The Sheldon announces 2021-22 schedule

After more than a year of presenting mostly livestreaming performances due to the COVID pandemic, The Sheldon has announced its schedule of concerts for the 2021-22 season, starting in September.

The hall's "Rhythm & Jazz" series will include performances from New Orleans drummer Herlin Riley (Saturday, November 20); singer Dianne Reeves (Saturday, January 22); "Bessie, Billie & Nina - Pioneering Women in Jazz," starring singers Charenée Wade,  Camille Thurman, and Tahira Clayton (Saturday, March 3); and "The Great Guitars," with guitarists Martin Taylor, Frank Vignola, and John Jorgenson (Saturday, May 7).

In addition to these shows, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra (pictured) will perform in a non-subscription series concert on Thursday, October 21.

The Sheldon's "Coffee Concerts" series of Tuesday and Wednesday morning performances also will include some shows of interest to StLJN readers, with appearances scheduled for singers Erin Bode (October 12 & 13), Dean Christopher (November 9 & !0), Janet Evra (March 15 & 16) and Anita Jackson (April 18 & 20).

Subscriptions to the "Rhythm & Jazz" series are $160 each for orchestra seating, $140 for the balcony, while a "Coffee Concerts" subscription will be $75 for orchestra seating, $65 for the balcony. In addition to these two series, the Sheldon's 2021-22 schedule also includes slates of folk and classical concerts; see their website for details.

New series subscriptions will go on sale on Monday, June 7 via the Sheldon box office and Metrotix, with the date for single ticket sales and single ticket pricing still TBA.

Sunday Session: May 27, 2018

Bennie Maupin

Here's a roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* Bird's just a word but if you own a jazz bar it can land you in strife (The Age)
* How the Music Industry Messed Up Legal Streaming the First Time Around (Vice.com)
* It’s OK To Like Free Jazz (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Flow is Everything: Composer Henry Threadgill Dishes the 'Dirt' and More on The Checkout (WBGO)
* 'We Kept The Music Going': Bernard Purdie On Drumming For Aretha And More (NPR)
* ‘There will be a number one song that’s 100% AI-written’ (Musically.com)
* Carla Bley Extravaganza (EthanIverson.com)
* Frank Vignola: Given the Gift of Life (Jazz Times)
* Bennie Maupin Said No to Miles Davis and Survived in Jazz (Westword)
* Reggie Lucas, Guitarist And Producer Of Madonna's Debut, Has Died (WBGO)
* How did music become so unimportant? (GetIntoThis.co.uk)
* Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis says rap and hip-hop are ‘more damaging than a statue of Robert E. Lee’ (Washington Post)
* Jazz Musician Wynton Marsalis Claims Hip Hop Is "More Damaging Than A Statue Of Robert E. Lee" (HipHopDX.com)
* The Beatles' Esher Demos: The Lost Basement Tapes That Became the White Album (Rolling Stone)
* The 50 Best Jazz Bassists Of All Time (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Sony in $2.3 billion deal for EMI, becomes world's biggest music publisher (Reuters.com)
* Dissonant Intervals & Bittersweet Symphonies: Music’s Past, Present & Future (Medium.com)
* Guitars Are Getting More Popular. So Why Do We Think They’re Dying? (Rolling Stone)
* Looking Back, and Now Forward, As Delmark Records Faces a Crossroads (WBGO)
* Why Are Pop Stars Trying to Be Performance Artists? (The New Yorker)
* Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow Accused by Fired Staffer of Funneling Funds From MusiCares Charity (Billboard)
* Bach at the Burger King (Los Angeles Review of Books)
* The Father of Gospel Music Wanted to Be a Secular Star (Christianity Today)
* What's That Building? The Sunset Cafe Mural (WBEZ)
* Letter From Saint Petersburg - In 2018, International Jazz Day brings the beyond-politics cultural diplomacy of the U.N. to Russia (Jazz Times)

Jazz this week: Fuller, Jones & Wolf; "Swing Xing" with Bucky Pizzarelli; Jazz in Pink; and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis features two different all-star groups of visiting musicians, a return visit from one of the more prominent all-female ensembles in jazz, and a number of noteworthy shows from local bands and players. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, saxophonist Tia Fuller (pictured), who's in town for a Jazz St. Louis educational residency and weekend gig at Jazz at the Bistro, will present a free workshop and performance at Saxquest; and the Gaslight Cabaret Festival resumes with singer/actress Sheri Sanders and her show "Rock It" at the Gaslight Theater.

Also tonight, Good 4 The Soul returns for their monthly gig at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups; and guitarists Tom Byrne and William Lenihan will play as a duo at Remy's Kitchen & Wine Bar.

