Jazz this week: Adam Larson, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Summerset festival, and more

It's a busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with festivals presenting smooth jazz and swing dance; New Orleans music from one of that city's classic bands and from a St. Louis expat; and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, July 11
Saxophonist Adam Larson is in town and will present a free public performance/workshop at Saxquest.

Larson is an up-and-coming young musician who already has headlined and co-headlined shows at Jazz St. Louis' Bistro and other top venues, so the chance to see him for free makes this gig one of the week's top picks.

Also on Wednesday, the free "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" resumes after an Independence Day break with the Jazz Troubadours at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor and band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, July 12
Having celebrated four decades together in 2017,  the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured, top left) will be back in St. Louis for the first time in several years for a show at the Old Rock House. You can see and hear some recent DDBB performances in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Thursday, the Summerset smooth jazz festival presents the first of three concerts this weekend, kicking off with a show from saxophonists Paul Taylor and Pamela Williams at the World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park. You can find out more and see videos of all the various musicians who will playing the fest in this post from a couple of weeks ago.

Elsewhere around town, pianist and St. Louis native Tom McDermott is back from New Orleans for a visit and a show at Joe's Cafe; and vocal group Java Jived will perform in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Friday, July 13
The Summerset festival continues with a show featuring keyboardist Jeff Lorber, saxophonist Everette Harp and guitarist Paul Jackson Jr; and the annual River City Mess Around, the mid-summer swing dance weekend presented by STL Jitterbugs, officially begins with a dance at City Museum featuring music from singer/guitarist Tommy Halloran and band.

Also on Friday, multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris presents "Headnotic," described as "his newest project, focusing on brand new, original compositions," for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis; the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and singer Anita Jackson returns to The Dark Room.

Saturday, July 14
The Summerset festival concludes with a performance by singer and St. Louis native Lynne Fiddmont (pictured, bottom left) and singer Howard Hewitt; and the River City Mess Around continues with a dance featuring Miss Jubilee at the Webster Groves Masonic Lodge No 84.

Also on Saturday, The WirePilots play original jazz fusion in a free concert at Kirkwood Park Amphitheatre; The People's Key will perform at The Stage at KDHX; and trumpeter Jim Manley and his band return to Evangeline's.

Sunday, July 15
Singer Jan Shapiro, former head of the vocal department at Berklee College of Music who recently retired and moved back home to St. Louis, will team up with guitarist Tom Byrne for a matinee tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass at the Webster Groves Concert Hall.

Then on Sunday night, the River City Mess Around concludes with a performance by the Arcadia Dance Orchestra at Off Broadway.

Monday, July 16
"Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective return to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Tuesday, July 17
Multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo and her band host "The Tuesday Night Hit" at The Dark Room.

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: Spotlight on the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who will be back in St. Louis to perform next Thursday, July 12 at the Old Rock House.

Founded in 1977 in New Orleans, the DDBB helped reinvigorate the city's brass band tradition by incorporating modern jazz, funk, and other genres, inspiring a new generation of players, bands and fans in the process.

The most recent of DDBB's 14 albums is Twenty Dozen, released back in 2012, but they continue to tour regularly, playing festivals, theaters and concert clubs in the USA and Europe. They were regular visitors to St. Louis in the 1990s and 2000s, playing venues from Mississippi Nights to the Broadway Oyster Bar, but since it's been a few years since their last local appearance, it seems like a good time to share some of their music again via some recent videos of the current lineup.

The first video up above is the DDBB's "Tiny Desk Concert" for NPR, recorded in February 2017, in which they perform four songs: "Use Your Brain," "Best Of All," "Tomorrow" and "My Feet Can't Fail Me Now."

After the jump, you can see an extended excerpt from their show at the Jazz Education Network convention held last January in New Orleans. That's followed by a music video they made in September 2017 for the AV Club's "Undercover" series, a cover of alt-rock singer-songwriter Beck's tune "Debra."

