So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The St. Louis County Library has re-opened submissions for their "Listen Up STL" program, which makes recordings from local bands and musicians available on the library's streaming audio service.

The current submission period will close on Monday, September 30. Library cardholders can get the streaming app or access the service from the web for free here.

* The recent Denver stop of saxophonist David Sanborn's "Double Vision Revisited" tour with pianist Bob James and bassist Marcus Miller was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's C. Andrew Hovan.

* Promoting their appearance at this Saturday's Hermann Wine and Jazz Festival, the Bosman Twins on Tuesday performed and were interviewed on the morning newscast on KTVI (Fox 2).

* Singer and pianist Diane Schuur, who's headlining the Alton Jazz and Wine Festival this Saturday, was interviewed Thursday by John Carney of KTRS.

* Jazz presenter Dorothy Edwards will inducted as an honorary member of the Musicians Association of St. Louis (AFM Local 2-197) at the union's annual awards celebration and dinner on Sunday, September 29 at Bartolino's Osteria.

With her late husband Robert, a trombonist and music educator, Edwards operated the now-closed venue Robbie's House of Jazz in Webster Groves, and she continues to book occasional shows at the Ozark Theatre in Webster.

* As the new documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool opens this weekend in St. Louis, reviews continue to come in, most recently including assessments from The New Yorker and MovieWeb.com.

* Elsewhere on the Miles Davis beat, film footage from 1957 of the trumpeter in Paris - believed to contain the oldest existing moving images of Davis - recently was rediscovered was during an inventory operation at the INA Conservation Center in France.

* Last but not least, in related news, a custom trumpet designed and owned by Davis (pictured) will be auctioned on Tuesday, October 29 in New York at Christie’s auction house, who enlisted trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold to demonstrate the horn on video.

Jazz this week: Rebirth Brass Band, Paa Kow, "Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land," festivals in Alton and Hermann, and more

The fall presenting season gets rolling this week, with a calendar of live jazz and creative music that includes three multi-artist outdoor shows, the return of a New Orleans favorite, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 4
This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" includes cornetist TJ Muller & Friends at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and saxophonist Ben Reese's Unity Quartet at The Dark Room.

Thursday, September 5
Miss Jubilee performs a dinnertime show at Magpie's Cafe, saxophonist Vince Sala leads a trio at The Pat Connolly Tavern, and saxophonist Carlos Brown Jr. returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, September 6
New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band (pictured, top left) returns for an outdoor performance at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, with the Saint Boogie Brass Band opening; and Ghanaian drummer Paa Kow and his Afro-Fusion Orchestra will make their St. Louis debut at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Also on Friday, the annual St. Louis Art Fair begins in Clayton and continues through Sunday with free jazz stage performances from guitarist Tom Byrne, singer Wendy Gordon, pianist Adam Maness, the Jim Widner Big Band, and more. (See the fair's website for a complete schedule.)

Saturday, September 7
It's big day for live jazz around town, with three noteworthy multi-artist outdoor shows happening in three different parts of the metro area.

Starting west of St. Louis in Gasconade County, the Hermann Wine & Jazz Festival will feature a lineup of local and regional talent including The Bosman Twins, Bach to the Future, Jim Manley, Carolbeth True and Two Times True, and the Mo E All-Stars with Cheri Evans at the Clara Eitmann Messmer Amphitheater.

Moving east to Chesterfield, the "Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land" will include sets from multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson (pictured, bottom left), saxophonists Grace Kelly, Eric Darius and Tim Cunningham, and singer Erin Bode at the Chesterfield Amphitheater.

And over on the east side of the Mississippi, the Alton Jazz & Wine Fest will feature music from pianist and singer Diane Schuur plus funk/jazz quartet Good 4 The Soul and the Funky Butt Brass Band at the Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton.

Sunday, September 8
The St. Louis Record Collectors Show presents their fall event at the American Czech Center; singer and bassist Janet Evra plays for brunch at The Dark Room; and drummer Steve Davis' band with singer Feyza Eren will perform at the house-concert venue The Judson House.

Monday, September 9
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck, and the Webster University Jazz Faculty offers a "Riverside Records Retrospective," featuring music from Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk, and others at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

Tuesday, September 10
Trumpeter Kasimu Taylor plays the music of Miles Davis in a concert at the Gasllght Theater.

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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2019 jazz preview, part one

With fall fast approaching, it's time for the first autumn installment of StLJN twice-yearly jazz preview, featuring videos of noteworthy jazz and creative music performers who will be playing here over the next few months.

Today's preview starts on Labor Day weekend, for that's when pianist Edward Simon will be coming to town for a solo concert presented by Open Studio on Saturday, August 31 at Centene Center for the Arts.

