So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Dark Room has announced new hours of operation, with the biggest change being that the venue will be closed on Mondays.

New hours for the rest of the week are 4:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays; 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 4:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sundays.

* Last Friday's New Music Circle concert by Merche Blasco (pictured) and Sarah Hennies at the Contemporary Art Museum was reviewed by Julio Prato of the blog St. Louis Music Report.

* The weeknight jazz series at the Gaslight Theater is featured in an article by the Jewish Light's Ellen Futterman about current businesses in the old Gaslight Square district.

* St. Louis County Library this month has reopened to new submissions their "Listen Up" program, which makes recordings from local musicians available as part of the library's streaming audio service. Musicians can submit their works now through the end of March at https://www.slcl.org/content/listen-up-stl.

* The recent documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (available free online for a limited time via streaming from PBS) was reviewed in the UK magazine Jazz Journal.

* The 2020 Carol Moore Memorial Jazz Festival, coming up next weekend at Mineral Area College with trombonist Michael Dease as featured guest, was previewed in a news release published by the Park Hills Daily Journal.

* Audition dates are set for student musicians from St. Louis area middle schools and high schools who would like to take part in Jazz St. Louis' JazzU program next year. The auditions for the 2020-21 school year will take place Monday, June 8 through Thursday, June 11 at JSL's HQ in Grand Center. For details and/or to sign up, go to https://jazzstl.org/education/jazz-u/2020-21-jazzu-auditions/.

Jazz this week: Artemis, Keyon Harrold & Quincy Troupe, "Jazz Heaven" and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the local debut of a buzzworthy new band, a homecoming for a couple of native sons, the latest chapter in a series of tributes to famous figures in jazz, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...


Wednesday, October 9
The all-star band Artemis (pictured, top left) will make their St. Louis debut with the first of five nights of performances at Jazz St. Louis.

Formed a couple of years ago at the instigation of pianist Renee Rosnes, Artemis features a lineup of musicians who all are bandleaders in their own right, including tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, clarinetist Anat Cohen, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller.

Given the difficulties of juggling six busy schedules, Artemis has had only occasional chances to work together a unit, but their five-night run here should give them ample opportunities to dig into their catalog, which includes original compositions from the various members as well as familiar material ranging from Thelonious Monk to the Beatles. In the meantime, you can get idea of what to expect by checking out the videos in this post from last Saturday.

Thursday, October 10
Singer Robert Nelson performs at the Chase Club, and drummer Stephen Haake leads a trio at The Dark Room.

Friday, October 11
Trumpeter Keyon Harrold and writer Quincy Troupe (pictured, center left) will team up for a program called "The Shape of Abstraction: Trumpet and Voice, Call and Response" at the St. Louis Art Museum.

Both St. Louis natives, Troupe and Harrold also are connected through Miles Davis. Troupe co-authored the trumpeter's autobiography and later wrote his own memoir about their relationship, while Harrold supplied music for the soundtrack of Don Cheadle's 2016 film Miles Ahead, a semi-fictionalized account of Davis in the 1970s, and also has been involved in several tributes to Davis.

Along with poetry by Troupe and music by Harrold, the event will feature images of works of art by black artists currently on view at the museum as part of the exhibition "The Shape of Abstraction: Selections from the Ollie Collection."

Also on Friday, the Jazz Troubadours will perform at Evangeline's, and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, October 12
On Saturday afternoon, singer Wendy Gordon (pictured, bottom left) presents the latest production in her "Jazz Heaven" series, "Gone But Not Forgotten," at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre, with a cast of singers including Kim Fuller-Barnes, Joe Mancuso, Robert Nelson, Roland Johnson, Michael Chatman, and the Legend Singers Chorale Ensemble.

Saturday night, singer and bassist Janet Evra performs in concert at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton; local and regional electronic musicians and bands will gather for Synthfest IV at The Heavy Anchor; and the Funky Butt Brass Band returns to the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Sunday, October 13
Singer Chuck Flowers returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and saxophonist Chad Evans and singer Felica Ezell-Gillespie will perform in a matinee concert at the Ozark Theatre.

Also on Sunday, percussionist Joe Pastor leads a trio at Evangeline's, and Orchestrated 9th will reprise their "Tribute to Herbie Hancock" at Troy's Listening Room.

Monday, October 14
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck.

Tuesday, October 15
Cabaret Project St. Louis will present their monthly "Singers Open Mic" at Sophie's Artist Lounge & Cocktail Club, and Arvell Keithley, Jim Manley and the Wild Cool & Swingin' Horns return for an encore performance at the Gaslight Theater.

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

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

Jazz this week: Edward Simon, Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band, a tribute to Art Blakey, and more

As we head into Labor Day weekend, the calendar of upcoming live jazz and creative music performances coming up in St. Louis includes noteworthy visitors from New Orleans, San Francisco and elsewhere, plus a varied selection of sounds from our hometown players.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, August 28
This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" includes Miss Jubilee at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and guitarist Brian Vaccaro's Spiral Trio at The Dark Room.