For the fourth clip, it's back to New Orleans for a DDBB staple, "Do It Fluid," recorded at the start of their set at the 2016 Jazzfest. The last two videos are complete sets, from January 2016 in Cambridge, MA and June 2015 in Wayne, NJ.

For more about what the Dirty Dozen Brass Band has been up to recently, read this interview with baritone saxophonist and co-founder Roger Lewis from December 2017, and check out their brief video interview from last year on AV Club.

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

Old Rock House adds shows from Dirty Dozen Brass Band, keyboardist Shaun Martin

Old Rock House today announced two summer shows of interest to StLJN readers.

Keyboardist Shaun Martin, known for his work with jazz-fusion band Snarky Puppy and gospel singer Kirk Franklin, is coming to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 10 at ORH.

Tickets for the all-ages show are $13 in advance, $15 day of show, and will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Thursday, May 3 via Metrotix.

Also, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured), who in the 1980s helped re-invigorate the New Orleans brass band tradition and inspired a whole new generation of forward-thinking brass bands, will return here for the first time in nearly five years to perform at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, July 12 at Old Rock House.

Tickets for that all-ages show are $18 in advance, $20 day of show, and will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, May 4.

Chapter:SOUL to perform Sunday, June 19 at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups

Chapter:SOUL, a new funk band from New Orleans featuring an original member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, will make their St. Louis debut with a performance at 6:00 p.m. Sunday, June 19 at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

The group (pictured) features sousaphonist Kirk Joseph, who helped found the DDBB back in 1977 and also leads his own band Backyard Groove, and saxophonist and vocalist Calvin Johnson Jr., who's played with the DDBB, Big Sam's Funky Nation, Harry Connick Jr., and Irvin Mayfield's New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Keyboardist/vocalist Kashonda Bailey and drummer Terry Scott complete the lineup.

Chapter:SOUL currently plays weekly on Thursdays at Verret's Lounge in New Orleans, and their website says the band is "currently tracking its debut album, and plans for a spring 2016 release." Admission to their show at BB's will be $10 at the door.

(Edited 6/13/16  to correct a type & add ticket price.)

Jazz this week: Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Bonerama, "88 Squared," and more

For a lot of St. Louis jazz fans, there's a hole in this weekend approximately the size and shape of tenor saxophone giant Sonny Rollins, who, up until a couple of weeks ago, had been scheduled to play this Saturday night at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Unfortunately, Rollins' continuing health issues forced him to cancel the show here, along with the rest of his summer schedule. Fortunately, there are lots of other jazz and creative music events on tap over the next few days, and while none of them are Sonny Rollins, there's still some good stuff in the offing. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, the second-ever STL Fringe Fest begins, with a variety of events at venues along Locust St., just to the east of the Grand Center district. Though it's oriented mostly toward theater and performance, the Fest once again will include some events that may be of interest to jazz fans, including tonight's set by singer Christy Strickland and the Randy Holmes Quartet at Satori and "Hey, Minnie the Moocher: A Musical Tribute to Cotton Club Swing Jazz Legends," the title of which seems self-explanatory.

(Both productions will be repeated at various times over the weekend, and interested listeners should note that admission requires both a Fringe Fest wristband and a separate ticket for the specific performance you want to see; consult the Fest's website for details.)

Tomorrow night, pianists Adaron "Pops" Jackson of Good 4 the Soul and Phil Dunlap, Jazz St. Louis' director of education, will team up for "88 Squared" at Jazz at the Bistro. The one-off performance will feature the two keyboardists playing together, backed by bassist Jahmal Nichols and drummer Marty Morrison.

Also on Friday, singer Joe Mancuso and his quartet will revisit a concept that dates back to the Beat era, as they'll perform at Robbie's House of Jazz while artist Vesna Delevska paints "live" in accompaniment. That same evening, pianist Ptah Williams, drummer Montez Coleman and bassist Darrell Mixon will play at Cigar Inn; and singer Ann Dueren and her trio will be at Il Bel Lago.

