Sunday Session: July 5, 2020

Freddy Cole

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* John Scofield Honors Steve Swallow on New Album (Jazz Times)
* Revisiting the lost recording of Pink Floyd jamming with jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli on ‘Wish You Were Here’ (FarOutMagazine.co.uk)
* Identifying a melody by studying a musician’s body language (News.MIT.edu)
* Freddy Cole, Singer Who Eluded the Shadow of His Brother Nat "King" Cole, Has Died at 88 (WBGO)
* How Jazz Is Coping with COVID-19 (Jazz Times)
* Pixar’s Upcoming “Soul” May Have a Problem: No Actual Soul Music, Most of the Artists Included So Far Are White (ShowBiz411.com)
* Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard Talk Scoring to Picture on ‘Da 5 Bloods’ (Watch) (Variety)
* In conversation with saxophonist Kamasi Washington (Bay State Banner)
* Making Music With Brain Waves And Heartbeats (AEON.co)
* Making A New Kind Of Scene: New York City's Five Spot (WFIU)
* Societal Reckoning Over Racism Encompasses The Jazz Community (DownBeat)
* Jacques Coursil 1938–2020 (The Wire)
* The car radio turns 90 this year. Here’s how it all came about (AJournalOfMusicalThings.com)
* 48 Hours With Backpack Jazz Producer Kassa Overall (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
* Who in their right mind would go to a "herd immunity" music festival? (Mic.com)
* Full Spectrum: Derrick Hodge Sees Endless Possibilities In Music (DownBeat)
* Reflections on unlocking live music by Tony Dudley-Evans (London Jazz News)
* Thurston Moore: Into the Out World (Jazz Times)
* The Kosmische Path Less Traveled: Nine Krautrock Rarities to Know (Bandcamp.com)
* Can the music take flight again? (Financial Times)
* Eddie Henderson On Maturity And Revisiting Bop Standards (DownBeat)
* The Short and Curious Life of Wade Legge (Buffalo Rising)
* Experiment Without Inhibition: A Celebration of Anthony Braxton (River Cities Reader)
* Impulse! Records: An Alternative Top 20 Zeitgeist Seizing Albums (AllAboutJazz.com)
* A Conversation with Zappa, Vol. 1 (American Songwriter)
* An encounter with Keith Tippett (The Wire)
* With YouTube Music, Google is holding my speakers for ransom (Ars Technica)
* Georgia Anne Muldrow Finds ‘The Sound Of Mixed Emotions’ (DownBeat)
* The Summer Of ’70: What Was It Good For? Absolutely…American Top 40 (RadioInsight.com)
* Musicians and Composers Respond to a Chaotic Moment (The New Yorker)
* Plunge into the world of Sun Ra and the Outer Space Visual Communicator (CDM.link)
* Five Black Jazzworld Figures Detail How Racism Impacts The Industry (DownBeat)

Jazz this week: Freddy Cole & Houston Person, Arturo Sandoval & Jane Monheit, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes two shows featuring two visiting headliners for the price of one, plus a Middle Eastern instrumental virtuoso and the usual assortment of performances in various styles from our hometown's own.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 23
Pianist and singer Freddy Cole and his quintet with special guest saxophonist Houston Person (pictured, top left) will perform for the first of five nights continuing through Sunday at Jazz St. Louis.

Cole, the brother of the legendary Nat "King" Cole, shares his late sibling's general air of suavity and his good taste in songs and musicians, but has established his own identity as a performer, as defiantly noted in his original song "I'm Not My Brother, I'm Me." Person, a veteran steeped in bebop, blues and ballads, seems a fine match for Cole, as both not only are of the same generation but share an old-school musical sensibility.

Also in Grand Center, this week's "Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl" includes pianist Ethan Leinwand at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo, and singer Erika Johnson, debuting her new organ trio at The Dark Room.

Thursday, October 24
Guitarist Brian Vaccaro leads a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and keyboardist Andrew Stephen returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, October 25
Guitarist Dave Black, recovered from a serious cycling accident this summer that took him out of action for a couple of month, plays solo at The Dark Room; and Iraqi-American oud player Rahim Al Haj brings his trio, plus guest pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson, to the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Also on Friday, the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and the Oîkos Ensemble teams up with SkyStone Conservatory Dance Ensemble and the Logos Readers for "Earth Walk Returns," a multi-disciplinary performance at the First Congregational Church of Webster Groves.

Saturday, 
October 26
The annual "Friends of the Sheldon Benefit" features trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, his band, and guest singer Jane Monheit (pictured, bottom left) in a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Sandoval, the Cuban-born protege of Dizzy Gillespie turned multiple Grammy Award winner, certainly can bring the pyrotechnics on trumpet when the situation calls for it, while Monheit belongs in any discussion of the top women jazz singers working today.

