The Sheldon announces 2021-22 schedule

After more than a year of presenting mostly livestreaming performances due to the COVID pandemic, The Sheldon has announced its schedule of concerts for the 2021-22 season, starting in September.

The hall's "Rhythm & Jazz" series will include performances from New Orleans drummer Herlin Riley (Saturday, November 20); singer Dianne Reeves (Saturday, January 22); "Bessie, Billie & Nina - Pioneering Women in Jazz," starring singers Charenée Wade,  Camille Thurman, and Tahira Clayton (Saturday, March 3); and "The Great Guitars," with guitarists Martin Taylor, Frank Vignola, and John Jorgenson (Saturday, May 7).

In addition to these shows, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra (pictured) will perform in a non-subscription series concert on Thursday, October 21.

The Sheldon's "Coffee Concerts" series of Tuesday and Wednesday morning performances also will include some shows of interest to StLJN readers, with appearances scheduled for singers Erin Bode (October 12 & 13), Dean Christopher (November 9 & !0), Janet Evra (March 15 & 16) and Anita Jackson (April 18 & 20).

Subscriptions to the "Rhythm & Jazz" series are $160 each for orchestra seating, $140 for the balcony, while a "Coffee Concerts" subscription will be $75 for orchestra seating, $65 for the balcony. In addition to these two series, the Sheldon's 2021-22 schedule also includes slates of folk and classical concerts; see their website for details.

New series subscriptions will go on sale on Monday, June 7 via the Sheldon box office and Metrotix, with the date for single ticket sales and single ticket pricing still TBA.

Notes from the Net: Miles on MySpace; Zorn bio analyzed; the wages of swing; plus news, reviews and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* In keeping with this feature's tradition of starting with a Miles Davis-related item or two, it seems there's now a page for the trumpeter on MySpace. This in itself is no big deal - lots of celebs, dead and alive, seem to be represented by pages they didn't personally put up - but the interesting part is that since it apparently is authorized by Sony, visitors with sufficient bandwidth can stream dozens of Miles' albums and compilations directly from the page.

For as long as it lasts, it would seem to be a very handy, low-cost way to investigate Davis' extensive catalog, or to turn a new fan on to some of your favorite Miles moments.

Also, Marc Myers' JazzWax blog also recently had a Miles-related entry in his new Photo Story series. (For more frequently updated Miles-related content, StLJN heartily recommends Jeffrey Hyatt's fine site Miles Davis Online.)

* Here's a review by Tom Greenland for AllAboutJazz.com of John Brackett's new book John Zorn: Tradition and Transgression. (Zorn studied at our town's Webster University in the 1970s.)

* Zorn also will be one of the featured performers at this year's Warsaw Summer Jazz Days in July, along with the World Saxophone Quartet, featuring St. Louis' own Hamiet Bluiett and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake (pictured).

* Turning to news of coming attractions, here's a feature from Pittsburgh City Paper on saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, who will be in St. Louis this Friday to perform at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center.

* And here's a review for AAJ.com by Andrew Velez of Pizzarelli Party, a new CD release featuring the whole Pizzarelli clan, including guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli; his dad Bucky on guitar, brother Martin on bass, and his wife Jessica Molasky on vocals, plus pianist Larry Fuller and others. John Pizzarelli has been a frequent visitor to St. Louis in recent years, and the online tour information service Pollstar currently shows him returning again in 2010 to play Jazz at the Bistro.

* Latin/jazz group Tiempo Libre, who will perform next year at the Edison Theatre in St. Louis, this week are playing Dizzy's at Lincoln Center in NYC.

* The Chicago Afrobeat Project, who played The Gramophone at the end of May, will be touring extensively from the end of June through September. (There's no return St. Louis date on the schedule, but there are some spaces in the tour into which one conceivably could fit.)

* A look at the "recent visitors" file shows that guitarist John Jorgenson, who wrapped up the Sheldon Concert Hall's jazz series this year, is back home in California for a concert at a community college in Riverside.

* Lastly, a couple of items of general interest: National Public Radio's Web site is sporting a brand new jazz blog and it's a good one, with daily entries plus centralized, convenient access to NPR's various jazz programs, online streams, etc. Check out the modestly named A Blog Supreme here.

* Canadian jazz journalist Peter Ham asked the working musicians among his readers how much they make for a gig. The results - while somewhat depressing overall, as they show working musicians' wages generally remaining flat for years or even decades - reveal that St. Louis seems about on a par with cities of similar size. Read the whole thing here.

Jazz this week: Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, Sean Jones, John Jorgenson, Medeski Martin and Wood, FLOW, Dixie Daredevils, Stan Hale, and more

It's the busiest week so far this year for jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis, with a number of touring artists in town and a schedule of shows representing a wide variety of styles, from traditional jazz and big band to straight-ahead modern jazz to free improv, intermedia and more.

