcko will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, January 27) at Birger Hall on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

* The decaying building that once housed Club Imperial (pictured), home to historic performances by Chuck Berry, Ike and Tina Turner, and other important St. Louis musicians, is in the news after being purchased at a tax sale by a new owner seeking to facilitate redevelopment of the site.

Those plans were put on hold this week as the St. Louis Preservation Board upheld a decision to deny a demolition permit for the building - for now, anyway. Stay tuned for further news...

* UDiscoverMusic.com's just-published list of "The 50 Best Jazz Trumpeters Of All Time" has some St. Louis flavor, with Miles Davis ranked at #3 (behind Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie) and Clark Terry at #28 (just behind King Oliver and ahead of Cat Anderson). Let the clickbait-article-driven arguments begin!

* And speaking of Miles Davis, an article in the new issue of Jazz Times has more details on the forthcoming CD box set Miles Davis & John Coltrane’s The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6.

* The Baylor Project, led by drummer and St. Louis native Marcus Baylor and his wife, singer Jean Baylor, performed Wednesday at the studios of WBGO in NYC, and the radio station has posted to YouTube videos of two songs from the session, "Tell Me A Bedtime Story" and "Afro Blue."

The Baylors, who are nominated for two Grammy Awards this year, also were profiled this week in the Asbury Park Press, and appeared on the CBS3 local newscast in Philadelphia. The 60th annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be broadcast starting at 6:30 p.m. Central time this Sunday, January 28 on CBS.

* "The Kennedy Dream," saxophonist, composer and St. Louis native Oliver Nelson's suite commemorating the life and words of President John F. Kennedy, will be the centerpiece of a performance next month paying tribute to Nelson on the closing night of the 48th annual Rowan Jazz Festival in New Jersey.

* The Sheldon has posted to Facebook an album of photos from last week's concert by Storm Large. Large's performance at The Sheldon also was reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

* While The Bad Plus were in town last week to play at Jazz at the Bistro, Jazz St. Louis had them sit down for a video interview moderated by pianist Peter Martin.

* Gene Dobbs Bradford of Jazz St. Louis this week received a St. Louis Arts Award from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, accompanied by a brief video about Bradford that's now posted to the A&E Council's Facebook page.

* At last fall's Festival Of New Trumpet Music in NYC, St. Louis' own Keyon Harrold was part of a panel discussion with fellow trumpeter Charles Tolliver and others, and that talk now can be heard online as an episode of Greenleaf Records' podcast "A Noise From The Deep."

* Pianist and St. Louis native Lawrence Fields appears in a new music video from the group Sound Prints, co-led by saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Dave Douglas. Fields gets a nice solo spot on "The Corner Tavern," a tune from the band's upcoming album Scandal, which will be released on Friday, April 6.

* "Jazz: A Language of Faith and Model for Ministry," a two-day conference exploring "the many possibilities of jazz as a contemporary faith language and creative vehicle for the Church’s ministry," will take place on Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3 at Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves.

The event will include presentations, talks, workshops, and a jazz concert featuring the Oikos Ensemble, led by Rev. Cliff Aerie and featuring guest saxophonist Rev. Ozzie Smith, pastor of Covenant UCC in South Holland, IL.

* The woodwind retailer, repair shop, and museum Saxquest is featured in an article in Webster University's campus paper, the Webster Journal.

* Also at Webster U. the student chapter of the Audio Engineering Society will be sponsoring the Central Region Audio Student Summit February 23-25 on the Webster campus. The event is open to students, teachers and "anyone interested in the subject of audio," and will include educational panels, a student mix competition, and more.

* Saxophonist "Raven Wolf" aka C. Felton Jennings II is the subject of a column this week by the West End Word's Dwight Bitikofer.

* Metro Theater Company's upcoming production of Bud, Not Buddy, a "concert play" for children that includes a musical score by trumpeter Terence Blanchard, is previewed briefly on BroadwayWorld.com.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Celebrating Clark Terry

Today, let's celebrate the memory of one of our city's all-time jazz greats, the late trumpeter Clark Terry, who was born December 14, 1920 right here in St. Louis.

Although Terry departed this planet in February of last year, his vast catalog of audio and video recordings remains for all to enjoy, and today you can check out some of StLJN's favorite videos featuring him.

The first clip up above, recorded in 2001, pairs Terry and the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, in an extended version of the trumpeter's best-known song, the comedic blues "Mumbles." They're backed by a band featuring Herbie Hancock on piano, Russell Malone on guitar, Ron Carter on bass, Roy Haynes on drums, and James Carter on saxophone.

After the jump, you can see Terry doing two songs recorded around 1980 in a guest appearance with NBC's Tonight Show band, a group that he integrated as its first African-American member in the early 1960s and remained with for much of that decade. In this video, he's featured soloing on an uptempo blues, and then plays and sings Fats Waller's "Squeeze Me."

