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 part of a panel with writer Nate Chinen and musicians Terence Blanchard and Camila Meza discussing the evolution of jazz at the BRIC JazzFest 2018 last month in Brooklyn, NY. You can see the entire discussion on video here.

* A new box set compiling the Art Ensemble of Chicago's recordings for ECM also includes four of trumpeter and St. Louis native Lester Bowie's albums as leader for the label in the 1980s, plus two featuring Bowie (pictured) as part of Jack DeJohnette's New Directions.

* The Riverfront Times' Daniel Hill reports that drummer Kevin Bowers' band Nova will perform next month at the Winter Jazzfest in New York City.

* Singer Storm Large's show "Holiday Ordeal," happening next Tuesday at the Sun Theatre, was previewed in an article for the Post-Dispatch by Daniel Durchholz.

* Also in the Post-Dispatch, saxophonist Dave Koz talked about his holiday show next Tuesday at Family Arena for an article by the Post's Kevin Johnson.

Jazz this week: Christine Ebersole & Billy Stritch, Adam Larson, Craig Pomranz, Dave Koz & Friends, Storm Large, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes an exploration of the compositions of a legendary jazz saxophonist, several servings of holiday music, some contemporary cabaret, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...  

Wednesday, December 5
Singer Christine Ebersole and singer/pianist Billy Stritch present their cabaret show "Snowfall" for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis, with just a handful of tickets still available at this writing.

Also on Wednesday, the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" will feature trumpeter and banjo player T.J. Muller at The Stage at KDHX; the weekly jam session hosted by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, this week featuring students from some of Jazz St. Louis' JazzU groups; and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's quartet at The Dark Room.

Thursday, December 6
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will close out the semester with a free concert featuring the Arc of Light Ensemble, a sextet including trumpeter Randy Holmes, saxophonist Paul DeMarinis, trombonist Wayne Coniglio, pianist Ken Kehner, bassist Jeff Anderson and drummer Montez Coleman.

Also on Thursday, the Funky Butt Brass Band will be getting in the spirit with a show at the Blues City Deli that could include a preview of some numbers from their upcoming "Holiday Brasstravaganza"; and pianist Jim Hegarty leads a quintet at The Dark Room.

Elsewhere around town, Latin/funk/hip-hop band Ozomatli plays at the Old Rock House, and new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound returns to the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Friday, December 7
Saxophonist Adam Larson (pictured, top left) plays the music of Sonny Rollins for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis.

Though Rollins is esteemed as one of the all-time greatest improvisors in jazz, he's also written a number of tunes that have become standards, including "St. Thomas," "Alfie's Theme," "Oleo," "Doxy," "Pent-Up House," and "Airegin." These compositions, and others from deeper in the Rollins catalog, should provide Larson and friends with ample opportunities for improvisation and interpretation.

Also on Friday, St. Louis native Craig Pomranz (pictured, center left) will be back home from NYC to perform his latest cabaret show, "Love: It Takes Time..." for the first of two nights at the Kranzberg Arts Center; saxophonist Tim Cunningham plays at Troy's Jazz Gallery; and Jesse Gannon returns for a late show at The Dark Room.

Saturday, December 8
Singer Mardra Thomas and keyboardist Reggie Thomas, once mainstays on the St. Louis scene and now living in northern Illinois, will be back for a visit and, along with guitarist Rick Haydon, playing a set of holiday music for "Saturday With Santa" at the Missouri Botanical Garden's Ridgway Visitors Center.

Sunday, December 9
Miss Jubilee performs vintage jazz and blues for brunch at Evangeline's, and the North County Big Band and the City of Music All-Star Chorus will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Tuesday, 
December 11
Saxophonist Dave Koz (pictured, bottom left) brings the 14th annual edition of his holiday show to the Family Arena, with guest stars including saxophonist Mindi Abair, singer and guitarist Jonathan Butler, and keyboardist Keiko Matsui; and singer Storm Large, who's performed here several times in a cabaret setting, gets a slightly bigger stage for her show "Holiday Ordeal" at the Sun Theatre.

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.)

Dave Koz holiday tour booked for Tuesday, December 11 at Family Arena

Saxophonist Dave Koz is bringing his 2018 Christmas tour to the St. Louis area for a performance on Tuesday, December 11 at the Family Arena.

This is the 21st year that Koz (pictured) has done a holiday-themed tour, and for this year's edition, his "special guests" will include saxophonist and singer Mindi Abair, guitarist and singer Jonathan Butler, and keyboard player Keiko Matsui.

Tickets are priced from $50 to $90 (plus service charges), and there's also a "VIP Experience" for $198 per person.

Tickets will go on sale at noon this Friday, September 7, but there's also a presale beginning at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, September 6, and continuing until 10:00 p.m. tomorrow night. To get in on the presale, go to the the Metrotix website and when prompted, use promo code HORNS.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Bobby Watson, who's visiting St. Louis to play tonight with the Jazz Edge Orchestra at the Touhill, was interviewed by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson.

Watson also was interviewed Thursday about the show by KMOX's Charlie Brennan.

* Jazz St. Louis has announced a celebration of National Donut Day at their Grand Center HQ, with tastings of donuts from 15 local bakeries, plus a photo booth, kids' activities, and live music. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Friday, June 3.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn announced that he'll be touring North America this summer jointly with saxophonist Dave Koz (pictured, with Sanborn). The tour starts July 30 at Thornton Winery in Temecula, CA and continues through the end of August. No St. Louis show this time around, but you can see the full list of dates at Sanborn's website.