Both usually headline their own shows, though they have done some select gigs in this configuration, and so it should be interesting to hear what musical ground brings them together, and how they choose to navigate it.  You can see some recent performances by Sandoval on video in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, The Gaslight Squares return to the Frisco Barroom.

Sunday, October 27
Miss Jubilee performs for jazz brunch at Evangeline's; and bassist Ben Wheeler’s Sketchbook plays an evening concert at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Monday, October 28
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck, and pianist Kim Portnoy leads a big band playing original works in a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster University campus.

Elsewhere around town, the Folk School of KDHX has moved their Traditional Jazz Jam Session to Monday nights, and made it a weekly event.

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

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

Jazz this week: Freddy Cole & Harry Allen, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Kirk Whalum, Chris Corsano & Darin Gray, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis features lots more holiday-themed programming, with Christmas shows from two touring headliners and several local performers, plus at least a few shows that may not contain any seasonal music. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, December 6
Singer and pianist Freddy Cole and his frequent collaborator/guest star, tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, (pictured, top left) make their return for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

The brother of the late Nat "King" Cole, Freddy Cole shares his famous sibling's suave demeanor, relaxed vocal delivery, and appreciation for the Great American Songbook, yet has managed to carve out his own niche as an entertainer and interpreter of classic material. With Allen alongside in recent years, Cole has developed a good following here in multiple appearances over time - most recently in May 2016 at the Bistro - so advance reservations are strongly suggested.

Elsewhere around town, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra will present what they're calling "1/2 a Holiday Concert" at the Webster Groves Concert Hall, and singer Erin Bode returns to Cyrano's.

Also on Wednesday, the students in the Washington University Jazz Band will play a free concert at 560 Music Center; and this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features multi-instrumentalist T.J Müller at Squatters Cafe, the jam session with bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, December 7
Speaking of Nat "King" Cole, the musical theater production "An Unforgettable Nat King Cole Christmas," starring Chicago-based actor and singer Evan Tyrone Martin as Cole, opens a ten-day run at the Playhouse at Westport Plaza.

Also on Thursday, the Funky Butt Brass Band plays an early evening show at Blues City Deli; the Jazz at Holmes series presents a holiday concert featuring performances from Wash U students and faculty; and the Liberation Organ Trio plays at The Dark Room

Friday, December 8
NYC's Spanish Harlem Orchestra (pictured, center left) makes their St. Louis debut with their holiday show “Salsa Navidad” at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Formed 17 years ago and led by pianist Oscar Hernández, the SOH has taken the sound of New York salsa and Latin jazz to audiences all around the world, earning acclaim as accomplished, energetic and authentic representatives of those genres. You can find out more and see some video samples of them performing in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, singer Anita Jackson will perform for the late-night set at The Dark Room.

Saturday, December 9
Keyboardist, educator and East St. Louis native Reggie Thomas will be back in town to direct a "Reunion Concert" of the SIU-Edwardsville Vocal Jazz Ensemble, presented as a matinee in Monsanto Hall of the Missouri Botanical Garden's Ridgeway Visitor Center.

Then on Saturday night, The Wire Pilots with multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman and singer Lydia Ruffin will perform at The Chapel.

Sunday, 
December 10
Saxophonist Kirk Whalum (pictured, bottom left) brings this year's edition of "A Gospel According to Jazz Christmas," with special guests Jonathan Butler, Sheléa, John Stoddart, and Kevin Whalum, to the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church.

And for those in the mood for something completely different, improvising percussionist Chris Corsano and bassist Darin Gray will be teaming up to headline a show of improvised and/or experimental music at El Leñador Bar & Grill with Larva & Ghost Ice and Complainer opening.

Monday, December 11
Dizzy Atmosphere plays swing and Gypsy jazz for diners at The Shaved Duck, and the Webster University Jazz Singers present their "Holiday Concert" at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

Tuesday, December 12
Guitarist Vincent Varvel leads a trio at Evangeline'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.)

Jazz this week: Freddy Cole & Harry Allen, Eric Marienthal, The New Mastersounds, and more

There are a number of notable shows from visiting jazz and creative music performers coming up this week in St. Louis, offering something for fans of genres ranging from straight-ahead swing to fusion to experimental, free improv, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, May 25
Pianist and singer Freddy Cole and his band, teamed once again with tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, return to Jazz at the Bistro for the first evening of a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday.

Cole (pictured top left, with Allen) shares a number of musical virtues with his older brother, the late Nat "King" Cole, including a relaxed vocal style, a sure sense of swing as a pianist, and an appreciation of classic popular songs, but he's managed to chart his own course as a musician, acknowledging his brother's influence without being dominated by it.

