So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold was the featured guest on this past Tuesday's episode of musician and producer Adrian Younge's “Invisible Blackness” podcast. (You may need an Amazon Music ID or Amazon Prime account to listen.)

* In tribute to the late pianist and composer Chick Corea, pianist Dred Scott has recorded and released on SoundCloud a one-man-band version of Corea's tune "Captain Marvel."

* A feature story from the San Jose Mercury News' Andrew Gilbert looks at how Miles Davis helped pianist and singer Shirley Horn achieve late-career stardom.

* Also on the Miles Davis beat, some previously unheard excerpts from a 1978 recording session of his surfaced this week on YouTube. Coming right in the middle of the trumpeter's five-year hiatus from music in the late 70s, the session at Columbia Studio in NYC was set up initially at the urging of guitarist Larry Coryell, who plays on the tracks along with drummer Al Foster, bassist T.M. Stevens, and keyboardists George Pavlis and Masabumi Kikuchi.

Significantly, Davis does not perform on trumpet during the session, choosing instead to play Pavlis' ARP Odyssey keyboard. You can listen to nearly 35 minutes of the group's takes on "Miss Last Summer" here. (An interview with Pavlis, done for the 2005 book The Last Miles, provides more perspective on the session and can be read here.)

* Saxophonist Eric Person has teamed with keyboardist Neil Alexander to create a new online performance series called "Night Flight Music Live." Taking place on the last Friday of every month, the series will feature performers from New York's Hudson Valley and is donation-driven, with 100% of the proceeds going to the artists after operating costs.

Person, Alexander and drummer Jeff Siegel will perform at 7:30 p.m. tonight from Cassandra Studios in Beacon, NY, and can be seen on the series' YouTube channel.

* St. Louis artist and musician Damon Davis (pictured) is one of three recipients of 2021 grants from Alarm Will Sound's Matt Marks Impact Fund, which was started by members of the new music ensemble to honor a founding member who passed away in 2018. You can find out more about Davis' project with AWS, a science-fiction opera called Ligeia Mare, in his interview with the web publication I Care If You Listen.

* Funky Butt Brass Band drummer Ron Sikes has started "The Jazz Chat Podcast" and his guest on the first episode released this week is saxophonist Joel Vanderheyden.

*"Keep Live Alive Saint Louis" is a 90-minute online video special produced locally to raise money for workers here in the music and events industries - ushers, ticket takers, bartenders, wait staff, sound & lighting technicians, stagehands, backstage crews, and more - who have lost income and jobs because of the pandemic.

Scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Friday, March 12, the special will include appearances from some well-known classic rock musicians and comedians, as well as St. Louis performers and radio personalities. Find out more or tune in via the group's Facebook page.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: More streamed concerts from St. Louis musicians

When the pandemic began last year, many musicians, venues and presenters began to offer performances streaming online, from solo concerts in living rooms to full-blown productions. StLJN over the last year has had a number of Saturday video posts collecting live streams staged by local organizations such as Jazz St. Louis and New Music Circle, and so this week, we're looking at a variety of other performances streamed recently by musicians from St. Louis.

Today's first video up above is the first of three featuring St. Louisans in New York, as saxophonist Eric Person leads a performance of a new work, "Blue Skys in the Distance," a five-part suite "inspired by sights and observations during the COVID Lockdown." It was recorded in December 2020 at Cassandra Recording Studio in Beacon, NY, with a band that also included Neil Alexander (keyboards), Adam Armstrong (bass), and Darrell Green (drums).

After the jump, you can see saxophonist Greg Osby with pianist John Chin and bassist Lonnie Plaxico in a concert recorded for the Woodwind Fest 2020 in December 2020 at Sear Sound in New York City.

Next up, it's Keyon Harrold with fellow trumpeters Marquis Hill, Theo Croker, and Giveton Gelin, pianist Mike King, bassist Ben Williams, and drummer Kendrick Scott in a performance billed as "Signatures in Brass" that was recorded in December at Smalls jazz club in NYC.

Moving closer to home, that's followed by pianist Peter Martin in a performance recorded in January at his studio here in St. Louis. It's one of a series of "Shelter in Place" solo concerts he's been doing weekly since last year.

The eclectic instrumental ensemble The 442s are next, in a performance recorded last October at The Sheldon.

The final video features the Red and Black Brass Band in a concert for KDHX's "Listen Live & Local" series that was recorded this past Tuesday, February 2.

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

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* St. Louis natives Eric Person and Keyon Harrold are among the recipients of a new round of composer commissions from the NYC-based Jazz Coalition.

* The restoration of Miles Davis' childhood home (pictured) by the not-for-profit organization House of Miles - East St. Louis (HOME) is the subject of a feature story by Riverfront Times writer Eric Berger.

* Also on the Davis beat, an article at InsideHook.com looks at how in the 1980s the trumpeter became the spokesperson for an obscure Japanese liquor brand.

