So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Keyboardist David Garfield (pictured) next month is releasing a new single, "Hunting Heads," that pays tribute to Herbie Hancock.

* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch went into their archives to republish vintage photos and a story about St. louis' 1960s entertainment district Gaslight Square.

* Singer Erika Johnson was interviewed for a profile on the site of women's shoemaket Walking Cradles.

* A travel article in USA Today touting Midwest sites of interest for music fans mentions notable St. Louis locations including BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, Broadway Oyster Bar, National Blues Museum, and Vintage Vinyl.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold and the mother of his son Keyon Jr. have filed a racial profiling lawsuit against the Arlo Hotels chain and Miya Ponsetto, the woman who in a widely reported incident last year accosted Harrold and his son at the hotel's NYC location and accused the younger Harrold of stealing her iPhone.

* Jazz St. Louis will share in the prize for "Arts Collaboration" when the Arts and Education COuncil of Greater St. Louis presents the 2021 St. Louis Arts Awards in an event on Monday, May 24 at the Big Top in Grand Center. The award will be shared with St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Nine Network of Public Media, and The Big Muddy Dance Company for the joint presentation of "Such Sweet Thunder" staged in October 2019 at the Nine Network's Public Media Commons.

* Multi-instrumentalist and singer Tonina Saputo is featured on the latest episode of "Classical:BTS", a web video series produced by Illinois Public Media.

* The Don and Heide Wolff Jazz Institute and the National Black Radio Hall of Fame at Harris-Stowe State University will present the induction of four musicians into the Wolff Institute's St. Louis Jazz Hall of Fame in a online ceremony at 3:00 p.m. this Saturday, March 27.

Trumpeter Clark Terry; pianist, singer and saxophonist Hugh 'Peanuts ' Whalum; and singer Kim Massie are the St. Louis performers scheduled to be honored, along with, for reasons that presently are obscure, saxophonist Kirk Whalum, a Memphis native and nephew of "Peanuts" Whalum. (No knock against Kirk Whalum, a fine player who has had a nice career, but apart from his uncle, he doesn't really have much to do with St. Louis.)

The event will be webcast from the National Blues Museum downtown, and can be viewed on the Facebook pages for the NBM or Harris-Stowe.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold has written an essay for USA Today about the recent incident at a New York City hotel in which he and his teenage son were assaulted and falsely accused of theft.

* Keyboardist David Garfield's re-release of a track featuring singer-guitarist Boz Scaggs was the subject of a brief feature in American Songwriter magazine.

* Rhythm City, the recent album from pianist Ptah Williams, bassist Larry Kornfeld, and drummer Rob Silverman, received a four-star review in the February 2021 issue of DownBeat magazine.

* Singer Erika Johnson (pictured) talked about her new band The Gemini Project in an interview with the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson. The group debuts this Saturday at Blue Strawberry.

* As also reported by Kevin Johnson in the Post-Dispatch, The Sheldon has postponed its "Coffee Concerts" series that had been scheduled to resume this spring until the fall and winter of 2021-22.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn is starting a new series of online master classes on Sunday, January 31. For details on the classes and pricing, or to register, visit his website.

* A story from St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy Goodwin looks at the potential impact of government relief funds on local arts and cultural organizations affected by the COVID pandemic.

* AllAboutJazz.com recently surveyed readers to find out what they consider to be the "top jazz cities" in the world, and St. Louis came in at #42. (Insert your own Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy joke here.) The top five jazz cities as determined by AAJ.com readers are New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Paris, and London; Kansas City was ranked as #13.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Keyboardist and Metro East native David Garfield (pictured) was the featured guest on a recent episode of Jazziz magazine's "Jazziz Live" podcast.

* The Red and Black Brass Band were the subjects of a story on last week's episode of Nine Network's Living St Louis program.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold was interviewed on last night's episode of the "Speakin' My Piece!" podcast from Jazz Times magazine.

* Chris Hansen of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation was interviewed about the foundation's response to COVID-19 for a story on HEC-TV.

* Jazz St. Louis' 25th anniversary celebration was the subject of a feature story from Kevin Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* A story in the latest DownBeat reveals more about saxophonist David Sanborn's proposed online video series Sanborn Sessions, comparing it to the much-loved Night Music, which Sanborn hosted from 1988 to 1990 on NBC.

With a 14-minute "sampler" episode already recorded, Sanborn (pictured) now has launched a crowd-funding campaign to help finance production of full episodes.

