Sunday Session: December 8, 2019

Roscoe Mitchell

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* 'A Tribute To Mose Allison' Celebrates The Music Of An Exciting Jazz Master (NPR)
* Why Don’t We Appreciate Local Music, And Why We Should (Offbeat)
* Crossing the Streams (Revisited) (The Big City)
* Musicians Reach Tentative Deal with Film and TV Studios - But No Streaming Residuals (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Bass clarinetist Jason Stein’s Hearts and Minds (BerkeleySide.com)
* John and Alice Coltrane’s jazz perennial philosophy (Medium.com)
* Dr. John Mined Spiritual Connections (DownBeat)
* Historic Meeting: Valdés & Corea Collaborate in NYC (DownBeat)
* Iconic Southern rock recording studio is revived in Georgia (Associated Press)
* The Nat King Cole Harvest Is In (Jazz Times)
* Annie Clark: Down the Rabbit Hole with St. Vincent (Tape Op)
* This Rhodes College professor became the expert voice in Lil Nas X, 'Old Town Road' debate (Memphis Commercial Appeal)
* Capricorn Records: Dickey Betts, Alan Walden & More on the Iconic Southern Label's 50th (Billboard)
* 2019 Parliamentary Jazz Award winners (London Jazz News)
* Philadelphia Jazz Project launches first graphic novel (Philadelphia Inquirer)
* Garland Jeffreys: The King of In Between (PleaseKillMe.com)
* Evgeny Pobozhiy Tops Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Guitar Competition (DownBeat)
* Shabaka Hutchings In Conversation With Art Ensemble Of Chicago's Roscoe Mitchell (ClashMusic.com)
* Darlene Love Calls out ‘Christmas in Rockefeller Center’ Snub (Rolling Stone)
* The World’s Weirdest Guitar Mods and Builds (Premier Guitar)
* Art Ensemble of Chicago: “We were young and foolish. Now we’re old and foolish, but we’re still happy and still trying” (Jazzwise)
* Jane Bunnett & Maqueque Fosters Connection Between Cuban Music, Jazz (DownBeat)
* I Heard God in a Grain of Sound (The Stranger)

Sunday Session: July 7, 2019

Duke Ellington

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* Mo’ Fess: Professor Longhair’s band brings the magic back (Offbeat)
* Fight The Power: The Most Provocative Song Ever (BBC)
* The Lighthouse celebrates 70th year as bastion of jazz in Hermosa Beach (The Beach Reporter)
* Remembering American Roots Inspiration Delaney Bramlett (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Ivan Conti’s Been Combining Jazz, Rock, Samba for Decade (DownBeat)
* Suzanne Ciani Gets Loud at the Library (Pro Sound News)
* Epidemic Sound raises $20M at a $370M valuation for its soundtrack music discovery and licensing platform (TechCrunch.com)
* The story of Duke Ellington’s Anatomy of a Murder score (Little White Lies)
* Rick Lawn: The Evolution of Big Band Sounds in America (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Spotify ends direct music uploads for indie artists (Engadget.com)
* Jazz Community Takes Action for Kenny Burrell (Jazz Times)
* Jimmie Vaughan: Emperor of Tone (Premier Guitar)
* Gibson Guitar Declares Shift In IP Enforcement After Most Recent Public Backlash (TechDirt.com)
* Stevie Wonder has ongoing medical issue but remains in 'great spirits,' friends say (Detroit Free Press)
* Stevie Wonder Announces Plans for Kidney Transplant Surgery: 'I Have a Donor, It’s All Good' (People)
* How music about space became music about drugs (MIT Technology Review)
* Dr. John: A Pianist’s Remembrance (Jazz Times)
* JazzTimes 10: Very Late Duke Ellington Albums (Jazz Times)
* João Gilberto, a pioneer of bossa nova, has died at 88 (CNN)