* Bassist and recent transplant to St. Louis Damon Smith has a new album, Universal or Directional, now available on Bandcamp.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Members of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), including The Sheldon, Off Broadway, Old Rock House and more than a dozen others in St. Louis, are asking music fans to contact their Representatives and Senators in Washington DC to express support for including music venues in the next coronavirus relief bill. Their email appeal reads, in part:

"Small venues and performing arts centers were the first to close and will be the last to re-open. They arguably represent the industry hardest hit by the pandemic. They are completely shuttered small businesses in need of support in order to survive until it is safe to reopen.

The RESTART and Save Our Stages Acts will provide targeted relief to an industry largely left out of previous legislation, by providing Small Business Administration grants for independent venues and producers affected by COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, helping to keep them afloat financially and preserving the live performance ecosystem until the shows can return."

NIVA has set up a website specifically to promote the "Save Our Stages" effort. It includes a contact form that will automatically fill in the names of your Senators and Representative based on the zip code you enter, and can be found at https://www.saveourstages.com/.

* Saxophonist Eric Person (pictured) was interviewed on the "All That's Jazz" podcast.

* Person also was a guest on last week's episode of the "Just Jazz Cafe" web video series.

* Drummer Lenny White talked about his time with Miles Davis and making Davis' landmark album Bitches Brew as part of an episode of Jazziz magazine's "Last Call" podcast.

* Singer Denise Thimes was the featured guest on a recent episode of the "Chicago Music Revealed" podcast.

* Drummer Dave Weckl wrote a short article for Modern Drummer magazine about his work on a new five-song EP for his wife, singer Clivia Tanisi.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter and Webster Groves native Ally Hany Albrecht recently was featured with the U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West performing one of her original compositions on "AZAM," the morning newscast of the Fox affiliate in Phoenix, AZ. 

* A recent performance by saxophonist Eric Person (pictured) at The Falcon in Marlboro, NY was reviewed by writer Rudy Lu for the upstate NY arts website Nippertown.

* The Funky Butt Brass Band's new album Onward was reviewed by the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer.

* Also in the RFT, a look at Takeshima Records, a new Japanese-style "listening room" and bar opening this week on Chouteau Avenue in the Grove.

* "Job's Blues," a track from bassist Dan Loomis' new album Job's Trials, this week was featured as a "Download of the Day" on AllAboutJazz.com. Loomis also was interviewed this week about the album and his career on the "Neon Jazz" radio program hosted by Joe Dimino on KCXL in Liberty, MO.

* Jazz St. Louis has published on their website a Q&A with saxophonist Tim Warfield, who's performing at the venue through Sunday night.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Pianist Adam Maness' trio is profiled as another of the Riverfront Times' "STL 77" for 2018.

* WSIE 88.7 FM "The Sound" will have a new boss as of next Monday, May 21, as Jason Church is leaving his job as news director at talk radio station KFTK-FM to become the new general manager of WSIE, which is based on the campus of SIU Edwardsville.

Church has been involved in various jazz radio ventures in St. Louis for more than a decade, including doing on-air and program development work at smooth jazz station WSSM, internet radio station The Oasis, and Hip 96.3 HD-3; and hosting Radio Arts Foundation's "The Jazz Collective" on Saturday nights, a job he'll continue along with his new duties at WSIE.

* The Young Friends of Jazz St. Louis are accepting applications from individuals who would like to serve next season on their board of directors. Board members plan and lead the group's various activities and events to support the mission of Jazz St. Louis.

For more information, go to http://www.jazzstl.org/support/young-friends, or email youngfriends@jazzstl.org for an application.

* Pianist and St. Louis native Lawrence Fields (pictured) can be seen with the band Sound Prints, co-led by trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxophonist Joe Lovano, in a new video of Wayne Shorter's composition "Juju," recorded earlier this month at New Morning in Paris.

* Pianist Peter Martin has posted to Facebook a video of a full set from his shows with bassist Chris Thomas and drummer Brian Blade two weekends ago at Jazz St. Louis. (The music starts at approximately 17:40 into the video, which is an unedited recording of a live stream from that night.)

* Saxophonist Eric Person has posted to YouTube a video clip of "Juicy Lucy," recorded during his team-up with fellow saxophonist Houston Person in March 2017 at Dizzy's in NYC.

* Also just up on YouTube, the STL Free Jazz Collective's complete first set from last Saturday's performance at the 14th St. Artists Community.

* The latest dispatch from the St. Louis American's Delores Shante offers her impressions of a recent performance by singer Anita Jackson at The Dark Room.

* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch/STLtoday has put online a gallery of photos from singer Denise Thimes' Mothers' Day show at the Touhill. 

