Jazz this week: Jon Batiste and Stay Human, Jahmal Nichols CD release, and more

If you're looking to shake the mid-winter doldrums this weekend, your options for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis include the local debut of an up-and-coming New Orleans performer; an album release event featuring the first recording as a leader from one of our town's busiest bassists, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, saxophonist Lew Winer III leads a trio at The Engine Room, while singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black play at Nathalie's, a new restaurant on Lindell in the building that formerly housed Salt, and before that, Savor and the Cabaret at Savor.

Tomorrow night, bassist Jahmal Nichols will make his Jazz at the Bistro debut as a bandleader for the first of two nights promoting the release of his first album, 2 Worlds 1 Mind.

The band for the gig will include saxophonist Kendrick Smith, guitarist Eric Slaughter, keyboardists Cory James and Andre Thomas, and drummer Andrew Exum, plus "special guests," but advance information about the record is scarce, other than a YouTube video that lists the musicians who played on the CD over an excerpt of a unnamed track evoking  early Stanley Clarke. (In a coincidence of particularly unfortunate timing, Nichols' website appears either to have been recently domain-jacked or gone 404, so no help there, either.)

Also on Friday, the Gateway City Big Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; singer Feyza Eren fronts a quartet at Robbie's House of Jazz; percussionist Kaleb Kirby's Animal Children perform at The Engine Room; vibraphonist Tom Rickard leads a trio at Cigar Inn; and the Webster Groves High School jazz ensembles will present their annual fund-raising concert at The Pageant. 

On Saturday, the Joe Bozzi Band will play a lunchtime matinee at Talayna's of Chesterfield.

That evening, New Orleans pianist and singer Jon Batiste (pictured) and his band Stay Human will make their St. Louis debut at the Sheldon Concert Hall. You can hear an interview with Batiste, recorded in December for NPR's "Weekend Edition," and some samples of  his music here.

Elsewhere on Saturday, pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True will play at Robbie's House of Jazz, and the Funky Butt Brass Band returns for their monthly show at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

On Sunday, the St. Louis Jazz Club presents Miss Jubilee at the Doubletree Hotel at Westport.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday guitarist John Farrar's Park Avenue Jazz trio now are doing a regular weekly gig at Evangeline's Bistro and Music House; and fellow six-stringers Tom Byrne and Eric Slaughter will take the stage at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

On Tuesday, the Miles Davis Memorial Project will hold a mixer and informational meeting at Bossanova Martini Lounge and Restaurant in Alton.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: The Bad Plus, Nathaniel Bartlett plays Stockhausen, Lina Koutrakos, and more

As St. Louis continues to dig out from the big storm, it looks like this week's jazz and creative music performances around town should go on as scheduled.

Should the weather turns nasty again, however, we encourage you to call ahead before heading out to your venue of choice, and this site will be updated with any cancellation info received at StLJN HQ. Hoping for warmer temperatures soon, let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, The Bad Plus returns to St. Louis for the eighth consecutive year in January to open a four-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. At this point, most StLJN readers likely will be familiar with the critically acclaimed trio, but if you're not, you can check out our extensive previous coverage, including a couple of compilations of live performance video clips, here.

Since The Bad Plus have signed a new record deal with Sony, with their first album back on the label scheduled for release later this year, it seems likely the crowd at the Bistro will get a taste of some of that new material as well as selections from their back catalog. Given the possibility of new sounds in the offing, plus the group's extensive existing fan base here, advance reservations are strongly suggested.

Also tonight, percussionist Henry Claude and cellist Tracy Andreotti will bring their alternate identities The Steve and Jennifer Project to the Tavern of Fine Arts for an evening of improvised music.

Tomorrow night, Good 4 The Soul will make their monthly appearance at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen will perform at the new south side venue The Engine Room; and Miss Jubilee plays swing, jump blues and more at Thaxton Speakeasy.

On Friday, the Knights of Swing will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes trio will perform at Thurman Grill; and bassist Darrell Mixon will lead a trio at Cigar Inn.

Then on Saturday, percussionist Nathaniel Bartlett, who also was here in St. Louis last weekend, will be coming back through town after playing several other shows in the interim for another performance at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center. This time, Bartlett will perform two works from Stockhausen and an original piece by LNAC's Mark Sarich.

Elsewhere around town on Saturday night, singer Lina Koutrakos presents her cabaret show "Shades of Blue" at the Kranzberg Arts Center; singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black return to Chaser's Lounge at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel; singer Chuck Flowers fronts a trio at Robbie's House of Jazz; and guitarist Brian Vaccaro and his trio will play at the house concert venue KindaBlue, 6101 1/2 Idaho.

On Sunday, the "Inner Jazz" series at Kirkwood United Church of Christ continues with a free concert by trumpeter/pianist Tim Osiek and his quartet.

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.)

Engine Room revs up first month's schedule

The Engine Room at Feraro's, the new live music venue at 7700 Ivory St. on the south side, has announced its first full month's schedule, as assembled by musician and instrument-builder David Certain, who's serving as the club's "minister of music."

Things get underway this Tuesday when the club presents the first in a series of weekly jam sessions, hosted by a trio including Darrell Mixon on bass, Jack Lane on guitar, and Certain on drums. Wednesdays will be Reggae Night, featuring Oba Simba's Onix Reggae band.

