Jazz this week: Kevin Eubanks, St. Louis Gypsy Jazz Festival, Banu Gibson, and more

The wide variety of music encompassed by the label "jazz" will be on full display this week in St. Louis, with performances of big band swing, cabaret, free improv, Gypsy jazz, ragtime, and numerous other sub-genres and allied musics happening at local venues.

Here's a look at some of the most noteworthy shows coming up...

Wednesday, October 21
Guitarist Kevin Eubanks and his trio begin a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. Since leaving his steady gig on television, the former Tonight Show bandleader has done work for some educational and charitable causes; toured on his own and with bassist Dave Holland; and made several recordings for Mack Avenue Records, the most recent of which was a duet album with fellow guitarist Stanley Jordan that came out earlier this year.

For more about what Eubanks (pictured, top left) has been up to recently, check out the interview he did back in April with the Voice of America program Beyond Category.

Also on Wednesday, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Open Mic Night" at the Tavern of Fine Arts; and guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran plays at Nathalie's.

Thursday, October 22
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present a tribute to the music of Ornette Coleman featuring saxophonist Dave Stone, while the Gaslight Cabaret Festival resumes with singer and impressionist Dean Christopher performing "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime: A Tribute to Dean Martin" at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Thursday, singer Joe Mancuso and keyboardist Curt Landes will take the stage at Thurman Grill.

Friday, October 23
Organized by singer Eve Seltzer and guitarist Ben Wood of the band Franglais, the first-ever St. Louis Gypsy Jazz Festival begins the first of three days and nights of performances at Evangeline's.

The event will include three evening shows followed by late-night jam sessions, plus brunch-time shows on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to Franglais (pictured, center left) the lineup features St. Louis' own Coco Rico, plus visiting acts including accordionist Dallas Vietty, singer Miles Griffith, and the bands Swing '39 and Bedlam Swing. You can see videos of all the participating acts in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, Minnesota's Davina & The Vagabonds will bring their swinging jump blues to the Old Rock House; Ken Haller performs his cabaret show "Mama's Boy" at the Gaslight Theater; and the Gateway City Big Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, October 24
The Friends of Scott Joplin will present pianists Frank LiVolsi and John Reed-Torres (pictured, center left) in an "East Coast Meets West Coast" concert of ragtime music at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe.

Elsewhere on Saturday, trumpeter Jim Manley and guitarist Randy Bahr's "All-Star Band" plays at Nathalie's; singer and actor Jeffrey M. Wright does cabaret at the Gaslight Theater; and the Wire Pilots play original fusion music at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Sunday, October 25
Bassist Jim Widner's Big Band, having shed its former alternate identity as the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, will play a matinee at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Meanwhile, singer Banu Gibson will be back in town for the first time since 2010 to perform a matinee program of music from singer-songwriter Randy Newman at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Then that evening, singer Lina Koutrakos and pianist and singer Rick Jensen will wrap up the Gaslight Cabaret Festival's weekend with their show "Two For The Road" at the Gaslight Theater.

Monday, October 26
The music department at Webster University will present its annual TKT Scholarship Benefit at Winfred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus. The event raises money for scholarships awarded in the names of Terry Jackson, Kirk Cappello and Tony Saputo, three former Webster students who died in the 1991 plane crash that :killed eight members of country singer Reba McIntyre's band.

This year's theme is "Jazz Interpretations of Pop Hits of the 1960s," as performed by members of the jazz faculty, the Webster University jazz Singers, and guest vocalists.

Also on Monday, saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective return to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups,

Tuesday, October 27
The Luminary presents "Change is a Sound: Free Jazz and Collective Practice in Political Movements," an event featuring a conversation between percussionist Charles "Bobo" Shaw, a founding member of the Black Artists Group, and St. Louis University's Ben Looker, who wrote The Point From Which Creation Begins, a book about the history of BAG. KDHX's Josh Weinstein will spin BAG-related recordings before and after.

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: Hugh Masekela, a new look for Jazz at the Bistro, a tribute to Floyd LeFlore, Moon Hooch, and more

It's another busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with the big news story being the re-opening of the renovated and expanded Jazz at the Bistro with two sold-out performances - one tonight for subscribers and VIPs, the other tomorrow for the general ticket-buying public - by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Though both nights have been sold out for weeks, if you don't have tickets already, you still can watch the performances streamed live over the Internet; see this post for details.

Elsewhere around town tonight, guitarist Brian Vaccaro's trio is playing a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; guitarist Dave Black and friends are at Nathalie's; and over on the east side of the Mississippi, saxophonist Jason Swagler will perform his faculty recital at Dunham Hall on the SIU Edwardsville campus.

On Friday, Lindy Hop St. Louis will present their monthly "West End Stomp" at the Mahler Ballroom, this month featuring music for dancing by Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes. For more danceable music that evening, you can check out the Original Knights of Swing at the Casa Loma Ballroom, or Miss Jubilee at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Those in more of a listening mood on Friday night can catch pianist Brad Ellebrecht's quartet with singer Diane Vaughn at the Ozark Theatre, or guitarist Tom Byrne and singer Erika Johnson dueting at the downtown location of Robust Wine Bar.

On Saturday, famed trumpeter/flugelhornist Hugh Masekela (pictured) and fellow South African, singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlasela, will perform in celebration of "20 Years of Freedom" at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Although the program's historical theme no doubt will guide most of the evening's musical selections, it's hard to imagine that Masekela won't be able work "Grazing In The Grass" in there somewhere.

Also on Saturday night, Big Sam's Funky Nation will be in town from New Orleans for a return visit to the Broadway Oyster Bar, and the Twin Cities-based jump blues and swing band Davina and the Vagabonds, who performed last month at the Monterey Jazz Festival, will take the stage at BB's.

Coming from a bit closer to home, trumpeter/vibraphonist Joe Bozzi and his band will be at Evangeline's, and saxophonist Sam Hargadine's quartet with singer Feyza Eren will play at Bar Italia.

On Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Jazz Club will present pianist Dave Venn and singer Sherry Drake at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St. Louis - Westport.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the improvising ensemble Numbers will present a tribute to the late trumpeter and Black Artists Group co-founder Floyd LeFlore at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Also on Monday, the trio Moon Hooch, whose groove-based music played by two saxophonists and a drummer has gotten a lot of media attention of late, will be in town for a performance at 2720 Cherokee. You can get a pretty good idea of what they're about by checking out the Tiny Desk Concert they recorded earlier this year for NPR.

(My take is that while Moon Hooch's ensemble cohesion and energy level certainly are impressive, every time I've heard a recording of their music, I get about five minutes in and start wishing fervently that they had a bass player. Your mileage may vary, of course, and based on their background as buskers, they seem to be pretty good at engaging a crowd, so their live show may be a qualitatively different experience.)

Then on Tuesday, Samba Bom will play Brazilian jazz, samba, and more at a "Notes From Home" show at the Sheldon.

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.)