On Saturday, New Music Circle will be taking part in Open Studios STL, presenting what's being called "a group sound environment" at the William A Kerr Foundation building on Laclede's Landing. (The free, all-day Open Studios event, organized by the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, is designed to encourage visitors to artists' studios throughout the area.)

Musicians playing as part of NMC's presentation will include Tracy Andreotti (cello), Joseph Raglani (modular synthesizer), John Tamm-Buckle (computer), Michael Williams (electronics), Connie Su (electronics), Ajay Khanna (guitar/computer), Nathan Cook (electronics), Laura Dempsey (electronics), Fred Tompkins (flute), Dave Stone (saxophone), Henry Claude (percussion), Gwenyth Merner (theremin/electronics), and Patrick Boland (percussion).

There also will be an Open Studios "after party" Saturday night at 2720 Cherokee with music from funky organ trio Downstereo and Moon Hooch, a group of former NYC subway buskers made up of two saxophonists and a drummer.

Elsewhere on Saturday, pianist Matt Villinger leads a trio at Robbie's, while Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes hold forth around the block at C.J. Muggs.

On Sunday, there's a double-header of music from two well-known New Orleans bands, starting with a 2:00 p.m. matinee from the "brass funk rock" ensemble Bonerama at Broadway Oyster Bar. Bonerama's show originally was scheduled for Sunday evening, but got moved to the afternoon, presumably to minimize conflict with the performance by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured) on Sunday evening at Off Broadway.

Both bands have played here numerous times in recent years, but if you'd like to sample some of their music, you can see some videos that will give you a taste of both in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also on Sunday, the Dave Dickey Big Band will play their monthly gig at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company. UPDATE - 6/21/13, 10:20 a.m: Notwithstanding that the gig still is listed on the venue's website as of this writing, Dickey has just told StLJN that the band is taking this month off and will return in July.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday guitarist Denny Jiosa will be in town to present a free workshop at Mozingo Music, and "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will play at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

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: The StL - NOLA connection, revisited

As we've observed before in this space, many New Orleans bands and musicians seem to do well in St. Louis, and so it's no surprise that they keep coming up the Mississippi to play here. Last week's post referenced the upcoming shows here by trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and this week, we've got videos from two more New Orleans bands who will be in St. Louis later this month.

Both the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Bonerama have made regular visits to St. Louis in recent years, but on Sunday, June 23, they'll be here on the same night, as Bonerama will be at the Broadway Oyster Bar while the Dirty Dozen Brass Band performs at Off Broadway.

Since there are some older Bonerama clips contained in the first link up above, and the DDBB has been featured here twice before, in 2009 and 2011, today we'll look at some more recent videos from both bands.

The first clip up above is from the DDBB's performance at Louisiana Music Factory during the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and features the songs "Trippin Inside A Bubble" and "Tomorrow" from the group's 2012 album Twenty Dozen.

You'll find part two of the Louisiana Music Factory performance down below, followed by a stylized B&W video of the Dirty Dozen playing "Unclean Waters" from their 1999 album Buck Jump.

The fourth clip shows Bonerama at Jazz Fest in 2011, opening their show with "Hard Times." That's followed by a heavy-riffing version of Led Zeppelin's "The Ocean," featuring what can only be described as some trombone shredding, that was recorded in February of this year in Hollywood, FL.

In the sixth and final clip, Bonerama represents their hometown with an interpretation of the traditional favorite "Indian Red," recorded in 2012 in Worcester, MA.

Dirty Dozen Brass Band to play Sunday, June 23 at Off Broadway

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured) is returning to St. Louis to play at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, June 23 at a new venue for them, the south side rock club Off Broadway.

The best-known popularizers of the modern New Orleans brass band sound, DDBB made their most recent visit to St. Louis in May of last year to play at the Old Rock House.

This time, they're playing the same night that their fellow New Orleans based band Bonerama is scheduled to perform at Broadway Oyster Bar; whether that will work out like a mini-festival of NOLA music, or the overlapping gigs end up hurting each other, remains to be seen.

