Jazz at Holmes sets summer series schedule

Although there's been no formal announcement yet, the Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University apparently has set their schedule for this summer.

A recent update to their site (linked above) lists four concerts for July 2011, starting with a performance on Thursday, July 7 by Ritmo Caliente, "one of St. Louis' premier Latin Jazz groups fusing modern improvisation with Caribbean and Brazilian music."

The following Thursday, July 14, it will be the St. Louis Jazz Ensemble with Maurice Carnes playing "straightahead modern repertoire and original music. The ensemble rotates a roster of the best of St. Louis' jazz community."

Next up on Thursday, July 21 is a trio led by guitarist Brian Vaccaro (pictured), playing "modern jazz...new sounds and music for the traditional instrumentation of guitar, bass and drums."

The Jazz at Holmes summer 2011 series will wrap up on Thursday, July 28 with The Poor People of Paris, "presenting traditional jazz along with European song."

All Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public, and begin at 8:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, which is located in Ridgley Hall, on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.

Jazz this week: Erin Bode, "Decades of Divas 2008," Two Times True, Return to Forever, and more

Time is short, and so the prose may be rather terse this week, as deadlines for actual paying work loom ominously. Still, you definitely should know about these jazz and creative music-related events that are happening in St. Louis over the next few days:

This evening, the Whitaker Music Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden continues with a free concert by Two Times True, featuring pianist Carolbeth True and her son David True on drums. For this performance, the two Trues will be joined by singer Christi John Bye, bassists Glen Smith and Marc Torlina, and saxophonist Larry Johnson.

Also this evening, the Sessions Big Band performs a free concert across the river at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, IL. And later in the evening and back in south St. Louis, the performance space Open Lot will present music from Zimbabwe Nkenya's Mbira Duo and a Chicago group called Spires That In The Sunset Rise, who are described as "an all-female free folk band...whose musical palette includes the spike fiddle, cello, bul bul tarang, various drums and bells, ecstatic yelps and cackles, and all manner of plectra." Admission to the Open Lot show is $7, and the doors open at 9:00 p.m.

On Thursday evening, there's another free concert, as the Jazz at Holmes summer series on the Washington University campus gets underway with a performance by singer and woodwind player Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris.

On Friday, singer Erin Bode and her band begin a three-day, six-show run at Jazz at the Bistro celebrating the release of her new CD The Little Garden. The disc, Bode's first since early 2006, features all original songs (save one), and will be available for purchase at the Bistro gigs. Bode will do sets at 8:30 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, plus matinee performances at 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Sunday. (Watch this space for more Bode-related linkage in the next day or two.)

On Saturday, several more of St. Louis' favorite female vocalists will be displaying their respective talents during the two performances of "Decades of Divas 2008" at the Edison Theatre. The show features singers Jeanne Trevor, Kim Massie, Anita Rosamond and Monya performing songs associated with Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, Patti LaBelle, Etta James and Gladys Knight. Bernie Hayes will MC, and provide some narration about the famous divas from a script penned by Terry Perkins. Performances are at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Some other noteworthy shows this weekend include Trio Tres Bien at Brandt's and Banda Caribe at Riddle's, both on Friday; and singer/pianist Sherry Drake at the Cabaret at Savor on Saturday.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday the Return to Forever reunion tour makes a stop in St. Louis for a concert at the Fox Theatre. The tour features the first reunion in 25 years of key band members Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Al DiMeola and Lenny White (pictured, as they were back in the day), and the reviews and press reports from the shows so far sound promising. Tickets are still available as of this writing, and until Friday, the Post-Dispatch also has a promotion giving away some passes to the show.

And last but not least, on the radio this week, Tony Renner will be spinning some traditional jazz finds on this Thursday's installment of his program The Scientific Method, heard at 10 a.m. on KWUR (90.3 FM); Don Wolff settles in to his second month broadcasting his show I Love Jazz at its new time, 10:00 p.m. Fridays, on its new home KFUO (99.1 FM); and Dennis Owsley has scheduled a brand-new Jazz Unlimited program at 9:00 p.m. Sunday on KWMU (90.7 FM)

For more St. Louis jazz-related events 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.)

Jazz at Holmes announces summer 2008 schedule

The Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University is presenting a summer schedule again this year, and they released information on the lineup for summer 2008 to the public today:

The series kicks off next Thursday, June 12 with the French cabaret and jazz sounds of vocalist and woodwind player Elsie Parker (pictured) and The Poor People of Paris. The rest of the schedule is as follows:

Thursday, June 19 - Pianist Curt Landes
Thursday, July 10 - Drummer Bensid Thigpen & group play the music of Wayne Shorter
Thursday, July 17 - Guitarist Vincent Varvel
Thursday, July 24 - Drummer Miles Vandiver
Friday, August 8 - Trumpeter Randy Holmes and his sextet
Thursday, August 14 - Pianist Ptah Williams (outdoors in Brookings Quadrangle.)

All performances are free and open to the public and take place from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, unless otherwise noted. Holmes Lounge is located in Ridgley Hall, on the western side of Brookings Quadrangle. For more information, you can call 314-862-0874 or send an email to staylor@wustl.edu.

Jazz this week: Support your local jazz musicians

With a record-setting heat wave in St. Louis this week, just about anyone who can is hunkering down somewhere air-conditioned and/or moving about as little as humanly possible.

And though these dog days of mid-August find our town once again devoid of touring jazz musicians for the weekend, our stalwart locals will be performing as always for your edification and entertainment. Should you dare to brave the infernoesque temperatures and soupy humidity long enough to transport yourself to a local nightspot, there's a good chance you'll enjoy one or more of the following:

Tonight, Jeff Anderson's Positive Energy Quartet is playing at Brandt's.

On Friday, trombonist (and bassist) Wayne Coniglio teams up with multi-woodwind player and singer Elsie Parker (pictured), best known for her work with the French-accented musical group The Poor People of Paris, to perform at Cookie's Jazz and More.

Then on Saturday, the very fine pianist Ptah Williams brings his trio to Cookie's, while singer Anita Rosamond returns to Finale Music and Dining, this time with a show focused on 1960s and 1970s pop and soul.

And last, but certainly not least, singer Mae "Lady Jazz" Wheeler will be at Brandt's on Sunday for another of her late afternoon/early evening performances.

These are your jazzmen and jazzwomen, St. Louis (and you can find a few more local jazz-related events any time you like simply by visiting the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar).

These hard-working men and women are out there doing their best, even in this undeniably blistering weather, to bring some cool music to our collective ears - so get on out this weekend and show some support, OK? (Reliable sources tell me that not only are the aforementioned nightspots air-conditioned, they also serve cold beverages along with the music. So seriously, the heat is no excuse not to go. )

(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.)