* An article by the Riverfront Times' Daniel Hill noted multi-instrumentalist and singer Tonina Saputo's presence on NPR's "Slingshot" list of 40 emerging musicians to watch this year. You can cast a vote in NPR's "Best New Artist of 2018" contest here.

* Also in the RFT, writer Thomas Crone talked with guitarist Joe Park for an article about Park's upcoming album release show, set for Saturday, December 1 at Focal Point.

* Keyboardist David Garfield will be a guest on this weekend's episode of saxophonist Dave Koz's nationally syndicated radio program.

* Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater's concert tomorrow night at The Sheldon was previewed by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson.

* Also in the Post, Johnson has written a brief profile of The Sheldon's new executive director Peter Palermo.

* NPR jazz critic Kevin Whitehead was interviewed Tuesday by St. Louis Public Radio's Don Marsh. Whitehead was in town to give a talk for Jazz St. Louis' "Whitaker Jazz Speaks" series on Wednesday night at St. Louis County Public Library's Grant's View branch.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Keyboardist and Metro East native David Garfield (pictured) was featured in the "Lessons" section of Keyboard magazine.

* Singer Denise Thimes appeared on BBC Newsday to talk about the late Aretha Franklin.

* Trumpet player Keyon Harrold's appearance at the upcoming LouFest was previewed in an article in Alive magazine.

* Regional Arts Commission will present a free workshop on how to apply for one of their Artists Support Grants next Tuesday, August 28 at RAC headquarters. Applications for the next round of the grants, which range from $500 to $3,000, are due by Thursday, September 20.

* The Riverfront Times' Daniel Hill reports that 2720 Cherokee has closed. The venue, which hosted the likes of Moon Hooch, Fareed Haque, Garaj Mahal, and Marco Benevento as well as a variety of acts playing rock, reggae, hip-hop, and more, presented its last show on August 4.

* A "pop-up" exhibit of artwork by trumpeter Herb Alpert, presented in conjunction with his recent concert at the Grandel Theatre, was the subject of a feature in St. Louis magazine.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Following last week's launch of "Dianne Reeves: Define Your Voice," a new online video course from singer Dianne Reeves, pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio Network has announced another new course coming soon, "Fundamentals of Jazz Saxophone," as taught by alto saxophonist Steve Wilson.

(Thanks to OSN manager Dan Martin, StLJN readers can get a 10% discount on these two courses or any of OSN's other offerings by using the promo code STLJAZZ.)

The company this week also announced that Peter Martin will present a free online masterclass/webinar for beginning jazz pianists at 3:00 p.m. Thursday, July 12. For more information or to sign up, go here.

* Keyboardist David Garfield, who grew up on the east side and currently serves as touring keyboardist and music director for George Benson, will release his latest album Jammin’ Outside the Box on Friday, July 20 on his own Creatchy Records label.

The album (pictured) features Garfield's arrangements of songs by Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Adele, Sting, Aretha Franklin, Toto, Isley Brothers, Rufus, Minnie Riperton, Bobby Caldwell and Joe Sample, performed by an all-star cast that includes Benson, David Sanborn, Smokey Robinson, Michael McDonald, Ray Parker Jr., Kirk Whalum, Rick Braun, Marcus Miller, Paul Jackson Jr., Eric Marienthal, Tom Scott, Vinnie Colaiuta, Greg Phillinganes, Steve Jordan, and more, plus members of the Zac Brown Band, Steely Dan, Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, Chicago, Toto and Tower of Power.

* The results of DownBeat magazine's annual Critics Poll are out, and among the winners this year is Miles Davis & John Coltrane, The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6 in the "Historical Album" category. You can see all the poll results here.

* On a related note, the 83rd edition of DownBeat's Readers Poll is open now for online voting, and you can cast your ballot here.

* Singer and bassist/guitarist Tonina Saputo was profiled by KDHX's Allison Woodworth.

* A story from St. Louis Public Radio highlights four branches of St. Louis County Library that now are offering musical instruments for checkout by library patrons. Currently, there are more than 20 instruments available, including ukuleles, acoustic guitars, banjos and bongos, with plans to add more.

* Also from St. Louis Public Radio, teenage keyboardist Owen Ragland is the guest on the latest episode of the station's "Cut & Paste" podcast.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris' theatrical production "Superheroes of Blackness" is the subject of preview stories by the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer and the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson. The show plays tonight and tomorrow night at .ZACK in Grand Center.