* Trumpeter Terence Blanchard talked about his new album Live and his gig this Sunday at the Grandel Theatre for a story by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Record megalabel Columbia/Legacy last week announced the release of a sixth volume in their "Bootleg Series" of Miles Davis live recordings.

Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Final Tour is a four-CD set (pictured) documenting five shows from Davis' 1960 tour of Europe, and is set for release on Friday, March 23, 2018.

* A story in UMSL Daily details the upcoming travels of the UMSL Big Band directed by Jim Widner, including a trip next week to Chicago for the annual Midwest Clinic and appearances in January at the Jazz Education Network convention in Dallas and the Missouri Music Educators Association conference at the Lake of the Ozarks.

* Singer, actor and Belleville native Lea DeLaria was the subject of a feature story on the website OutInStL.com. DeLaria, who's starred on Broadway and in cabaret, TV, and film, will make her debut at Jazz at the Bistro with shows on Wednesday, December 27 and Thursday, December 28 that also will feature singer Janis Siegel of Manhattan Transfer as a guest performer.

* The STL Free Jazz Collective has posted to YouTube a video of their complete performance with multi-instrumentalist Douglas Ewart earlier this month at the 14th St. Artist Community. 

* Also on YouTube, saxophonist Eric Person has posted a video from his show with fellow saxophonist Houston Person in March of this year at Dizzy's Club in NYC.

* The Sheldon has posted to Facebook a photo album from the Spanish Harlem Orchestra's performance there last week.

* Guitarist Dave Black's upcoming album, a collaboration with blues guitarists Tom Hall and Brian Curran, is previewed in a Riverfront Times story by Thomas Crone.

* Also in the RFT, the Funky Butt Brass Band's "Holiday Brasstravaganza" and their new Christmas album are the subjects of a brief feature story by Christian Schaeffer.

* Right Up On, saxophonist/composer Oliver Lake's recent recording in collaboration with the FLUX Quartet, made the New York Times' recently published list of "The 25 Best Classical Music Recordings of 2017."

* Singer Debby Lennon's latest theatrical role, as tone-deaf diva Florence Foster Jenkins in Max and Louis Productions' upcoming staging of the musical Souvenir, is the subject of a short feature by St. Louis Post-Dispatch theater critic Judith Newmark.

* Percussionist Moacyr Marchini of Samba Bom will lead a series of eight Brazilian percussion workshops for adult students beginning Wednesday, January 10 at Lucha in Grand Center. For more info about the workshops and how to sign up, go here.

* The venerable Edwardsville drinking spot Laurie's Place, which in recent months has featured a jazz jam session on Tuesday nights, will close at the end of this year.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Six St. Louis saxophonists you should know

When talk turns to saxophonists from St. Louis, many knowledgeable music fans will associate our city with David Sanborn and World Saxophone Quartet founding members Hamiet Bluiett, Oliver Lake and Julius Hemphill.

Sanborn, Bluiett, and Lake all grew up in this area, and Hemphill, though not a native, made an important contribution to the Black Artists Group here, and first gained national recognition for his album Dogon A.D., recorded at Oliver Sain's Archway Studios on Natural Bridge Rd. in north St. Louis.

Going beyond those well-known names, though, there definitely are more saxophonists with roots in the St. Louis area who are enjoying noteworthy careers in jazz and creative music, and today StLJN is featuring videos from six of them that every local jazz fan should know. After you've sampled their sounds here, check out their respective websites for more info.

Leading off is Greg Osby, who can be seen in the first video up above doing a spontaneous duet with bassist Christian McBride on the standard "The Song Is You," recorded in July 2014 at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

After the jump, it's Marty Ehrlich, playing a duet with pianist Myra Melford on her composition "Be Melting Snow," recorded in 2015 at The Stone in NYC.

That's followed by Eric Person doing a full set with his band Meta-Four, recorded in November 2016 at the Blue Note in NYC. Along with Person, the group includes guitarist Freddie Bryant, keyboardist Adam Klipple, bassist Adam Armstrong, and drummer Shinnosuke "Shin" Takahashi.

Next up is East St. Louis' own Andre Delano, seen here working the crowd on a version of Prince's "Adore," recorded in 2016 at The Tavern at Fire Station 1 in Silver Spring, MD.

The fifth video features Chris Cheek with his quintet performing his composition "Pelican Blues" in a show last month at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Along with Cheek, that's James Fernando on piano, Francois Chanvallon on guitar, Max Gerl on bass, and Tyson Jackson on drums.

In the final clip, Butch Thomas plays "La Belle Dame Sans Regrets," written by his former employer Sting, at a gig 2011 in Tampa FL, backed by Frank "Third" Richardson (drums), Tim George (bass), Ron Reinhardt (keyboards), and Peter Mongaya Hogsholm (guitar).

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

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Webster University will host the Audio Engineering Society's 11th Annual Central Regional Student Summit from Friday, March 24 through Sunday, March 26 on the main Webster campus.