* "Da-Dum-Dun," an event presented tonight by the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club in celebration of the lives of East St. Louisans Miles Davis, Henry Dumas and Katherine Dunham, was previewed by Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American.

* Singer Erin Bode's performance last week at a charity concert for St. Louis Children’s Hospital patients was the subject of a news story on KTVI/Fox 2.

* Saxophonist Greg Osby was the subject of an extended feature story by AllAboutJazz.com's Victor Schermer.

* Drummer and St. Louis native Emanuel Harrold performed with singer Gregory Porter last week on PBS's The Tavis Smiley Show, and the performance and interview with Porter now have been posted online.

Jazz this week: Dave Koz, Randy Holmes Sextet, Orange, Squid Choir Orkestra, and more

Here in these hot-and-humid dog days of August, the overall activity level of the St. Louis music scene may be down a bit, but there's still a good variety of jazz styles in the offing over the next few days.

This week's biggest show happens on Friday, when smooth jazz saxophonist and multimedia personality Dave Koz (pictured) performs at The Pageant. Koz may not be the most adventurous player around, but he's a capable melodist with good taste in sidemen and a showman's flair who has worked diligently to cultivate a loyal fan base, one that surely will be out in force on Friday.

Still, If Koz' mix of romanticism and polite funk isn't your cup of tea, you can also check out the Randy Holmes Sextet on Friday, as they'll be doing a free concert for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes summer series. There's no indication yet what's on the program, but Holmes' various ensembles typically range over fairly wide terrain encompassing bop, hard bop and 1960s modern jazz, and the musicianship is top notch. Afterwards, you can head over to the Delmar Loop and catch pianist, saxophonist and singer Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum performing standards and the Great American Songbook at Brandt's, or take in the Latin jazz sounds of Banda Caribe at Riddle's.

On Saturday, the explosive pianist Ptah Williams and his group will perform a free concert as part of the "Art & Soul Cafe" at Portfolio Gallery, 3514 Delmar (between Grand and Theresa). The free, family-friendly event runs from noon to 8:00 p.m. and also will feature African music, dance, hip-hop and poetry performances, plus vendors selling handcrafted art. You can see more details at www.betterfamilylife.org. Also on Saturday, multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman and Hot Club Caravan, his new band paying tribute to the "Gypsy jazz" style of Django Reinhardt, will play at Brandt's.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band continues their long-running series of gigs at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups. On Tuesday, there are several worthy choices, starting with traditional jazz and swing band Cornet Chop Suey, who are doing a free concert at Faust Park in Chesterfield. Also on Tuesday, the Erin Bode Group's Adam Maness and Syd Rodway bring their band Orange, with drummer Miles Vandiver and vibist Peter Schramb, to the Sheldon Concert Hall; the David Wiatrolik Trio plays at The Gramophone; and singer and actor Roland "Bob" Harris, who mixes blues and jazz with a bit of comedy and some show business stories, performs at Brandt's.

On Wednesday, Jay Zelenka, the improvising saxophonist/flutist/percussionist and mastermind of the Freedonia Music label, brings his electric ensemble Squid Choir Orkestra to south side rock venue the Way Out Club, 2525 S. Jefferson. Zelenka and bandmates Dave Stone and Aaron Smith (saxophones and clarinets), Jeremy Melsha (electronics and trombone) and Ajay Khanna (laptop computer) play what they call "a unique blend of power electronics and free jazz," and if that description sounds like your cup o' tea, the SCO definitely are worth a listen.

Also on Wednesday, saxophonist and former St. Louisan Ed Doney will be back in town to play with Park Avenue Jazz at Hammerstone's. Doney, a graduate of the Webster University music program, now lives at Lake of The Ozarks, where he works with keyboardist Mike Vyrostek. During his years in St. Louis, Doney played with a number of familiar musicians and groups, including Jules Blattner, Ralph Butler, the Sessions Big Band, Carol Beth True and Hard Bop Heritage.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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 at the Movies: Dave Koz' "Silver Lining," plus Red Holloway plays "Nica's Dream"

This week's videos offer previews of two saxophonists with very different styles who both will be performing in St. Louis this month. The clip up top spotlights Dave Koz, who will play The Pageant next Friday, August 8 to close out DJ and impresario Rick Sanborn's 2008 "Smooth Summer Party" series. Koz is seen here doing the tune "Silver Lining" at a festival in Maui, Hawaii.

The second video shows Red Holloway, who is scheduled to perform a free concert on Friday, August 29 at Kiener Plaza under the auspices of the new presenting organization St. Louis City Jazz. This clip of Holloway playing the Horace Silver composition "Nica's Dream" was recorded at a concert in Tokyo, Japan.

Smooth jazz returning to the Pageant this summer

The Pageant has announced the scheduling of three smooth jazz concerts for summer 2008. Presented under the auspices of radio personality Rick Sanborn's "Smooth Summer Party," the concerts will feature the 2008 edition of Guitars and Saxes, with guitarists Peter White and Jeff Golub, saxophonist Gerald Albright (pictured) and keyboard player Jeff Lorber, on Sunday, June 22; R&R, with saxophonist Richard Eliot and trumpeter Rick Braun, on Friday, July 25; and saxophonist Dave Koz on Friday, August 8.

Tickets for each show are $35 and $40, with a $5 per ticket discount if you buy seats for all three concerts. Tix will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, May 2, via Ticketmaster and the Pageant box office.