Thursday, August 29
Trumpeter Jim Manley and guitarist Randy Bahr return to Rendezvous Cafe & Wine Bar, and pianist Ryan Marquez plays at Evangeline's.

Also on Thursday, trumpeter Brady Lewis and his BLStet return to The Dark Room, and the experimental music series Bruxism will present sets from Head Dress (aka Ted Butler), Syna So Pro, and Philosopher's Culture at the Schlafly Tap Room.

Friday, August 30
Saxophonist Harvey Lockhart's HEAL Center For The Arts presents the first of two fundraisers titled simply "An Evening of Jazz," featuring the center's student group Point of View Ensemble, at the event space The OC @ Central West End. (The event will be repeated on Saturday night.)

Also on Friday, saxophonist Kendrick Smith is back at Thurman's in Shaw, and fusion trio 3XGroove performs at Troy's.

Saturday, August 31
Pianist Edward Simon (pictured, top left) will perform solo in a concert presented by Open Studio at Centene Center for the Arts.

Perhaps best known as a longtime member of the SFJAZZ Collective, the native of Venezuela also has recorded more than a dozen albums as a leader, the most recent being 2016's Latin American Songbook.

Update, 10:00 a.m. 8/31/19: Open Studio has informed StLJN that Edward Simon's St. Louis concert has been cancelled "due to a death in the family." The event will be rescheduled for a later date.

Also on Saturday, New Orleans' Shake ‘Em Up Jazz Band (pictured, center left) will perform for the first of two nights at Focal Point. The all-woman ensemble, which includes clarinetist and former St. Louis resident Chloe Feoranzo, will play again at Focal Point on Sunday night.

Elsewhere around town, pianist Laura Dubin, visiting from Rochester NY, leads a trio at Evangeline's; pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True return to the Parkside Grille; and singer Jan Shapiro, pianist Dave Venn, bassist Bob DeBoo and drummer Henry Ettman play at the Ozark Theatre.

Sunday, September 1
Dizzy Atmosphere plays for brunch at The Dark Room, and the Jazz Troubadours return for a dinnertime gig at Evangeline's.

Tuesday, September 3
The Mosaic Jazz Sextet (pictured, bottom left) is a new group formed by trombonist Dave Dickey that includes trumpeter Danny Campbell and saxophonist Ben Reese plus the rhythm section of pianist Adam Maness, bassist Bob DeBoo, and drummer Montez Coleman. Their debut performance will be a "Tribute to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers" at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Tuesday, the Tick Tock Jazz Band plays their monthly show of traditional jazz at the Tick Tock Tavern.

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: "Double Vision Revisited," Emily Wallace & Adam Maness Trio, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a homecoming gig for one of the most famous jazz musicians ever to come from this area, plus a number of noteworthy performances from local players and singers. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, August 7
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo performs in a free concert to close out this year's Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden, making up for her date that was rained out earlier this summer.

Also on Wednesday, the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" includes trumpeter TJ Muller and friends at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and Farshid Etniko at The Dark Room.

Thursday, August 8
Singer Cheri Evans and CEEJazzSoul return to the Chase Club in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, and saxophonist Kendrick Smith brings his trio to The Dark Room.

Friday, August 9
Singer Emily Wallace (pictured, bottom left) teams up with pianist Adam Maness' trio for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis; the Midwest Jazz-tette plays West Coast-style "cool" jazz at Evangeline's; and drummer Steve Davis' band, featuring singer Feyza Eren, performs at the Ozark Theatre.

Elsewhere around town, percussionist Herman Semidey and Son Montuno play salsa, Latin jazz and more at The Dark Room; and the Schlafly Tap Room presents a three-band bill of improvising musicians, featuring the duo of guitarists Shane Parish and Wendy Eisenberg, Apathist! with guitarist Chris Trull and violinist Alex Cunningham, and bassist Darin Gray.

Saturday, August 10
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents their monthly jam session matinee, hosted by pianist Bob Row and drummer John Gillick at J P's Corner; singer Wendy Gordon and friends will perform in a matinee at Hwy 67 BBQ; and keyboardist Andrew Stephen's Texturz will play the late show at The Dark Room.

Sunday, August 11
Music choices with brunch this Sunday include Miss Jubilee at Evangeline's and Janet Evra at The Dark Room. Later that afternoon, guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran plays at Alpha Brewing Company, and singer Chuck Flowers returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Monday, August 12
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck, and singer-impressionist Dean Christopher and his "Rat Pack and More" show return to One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar.

Tuesday, August 13
The "Double Vision Revisited" tour, featuring saxophonist and former St. Louisan David Sanborn, pianist Bob James and bassist Marcus Miller (pictured, top left), comes to the Sheldon Concert Hall.

