Jazz this week: Fourth annual Richard McDonnell Scholarship Concert, Gerald Albright, No BS! Brass Band, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a concert raising funds for music scholarships in honor of a much-loved local jazz supporter; gigs from a popular, groove-oriented saxophonist and a New Orleans-style brass band, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, June 14
The third annual Richard McDonnell Scholarship Concert will take place at Jazz at the Bistro, featuring drummer Matt Wilson, members of Good 4 The Soul and the Funky Butt Brass Band, and various other guest musicians.

The event raises money for music scholarships for St. Louis area students in the name of Richard McDonnell, the late founder of MAXJAZZ Records who also was a board member of Jazz St. Louis and an enthusiastic, well-liked supporter of the local jazz scene before his sudden death in 2014.

Also on Wednesday, The Gaslight Squares will play a free outdoor concert for the Whitaker Music Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden.

Thursday, June 15
The Dark Room is changing up their regular music offerings a bit starting this week. Going forward, they're booking a different band every week on Thursdays, with pianist Ptah Williams moving to a regular weekly trio show at "happy hour" on Fridays. This week's debut of the "Thursday Night Revue" will feature drummer Kaleb Kirby's band Animal Children.

Also on Thursday, Cabaret Project St. Louis will present their monthly "Broadway Open Mic" at the Curtain Call Lounge.

Friday, June 16 
Saxophonist Gerald Albright (pictured, top left), will headline a "Salute to Fathers/Mentors" at the Sheldon Concert Hall, with support from saxophonist Tim Cunningham, comedian James Stephens III and singer Denise Thimes. For more about what Albright has been up to lately, and some videos of recent live performances, check out this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, guitarist Farshid Etniko Soltanshahi brings his multi-ethnic "world music" sound to Jazz at the Bistro; drummer Steve Davis leads a group with singer Feyza Eren in a free show at the Webster Groves Concert Hall; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to the Venice Cafe.

Over on the east side, Gypsy jazz/swing trio The Bonbon Plot will play a concert at Jacoby Arts Center; and drummer Marty Morrison leads a trio at Cigar Inn.

Saturday, June 17
The Gaslight Squares will play a matinee at the Blues City Deli; and keyboardist and singer Jesse Gannon and his band The Truth will perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

Sunday, June 18
The Grand Center district will be the site of not one, but two different Frank Sinatra tributes for Father's Day, as singer/impressionist Dean Christopher will do his "Sinatra...and Other Stuff" show for brunch in the relatively intimate confines of The Dark Room, while singer Steve Lippia will be featured with the St. Louis Symphony for a matinee of "Sinatra: 100 Years and Beyond" at the spacious Powell Symphony Hall.

Sunday night, the No BS! Brass Band (pictured, bottom left), a Virginia-based group offering their own contemporary take on the traditional New Orleans ensemble sound, will play at the Old Rock House.

Monday, June 19
A triple bill of free-improvising musicians featuring guitarist Shane Parish, the duo of Christopher E. Trull and Mabel Suen, and the Vernacular String Trio will play at Foam.

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: Spotlight on Gerald Albright

This week, StLJN's video spotlight shines on saxophonist Gerald Albright, who will be back in St. Louis to perform on Friday, June 16 at the Sheldon Concert Hall as part of "A Salute to Fathers and Mentors," also featuring singer Denise Thimes, saxophonist Tim Cunningham, and comedian James Stephens III.

A native of Los Angeles, Albright first gained public attention as a solo artist in the mid-1980s after touring as a sideman with Patrice Rushen and Alphonse Mouzon. With a bluesy sound on alto sax and a penchant for covering popular soul and R&B songs, he has released 18 albums as a leader, the most recent being 2016's G, and also has toured and/or recorded with Anita Baker, Ray Parker, Jr., The Temptations, Olivia Newton-John, Jeff Lorber, Teena Marie, Quincy Jones, Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, and many others.

In addition to leading his own band, Albright in recent years has been part of a series of tours under the "Jazz Explosion" banner, co-headlining with Will Downing, Jonathan Butler, Hugh Masekela, Chaka Khan, Rachelle Ferrell, and others. He was last in St. Louis in December 2015 at the Friendly Temple as part of saxophonist Kirk Whalum's "Gospel According to Jazz" Christmas show.