* Singer Denise Thimes' upcoming gig at Dizzy's Club in New York City's Jazz at Lincoln Center is previewed in a story by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn. Thimes (pictured) will perform at Dizzy's on Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 7.

* Fans of Dave Weckl, take note - Modern Drummer magazine now is offering a digital "artist pack" of content about the famed percussionist and St. Charles native, which "includes more than 120 pages on Dave Weckl, including cover-story interviews, transcriptions, classic advertisements, and more exclusive content from the Modern Drummer archives."

* Keyboardist and Metro East native David Garfield is ready to release “Outside the Box,” described as a "multi-part, genre-crossing project spanning various types of jazz, R&B, pop, country and rock."

The series will begin with the release on Friday, March 23 of Jazz Outside the Box, a straight-ahead jazz album featuring performances by Randy Brecker, Michael McDonald, The Doors’ drummer John Densmore, Tom Scott, bassist Jason Scheff of the band Chicago, Will Lee, Eric Marienthal, Steve Ferrone, Vinnie Colaiuta, John Clayton, Brian Auger, and more, along with full horn and string sections.

A second album in the series, a "smooth/contemporary" set called Jamming Outside the Box, is scheduled to come out this summer, with additional releases to follow.

* Saxophonist, clarinetist and St. Louis native Dan Block, now based in NYC, has released a new album, Block Party: A St. Louis Connection, featuring a couple of other former St. Louisans - his brother, guitarist and keyboardist Rob Block, and bassist Neal Caine - in the band. The album, which came out last month on Miles High Records, is Dan Block's third release for the label, and is the first recording that he and his brother have ever done together.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* St. Louis was named one of "5 Unexpected Cities Experiencing a Live Music Renaissance" by Eventbrite.com.

* After teasing the audience by putting out a couple of advance tracks earlier this month, trumpeter Keyon Harrold announced that his new album The Mugician will be released on Friday, September 29.

Harrold will promote the release with shows on September 24 & 25 at the Blue Note in NYC, and he'll be back in the St. Louis area next month to headline the inaugural Alton Wine and Jazz Festival on Saturday, September 9 at the Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton.

* Keyboardist David Garfield (pictured) has released a new instrumental version of the Stevie Wonder tune "Go Home" featuring saxophonist Kirk Whalum, guitarist Paul Jackson Jr., and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. You can see a video teaser with in-studio footage here, and listen to the entire track here.

* Trumpeter and Webster Groves native Ally Hany was profiled by the Peninsula Pulse newspaper in Door County, WI. 

* Violinist Alex Cunningham of the Vernacular String Trio was the subject of a brief feature from St. Louis magazine's Joseph Hess.

* Rev. Cliff Aerie and Tim Osiek of Worship Jazz have published a sixth volume in their series of jazz arrangements of sacred music. The book Worship in a New Key, Volume 6 is available only as a download from their website.

* Trumpeter Jim Manley is set to release a new album called Funk Factory 2 at the end of the month, and you can hear a sample track online here.

* Former WSIE disc jockey Eric Bueneman, known professionally as E.B. Stevenson, has a new podcast called The Jazz Mixer.

* Keyboardist Jim Hegarty has released Crossroad, a download-only session of freely improvised music recorded last month in Brooklyn, NYC with famed bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Shane Del Robles.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: George Benson's guitar and grooves

This week, let's check out some videos featuring guitarist and singer George Benson, who will be back in St. Louis next week to perform for the Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries' annual fundraising gala on Friday, May 12 at the Sheldon.

Named a "Jazz Master" by the National Endowment for the Arts and the winner of ten Grammy awards, Benson is undeniably one of the most successful crossover musicians of the past half-century. After establishing himself as a first-rate jazz guitarist in the 1960s and early '70s, Benson broke through to fans of R&B and pop with with the album Breezin', which brought his vocals to the front and proved to be just the first of an impressive series of hit albums and singles.

Given all those hits, any further introduction here seems superfluous, so let's go straight to the videos, a mix of old and newer clips starting up above with "This Masquerade," Benson's first million-selling single back in 1976, seen here as performed in 2011 during a show in Belfast, Ireland.

After the jump, you can see Benson doing his distinctive version of "On Broadway" at the 2011 Jazz à Vienne festival, followed by "Give Me The Night" from the same event in 2013.