Add in the saxophone stylings of Allen, whose playing has been influenced by Swing Era giants like Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, and Paul Gonsalves, and the result should be four nights of satisfying old-school sounds.

Also on Wednesday, pianist Phil Dunlap and his quintet will play for the monthly music series at the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Thursday, May 26
Saxophonist Eric Marienthal (pictured, center left) will join St. Louis' own Bach to the Future for a free concert at the Chesterfield Amphitheater.

Also on Thursday, the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound closes out their St. Louis season with a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall, featuring music from their "Alarm System" collaborations with Medeski, Martin and Wood, composers Tyondai Braxton and Mira Calix, and others.

Elsewhere around town, the Tavern of Fine Arts will host their monthly "Experimental Arts Open Improv Night" with live improvised music; the Saint Boogie Brass Band plays an early evening show at Taze Mediterranean Street Food downtown; and guitarist Vincent Varvel lead a trio at Evangeline's.

Friday, May 27
The annual Glendale Jazz Festival will feature sets from the St. Louis Big Band with singer Joe Scalzitti plus singer and pianist Anita Rosamond and R&B vocalist Coco Soul on an outdoor stage at Glendale City Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Meanwhile, downtown on the riverfront, percussionist and composer Eli Keszler will headline a multi-artist bill of experimental and improvising musicians including Marissa Anderson, 18&Counting with Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Demonlover, Ghost Ice, and more at the William A Kerr Foundation on Laclede's Landing.

Also on Friday, trumpeter Kasimu Taylor leads a quartet at Bossanova Martini Lounge and Restaurant in Alton, and guitarist Tom Byrne and Have U Heard? will play music inspired by Pat Metheny at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Saturday, May 28
In what's being billed as a dual display of "extreme saxophone," the saxophonists PedroSaxo and Derek Brown will show off their extensive repertoires of extended techniques in a free afternoon performance and workshop at Saxquest.

Saturday evening, The New Mastersounds (pictured, bottom left) will perform at The Bootleg at the Atomic Cowboy.

The British funk/jazz quartet is touring in support of The Nashville Sessions, their latest album that was released last month. For more about that, plus some video samples of them in action, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, singer Erin Bode will celebrate the release of her new album with a concert at Lindenwood University's J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts; singer Joe Mancuso brings his organ trio to The Dark Room; The Wire Pilots play original fusion music at the Tavern of Fine Arts; and saxophonist Rhoda G and singer Ralph Williams will be the featured performers for "Jazz in Paris" at the Jones Banquet Plaza in Fairview Heights.

Sunday, May 29
As often happens on major holidays, the live music offerings around town thin out quite a bit in the latter half of the Memorial Day weekend, but you can still hear some jazz for Sunday brunch, courtesy of trumpeter Jim Manley at Nathalie's and/or Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes at Evangeline'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.)

Jazz this week: Freddy Cole & Harry Allen, Eric Person, On Fillmore, John Abercrombie, and more

The first week of April brings a nice selection of jazz and creative music headliners to St. Louis, and that's no foolin'. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, April 1
Pianist and singer Freddy Cole (pictured, top left) and his quintet featuring guest saxophonist Harry Allen will begin a four-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro.

Cole and Allen worked together here previously in May 2013 at the Bistro, and though they are of different generations - Allen's in his late 40s, while Cole is 83 - both are on the same musical wavelength, emphasizing straight-ahead swing, jazz standards, and vintage repertoire from the Great American Songbook. Both men also previously have been the subjects of StLJN's Saturday video posts, so you can check out some samples of Cole in action here, and see and hear Allen performing here.

Thursday, April 2
Saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person (pictured, center left) returns home to lead a trio with bassist Bob Deboo and drummer DeMarius Hicks in a free show for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. It's Person's first St. Louis performance in five years, and you can catch up on some of what he's been doing in the interim via this video post from last Saturday.

Elsewhere around town, guitarist Stuart Johnson returns to Thurman Grill. 

(Update, 4/2/15: The original version of this post had mentioned a Thursday night show at The Dark Room, but despite announcing last week on social media that they'd feature live music five nights a week starting in April, now it turns out that the Thursday gigs don't actually start until April 23. As Daffy Duck once said, "Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin."  Yr. humble editor will regard any such reports in the future with a greater degree of skepticism.)

Friday, April 3
New Music Circle presents On Fillmore, the duo project of percussionist Glenn Kotche and bassist Darin Gray, at The Stage at KDHX. While both men (pictured, lower left) share an association with singer-songwriter Jeff Tweedy and his alt-rock band Wilco, On Fillmore is something very different musically, described by NMC as "stretching the very definition of the term “rhythm section” by their use of upright bass, exotic percussion, vibraphone, various small instruments and the superimposition of field recordings."