Tomorrow night, Fuller, trumpeter Sean Jones and vibraphonist Warren Wolf will play for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, supported by a St. Louis rhythm section of Peter Martin (piano), Jahmal Nichols (bass), and Montez Coleman (drums).

Jones and Wolf, like Fuller, are here this week doing educational residencies for Jazz St. Louis, and so since this is an ad hoc assembly rather than a regular working band, it's hard to say precisely what their repertoire will be. It seems likely that they'll draw on recent albums by the visitors - all three have recorded for the Mack Avenue label, with Wolf and Jones both releasing new CDs this year - but given the talent level, they should sound just fine no matter what they're playing.

Also on Friday, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival presents singer Carole J. Bufford in the first of two nights of her show "Body & Soul" at the Gaslight Theater. Bufford, who will be making her St. Louis debut with this show, was called “most likely to succeed” among the younger generation of New York cabaret performers by the New York Times' Stephen Holden.

Elsewhere around town, singer Erin Bode will perform at Nathalie's; singer Feyza Eren will be at the The Wine Press; and trumpeter Jim Manley returns to One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar.

On Saturday, guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo will present their touring production "Swing Xing! Three Generations of Swing Guitar" at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For a preview of that performance and video footage of all three guitarists in action, check out this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play swing, jump blues and more at Nathalie's; and guitarist Tom Byrne's trio will perform at Thurman Grill.

On Sunday, Jazz St. Louis will begin their new weekly Sunday jazz brunch at the Bistro, with musical accompaniment from guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran's Guerrilla Swing.

Then that afternoon, the St. Louis Jazz Club will present the Funky Butt Brass Band at the DoubleTree  Hilton at Westport, where perhaps concertgoers will get a live preview of some of the material from the FBBB's forthcoming album Sugar Sugar Whomp Whomp.

Right around the time that show wraps up, Jazz in Pink will be getting underway at the Sheldon Concert Hall, as the all-female band returns to St. Louis to play another benefit performance for Community Women Against Hardship.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Webster University Jazz Collective, featuring members of Webster's jazz faculty, will perform at Winifred Moore Auditorium on campus; and guitarist Dave Black and singer Joe Mancuso will return to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Then on Tuesday, the SIUE Concert Jazz Band, directed by guitarist Rick Haydon, and the recently formed SIUE Alumni Jazz Band will share the stage for a performance at Jazz at the Bistro, playing "your favorite charts from Basie, Ellington, and beyond."

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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A trip to "Swing Xing" with Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo

If you enjoy jazz guitar played in a traditional style, today's post might be right up your alley, as we feature not one, not two, but three guitarists - Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo - who will be performing together in a show called "Swing Xing: Three Generations of Jazz Guitar" next Saturday, November 15 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Pizzarelli, who will turn 89 in January, is of course one of the elder statesmen on his instrument, with credits including untold numbers of recordings, television and radio appearances, and live gigs stretching back nearly seven decades. He's also the father of singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli, and it was with his son that he performed most recently in St. Louis last December at Jazz at the Bistro.

Vignola also has headlined at the Bistro with his own band and with Raniolo, performing most recently at the club in May 2012. The three have worked together informally on various occasions and joined forces officially to tour with the "Swing Xing" show last year.

Unfortunately, there seem to be only a few videos online of all three guitarists playing together in the format they'll be using at the Sheldon, and we've already shared one of the best ones here as part of StLJN's fall 2014 jazz preview. So instead, here's a selection of clips featuring them in other combinations.

The first four videos, starting up above and continuing after the jump, all were recorded at Pizzarelli's 88th birthday celebration in January of this year at the Cutting Room in NYC, and feature him jamming on a series of standards with Vignola and fellow guitarists Ed Laub and Gene Bertoncini.

Below that, there are a couple of clips of Vignola and Raniolo performing as a duo. The first is a medley of "Summertime," "I Found A New Baby" and "Gypsymania" recorded last year in Wuppertal, while the second is described as "a classical medley with a twist," and was recorded last year in Ireland during Cloughtoberfest, an annual festival of gypsy jazz and swing.

For more of Bucky Pizzarelli, check out this Saturday video showcase that ran before his last appearance here, and for more of Vignola and Raniolo, see this one.

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

Sheldon Concert Hall announces 2014-15 season schedule

The Sheldon Concert Hall today announced the schedules for their various 2014-15 subscription series and special concerts, and as usual, there's some programming that will be of interest to StLJN readers.

With regard to the Sheldon's main jazz series, as tipped here on StLJN back in December 2013, it will get underway this fall with concerts featuring pianist Chick Corea (Saturday, October 11) and guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo (Saturday, November 15).