The event will include presentations from audio experts on recording techniques and related topics such as technical ear training, sound system design, and psychoacoustics, plus a mix competition for students and a recording critiques panel. For more information, go to http://www.websteraes.org/.

* Saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person (pictured) will join forces with fellow saxophonist (and unrelated namesake) Houston Person for two nights of "Person2Person" next Wednesday, March 8 and Thursday, March 9 at Dizzy's Club in NYC's Jazz at Lincoln Center.

* Guitarist Todd Mosby has posted online a new video of his song "Western Sky."

* Pianist Peter Martin's company Open Studio Network is looking for looking for interns to help with video editing, social media, and curating and annotating musical content. Get the details via OSN's website.

* The video of Martin's version of "Another Day of Sun" from the soundtrack of Oscar-nominated film La La Land was featured on the website ClassicFM.com as part of a compilation of the best cover versions of music from the film.

* The online station UMSL Radio aka "The U" is now airing "Jazz on the U" from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. every Monday through Saturday. Check out the live stream, programmed by Steve Engelmeyer, at http://umslradio.com/.

* For his work as artistic director of the Sopot Jazz Festival in Sopot, Poland, saxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby has been named the city's "Cultural Personality of 2016."

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

It's been a week of various difficulties, technical and otherwise, here at StLJN HQ, but even though this post may be a bit later than usual, you'll still want to check out these short news items and assorted links from the past few days:

* According to posts this week on social media, bassist David Troncoso died on Monday, July 11 of complications from cancer. He was 70 years old.

Originally from Montebello, CA, Troncoso (pictured) was known particularly for his expertise in Latin jazz, but he played with a variety of St. Louis musicians and bands, as well as with nationally and internationally known performers including Carmen McRae, Peter Nero, Eddie Cano, Bobby Hutcherson, Clare Fischer, Nino Tempo, and more.

In addition to earning wide respect for his musical skills, Troncoso also is being remembered as a devoted dad, friend, and animal lover with a sharp sense of humor. No memorial service will be held, but according to his son Dave "Don Tron" Troncoso, plans for a musical "celebration of life" will be announced at a later date. Our condolences go out to David Troncoso's family, friends and musical associates.

* Jazz St. Louis' Gene Dobbs Bradford will lead a "Jazz History Ride" being offered to local bicycle enthusiasts tomorrow by Trailnet. The tour of "local jazz landmarks" starts at 10 a.m.; for details and last-minute registration info, go here.

* Saxophonist Oliver Lake was the subject of a brief feature story in SF Weekly previewing an upcoming gig in the Bay Area. .

* Saxophonist Eric Person and his band Meta-Four have booked a return appearance at NYC's Blue Note Jazz Club on Monday, September 19.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio Network has announced the pending release of yet another jazz education course on video, "Fundamentals of Jazz Trumpet" as taught by Sean Jones.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Tavern of Fine Arts (pictured), the Central West End restaurant and bar that has presented numerous jazz, free improv, cabaret, and classical music performances over the past five years, will close permanently at the end of service next Saturday, June 25.

In a message posted on the venue's website, proprietors Aaron Johnson and Matt Daniels wrote, "While the performances have often attracted large audiences, and we have always paid the bills, the business is not profitable." Next week's performances will go on as scheduled, but the closing means the cancellation of a CD release party planned by local free improvisors for next month, as well the loss of the venue for recurring events including poetry readings, a monthly free improv jam session, and Cabaret Project St. Louis' monthly "open mic."

* KDHX has posted online photo albums from Genesis Jazz Project's concert last Thursday at Chesterfield Amphitheater; the New Orleans Suspects' show on Friday at the Broadway Oyster Bar; and Saturday's "Summer Gras" at Old Rock House.

* Bjorn Rannheim of The 442s was interviewed about the band's new release RELAY on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis.

* Saxophonist Christopher Braig has started a podcast called, fittingly enough, Sax St. Louis Podcast, offering "an eclectic mix of music, jazz, saxophone history, interviews, performing and educational topics relating to the greater St. Louis music community." Episode 1 is online now, with a second installment promised soon.

* The culinary offerings at The Dark Room were the subject of features this past week in the Ladue News and on the morning newscast at KTVI/Fox 2.

* In a new entry on his blog Devil at the Confluence, author, historian, and illustrator Kevin Belford takes a deep dive into the question of how Jelly Roll Morton got credit for a recording of the song "Soap Suds" that actually was made by the St. Louis Levee Band.

* Belford also posted to Vimeo a 30-second clip from Blues for Charlie O'Brien, a "doc in progress" about the former St. Louis police detective who in the 1950s helped revive interest in the city's early blues and jazz performers.

* A new entry on Marc Myers' blog Jazzwax looks into the connection between guitarist Grant Green's 1965 album I Want to Hold Your Hand and the line of "Little LPs" produced for stereo jukeboxes by Blue Note records.