Thursdays through Saturdays, the Engine Room will present a mix of jazz, funk, R&B and rock, with the first week's bookings including saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen on Thursday, January 9; guitarist Tom Byrne (pictured) and his trio on Friday, January 10; and singer Brian G. Soul and band on Saturday, January 11.

The rest of the month's schedule will include saxophonist Lew Winer III, leading a trio (January 16); Kaleb Kirby's Animal Children (January 17); CertainBeat WorldBop (January 18); a return gig for Dineen (January 23); pianist/singer Jesse Gannon and Truth (January 24); GeoBilly with Billy Barnett & George Potsos (January 25); trumpeter Ben Henderson's trio (January 30); and the Kevin Renick Band (January 31), with UberCool kicking off next month on Saturday, February 1.

Tuesday hours for live music will be 8:00 p.m. to midnight, with no cover charge. Reggae Night performances on Wednesdays will be 9:00 p.m. to midnight, with a $5 cover, while weekend shows will run from 8:00 p.m. to midnight with the same $5 cover. And if you're interested in following along on social media to keep up with future bookings, The Engine Room has both a Facebook page and Twitter account.

(Edited after posting to fix a typo and to correctly identify Brian G. Soul.) 

Jazz this week: The Brothers Peterson, Good 4 The Soul, New Year's Eve jazz in St. Louis, and more

With Santa Claus' labors complete and his flying reindeer out to pasture for another year, there are just a few days of live jazz and creative music left in 2013. Let's see what's coming up in and around St. Louis...

Tonight, it's the final "Avant-Garde Arts Night" of the year at the Tavern of Fine Arts, featuring live improvised sounds from musicians mostly associated with New Music Circle; and trumpeter Jim Manley plays his weekly gig at Joyia Tapas in the Grove neighborhood.

Tomorrow night, bassist Mark Peterson and guitarist Anthony Michael "Tru" Peterson, brothers and St. Louis natives, will team up as The Brothers Peterson for a homecoming performance at The Engine Room, a new live music venue at 7700 Ivory on the south side.

Also tomorrow night, in what's become a year-end tradition for the group, the jazz/funk/R&B quartet Good 4 The Soul (pictured) checks into Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights. Elsewhere around town, the Funky Butt Brass Band will play the Broadway Oyster Bar; the multi-talented trio of Curt Landes, Alan Ox and Vince Martin will join forces for a performance at Robbie's House of Jazz; and Wack-A-Doo will be at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

On Saturday evening, drummer Montez Coleman will lead a trio with keyboardist Matt Villinger and bassist Bob DeBoo in a live recording session at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Also on Saturday, singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black are back at Chaser's Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel; the Dixie Dudes play at Jazz on Broadway; the Kevin Mitchell 4 perform at Robbie's House of Jazz; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Then on Sunday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will perform at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and Dizzy Atmosphere plays the Schlafly Tap Room.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday The 442s return to Cyrano's, and saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective play their monthly gig at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

On Tuesday, if you're looking to hear some jazz on New Year's Eve, there are a few options to consider, though once again the city's best-known venue, Jazz at the Bistro, will be closed due to the annual First Night celebration in the surrounding Grand Center district.

As compensation, First Night includes some musical performances of potential interest among its family friendly offerings; this year's lineup features cabaret duo Joe Dreyer and Rosemary Watts, singers Brian Owens and Kim Massie, and electronic musician Eric Hall,  plus swing and Gypsy jazz from Dizzy Atmosphere and the Latin/jazz/world music of Farshid Etniko.

Elsewhere on New Year's Eve, singer Erin Bode and her band will perform for two seatings at Cyrano's, and singer Tony Viviano will headline the evening at Four Seasons Winery in Chesterfield.

Meanwhile, Robbie's House of Jazz will present a "New Year Eve Variety Show" with drummer Maurice Carnes' band, comedian Don Clair, Jeff Stewart's Broadway Show, Belly Dancing to the Blues and Nicholas Gates Dancers; and Miss Jubilee will provide the live music for a "Roaring 20s" event at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

(If you're looking for tickets for the sold-out New Years Eve Speakeasy Ball with Sarah Jane and The Blue Notes at The Deco Fortress, your best bet would seem to be to check the event's Facebook page for possible cancellations, returns, etc.)

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.)

The Brothers Peterson to perform Friday, December 27 at the Engine Room

This just in: Bassist Mark Peterson and guitarist Anthony Michael "Tru" Peterson, brothers and St. Louis natives, will be back in their hometown for a performance at 8:00 p.m. next Friday, December 27.  The gig will be at the Engine Room, a brand new music space at 7700 Ivory on the South Side that's next to Feraro's Pizza and run by the same owners.

Both of the Brothers Peterson, as they're being billed, have some impressive credits. Mark (pictured) has toured with singer Cassandra Wilson and numerous others, and now is working with Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid producing soundtracks for TV and film. "Tru" is a both a graduate and former faculty member of Berklee College of Music who's worked with the Black Rock Coalition, Oliver Lake, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and more.

They'll be joined by two St. Louis musicians, keyboardist Mike Carosello and David Certain, who's best known as a bassist but will be on drums for this gig. Certain also will be working with the Engine Room's proprietors to book more live music there in the future; stay tuned to StLJN for more details on that.

Admission to the Brothers Peterson at the Engine Room will be $10 at the door.