Sunday Session: June 30, 2019

Dave Bartholomew

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* In Memoriam: Dave Bartholomew (WWOZ)
* Dave Bartholomew, A Father Of Rock And Roll, Dead At 100 (NPR)
* Paul McCartney opens up about Abbey Road, the Beatles' breakup in wide-ranging interview (CBS News)
* Spotify: We ‘overpaid’ songwriters and their publishers in 2018, and we would like our money back (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* The hologram concert revolution is here, whether you like it or not: Meet the company touring Whitney Houston and Buddy Holly (Fast Company)
* Tacuma and The Last Poets Move Beyond the Nation’s Combative Moment (DownBeat)
* Pro Audio Weighs the Troubles with Tariffs (Pro Sound News)
* The music industry is tackling streaming fraud with a pointless ‘Code’. It won’t work… but these ideas might (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* 'Frank Zappa Coloring Book' to Be Released in November (Hollywood Reporter)
* Scenes From The Life Of A Young Jazz Musician (AllAboutJazz.com)
* This Drum Company Has Hardly Changed Since Lincoln Was President. Now It Serves the World's Best Musicians (Inc)
* Tony Bennett Boldly Delivers Imaginative Set at Ravinia (DownBeat)
* Riding high with Stanley Clarke (Jerusalem Post)
* No Cliches Allowed: Guitar Innovator Mary Halvorson Forges a New Way Ahead (SFJAZZ.org)
* Universal Music Group Archivist: Vault Fire Damage 'Surprisingly Overstated,' But Any Loss Is 'Painful for Us' (Billboard)
* A Beginner’s Guide to the epic music of King Crimson (TrebleZine.com)
* Took You By Surprise: John and Paul’s Lost Reunion (Longreads.com)
* Sadao Watanabe, Japan's godfather of jazz, passes on his wisdom (Japan Times)
* Searching for Scrapper Blackwell, the Most Popular Bluesman You've Never Heard (GuitarWorld.com)
* College music department resurrects long-lost funk music (Associated Press)
* Jenny Scheinman on Risk, Adventure and Starting a New Band with Allison Miller (DownBeat)
* Terence Blanchard on How Dr. John Captured the Sound of New Orleans (Time)
* Sound Hounds: How One Research Team Is Helping Preserve the Acoustics of Historic Places (SavingPlaces.org)
* Saying goodbye to Dr. John: Mac Rebennack’s memorial (Offbeat)
* The Accidental Beatle (Slate)
* British jazz gets a chance to shine at Glastonbury (The Guardian)

Sunday Session: June 16, 2019

George Benson

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* Anthony Davis Builds Operas From Headlines (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* Sweet Charity: Herb Alpert Foundation Celebrates 25th Anniversary (Jazz Times)
* 30th Century Music Now: Mick Houghton Remembers Sun Ra (The Quietus)
* Wonderland Lost (TheRinger.com)
* Music Is YouTube's Most Profitable Category, 'Crucial' to Bottom Line: Study (Billboard)
* Final Bow For The Night Tripper – A Tribute to Dr John (Jazzwise)
* Esperanza Spalding Knows Music Can Heal. Now She Wants to Prove It With Science (The Daily Beast)
* Bright Moments with Gary Bartz (Jazz Times)
* State Department ‘extreme vetting’ says no to traveling musicians (San Francisco Chronicle)
* They Introduced the World to Songs of Slavery. It Almost Broke Them (Topic.com)
* Jeremy Pelt: Sound Sculptor, Museumgoer (DownBeat)
* The Hippies Were Right: It's All about Vibrations, Man! (Scientific American)
* Bret Primack on Jazz Video and the Ira Gitler Documentary (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Cuba: While The Politicians Argued, The Musicians Jammed (NPR)
* Dr. John Knew the End Was Near. He Recorded One Final Album (Rolling Stone)
* Recordings by Nirvana, Janet Jackson, Eminem, Nine Inch Nails, Chuck Berry, and More Destroyed in 2008 Fire (SPIN)
* Big Mood Machine (TheBaffler.com)
* A Long Tail: Don Cherry's Brown Rice Reviewed (The Quietus)
* Melissa Aldana’s Indisputable Command (DownBeat)
* Music of a Sustainable Future: A Conversation with Linda May Han Oh and Fabian Almazan (SFJAZZ.org)
* Mac’s Wild Years (PonderosaStomp.com)
* Our brains appear uniquely tuned for musical pitch (EurekAlert.org)
* New Documentary 'Blue Note: Beyond The Notes' Surpasses Its Purpose (NPR)
* Jazz Drum Great Andrew Cyrille Revels in Collaboration at Lifetime Achievement Show (Rolling Stone)
* Why It’s Finally Time to Get Rid of Music Charts (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Herbie Hancock plays jazz for a more peaceful world (SydneyOperaHouse.com)
* An oral history of the Fender Stratocaster (Guitar.com)
* George Benson Salutes Rock Pioneers Chuck Berry, Fats Domino (DownBeat)
* Everything You Know Is Wrong: Rock & Roll Was Invented In Wildwood, New Jersey! (PleaseKillMe.com)
* What Was The First Rock & Roll Record? Deke Dickerson Says It’s ‘Rock Around The Clock’ (PleaseKillMe.com)
* Terence Blanchard Named First Kenny Burrell Chair at UCLA (Jazz Times)
* The Chaotic Magic of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue (The New Yorker)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis has announced the winners of its 2020 St. Louis Arts Awards, and among the honorees will be pianist Adam Maness (pictured), who will receive the Arts Collaborator award at a banquet and ceremony to be held on January 27, 2020 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