For more about Sanborn, who just celebrated his 74th birthday last week, plus some videos of live performances of music from the Double Vision album,  check out this post from last Saturday.

Also on Tuesday, mandolinist Knez Jakovac and his quartet plus guest vocalist Janet Evra will perform at the Gaslight Theater.

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

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

Jazz this week: Mardra & Reggie Thomas, "Jazz Triple Play," Moon Hooch, and more

As often happens around major holidays, the calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis this week is light on visiting acts, but there still are some noteworthy shows happening, including a homecoming show for a couple of favorite former St. Louisans; a tour stop from from one of the more distinctive all-instrumental bands touring today; a concert featuring three hometown groups on one bill, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, July 3
Back in St. Louis for a visit, singer Mardra Thomas and keyboardist Reggie Thomas will present a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden.

Also on Wednesday, singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will duet at Scarlett's Wine Bar; and Miss Jubilee performs at Schlafly Bottleworks.

Thursday, July 4
While some local venues will be closed for the Independence Day holiday (for example, Jazz St. Louis will be dark the entire weekend),  if you're in the mood for some live music after or instead of fireworks, singer Cheri Evans and CEEJazzSoul will be performing at the Chase Club.

Friday, July 5
Funky Butt Brass Band plays at the Broadway Oyster Bar: pianist and singer Jesse Gannon returns to The Dark Room; bassist Darrell Mixon leads a trio at Cigar Inn; and drummer Dhoruba Shakur continues his twice-monthly Friday residency at Sophie's Artist Lounge and Cocktail Club.

Saturday, July 6
The Bosman Twins, the Coleman Hughes Project (pictured, bottom left) and keyboardist Mark Harris II will join forces for a "Jazz Triple Play" at the Grandel Theatre.

Also on Saturday, the Triplets of Grubville play vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at Evangeline's; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham performs (in a non-smoking show) at Gauge Cigar Club (fka Troy's Jazz Gallery and The Gallery by Troy).

Sunday, July 7
Dizzy Atmosphere plays for brunch at The Dark Room, while pianist Adam Maness is at Thurman's in Shaw. Then on Sunday evening, the Jazz Troubadours will play their monthly gig at Evangeline's

Monday, July 8
The Gaslight Squares play a free concert at the historic Hawken House in Webster Groves.

Tuesday, July 9
Saxophones-and-drums trio Moon Hooch (pictured, top left) returns to Old Rock House. Offering danceable grooves with instrumentation that could just as easily be found on an avant-jazz session, they've been touring as relentlessly as ever since their last appearance here in 2018. For a look at some recent shows on video, check out this post from last Saturday.

Also on Tuesday, multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris performs in concert at the Gaslight Theater.

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

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

Jazz this week: Jon Batiste, Gaslight Cabaret Festival fall series opens with "Broadway's Greatest Hits," and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis offers the chance for a close-up look at a top TV bandleader, the start of this fall's Gaslight Cabaret Festival, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 17
Since it doesn't seem to have been publicly announced anywhere else, this seems like a good place to note that organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, who previously was announced as performing Wednesday through Sunday of this week at Jazz St. Louis, last month cancelled a number of upcoming performances, including his St. Louis dates, due to illness.

While we all no doubt wish Smith a speedy and complete recovery, the late-breaking nature of this unfortunate development means that the Bistro, presumably unable to secure a suitable replacement in time, will be dark for the next week.

However, the weekly  "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" continues as usual, with Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo and friends at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor and band at The Dark Room.

Also on Wednesday, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Singers Open Mic" at Sophie's Artist Lounge & Cocktail Club; Wright's Project plays fusion and funk at Al's Lounge; and trumpeter Jim Manley is back for his weekly performance at Sasha's Wine Bar.

Thursday, October 18
The Poor People of Paris will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and singer Joe Mancuso is back at 50/Fifty Kitchen.

Also on Thursday, saxophonist Harvey Lockhart and the Collective will perform at The Dark Room, and the Stephen Haake Trio returns to The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, October 19
The fall series of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival begins with the first of two nights of "Broadway's Greatest Hits of All Time," as performed by singers Lianne Marie Dobbs and William Michals at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Friday, keyboardist Ryan Marquez, his trio, and special guest vocalist Lola will play at the Kranzberg Arts Center; bassist and singer Janet Evra performs at Evangeline's; drummer Steve Davis brings his "Super Band" with singer Feyza Eren to the Ozark Theatre; and singer Erin Bode performs (with only a few seats left for purchase at the door) at Focal Point.

Saturday, October 20
Keyboardist Jon Batiste (pictured), the New Orleans native known for leading the house band on CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, will officially open this season's jazz series at the Sheldon Concert Hall; and guitarist Todd Mosby will play a solo concert at the Webster Groves Garden Cafe.

Sunday, October 21
Guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran plays for brunch at The Dark Room, while Annie and the Fur Trappers will perform for the brunch crowd at Evangeline's.