* Drummer Kimberly Thompson was honored for her work on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers at the SESAC Film & Television Composers Awards Dinner held on June 1 in Santa Monica, CA. The performing rights organization presented more than 100 awards to music composers in the categories of network TV, local TV, cable TV, film composing, jingles, and streaming media.

* Bassist and St. Louis native Dan Loomis will debut "Job's Trial's - Our Trials," a new jazz oratorio he composed for bass, guitar, drums, voices, and a narrator, in a performance next Friday, June 24 at IBeam Brooklyn in NYC.

* The website Boiler Room has posted online a video of trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold's performance at Revive Music's 10th anniversary event last month in NYC.

* Saxophonist Eric Person and his band Meta-Four are booked to perform at the 2016 Hudson Valley Jazz Festival, which takes place August 11-14 in Peekskill, NY.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Tomorrow, Saturday, April 2, is the long-awaited official opening day for the National Blues Museum (pictured) in downtown St. Louis, and the museum has a full program of activities on tap, including live music from a number of St. Louis blues performers. You can get all the details of the grand opening weekend schedule via the museum's website.

* In more St. Louis blues news, "Moonshine & Mojo Hands," a new web video series from the creators of the documentaries M for Mississippi and We Juke Up in Here, will get its local premiere at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 20 at that very same National Blues Museum.

The event is free and open to the public, and will include a Q&A session with the film's creators, Jeff Konkel, a St. Louisan who also runs the blues label Broke & Hungry Records, and former St. Louisan Roger Stolle, the proprietor of Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art in Clarksdale, MS.

* Even as the National Blues Museum opens, an historic former musical attraction from the St. Louis riverfront has met its final demise, as St. Louis Public Radio reports that the remains of the Goldenrod Showboat have reached the scrapyard.

* Saturday's dedication ceremony for the new Clark Terry mural in south St. Louis was noted by the Post-Dispatch's Joe Holleman.

* On a related note, while trumpeter Byron Stripling was in St. Louis last week paying tribute to Clark Terry with two nights of big band performances at Jazz at the Bistro, he also was interviewed about Terry and their long personal relationship by Steve Potter of St. Louis Public Radio's "St. Louis On The Air" program.

* The regional edition of Broadway World has reviewed the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis' current production Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing, which includes saxophonist Eric Person in an onstage role. The play continues through April 10 at The Rep.

* The Tritone Guitar Expo, happening Saturday and Sunday at the Cortex complex in the Central West End, got some more coverage this week from Fox 2 news. The Expo's organizers also have published an online "Family Guide" to the event, which will include kid-friendly activities on both days.

* The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra was the subject of a feature story written by Bill Motchan for the KDHX website.

* The 2nd Annual Arts Vibrancy Index by the National Center for Arts Research at Southern Methodist University has ranked St. Louis as 13th and Kansas City 19th among national "hotbeds" of arts and culture.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen and pianist Kara Baldus will be among the presenters when Washington University hosts SOFIA (Support Of Female Improvising Artists), a "conference for Girls and Women of all ages and creative disciplines" at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 13 in the Danforth University Center's Goldberg Formal Lounge.

The event will feature a master class and a panel discussion with Johänntgen (pictured), Baldus, and other female artists, with topics to include artistic training; developing a discipline; business in the arts; production of materials; scholarly archiving and documentation; and women's issues in arts and entertainment. The conference is free and open to the public.

* Tritone Guitars' Tritone Expo, set for April 2 and 3 at the @4240 building on the Cortex Innovation Community Campus, was previewed in a news story on local Fox affiliate KTVI. The event "will present nearly 70 music-related companies, artists, and non-profits from the St. Louis area spread out over 40,000 square feet of exhibition space on two floors."

* The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis' current production of Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing, which includes saxophonist Eric Person in a key onstage role, was featured in a story by Judith Newmark of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and reviewed by Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American.

* Also in the Post-Dispatch, pop music writer Kevin Johnson made note of The Dark Room's second anniversary celebration this Friday.

* Jazz St. Louis has announced the local launch of WeBop, a early childhood jazz education program intended for children ages 3 to 5 that was originally developed by NYC's Jazz at Lincoln Center. For info on the St. Louis WeBop program, visit http://www.jazzstl.org/education-outreach/webop/.

* JSL also has announced their first-ever "Sophisticated Singles" evening, which will take place starting at 8:00 p.m. Friday, April 1 in the first floor lounge next to the Ferring Jazz Bistro, 3536 Washington. Those looking to meet "culturally minded singles" are invited to "mingle in a crowd that shares your refined tastes" and sample drink and hors d'oeuvre specials while the SFJAZZ Collective plays across the hall. Admission is free, and no reservations are required.

* A recording by trumpeter Jim Manley is featured in a new promotional video for Stomvi USA's Flex GHM VR HG Mouthpiece.