Also on Friday, saxophonist Freddie Washington leads a trio at Cigar Inn; saxophonist Tim Cunningham returns to Troy's Jazz Gallery; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will be playing swing and hot jazz at Thurman Grill.

Saturday, April 4
Singer Erin Bode will perform in concert at Jacoby Arts Center in Alton; singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will duet at Chaser's Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel; and pianist Matt Villinger leads a trio at Thurman Grill.

Sunday, April 5
Good 4 The Soul will play their monthly gig at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Monday, April 6
Webster University's student jazz combos will perform at the Community Music School on the Webster campus; and singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne are at BB's.

Tuesday, April 7
Guitarist John Abercrombie (pictured, lower left) will make a rare St. Louis appearance to lead a quartet in a special ticketed show for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. One of the most distinctive guitarists to arise in the 1970s, Abercrombie has been a key artist on the ECM label for 40 years, recording more than 30 albums for them as a leader over that time.

While he incorporates aspects of fusion and free improv into his playing, ultimately Abercrombie's sound is hard to pigeonhole, and that somewhat elusive quality has served him well in his work with iconic musicians including Jack DeJohnnette, Dave Holland, Charles Lloyd, the Brecker Brothers, and many others. For this date, Abercrombie's group will include his longtime collaborator, pianist Marc Copeland, along with bassist Drew Gress and the outstanding Joey Baron on drums.

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: Winter/spring 2015 jazz preview, part 4

Today, we continue with part four of StLJN's winter/spring 2015 jazz preview, covering the touring bands and musicians who will be be performing here during the first half of the year. (Parts one through three can be found here, here, and here.)

For this week's edition, we turn the calendar ahead to the third week of March, when a band fronted by saxophonist Lou Marini, trombonist Steve Wiest, and trumpeter Clay Jenkins will headline the show on Friday, March 20 for the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Up above, you can see Marini back in 2009, playing the head and soloing on the Crusaders' "Bayou Bottoms" at a 2009 gig in Los Angeles with an ensemble apparently called California Roll.

Down below, you can see Wiest at a show in June 2014 with Denver's Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, taking one of the featured roles in "Superbone Meets The Badman," which composer/arranger Jay Chatterly wrote back in the 1970s for Maynard Ferguson.

In the third clip, you can see Jenkins playing the Tadd Dameron bebop standard "Hot House," accompanied only by student drummer Stockton Helbing at a masterclass in November 2013 at Oklahoma State University.

Video number four features the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, who will headline the closing show of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival on Saturday, March 21 at the Touhill.

It's a full concert performance, recorded in 2011 at Jazzwoche Burghausen in Germany, and features guest vocals and guitar on a number of tunes by St. Louis favorite John Pizzarelli, who recorded his album Dear Mr. Sinatra with the CHJO.

(Alas, Pizzarelli won't be along for the GSLJF show, but St. Louisans will have another chance to catch him and Jane Monheit this spring when they headline the annual benefit gala for the Sheldon Concert Hall on Saturday, April 18.)

Next up is pianist and singer Freddy Cole, who will return to our town to perform Wednesday, April 1 through Saturday, April 4 at Jazz at the Bistro. Cole, the brother of singer and pianist Nat "King" Cole, is a familiar figure to St. Louis audiences from numerous appearances here over the years, but if you haven't seen him perform before, there's a complete show, undated but recent, recorded at New Morning in Paris that will give you a good idea of what to expect.

Today's penultimate clip features saxophonist Eric Person, who of course is originally from St. Louis but has made his home in NYC for the past couple of decades. He'll be back, though, on Thursday, April 2 to play with a trio in a free show for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. Person can be seen here with bassist Joseph Lepore and drummer Shinnosuke "Shin" Takahashi playing Rahsaan Roland Kirk's "Black Diamond" in 2011 at Smalls in NYC.

Last but certainly not least today is guitarist John Abercrombie, who will be here the following Tuesday, April 7 to do a free performance with his quartet, also for the Jazz at Holmes series. We'll be doing a video showcase specifically about Abercrombie closer to the show date, but for now you can check out some very brief excerpts from a show he did in October in Japan with pianist Marc Copland, bassist Phil Donkin and drummer Anthony Pinciotti.

Look for part five of the 2015 winter/spring jazz preview in this space next week. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Jazz this week: Freddy Cole & Harry Allen, Soul Rebels, Bluesweek, Dave Dickey Big Band, and more

There's a wide variety of jazz and creative music performances coming up this Memorial Day weekend in St. Louis, from straight-ahead jazz to New Orleans brass to big band to fusion and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, singer-pianist Freddy Cole and tenor saxophonist Harry Allen team up for the first of four evenings continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Cole, the brother of famed singer and pianist Nat "King" Cole, has played the Bistro to appreciative crowds several times in recent years, but this is the first time he'll be teamed with Allen, who draws inspiration from swing era tenor players like Lester Young, Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins. For some videos of Allen performing, and a link to an earlier video post about Cole, see this post from a couple of weeks ago.

