So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Miles Davis estate has responded to the story aired earlier this week on local NBC affiliate KSDK (and linked here) about the deteriorating condition of the trumpeter's childhood home in East St. Louis, stating that "The Miles Davis family spends thousands of dollars yearly to maintain the property which suffers from repeated vandalism." Read the whole statement here.

* Take 6, who are in town at Jazz at the Bistro through tomorrow night, have posted to their Facebook page a photo album of shots from Wednesday's opening night performance, and another with pictures from their appearance at Ladue High School.

* The Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson interviewed Peter Martin about Martin's duo piano concert with David Torkanowsky tonight at the Sheldon.

* If you've already read my preview story on the RFT's music blog about tomorrow's U City Jazz Festival and are hungering for more, there's additional advance coverage from the St. Louis Beacon's Terry Perkins, the P-D's Kevin Johnson, and local CW affiliate KPLR.

Metrotix, the Sheldon offering two-for-one deal on tickets for Peter Martin and David Torkanowsky

Metrotix and the Sheldon Concert Hall have announced a "buy one, get one free" deal on tickets to Friday's concert by pianists Peter Martin and David Torkanowsky at the Sheldon.

To access the offer, go to the event's listing on Metrotix.com, click "Buy Now" and when prompted, enter the discount code PM2011. The offer does not apply to VIP or student tickets.

Jazz this week: Take 6, David Torkanowsky & Peter Martin, U City Jazz Festival, and more

As fall officially begins, it's another fairly busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, so let's go straight to the highlights:

Tonight, the vocal group Take 6 will make their debut at Jazz at the Bistro, continuing with two sets a night through Saturday. Though primarily known as gospel and pop performers, Take 6 do have some jazz cred as well, both for the lush harmonies they've deployed skillfully throughout their career, and more specifically for their 2008 CD The Standard, which featured interpretations of jazz-associated songs ranging from "Sweet Georgia Brown" to "Seven Steps To Heaven." Presumably, they'll be leaning on that material a good bit this week, and perhaps doing some tunes from the more R&B-oriented album Beautiful World (2002) as well.

On Thursday, bassist Tom Kennedy is back in town to lead a trio with guitarist Bill Lenihan and drummer Miles Vandiver in a free concert for for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Then on Friday evening, Peter Martin continues his ongoing concert series at the Sheldon, this time teaming up with New Orleans pianist David Torkanowsky (pictured) for a duo piano concert. Torkanowsky perhaps is best known for his work with the band Astral Project, but he has collaborated with many New Orleans musicians, including the Meters and various members of the Neville family.

Also on Friday, bassist Willem von Hombracht will lead a group featuring saxophonist Eric Schugren (from NYC) and drummer Cornell Fauler (from LA) at Robbie's House of Jazz; and guitarist Daryl Darden will bring a trio to the Cigar Inn in Belleville.

Saturday brings the first-ever U City Jazz Festival, a free, all-day outdoor event held in Heman Park on Olive Blvd. Performers will include singer Jeanne Trevor, Latin jazz band Clave Sol, the Classical Jazz Quartet, a student group billed as the U City Young Lions, and a band led by drummer Maurice Carnes that will do a tribute to John Coltrane. The event also will include a workshop for student musicians led by Carnes, guitarist Bill Lenihan and pianist Kara Baldus Vandiver. Also on Saturday, saxophonist Greg Lewis and Press Play will perform at Robbie's.

On Sunday, the eclectic string ensemble Bridge, with guitarist Dave Black, will play a concert at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday pianist Kim Portnoy will lead a group in performance of some of his original compositions at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium, and on Tuesday, the Bosman Twins are featured in a free outdoor concert at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park as part of the museum's Twilight Tuesdays series.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Peter Martin, David Torkanowsky to play duo concert on Friday, September 23 at the Sheldon

Pianist Peter Martin will resume his eponymous series at the Sheldon Concert Hall with a duo performance with New Orleans pianist David Torkanowsky (pictured) at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 23.

Son of the orchestral and opera conductor Werner Torkanowsky, Torkanowsky is a member of the band Astral Project and also has worked with a variety of New Orleans R&B and jazz musicians, including Irma Thomas, members of the Neville Brothers and the Meters, and many others.

Tickets for the concert by David Torkanowsky and Peter Martin are $50 for the VIP package, $30 for orchestra seats, $25 for the balcony and $15 for students. Tickets will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, August 13 via Metrotix.