Also on tap for the jazz series is the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Experience (Saturday, March 21, 2015), which is led by the late, legendary trumpeter's former bassist John Lee. The current iteration of the group also includes Mario "Machito Jr." Grillo, son of the famed percussionist, as well as trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, who's played in the Gillespie memorial big band and worked with former St. Louisan Oliver Lake, among others; plus saxophonist Sharel Cassity, guitarist Yotam Silberstein, and drummer Robby Ameen.

Perhaps the most intriguing jazz series offering is the final one, as the much-talked-about singer Cécile McLorin Salvant (pictured) will make her St. Louis debut at the Sheldon on Saturday, May 2, 2015.

Winner of the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Vocals Competition, the 24-year-old Salvant was raised in Miami but went to Paris to study music. After winning the Monk competition, her career gained momentum in the States thanks to her work with pianist Jacky Terrasson and with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and took off in earnest with the release last year of her American debut album WomanChild.

As for the rest of the Sheldon's 2014-15 schedule, pianist Peter Martin will continue his eponymous series with concerts on Friday, November 21 and Friday, February 27, with the specifics of both programs TBA.

Also returning will be the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound*, whose first performance of their third St. Louis season will be as part of "250 Years of St. Louis Music: American Music at its Best!" a special event on Friday, October 17 that also will include jazz, blues, ragtime and more from Denise Thimes, Peter Martin, Kim Massie, Billy Peek, and other St. Louis favorites.

On their own, AWS will perform in concert on Saturday, December 11 - tentatively scheduled to be the North American premiere of Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy's extended work The Hunger - and on Friday, January 23 and Thursday, May 28, 2015.

The Coffee Concerts series will include performances from Cornet Chop Suey (Tuesday, October 7 and Wednesday, October 8) and Swing Set (Tuesday, April 21 and Wednesday, April 22, 2015), and the St. Louis Stompers will play a non-subscription Coffee Concert on Tuesday, February 10, 2015. Miss Jubilee also will put in an appearance, playing an 11 a.m. Saturday matinee on March 7, 2015.

Lastly, a couple of the "special concerts" may be of interest as well. South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela will perform with singer Vusi Mahlasela in a program called "20 Years of Freedom" on Saturday, October 4, and though the evening ostensibly will focus on "South Africa’s Freedom Songs," I'll bet you a nickel that Masekela finds a way to work in a bit of "Grazin' In The Grass" before the night is over.

Also, fans of big band, Latin jazz and/or Brazilian music may want to check out SpokFrevo Orquestra on Sunday, November 2. Led by Brazilian saxophonist Inaldo Cavalcante de Albuquerque, aka Spok, the 18-piece big band mixes jazz with frevo, a carnival rhythm and musical genre popular in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco.

Subscription tickets for the jazz series are $150 orchestra, $135 balcony. Subscriptions also are available for the Coffee Concerts and Peter Martin series. New subscriptions will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Monday, May 12 and continue through the first concert in each series.

Single tickets for the jazz series range from $35 to $50, and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Saturday,August 9 via MetroTix. You can find all the details on subscriptions, single ticket prices, and all the various series at the Sheldon on their website. 

* As mentioned here several times before, yr. humble StLJN editor is employed by a local public relations firm to, among other things, assist Alarm Will Sound with publicity in St. Louis and Columbia, MO. However, given the scope of StLJN's coverage, I'd be mentioning them even if I wasn't working for them. Now that you know this information, I trust that you, the reader, are capable of making your own judgments about any AWS-related hype and/or potential conflicts of interest.

Pollstar: Sheldon's 2014-15 season to include Chick Corea, guitarists Pizzarelli, Vignola & Raniolo

While it's not quite a glimpse into Christmas Future, there's a bit of news for St. Louis jazz fans this holiday week, as the online touring information service Pollstar has added listings for two jazz performances next fall at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Pollstar says pianist Chick Corea will perform at the Sheldon on Saturday, October 11, while "Swing Xing: Three Generations of Swing Guitar," with Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola, and Vinny Raniolo, will be the featured attraction on Saturday, November 15.

Corea (pictured) appeared in St. Louis most recently in March of this year, playing a duo concert with Bela Fleck at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Pizzarelli was here just last week, performing duets with his son John Pizzarelli at Jazz at the Bistro, while Vignola and Raniolo did a duo show here in May of last year at the Bistro.

As always, listings on Pollstar should be considered unconfirmed until officially announced by the presenter or venue. The Sheldon usually announces the schedule for their various season series in April.

Jazz this week: Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo, Madeleine Peyroux, Eastern Blok, Marcus Lewis, Miles Davis Jazz Festival, and more

The week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis offers a wide variety of sounds and sights, including Balkan-tinged guitar, funk trombone, fusion harp, saxophone-playing twins, a festival featuring St. Louis musicians paying tribute to our area's most famous jazz icon, and much more. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, guitarist Goran Ivanovic and his band Eastern Blok are coming down from Chicago to play a show at Pop's Blue Moon celebrating the release of their new CD Underwater.

