So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Fred Walker, a longtime veteran of the local music scene, is facing some serious health issues, having spent time earlier this year in the hospital for a collapsed lung.

Since doctors have told Walker that he no longer can perform on the saxophone, friends have set up a page on GoFundMe to help raise money for his medical and living expenses. There also will be a benefit concert for Walker featuring local blues and jazz performers from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 17 at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.

* Steve Pick of KDHX and Euclid Records has teamed up with fellow St. Louis writer Amanda Doyle to author St. Louis Sound, a newly released "illustrated timeline" of local music history.

Publishers Reedy Press are promoting the book (pictured) with a series of five shows this month featuring local musicians grouped by genre at different venues. It gets underway Saturday, March 23 with a jazz concert at the Grandel Theatre featuring the Adam Maness Trio, trumpeter Danny Campbell, singer Anita Jackson, and singer/multi-instrumentalist Tonina, with subsequent evenings focused on rock, blues, hip-hop, and Americana.

* Speaking of Tonina, she recently was the subject of a feature story in Alive! magazine.

* Clarinetist and former St. Louisan Chloe Feoranzo was the subject of a Riverfront Times feature by Thomas Crone. Feoranzo, who's now based in New Orleans, will be back in St. Louis for a concert next Wednesday, March 13 at Focal Point.

* Saxophonist and educator Harvey Lockhart got a nice mention in the South Florida Times for bringing the Point of View Ensemble, made up of his students from Riverview Gardens High School, to the 22nd annual Melton Mustafa Jazz Festival in Miami, FL.

* Jazz St. Louis is now accepting applications from middle- and high school student musicians for the 2019-20 year of their JazzU program. The deadline to apply is Saturday, April 26.

* 50/Fifty Kitchen, the south side restaurant that also served up live jazz weekly from singer Joe Mancuso and others, has closed.

* In a week marking 60 years since Miles Davis started recording his most famous album, an article in The Independent takes a look at "Kind of Blue: The jazz album by Miles Davis that transformed music," while author and critic Ted Gioia has recorded a video asking, "How Important Really Is Miles Davis’s "Kind Of Blue"?"

* Also on the Miles Davis beat: A remastered 180-gram vinyl LP reisssue of his 1957 album 'Round About Midnight is included among the just-announced list of special releases for this year's Record Store Day on Saturday, April 20; the trumpeter's mid-1950s recordings for the Blue Note label are the subject of an article just published on UDiscoverMusic.com; and representatives of the Davis estate will be at the SXSW conference in Austin, TX later this month, promoting various projects via the Miles Davis House.

11th annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival set for Saturday, June 4 at Jacoby Arts Center

The 11th annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival in Davis' birthplace of Alton, IL is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Saturday, June 4 at the Jacoby Arts Center, 627 E. Broadway in Alton.

A nonet led by pianist and Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap (pictured) will headline the event, playing arrangements from Miles Davis' landmark album Birth of the Cool as well as other music associated with the trumpeter.

Along with Dunlap on piano, the band will include Bob DeBoo (bass), Kaleb Kirby (drums), Danny Campbell (trumpet), Ben Reece (alto sax), Andy Ament (baritone sax), Eli Pandolfi (French horn), Jim Martin (tuba), and Jim Owens (trombone).

Also performing at the festival will be saxophonist Fred Walker, the Dilbert Caldwell Band, and the duo Me and Bob (aka singer Ellen Martinez and keyboardist Bob Werner).

General admission tickets to the Miles Davis Jazz Festival will be $20 per person at the door, with proceeds benefiting the Alton Museum Of History And Art. For more information, call 618-462-2763.

Miles on Monday: Miles Davis Jazz Festival scheduled for Saturday, June 27, and more

This week for "Miles on Monday," some recent news items related to the legendary trumpeter:

* The tenth annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival will be held on Saturday, June 27 at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton, IL.