Monday, October 22
Dizzy Atmosphere returns to The Shaved Duck.

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: Fall 2018 jazz preview, part five

This week, StLJN's Fall 2018 jazz preview, featuring videos of the various jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting St. Louis in the next few months, wraps up with the fifth of five installments. (You can see part one here, part two here, part three here, and part four here.)

Picking up in mid-November when last week's post left off, today's first video up above features keyboardist Jeff Lorber's Fusion, who are coming to town to play starting Wednesday, November 14 through Sunday, November 18 at Jazz St. Louis. The clip features them playing Lorber's "Night Sky" at the 2018 Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia.

After the jump, you can see singer and impressionist Christina Bianco, whose show "Diva Moments" will wrap up the Gaslight Cabaret Festival's fall series with performances on Friday, November 16 and Saturday, November 17 at Gaslight Theater. The video shows Bianco incorporating 25 different impressions into a version of the song "Born This Way," recorded in December 2017 in London.

Next, it's trumpeter, singer, and U City native Jeremy Davenport, who will be making his annual trip back here from New Orleans to perform on Friday, November 23 and Saturday, November 24 at Jazz St. Louis. In the video, he can be seen performing his original song "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" at the 2017 French Quarter Fest in NOLA.

That's followed by a video of bassist Christian McBride's New Jawn, who are scheduled to play Wednesday, November 28 through Sunday, December 2 at Jazz St. Louis. They're seen here performing an entire set, recorded in April 2018 at Dizzy’s Club in Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC.

The fifth clip features artist, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Lonnie Holley, who will perform in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, December 1 at Off Broadway. Holley is seen in the video singing "Somewhere in a Dream I Got Lost," recorded in 2018 at A Ship in the Woods, an art gallery in Escondido, CA.

The next video features singer Christine Ebersole &and singer/pianist Billy Stritch, who will perform their cabaret show "Snowfall" on Wednesday, December 5 and Thursday, December 6 at Jazz St. Louis. In this clip, which is from 2014, they're dueting on the Rodgers and Hammerstein standard "Surrey With The Fringe On Top."

Saxophonist Adam Larson is featured in the penultimate clip, an excerpt from a set recorded in June 2017 at Saxquest right here in St. Louis. Larson will be back in town to play "The Music of Sonny Rollins" on Friday, December 7 and Saturday, December 8 at Jazz St. Louis.

Last but certainly not least, it's pianist Robert Glasper, who be will returning with his trio for a week of shows starting Wednesday, December 12 and continuing through Sunday, December 16 at Jazz St. Louis. Today's final video is an excerpt from a performance by Glasper and the trio in 2017 at Jamboree Jazz Club in Barcelona.

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

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2018 jazz preview, part four

Here's part four of StLJN's Fall 2018 jazz preview, featuring videos of the jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting here in the next several months. You can see part 1 of the preview here, part 2 here, and part 3 here.

Continuing this week in chronological order from where last week's post left off, first up is singer and actress Faith Prince, who will be performing as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27 at the Gaslight Theater. In the video up above, Prince is seen singing "Suddenly Seymour" from the musical Little Shop of Horrors.

After the jump, you can see a video of singer, songwriter and pianist Jimmy Webb, who will follow Price at the Gaslight Cabaret Festival with performances on Sunday, October 28 (already sold out) and Monday, October 29 at the Gaslight Theater. The clip features Webb doing his song "If These Walls Could Speak" in 2016 at a soundcheck for a gig in the UK.

Next is pianist David Thomas Roberts, who will perform in a concert presented by the Friends of Scott Joplin on Sunday, October 28 at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe. Roberts can be seen in the video premiering a new composition called "Victorian Gardens" at the 2017 West Coast Ragtime Festival in Rancho Cordova, CA.

That same week, vibraphonist Stefon Harris and his band Blackout will be in town to play starting Wednesday, October 31 through Sunday, November 4 at Jazz St. Louis. The next video is an episode of the online program "The Pace Report," recorded in January 2018 and featuring an interview with Harris plus some short musical excerpts.

Also that same week, singer Carrie St. Louis will perform on Friday, November 2 and Saturday, November 3 at the Gaslight Theater. She's seen in today's fifth clip singing three songs from roles on her "Broadway bucket list": Clara in The Light in the Pizza, Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, and Fantine in Les Miserables.

After that, it's singer and trumpeter Lonnie McFadden, who will perform for one night only on Thursday, November 8 at the Gaslight Theater. Today's sixth video shows an excerpt from a performance by the Kansas City native last October at The Phoenix piano bar in his home town.


The next-to-last clip shows composer and instrument builder Ellen Fullman performing on her custom-built Long String Instrument (LSI)  in 2016 at a concert in Paris, France. Fullman and the LSI will be here in St. Louis for a performance presented by New Music Circle on Friday, November 9 at 560 Music Center.