Though he's best known for a contemporary R&B style, Albright also is a capable interpreter of jazz standards, as demonstrated in the first video up above, a version of Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight" recorded in 2016 at The Villa in Sandy, Utah.

After the jump, you can see two clips shot by an audience member at a 2013 show at Thornton Winery in Temecula, CA, in which Albright plays a medley of two of his most popular songs, "So Amazing" and "My My My," followed by a version of Grover Washington Jr's "Winelight."

Next up are two clips recorded at Spaghettini Grill & Jazz Club in Seal Beach CA, which feature Albright in 2013 covering "Georgia On My Mind" and in 2016 digging into James Brown's "Its a Man's, Man's, Man's World".

The last clip is a brief video interview from March 2017, in which Albright talks with journalist Roland Martin about his most recent album and more.

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

Kirk Whalum's "Gospel According to Jazz" set for Sunday, December 13 at Friendly Temple

Saxophonist Kirk Whalum is bringing the Christmas edition of his "Gospel According to Jazz" show to St. Louis for a performance at 6:00 p.m. Sunday, December 13 at Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, 5515 Dr Martin Luther King Dr.

Joining Whalum (pictured) will be his brother, singer Kevin Whalum, along with saxophonist Gerald Albright, guitarist Norman Brown, singer Shelea, and keyboardist and singer John Stoddart, plus Tiffany Mosley, Leslie Johnson, Darius Bradford, the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church Mass Choir, and the R.F. Specials Choirs.

The Memphis-based saxophonist, who's the nephew of St. Louis pianist, saxophonist and singer Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, brought the "Gospel According to Jazz" to St. Louis previously in December, 2012, also at Friendly Temple. His most recent album, the fourth volume in the "Gospel According to Jazz" series, came out in 2014. Whalum and Albright's "Sax for Stax" tour also stopped at The Pageant back in the summer of 2009.

Tickets for the 2015 "Gospel According to Jazz" Christmas show are $20 for balcony seats, $30 for floor seats, and $55 for VIP seating, and are on sale now via the Friendly Temple website and by phone at 314-367-9700.

The Pageant announces three summer smooth jazz concerts

The Pageant today announced a series of three smooth jazz shows this summer, including the Guitars and Saxes show first mentioned here on StLJN last month and now officially scheduled for Friday, August 13.

The 2010 Guitars and Saxes tour features Kirk Whalum, Gerald Albright, Peter White and Jeff Golub. The Pageant's summer smooth jazz series also will present trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot reprising their "R&R" collaboration on Friday, July 30; and a double bill of saxophonists Euge Groove and former East St. Louisan Andre Delano (pictured) on Friday, August 20. All three concerts will be hosted by radio personality Rick Sanborn.

Ticket prices are $35 - $50 for each show, with three- and two-show packages available. Tickets will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, May 14 via Ticketmaster and the Pageant box office.

Guitars and Saxes returning to The Pageant on Friday, August 13

According to an article published today on smoothjazznetwork.com, the long-running Guitars and Saxes package tour is taking to the road again in the summer of 2010, and the itinerary includes a stop on Friday, August 13 at The Pageant in St. Louis.

The 16th annual Guitars and Saxes tour will feature guitarists Peter White and Jeff Golub and saxophonists Kirk Whalum (pictured) and Gerald Albright, all of whom are veterans of previous editions of the tour. The 2010 tour begins May 15 in Sacramento, CA and continues through September.

There's been no official announcement of the show yet from The Pageant, but when there's news of ticket prices and the on-sale date, we'll have it for you here.

Jazz this week: Sax for Stax with Gerald Albright & Kirk Whalum, All That Tap XVIII, Dr. John, and more

As we head toward August and what's usually the slow time of the year for live jazz in St. Louis, there are still some noteworthy performances happening, including a couple of touring acts that are passing through town in the next few days.

On Thursday, saxophonists Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum (pictured) bring their "Sax for Stax" tour to the Ameristar Casino St Charles' Bottleneck Blues Bar. Named after Albright's recent CD that paid tribute to the hitmaking Memphis R&B label of the 1960s and 1970s, the tour also features some material from each man's back catalog, setting up the potential for some friendly jousting between the two old friends.