This year's lineup will be headed by drummer Montez Coleman's trio featuring pianist Adam Maness, with support acts including saxophonist Fred Walker and a quartet led by trumpeter Danny Campbell with bassist Jeff Anderson, drummer Marty Morrison, and pianist Matt Villinger.

Tickets for the Miles Davis Jazz Festival are $25 each, and can be purchased in advance at the Alton Museum of History & Art, which is producing the event, or at the door.

* Miles & Coltrane: Blue, a play recently produced at the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, NC, was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's K. Shackelford. The production starred Sultan Omar El-Amin as Davis and Quentin Talley as Coltrane (pictured).

* In Davis' autobiography, published in 1990, the trumpeter identified three artists as the possible "future of music." Now, a new article just out on Mic.com looks at Davis' prognostication and how those musicians' careers have turned out.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saturday's Miles Davis Jazz Festival in Alton is the subject of a preview article by the Alton Telegraph's Jill Moon. Trumpeter Russell Gunn headlines, with saxophonist Fred Walker (pictured) and prog-rock band Locrian Manor as opening acts.

* Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock was interviewed about her current tour by Cleveland Scene. She and her husband, drummer Tom Rainey, will be in St. Louis on Monday and Tuesday to perform in two events presented by New Music Circle.

* A new episode of I Love Jazz, hosted by Don Wolff and featuring footage of Jeremy Davenport from the Sheldon Concert Hall, debuted last night on HEC-TV. Check your TV provider's program guide for times and dates, or watch it on HEC's website.

* Speaking of The Sheldon, they've compiled on Soundcloud an audio sampler of tracks from musicians featured in their various 2014-15 season series.

* The New Orleans-style cuisine of the Broadway Oyster Bar was sampled and enjoyed by the Associated Press' Alan Scherzagier.

* Actor/director Don Cheadle's long-anticipated movie about Miles Davis, which apparently now has had its title changed from Kill The Trumpet Player to Miles Ahead, will film this summer in Cincinnati.

* Bill Brownlee of Plastic Sax grades the recently announced 2014-15 jazz series at Kansas City's Folly Theater. Highlights will include concerts by pianists Fred Hersch and Danilo Perez and guitarist Earl Klugh.

* The Gramophone is partnering with the conservation organization Magnificent Missouri to create Magnificent Missouri Music, "a compilation of original songs about all the amazing things we can do out of doors in our great state." The album will be released on CD and vinyl, and there will be a "usage stipend" paid for any songs selected, which can be brand new or already released. Submissions are open until June 30; for more information, email magmo (at) thegramophonelive.com.

* The trial opened this week for two men accused of killing Patrice Thimes, sister of singer Denise Thimes, during an exchange of gunfire on St. Patrick's Day of 2011. Patrice Thimes was passing by the scene of the gunfight in her car and was hit by a stray bullet; her accused killers face charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, and a third suspect will be tried at a later date.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's "Somethin' Else" presents compositions from the songbook of Irving Berlin as performed by musicians including Branford Marsalis, Diana Krall, and Chick Corea.

Next up, Jason Church's "The Jazz Collective" will have tunes from Jonathan Butler, Nathan East, Citrus Sun, Nina Simone, Willie Bobo, Cal Tjader, Donald Byrd, and Bob James, as well as locals such as Tom Byrne, Elliott Ranney, Dreaming In Colour, and Jesse Gannon.

Wilson's program airs at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by Church at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Meanwhile, on Sunday night's edition of KWMU's "Jazz Unlimited", host Dennis Owsley will feature music from the Pacific Jazz record label, with tracks from Art Pepper, Shorty Rogers, Joe Pass, Chico Hamilton, Bud Shank & Laurindo Almeida, Jimmy Rowles, John Lewis, Bill Perkins, the Jazz Crusaders, Gerry Mulligan, Richard "Groove" Holmes, and many more. The program airs from 9:00 p.m. to midnight; you can listen to the broadcast at 90.7 FM or hear it online at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/listen.php.

Edited after posting to add info on this week's "Jazz Unlimited" program.