* Saxophonist Oliver Lake has posted to Facebook an album of photos from a gig by his Organ Quartet in February at the Théâtre Cinéma Paul Éluard de Choisy-le-Roi, near Paris.

* Keyboardist, singer and former St. Louisan Jack Spann (who was known as Jon Rosen when he lived here) played on some demos last year for the late David Bowie's final album Blackstar, and recently talked about the sessions for a short feature story in St. Louis magazine.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Greg Osby was interviewed by the Warsaw Voice about his new role as curator of the Sopot Jazz Festival.

* Drummer Emanuel Harrold (pictured) was profiled by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

* Burlesque performer Lola Van Ella was interviewed by St. Louis magazine about her upcoming shows at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Keyboardist and presenter Mike Silverman has announced a date and lineup for the 2016 Chesterfield Jazz Festival. The event will be held on Saturday, June 25 at the Chesterfield Amphitheater, and will feature music from Bach to the Future with violinist Tracy Silverman, Matt Rowland Band, Soul Cafe, Kim Fuller, and Eric Slaughter with Ptah Williams, Darrell Mixon and Gary Sykes.

* Following last week's media appearances promoting his Open Studio Network, pianist Peter Martin has added a "Jazz Piano for Beginners" course to the company's catalog of online video music lessons.You can see some sample clips from the course here.

* Saxophonist Eric Person has a new website, with "new photos, CD reviews, updated bio, video and audio jukeboxes" and a blog open to fan comments. Person currently is back home in St. Louis to play an onstage role in Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing, which runs through April 10 at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.

Jazz this week: Dee Dee Bridgewater & Irvin Mayfield, Tammy McCann, Joe Krown, Pink Martini, and more

With the weather taking a timely spring-like turn, it's a very busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with a couple of touring headliners in town plus visits by some lesser-known but worthy musicians from NYC, Chicago, Boston and New Orleans.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, 
March 16
Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and trumpeter Irvin Mayfield (pictured, top left) will perform for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

The two have been touring together since last year in support of Dee Dee's Feathers, a collaborative album featuring contemporary interpretations of famous songs associated with Mayfield's hometown of New Orleans. For more about that, and some video samples of Bridgewater, Mayfield and their touring band, the New Orleans 7, in action, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Wednesday also is the opening night for Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing, a play at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis that includes in its cast saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person, who's in from NYC to make his theatrical debut in the production.

Set in 1947, the play by Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan is a story of "baseball by day and jazz by night as the impassioned and devoted players tried to find their place in a country on the verge of change." Playing a character called simply "Jazzman," Person will act and perform music composed for the play by Kansas City saxophonist and former Jazz Messenger Bobby Watson. The production runs through April 10 on The Rep's main stage.

Also on Wednesday, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Open Mic Night" at Tavern of Fine Arts, and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will be deploying an unusual lineup up of vocals, vibes and bass at The Feasting Fox.

Thursday, March 17
The critically acclaimed Chicago-based singer Tammy McCann (pictured, center left) will kick off the weekend's Gaslight Cabaret Festival shows with a performance of "The Storytellers - Sarah, Ella, Dinah and Billie" at the Gaslight Theater, while another Chicago native now based in Boston, drummer Yoron Israel, will bring his band High Standards to the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Friday, March 18
The touring theatrical production "In The Mood", a nostalgic evocation of the Swing Era featuring live music from an onstage big band, will be presented in matinee and evening performances at the Touhill Peforming Arts Center; and singer Marissa Mulder returns from NYC to present the first of two performance of a new show, "Fragments of Marilyn" at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Friday, The 442s will perform at Cyrano's; the Sentimental Journey Dance Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne return to Montrey's Cigar Lounge; and the Funky Butt Brass Band will play their monthly show at Broadway Oyster Bar.

Saturday, March 19
Another Chicago-based singer, Keri Johnsrud, will be making her St. Louis debut in concert with her quartet at The Chapel, while New Orleans keyboardist Joe Krown and his organ trio, featuring guitarist Walter "Wolfman" Washington and drummer Russell Batiste Jr. will bring the funk to the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Also on Saturday, guitarist Matthew Von Doran makes a rare live appearance with his trio at the gallery and event space 1900 Park; singer Danita Mumphard will performs in a benefit concert for North Side Community School; Franglais plays Gypsy jazz and swing at Evangeline's; and trumpeter Jim Manley and guitarist Randy Bahr's All-Star Band returns to Nathalie's

Sunday, March 20
Pianist Jon Weber, in town to accompany Tammy McCann and Melissa Mulder, gets his own moment in the spotlight with "From Joplin to Jarrett: 100 Years of Piano Jazz" at the Gaslight Theater; and the Dave Dickey Big Band plays their monthly gig at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Sunday, NYC-based saxophonist Michael Eaton will perform with organist Brad Whiteley and drummer Shareef Taher at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups. They'll be playing music from Eaton's 2014 album Individuation and previewing material from his planned next album Dialogical, which is scheduled to be recorded at live sessions next month in Brooklyn.