Tickets for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at Off Broadway are $15 for general admission (standing), $35 for balcony seating, and are on sale now.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Veterans Administration hospital has filed papers to demolish the Palladium, aka Club Plantation, the historic building (pictured) at the intersection of Enright and Delmar that hosted performances from many significant jazz and blues musicians from the 1930s through the 1950s. The VA wants to put a parking lot on the site. Author and illustrator Kevin Belford is keeping track of the story via a "Save The Palladium Building at Grand Center" page on Facebook.

* Author and former St. Louisan Benjamin Cawthra was on KWMU's Cityscape program last week to discuss his book Blue Notes in Black and White: Photography and Jazz and his appearance on Sunday afternoon at the Missouri History Museum.

* The Post-Dispatch's Gail Pennington has a story about Ken Haller's cabaret performance "The TV Show," which happens tonight and tomorrow night at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

* The KDHX website has photos from last Friday's performance by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at the Old Rock House.

* Here's more coverage of Jazz St. Louis' 2012-13 season schedule announcement from Terry Perkins of the St. Louis Beacon, Kevin Johnson of the Post-Dispatch, and Elaine Hoffman of St. Louis magazine. (And in case you missed it, StLJN's story is here.)

* A new episode of HEC-TV's I Love Jazz will get its first airing at 8:00 p.m. next Thursday, June 7 on Charter channel 989, U-Verse channel 99, and via the cable network's website. This installment features a live performance by trumpeter Jim Manley recorded at Jimmy's on the Park.

* As reported by both the Post-Dispatch and Business Journal, Wells Fargo Advisors will contribute $100,000 to Jazz St. Louis to be the presenting sponsor of the 2012-13 Jazz at the Bistro season.

Jazz this week: Stanley Clarke Trio, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the Dead Kenny Gs, Glendale Jazz Festival, and more

Memorial Day weekend is always a busy time, and there's lots to do in St. Louis over the next several days, including the annual Bluesweek Festival, which this year has moved from fall to spring. Fortunately, that packed calendar of events also includes a number of jazz and creative music performances worth checking out. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, virtuoso bassist Stanley Clarke (pictured) opens a four-night stand continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Clarke was at the Bistro last year in a duo with pianist Hiromi Uehara; this time, he's playing in a trio format with pianist Ruslan Sirota and drummer Ronald Bruner Jr. They'll likely draw on some of the material from Clarke's recent trio albums - one featuring Hiromi and drummer Lenny White, the other with White and pianist Chick Corea - as well as a few of his best-known compositions rearranged for an acoustic trio. (To whet your appetite, you might want to check out this post from last year featuring some videos of Clarke.)

Also tonight, pianist Thollem McDonas is back in town for two performances, the first at 6:00 p.m. at Laumeier Sculpture Park with multi-instrumentalist Arrington de Dionyso and electronic musician Eric Hall, the second at 9:00 p.m. at Floating Laboratories on a bill with Hall, de Dionsyo, Raglani, Kevin Harris and Ghost Ice.

Tomorrow, the New Orleans Suspects, which features members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the Radiators and the Neville Brothers' backing group, make their St. Louis debut at the Old Rock House. The Suspects include DDBB saxophonist Kevin Harris, a founding member of that group, and its current guitarist Jake Eckert; bassist Reggie Scanlan, formerly with the Radiators; drummer Willie Green, who's been touring and recording with the Neville Brothers since the mid-1980s; and keyboard player and vocalist CR Gruver.

And speaking of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, they'll be in town and performing at the Old Rock House on Friday night. For an update on what's been happening with the DDBB, see this interview with founding member Roger Lewis just published in Kansas City's Pitch Weekly.

Also on Friday, the 13th annual Glendale Jazz Festival (.pdf file) takes place at Glendale City Hall, 424 N. Sappington Rd. Performers at the free event include Cornet Chop Suey, the Terry Thompson Swing Alive Band, and blues/rock guitarist and singer Billy Peek. Don Wolff will serve as MC.