Also tonight, trombonist Marcus Lewis is in town to perform at Robbie's House of Jazz. The Georgia native, who's toured with the Ohio Players and singer Janelle Monae, has a new album of his own called Facing East.

On Friday, the guitar duo of Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo plays the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro. Vignola's played the Bistro before, in 2008 and 2009, but this is the first time he's performed there in the duo format. For more about him and a taste of what he and Raniolo are up to, check out the videos in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, jazz harpist Jan Aldridge Clark, who's from Indianpolis, will perform at Robbie's; the Funky Butt Brass Band plays the Broadway Oyster Bar; and singer Zena Bott-Goins is at the Cigar Inn, backed by bassist Ryan Chamberlain, pianist Nathan Jatcko and drummer Marty Morrison.

On Saturday afternoon, Vignola will conduct a guitar workshop at City Music and Education Center.

A little later that afternoon, the Alton Museum of History and Art will present the seventh annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival at Trimpe Hall, Lewis & Clark Community College, 5800 Godfrey Rd in Godfrey, IL. The featured performers this year are saxophonist Fred Walker, trumpeter Jim Manley, the Soulard Blues Band, and singer Danita Mumphard with Trio Trés Bien. Tickets are $25 at the door.

Also on Saturday, guitarist Eric Slaughter leads a quartet at Robbie's; and the Bosman Twins will play their annual "Jazz and Blues Reunion" show at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups. The multi-woodwind-playing siblings will be joined by drummer Mike Scavatto, keyboardist Don Carson (who's in from Atlanta) and bassist J. Michael Kearsey (from Portland).

On Sunday, singer/guitarist Madeleine Peyroux (pictured) makes her St. Louis debut at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Peyroux, who's noted for a vocal style resembling Billie Holiday, began her career busking in Paris, and first came to wide public attention thanks to her 2005 album Careless Love. The Sheldon and Metrotix have a "buy one, get one free" offer on tickets for her concert; for details on that, go here.

Also on Sunday, the Saint Louis Jazz Club presents a matinee concert by the St. Louis Ragtimers at the DoubleTree Hotel at Westport.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the group Banjos & Brass will perform a concert at the Staenberg Arts & Education Building of the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Dr.; and pianist Dave Becherer's group is at BB's.

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.)

(Edited 5/18/12 to add the Saint Louis Jazz Club concert.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo

Today, let's sample a half-dozen video clips featuring the guitar duo of Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo, who will be in St. Louis next week to perform Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19 at Jazz at the Bistro. Vignola also will be presenting a guitar workshop on Saturday afternoon at City Music and Education Center.

Both have played here before, most recently with Vignola's quintet in 2009 at the Bistro. Vignola also recorded a live DVD at the Bistro in 2008, and has yet another St. Louis connection, in that he's written 15 instructional books on various aspects of guitar playing for our town's Mel Bay Publications.

The basic idea of the sort of guitar duo that Vignola and Raniolo are doing has been around in jazz since the 1930s, but they've developed their own take on the format, adding their own harmonic, melodic and arranging touches, and also incorporating interpretations of material from outside - sometimes well outside - the traditional repertoire.

You can start to get the idea while watching the first clip up above, taken from a performance at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) trade show earlier this year. It's a medley that starts and ends traditionally enough, with "Tico Tico" and "Gypsy Mania," but somewhere in the middle there, the guitarists interpolate both the theme from the film The Godfather and Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."

There's another combination of traditional and contemporary in the first video down below, as Vignola and Raniolo pair the standard "Stardust" with "Killing Me Softly," made famous by Roberta Flack. This clip was recorded in February 2011 at the Midwest Mid-Winter Gypsy Swing Festival in Madison WI, as was the following clip, which includes a version of the Ventures' "Walk Don't Run," the 1950s hit "Perfidia" and more.

More evidence of the pair's eclectic nature can be found in the fourth clip, taken from a live performance on radio station WMWV in New Hampshire, and titled "A Little Zappa, A Little Mozart." We close out with two more clips showing Vignola and Raniolo applying their chops to rock songs, specifically Kansas' "Dust In The Wind" and the Police's "Walking On The Moon."

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Frank Vignola to present guitar workshop Saturday, May 19 at City Music

Guitarist Frank Vignola will present a workshop at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, May 19 at City Music and Education Center, 9299 Watson Rd. in Crestwood. Vignola (pictured) will be in St. Louis that week to perform Friday, May 18 and Saturday, May 19 at Jazz at the Bistro.

According to the news release from City Music, the first hour will feature exercises and fingerboard study, while the second hour will include improvisation techniques and tips on "how to spice up your melody playing."