* The Miles Davis Jazz Festival, held last Saturday at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton, was the subject of a feature story in the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

* Stanley Nelson Jr., the director of the new Miles Davis documentary Birth of the Cool, was interviewed about the film by Jazz Times.

* Meanwhile, combination listening sessions and panel discussions on the new reissue of Davis' Complete Birth of the Cool, which was released last Friday, were presented in New York City and Los Angeles.

* Lastly, after putting out excerpts on a four-song EP for this year's Record Store Day, the Miles Davis estate and Rhino/Warner Records will release the full version of the trumpeter's "lost" album Rubberband, recorded in the mid-80s and then shelved in favor of what would become the album Tutu. The vinyl LP includes 11 tracks, which were completed by the original producers and Davis’ nephew Vince Wilburn Jr, with new vocals added by Lalah Hathaway and Ledisi.

* Fire Shut Up In My Bones, the new opera by trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard that premieres tonight at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, was previewed by Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American.

* Pianist and former St. Louisan Tom McDermott wrote about the music of the late Dr. John for The Daily Beast.

* Former Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap, who left the organization last month to take a job as director of the cultural division of Broward County, FL, was profiled in the south Florida publication Art Hive.

* Snarky Puppy's performance last month at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion was reviewed by KDHX's Joseph Ferber.

Sunday Session: June 9, 2019

Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest, drawn from StLJN's inboxes, newsfeeds, and assorted other sources:

* Joey DeFrancesco: From Musical Prodigy to Jazz Icon (AllAboutJazz.com)
* John Coltrane Wanted To Be A Saint. The Coltrane Church Honors His Religious Legacy (OkayPlayer.com)
* John Coltrane at the Age of 32 (DownBeat)
* For jazz man, nine years of practice led to one electric, life-changing moment (Newport News Daily Press)
* Weasel Walter on Getting The Flying Luttenbachers Together Again (DownBeat)
* Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes Coming to U.S. Theaters (Jazz Times)
* Sheet Happens: One of Music's Oldest Businesses Is Growing in the Digital Age (Billboard)
* Carlos Santana Reflects On 50 Years Of Making Music And His New Africa Speaks (Stereogum.com)
* The Enduring Passion of Leo Feigin, Leo Records Founder (DownBeat)
* Branford Marsalis: Listening with Sonic Ears (Stereophile)
* Effort underway to restore iconic Detroit club that once hosted jazz legends like Miles Davis (MichiganRadio.org)
* Singer Sheila Jordan going strong at 90 (Chicago Tribune)
* Branford Marsalis’ Secret (Jazz Times)
* ‘Creativity is a muscle. It must be worked out. It must be pushed.’ (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* Lawrence “Lo” Leathers 1981-2019 (Jazz Times)
* Planned demolition of Cab Calloway's former Baltimore home stirs conservation critiques (Baltimore Sun)
* Searching For Disco's Cro-Magnon (NPR)
* Brian Wilson Postpones Tour, Citing “Mental Insecurity” (Pitchfork.com)
* Several Directions at Once: Listening With Myra Melford, Before a Residency at The Stone (WBGO)
* CD Baby Guest Post: The 5 Most Important Things to Know about Music Distribution in the Streaming Era (Berklee.edu)
* Exclusive: Chick Corea Revisits His Own Past with His Spanish Heart Band on “My Spanish Heart” (Paste)
* Dr. John, iconic New Orleans musician, has died at age 77 (New Orleans Advocate)
* Remembering Dr. John (Keyboard)
* Singer-songwriter Todd Rundgren shares his journey Sunday in Great Barrington (Berkshire Eagle)
* 'We fell like cosmic rain': how the Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices became global stars (The Guardian)
* The Man Who Made His Computer Sing: Max Mathews & the Invention of Digital Music (5Mag.net)
* Joshua Redman Finds ‘Founts of Inspiration’ (DownBeat)
* Videos: Those times Dr. John lit it up (Offbeat)
* How the Moers Festival became a celebration of avant-garde change (DW.com)