You can see Simon in the first video up above, a trio set with drummer Adam Cruz and bassist Matt Brewer (billed as the "Festival New York Jazz All-Stars") that was recorded in 2016 at Teatro Ocampo in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Also in town over Labor Day weekend will be the Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band from New Orleans, who will perform on Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1 at Focal Point. You can see them in the first video after the jump, a full set of music recorded in July of this year in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The next clip features another New Orleans group, Rebirth Brass Band, who will be in St. Louis the following week for a show on Friday, September 6 at Atomic Cowboy Pavilion. It's another full set, recorded in September 2018 at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta.

That same weekend, singer and pianist Diane Schuur will headline the Alton Jazz & Wine Festival on Saturday, September 7 at Alton Amphitheater, with locals Good 4 The Soul and the Funky Butt Brass Band as supporting acts. Schuur can be seen in the third video after the jump, singing George Gershwin's "S'Wonderful" with the Charleston Jazz Orchestra in February of this year at the Charleston Music Hall in South Carolina.

Also on Saturday, September 7, the "Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land" docks at the Chesterfield Amphitheater, with a crew that will includes multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson, saxophonist and vocalist Grace Kelly, and saxophonist Eric Darius, plus St. Louis' own Erin Bode and Tim Cunningham.

Culbertson can be seen next performing "Feelin' It/Funkin'" as recorded last year for his Colors of Love Tour - Live in Las Vegas concert video.

That's followed by Kelly, cutting tracks for her most recent album GO TiME: Brooklyn 2 live in the studio, and, last but not least, Darius playing Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" at an event last year for the Cannonball Saxophones company in Sandy, Utah.

Look for part two of StLJN's Fall 2019 jazz preview next week in this space. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

DeBlaze and Associates adds Bobby Caldwell, Diane Schuur as clients

The St. Louis-based public relations firm DeBlaze and Associates announced that it has added two new clients: singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Bobby Caldwell (pictured) and singer/pianist Diane Schuur.

Caldwell first gained fame with his 1978 hit single "What You Won't Do for Love" and since has released more than a dozen albums. He enjoys continued popularity among smooth jazz fans in the USA, has been sampled frequently by hip-hop producers for more than 20 years, and also has gained a significant following in Japan. Schuur has won two Grammy awards, headlined at venues including Carnegie Hall and The White House, and has performed with musicians including Stan Getz, B. B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Quincy Jones.

DeBlaze and Associates "specializes in the entertainment industry with a focus on jazz. The firm creates awareness, influences public attitudes and changes audience behavior with entertainment media campaigns." For more information, call Dawn DeBlaze at 314-766-5299 or contact her via eamil at deblazeassoc@centurytel.net.

Jazz this week: Delfeayo Marsalis, Diane Schuur, John Pizzarelli, Frank Sinatra Jr., Marion Meadows, and more

With five very different touring headliners in town for performances between now and Sunday, the St. Louis jazz scene has shows to suit a variety of musical tastes this weekend.

Let's go in chronological order, starting with Delfeayo Marsalis, who's performing at Jazz at the Bistro from Wednesday through Saturday. Delfeayo is the third-youngest Marsalis brother, and is known for his work as a producer of other artists as well as a musician in his own right. What little I've heard of his own stuff seems mostly inclined toward well-executed hard bop and post-1960s modernism, with occasional New Orleans-style trimmings, and, as one might expect from a Marsalis, he's definitely got skills on his chosen instrument. For more about his live show, check out this review of a January 2007 performance at NYC's Blue Note.

Next up is singer and pianist Diane Schuur, who returns to Finale Music and Dining to perform on Thursday and Friday. Schuur's brassy style has always seemed a bit overbearing to me, but there's no questioning her chops. If you're a fan, this seems like a great chance to see her in a very intimate setting.

On Saturday, singer and guiitarist John Pizzarelli (pictured) kicks off the Sheldon Concert Hall's jazz series for 2007-08. By now, Pizzarelli's a familiar figure around these parts, and seems to have built a substantial fan base here thanks to past performances at the Bistro, the Sheldon and elsewhere. He's an able entertainer as well as a fine guitar player, and I'd expect him to draw a big crowd at the Sheldon.

Speaking of entertainers, on Sunday afternoon Frank Sinatra Jr. will play the Touhill Performing Arts Center. His current show pays explicit tribute to his famous father, and, according to his publicity materials, features a 38-piece orchestra to recreate the arrangements used on some of Old Blue Eyes' most famous recordings.