And as if that weren't enough for one evening, Friday also is the date for "Da-Dum-Dun," a mini-festival honoring the legacies of Miles Davis, write Henry Dumas and choreographer Katherine Dunham. The free event will feature a variety of performances, including music from the Bosman Twins, and takes place at the SIUE-ESL Higher Education Campus, 601 J.R. Thompson Dr. in East St. Louis.

On Saturday, the "punk jazz" trio the Dead Kenny Gs come to town to perform at 2720 Cherokee. While the DKG's crazy quilt mix of musical styles driven by punk-rock-style aggression isn't everyone's cup of tea, some find it quite entertaining. And there's no doubt that percussionist/vocalist Mike Dillon, saxophonist/keyboardist Skerik, and bassist and saxophonist Brad Houser display some interesting chops in the process. You can see them perform on video and make your own judgment in this video post from last Saturday.

Then on Sunday, trombonist Dave Dickey brings his big band back to Kirkwood Station Brewing Company for their monthly gig.

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 after posting to the link to the Stanley Clarke video post.)

Dirty Dozen Brass Band to perform Friday, May 25 at Old Rock House

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured) are returning to St. Louis to perform at 9:00 p.m., Friday, May 25 at the Old Rock House. Jazz/funk/"world music" band Snarky Puppy will open.

The DDBB last played in St. Louis in February 2011 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. This time around, their show comes just one day after the New Orleans Suspects, a new band featuring DDBB saxophonist Kevin Harris and guitarist Jake Eckert, are scheduled to play the Old Rock House. However, the Suspects are on to Chicago on the 25th, so presumably the DDBB will be using some alternate/substitute musicians for Harris and Eckert here and on some other dates this spring where there's a conflict.

Tickets for the Dirty Dozen Brass band are $18 in advance, $20 day of show, and will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, April 13.

New Orleans Suspects to perform Thursday, May 24 at the Old Rock House

The New Orleans Suspects, a new group that includes two members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, an ex-Radiator, and the Neville Brothers' longtime drummer, are coming to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m., Thursday, May 24 at the Old Rock House.

The Suspects (pictured) are comprised of DDBB saxophonist Kevin Harris, a founding member of that group, and its current guitarist Jake Eckert; bassist Reggie Scanlan, formerly with the long-running rock/funk band, the Radiators; drummer Willie Green, who's been touring and recording with the Neville Brothers since the mid-1980s; and keyboard player and vocalist CR Gruver, who has worked with several New Orleans roots music acts.

The Suspects started playing together informally in 2009, and officially became a band last year after the Radiators retired and the Neville Brothers reduced their touring schedule. In a blog post last April, Scanlan described their sound like this: "…like most bands from New Orleans, we cover a lot of ground…Traffic, Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Little Feat, Wet Willie, The Band, Robert Palmer, Bob Dylan, and Little Milton…and, of course, we do a ton of N.O. music…Professor Longhair, James Booker, The Meters, Lee Dorsey, and Allen Toussaint…we also include music from our alma maters, The Neville Brothers, The Radiators, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band." The Suspects also have completed recording their first album, though no release date has been announced yet.

Tickets for the New Orleans Suspects at the Old Rock House are $12 in advance, $15 day of show, and go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, March 16.

Jazz this week: Dirty Dozen Brass Band & Jon Cleary, St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, the Bosman Twins, and more

This week's jazz and creative music menu in St. Louis features all sorts of sounds, from big band to cabaret to New Orleans roots music to several different flavors of modern jazz. Let's go right to the highlights...