Russell Gunn to headline Miles Davis Jazz Festival on Saturday, May 17

Trumpeter Russell Gunn will be coming back home to headline the 2014 Miles Davis Jazz Festival, which will take place starting at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, May 17 at the Jacoby Arts Center, 627 E. Broadway in Alton.

The opening acts will be saxophonist Fred Walker, a veteran of several past MDJFs, and Riverbend-area prog/alt-rock band Locrian Manor.

Gunn, who grew up in East St. Louis and now lives in Atlanta, will be accompanied by bassist Bob DeBoo and drummer Montez Coleman, who, like Gunn, is an alumnus of ESL Lincoln High School's award-winning jazz band, directed by Ronald Carter.

The trumpeter (pictured) also has an affinity for Davis' music that goes beyond their shared hometown, as in 2007 he recorded an entire album of Davis' music, Russell Gunn Plays Miles. His most recent appearance in the St. Louis area was just this past Sunday with singer Dionne Ferris at the Casino Queen's Club Sevens.

Tickets for the 2014 Miles Davis Jazz Festival featuring Russell Gunn are $25 each, and will be on sale starting Sunday, March 23 at the Alton Museum of History and Art and Jacoby Arts Center. Proceeds from the event will benefit the not-for-profit Alton Museum.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Tonight's New Music Circle concert featuring Trinity Piano Trio was previewed by Terry Perkins of the St. Louis Beacon and Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

* Actress/singer Molly Ringwald, who will be in St. Louis to perform next Tuesday and Wednesday at Jazz at the Bistro, had a few words with the P-D's Kevin Johnson.

* Oliver Lake's recent big band release Wheels was reviewed by Aaron Cohen and made an Editors' Pick in the latest issue of DownBeat, while All Decks, the saxophonist and former St. Louisan's recent collaborative effort with Christian Weber and Dieter Ulrich, was reviewed by John Sharpe for AllAboutJazz.com

* Singer and former St. Louisan Jan Shapiro's latest CD Piano Bar After Hours was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's C. Michael Bailey.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn is profiled in the latest issue of the American Federation of Musicians' publication International Musician. Sanborn and keyboardist Bob James are about to launch a tour in support of their new collaborative album Quartette Humaine, and to promote it, they've also released a "making of" video and are offering a free download of a sample track, "Deep In The Weeds," from the recording.

* Speaking of Sanborns, longtime local DJ and impresario Rick Sanborn (no relation to David) will be a guest on this Saturday night's broadcast of "The Jazz Collective" with Jason Church. The program airs at 9:00 p.m. as part of the Saturday night jazz block on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis' new classical station, following the syndicated "Jazz at Lincoln Center" at 7:00 p.m. and "Somethin' Else" with Calvin Wilson at 8:00 p.m.. RAF-STL's programming can be heard on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

* And while we're on the radio beat, the sixth part of Dennis Owsley's audio documentary on the history of St. Louis jazz, covering the Black Artists Group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, will air during Owsley's "Jazz Unlilmited" program at 9:00 p.m. this Sunday on KWMU (90.7 FM). Also, the Sheldon Art Galleries have announced that they will reprise the companion exhibition for Owsley's book City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973 this summer from June 7 until August 17.

* Saxophonist Fred Walker (pictured) is one of the plaintiffs in a suit filed this week by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the City of St. Louis' new licensing requirements for street performers. The suit alleges that, by forcing performers to audition and charging a $100 fee for a permit, the ordinance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments with vague terms that outlaw “a substantial amount of expressive activity.”

* Lastly, filmmaker Rod Milam sent a link to a brief video showing artist and fellow U City native Tom Seltzer installing his original limited edition prints of portraits of jazz greats at Dizzy's On 5th in Park Slope in Brooklyn, NYC. The show went up this past Sunday, May 5 and will hang until November 2013. Seltzer's subjects include Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins. The images can be seen online and prints purchased at http://seltzerstudio.com/store.