Tuition for the Frank Vignola guitar workshop is $25 per student, and you can register in advance online using PayPal here. For more information, contact City Music's Brian Vaccaro by phone at 314-961-8700 or via email at brian @ citymusicstl.com.

(Edited after posting to correct the nights Vignola is playing at the Bistro.)

Notes from the Net: "Miles From India" in NYC and Montreal; Elling, Bridgewater pay tribute to jazz classics, plus news, reviews, interviews & more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs 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:

* Let's start, as we often do, with some Miles Davis-related items. The Montreal Jazz Festival has announced that the ensemble for the "Miles From India" concert on July 4 at the Theatre Maisonneuve, Place des Arts will include bassist Darryl Jones, whose first big-time gig was with Miles and who now plays with the Rolling Stones, and the Indian percussionist Selvaganesh, a member of the group Remember Shakti.

On a related note, here a review done for AllAboutJazz.com by Martin Longley of a "Miles From India" performance in late May at NYC's Iridium. Also, via Miles Davis Online, we learn that drummer Jimmy Cobb and an edition of his So What band featuring Wallace Roney on trumpet did a Kind of Blue tribute at last weekend's Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles.

* Turning to news of coming attractions, singer Kurt Elling is performing songs from his new CD Dedicated to You this week at NYC's Birdland, and the news Web site/cable channel NY1 has a feature story with accompanying video. Elling will be in St. Louis in December at Jazz at the Bistro to perform material from the CD, which re-imagines songs from the famous collaboration of singer Johnny Hartman and saxophone legend John Coltrane.

* Here's a review for AAJ.com by Chris M. Slawecki of Bach in Havana, the new CD from Tiempo Libre. The band will perform in St. Louis next year at Washington University's Edison Theatre.

* Singer DeeDee Bridgewater (pictured) is performing material from her new Billie Holiday tribute CD during a week-long gig at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. Bridgewater will do her Holiday tribute in St. Louis this October at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* Speaking of the Sheldon, here's a review, written by Jerry D'Souza for AllABoutJazz.com, of guitarist Frank Vignola's Live at the Sheldon DVD from Mel Bay Records. Vignola's most recent St. Louis appearance was in May at Jazz at the Bistro.

* The funky organ trio Medeski, Martin & Wood, who were in St. Louis in April to play the Loyal Earth Festival, will play the music of John Zorn during a concert at the Barbican in London.

* Banjo player Bela Fleck, who brought his Africa Project tour to the Sheldon in April, also is doing some duo concerts with Toumani Diabate. Fleck and Diabate were just in Tuscon, AZ, and were featured in the Tucson Weekly.

* Lastly, a few items from the "general interest" files, starting with the unfortunate news that Jazz Times magazine has suspended publication. The mag hopes to find new owners and get back to publishing soon, but given the current economic climate, it's far from a done deal. Howard Mandel has details at his Jazz Beyond Jazz blog here.

* Meanwhile, the once very popular smooth jazz radio format continues to take a beating around the U.S.A, with more stations changing formats to rock music or talk in recent weeks. There's an interesting piece here from the Contra Costa Times (which covers communities near the Bay Area in California) that looks at this trend, noting that the whole notion of "smooth jazz" as a category of music was largely a creation of radio programmers.

* In happier news, the always interesting online jazz magazine Point of Departure has a new issue online.

* The Jazz Journalists Association Awards for this year were announced last Tuesday, and the list of winners includes several musicians who have performed in St. Louis in the past year, such as trumpeter Terence Blanchard, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith and electric bassist Steve Swallow. See the entire list of 2009 award recipients here.

* And in my favorite quirky-story-with-a-happy-ending of the week, drums and other music gear that had belonged to the late Max Roach and were stolen after his death turned up last week in an unlikely place: a barn in Byrdstown, TN. The gear is now on its way back to Roach's heirs; read the whole "lost and found" story here.

Jazz this week: Frank Vignola, David Fiuczynski, the Miles Davis Jazz Festival, Mae Wheeler's 75th birthday gala, and more

This weekend's menu of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a couple of first-rate guitar players with very different styles, and birthday tributes to a couple of St. Louis' most beloved jazz performers.

Let's start with guitarist Frank Vignola (pictured), who's playing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Vignola draws on influences ranging from swing and the Gypsy jazz sound of Django Reinhardt to bluegrass, and somehow manages to make it all work together. For some video samples of his playing, see this post from last Saturday.

Then there's the fourth annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival on Saturday at the new riverfront amphitheater in Alton. Saxophonist Willie Akins; trumpeter Jim Manley; drummer Howard Neal and his band, and the Alton High School Jazz Band will perform in celebration of the legendary trumpeter, who was born in Alton on May 26, 1926.