To close out the weekend, on Sunday night the Roberts Orpheum will host a smooth jazz show headlined by saxophonist Marion Meadows and also featuring keyboard players Alex Bugnon and Bob Baldwin.

Other noteworthy jazz performances this weekend include trombonist Brett Stamps, who plays a free concert at Washington University on Thursday night as part of the Jazz at Holmes series, and smooth jazz/R&B saxophonist Rod Tate, who will be at Finale on Saturday.

Looking beyond the weekend, the Sessions Big Band is at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups on Monday night; singer Anita Rosamond will do a couple of 10 a.m. "Coffee Concerts" at the Sheldon on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings; and singer Brian Owens performs in a "Notes From Home" concert at the Sheldon on Tuesday night.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendat

(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.)

Person, Jordan added to Finale fall schedule

Finale Music and Dining has announced its schedule for most of the remaining dates in 2007, and there are a number of shows of interest to jazz fans.

In addition to the previously announced return of singer and pianist Diane Schuur, the biggest news is that saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person and guitarist Stanley Jordan (pictured) both will be performing return engagements at the Clayton club this fall. Person and his band Meta-Four will play Finale on Saturday, October 13, with Jordan coming in the next week for a two-night stand on Thursday, October 18 and Friday, October 19.

Finale will also continue its practice of booking themed evenings of entertainment, with new entries including holiday shows featuring Debby Lennon (Saturday, December 15) and Anita Rosamond (Saturday, December 22) and a tribute to Chet Baker from the band Hard Bop Heritage (Thursday, December 27).

The club also announced return engagements for a number of other local and regional artists, including Rod Tate (Saturday, October 6); Tim Cunningham (Friday, October 12; Saturday, November 10; and Friday, December 7); the Tommy Money Orchestra (Saturday, October 20); Kim Massie (Saturday, October 27; Friday, November 30 and Saturday, December 29); Dean Christopher's Rat Pack and More (Thursday, November 1 and Friday, December 14); Erin Bode (Friday, November 16 and Saturday, November 17); and the Sinatra Songbook (Friday, November 23).

Finale to present shows by Acoustic Alchemy, Diane Schuur

It's been a while since we've checked out the coming attractions at Finale Music and Dining, and since one of the club's notable shows with a touring headliner is happening next week, now seems like an opportune time to mention that Finale will present smooth jazz/world music group Acoustic Alchemy next Thursday, August 2. Also, although it's not yet on Finale's Web site, thanks to Pollstar, it has been revealed that the club also has booked a return appearance for singer and pianist Diane Schuur on Thursday, October 4 and Friday, October 5.

In between, Finale has scheduled appearances by a number of local and regional musicians of interest to jazz listeners, including return gigs by singer Debby Lennon (doing a Cole Porter tribute show on Saturday, August 4); saxophonist Tim Cunningham (Friday, August 10 and Friday, September 7); singer/impressionist Dean Christopher (Saturday, August 11); singer Anita Rosamond (Saturday, August 18); and Wild, Cool and Swingin' (Friday, September 21).

Also coming up at Finale: a tribute to Charlie Parker by trumpeter Randy Holmes and Hard Bop Heritage (Thursday, August 30); drummer Jerome "Scrooge" Harris with singer Anita Jackson (Friday, August 31); singer/pianist Al Oxenhandler (Saturday, September 1); Downtown Trio's "Bach To The Future" show (Friday, September 14); and a "tenor battle" from saxophonist David Fatek and his organ quartet (Thursday, September 20). And let's not forget the John Coltrane tribute from Holmes and Hard Bop Heritage (Saturday, September 22) and a two-night stand for the "Sinatra Songbook" show (Thursday, September 27 and Friday, September 28).

Finally, to add a little visual interest to this post, there's a bit of YouTubery above and below the text. The video up top shows Acoustic Alchemy performing "Playing for Time", while the one below features Schuur and her quartet doing "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)". Schuur's band in this clip include Rod Fleeman, an excellent guitarist with Kansas City roots who some may also recall as a member of the 1970s fusion group Dry Jack.

Pollstar: Finale adds dates for Euge Groove, Diane Schuur

According to Pollstar, Finale Music and Dining has just added return dates for smooth jazz saxophonist Euge Groove (pictured) and singer/pianist Diane Schuur to their schedule of upcoming shows.

Groove will play the Clayton club on Wednesday, June 20, while Schuur's next appearance is set for Thursday, October 4 and Friday, October 5.

Readers once again are reminded that the information on Pollstar is subject to change, and shows should not be considered confirmed until officially announced by the presenter or venue. That disclaimer aside, both Groove and Schuur have played Finale before, so although the shows are not yet listed on Finale's Web site, this information seems credible and official word should come soon.