On Thursday evening, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, directed by bassist Jim Widner, performs at the Touhill Performing Arts Center; and pianist Ptah Williams and guitarist William Lenihan team up to do a free duo concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

On Friday, the multi-instrumentalist Bosman Twins return to Jazz at the Bistro for the first night of a two-night stand; singer and pianist Carol Schmidt will do the first of her two cabaret shows this weekend at the Kranzberg Arts Center for the Presenters Dolan; and Ptah Williams will lead his group at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Saturday, New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band will be back in town, with singer/pianist Jon Cleary opening, for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For a preview, you can see the DDBB in several performance videos included in this post from last Saturday.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday bassist Stanley Clarke and pianist Hiromi will be back in town for one more night at the Bistro, making up the sets canceled earlier this month due to travel delays caused by the inclement weather. Also on Monday, the SIUE student jazz combos directed by Rick Haydon and Reggie Thomas and the SIUE Guitar Ensemble will perform in the theater at Dunham Hall on the SIUE campus; and pianist Dave Becherer's trio plays at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Gettin' dirty with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

This week, we shine our video spotlight on New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who will be back in St. Louis to perform next Saturday, February 26 on a double bill with singer/pianist Jon Cleary at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The DDBB have played here numerous times in recent years, with their last visit coming in November 2009 at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

The four clips featured today are all of fairly recent vintage, starting up above with a version of "John The Revelator" recorded in 2008 at a festival in Burghausen, Germany. Down below is another clip from the same gig, the DDBB staple "Dirty Old Man," in which baritone saxophonist Roger Lewis gets to rap about spankin' somebody.

Below that, we've got the Dirty Dozen's take on a couple of New Orleans classics, an undated-but-looks-to-be-fairly-recent version of "Junko Partner," and "When The Saints Go Marching In," from a 2010 show at the Wolftrap performing arts center in Virginia that roused the audience to get up on their feet and second-line around the perimeter. For more DDBB performances on video, check out this post that ran here before their last appearance in St. Louis.

Sheldon Concert Hall announces 2010-2011 season series

The Sheldon Concert Hall has announced its 2010-11 season series, and the news for St. Louis jazz fans is, at best, mixed.

Those who were hoping to hear new and exciting music at the Sheldon next year likely will be disappointed, as most of the acts booked for the jazz series, Coffee Concerts and "special concerts" series already have played here in town in the very recent past.

Specifically, the Sheldon's 2010-11 jazz series will include four concerts (that's one fewer than this year's series), and all of the musicians - singer Tierney Sutton (October 9), saxophonist Victor Goines (November 13), the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and pianist Jon Cleary (February 26), and singer/pianist Tony DeSare with guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli (April 30) - have been to St. Louis recently. Sutton played the Sheldon in 2006; Goines was there in 2007; and the DDBB, Cleary, DeSare and Pizzarelli have all performed at other local venues within the last two years.

Similarly, the Coffee Concerts series of mid-morning weekday performances will feature a familiar lineup of local bands, with shows from Cornet Chop Suey (October 19 & 20), Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris (November 16 & 17), Swing DeVille (April 12 & 13) and the Sheldon Jazz Quintet (May 10 & 11) of interest to jazz listeners.

This year, there also will be a handful of Saturday matinees featuring local musicians, including pianist Carolbeth True with singer Christi John Bye on January 22, and singer Brian Owens doing a Sam Cooke tribute on February 12. Like their Coffee Concert colleagues, True, Bye and Owens all were featured at events at the Sheldon during this current season.

The "special concerts" series will feature return appearances at the Sheldon by pianist Dave Brubeck (October 17) and singer Banu Gibson (November 7). Brubeck played the hall in 2007 and 2008, while Gibson was there in 2005.

Two other "special concerts" will feature acts that are new to St. Louis and of alleged potential interest to jazz fans. Guitarist John McLaughlin (pictured) will bring his electric quartet 4th Dimension to the Sheldon on November 19, which should be a genuine treat for local fusion fans. On the other hand, pianist David Lanz and the Liverpool Trio will appear on February 11 doing something called “Re-Imagining the Beatles," which, as described, strikes yr. humble editor as a tasteless, pandering schlockfest likely unfit for human consumption.

To be fair, the Sheldon remains a very enjoyable place to see and hear a concert. The production staff headed by Dale Benz does a consistently good job, and all sorts of musicians like playing there. Here's the thing, though: it's not that the musicians booked for 2010-11 are bad (with the exception of Lanz, whose stuff really is nearly unlistenable); the problem is that we've seen and heard just about all of this before, in some cases multiple times.