Sunday Session: January 29, 2017

Wynton Marsalis

Here are some interesting music-related items that have landed in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Errol Morris: The American Institution Of Philip Glass (NPR)
* Weekend LISTening: Rock Goes To The Symphony (NPR)
* Jamaica’s last vinyl factory Tuff Gong to start pressing records again (FactMag.com)
* Chuck Stewart, Master Jazz Photographer, Dies at 89 (WBGO)
* A Brief History of the Ownership of the Beatles Catalog (Billboard)
* From Flash Mobs To Janelle Monáe, Women's Marches Join A New Wave Of Protest Music (WBUR)
* John Cale’s Inventive Retrospection (The New Yorker)
* The History of Popularity (Los Angeles Review of Books)
* Sundance 2017: Grateful Dead Doc 'Long Strange Trip' Is Heartbreaking Tribute (Rolling Stone)
* FCC chairman nominee is bad news for musicians (Chicago Tribune)
* Founding Allman Brothers Band Drummer Butch Trucks Passes Away at 69 (JamBands.com)
* Can Wynton Marsalis and Lincoln Center Save Jazz Music? (Harvard Business School Weekly)
* The story of how 'Love Is All Around' became the theme to 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' (Los Angeles Times)
* Dr. John Has a New Music Director (Offbeat)
* How Laurie Anderson And Philip Glass Were About To Change The World (NPR)
* Jazz Innovators Unite for ‘Musicians Against Fascism’ Concert in NYC (DownBeat)
* Marilyn Maye: The Queen Of Cabaret (NPR)
* LSD May Help Reveal What Makes Music Meaningful (LiveScience.com)
* Music Must Compete In The "Attention Economy" says Sony Exec (Hypebot.com)
* Popular music magazine plots reunion tour in print (Columbia Journalism Review)
* NOLA Jazz Fest Announces Lineup (Jazz Times)

Sunday Session: December 18, 2016

Dr. John

Some interesting music-related items that have landed in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Nile Rodgers Reflects on Working With Prince & David Bowie: 'Both Saw the World In Ways Unlike We See the World' (Billboard)
* Eating raccoon with Dr. John (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
* Chuck Jones’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on Records (CartoonResearch.com)
* Before & After With Snarky Puppy's Michael League - Lots of insight, on little sleep (Jazz Times)
* Giving a Great Jazz Storyteller His Due (The New Yorker)
* Buddy Bolden house in danger (CradleOfJazzTour.com)
* Stanton Moore: Keeping Time and Making Time (JazzEdMagazine.com)
* WFMT expands, rebrands Jazz Network (RobertFeder.com)
* 'The Jingle King' Tracks Decline Of Original Music In Advertising (NPR)
* Jazz and Classical—Musical, Cultural, Listening Differences (New Music Box)
* High Notes: This Year Was Terrible, but at Least Local Jazz Labels Are Thriving (Village Voice)
* Wadada Leo Smith and Vijay Iyer: In Search of Cosmic Rhythm (TheLogJournal.com)
* Mack Avenue Expands Roster with Graves, Childs & DeFrancesco (DownBeat)
* Jazz Musicians the Beat Poets and French Existentialists Loved (KCRW)
* Picking Up the Piedmont Blues (Oxford American)
* John Luther Adams on Translating Birdsong and Paying Attention to the World’s Immensity (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* The Doors Reflect on Earliest Concerts, Jim Morrison's Genius (Rolling Stone)
* How ‘Mozart in the Jungle’ Brought an Obscure, Avant-Garde Piece of Classical Music to Rikers Island (FlavorWire.com)