As an aside, it's my understanding that a number of the tour dates have also featured Kirk Whalum's sax-playing nephew, Kenneth Whalum. If Kirk's uncle - our town's Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, a fine pianist, singer and saxophonist - should happen make it out to St. Charles that night to sit in, there could be three generations of musical Whalums on one stage, which would be pretty cool. (Not to mention the possibly of a four-way tenor "battle"...) You can see some video excerpts from an earlier show in the Sax for Stax tour in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Then on Saturday night, the 18th annual All That Tap concert will take place at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, culminating the week-long St. Louis Tap Festival that began on Monday. The concert will feature the festival's founder and director, tap guru Robert L. Reed, and a stellar roster of dancers with credits from film, TV and Broadway performing with live musical accompaniment from pianist Carolbeth True and her trio. (For a bit of history and insight about the connection between tap dance and jazz music, go here and here.)

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday the New Orleans pianist and singer Dr. John and his band, the Lower 911, will perform at The Pageant. In keeping with our town's general affinity for the sounds of the Crescent City, Dr. John is always a popular attraction in St. Louis, but good tickets still may be available since this show was a relatively late addition to the calendar.

For more listings of jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

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

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: "Sax for Stax" with Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum

This week, let's take a look at some video clips of performance excepts from the "Sax For Stax" tour featuring saxophonists Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum. The tour, named after Albright's recent CD of songs made famous by the legendary Memphis R&B label, comes to the St. Louis area for a show on Thursday, July 30 at the Ameristar Casino St. Charles' Bottleneck Blues Bar.

Both men have been frequent visitors to St. Louis in recent years as part of smooth jazz package shows such as Jazz Attack and Guitars & Saxes, and Whalum also has been known to sit in on local gigs featuring his uncle, St. Louis-based singer, pianist and saxophonist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum. These four clips were recorded early in the tour, on March 27 at the Nokia Theater in NYC.

Gerald Albright, Kirk Whalum to play Ameristar's Bottleneck Blues Bar on July 30

Saxophonists Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum (pictured) will bring their "Sax for Stax" tour to the St. Louis area for a show on Thursday, July 30 at Ameristar Casino St. Charles’ Bottleneck Blues Bar.

The tour is named after Albright's 2008 CD in which the Memphis native paid tribute to his hometown with instrumental versions of tunes associated with Stax Records, the Memphis-based label that was home to Sam & Dave, Isaac Hayes, Johnnie Taylor, the Staple Singers, and other soul hitmakers of the 1960s and '70s.

Whalum also is from Memphis, and guested on the Sax for Stax CD. His uncle, pianist/singer and saxophonist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, has been a mainstay on the St. Louis music scene since the late 1950s.

Tickets for the "Sax for Stax" show at the Bottleneck Blues Bar will be $45 and $50, and go on sale Monday, May 25.

Jazz this week: "A Soulful Christmas," Jim Manley, a tribute to Louis Armstrong, Erin Bode, and more

Although several of our town's not-for-profit presenters have already gone into holiday or, in the case of the universities, end-of-semester mode, there's still plenty of live jazz on St. Louis stages this weekend. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, the very fine pianist Reggie Thomas leads a group featuring trumpeter Anthony Wiggins in a free concert at the Black Cat Theatre in Maplewood. The show will feature the music of Louis Armstrong, and is part of Jazz St. Louis' Whitaker Community Concerts series.

Also tonight, Sound Unlimited returns to Cookie's Jazz and More to serve as house rhythm section for an open jam session. (They'll do it again next week, the last such jam session before current Cookie's owners Harold and Cookie Whitfield close the doors on December 20 and prepare to hand off to new management in 2009. StLJN will have more on the upcoming changes at Cookie's in a future post.)

On Friday and Saturday, trumpeter Jim Manley takes the stage at Jazz at the Bistro. Manley has been part of the St. Louis music scene for more that 20 years, leading many successful projects including the dance band Fantasy, funk group Horns in the House and the retro-Vegas jazz/pop band Wild, Cool and Swingin'. Regardless of the musical context, Manley always brings impressive chops, high energy and a sense of fun to his work, and I'd expect the same from him as he fronts a small combo at the Bistro this weekend.

Also on Friday and Saturday, singer Erin Bode will perform in concert at the New Town Chapel, 3420 Civic Circle in New Town, St. Charles. Tickets are available only at the Domain Street Wine Bar in New Town, and a portion of the proceeds benefits the New Town Trust. For more information, call 636-940-0457 or visit the New Town Web site.