The final video features funk and fusion band Tauk, who will be back in town to perform on Tuesday, November 13 at the Old Rock House. The video shows a full set of the band, recorded in April 2018 at the Woodlands Tavern in Columbus, OH.

Look for part five of StLJN's Fall 2018 jazz preview next week in this space. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2018 jazz preview, part three

This week, it's part three of StLJN's Fall 2018 jazz preview, featuring videos of jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting St. Louis between now at the end of the year. You can see part one here, and part two here.

First up is a clip that, chronologically speaking, should have been in last week's installment but was inadvertently left out due to a clerical error. It features multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton, who will be performing on Monday, October 8 at St. Louis University's Xavier Hall in a concert presented by New Music Circle.

A major figure in creative music since the 1960s, Braxton has recorded and performed solo and with ensembles ranging from small combos to multiple orchestras, combining improvisation with complex theoretical and compositional concepts to produce a truly unique body of work. He'll be performing in St. Louis with harpist Jacqueline Kerrod, but in the first video up above, he's playing solo in an excerpt from a show in October 2017 at Fringe Arts in Philadelphia.

After the jump, you can see videos featuring singers Jillian Louis and William Michals, who will present their show "Broadway's Greatest Hits of All Time" on Friday, October 19 and Saturday, October 20 at the Gaslight Theater as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival.

Louis is seen singing “This Day Each Year” in the first clip, recorded last year at Feinstein’s/54 Below in NYC, followed by Michals' performance of "The Impossible Dream," recorded in 2015 at Broadway Sessions, also in NYC.

Next up, it's keyboardist Jon Batiste, New Orleans native and bandleader for CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, who's coming here to perform on Saturday, October 20 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The video shows him performing "What A Wonderful World" in 2016 at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

The fourth clip after the jump features singer Darius de Haas, who will perform his cabaret show "A Bernstein Thing" on Wednesday, October 24 and Thursday, October 25 at Jazz St. Louis. It's a promotional clip that features short excerpts from several songs in the show, plus some brief comments from de Haas.

The final three videos today show off the talents of, respectively, bassist Reuben Rogers, drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. and saxophonist John Ellis, who will join forces to cap off a week-long educational residency with performances on Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27 at Jazz St. Louis.

You can see Rogers with pianist Helen Sung, dueting on Chick Corea's "Armando's Rumba" in 2016 at the Festival Internacional de Jazz de Punta del Este in Uruguay, followed by Owens soloing on a drum kit augmented with various percussion goodies manufactured by LP, who made the video in 2014. In the final clip, Ellis gets a juicy solo spot with pianist and St. Louis native Lawrence Fields' quartet on a tune called "Parachute," recorded last year by WBGO radio's "The Checkout" at Cafe 939's Red Room in Boston.

Look for part four of StLJN's Fall 2018 jazz preview next week in this space. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Gaslight Cabaret Festival announces Fall 2018 season

From left: Prince, Webb, McFadden

The Gaslight Cabaret Festival this week announced the schedule for their fall 2018 series, which will feature ten different performers and a total of fifteen performances over five weekends in October and November.

The series kicks off with performances on Friday, October 19 and Saturday, October 20 of a new version of "Broadway's Greatest Hits," with William Michals returning with a new female counterpart, Jillian Louis, and a new set of songs.

Other notable return engagements include Tony Award-winning Broadway performer Faith Prince (Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27) and singer/songwriter Jimmy Webb (Sunday, October 28), who wrote 1960s and '70s pop hits such as "By The Time I Get to Phoenix," "MacArthur Park," "Wichita Lineman," and "Up, Up and Away."

The series will mark the St. Louis cabaret debuts of Carrie St. Louis (Friday, November 2 and Saturday, November 3), who's starred in Broadway shows such as Wicked, Rock of Ages, and Kinky Boots, and Christina Bianco (Friday, November 16 and Saturday, November 17), whose comedic impressions of various famous female vocalists have gotten more than 24 million views on YouTube.

Other shows will include Bob Gerchen performing "Joe Cocker: Never Forget" on Thursday, November 1; Kansas City trumpeter and vocalist Lonnie McFadden, backed by pianist Ptah Williams' trio, on Thursday, November 8; and former St. Louisan Katie McGrath, doing a new show called "Aunt of the Year" on Friday, November 9.

In addition, St. Louisan Ken Haller will reprise his "Happy Haller Days!" on Sunday, November 10 and Sunday, November 18; and longtime vocal coach Caroline Zarinelli will debut her show "In Pursuit of Magic" on Sunday, November 11.

All shows begin at 8:00 p.m. at The Gaslight Theater. Single tickets range from $30 to $45, depending on the show and performance date, and are on sale now.