Monday, March 21
The eclectic ensemble Pink Martini (pictured, lower left), which draws on jazz, classical, Latin, and pop music to create a singularly suave sound, will make their St. Louis debut in a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Also on Monday, guitarist Steve Schenkel and pianist Kim Portnoy will perform in Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* A post at Marc Myers' JazzWax blog looks at how saxophonist and arranger Oliver Nelson wound up collaborating with Leo Gooden, owner of the Blue Note Club in East St. Louis, on the 1963 album Leo Sings With Strings.

* Jeff Schaefer (aka The Reapercussionist), the drum technician who hand-built the house kit now used at Jazz at the Bistro, was featured on KSDK's Show Me St. Louis.

* Speaking of KSDK, the station's longtime morning anchor and reporter Art Holliday was interviewed by Chris King of the St. Louis American about efforts to raise money for the music licensing needed to complete Holliday's long-awaited documentary film about the late pianist Johnnie Johnson.

* While they're in town to do a concert for New Music Circle on Friday, December 4, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and violinist Mark Feldman also will take part in a free, public performance and Q&A session at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 3 at Jackson Pianos, 4354 Olive St.

* The Vernacular String Trio's Alex Cunningham has posted to SoundCloud some audio from the group's set for the "3 Nights in September" festival at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

* The KDHX website has photos of saxophonist Eric Marienthal and Bach to the Future from last Saturday's benefit concert for Dillon International adoption agency.

* Turning to news of St. Louis expats, saxophonist Eric Person has posted to YouTube a video of a full set from his recent gig at the Blue Note in NYC.

* Singer Lynne Fiddmont (pictured) was interviewed on the web video series The Black & White Sessions.

* Trombonist and singer Joe Bowie has posted online the official video for "Voodoo Basics," a track from the new Defunkt album Mastervolt, which is currently available in Europe and will be released worldwide early next year.

* The Chicago Jazz Orchestra with guest soloists Wycliffe Gordon and Houston Person will pay tribute to the late trumpeter Clark Terry in a concert on Friday, December 18 at the Feinberg Theater in Chicago.

* Music for Lifelong Achievement (MFLA) and the Sheldon Concert Hall say that MFLA's recently concluded annual drive collected more than 50 used musical instruments, which will be refurbished as needed and then donated to local school and community music programs.

St. Louis area Starbucks stores served as collection points for the instrument drive, but MFLA also continues to accept donations of instruments and money year-round at the Sheldon and online at http://www.supportmfla.org/donations.php

* Two other programs working with local music students have launched online fundraising efforts via Gladitood.com: The North County Big Band, a group of students from several local school districts that rehearses and performs at The Sheldon; and Jazz St. Louis' "Jazz Academy," a new jazz education and training program developed specifically for middle school students in the Normandy, Riverview Gardens, and East St. Louis school districts.

* The Broadway Oyster Bar announced via Instagram that they've been named "Restaurant of the Year" by the Missouri Restaurant Association.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Phil Dunlap of Jazz St. Louis will provide the music for "Birth of the Cool: Jazz and Midcentury Modern Design" next Friday, November 20 at the St. Louis Art Museum.

Part of the museum's "Cocktails and Conversation" series, the event aims to "explore the connections between jazz and midcentury modern design."

* Bassist Tom Kennedy was interviewed by the website For Bass Players Only.

* Drummer Marcus Baylor (pictured) and his wife, singer Jean Baylor, are featured in a new ad for Future Sonics Spectrum Series G10 in-ear monitors.

* Singer Storm Large's show last weekend for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival was reviewed by Chuck Lavazzi of KDHX.

* Producers of last weekend's Nevermore Jazz Ball have posted several videos from the festivities on their new YouTube channel.

* Speaking of the Nevermore Jazz Ball, KDHX has posted online a set of photos from the event's Cherokee Street Jazz Crawl.

* More photo sets of interest online recently include pix from:
Saxophonist Eric Person's recent gig at the Blue Note in NYC;
Drummer Dave Weckl's current clinic tour of Asia;
Pianist Ramsey Lewis last Saturday night at the Sheldon Concert Hall; and
The STL Free Jazz Collective's show on Tuesday at the Sheldon.

* Voting in Jazz Times magazine's annual Readers Poll ends Monday, November 23.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Eric Person has released a new CD, DuoScope, which features duet performances with drummer Shinnosuke Takahashi. The album (pictured) is available now via CD Baby.

* St. Louis Public Radio has added a jazz channel to their online and HD offerings. Jazz KWMU-2 is streaming syndicated programming produced by Jazz Works, which offers a mix of mainstream modern jazz, Latin jazz, vocals, and more. You can see some sample playlists from the JazzWorks service here.