Also tonight, Sound Unlimited plays at Frontenac Grill; Dizzy Atmosphere will be at the Shaved Duck; and trumpeter Jim Manley will perform at Sasha's Wine Bar.

Tomorrow night, New Orleans' Soul Rebels will be in town to perform at the Old Rock House. The group offers their own hip-hop influenced twist on the traditional brass band sound, mixing in plenty of solo and group vocals and raps along with trumpets, trombone, sax, tuba and drums. You can see some video samples of the Soul Rebels in action in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Thursday, drummer Montez Coleman leads a tribute to Art Blakey at Robbie's House of Jazz  (which will be closed for the rest of the Memorial Day weekend); Miss Jubilee plays at the Thaxton Speakeasy; pianist and singer Jesse Gannon leads a trio at Oceano Bistro; and the "Kids Rock Cancer" benefit at the Sheldon Concert Hall will include performances by Erin Bode and Peter Martin.

Friday is the start of the annual Bluesweek festival, which will be held again at the Soldiers Memorial downtown, but with just one stage this year. The free event features plenty of blues, obviously, but also some acts that may be of interest to jazz listeners, including the New Orleans funk of Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue (pictured) on Friday night; a jazz guitar set with Tom Byrne, Dave Black and Eric Slaughter on Saturday afternoon: and a Fontella Bass tribute featuring singer Marsha Evans and the Coalition on Sunday. A complete schedule of Bluesweek events is here. 

Also on Friday, trombonist John Covelli's Jazz Co-Laboratory plays the music of Wayne Shorter at Cigar Inn, saxophonist Kristian Baarsvik leads a trio at Tavern of Fine Arts; and singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will duet at Chaser's Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

On Saturday, Tom Byrne, leading his own band this time, will play at Thurman Grill, and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will bring their jump blues and swing sound to the Wine Press.

Then on Sunday, the Dave Dickey Big Band plays their monthly gig at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company. Their special guest performers at intermission this month will be the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, the student ensemble featuring some of the top high-school players from Jazz St. Louis' education programs.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday the jazz/rock/fusion band Steizuello returns to the Sheldon Concert Hall for a "Notes From Home" concert.

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: Vintage tenor time with Harry Allen

Today, let's take a look at some video clips featuring tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, who will team up with pianist and singer Freddy Cole for a four-night run starting Wednesday, May 22 through Saturday, May 25 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Given his generation, Allen, 46, is something of a musical throwback, as he's been heavily influenced by the pre-WWII swing tradition of tenor saxophonists such as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Lester Young and their successors like Stan Getz and Zoot Sims, rather than by the more standard list of recent modern icons like Coltrane, Rollins and Shorter. Drawing primarily on a repertoire of familiar standards, Allen is known especially for his ballad playing, and his overall musical sensibility should make for a good cross-generational pairing with the 81-year-old Cole, brother of legendary singer-pianist Nat "King" Cole.

By way of examples, here are a half-dozen videos showing recent performances by Allen of a mix of ballads and swing tunes. The first track, "Blues in A flat," features the saxophonist with a rhythm section of pianist Rossano Sportiello, bassist Joel Forbes, and drummer Chuck Riggs, and was recorded in June of last year at Feinstein's in NYC.

Down below, you can hear Allen take on the ballad standard "My Romance," abetted by Sportiello, bassist Glenn Holmes and drummer Bill Ransom in September 2011 at Jazz at Chautauqua in New York.

The third clip features Allen playing "If I Were A Bell" with Allen Farnham (piano), Bill Moring (bass) and Steve Johns (drums) in April 2010 at the Union County Performing Arts Center New Jersey. That's followed by another classic ballad, "I'm in the Mood for Love," as rendered by Allen, Sporiello, bassist Richard Simon and drummer Ed Metz in April 2012 at the Atlanta Jazz Party.

We close with two more videos from June 2012 at Feinstein's, in which Allen and the rhythm section are joined by trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and former Duke Ellington orchestra baritone saxophonist Joe Temperly. In "Sweet Georgia Brown," note that Allen's solo starting at around 3:28 includes some licks that border on bebop, and there's also what sure sounds like a quote of the "Salt Peanuts" lick in the closing trading of eights and fours. The final track features Allen and friends on "Did You Call Her Today" and "In A Mellotone."

To see some videos of Freddy Cole, who will team with Allen at the Bistro, check out this post that preceded Cole's last appearance at the Bistro in 2010.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2013 jazz preview, part 4

Today, it's the fourth and final part of our preview of touring jazz musicians who will be coming to St. Louis during the first few months of 2013. (Here's part 1, part 2 and part 3.)