Sunday Session: August 28, 2016

Wadada Leo Smith

Some interesting music-related items that have landed in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Reimagining Josephine Baker's Music in the Era of Black Lives Matter (New York Times)
* Is Sleep Music a Real Genre? (The Daily Beast)
* How Bad Urban Planning Led To The Birth Of A Billion-Dollar Genre (TheFader.com)
* Harmonica Virtuoso Toots Thielemans Dies at 94 (DownBeat)
* “Champeta is liberation”: The indestructible sound system culture of Afro-Colombia (FactMag.com)
* Zorn & Collaborators Hold Court in Engaging Vanguard Residency (DownBeat)
* Remembering Lou Pearlman: The Ponzi Schemer Who Spawned the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC & More (Billboard)
* A Visual History of Rock and Roll, Room by Empty Room (The New Yorker)
* How Sam Phillips Invented the Sound of Rock and Roll (Popular Mechanics)
* Grandmaster Flash on ‘The Get Down’ and how he used science to pioneer DJ techniques (Washington Post)
* ‘Sunday Night at the Vanguard’ by Fred Hersch Review - Looking at the special bond between a club and a composer (Wall Street Journal)
* Photography Book Documents Young Sinatra in New York (DownBeat)
* Divine disco: the beatific sub-genre that delivered sermons on the dancefloor (The Guardian UK)
* Why Japan has more old-fashioned music stores than anywhere else in the world (QZ.com)
* Sample Clearance Expert Pat “The Detective” Shannahan is The Avalanches’ Secret Weapon - The behind-the-scenes force for records by the Beastie Boys, Janet Jackson, Beck and more on 20 years of tracking down samples (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* See the Photographs That Captured the Icons of Jazz (TIME)
* Wadada Leo Smith Celebrates National Parks with Double Album (DownBeat)
* Legendary Jazz Recording Engineer Rudy Van Gelder Dies at 91 (DownBeat)
* Postscript: Rudy Van Gelder (1924-2016), Modern Jazz’s Listener of Genius (The New Yorker)
* Herb Alpert Foundation to donate $10.1 million to LACC — making studies for music majors tuition-free (Los Angeles Times)
* Watch Dr. John Praise James Booker's Piano Genius (Rolling Stone)
* Angelo Badalamenti Reveals How He and David Lynch Composed the Twin Peaks‘ “Love Theme” (OpenCulture.com)
* Keeping the Blues Alive (Smithsonian)
* The Ballad of Big Freedia: How the New Orleans Bounce Icon Was Betrayed By Her City’s Housing Crisis (Pitchfork.com)

Sunday Session: December 27, 2015

Terence Blanchard

For your Sunday reading, some interesting music-related items that have turned up recently in StlJN's inbox:

* Did the CIA’s Experiments With Psychedelic Drugs Unwittingly Create the Grateful Dead? (Medium.com/Collector's Weekly)
* A New Music Journey From The U.S. To Havana (NPR)
* 'Chi-Raq' Composer on Longtime Collaboration With Spike Lee: "It's a Mind-Meld Kind of Thing" (Hollywood Reporter)
* Jazz at Lincoln Center Opens Redesigned Atrium (Jazz Times)
* Music in 2030 (DavidEmeryOnline.com)
* Forget 1966, because 1981 was pop's year of revolution (The Guardian UK)
* The Data Behind A Hit Single (Hypebot.com)
* Fusion Reaction - Young artists are drawing new energy from forgotten electric jazz (Jazz Times)
* Dr. John promises a 'different curvature' for each night -- Dec. 27, 28 -- at Tipitina's (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
* Columbia House To Relaunch With Vinyl (Stereogum)
* The Most-Covered Christmas Songs Ever (FiveThirtyEight.com)
* Thanks to Brainfeeder, West Coast Jazz Is Cool Again (LA Weekly)
* Jamie Cullum and José James on Billie Holiday (Jazz Times)
* Interview With Blues Legend And “Last Man Standing,” Bobby Rush (Elmore)
* The strange story of Sun Ra’s lost doo-wop Christmas hit (The Vinyl Factory)
* Bill Evans - The Secret Sessions (Jazz Profiles)
* Pictures Of Infinity: Stewart Smith on the Cosmic Jazz Connection (The Wire)
* Crackle goes pop: how Stockhausen seduced the Beatles (The Guardian UK)
* John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' at 50: Saxophonists Ravi Coltrane & Archie Shepp Look Back (Billboard)