The fourth clip goes all the way back to 1976, and features the guitarist playing the title track from Breezin' at the 1976 DownBeat magazine poll-winners' show, accompanied by Chick Corea on keyboards, Billy Cobham on drums, and Phil Upchurch on bass.

That's followed by an entire set recorded in 1978 for the German television program Musikladen Extra, featuring Benson's crack touring band of that era, with keyboardists Jorge Dalto and Ronnie Foster, drummer Dennis Davis, and bassist Stanley Banks.

Finally, the last video jumps forward again 30 years, back into the 21st century for another full set recorded in 2008 at the Tokyo Jazz Festival.

For more about Benson's present-day performances, read the review in London Jazz News of his show last summer at Royal Albert Hall, with his current band featuring St. Louis native David Garfield as keyboardist and musical director.

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

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* KDHX has put on their Flickr page a photo set from Femi Kuti's performance a couple of weeks ago at the Ready Room.

* St. Louis' own Vintage Vinyl (pictured) is one of a select group of music retailers featured an article in last Friday's USA Today, "Vinyl lives! 10 great record stores for a musical treasure hunt".

* Saxophonist Greg Lewis Jr was profiled by the Belleville News-Democrat.
 
* The Rustic Goat and The Lux, two downtown nightspots that sometimes present live jazz, were raided and closed this week by St. Louis police this week for liquor license violations. 

* After eight years as director of marketing and communications for Jazz St. Louis, Devin Rodino has left the the organization, effective yesterday. An email from Rodino said he's moving to Columbia, MO for "personal reasons," and StLJN wishes him all the the best in his future endeavors.

With Rodino's departure, Jazz St. Louis is seeking a new marketing and communications director. They've posted a job description online in PDF format here, and you can find about more about the position, as well as other current job openings at JSL - for a development associate and a part-time box office associate - here.

*  David Garfield, the Metro East native who serves as touring keyboardist and music director for guitarist George Benson, was singled out for some praise by London Jazz News in their review of Benson's show last month in London.

Jazz this week: Garfield, Ligertwood & Friends, "A Jazz Heaven," and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music performances in and around town features the returns of several notable St. Louis expat musicians as well as shows paying tribute to both local and all-time jazz greats.

Let's go to the highlights...

Thursday, August 27
Tonight, guitarist Tom Byrne and singer Erika Johnson will perform at Evangeline's; and the Tavern of Fine Arts presents their monthly "Experimental Arts Open Improv Night" with live improvised music.

Friday, August 28
Keyboardist David Garfield and singer Alex Ligertwood (pictured, top left) return to join forces with guitarist Marvin Horne, saxophonist Jim Stevens, and friends for a performance at at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.

Garfield, a Metro East native who's toured extensively with George Benson, and Ligertwood, a Scotsman who's sung with Brian Auger and Santana, have teamed up with Stevens and band for a couple of previous gigs here, and with the addition of Horne, another former St. Louisan, this show should offer plenty of funk and fireworks.

Also on Friday, singer, songwriter, guitarist and former St. Louisan Javier Mendoza (pictured, center left) returns from his new home in Nashville to front Estereotipo, the latest iteration of his Latin/jazz project, for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Elsewhere around town, singer Tony Viviano will perform in concert at the St. Peters Cultural Arts Centre, and guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith return to Thurman Grill.

Saturday, August 29
Trumpeter Randy Holmes leads "A Tribute to Charlie Parker" at the Ozark Theatre; Wack-A-Doo performs at Thurman Grill; Tim Cunningham returns to Troy's Jazz Gallery; and Herman Semidey and Orquesta Son Montuno will play salsa and Latin music for dancing at Club Viva.

Sunday, August 30
Wendy L. Gordon (pictured, lower left) will present the sixth annual show in her "Jazz Heaven" series at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre, this time offering a "Tribute to St. Louis Legends" with help from a cast including Linda Kennedy, Jeanne Trevor, Joe Mancuso, Uvee Hayes, J Samuel Davis and more.

Monday, August 31
"Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will return to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, September 1
The First Tuesday Composers Club will spotlight new works for saxophone quartet at The Dark Room.

Wednesday, September 2
Erin Bode will sing standards for the first of two nights to kick off the fall presenting season at Jazz at the Bistro.

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.)

Jazz this week: Kevin Eubanks; Garfield, Ligertwood & Stevens; Emily Bergl; a tribute to Miles Davis; and more

While some revelers this weekend no doubt will be wearing green in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day, your StLJN staff would like to remind you that one doesn't have be Irish, or indeed of any particular national origin or ethnicity, to enjoy jazz, either.