(Parenthetically, I'm also uneasy about the fact that of all the artists mentioned above, the only African-Americans are Goines, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Owens, and Mardra and Reggie Thomas of the Sheldon Jazz Quintet. There's no reason to think that this mostly-white lineup of musicians is a result of overt racism, but given the music's origins, it still is unsettling to have so relatively few black artists involved in jazz performances at one of our city's most prestigious venues.)

Ultimately, with so many interesting things happening in jazz and creative music these days, it's a shame that the Sheldon's booking policy for jazz is so unimaginative and retrograde. While the need to sell tickets and pay the bills is understandable, their current approach seems almost absurdly risk-averse. There's a sophisticated audience for music in St. Louis, and as one of the most significant concert halls in town, the Sheldon could, and should, do a much better job of exposing that audience to a wider variety of jazz artists.

For more details and ticket prices for all of the Sheldon's season series, please consult their website, where further information on the 2010-11 schedule will be posted on Monday.

Jazz this week: Christian McBride & Inside Straight, Nellie McKay, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, ROCKPILE Poetry and Music Festival, and more

We've got an interesting variety of jazz and creative music events in St. Louis over the next few days, starting with the eclectic singer, songwriter, pianist and multi-instrumentalist Nellie McKay, who's in town tonight and Thursday to perform at Kranzberg Arts Center for the Cabaret St. Louis series.

Also tonight, bassist Christian McBride (pictured) and his new acoustic jazz group Inside Straight will begin a four-night engagement just around the corner at Jazz at the Bistro. For more on McBride and the concept behind Inside Straight, which also includes St. Louis' own Peter Martin on piano, see StLJN's recent Saturday video post on McBride here.

For still more, you can see and hear a complete set from the band's performance last week at the Village Vanguard, courtesy of public radio station WBGO and National Public Radio. (Note also that in a Twitter message Tuesday, Jazz St. Louis' Devin Rodino tweeted that the early sets for McBride are nearly sold out, so if you're planning to go, advance reservations would be recommended.)

On Thursday, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band return to the Broadway Oyster Bar, hoping, as usual, to incite some New Orleans-style revelry. For some video samples of the DDBB in action, see this post from last Saturday. Also, check out recent the podcast interview with DDBB saxophonist and co-founder Roger Lewis from Jason Crane's site The Jazz Session.

Friday's noteworthy events includes performances by two veterans of St. Louis' famed Gaslight Square, as singer Mae Wheeler holds forth at Seasons St. Louis and singer Gene Lynn serenades diners and drinkers at Mihalis Chophouse, 1603 McCausland. And as long as we're talking vocalists, let's also note that singer Ron Wilkinson is back in action this Saturday night at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Sunday afternoon, singer Erin Bode will perform with Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra violinist and concertmaster David Halen at the Missouri Botanical Garden's Shoenberg Theater for a live broadcast on KFUO (99.1 FM).

Looking beyond weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band returns to BB's Jazz Blues and Soups downtown. And on Tuesday, the touring Rockpile Poetry and Music Festival will be held at the Regional Arts Commission. 6128 Delmar. The St. Louis performance of this free event, created by David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg, will feature musicians Zimbabwe Nkenya, Dave Black and Bob Malone, and poets Michael Franklin, Shirley LeFlore, Michael Castro, K. Curtis Lyle, David Jackson, Alexander Balogh, Sean Arnold, Terri Carrion, Howard Schwartz and Philip Gounis.

For information on more jazz and creative music events this weekend and beyond, check out the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, available for viewing on the left sidebar, or by clicking here. Also, you can follow St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes and become a "fan" by signing up 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: Party time with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band

This week, we turn our spotlight on New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who will return to St. Louis this Thursday, November 19 to perform at the Broadway Oyster Bar. The DDBB have been frequent visitors to St. Louis since the 1980s, with this appearance coming as part of what's being billed as the group's 25th anniversary tour.