After leaving the Tonight Show, Terry led his own orchestra, the Big Bad Band, intermittently through the 1970s and early 1980s, and the next clip shows just over 19 minutes of that group in action.

Below that, you can see Terry playing "Stormy Monday" with another American musical icon, blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. This clip was recorded in July, 1977 in Nice, France, with Muddy's band, which at the time included Bob Margolin (guitar), Guitar Junior (guitar), Pinetop Perkins (piano), Calvin Jones (bass), and Willy "Big Eyes" Smith (drums).

The next clip shows Terry with a small group drawn from the Count Basie Orchestra, with whom he got his first big break in 1948, performing "Royalty in Rhythm." That's followed by a 1958 video of the Duke Ellington Orchestra playing "El Gato," which featured the band's trumpet section of Terry, fellow St. Louis native Harold "Shorty" Baker, Ray Nance, and Cat Anderson, for whom the piece was named.

Finally, you can see an example of Terry's showmanship and good humor as he instructs and conducts an audience to sing along with "Bye Bye Blackbird." This recording was made on April 19, 1998 by an audience member attending the concert at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.

For more on Clark Terry's life and career, see the previous StLJN posts here and here.

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

Jazz this week: Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O, Karl Denson, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a generous helping of holiday music; the long-awaited return of a popular jam-band performer; a tribute to one of St. Louis' all-time jazz greats; and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, December 7
Drummer Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O returns to spread their particular brand of holiday cheer for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

For more about the Tree-O (pictured, top left) and some video samples of past performances, see this post that ran just before their gig here last year.

Also on Wednesday night, the Route 66 Big Band will play a show featuring seasonal music at the Ozark Theatre ; and singer Erin Bode will be incorporating some holiday favorites into her performance at Cyrano's.

Thursday, December 8
The Wire Pilots will be joined by special guest Sandy Weltman and opening act Mayor Taylor for a concert at Joe's Cafe, and guitarists Dave Black and Aaron Burlbaw will duet at The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, December 9
Trumpeter Jim Manley reassembles his seven-piece band Mad Brass & Rhythm for the first of two nights of "A Very Manley Christmas" at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Friday, trumpeter Randy Holmes and his quintet commemorate the birthday of a St. Louis jazz great with the first of two nights of a "Tribute to Clark Terry" at the Ozark Theatre; and singer Feyza Eren leads a a quartet in a performance at the art gallery and event space 1900 Park in Soulard.

Saturday, December 10
Saxophonist and vocalist Karl Denson (pictured, bottom left) returns with his band Tiny Universe for his first St. Louis performance in more than six years at the Old Rock House.

Denson's long absence can be attributed in part to his roles in several other bands besides his own, including most recently The Rolling Stones, for whom he has served as touring saxophonist since 2014.

For more about that, and some video samples of recent Tiny Universe performances, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, the Midwest Jazz-tette plays West Coast-style "cool" jazz at Evangeline's and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor and his trio will play at The Dark Room.

Sunday, December 11
The STL Free Jazz Collective will play a matinee at the Ozark Theatre; the Ambassadors of Swing return for an early evening show at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company; and singer Tony Viviano will pay tribute to Frank Sinatra's 101st birthday along with some holiday music in a dinner show at Patrick's at Westport.

Monday, December 12
Dizzy Atmosphere plays swing and Gypsy jazz for diners at The Shaved Duck, and singer and impressionist Dean Christopher will bring his "Rat Pack & More" show back to One 19 North Tapas and Wine Bar.

Tuesday, December 13
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents their final free concert of the semester, featuring Italian pianist Francesca Tandoi.

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.)

Music Education Monday: A trumpet course with Clark Terry

This week for Music Education Monday, here's something that will have special meaning for a lot of St. Louis jazz fans: a short video course in how to play the trumpet from Clark Terry.

Terry, who died last year, was a St. Louis native who spent more than 70 years as a working professional trumpet player, and generally is considered one of the greatest jazz musicians ever to come from this area.

Terry (pictured) also was of the first well-known jazz players to recognize the importance of jazz education for high school and college students, and from the 1970s on, he spent a great deal of time teaching and mentoring young musicians in both formal and informal settings.

Beyond that, summarizing his long and distinguished career in a paragraph or two would be a Herculean task, so if for some reason you are not already familiar with Terry's many accomplishments, please check out StLJN's extensive coverage of him over the past decade.

Today's featured material seen in the embedded window below was recorded in 1981 under the auspices of an organization called The Video Classroom, and is titled simply "Trumpet Course: Beginner - Intermediate with Clark Terry."

It includes nine separate mini-lessons totaling nearly 52 minutes of material, in which Terry is supported by the veteran bassist Major Holly and also interacts with fellow trumpeter Marc Chase Weinstein.