UPDATE - 10:55 a.m., 5/16/09: For more about the new Alton amphitheater and the Miles Davis Jazz Festival, check out this post I wrote for the Riverfront Times' music blog "A to Z".

On Saturday evening, guitarist David Fiuczynski will perform at The Gramophone. While the aforementioned Frank Vignola often can be found playing acoustic or lightly amplified guitar, "Fuse" Fiuczynski is best known as a plugged-in fusionmeister who comes out blazing, and then cranks it up from there. He'll be playing in a trio setting at The Gramophone, which should allow maximum room to stretch his considerable chops.

Then on Sunday, what I can only assume will be a constellation of St. Louis musical luminaries will gather for Mae Wheeler 75th birthday gala at the Sheldon Concert Hall. I say "assume" because, as best as I've been able to determine, there's been no announcement of the lineup of performers for this event.

(The Sheldon's Web site and the event's page at Metrotix both call it "An Affair To Remember," but don't list any singers or musicians. Similarly, while a Cotton Club-themed flyer received here at StLJN HQ notes that there will be a prize for the best vintage 1930s/1940s attire, and lists some other "Celeb's" who share Ms. Wheeler's astrological sign - Taurus, in case you wondering - there's no mention of who's performing. Calls to Ms. Wheeler, who has been battling cancer, were not returned.)

All of that said, given the esteem in which the local music community holds "Lady Jazz," and her long-established practice of assembling a whole parade of talented singers and musicians for her productions, the proceedings should be worth checking out even if the exact details are a bit vague before show time. There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of fans, friends, musicians, singers and students who have been touched over the years by Ms. Wheeler's music, philanthropy and fighting spirit, and surely many of them will show up Sunday at the Sheldon to help celebrate her 75th.

UPDATE - 10:34 a.m., 5/16/09: An updated version of the flyer for Wheeler's birthday gala arrived in my email inbox last night, listing the following as scheduled to perform: Adrianna Larkin, Babz Robnett, Denise Thimes, Kecia Davis, Kim Massie, Eneazer Moore, Jeff Hardin, Wendy Gordon, Renee Smith, Jeanne Trevor, Gene Lynn, Janice Battle, Craig Cervantes, Sherrie White, Merry Keller, Joyce Hines and Satin. Also, for a bit more about Wheeler, check out the Critic's Pick on the show I wrote for this week's Riverfront Times, available online here.

Elsewhere around town this weekend, the St. Louis Jazz Cafe has saxophonists Readus Miller on Thursday and Rod Tate on Friday, with Trio Tres Bien and vocalist Danita Mumphard on Saturday. Also on Saturday, guitarist Rex Bauer and his trio are at Brandt's.

For more 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The Return of Frank Vignola

Today, let's check out some video clips featuring guitarist Frank Vignola, who's returning to St. Louis next week to perform from Wednesday, May 13 through Saturday, May 16 at Jazz at the Bistro.

The versatile Vignola was last seen here in March 2008, performing at the Sheldon Concert Hall and recording a DVD for release by the St. Louis-based Mel Bay Records. Before that, Vignola also played the Bistro in the fall of 2007.

Vignola's music mixes swing, Gypsy music, bluegrass, modern jazz and more, all delivered with impressive technical facility, as you'll see in today's clips. The first video up above is a promotional clip from the DVD of Vignola's Sheldon show. Though the musical exceprts are short, it does give an idea of Vignola's stylistic range (and for us St. Louisans, it's kind of fun to see the familiar Sheldon stage, too).

Down below, there's a live clip from earlier this year of the guitarist and his band playing a jaunty little tune called "Salad and Donuts," and at the bottom, just for fun, there's a video from 2005 of Vignola's version of "Flight of the Bumblebee," which should serves as an ample demonstration of his speedy picking technique.

Pollstar: Frank Vignola returning to the Bistro in May 2009

The online tour information service Pollstar has just added a listing indicating that guitarist Frank Vignola will be returning to St. Louis next year to perform Wednesday, May 13 through Saturday, May 16, 2009 at Jazz at the Bistro.

As always, any early notification from Pollstar should be considered unconfirmed until officially announced by the venue. Jazz St. Louis usually announces the Bistro's season schedule in May, and should this date be confirmed, it would represent Vignola's third St. Louis gig in less than two years. He performed last week at the Sheldon Concert Hall, recording a DVD that will be released by Mel Bay Records, and also played at the Bistro for four nights in October 2007.

Jazz this week: Cyrus Chestnut, Frank Vignola, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, and more

Due to some technical difficulties here at StLJN HQ, I was unable to get this post up in time to note the appearance of singer Michael Buble on Wednesday evening at the Scottrade Center. Sorry 'bout that - if you're a big fan of Mr. Buble's, here's hoping you already knew he was coming to town, and planned appropriately. If not, well, either you don't care, or there's always next time. Buble and/or said technical difficulties notwithstanding, there are still a few worthy musical events this weekend that I want to call to your attention before any more time elapses.

