Jazz this week: Good 4 The Soul, Midwest Quintet, Cara Dineen, and more

While big-name touring musicians generally are off the road during major holidays, there still are some notable performances by local jazz and creative musicians happening over the next few days in and around St. Louis. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, December 23
The Jazz St. Louis Big Band offers their third and final performance of Duke Ellington’s "Nutcracker" at Jazz at the Bistro; guitarist Tom Byrne's Yule Vibe Trio plays at Thurman Grill; and singer Ralph Williams presents a Christmas-themed performance at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Friday, December 25
Byrne and singer Erika Johnson will host a Christmas night jam session at Evangeline's, and trombonist and former St. Louisan John Wolf will back in town to sit in with guitarist Dave Black at the River City Casino's 1904 Steakhouse. 

Saturday, December 26
Good 4 The Soul (pictured, top left) plays jazz, funk, and more for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro; Miss Jubilee performs for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and Wack-A-Doo plays swing and Americana at Evangeline's.

Also on Saturday, singer Joe Mancuso brings a quartet to Nathalie's, and guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith will play duets at Thurman Grill.

Sunday,
December 27
St. Louis and Chicago musicians will join forces for a performance by a group dubbed the Midwest Quintet at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Saxophonist Christopher McBride (pictured, lower left) and trumpeter Quentin Coaxum will be representing the City of Big Shoulders, teamed with Eric Slaughter on guitar, bass phenom Nathan Pence (back home after his first semester at UMKC), and ESL's own Montez Coleman on drums.

Monday, December 28
Singer Cara Dineen, daughter of saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen, will be back home from NYC for a visit and sitting in with her dad and the Broadway Collective for their monthly gig at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups, and Dizzy Atmosphere will play swing and Gypsy jazz for diners at The Shaved Duck.

Tuesday, December 29
Pianist Greg Mills will perform at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

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: Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O, Frank Sinatra Jr., Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker," and more

With the holidays fast approaching, this week's calendar of jazz and creative in music in St. Louis offers seasonally themed shows from both touring and local musicians, as well as one more tribute to Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday from a rather authoritative source.
Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, December 16
Drummer Matt Wilson will be spreading holiday cheer with his band Christmas Tree-O (pictured, top left) for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Wilson - a first-call percussionist, wily bandleader, and natural showman - is well-known to St. Louis jazz fans, having played here multiple times in recent years with his quartet, his group Arts and Crafts and, in a one-nighter last year at Joe's Cafe, the Christmas Tree-O.

Obviously, that gig was received well-enough to prompt a more extended engagement, and so you can find out more about Christmas Tree-O and see video of some of their skilled yet skewed renditions of seasonal favorites in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also tonight, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "open mic" at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Thursday, December 17
Miss Jubilee will play swing, jump blues and more in an early evening show at Blues City Deli; and guitarist Dave Black, singer Feyza Eren and friends will perform at Nathalie’s.

Friday, December 18
The Funky Butt Brass Band brings their very popular "Holiday Brasstravaganza" back to the south side rock club Off Broadway for the first of two evenings. (As of this writing, Saturday already is sold out, so if you want to attend and don't already have a ticket, it's Friday or nothing.)

Also on Friday, the St. Louis Big Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and the Big Little Big Band will combine two timely topics in a single show with their "Tribute to Frank Sinatra and Christmas!" at The Abbey in Belleville.

Saturday, December 19
Speaking of Ol' Blue Eyes, his son Frank Sinatra, Jr will pay tribute to his famous father with a performance of "Sinatra Sings Sinatra - The Centennial Celebration" on Saturday at Lindenwood University's J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts.

The multi-media extravaganza features Sinatra Jr. (pictured, bottom left) telling stories and singing some of his dad's most popular songs, accompanied by a big band with strings as well as historic photos, video and audio of Sinatra the elder.

UPDATE - 2:15 p.m., 12/16/15: Due to illness, Frank Sinatra Jr's performance at the Scheidegger Center has been postponed until Saturday, May 21, 2016. 
UPDATE - 2:30 p.m. 12/17/15:  The Scheidegger Center says box office staff members will get in touch with ticket holders individually to exchange tickets or make refunds.

Also on Saturday, pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True will provide the jazz in "A Jazz and Choral Christmas" at the Webster Groves Christian Church; and trumpeter Jim Manley returns to One 19 North Tapas and Wine Bar.

Monday, December 21
The Jazz St. Louis Big Band plays Duke Ellington’s re-imagining of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" at Jazz at the Bistro, rounding out the program with additional Ellington material played from the original arrangements.

Tuesday, December 22
Drummer Bernard Long Jr. and band will play a benefit for the Normandy HS jazz band program at NV Social Life in Ballwin.

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: "Basie's Birthday Bash," a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, and more

This week's schedule of live jazz and creative music in and around St. Louis avoids the late-summer doldrums with tributes to two jazz greats, plus a variety of shows in genres and styles ranging from pre-war swing to contemporary to free improvisation. Let's go to the highlights...

Thursday, August 20
Singer Erin Bode returns to Cyrano's, guitarist Dave Black and Friends will perform at Nathalie’s, and pianist Brad Ellebrecht and singer Tom Kernan play at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Friday, August 21
The Jazz St. Louis Big Band will present the first of two nights of "Basie’s Birthday Bash" at Jazz at the Bistro. For more about the music and legacy of the legendary bandleader and pianist Count Basie (pictured, top left), see this video post from a couple of weeks ago.

Also on Friday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to Highway 61 Roadhouse; trumpeter Jim Manley takes the stage at Thurman Grill; and the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, August 22
Speaking of jazz legends, there will be a tribute to another jazz great - who also crossed paths with Basie more than once - as Robbie's House of Jazz presents Danita Mumphard (pictured, center left) and Trio Tres Bien interpreting songs made famous by Ella Fitzgerald at the Ozark Theatre.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Gypsy jazz band Franglais will be joined by guest saxophonist Dave Stone for a gig at Evangeline's; and the Sidney Street Shakers will be part of the musical menu for the one-year anniversary celebration at the Tick Tock Tavern.

Meanwhile, out in Hermann, MO, the inaugural Hermann Wine and Jazz Festival will feature sets from Dawn Weber, the Silverman Brothers, Ptah Williams, Maurice Carnes, and Tommy Halloran.

Sunday, August 23
Cornet Chop Suey plays a free concert of traditional jazz and swing at Carondelet Park; and
saxophonist Christopher McBride (pictured, lower left), who's been splitting time between Chicago and NYC, will return to offer up contemporary sounds at the Kranzberg Arts Center.
McBride's band for the late-afternoon performance will include trumpeter Quinten Coaxum and pianist Willem Delisfort as well as St. Louis' own Bob Deboo on bass and Montez Coleman on drums.

Monday, August 24
The eclectic acoustic band The 442s will play a free outdoor concert at the Public Media Commons, 3653 Olive St in Grand Center.

Tuesday, August 25
The STL Free Jazz Collective returns to the Tavern of Fine Arts, and singer Feyza Eren and band will perform as part of the "Notes From Home" series at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

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.)