Jazz this week: Harold López-Nussa, Filippo Cosentino, Alice Ripley, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a pianist from Cuba, a guitarist from Italy, a cabaret show from a singer and actress who has earned Broadway's highest honor, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 18
Cuban-born pianist Harold López-Nussa makes his St. Louis debut in the first of four evenings at Jazz at the Bistro. For more about López-Nussa (pictured, top left) and some video samples of him and his trio in action, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Wednesday, Bach to the Future and guitarist Dave Black will perform for the Webster Arts series at Cyrano's, and this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's quartet at The Dark Room.

Thursday, October 19
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present "From Torino - Music of Italian Film Composers," a free concert featuring Italian guitarist Filippo Cosentino, guitarist and bassist William Lenihan, and the Sogni D'Alba String Trio.

Elsewhere around town, violinist Christopher Voelker's trio plays The Pat Connolly Tavern, drummer Kaleb Kirby’s Animal Children returns to The Dark Room, and Cabaret Project St. Louis will present their monthly "Broadway Open Mic" at the Curtain Call Lounge.

Friday, October 20
The Gaslight Cabaret Festival's fall series resumes with Tony Award-winning actress and singer Alice Ripley (pictured, bottom left) performing for the first of two nights at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Friday, singer Feyza Eren returns to the Webster Groves Concert Hall.

Saturday, October 21
Saxophonist Dave Stone will play a free matinee show at Saxquest, and trumpeter/vibraphonist Joe Bozzi and his band return to Evangeline's

Sunday, October 22
Miss Jubilee will play for brunch at Evangeline's, and singer Chuck Flowers will perform a late-afternoon show BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups

Monday, October 23
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays for diners and drinkers at Momo's Greek Restaurant.

Tuesday, October 24
Bassist, educator and author Paul Steinbeck will discuss his book Message to Our Folks: The Art Ensemble of Chicago in Room 142 of Olin Library on the Washington University campus. The free, public event is part of the Washington University Library Faculty Book Talk series.

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: Arturo Sandoval, Moon Hooch, Paula West, Hudson, The Wee Trio, and more

It's a big week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with a half-dozen noteworthy headliners performing in various styles visiting the area over the next few days.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 11
The weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features Mark Wallace at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, a jam session with bassist Bob Deboo and friends at Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Also on Wednesday, the students of Washington University's Monday Night Jazz Band will present a free concert at the 560 Music Center's Pillsbury Theatre.

Thursday, October 12
If  you're up for a short road trip, trumpeter Serafin Aguilar, best known for his work in Maynard Ferguson's band, will be just down the road in Flat River on Thursday, performing with the MAC Kicks Band and MAC Jazz Ensemble at the Mineral Area College Theater in Flat River.

Also on Thursday, guitarist Dave Black plays at The Pat Connolly Tavern, and singer Erin Bode returns to Cyrano's.

Friday, October 13
The saxophones-and-drums trio Moon Hooch (pictured, bottom left) returns, bringing their distinctive "acoustic techno" sound to the Old Rock House.

For more about them and some video samples of recent performances, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, the Cuban-born trumpeter Arturo Sandoval is back for the first of two nights paying tribute to his mentor Dizzy Gillespie at Jazz at the Bistro; and singer Paula West kicks off the fall series of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival with the first of two nights at the Gaslight Theater.

Saturday, October 14
The "supergroup" Hudson (pictured, top left), featuring drummer Jack DeJohnette, guitarist John Scofield, keyboard player John Medeski and bassist Larry Grenadier, brings their first-ever nationwide tour to the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Elsewhere around town, the New Orleans Suspects return to the Broadway Oyster Bar, and The Gaslight Squares and Miss Jubilee will perform on a double bill at Das Bevo Biergarten.

Sunday, October 15
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents pianist Pat Joyce and clarinetist Scott Alberici at the Webster Groves Concert Hall; and singer Mary Dyson performs at Troy's Jazz Gallery.

Monday, October 16
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays for diners and drinkers at Momo's Greek Restaurant.

Tuesday, October 17
The Wee Trio, featuring bassist and St. Louis native Dan Loomis, will be back in the area for a performance at SIU Edwardsville's Dunham Hall, augmented by members of the university's jazz faculty for select numbers from their most recent album Wee +3 .

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.)

Gaslight Cabaret Festival announces fall series

The Presenters Dolan have announced the fall 2017 series of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival, which will include seven different shows over five weekends at the Gaslight Theater in the Central West End.

The series will begin with jazz singer Paula West on Friday, October 13 and Saturday, October 14.

West (pictured), who's known for her ability to interpret a wide range of material, from the Great American Songbook to contemporary pop and rock, will be accompanied by pianist and music director Bruce Barth, bassist Ben Wheeler, and drummer Montez Coleman.

Next up is Alice Ripley, who won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Next to Normal, and was in the original Broadway casts of Les Misérables, Sunset Boulevard, Side Show, The Rocky Horror Show, and American Psycho. She'll take the stage of the Gaslight Theater on Friday, October 20 and Saturday, October 21.