Other noteworthy performances on Friday include singer, pianist, and saxophonist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum at Brandt's; trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber's holiday show at the Black Cat Theatre; and singer Naomi Stevens and keyboardist Brenda Foster at Cookie's.

On Saturday, singer Anita Rosamond will perform at Black Cat Theatre, doing a mix of holiday material and some of her personal favorites with a band that includes keyboardist Adaron "Pops" Jackson and guitarist Shaun Robinson of Good 4 The Soul, drummer Matt Henry, and saxophonist Mark Christopher. Also on Saturday, singer and perennial St. Louis favorite Jeanne Trevor will be at Brandt's.

On Sunday, the smooth jazz holiday show "A Soulful Christmas" with Gerald Albright (pictured), Will Downing and Lalah Hathaway comes to The Pageant. To see some video clips featuring the "Soulful Christmas" headliners, check out this post.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and Tuesday the David Wiatrolik Trio performs at The Gramophone.

You can find more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond by visiting the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

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

(Edited after posting to add the Erin Bode shows.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Anticipating "A Soulful Christmas"

This week, we've got some video clips featuring the performers in "A Soulful Christmas," the smooth jazz holiday show that's coming to The Pageant next Sunday, December 14. The show features singers Will Downing and Lalah Hathaway and saxophonist Gerald Albright, and though I couldn't find any videos online of them doing holiday-related material, these clips at least offer samples of their respective sounds, the better to inform those who don't already know them and/or entertain those who do.

First up is Downing, who's seen here performing "Where Is The Love" in duet with singer Mica Paris on the British TV show "Top of the Pops." The song was made famous through the version by Roberta Flack and the late singer/pianist/songwriter Donny Hathaway, a former St. Louisan who was Lalah Hathaway's dad. Ms. Hathaway is seen in the second clip singing "Killing Me Softly," another song that was a hit for Flack. The performance is from the 2002 North Sea Jazz Festival, and the band is led by bassist Marcus Miller.

The third video features Albright at the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia with a group including keyboardist Jeff Lorber and drummer Ricky Lawson. The song they're playing is called "Walker's Theme," a tune that, to the best of my knowledge, has nothing to do with either Roberta Flack or Christmas but seems to stand up pretty well on its own.

(For more about upcoming holiday-themed jazz shows in St. Louis, please see this post.)

A guide to holiday jazz concerts in St. Louis

StLJN has been getting a number of hits lately combining the search terms "Christmas" and "jazz," and so for the benefit of those visitors looking for more information on holiday jazz concerts in St. Louis, here's a quick overview of some noteworthy upcoming events:

Sunday, November 30: Smooth jazz guitarist Peter White's Christmas show, featuring trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Mindi Abair, at The Pageant.

Thursday, December 4: Guitarist Steve Schenkel and singer Ashley Mason perform music from their new Christmas CD A Midnight Clear with pianist Carolbeth True and bassist Ric Vice in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Thursday, December 4: Singer Jeanne Trevor and pianist Dave Venn headline a performance of jazz and holiday music at the Black Cat Theatre.

Sunday, December 7: Singer/pianist Harry Connick, Jr and his big band perform a holiday-themed concert at the Fox Theatre.

Friday, December 12: Trumpet player and singer Dawn Weber of Mo & Dawn does a holiday themed concert at the Black Cat Theatre.

Saturday, December 13: Singer/pianist Anita Rosamond performs her third annual Christmas show "Celebrate The Season" at the Black Cat Theatre.

Sunday, December 14: "A Soulful Christmas" with saxophonist Gerald Albright (pictured) and singers Lalah Hathaway and Will Downing at The Pageant.

Monday, December 15: Steve Schenkel and Ashley Mason with guitarist Dan Rubright and bassist Ric Vice at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

Friday, December 19: The singing group Manhattan Transfer brings their annual holiday show to the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

As for local Christmas CD releases, in addition to Schenkel and Mason's A Midnight Clear, singer Erin Bode has a new Christmas-themed CD titled A Cold December Night that's now available for purchase on her Web site.

Other St. Louis musicians with Christmas CDs still in print include Anita Rosamond, whose release This Is Christmas came out in 2006, and saxophonist Rod Tate, who put out an album called Jazzy Melodies of Christmas last year. You can see Tate performing his version of "The Little Drummer Boy," taken from a show last December at the Vaughn Cultural Center, in the embedded video window below.

