Jazz this week: Terence Blanchard and E-Collective, Michael Rosen, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features the return of a New Orleans trumpeter who has become a local favorite here, a free concert featuring a multi-national ensemble of players, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, November 20
Trumpeter Terence Blanchard (pictured, top left) is back in town with his band, the E-Collective, to perform for the first of five nights continuing through Sunday at Jazz St. Louis.

Blanchard already has spent a fair amount of time in St. Louis this year, as Opera Theater of St. Louis premiered his second opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones in June. Since then, the trumpeter has moved from his native New Orleans to Los Angeles to accept a job as the first Kenny Burrell Chairman in Jazz Studies at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music.

Though he hasn't released any new recordings since 2018's Live, Blanchard is always writing new music, so don't be surprised to hear a few new compositions mixed in with pieces from the E-Collective's three albums.

Also on Wednesday, vocal group Java Jived teams up with pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and guitarist Brian Vaccaro's organ group Spiral Trio plays at Evangeline's.

Thursday, November 21
Keyboardist Jim Hegarty will perform with bassist Paul Steinbeck and drummer Del Robles in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Also on Thursday, The Dark Room has a double-header, with guitarist Dave Black playing at the dinner hour and keyboardist Ryan Marquez and his trio performing the late-evening show.

Friday, November 22
Trumpeter Jim Manley returns to Evangeline's, and saxophonist Stan Coleman will play at The Dark Room.

Saturday, November 23
Saxophonist Michael Rosen, a former New Yorker now living in Italy, will front a multi-national ensemble in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Wash U.

Rosen (pictured, bottom left) will joined by two St. Louisans, guitarist William Lenihan and pianist Jay Oliver, plus British bassist Tony Grey and Italian drummer Lucrezio De Seta.

Also on Saturday, percussionist Herman Semidey and Orquestra son Montuno play salsa, Latin jazz and more at Club Viva; and fusion/funk band Wright's Project returns to Troy's Listening Room.

Monday, November 25
The Webster University Jazz Singers perform at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus, and singer and impressionist Dean Christopher returns with his "Rat Pack and More" show to One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar.

Tuesday, November 26
The Big Little Big Band with vocalist Steve Shininger performs 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: Tortoise, Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, Anat Cohen, and more

Unpredictable weather is just one reason that a lot of touring acts like to stay home in early January.

But whether St. Louis this weekend ends up with the spring-like temperatures we're enjoying at midweek, or with the ice storm being promised (threatened?) by Friday, the calendar of upcoming live jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis features several shows that definitely are worth leaving the house to hear.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, January 11
Five young local musicians associated with Jazz St. Louis' educational programs will reunite as the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars Alumni Quintet for the first of two nights of performances at Jazz at the Bistro.

The group features saxophonist Carlos Brown, Jr., trumpeter Brady Lewis, drummer Everette Benton, pianist Eliot Courtois, and bassist Nathan Pence, all of whom currently are studying music at various universities around the country.

Also on Wednesday, guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith will be playing duets at Evangeline's.

Thursday, January 12
The eclectic instrumental quintet Tortoise (pictured, top left), who have been enjoying a period of renewed activity since the 2016 release The Catastrophist, their first album since 2009, returns to perform at the Old Rock House.

Elsewhere around town, the Peoria, IL-based band The Perrilles Project will be playing music associated with iconic drummer Max Roach at Evangeline's; and singer and impressionist Dean Christopher brings his "Rat Pack and More" show to Joe's Cafe & Gallery.

Friday, January 13
Four musicians in town this week to do educational residencies for Jazz St. Louis - trumpeter Terell Stafford, trombonist Andre Hayward, bassist Rodney Whitaker, and drummer Steve Fidyk -  will join forces to perform as the "Jazz at Lincoln Center Group" for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Stafford and Whitaker already are familiar to local jazz fans thanks to multiple previous appearances here - in fact, the trumpeter played the Bistro just last month as part of saxophonist Tim Warfield's holiday show - while Fidyk, though not a marquee name, is a well-regarded drummer and teacher known for his work with big bands.

But the sleeper attraction on this gig may very well be Hayward (pictured, center left) a veteran of the SFJAZZ Ensemble who last played here in 2013 at the Bistro as part of a similar setup with Whitaker, Warfield, and pianist and former St. Louisan Reggie Thomas. He's one of the top trombonists working today, with a quick imagination as an improviser, fine technique, and a well-rounded tone.

Also on Friday, vocal group Java Jived will bring their Manhattan Transfer-esque harmonies to the Emerald Room at The Monocle; and Miss Jubilee will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, January 14
Clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen (pictured, bottom left) returns to play at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

While one of Cohen's major projects of the past year was working with arranger Oded Lev-Ari and a new ten-piece band, for this show she'll be fronting her quartet, a versatile and free-wheeling band that can handle music ranging from classic swing numbers associated with Fats Waller and Benny Goodman to Brazilian choro music.

Also on Saturday, singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne will perform at Montrey's Cigar Lounge.

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 at Holmes series announces winter/spring 2016 concert schedule

The Jazz at Holmes series of concerts at Washington University has announced their schedule for the winter/spring semester of 2016.

The ten concerts will include three performances featuring visiting musicians, perhaps most notably drummer Thurman Barker, a longtime member of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and veteran of the 1960s free jazz scene, who will bring a trio to St. Louis to perform on Thursday, April 7.

A professor at Bard College in New York since 1993, Barker (pictured) spends most of his time these days teaching and composing, but his extensive resume includes past performances and recordings with many important free jazz musicians, including Joseph Jarman, Muhal Richard Abrams, Pheeroan akLaff, Anthony Braxton, Billy Bang, Henry Threadgill, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Sam Rivers, and others.

The Jazz at Holmes schedule also including return dates for bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marc Copland, who did an off-campus concert sponsored by the series in 2013 at 560 Music Center; and for German-born, Zurich-based saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen, who played a Jazz at Holmes show back in 2010.

Here's the complete schedule for the semester:

Thursday, February 4: Ken Kehner, Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris
Thursday, February 11: STL Free Jazz Collective
Thursday, February 18: Paul DeMarinis Group
Thursday, February 25: Jay Oliver, William Lenihan, and Steve Davis

Thursday, March 3: Gary Peacock, Marc Copland, and Mark Ferber
Thursday, March 10: Mosaic Whispers & Java Jived
Thursday, March 24: Montez Coleman Quartet

Thursday, April 7: Thurman Barker Trio
Thursday, April 14: Nicole Johänntgen with William Lenihan, Jay Oliver & Steve Davis
Thursday, April 21: Kasimu Taylor Quartet

While most Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public, the Marc Copland/Gary Peacock and Thurman Barker performances will be ticketed events, priced at $25 and $10 respectively. Concerts begin at 8:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, located on Washington University’s campus at the west end of the Brookings Quadrangle, near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.

Edited after posting.