The first clip up top is a short promotional video for the Monterey Jazz Festival 55th Anniversary All-Stars, who will perform on Friday, April 19 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center as part of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival.

The group, which includes singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, bassist Christian McBride, pianist Benny Green, drummer Lewis Nash, saxophonist Chris Potter and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, is seen here doing Horace Silver's tune "Filthy McNasty" at Monterey Jazz Festival last September. Next week, they'll begin a 40-city tour through the USA that continues until the end of April, which means they'll have had three months of playing together - plenty of time to gel - before they get here.

Down below, it's the Doc Severinsen Big Band, who will play the final night of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival on Saturday, April 20 at the Touhill. Most of the video of Severinsen that's available online is either quite old, dating from his days as bandleader for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, or shows him playing with groups other than his own big band.

However, yr. humble editor was able to find a clip of Doc and his own large ensemble playing fellow Tonight Show alum Tommy Newsome's arrangement of "Sing, Sing, Sing" from a concert in March, 2012 concert in Alma, AR. This excerpt happens to spotlight the contribution of drummer Stockton Helbing, but if you'd like further demonstrations of Severinsen's prowess on the trumpet, just go here and start clicking.

Next, it's organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, who will team up with saxophonist James Carter to play Wednesday, April 24 through Saturday, April 27 at Jazz at the Bistro. Both men have played the Bistro before separately, and since one of Carter's preferred ensembles is an organ trio, it certainly seems like a logical and musically promising pairing.

This video of Smith shows him with his trio performing "Play It Back" during a gig last June in Delray Beach, FL. Just below that, there's a excerpt from the performance by Carter and his organ trio at the 2012 Newport Jazz Festival. It's a bootleg, shot clandestinely by an audience member, so the camera work is all over the place, but audio quality is good.

Carter and Smith will have a bit of competition for the final night of their gig at the Bistro, for that Saturday, April 27 is when singer Dianne Reeves will be back in town to perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Reeves sang at The Sheldon most recently back in 2010 in a duo with her pianist and music director, St. Louis' Peter Martin, as part of Martin's concert series at the venue. This time, she'll be performing with her full band as part of the Sheldon's jazz series, as she did in 2008.

Reeves is seen here in a excerpt from the 2012 TD Victoria Jazzfest, in which she performs a new addition to her live repertoire, an as-yet unnamed Spanish-flavored piece that features a wordless vocal and improvised account of the inspiration for the tune. Martin is on piano, and that's East St. Louis' own Terreon Gully on drums.

The next clip features guitarist and singer Lionel Loueke, who will be making his St. Louis debut as a leader Wednesday, May 8 through Saturday, May 11 at Jazz at the Bistro. Loueke, who's originally from the west African country Benin, first played here back in 2005 with Herbie Hancock at The Pageant. Though he was little-known in this country at that time, his solo career since then has really taken off around the world, thanks to three critically acclaimed albums on Blue Note Records. This video shows him performing "Freedom Dance" at an October 2012 show in Denver.

Jazz St. Louis will close out the Bistro's spring 2013 schedule of touring acts with another custom-assembled collaboration, bringing together singer/pianist Freddy Cole and saxophonist Harry Allen for a week of shows starting Wednesday, May 22 and continuing through Saturday, May 25. Cole, who turned 81 last year, has been a popular draw at the Bistro for years, and Allen, who's in his mid-40s but plays in a style that recalls the swing era, should be a fitting complement to his sound.

This latest clip of Cole shows him performing "It's Only A Paper Moon," a song closely associated with his brother Nat "King" Cole. Below that, today's final video features Allen playing "I'm In The Mood For Love" with pianist Rossano Sportiello, bassist Richard Simon and drummer Ed Metz in April, 2012 at the Atlanta Jazz Party.

Pollstar reveals more possible details of Jazz at the Bistro's 2012-13 season

Although the official announcement of Jazz at the Bistro's 2012-13 season presumably is still a few weeks away, recent developments have shed some more light on what may be coming up there next year.

Most notably, the online touring information service Pollstar has added new listings showing performances at the Bistro by singer Gregory Porter (Wednesday, January 2 - Saturday, January 5) and singer and pianist Freddy Cole (Wednesday, May 22 - Saturday, May 25).

The former series of dates is significant for two reasons: it would mark the Bistro debut for Porter (pictured), who caused a good deal of industry buzz with his 2010 debut album Water and recently released his sophomore effort, Be Good. It also would be the first time in six years that the initial gig of the New Year at the Bistro went to someone other than The Bad Plus.

As for Cole, he just wrapped up a four-night stand at the Bistro in March, and has played the club several times before. Still, although Pollstar listings generally have proven to be accurate, as with last month's news about a possible return to the club in September for trumpeter Terence Blanchard, these two listings should not be considered confirmed until officially announced by the presenter.