You just have to know where to go and when, and to help you with that, we've compiled these highlights of upcoming jazz and creative music performances in the St. Louis area...

Tonight, bassist Christian McBride, who was just here last month with his trio at Jazz at the Bistro, drops into the area again for a day to do a master class and concert with pianist Peter Martin down I-55 at Jefferson College in Hillsboro.Tickets for the evening concert are only $5 for the general public, so even figuring in that it's a bit of drive from many parts of the area, that's still a bargain.

Meanwhile back in downtown St. Louis, keyboardist and St. Louis expat David Garfield, former musical director for George Benson, and singer Alex Ligertwood, who's toured and recorded with Santana, Average White Band and Brian Auger, will join forces with saxophonist Jim Stevens and his rhythm section for two sets of funk, soul and jazz at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.

Also tonight, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival resumes with singer and actress Emily Bergl, who's best known for her work in musical theater and a recurring role on ABC's Desperate Housewives, presenting the first of three performances of her show "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" at the Gaslight Theater.

On Friday, pianist and Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap brings his new quintet to Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two evenings featuring the music of Miles Davis. Along with Dunlap, the group includes trumpeter Danny Campbell, saxophonist Ben Reece, bassist Nathan Pence, and drummer Montez Coleman.

Also on Friday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes play at the Atomic Cowboy; singer Wendy Gordon and pianist Arthur Toney perform at the Tavern of Fine Arts; and guitarist Dave Black, violinist Asako Kuboki and saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will team up for a trio show at the house concert venue KindaBlue, 6101 1/2 Idaho in south St. Louis.

On Saturday afternoon, the revived Nu-Art Series will present drummer Charles "Bobo" Shaw, pianist David Parker and trumpeter George Sams at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site.

Then on Saturday evening, guitarist Kevin Eubanks (pictured) will play two shows at Lumiere Place Casino's Lumiere Theatre. Eubanks just got back from a series of dates in Europe and Russia with bassist Dave Holland, performing in both a trio format and with the quartet Prism. The former bandleader for Jay Leno's Tonight Show also made news recently when he dropped by Arsenio Hall's syndicated late night program for a chat and a bit of jamming.

Elsewhere around town on Saturday evening, the Pennsylvania-based contemporary chamber music group NakedEye Ensemble will make their St. Louis debut at The Chapel; trombonist Doug Burns returns to Robbie's House of Jazz; Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and The People's Key and Elastik Soul will present "Bold as Jimi: Love as Jazz," a jazz/funk tribute to Jimi Hendrix, at the Schlafly St. Louis Brewery and Tap Room.

On Sunday, multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman and pianist Carolbeth True will be the featured performers at this month's free "Inner Jazz" concert at Kirkwood United Church of Christ; and Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center continues their “Quiet Concert” series with a performance headlined by Kansas City-based electronic musician and composer Jason Zeh.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the jazz faculty at Webster University will present their annual concert in Winifred Moore Auditorium to raise funds for the school's Shepard/Davis scholarships.

On Tuesday, the Sheldon Concert Hall is busy day and night, starting with a morning "Coffee Concert" (also repeated on Wednesday) featuring Red Lehr and the St. Louis Rivermen, and continuing with an evening performance by trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber as part of the hall's "Notes From Home" series. Also on Tuesday, the Twin Cities jump-blues and swing band Davina and The Vagabonds will be back in town for a show at The Gramophone.

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.)

Jazz this week: Chucho Valdés, Robert Glasper, Ligertwood/Garfield/Stevens, Michael Zerang, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Bonerama, and more

It's definitely a busy week for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with so many touring musicians in town that we can barely fit them all into the headline of this post. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, singer Alex Ligertwood, who's worked with Santana and Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, will team up with keyboardist and St. Louis native David Garfield, who's currently working with George Benson, and saxophonist Jim Stevens for a show at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. For more on how this collaboration came to be and what to expect from the gig, see this post.

Also tonight, pianist Ken Kehner will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio will perform at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Tomorrow night, pianist Robert Glasper (pictured) make his long-awaited St. Louis debut as a leader with the first of two nights Jazz at the Bistro. Glasper has just released a new album, Black Radio, with his group the Experiment that includes guest appearances from R&B and hip-hop performers such as Erykah Badu, Lalah Hathaway, Lupe Fiasco, Bilal, Ledisi, Mos Def and Meshell N'degeocello. Although he's bringing his trio, rather the larger and therefore more costly Experiment, to the Bistro, don't be surprised if a few numbers from the new album turn up reworked in Glasper's sets anyway.