* In this week's St. Louis American, staff writer Kenya Vaughn reviews the latest album from singer Cecile McLorin Salvant.

* Saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett will celebrate his 75th birthday next week with a concert on Sunday, September 20 at the Chicago Academy of Music.

* A video excerpt showing saxophonist Willie Akins playing the blues at his own benefit concert last Friday at the Kranzberg Arts Center has been posted to YouTube.

* The band Soul Cafe won the fourth annual "Old Webster's Got Talent" contest last week, and will open the 2015 Old Webster Jazz & Blues Festival at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, September 19 on the Allen Avenue stage.

* Saxophonist, composer and onetime Webster University undergraduate John Zorn was the subject of a feature story in the Wall Street Journal.

* In what a cynic would say has the appearance of a classic holiday weekend newsdump, Grand Center announced last Friday evening that there will be no First Night celebration this year. There's no word yet as to whether venues in the district, which includes Jazz at the Bistro, the Sheldon, and the Kranzberg Arts Center, will be putting on any New Year's Eve programming of their own. Stay tuned...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Euclid Records has acquired the vinyl collection of the late St. Louis jazz DJ Leo Chears, and will be offering 6000 items from it this weekend in what they're calling "The Red Vest Sale" in a nod to Chears' signature apparel.

Chears (pictured), who died in 2006, had jazz programs on WAMV, KADI, KSD, WESL and WRTH over the course of a career than spanned five decades. Euclid's sale runs Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at their store in Webster Groves.

* Tim Schall, performer, producer and faculty member of the St. Louis Cabaret Conference, and Carol Schmidt, pianist and music director for a number of St. Louis performers, will be teaching two classes for aspiring cabaret singers this fall. "Cabaret 101" begins Monday, September 21 and runs for four weeks, followed directly by "Cabaret 201," which begins on Monday, October 19 and concludes on November 9

* Also on the education beat, multi-instrumentalist Adam Rugo will be teaching an African Drum Ensemble course starting Wednesday, September 16 at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. No previous experience is required, and drums are provided. To sign up, go to http://www.stlcc.edu/mySTLCC and use the self-service system to register for MUS 144.

* Pianist Peter Martin is a partner in a new startup, Open Studio Network, which will offer online music lessons from Martin and other well-known musicians, so far including guitarist Romero Lumbabo and drummer Greg Hutchinson.

* Saxophonist Eric Person has posted to Facebook a photo album of a recent gig with trumpeter Wallace Roney.

* Drummer Dave Weckl's Acoustic Band will be touring Asia this month, starting September 15 in Seoul, South Korea. The group which also features St. Louis native Tom Kennedy on bass along with pianist Makoto Ozone and saxophonist Gary Meek, will go on to play multiple dates in Japan before finishing up September 27 in Taiwan.

* The late trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry figures prominently in an archival article about jazz on television in 1965 that was reposted this week by DownBeat.

* Saxophonist Oliver Lake has posted to YouTube a video from his residency last fall at The Stone in NYC - specifically, an excerpt from a set with drummers Bill McClellan and Ed Nicholson.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold, currently touring with R&B singer D'Angelo, was interviewed on video by Demencha Magazine.

* Singer, actor, comedian, and Belleville native Lea DeLaria was interviewed by Slate about her new album of jazz covers of David Bowie songs.

* Saxophonist Eric Person is taking part this week in the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute's summer intensive at the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA. The week-long program "brings together jazz composers at various stages in their careers chosen from a national pool of applicants, to explore the challenges of writing for the symphony orchestra."

* The Bosman Twins were profiled in an article on the website Something Else.

* Beverly Hacker, longtime executive director at KDHX, has been placed on administrative leave by the community radio station's board of directors, and wrote about it in a "letter to the community" published by the Riverfront Times.

* Saxophonist Oliver Lake will participating in NYC's Charlie Parker Jazz Festival later this month, engaging in a conversation with fellow saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa on Thursday, August 20 at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and leading his big band in a performance Friday, April 21 at Marcus Garvey Park.

* The Goldenrod Showboat, once home to performances of traditional jazz and ragtime from the 1960s to the 1970s while moored on the St. Louis riverfront, is finally headed for the scrapyard. Attempts to resurrect the boat (pictured) have been abandoned after a recent attempt to move it from a remote spot along the Illinois River near Kampsville, IL to a safer location resulted in major structural damage.

The Historic Riverboat Preservation Association, the volunteer group that’s been working to preserve the boat, announced Wednesday morning that it will salvage what it can from the boat’s interior for a proposed riverboat museum.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, “Somethin’ Else” host Calvin Wilson will showcase the music of fast-rising bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding. The program begins at 8:00 p.m. and can be heard over the air on 107.3 FM, on HD radio at 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.