In related news, singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli, a local favorite who's played here in recent years at the Bistro, Sheldon Concert Hall and Touhill Performing Arts Center, recently added dates to the calendar on his website showing performances at the Bistro from Wednesday, November 28 through Saturday, December 1.

Though once again we'd suggest caution until there's an official confirmation, a return by Pizzarelli to the Bistro next season seems not just possible, but highly plausible, given his significant local fan base. We'll have more on this story for you as developments warrant...

(Edited after posting to fix a broken link.)

Jazz this week: Freddy Cole, Claudia Quintet with Theo Bleckmann, Koplant No, and more

It's another busy week for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with performances from both touring and local acts ranging from ragtime, traditional New Orleans jazz, and swing to thought-provoking modern jazz influenced by a variety of contemporary genres. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, singer and pianist Freddy Cole returns to St. Louis to open a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Cole, the brother of the legendary Nat "King" Cole, has proved to be a popular attraction here in recent years, and though he even has a song titled "I'm Not My Brother, I'm Me," the two siblings do share a certain relaxed elegance and propensity for mainstream-style swing. Cole usually is a good draw when he plays the Bistro, so advance reservations definitely are recommended. You can see and hear some of his music in this video showcase post from his last appearance here in 2010

Also tonight, the Meramec Jazz Lab Band, directed by Bob Boedges, will perform in a concert at the Black Cat Theatre.

On Thursday, guitarist Steve Schenkel and pianist Kim Portnoy will team up for a free concert featuring the music of George Gershwin for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. Also on Thursday, the Dixie Dudes bring their traditional jazz sound back to Jazz on Broadway in Alton for a no-cover-charge show.

On Friday, the Claudia Quintet (pictured) will perform at 560 Music Center in a concert presented by New Music Circle. The critically acclaimed group, which combines jazz with a variety of other influences informed by a sort of post-modern compositional sensibility, will be making their St. Louis debut. Their most recent album, What Is The Beautiful?, was released late last year, and features the Quintet's original music with the words of poet Kenneth Patchen as interpreted by vocalists Kurt Elling and Theo Bleckmann. Bleckmann, a rising star who's garnered plenty of critical praise for his own work, will be in St. Louis with the group, which only raises the concert's "must hear" score even higher.

For much more about the Claudia Quintet, including a half-dozen video clips of them in action, check out this post from last Saturday. Also, last week I interviewed the group's drummer/leader John Hollenbeck for the Riverfront Times' RFT Music Blog, and that article will be going online soon; once it's up, I'll add a link to it here.

Also on Friday, Koplant No, a "progressive jazz electronic rock band" from the Quad Cities area in Iowa, will be in town to headline a three-band bill with Funky Butt Brass Band and guitarist Teddy Presberg at Jumpin' Jupiter; saxophonist Tim Cunningham returns to Jazz on Broadway; pianist Tim Garcia is at the Cigar Inn; and Robbie's House of Jazz will present a trio featuring drummer Steve Davis, saxophonist Christopher Braig and bassist Ben Wheeler.

On Saturday, the veteran big band trumpeter Roger Ingram will be in town to present a master class that afternoon at UMSL. That evening, singer Gene Lynn will appear at the Frontenac Grill, and Robbie's will feature the 1920s and '30s-style swing and hot jazz of Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes.

Then on Sunday, this quarter's St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show will take place at the American Czech Center. Also on Sunday afternoon, the Funky Butt Brass Band will head out to St. Louis Community College at Meramec, where they'll join forces with the Meramec Symphonic Band and Jazz Lab Band for a concert featuring some (vastly) expanded arrangements of FBBB and New Orleans favorites. And Sunday also is when bassist Willem von Hombracht and singer Joe Mancuso will kick off their new weekly event "Willem's Sunday Jazz Jam" at Johnny Gitto's bar and restaurant.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday, BB's Jazz Blues and Soups will feature guitarist Tom Byrne's Have You Heard. Then on Tuesday morning, the St. Louis Ragtimers will play the first of two "coffee concerts" at the Sheldon Concert Hall. (The program repeats on Wednesday.) That evening, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra under the direction of bassist Jim Widner will perform a concert paying tribute to the music of big band leader, composer and arranger Stan Kenton at the Touhill Performing Arts Center; and guitarist Dave Black will play 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.)

Jazz this week: Dr. John and the Neville Brothers, Freddy Cole, Galactic and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, and more

Fat Tuesday has come and gone, but the musical spirit of Mardi Gras is lingering just a bit in St. Louis, as we've got three significant New Orleans acts performing in town over the weekend, plus several other events of interest to jazz fans.