Do you know of any local jazz shows or CDs with a holiday theme that we've missed? Do you have a favorite holiday jazz CD (or CDs) of all time? Please use the comments to share your thoughts.



(Updated 11/28/08 to add the shows at Black Cat Theatre.)

"A Soulful Christmas" coming to The Pageant on Sunday, December 14

Singers Will Downing and Lalah Hathaway (pictured) and saxophonist Gerald Albright will be the featured performers in "A Soulful Christmas 2008," a holiday-themed show coming to The Pageant on Sunday, December 14.

This will be Albright's second trip to St. Louis this year, as he performed at The Pageant in June as part of this year's "Guitars and Saxes" tour. Hathaway has a family connection to the Gateway City; she is the daughter of the late singer, pianist, songwriter, producer and St. Louis native Donny Hathaway.

Tickets for "A Soulful Christmas" go on sale at 5:00 p.m. Friday, October 10, and can be purchased online here, at The Pageant box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets.

Gerald Albright interviewed in Post-Dispatch

Saxophonist Gerald Albright talked to Terry Perkins for a Post-Dispatch feature prompted by the Guitars and Saxes tour, which stops at The Pageant on Sunday night. You can read the article online here.

Smooth jazz returning to the Pageant this summer

The Pageant has announced the scheduling of three smooth jazz concerts for summer 2008. Presented under the auspices of radio personality Rick Sanborn's "Smooth Summer Party," the concerts will feature the 2008 edition of Guitars and Saxes, with guitarists Peter White and Jeff Golub, saxophonist Gerald Albright (pictured) and keyboard player Jeff Lorber, on Sunday, June 22; R&R, with saxophonist Richard Eliot and trumpeter Rick Braun, on Friday, July 25; and saxophonist Dave Koz on Friday, August 8.

Tickets for each show are $35 and $40, with a $5 per ticket discount if you buy seats for all three concerts. Tix will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, May 2, via Ticketmaster and the Pageant box office.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: The Casino Lights All-Stars' "Always There" plus Gerald Albright's "Georgia On My Mind"

This week's video spotlight offers sights and sounds from some of the musicians who will be performing in St. Louis this summer as part of DJ/impresario Rick Sanborn's two smooth jazz shows at the Pageant.

The first clip is from the "Casino Lights" DVD (recorded live in 1999 at the Montreux Jazz Festival), and presents a star-studded ensemble getting down on the familiar groove of Ronnie Laws' tune "Always There".

The front line includes tenor saxophonist Kirk Whalum, who's part of the "Guitars and Saxes" tour that hits town on Sunday, June 24, along with trumpeter Rick Braun, who's in the "Jazz Attack" show on Friday, July 20. As for the rest of the band in the clip, tenor man Boney James gets the first solo, followed by Kenny Garrett on alto sax and then Whalum, blowing over a rhythm section that includes George Duke on keyboards, Larry Carlton on guitar, Billy Kilson on drums and Mike Manson on bass.

The second video showcases Gerald Albright, who's the other sax in the "Guitars and Saxes" show, performing the standard "Georgia On My Mind". No indication as to where or when this was recorded, and there seem to be some sync problems between the audio and video, but Albright's extended solo is worth hearing even with these slight distractions.

Guitars and Saxes, Jazz Attack set for summer dates at the Pageant

The Pageant has just announced return dates this summer for two smooth jazz package shows.

On Sunday, June 24, the popular "Guitars and Saxes" show comes back to the venue with a lineup featuring saxophonists Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum (pictured), guitarist Jeff Golub and guitarist/vocalist Tim Bowman. Then on Friday, July 20, it's another "Jazz Attack," with trumpeter Rick Braun, singer/guitarist Jonathan Butler, saxophonist Richard Elliot and guitarist Peter White.

Both concerts are being presented by smooth jazz radio personality and impresario Rick Sanborn under the "Smooth Summer Party" banner, and as with past events he's promoted, there are special prices for ticket buyers who want to attend both shows: $80 for reserved VIP seating, or $60 for reserved main floor/balcony seats.

Single tickets for either show individually will be $35 each for reserved main floor/balcony seating and $45 each for reserved VIP seating. Tickets go on sale at 5 p.m. this Friday, April 6 via The Pageant box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets.

(Edited after posting to add a tag.)