On Thursday night, Jazz at the Bistro presents two sets by the the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra under the direction of bassist and bandleader Jim Widner. This big band is stocked with some fine St. Louis musicians and has been doing monthly gigs at the Bistro for nearly a year now. Given the precarious economics of presenting such a large ensemble, they probably can use all the in-person support they can get from big band fans to help bolster their case for continuing their regular date there on into the future. .

Also on Thursday, Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series presents a free concert by singer Anita Rosamond, who draws from a repertoire that includes jazz, R&B, soul and pop. In addition to her vocal stylings, Rosamond also will play piano, and she'll be accompanied at the gig by Nathan Jatcko on second keyboard, Chris Turnbaugh on bass and Jerry Mazucca on drums.

On Friday, guitarist Frank Vignola returns with his quintet to St. Louis for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall that also will serve as a live recording session for a DVD to be released by Mel Bay Records. For more on Vignola, see this post from a couple of weeks ago.

And speaking of encore appearances, this weekend also marks the return of pianist Cyrus Chestnut (pictured) to Jazz at the Bistro, where he'll be playing on Friday and Saturday. Chestnut's most recent CD is a collection of songs associated with Elvis Presley, given a jazz interpretation by the prodigious piano player and his group. I'd expect some of the Presley material to show up during his sets this weekend, but with Chestnut's deep roots in blues and gospel, classically trained chops, and discography that encompasses everything from standards and hard bop to covers of songs by the rock band Pavement, he's capable of going in almost any musical direction.

Looking beyond the weekend, singer Denise Thimes will perform at the Sheldon next Tuesday in a concert to benefit the the St. Louis chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (NCADA). (Note: The "benefit" link goes to a .pdf file.)

As always, this is just a sampling of what's happening around town; for more local 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.)

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Frank Vignola live in St. Louis

This week, let's take a look at a couple of video clips featuring guitarist Frank Vignola, who will return to St. Louis to perform Friday, March 7 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Vignola's concert will be recorded for a DVD to be released by Mel Bay Records; these two clips offer what could be considered a "sneak peek," recorded from the audience at Jazz at the Bistro during Vignola's last visit here in October 2007.

This video looks to have been made from on or near the staircase on the east side of the room, and though it's basically just a wide shot of the band, the audio is quite listenable. You'll see Vignola on guitar, along with Vinny Raniolo (guitar), Pete Coco (bass), Rich Zukor (percussion), Matt Flinner (mandolin) and Casey Driessen (violin). The two tunes on display, "Luke" (up above this paragraph) and "Kong Man" (down below), give a good taste of how Vignola skillfully blends jazz, bluegrass, gypsy music and various other styles in a way that seems both familiar and fresh.

Frank Vignola to perform, record DVD at the Sheldon on March 7

The Sheldon Concert Hall has just announced that guitarist Frank Vignola's quartet, plus a "special guest" yet to be revealed, will perform at the Sheldon on Friday, March 7, recording the concert for release on DVD.

The news release doesn't say who's putting out the DVD, though the St. Louis-based jazz guitar label Mel Bay Records, which released Vignola's recent CD of Gershwin tunes and also has done DVDs for some of its other artists, would seems to be a possibility.

In the meantime, know that tickets for Vignola's show will cost $30 and $25, and go on sale January 19 via Metrotix. Vignola's group just played Jazz at the Bistro in October; in addition to his work leading his own bands, his extensive list of credits includes touring and/or recording with David Grisman, Bucky Pizzarelli, Les Paul, Lionel Hampton, Donald Fagen, Queen Latifah, Elton John, Ringo Starr, Mark O’Connor and others.

Jazz this week: Stanley Jordan, Frank Vignola's Gypsy Grass, Airmen of Note, and more

It's a good weekend in St. Louis for fans of jazz guitar, as two very fine players are doing multi-night stands here in the Gateway City.

Stanley Jordan (pictured) will show off his distinctive two-handed tapping style at Finale Music and Dining on Thursday and Friday nights. This is the third time Jordan has played Finale in the last couple of years. From what I understand, he's been been a good draw for them, and so I'd expect a good turnout for these shows as well.

While Jordan is known for a very particular style of playing and specifically for his solo work, fellow plectrist Frank Vignola has toured and recorded in a variety of contexts, from straight-ahead concepts like his recent all-Gershwin CD for St. Louis-based Mel Bay Records to the Frank and Joe Show, which incorporated everything from Sinatra covers to TV cartoon theme songs into a more entertainment-oriented presentation. Vignola has also worked quite a bit with "dawg music" mandolinist David Grisman, and some of that same bluegrass-meets-hot-jazz sensibility is evident in Vignola's own group Gypsy Grass, which will perform at Jazz at the Bistro Wednesday through Saturday.