Sunday Session: March 8, 2015

Dr. John

For your Sunday reading, some interesting music-related items that have hit StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* America's Only Black Piano-Maker Soldiers on Through Slights and Triumphs (American Prospect)
* Life with Bob Dylan, 1989-2006 (Uncut)
* Elling, Charlap Celebrate 100 Years of Sinatra at 2015 Portland Jazz Fest (DownBeat)
* Dr. John Captures the Spirit of Satch at Louis Armstrong Tribute Show (Rolling Stone)
* NYC's Last Classical Sheet Music Store to Close (Wall Street Journal)
* Staple Singers march back into spotlight (USA Today)
* The Religious Experience of John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” (Medium.com)
* The Story of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, Released 50 Years Ago This Month (Open Culture)
* In Memoriam: Classic Album Producer Orrin Keepnews (DownBeat)
* Fresh Air Remembers 'Jazz Master' Orrin Keepnews (NPR)
* Are music subcultures losing their definition? (Vice.com)
* What Are The Mathematics of Jazz? (NPR)
* 50 Years On, Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians Influences Jazz (New York Times)
* Sonic Sabotage: The Noisy History Of Auto-Destructive Music (The Quietus)

Jazz this week: Dr. John and the Neville Brothers, Freddy Cole, Galactic and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, and more

Fat Tuesday has come and gone, but the musical spirit of Mardi Gras is lingering just a bit in St. Louis, as we've got three significant New Orleans acts performing in town over the weekend, plus several other events of interest to jazz fans.

Let's go to the highlights, starting tonight when singer and pianist Freddy Cole returns to St. Louis to open a four night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. The brother of legendary singer-pianist Nat "King" Cole, Freddy Cole is an accomplished performer in his own right and has proved to be a popular favorite here in St. Louis, so if you're thinking about attending, call ahead for a reservation. For more about Cole, see this video post from last Saturday, and this audio interview from the Jazz St. Louis podcast series.

On Thursday, it's a double-dose of jam-band funk as the New Orleans quintet Galactic and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe play at The Pageant. For some video of both bands in action, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago. Also on Thursday, singer Erin Bode returns to Brandt's, and pianist and singer Curt Landes leads his quartet in a free concert for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series.

On Friday, you can check out even more of the New Orleans sound as the Touhill Performing Arts Center presents "Mardi Gras Mambo" with singer/pianist Dr. John (pictured) and his band, the Lower 911, plus the Neville Brothers. You can read a brief preview of the concert here. Also on Friday, pianist Carolbeth True plays at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Saturday afternoon, the Nu-Art Series continues its current slate of shows at the Metropolitan Gallery featuring St. Louis musicians paying tribute to great jazz composers. This week's performance will feature pianist Ptah Williams' trio doing the music of bop pianist Bud Powell.

Also on Saturday afternoon, there's a jam session at the Grand Slam Sports Bar and Grill in Fenton to benefit singer Mae Wheeler, who has been battling cancer. Performers will include Ralph Butler, John King, Eddie Randle, Tony Viviano, Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, Pauline Starks, Tony Simmons, Carole Eder, Tom "Papa" Ray, Jeanne Trevor, Silvercloud, Rob Dryden and more.

On Sunday, there will be a brunch and concert at the Bistro at Grand Center to benefit Community Women Against Hardship, featuring music from Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, Luqman Hamza, Anita Jackson, and Jeff Anderson. Also on Sunday, singer Deborah Sharn and saxophonist Ray Vollmer will perform a free concert at Second Baptist Church in Clayton as part of the St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers 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 by becoming a "fan" of 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.)

Dr. John/Neville Brothers concert previewed in Alton Telegraph

Extending that Mardi Gras vibe for just a few more days, the New Orleans singer and pianist Dr. John and the Crescent City's premier funk band the Neville Brothers will be in St. Louis this Friday, Feburary 19 to play at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Vicki Pennington of the Alton Telegraph has written a preview of the "Mardi Gras Mambo" show, including some quotes from saxophonist Charles Neville, and you can read it online here.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Three from Dr. John

This week, let's take a look at some video clips of New Orleans pianist and singer Dr. John, who will be in St. Louis this Tuesday, August 4 to perform at at The Pageant. Though not strictly a jazzman per se, Dr. John (born Mac Rebennack) is a fine exemplar of the New Orleans musical tradition, blending jazz, blues, funk, gospel and more into an instantly recognizable personal sound. He's been a favorite in St. Louis for years, and reliably puts on an entertaining, well-paced show.

