Jazz this week: Jazz St. Louis All-Stars & Sean Jones, Dan Thomas & Voyage, Miles Davis Jazz Festival, and more

While not every week here in St. Louis can be as packed with touring jazz and creative music talent as was the end of Jazz Appreciation Month last week, our local and regional musicians nevertheless are serving up plenty of noteworthy performances over the next few days. So, let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, the funky organ trio Downstereo will be doing their regular weekly performance at Atomic Cowboy; Miss Jubilee will sing at Thaxton Speakeasy, and saxophonist Jim Stevens is playing a solo-with-tracks gig at Stanley's Cigar Lounge, 1000 Washington Ave. downtown.

On Friday, saxophonist Dan Thomas (pictured), who comes originally from Canada by way of Kansas City, brings his quartet Voyage to St. Louis for the first of two evenings at Robbie's House of Jazz. Thomas co-chairs the jazz program at UMKC alongside former Jazz Messenger Bobby Watson, and released his first CD with Voyage last fall. It's an enjoyable, crisply executed collection of modern jazz grooves that range from straight-ahead swing to Latin, and you can access audio samples from it and Thomas' other recordings via his website.

That same evening, Jazz St. Louis will present the first of two evenings at Jazz at the Bistro featuring student musicians from the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars and JazzU programs, with trumpeter Sean Jones sitting in as a special guest star. The weekend giving the top high-school-age players from Jazz St. Louis' education programs the chance to show off what they've learned has become a spring tradition at the Bistro, enlivened in recent years by the presence of guest musicians such as Jones.

Also on Friday, trumpeter Delano Redmond leads a quartet with drummer Marty Morrison, pianist Matt Villinger and bassist LaRon Stover at Cigar Inn; and guitarist-singer Tommy Halloran and violinist Alyssa Avery play for diners at Big Sky Cafe.

On Saturday, trumpeter and vibraphonist Joe Bozzi will do a lunchtime matinee at Frontenac Grill, and later that day, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will perform for a Kentucky Derby Day themed event at Thurman Grill and Provisions.

Also getting started in the late afternoon Saturday is the Alton Museum of History and Art's annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival, held this year at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton. The lineup of performers includes saxophonist Fred Walker, the Marty Morrison Quartet, and guitarist Henry Taylor's revue featuring vocalist Saman Swanson.

Also on Saturday evening, the University of Missouri's Mizzou New Music Ensemble will be in town to perform a free concert at the World Chess Hall of Fame in the Central West End; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham and singer Angela Sutherlin will play for a spring fund-raiser at Harris Stowe State University. For more about that, see this story from KPLR's Christine Buck.

On Sunday, the spring edition of the St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show will take place at the American Czech Center on S. Kingshighway, with a roomful of dealers selling music in a variety of physical formats, plus related ephemera and collectables.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday guitarist Tom Byrne's trio will play at BB's Jazz Blues & Soups. Then on Tuesday morning, Cornet Chop Suey will play traditional jazz and swing for the first of two Coffee Concerts at the Sheldon Concert Hall, with the same program repeating on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday night, guitarist Dave Black brings his group to BB's for an early evening set.

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.)

Dan Thomas and Voyage playing Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4 at Robbie's House of Jazz

Kansas City-based saxophonist Dan Thomas (pictured) is returning to St. Louis to play at 8:00 p.m., Friday, May 3 and Saturday. May 4 at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Thomas, a native Canadian who is associate director of jazz studies and co-chair of the division of jazz studies at UMKC's conservatory of music, will play with his band Voyage, which also includes Wayne Hawkins on piano, Forest Stewart on bass, and Mike Warren on drums.

The group will be promoting their eponymous debut CD, released last fall, and will be performing original music and "some interesting twists on rarely heard standards," said Thomas in an email to StLJN.

Tickets for Dan Thomas and Voyage at Robbie's House of Jazz are $10 for general admission, $5 for students, and can be purchased online via the club's website or at the door.

Jazz this week: Jim Pugh, Jeremy Haynes, Amina Figarova, Jazz St. Louis gala, Jeff Coffin, Chris Botti, Dan Thomas, and more

There's jazz and creative music happening early and often throughout this week in St. Louis, and so to help make sure that you don't miss anything, here's a special early edition of the weekly highlights post:

Tonight, trombonist Jim Pugh is in town for a free concert at at Maryville University presented by the St. Louis Low Brass Collective. Pugh is best known for his work with Woody Herman and Chick Corea, but also has been a top studio trombonist recording for film soundtracks, pop music sessions, and much more. The concert will feature Pugh backed by ten local jazz trombonists, a rhythm section, and the entire trombone section of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Meanwhile, back downtown, drummer Jeremy Haynes and the Rhythm Is Life band will play at Lola. Haynes, a St. Louis native who's been part of five Grammy winning gospel recordings, is performing in support of the release of his first instrumental album Prodigal Son 2K.