The following weekend, singer/pianist Eric Comstock and singer Barbara Fasano will present a show called "Downton Abbey Road: The Best of Britain" on Friday, October 27. As the name suggests, the show is built on songs from an eclectic selection of British songwriters, from Noel Coward and Anthony Newley to the Beatles and Sting.

After that, Ken Haller, one of two St. Louis performers in the series, will present a new holiday-themed show, "Happy Haller Days!" on Thursday, November 2 and Thursday November 9.

Singers Farah Alvin and William Michals will be the next to take the festival stage, bringing their show "Broadway's Greatest Hits of All Time" from Feinstein's in New York City to St. Louis on Friday, November 3 and Saturday, November 4.

For the series' final weekend, former St. Louisan Katie McGrath, who moved to NYC last year, will return on Friday, November 10 with her show "Significant Others," and Emily Skinner, who's been nominated for Tony Awards for her work in Broadway shows including Side Show, Billy Elliot and The Full Monty, will wrap things up with a performance called "Broadway Her Way" on Saturday, November 11.

Single ticket prices for the Gateway Cabaret Festival range from $30 to $45, depending on the show, and there's a 10% discount for a subscription of five shows or more. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the Gaslight Cabaret Festival website.

Gaslight Cabaret Festival announces Fall 2016 series

Gaslight Cabaret Festival impresario Jim Dolan has announced the festival's schedule for Fall 2016.

The series will feature six different performers over five weekends in October and November at the Gaslight Theatre, starting with the return of Marilyn Maye (pictured), the "grand dame of cabaret," on Friday, October 14 and Saturday, October 15.

Next up will be singer Storm Large, who will present her third festival performance here in as many years on Friday, October 21, followed by Broadway actress and singer Tova Feldshuh and her show "Aging Is Optional" on Friday, October 28 and Saturday, October 29.

After that, singer Karen Irwin will present "A Janis Joplin Tribute" on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5, followed by singer and pianist Judy Carmichael on Friday, November 11 and closing out the series, St. Louis' own Ken Haller on Saturday, November 12.

Ticket for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival Fall 2016 series are priced from $30 to $55, depending on the performer and the date, and are on sale now.

Jazz this week: Poncho Sanchez, Charlemagne Palestine, Ramsey Lewis, Nevermore Jazz Ball, Storm Large, and more

It's an extremely busy week for jazz and creative music in and around St. Louis, with major touring musicians in town offering Latin jazz, cabaret, soul jazz, and experimental music, plus a big event drawing swing dancers from around the country, and a varied assortment of shows from local musicians.

Here's a brief look at some of the most notable performances coming up:

Wednesday, November 4
Percussionist Poncho Sanchez and his Latin jazz band return to open a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro.

The popular conguero and his cohorts are one the busiest and best groups in the genre, performing here most recently in April of last year at the Bistro. You can see some video samples of Sanchez (pictured, top left) and the band in concert in this post published before that 2014 appearance.

As part of Jazz St. Louis' education and community outreach efforts, Sanchez also will present a free percussion workshop at 1:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon at the Bistro. There's no advance reservation required, and it's open to the general public. 

Thursday, November 5
The biggest swing dance event of the year in St. Louis, the weekend-long Nevermore Jazz Ball, gets underway with a "welcome party" featuring music from the the Sidney Street Shakers at the Mahler Ballroom.

The festival continues through Sunday night, and though all-event passes have been sold out for a number of weeks, there may be tickets available for some of the shows. Those will include dances featuring Miss Jubilee on Friday night and bassist Michael Gamble’s Rhythm Serenaders, from Asheville, NC, on Saturday and Sunday nights, plus after-parties on Friday and Saturday. For the latest on ticket availability, check the event website and/or Facebook page.

Also, Saturday's Cherokee Street Jazz Crawl has been expanded this year, and remains free and open to the public. The event starts at lunchtime and continues through the afternoon with 10 different acts performing at various venues and businesses starting in the 1900 block of Cherokee and going west to the 2700 block. For a complete list of performers and venues, check the link above.

Elsewhere on Thursday, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival's fall series resumes with a performance from indie rock duo Sleepy Kitty, aka singers and multi-instrumentalists Paige Brubeck and Evan Sult, at the Gaslight Theater. Brubeck and Sult also will repeat the show a week from Thursday at the same venue.

Friday, November 6
During the day on Friday, musician, composer and sound artist Charlemagne Palestine (pictured, center left), here under the auspices of New Music Circle for performances on Saturday and Sunday nights, will preface those shows with free, public artist's talks at Webster University and Washington University.

Elsewhere around town, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival continues with singer Storm Large in the first of two performances at the Gaslight Theater. Large played St. Louis most recently last September for the 2014 edition of the festival; for more about what she's been up to since then, check out check out this brief interview she did with Alive magazine.