For more about Glasper, you can see and hear an interview with him talking about Black Radio here; and two more short video interviews, titled "Jazz with Hiphop is Music of the NOW" and "Make Jazz Cool Again," provide some additional insight into his approach to music.

Elsewhere on Friday evening, the Chicago-based free-improvising percussionist Michael Zerang, who played here last fall with multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee, will return for a duo concert with bassist Darin Gray at Floating Laboratories, 4528 Ohio. Nathan Cook and Rick Weaver will open, with Jeremy Kannapell and Joshua Weinstein serving as hosts and pre-show DJs.

Also on Friday evening, the Glenn Miller Orchestra ghost band makes its annual appearance in the area with a concert in St. Charles at Lindenwood University's Scheidegger Center for the Arts; and there are two Mardi Gras-themed shows featuring local musicians, with the Funky Butt Brass Band and Dogtown Allstars sharing a bill at the Sheldon Concert Hall's upstairs ballroom, and pianist Curt Landes leading a group including Cornet Chop Suey's trumpeter and vocalist Brian Casserly at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Saturday, there's a chance to hear another outstanding pianist, as the Cuban-born virtuoso Chucho Valdés and his Afro-Cuban Messengers play at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For much more about Valdés, who first came to fame in this country as one of the co-founders of the group Irakere, see this post from last Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, Bach to the Future will play a matinee at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville; and that night, the New Orleans based group Bonerama brings their four-trombone front line back to St. Louis for a show at the Old Rock House. The local group Metrobones, which features 14 student trombonists from around the area under the direction of Dave Dickey, will open the show.

Looking beyond the week, on Monday there's a chance to catch two more big bands in action, as Webster University's student big band plays a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on campus, while downtown, the Sessions Big Band holds forth at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Then on Tuesday, singer Erin Bode and her band will perform at Jazz at the Bistro, taking over the room's Valentine's Day gig from the husband-and-wife team of Reggie and Mardra Thomas, who had played the Bistro on February 14 for several years running but moved to Michigan last summer. (And in case you were wondering, the tradition of spousal harmony on the gig will continue, as the Erin Bode Group's bassist Syd Rodway also is Bode's husband.)

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 2/9/12 to add the Erin Bode Valentine's Day gig.)

Ligertwood, Garfield and Stevens to perform Thursday, February 9 at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups

Singer Alex Ligertwood, who's worked with big names including Santana and Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, is coming to St. Louis to perform with keyboardist David Garfield and saxophonist Jim Stevens at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, February 9 at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Garfield, a St. Louis native who's lived in Los Angeles since the 1970s, was in town most recently in October to perform with George Benson at the Touhill, and stuck around to play with Stevens the next night at BB's. The two first met a couple of years ago when Garfield was home for a visit and played a gig at Mineo's restaurant that Stevens attended based on a tip from a mutual friend.

"I went over and checked it out, and he just blew the roof off the place," said Stevens. They struck up a friendship, resulting in Stevens sitting in on another Garfield gig at Mineo's and then their subsequent move to a larger venue, namely BB's, for the keyboardist's last visit home.

In addition to working with Benson, Garfield has led his own bands in Los Angeles, including the fusion group Karizma, which has released six CDs. He's also put out nine CDs under his own name, and toured and/or recorded with a number of musical notables, including Boz Scaggs, Larry Carlton, The Manhattan Transfer, The Rippingtons, Smokey Robinson, Earl Klugh, Michael McDonald and Nancy Wilson. His ongoing collaboration with Ligertwood led to the singer's inclusion on three Midwest dates with this particular ensemble, starting in Indianapolis the night before the BB's gig and moving on to Cleveland afterward.

The band also will include drummer James Jackson and bassist John King, who both work with Stevens as well as with their own group Good 4 The Soul. As for what they'll be playing, Stevens says he hasn't seen a set list yet, but expects some funk and soul covers, some Garfield originals, and perhaps a tune or two from Ligertwood's tenure with Santana.

Tickets for the Ligertwood/Garfield/Stevens show will be $10 general admission at the door; Stevens also is arranging for advance sales by email at thejimstevensgroup@aol.com.