Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, October 9
The all-star band Artemis (pictured, top left) will make their St. Louis debut with the first of five nights of performances at Jazz St. Louis.
Formed a couple of years ago at the instigation of pianist Renee Rosnes, Artemis features a lineup of musicians who all are bandleaders in their own right, including tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, clarinetist Anat Cohen, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller.
Given the difficulties of juggling six busy schedules, Artemis has had only occasional chances to work together a unit, but their five-night run here should give them ample opportunities to dig into their catalog, which includes original compositions from the various members as well as familiar material ranging from Thelonious Monk to the Beatles. In the meantime, you can get idea of what to expect by checking out the videos in this post from last Saturday.
Thursday, October 10
Singer Robert Nelson performs at the Chase Club, and drummer Stephen Haake leads a trio at The Dark Room.
Trumpeter Keyon Harrold and writer Quincy Troupe (pictured, center left) will team up for a program called "The Shape of Abstraction: Trumpet and Voice, Call and Response" at the St. Louis Art Museum.
Both St. Louis natives, Troupe and Harrold also are connected through Miles Davis. Troupe co-authored the trumpeter's autobiography and later wrote his own memoir about their relationship, while Harrold supplied music for the soundtrack of Don Cheadle's 2016 film Miles Ahead, a semi-fictionalized account of Davis in the 1970s, and also has been involved in several tributes to Davis.
Along with poetry by Troupe and music by Harrold, the event will feature images of works of art by black artists currently on view at the museum as part of the exhibition "The Shape of Abstraction: Selections from the Ollie Collection."
Also on Friday, the Jazz Troubadours will perform at Evangeline's, and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.
On Saturday afternoon, singer Wendy Gordon (pictured, bottom left) presents the latest production in her "Jazz Heaven" series, "Gone But Not Forgotten," at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre, with a cast of singers including Kim Fuller-Barnes, Joe Mancuso, Robert Nelson, Roland Johnson, Michael Chatman, and the Legend Singers Chorale Ensemble.
Saturday night, singer and bassist Janet Evra performs in concert at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton; local and regional electronic musicians and bands will gather for Synthfest IV at The Heavy Anchor; and the Funky Butt Brass Band returns to the Broadway Oyster Bar.
Sunday, October 13
Singer Chuck Flowers returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and saxophonist Chad Evans and singer Felica Ezell-Gillespie will perform in a matinee concert at the Ozark Theatre.
Also on Sunday, percussionist Joe Pastor leads a trio at Evangeline's, and Orchestrated 9th will reprise their "Tribute to Herbie Hancock" at Troy's Listening Room.
Monday, October 14
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck.
Tuesday, October 15
Cabaret Project St. Louis will present their monthly "Singers Open Mic" at Sophie's Artist Lounge & Cocktail Club, and Arvell Keithley, Jim Manley and the Wild Cool & Swingin' Horns return for an encore performance at the Gaslight Theater.
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.)