Today, we've got three videos representing more than 20 years of Dr. John performances. First up, the Doc shows off some of his boogie piano stylings on a rendition of "Mac's Boogie" recorded in 1986 at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Down below, the second clip is from another Montreux show in 1995, and features him doing a version of Ray Charles' "Mess Around". In the third spot is a video from last November, showing Dr. John and his current backup band The Lower 911 performing the syncopated Latin-funk number "Goin' Back to New Orleans" at the Paradiso in Amsterdam.

Jazz this week: Sax for Stax with Gerald Albright & Kirk Whalum, All That Tap XVIII, Dr. John, and more

As we head toward August and what's usually the slow time of the year for live jazz in St. Louis, there are still some noteworthy performances happening, including a couple of touring acts that are passing through town in the next few days.

On Thursday, saxophonists Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum (pictured) bring their "Sax for Stax" tour to the Ameristar Casino St Charles' Bottleneck Blues Bar. Named after Albright's recent CD that paid tribute to the hitmaking Memphis R&B label of the 1960s and 1970s, the tour also features some material from each man's back catalog, setting up the potential for some friendly jousting between the two old friends.

As an aside, it's my understanding that a number of the tour dates have also featured Kirk Whalum's sax-playing nephew, Kenneth Whalum. If Kirk's uncle - our town's Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, a fine pianist, singer and saxophonist - should happen make it out to St. Charles that night to sit in, there could be three generations of musical Whalums on one stage, which would be pretty cool. (Not to mention the possibly of a four-way tenor "battle"...) You can see some video excerpts from an earlier show in the Sax for Stax tour in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Then on Saturday night, the 18th annual All That Tap concert will take place at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, culminating the week-long St. Louis Tap Festival that began on Monday. The concert will feature the festival's founder and director, tap guru Robert L. Reed, and a stellar roster of dancers with credits from film, TV and Broadway performing with live musical accompaniment from pianist Carolbeth True and her trio. (For a bit of history and insight about the connection between tap dance and jazz music, go here and here.)

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday the New Orleans pianist and singer Dr. John and his band, the Lower 911, will perform at The Pageant. In keeping with our town's general affinity for the sounds of the Crescent City, Dr. John is always a popular attraction in St. Louis, but good tickets still may be available since this show was a relatively late addition to the calendar.

For more listings of jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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.)

Dr. John coming to The Pageant on Tuesday, August 4

New Orleans pianist and singer Dr. John (pictured) and his band the Lower 911 will return to St. Louis to play a concert at The Pageant on Tuesday, August 4.

The good Doctor has been a frequent visitor to the Gateway City over the years, dispensing his musical gumbo of blues, jazz, R&B and funk most recently this past spring at the Sheldon Concert Hall as part of the entertainment for that venue's annual benefit gala.

Tickets for Dr. John's concert at The Pageant go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, July 17 via the Pageant box office and Ticketmaster.

Touhill Performing Arts Center announces 2009-10 season

The Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis has announced its schedule of performances for the 2009-10 season, and while only a handful of the coming attractions are of interest to jazz fans, the TouPAC has succeeded in securing some well-known musicians to fill the slots allotted to jazz..

In addition to the previously announced concert by Sonny Rollins on Saturday, September 19, which is being presented by Jazz St. Louis as a rental at the TouPAC, the venue will host saxophonist Branford Marsalis (pictured) on Friday, February 12; a double-bill of the Neville Brothers and Dr. John on Friday, February 19; and a solo guitar performance by Pat Metheny on Saturday, May 8.

Also, although the lineup of guest musicians won't be revealed for some months, it was announced that the TouPAC once again will host the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, which is set for Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18.

(Regular StLJN readers may recall that Branford Marsalis' date, February 12, is the same day for which the online touring information Pollstar had, as reported here, added a listing showing drummer Brian Blade playing at the TouPAC.