While it definitely is geared toward less experienced players - Terry starts with the basics, identifying the parts of the instrument and the function of each - even veteran trumpeters may find a useful tidbit or two, and just about anyone who likes jazz may enjoy an hour spent with Clark Terry talking about music.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Record Store Day 2016 is Saturday, April 16, and once again this year, yr. humble StLJN editor has been invited to be one of several "guest DJs" selecting music to play on the in-store sound system at Vintage Vinyl.

I'll be at the controls for an hour or so starting at 2:30 p.m., following sets by DJs from KDHX and the music blogs Speakers In Code and I Went To A Show (and well after the sure-to-be-jam-packed RSD performance at VV by Americana band Mumford & Sons).

As in previous years, I'll be spinning a mix of jazz, blues, soul, and funk, with some St. Louis artists in the mix. You can see a complete list of all the special Record Store Day releases from various companies here.

* Steven Lutvak's cabaret show "A Gentleman's Guide To A Gentleman's Guide" was previewed in a story by Calvin Wilson of the Post-Dispatch. The production runs tonight and tomorrow at the Gaslight Theater.

* The Riverfront Times' Harlan McCarthy reported on last Saturday's dedication ceremony of the mural of Clark Terry in south St. Louis' Carondelet neighborhood.

* Also in the RFT, Kevin Korinek penned a short feature about St. Louis-based amplifier manufacturer Mills Custom and their participation in last weekend's Tritone Expo.

* Jazz St. Louis posted to Facebook some photos from this week's educational residencies by clarinetist Anat Cohen, drummer Matt Wilson, trumpeter Marquis Hill and bassist Linda Oh.

* The Kranzberg Arts Foundation has announced plans to turn the building in the Grand Center district that formerly housed the nightclub Plush into an "arts incubator," with a small theater and space for offices and production support.

* Always, the latest CD from pianist and St. Louis native Stephanie Trick and her husband Paolo Alderighi, was reviewed by the website Art Music Lounge.

* Drummer Dave Weckl headed out on tour this past week with guitarist Oz Noy's trio, starting in Los Angeles, then going on to NYC and more East Coast and Midwest dates before heading back West again. (Alas, there's no St. Louis show on schedule.) Weckl also recently was named also named Best Fusion Drummer for 2016 by Modern Drummer magazine.

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: SFJAZZ Collective, Champian Fulton, Lonberg-Holm & Gjerstad, and more

It's looking like it'll be a good weekend to get out and hear some live music, and fortunately, there's an ample selection of jazz and creative music happening in and around St. Louis over the next few days.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, March 30
The SFJAZZ Collective performs for the first of four nights, continuing with two sets per night through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

The Collective (pictured, top left) is an all-star ensemble assembled by the San Francisco not-for-profit presenter SFJAZZ that tours each year with original music plus new arrangements of works from a single featured composer. This year, they're taking on the song catalog of the late Michael Jackson, and if you're wondering how hit singles from the "King of Pop" can be translated into instrumental jazz, see this video post from a couple of Saturdays ago for some live performance samples.

Thursday, March 31
The Gaslight Cabaret Festival's spring series resumes with singer Lisa Rothauser and pianist/songwriter Tor Hyams performing their show "Life. Who Knew?" at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Thursday, the latest installment of musician NNN Cook's "Bruxism" experimental music series will feature Jeff Kolar, the Vernacular String Trio, and Strong Force at the Schlafly Tap Room downtown; and Dave Black, Aaron Burlbaw, Farshid Soltanshahi, and Paul Quinn will team up for "A Night of Guitars" at Joe's Cafe.

Friday, April 1
The regional edition of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington festival, sponsored by the St. Louis Jazz Club, will take place in Dunham Hall on the SIU Edwardsville campus. The day-long event culminates in an evening concert that's open to the public, featuring performances from the participating bands representing area high schools, members of SIUE's jazz faculty, and visiting clinicians including pianist (and SIUE alumnus) Reggie Thomas, saxophonist Ron Carter, drummer Dennis Mackrel, bassist Jeff Campbell, and pianist Jim Gasior.

Elsewhere on Friday, singer Amy Friedl Stoner performs her cabaret show "Tapestry: The Music of Carole King" at the Gaslight Theater; Dreaming in Colour brings some jazz/fusion to West County at the Sky Music Lounge; and Jazz St. Louis will host their first-ever "Sophisticated Singles" mixer in the first floor lounge adjacent to the Ferring Jazz Bistro space.

Also of interest on Friday, the new feature film Born to Be Blue, starring Ethan Hawke as the talented-but-troubled singer and trumpet player Chet Baker, opens its St. Louis run at the Tivoli Theatre. Mixing fact with some fictional elements, the movie "zeroes in on Baker’s life at a key moment in the 1960s, just as the musician attempts to stage a hard-fought comeback, spurred in part by a passionate romance with a new flame." You can watch the trailer for Born to Be Blue here.