Also tonight, Three Central gives a free concert at the St. Louis Public Library main branch downtown; and the Tommy Halloran Quintet plays for Lindy Hop St. Louis' weekly swing dance at Grandel Theatre.

Tomorrow night, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra brings their big band sound to West County at the Sky Music Lounge in Ballwin; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes perform at the Feasting Fox; and the Ann Dueren Trio is at Frontenac Grill.

On Thursday, pianist Amina Figarova (pictured) and her group will perform in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. Figarova's skills at writing for small ensembles prompted Jazz Times to call her "among the most important composers to come into jazz in the new millennium." For more about her, and some vidfeo samples of her group in action, see this post from Saturday.

Also on Thursday, singer Erin Bode is at Crave coffee house.

Update, 4:50 p.m. 2/21/13: Both the Amina Figarova concert for the Jazz at Holmes series and Erin Bode's performance at Crave have been postponed due to bad weather. Bode's gig will take place next Thursday at the same time; JAH organizers hope to reschedule Figarova some time next month.

Update, 5:10 p.m. 2/21/13:Tonight's shows featuring Miss Jubilee at Thaxton Speakeasy and Downstereo at Atomic Cowboy have been cancelled due to bad weather. Both are recurring weekly gigs, so both bands should be back at work at the same venues next Thursday.

On Friday, Jazz St. Louis will present their annual fundraising gala at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, featuring music from David Sanborn and "surprise musical guests." The event is effectively sold out, but if you've got the price of admission - tickets start at $400 per person and go up from there - you can see if any spaces have opened up by calling JSL's director of development Kate Francis at 314-289-4037 or emailing her at katef @ jazzstl.org.

For those on a more modest budget on Friday, saxophonist Jeff Coffin will be back in town to present a free early-evening performance and workshop at Saxquest; Kansas City saxophonist Dan Thomas plays for the first of two nights at Robbie's House of Jazz; and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor leads a quartet at Cigar Inn.

Update: 1:30 p.m., 2/21/13: The previously announced dates for Dan Thomas have been removed without explanation from the Robbie's House of Jazz website. The site now lists saxophonist Jerry Greene's trio playing on Friday, and drummer Gerald Warren's group on Saturday.

On Saturday, trumpeter Chris Botti and his band will perform with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at Powell Hall. (Given Botti's popularity, this one also is probably close to a sellout by now, so if you're interested in going, don't count on being able to get tickets at the door - call the box office first.)

Also on Saturday, saxophonist Willie Akins, drummer Montez Coleman and band will promote the release of their new album The St. Louis Connection with two sets at Jazz at the Bistro; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom. 

Then on Sunday, the Dave Dickey Big Band plays their monthly show at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company, this month featuring an intermission set from the St. Louis Metrobones.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

(Edited after posting to fix a garbled sentence and correct some formatting.)

Saxquest to host free events with Oasis Saxophone Quartet, Dan Thomas, Trio Chymera

Saxquest, the south side shop that sells and repairs woodwind instruments and also houses a museum of vintage saxophones,  has announced several additions to their schedule of free workshops and performances featuring visiting musicians.

In addition to the event at 2:00 p.m. this Saturday with trumpeter Terell Stafford previously mentioned in this post, Saxquest also will host a performance and clinic by the Oasis Saxophone Quartet at 1:00 p.m. this Sunday, November 4.

The Oasis Sax Quartet (pictured) is dedicated to presenting contemporary works for saxophone quartet, as will as standard and transcribed repertoire. Members of the group include Nathan Nabb, a professor at Stephen F Austin University in Texas who performs with the St Louis Symphony and Houston Symphony; James Bunte, who teaches at at the University of Cincinnati and plays with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Dave Camwell, a jazz performer, clinician, and teacher at Simpson College in Iowa; and James Romain, who's assistant director of jazz studies at Drake University and performs with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra.

Other recent additions to the Saxquest schedule are events featuring saxophonist Dan Thomas on Friday, November 16; and Trio Chymera, with saxophonists Leo Saguiguit and Neil Osterkamp, on Saturday, December 8.

Thomas, who's originally from Canada, now is based in Kansas City, where he co-chairs the jazz department at the UM-KC Conservatory of Music and Dance along with former Jazz Messenger and fellow saxophonist Bobby Watson. Trio Chymera, which also includes pianist Rachel Aubuchon, is a chamber music group based at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where Saguiguit teaches and Aubuchon recently earned her masters' degree in music.

All events will be held at Saxquest, 2114 Cherokee St., and are free and open to the public.