Occam's Razor, coupled with the knowledge that the two have worked together in the past, would suggest that this means Blade will be backing Marsalis, but yr. humble editor has yet to confirm that particular detail. The news also suggests that Marsalis might be bringing an ensemble other than his primary quartet, which has featured Jeff "Tain" Watts behind the drum kit for ten years. More on this as we get it...)

The Touhill Performing Arts Center's season also includes pop, country and classical music, plus comedy, theater, dance and more; you can see the complete schedule on their Web site. Season tickets for 2009-10 are on sale starting today, with single tickets available beginning August 3. For subscription information and single ticket prices, visit the Web site or call 314-516-4949 or 866-516-4949.

Notes from the Net: Oliver Lake reviewed, Peter Erskine interviewed, John Zorn goes west, and more

A day late but otherwise none the worse for the wear, here's our weekly compilation of news and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Miles Davis' landmark album Kind of Blue officially turned 50 years old this past week, and the jazz blogs Straight No Chaser and Rifftides both had noteworthy commemorative posts. Also, here's a review of Scottish trumpeter Colin Steele's Kind of Blue tribute show, mentioned a couple of weeks ago in this space.

* Speaking of reviews, via Jazz.com, here's a report on saxophonist Oliver Lake's recent organ trio concert at Twins in Washington D.C., and, via AllAboutJazz.com, a review of Berne Concert, a new CD on Intakt Records for which Trio 3, which includes the former St. Louisan Lake (pictured), Andrew Cyrille on drums and bassist Reggie Workman, joined forces with pianist Irene Schweizer.

* And speaking of alto saxophonists with a St. Louis connection, SF Weekly had a nice feature on John Zorn's recent West Coast stand at Yoshi's. (Zorn studied here at Webster University before moving to NYC.)

* Following up on some items about recent visitors to St. Louis, here are a couple of reviews of the recent Thelonious Monk Town Hall tribute concert last week in NYC from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The concert featured ensembles led by Jason Moran (who was here last fall at the History Museum) and Charles Tolliver offering distinctly different takes on Monk's music.

* Here's a review of the Blue Note 7's album Mosaic. The group performed selections from the CD last month at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* The Smithsonian magazine has an interesting interview with another recent visitor to the Sheldon, New Orleans singer and pianist Dr. John

* Here's the New York Times review of Bela Fleck's new Africa Project CD; the related tour comes to the Sheldon on April 1.

* There's also news of a couple of the guest artists scheduled to appear at the upcoming Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival in April. Drummer Peter Erskine recently appeared with DJ and blogger Leroy "The JazzCat" Downs on his radio program "Live With The JazzCat," and an MP3 of their conversation is archived online here. Meanwhile, trumpeter Jon Faddis will lead the the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in "The Art of the Composer: Music by William Russo and Frank Foster" featuring special guest Von Freeman on Friday, March 20 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago.

* Last but not least, jazz journalist Howard Mandel laments that the economic stimulus money going to the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the bill that recently passed by Congress and signed by President Obama will be distributed only to previous recipients of NEA grants. Mandel notes that while this will help preserve existing arts institutions at a time when income from other funding sources is down - a worthy goal, to be sure - it won't necessarily help stimulate much new activity.

(Edited 3/11/09 to add more tags.)

Neville Brothers, Dr. John reviewed in Post-Dispatch

Last night's benefit performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall featuring the Neville Brothers and Dr. John was reviewed by Terry Perkins for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. You can read Perkins' review online here.

The Sheldon offering online pre-sale of tickets for Neville Brothers, Dr. John

The Sheldon Concert Hall is offering online ticket buyers a 24-hour head start on purchasing seats for its "Mardi Gras Mambo" benefit concert, which is scheduled for Sunday , February 8 and will feature the Neville Brothers and Dr. John and the Lower 911.

The online pre-sale begins at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, January 9. To purchase tickets, log on to metrotix.com/promotions and enter the promotion code MAMBO09. Single tickets are $75 for orchestra seats, $65 for balcony seats and $55 for the rear balcony. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, January 10.

Patron tickets are available now by calling The Sheldon at 314-533-9900, extension 14. These cost $250 and $150, and include preferred seating, complimentary parking, a post-concert reception with hors d'oeuvres and drinks, and a tax deduction.