Saturday, April 2
On Saturday afternoon, the Scott Air Force Base Jazz Combo will present a free performance and workshop at Saxquest.

Also on Saturday afternoon, there will be a public ceremony dedicating a new mural of the late trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry, which was painted by St. Louis artist Ray Harvey on commission from the Carondelet Community Betterment Association on a building at 7714 South Broadway.

In addition to plenty of laudatory words about Terry, the event also will feature a set of music by Champian Fulton (pictured, center left) and her quartet.

Fulton, born in Oklahoma and now based in NYC, is a swinging pianist and singer who will make her St. Louis debut with this performance. Now in her early 30s, she's known Terry since her childhood, having befriended him through her father, trumpeter Stephen Fulton. Fulton currently is touring in support of a new album, After Dark, and will be joined on this gig by her dad to perform songs written by and/or associated with Terry.

On Saturday evening, singer Joe Mancuso will incorporate some of his original songs into his first-ever cabaret show "That's (My) Life" at the Gaslight Theater; guitarist Tom Byrne leads a trio at The Dark Room; and the Jim Manley/Randy Bahr All-Star Band returns to Nathalie's.

Sunday, April 3
The Gaslight Cabaret Festival wraps up the weekend with a double-header, with singers Katie McGrath and Nicole Hudson performing a matinee of their show "Where the Heart Is," followed in the evening by a showcase for singers from the St. Louis Cabaret Conference's professional track, both at the Gaslight Theater.

Monday, April 4
Pianist Greg Mills returns to the Tavern of Fine Arts; the student jazz combos from Webster University will show off what they've learned this semester with a free performance at Webster's Community Music School; and saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will play their monthly show at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. 

Tuesday, April 5
Chicago-based cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, a mainstay of that city's improvised music scene, will join forces with Norwegian saxophonist Frode Gjerstad (pictured with Lonberg-Holm, lower left) for a performance of spontaneous music at Jackson Pianos.

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.)

Dedication ceremony for Clark Terry mural scheduled for Saturday, April 2

A mural of the late trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry on a building in St. Louis' Carondelet neighborhood will be dedicated in an official ceremony to be held at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, April 2 at 7714 South Broadway.

That's the address of the mural (pictured), which was commissioned from St. Louis artist Ray Harvey by the Carondelet Community Betterment Association and completed last fall. Harvey will be present at the dedication ceremony, which also will feature music from the Champian Fulton Quartet.

Fulton is a singer and pianist, originally from Oklahoma and now living in NYC, who counts Terry as a close family friend. She first met him as a young child in the 1980s through her dad, trumpeter Stephen Fulton, who was a friend and student of Terry's, and the relationship between both Fultons and Terry continued right up until the latter's death in February 2015.

Champian Fulton currently is touring in support of her latest album After Dark, which was released last month, and fittingly, since her band for the tour also includes her dad, he'll be on hand for the mural dedication ceremony, too. Admission to the event is free and open to the public.

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.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The late trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry was among the recently deceased musicians, singers, and music business figures remembered at this year's Grammy Awards ceremony and telecast on Monday night. Terry can be seen, and a tiny snippet of his signature song "Mumbles" heard (in what looks like an excerpt from PBS' Legends of Jazz series) at approximately 1:28 into the Grammy memorial/tribute video.

* Saxophonist Greg Osby talked about his record label Inner Circle Music in an extensive interview with Jakob Baekgaard of AllAboutJazz.com.

* Vinyl collectors and aficionados, be advised that Euclid Records will be having a "Giant Colossal Mega-Whopper of a 2 Dollar Vinyl Sale" on Saturday, February 27 and Sunday, February 28. Given the store's extensive stock of jazz records, it seems likely there may be some items of interest to StLJN readers among those $2 selections.

* The STL Free Jazz Collective has posted to YouTube full-length videos of both sets of their recent concert for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series.

* Bruxism, the series of experimental music performances run by multi-instrumentalist Nathan Cook (aka NNN Cook), is the subject of a feature story from St. Louis magazine.

* Keyboardist and singer Jesse Gannon (pictured) has posted online a new song, "Take Your Time," that's described as "the first of a series of monthly singles to be released in 2016." You can listen, purchase the track, or subscribe to the series via Gannon's website.

* Multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman, who plays a standard diatonic harp with virtuoso skill in styles from bebop to bluegrass, will be teaching a group harmonica class at 7:00 p.m. Tuesdays starting March 1 and continuing through April 19 at City Music. For details or to sign up, go to the City Music website.

* Dance St. Louis will include recordings of music by Miles Davis and Lester Bowie into “New Dance Horizons IV: A Celebration inspired by St. Louis’ Legendary Black Artists” on Friday, February 26 and Saturday, February 27 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.