UPDATE - 3:15 p.m., 10/18/07: I see that the Bistro's Web site has deleted previous references to the Gypsy Grass band and is now billing this week's engagement as the Frank Vignola Quintet; ditto the the Bistro's weekly promotion email. I have no specific information about why this particular change was made, but usually, this sort of billing revision means there's been a last-minute change by the artist due to specific musicians not being available, illness, or other circumstances beyond their control.

The Bistro's parent organization Jazz St. Louis is actually competing with itself one night this week, since they also are presenting the Airmen of Note in a free concert at the Sheldon Concert Hall on Wednesday night. This show is part of JSL's effort to reach out to local band directors and their students, and from what education director Phil Dunlap tells me, plenty of both will be in the audience to see the group billed as the U.S. Air Force's premiere jazz big band. If you're interested in attending but don't already have tickets, I'd suggest calling ahead.

Other noteworthy gigs this weekend: On Saturday, pianist Ptah Williams will be leading his trio at Cookie's Jazz and More, while big band aficionados can check out the Tommy Money Orchestra at Finale. Sunday evening offers a couple of free concerts - BAG is presenting drummer Gary Sykes doing a tribute to fellow drummers Phillip Wilson, Joe Charles and Sonny Hamp at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe, and guitarists Steve Schenkel and Dan Rubright will duet on jazz versions of sacred songs at Emmanual Episcopal Church in Webster Groves.

Beyond the weekend, the annual TKT Memorial Scholarship Concert, which benefits music scholaships for students at Webster University, takes place Monday night at Webster's Winifred Moore Auditorium. This year's event features singers Debby Lennon and Sherry Drake performing "Music from the Movies" with the Webster Faculty Jazz Ensemble. Last but not least, on Tuesday Jazz St. Louis and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will team up to present another free show, a triple bill headlined by bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding at Lucas School House.

For a more extensive listing of local jazz-related events, 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.)

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Frank Vignola plays "Stardust," plus Tony Bennett's "In A Mellowtone"

Monday is Columbus Day, and so now seems as good a time as any to take a look at a couple of videos from musicians of Italian-American ancestry who will be performing in St. Louis this month.

Today's first clip features guitarist Frank Vignola, a jazz veteran who has recorded for a number of labels including St. Louis-based Mel Bay Records. One of his current projects is called Gypsy Grass, which, as the name implies, attempts to cross the "Gypsy jazz" style of Django Reinhardt with bluegrass, which makes sense since another Vignola's regular gigs is with the eclectic mandolinist David Grisman. Here, Vignola does the standard "Stardust," accompanied by Aaron Weinstein on violin, Vinny Raniolo on guitar and bassist Gary Mazzaroppi. He'll be performing with Gypsy Grass at Jazz at the Bistro from October 17 to October 20.

The second clip features a fellow named Anthony Dominick Benedetto, better known by his stage name: Tony Bennett. Just last month, Bennett won a shelf-full of Emmy awards for his most recent television special, and though he's now in his eighties, he doesn't seem to be slowing down much, if at all. He's got a new CD, a DVD and a book of his artwork coming out this fall, and his current tour will bring him to St. Louis' Fox Theatre on October 27.

Here, we see Bennett in a performance from 2000, singing the Duke Ellington classic "In A Mellowtone." This video illustrates his sly sense of swing and his obvious appreciation for, and enjoyment of, the contributions of his musicians, including his longtime accompanist Ralph Sharon on piano.

Vignola's Gershwin CD makes JazzWeek radio airplay chart

According to a news release from the label, Vignola plays Gershwin, the latest CD on St. Louis-based Mel Bay Records from guitarist Frank Vignola (pictured), reached #2 on the JazzWeek Jazz Album Chart for May 21, 2007. The JazzWeek charts measure radio airplay in North America.

The April 2007 release also features Joe Ascione on drums, Tom Kennedy on bass, and Corey Christiansen on guitar, and you can hear samples from the CD online here. Vignola is scheduled to bring his Gypsy Grass project to St. Louis in October to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

Mel Bay Records to release Vignola Plays Gershwin

St. Louis-based Mel Bay Records has yet another jazz guitar CD scheduled for release on April 17.

Vignola plays Gershwin showcases veteran guitarist Frank Vignola interpreting the music of George Gershwin. The CD features 14 of the composer’s most popular tunes, all recorded on July 21, 2006 at Music Masters Recording Studio in St. Louis. Vignola was joined on the recording by Joe Ascione on drums, Tom Kennedy on bass and Corey Christiansen on guitar.