Jazz this week: Thomas, Whitaker, Hayward & Warfield; Chris Hazelton & Cory Weeds; Oikos Ensemble; and more

This week's schedule of live jazz and creative music includes a diverse group of musician/educators brought together here by a returning St. Louisan; visiting players from Kansas City, Vancouver and Mississippi; the debuts of two new ensembles featuring some top local musicians; and more. Let's go to the highlights....

Tonight, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra performs at First Unity Church of St. Louis, 4753 Butler Hill Rd in south county.

On Thursday night, the Young Friends of Jazz St. Louis and two other local organizations' "young friends" groups will present the annual "Jazz Under The Stars" benefit at the Planetarium in Forest Park. The event will include live music from guitarist Eric Slaughter, bassist Bob Deboo, saxophonist Willie Akins, pianist Jesse Gannon, and drummer Marty Morrison.

Also tomorrow, the St. Louis Avant Garde Ensemble makes its debut at the Tavern of Fine Arts. This new project features Fred Tompkins, flute and melodica; Jim Hegarty, piano and electronics; Tracy Andreotti, cello; Lee Scott Price, guitar; and Thomas Zirkle, percussion and electronics.

And while all that's going on, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will have something a little different this Thursday: a free screening of the Mississippi blues documentary film We Juke Up In Here, produced and directed by St. Louis resident Jeff Konkel and former St. Louisan Roger Stolle. Along with the film, the event will include a Q&A with Konkel and Stolle and a performance by guitarist and singer Jimmy "Duck" Holmes.

On Friday, pianist Reggie Thomas, who grew up and worked here for most of his life but moved away last year for a teaching job in Michigan, will be back in town to perform for the second time since the move. Thomas (pictured) will join forces with bassist Rodney Whitaker (a fellow faculty member at Michigan State University), trombonist Andre Hayward, and saxophonist Tim Warfield for shows on Friday and Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

All four men have been in town throughout the week as part of an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis, performing and teaching at local schools and working with students in the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars and JazzU programs. Thomas, of course, is a longtime StLJN favorite who's well known to local jazz fans, and yr. humble editor found Hayward to be particularly impressive a few years ago here with the SF Jazz Collective at the Bistro. (And that's certainly not to slight Whitaker or Warfield, both of whom have impressive resumes of their own.)

Also Friday, the St. Louis Big Band plays for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom, singer Joe Mancuso brings a quartet to Robbie's House of Jazz; and Eric Slaughter will lead a quartet with Akins, Morrison and DeBoo at Cigar Inn.

On Saturday afternoon, singer Wendy Gordon and her band will be playing a new jazz brunch, this one at Ace's Bar and Grill, 9600 Natural Bridge Rd (inside the Comfort Inn) on the north side. Meanwhile, across town, trumpeter/vibraphonist Joe Bozzi and his group will be performing a matinee at Schoemehl's Southside Grill, 7529 Michigan Ave.

Then on Saturday evening, organist Chris Hazelton, who's from Kansas City, and Cory Weeds, a saxophonist from Vancouver, will team up for a performance at Robbie's. Hazelton is a former student of Hammond master Dr. Lonnie Smith, while Weeds frequently plays in the organ-trio format and also operates a club called the Jazz Cellar in Vancouver. As far as StLJN can tell, this gig is the St. Louis debut for both men; check out their respective websites for some music samples.

Also on Saturday, singer Danita Mumphard will perform at Jazz on Broadway; and the WirePilots, a new group featuring brothers Dan and Ted Rubright on guitar and percussion plus Ric Vice on bass, will debut at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

On Sunday, the Oikos Ensemble, featuring Rev. Cliff Aerie on saxophone, will present a free concert called "Inner Jazz" at Kirkwood United Church of Christ, 1603 Dougherty Ferry Rd. Aerie's collaborators for the performance will include Carolbeth True (piano), Danny Campbell (trumpet), Dave Troncoso (bass) and Kevin Gianino (drums).

Also on Sunday, multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris will present a free concert at Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, offering jazz interpretations of the music of the late hip-hop performer/producer J Dilla.

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.)

Coming attractions include Larry Brown Jr's Marvin Gaye tribute, Chris Hazelton & Cory Weeds, Marco Benevento

Recent days have brought details on three more upcoming shows of interest to St. Louis jazz fans:

* Guitarist Larry Brown Jr., a native of Venice, IL and graduate of SIUE who's now working in Chicago, will return home to perform "I Remember Marvin: A Jazz Tribute to Marvin Gaye" at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 5 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.  The performance is  part of The Sheldon's "Notes From Home" series.

Brown (pictured) will be joined for the concert by fellow SIUE alumnus Alphonzo Jones on drums, St. Louisan Bob DeBoo on bass, and two Chicago musicians, pianist Collin Clauson and singer Saalik Ziyad, who placed in the "Male Vocalist - Rising Star" category of the 2012 DownBeat Critics Poll.

The concert will feature Brown's arrangements of favorite tunes recorded by Gaye, including original compositions such as "Mercy Mercy Me" and "Inner City Blues" as well as standards like "The Shadow of Your Smile," which Gaye cut during the 1960s at a time when Motown head Berry Gordy was working to get some of the label's stars booked in Las Vegas.

Tickets for "I Remember Marvin: A Jazz Tribute to Marvin Gaye" will be $10 at the door.

* Kansas City-based organist Chris Hazelton's trio will team up with Vancouver saxophonist Cory Weeds for a gig at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, March 9 at Robbie's House of Jazz. Hazelton, who studied with Hammond organ master Dr. Lonnie Smith while living in NYC for a few years, gigs regularly around the KC area, while Weeds frequently plays in the organ-trio format and also operates his own club, the Jazz Cellar, in his home city.

Tickets for the Chris Hazelton Trio with Cory Weeds will be $10 at the door.

* Finally, there's word that keyboardist Marco Benevento will be returning to St. Louis as part of his spring 2013 tour, playing on Saturday, April 6 at 2720 Cherokee. Benevento, who performed here most recently last September at the Old Rock House, will be going out for a total of 20 dates in March and April, hitting St. Louis between shows in Louisville, KY and Chicago.

Details on ticket prices and the on-sale date for his show here have yet to be released, but it is is listed on 2720 Cherokee's website and so would seem a fairly safe bet to happen. Watch this space for more information...