Today's clips provide four examples of the band's signature sound, an updated version of the traditional brass band that stirs jazz, funk, soul, blues, gospel and pop into a syncopated stew. First up is a version of "Ain't Nothing But A Party" recorded in 2002 at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. In the second slot, the band tackles the Meters' "Cissy Strut" at a show in Boston.

The third clip features a rendition of "It's All Over Now" from a show in Gainesville, FL, and the fourth is a performance of the gospel standard "I'll Fly Away" taken from the band's show at the Portland Blues Festival. The video quality of the clips varies, as in a couple of cases the videographer seems to be boogieing right along with the rest of the crowd. However, the audio quality is pretty good across the board, and the DDBB's spirit and energy are, as usual, infectious.

Dirty Dozen Brass Band to play Thursday, November 19 at Broadway Oyster Bar

New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured) is returning to St. Louis to perform on Thursday, November 19 at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Although the show already is listed on the Web site of the DDBB's booking agency, there's no mention of it yet on the Oyster Bar site, and thus there are no details on ticket prices or an on-sale date.

Check back here for updates, or you can call the Oyster Bar for more information at 314-621-8811.

Jazz this week: Jeremy Davenport, Karl Denson, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and more

In years past, the first week in June was the beginning of the slow season for St. Louis jazz fans, musicians and venues.

Not so in 2007, for with Jazz at the Bistro opening its summer season, Finale Music and Dining continuing to book jazz acts, summer series like the Whitaker Music Festival getting underway, and other clubs and concert venues bringing in the occasional jazz group, this summer looks to offer quite a bit more from which to choose than previous summers.

Speaking of the Whitaker Music Festival, the annual free concert series at the Missouri Botanical Garden opens this week with a show at 7:30 tonight by trumpeter, vocalist and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport, who's once again residing in New Orleans but returns home for this performance. Subsequent Wednesdays in June will feature more jazz, and then the focus shifts to other genres in July and August.

On Thursday night, saxophonist Karl Denson appears with his trio to do two sets at Finale Music and Dining. Denson was just here in St. Louis a few weeks ago with the reunited Greyboy Allstars, and is reported to be working on another recording with his band Tiny Universe. In the meantime, though, he's keeping his chops sharp and getting back to his jazz roots by doing a few dates with his trio, which also features keyboardist Anthony Smith and drummer Brett Sanders.

Also on Thursday, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (pictured) is back in town, appearing at the outdoor stage at Harrah's Casino St. Louis. Too bad this on the same night as Denson's show, for there must be at least some people who would take in both if given the chance. Still, the DDBB puts on an entertaining show, even if they have disppointed brass band purists a bit by adding a guitarist and conventional drum kit in place of the band's original two-drummer setup.

Elsewhere this weekend, Jazz at the Bistro begins its summer season by hosting a reunion of alumni from Jazz St. Louis' THF Realty All-Star student ensemble on Friday and Satureday nights. The Bistro will feature St. Louis-based groups for three weeks in June, the play host over the next four weeks to groups led by bassist Ben Allison, saxophonists Greg Osby and Red Holloway, and guitarist Russell Malone, before going dark for the month of August.

And on Sunday afternoon, the Saint Louis Jazz Club closes its spring 2007 series with a matinee concert featuring the St. Louis based traditional jazz and swing band Cornet Chop Suey at the Moolah Shrine Center in West County.

These are just the highlights of the weekend, so for a more complete picture, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar. (The Calendar is in the process this week of getting a major update for the summer, so if your favorite venue or band's schedule has not been added yet, please forgive us, and remember that you can find links to most every St. Louis jazz venue and musician with a Web presence over on the sidebar.)

(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. No attachments, please.)

Dirty Dozen Brass Band headed for Harrah's on Thursday, June 7

This just in: New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band has scheduled a performance in St. Louis on Thursday, June 7 at the VooDoo Lounge located in Harrah's St. Louis Casino.

While this event isn't yet listed on Harrah's Web site, it is showing up on Pollstar, JamBase and other online resources for tour schedule information, and at least one online ticket broker seems to already be taking orders.