Let's go to the highlights, starting tonight when singer and pianist Freddy Cole returns to St. Louis to open a four night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. The brother of legendary singer-pianist Nat "King" Cole, Freddy Cole is an accomplished performer in his own right and has proved to be a popular favorite here in St. Louis, so if you're thinking about attending, call ahead for a reservation. For more about Cole, see this video post from last Saturday, and this audio interview from the Jazz St. Louis podcast series.

On Thursday, it's a double-dose of jam-band funk as the New Orleans quintet Galactic and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe play at The Pageant. For some video of both bands in action, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago. Also on Thursday, singer Erin Bode returns to Brandt's, and pianist and singer Curt Landes leads his quartet in a free concert for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series.

On Friday, you can check out even more of the New Orleans sound as the Touhill Performing Arts Center presents "Mardi Gras Mambo" with singer/pianist Dr. John (pictured) and his band, the Lower 911, plus the Neville Brothers. You can read a brief preview of the concert here. Also on Friday, pianist Carolbeth True plays at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Saturday afternoon, the Nu-Art Series continues its current slate of shows at the Metropolitan Gallery featuring St. Louis musicians paying tribute to great jazz composers. This week's performance will feature pianist Ptah Williams' trio doing the music of bop pianist Bud Powell.

Also on Saturday afternoon, there's a jam session at the Grand Slam Sports Bar and Grill in Fenton to benefit singer Mae Wheeler, who has been battling cancer. Performers will include Ralph Butler, John King, Eddie Randle, Tony Viviano, Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, Pauline Starks, Tony Simmons, Carole Eder, Tom "Papa" Ray, Jeanne Trevor, Silvercloud, Rob Dryden and more.

On Sunday, there will be a brunch and concert at the Bistro at Grand Center to benefit Community Women Against Hardship, featuring music from Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, Luqman Hamza, Anita Jackson, and Jeff Anderson. Also on Sunday, singer Deborah Sharn and saxophonist Ray Vollmer will perform a free concert at Second Baptist Church in Clayton as part of the St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers Series.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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 by becoming a "fan" of 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: Spotlight on Freddy Cole

This week, we've got some clips of pianist and singer Freddy Cole, who will be in St. Louis starting this Wednesday, February 17 through Saturday, February 20 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

Though Freddy hasn't quite achieved the same level of fame and commercial success as his brother Nat "King" Cole or his niece Natalie Cole, he's had a successful career in jazz, earning the appreciation of fans and critics alike for playing unpretentious, swinging music in his own way. Up top, you can see and hear an example of his interpretive approach as he performs "Fly Me To The Moon" as a ballad, complete with the rarely heard introduction.

Down below, Cole does Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are" with a fairly energetic bossa nova feel, making explicit what was only implied in the original version.

In addition ot performing standards, Cole also writes some of his own songs, one of which - "I'm Not My Brother, I'm Me" - addresses the central misperception surrounding his career. In the third slot, you can see and hear a 2005 performance of that tune, excerpted from the documentary The Cole Nobody Knows by filmmaker Clint Walker.

Finally, there's an excerpt from the TV program Living St. Louis with a story about Jazz St. Louis' education programs by reporter Ruth Ezell. The piece shows Cole performing for and interacting with kids in the Normandy School District during his last visit to St. Louis a couple of years ago.

Interview with Freddy Cole now online at Jazz St. Louis website

Jazz St. Louis has put online a new audio interview with singer/pianist Freddy Cole, who's coming to St. Louis to perform Wednesday, February 17 through Saturday, February 20 at Jazz at the Bistro.

You can listen to a stream of the interview here. However, I couldn't find a way to download the the interview as an MP3 file, as was possible with previous installments in the series. (Can it still be called a "podcast" when there's no way to load it on to an iPod, or any other device?)

The option of downloading the file and listening to it later seems to have been eliminated with the recent redesign of Jazz St. Louis' website, and that's unfortunate. One would think that offering fewer ways to access the content would mean fewer people will access it. And even if the vast majority choose to stream rather than download, it's not as if also providing a link to download the file would use significantly more resources.

True, getting audio content via streaming (instead of downloading) is alleged to be "the next big thing," and perhaps the designers have some buzzword-filled rationale for eliminating downloadable files. To me, it seems like a user-unfriendly move, and just one of several things about the site redesign that seem a bit off...but that's a subject for another post.

UPDATE - 10:30 p.m., 2/16/10: Bob Bennett from Jazz St. Louis emailed that the Freddy Cole interview is indeed available as a free, downloadable .MP3 file, via iTunes, as well as in streaming form. To download the .MP3, go here. Bennett says their Web developer also is looking into a way to link the iTunes files directly from JSL's new site. Stay tuned...

(Edited after posting to correct the spelling of Freddy Cole's first name.)