Also on Friday, the experimental/noise duo Ahleuchatistas are back to headline a three-act bill at Foam; and the Genesis Jazz Project will be at St. Louis Union Station for "Fall In Love at Grand Hall - An Evening of Jazz, Comedy & Dancing" featuring a number of guest singers and performers including Dawn Weber and Anita Jackson.

Saturday, November 7
The veteran pianist Ramsey Lewis, celebrating 50 years since "The In Crowd" made his reputation as a popular crossover artist, returns to perform for the annual ArtSounds! benefit at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Lewis (pictured, lower left) has made a couple of St. Louis appearances in recent years, but his last stop in 2014 included just one public show at the Bistro, so look for his fans to turn out in force for this one. As of this writing, some concert-only tickets remain, but you should contact the Sheldon box office for the latest on what's available. For more about Lewis, see this video showcase post from Saturday before last, and this week's Music Education Monday post featuring a master class with him.

Meanwhile, just down the street in Grand Center, Charlemagne Palestine will perform on piano at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation. You can see performances from Palestine on both piano and organ and learn more about him in this video showcase post from last Saturday.

Elsewhere around town, The Wire Pilots will play original fusion music at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Sunday, November 8
The fall edition of the St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show begins bright and early in the morning at the American Czech Hall, and later that afternoon, pianist Carol Schmidt and friends from the Webster University faculty will present a concert with the theme of "Music and Humor" at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

Sunday evening, singers Joe Mancuso and Charles Glenn will headline "Voices for the MS Cure," a benefit raising money for the fight against multiple sclerosis, at the Ferring Jazz Bistro; and Charlemagne Palestine will perform on the organ at Trinity Lutheran Church in Soulard.

Monday, November 9
"A Celebration of Gene Lynn," organized by the late singer's longtime companion Maria Vera, will begin mid-afternoon and continue through the evening at Bar Italia.

The event will feature performances from a long list of St. Louis singers and "more than 20" musicians who played with Lynn over the years, with proceeds benefiting a fund to be managed by the National Blues Museum "ensuring that students from public schools in underserved communities across the St Louis region continue to learn about Gene Lynn's life and songs."

Also on Monday, Webster University's Student Jazz Combos will perform at Webster's Community Music School.

Tuesday, November 10
The STL Free Jazz Collective will perform for the "Notes From Home" series at the Sheldon, while a couple of blocks away, the SIUE Concert & Alumni Jazz Bands will return to Jazz at the Bistro.

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: Fall 2015 jazz preview, part 2

Today, it's part two of StLJN's fall 2015 video preview of touring jazz and creative music performers coming to town over the next several months. Part one last week covered the month of September, so today's installment picks up in the first week of October with a video featuring saxophonist Evan Parker and trumpeter Peter Evans.

Parker and Evans will kick off New Music Circle's 2015-16 season with a concert on Friday, October 2 at Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Ave. The clip up above, recorded in September 2013 at the Stone in NYC, shows a full set of improvised music from the two of them, plus cellist Okkyung Lee, who did a solo concert here for NMC last year.

After the jump, you can see Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, who will be back in St. Louis to headline the "Friends of the Sheldon" benefit gala on Saturday, October 3 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The video shows a full set of Marsalis and JaLCO playing arrangements of material from the Blue Note catalog in a gig earlier this year at the Harrogate International Festival in England.

Next, there's a clip of the band Yellowjackets, who will be returning to St. Louis to play Wednesday, October 7 through Saturday October 10 at Jazz at the Bistro. For this visit, the group once again will have a new bass player, Dane Alderson, who hails originally from Australia.

Alderson replaces Felix Pastorius, who had a relatively short tenure in the band, having replaced founding member Jimmy Haislip back in 2012. In this clip, recorded in July at the North Sea Jazz Club in, you can hear Alderson's bass solo on "Dreamland." (For more Yellowjackets, see this video showcase post that ran before their appearance here last year.)

Today's fourth video clip features is Wendee Glick, the New Hampshire-based singer who will kick off the fall edition of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Thursday, October 8 at the Gaslight Theater. Unfortunately, there aren't many videos online of Glick performing, but this excerpt from her version of "No Moon At All," recorded at the Colonial Inn in Concord, MA, provides at least a small sample of her work.

Glick will be followed at the festival the next evening by singer Maxine Linehan, who will perform on Friday, October 9, also at the Gaslight Theater. Linehan is seen here singing "What'll I Do?" in 2014 at Metropolitan Room in NYC.

The sixth video is the electronic press kit for saxophonist Adam Larson's upcoming album "Selective Amnesia", which should be out by the time he arrives in St. Louis to perform Wednesday, October 14 and Thursday, October 15 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Today's final clip features MarchFourth!, who will perform on Monday, March 19 at the Old Rock House. They're seen here in an audience-shot video playing "The Limit" in a gig in April 2015 at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton, FL.

Look for part three of StLJN's fall 2015 jazz preview here next week. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...