Let's go the highlights in chronological order, starting with this evening, when the acclaimed young trumpeter Sean Jones opens a four-night stand continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Jones is considered by many to be a rising star among jazz trumpeters, and this weekend marks his St. Louis debut as a bandleader. For more on Jones and some video samples of his playing, see this post.

On Thursday, singer and pianist Anita Rosamond is doing a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, backed by a group featuring keyboardist Nathan Jatcko, bassist Bob DeBoo, and drummer Jerry Mazucca. That same evening, the Detroit-based free improv duo of saxophonist Wally Shoup and percussionist Ben Hall will perform at Open Lot, 1310 S. 18th St, with opening sets from Dave Stone & Danny McClain and Brain Transplant.

On Friday, the public performance portion of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival kicks off with a concert featuring guest artists Peter Erskine on drums and Lou Marini (pictured) on saxophone with the University of Missouri - St. Louis Jazz Ensemble at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. For some background on Erskine and some video samples of his playing, see this post. Also on Friday, the NYC-based saxophonist Kim Bock and his jazz organ trio FLOW will take the stage at The Gramophone.

Saturday brings some free educational opportunities for aspiring musicians during the morning and afternoon, with Erskine and trumpeter Jon Faddis each presenting free master classes at the Touhill while Bock and FLOW will be giving a free workshop and performance at Saxquest.

On Saturday night, the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival continues with a concert featuring Faddis, singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli and the UMSL Jazz Ensemble at the Touhill. For more about Faddis and some video samples of his playing, see this post.

Also on Saturday, guitarist John Jorgenson brings his Django Reinhardt-inspired quintet to the Sheldon Concert Hall. For some background on Jorgenson and a video sample of his playing, check out this post from when he was last in St. Louis in September 2007.

That same evening, New Music Circle will present a program at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium featuring videos created by Van McElwee, Roy Zurick and others with live musical accompaniment by S.A.N.E. (Semi-Acoustic Noise Ensemble), percussionist Rich O'Donnell, and friends

Sunday is another busy day, as the St. Louis Jazz Club presents a performance by the Peoria, IL-based traditional jazz band Dixie Daredevils at Bel Air Bowl in Belleville, and St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers ends its spring 2009 series with a free concert featuring guitarist Steve Schenkel and singer Ashley Mason at the Second Baptist Church.

Also on Sunday, veteran drummer Stan Hale is having a CD release event at the Jazz Spot to promote The Stan Hale Experience, his debut jazz recording as a leader. Hale's band for the show will feature Jeff Anderson on tenor sax, Tony Simmons on keyboards, Henry Taylor on guitar, and Jamal Nichols on bass, with vocals by Ralph Butler and Virginia Williams, and the $10 admission price includes a copy of the CD. (Full disclosure: Hale is a musical associate of yr. humble editor, and there's a possibility I may end up playing some intermission piano at this gig.)

Last, but not least, Sunday also is the pick day for jazz fans at this weekend's jam-band-oriented Loyal Earth Festival, with performances scheduled during the evening by the groovalicious organ trio Medeski Martin and Wood and pan-stylistic Chicago guitarist Fareed Haque of Garaj Mahal fame.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band is back at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and on Tuesday, the ambient music duo Mountains will perform at Open Lot, while the David Wiatrolik Trio is set to perform at The Gramophone.

With so much going on, these are just some of the noteworthy shows happening around St. Louis over the next few days. To see more 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.)

Notes from the Net: Rare Miles Davis photos online; Greg Osby, Bela Fleck reviewed; plus interviews, festival news, and more

Here's our weekly compilation of news and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* There's some tasty Miles Davis-related material this week, courtesy of Lockwood & Summit, the staff blog of Euclid Records (and a site yr. humble editor hereby resolves to visit more frequently). Store owner, co-blogger and jazz fan Joe Schwab has written about Davis several times since the first of the year, most recently posting part one of the audio of a 1953 radio interview of the trumpeter by DJ Harry Frost on East St. Louis radio station KXLW.

L&S also has run some rare photographs of Davis, including a picture of him at Lincoln High School in 1944, and a number of photos shot by Bernie Thrasher, a St. Louis jazz fan and amateur photographer who took pictures at many jazz shows here, mostly during the 1950s. Two posts document a Davis gig (with John Coltrane on tenor) at the St. Louis club Peacock Alley, and several others show off previously uncirculated vintage photos of Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and others.

In more Miles-related news, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Davis' landmark album Kind of Blue, Stanford University is presenting “50 Years of Kind of Blue: A Live Jazz Laboratory” on Saturday, April 18 on the Stanford campus, and Doug Ramsey's Rifftides had a compilation of Miles Davis quotes last week.

* Saxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby's composition "The Single Petal of a Rose" from his St. Louis Shoes CD was reviewed by Jazz.com as part of their ongoing series of reviews of single tracks (as opposed to entire CDs). Osby will be in St. Louis in two weeks for an educational residency with Jazz St. Louis and performances on April 10 and 11 at Jazz at the Bistro .

* And speaking of saxophonists, here's a recent video interview with former Webster University student turned tireless avant garde composer, performer and impresario John Zorn.

* Turning to the "coming attractions" file, AllAboutJazz.com has an interesting piece in which pianist Eric Reed discusses the impact of religious faith on his career as a jazz musician. Reed has recorded for the St. Louis-based label MAXJAZZ, and will be here next week to perform in "The Genius of Eddie Jefferson" at the Bistro.

* Here's a review from JamBase.com of a March 19 show at Yoshi's in Oakland pairing banjo master Bela Fleck and kora player Toumani Diabante on . Both men will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall this Wednesday, April 1 as part of Fleck's Africa Project tour.

* Trumpeter Sean Jones, who's set to perform at the Bistro from April 15-18, has released a new CD, The Search Within.

* Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli recently went on Seattle NPR affiliate KPLU to perform a few songs and talk about Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin and the "Great American Songbook." You can listen to an online stream of the broadcast here. Pizzarelli will be in town on Saturday, April 18 as part of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

* Guitarist John Jorgenson (pictured), who's bringing his Django Reinhardt-inspired quintet to the Sheldon in April, recently did an interview and live performance on a local talk show on the Washington, DC NBC affiliate. You can see a video of the segment online here. (Note: The link launches an embedded video player containing a .wmv (Windows Media) file.)

* Opening the "recent visitors" file, saxophonist Javon Jackson, seen here last fall at the Bistro with keyboardist Les McCann, was interviewed by DJ and blogger Leroy "The Jazzcat" Downs; you'll find the conversation in Downs' archives here.

* The Bad Plus, who opened 2009 at the Bistro, were in Philadelphia last week and were the subjects of two feature stories in the local papers.

* From the "Everybody likes free stuff" file: Down Beat magazine is offering online readers the chance to win free trips to the Telluride and Litchfield Jazz Festivals. The packages include airfare, lodging and tickets to the festival. The Telluride Jazz Festival in Colorado runs from June 5-7, and you can enter the Telluride contest here. The Litchfield Jazz Festival in Connecticut runs from July 31-August 2, and you can enter the Litchfield contest here

* And speaking of festivals, a recent article in the New York Times asked the question, "Will New York have a major jazz festival this summer?" It seems that "concert promoters, booking agents and others in the jazz world say that because of the economy and a rift between Festival Network and the impresario George Wein, it is possible that New York will lack a big festival for the first time in 37 years." You can read the whole Times article here, and Howard Mandel has more on the Wein-vs-Festival Network dispute here.

* NYC's festival woes notwithstanding, upstate in Rochester they've got big plans for the eighth annual Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, featuring headliners such as Smokey Robinson, Dave Brubeck, St. Louis native Michael McDonald and Taj Mahal as part of a nine-day event held June 12-20.

Impressively, the Rochester fest will include more than 800 musicians performing in 200-plus concerts, which raises a question: How is it that Rochester - which I'm sure is a nice place filled with fine folks, but is neither a major metropolis nor a particularly significant historic center of jazz activity - is able to successfully mount a festival on this scale, while the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival, which actually began the year before the Rochester event, has been reduced to going "on hiatus" for 2009 because they were unable to marshal the necessary resources and/or moxie to organize a single day of programming? I'm just sayin'...

* Following up on last week's item about the possible demise of famed Detroit jazz club Baker's Keyboard Lounge, Clayton McDonnell of MAXJAZZ sent along a link to an item from the Los Angeles Times noting that long-running LA venue the Jazz Bakery has lost its lease. Fortunately, the Jazz Bakery's operators seem to have both the interest and the funding to re-open in a new location, though exactly where is unknown at this time. You can read the whole story here.

* Last, but not least, the UK newspaper the Guardian is running an ongoing series of articles about 50 key moments in jazz that defined the music's history. It';s the sort of thing that, even if you disagree with some of the specifics picks, provides some entertaining food for thought and/or discussion. The home page for the Guardian's "50 Great Moments In Jazz" series is here.

Sheldon offering "Choose Your Own" subscriptions

The Sheldon Concert Hall is offering ticket buyers a "Choose Your Own" subscription plan for the 2008-09 season. Concert goers who purchase tickets for three or more concerts from the Sheldon's jazz, folk or classical series will get a 5% discount off single ticket prices plus "Preferred Seating and Great Subscriber Benefits!"

The Sheldon's jazz series for 2008-09 will include concerts by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Paula West, the Dave Holland Quintet, the John Jorgenson Quintet, and Rachael Price.

The "Choose Your Own" subscriptions will go on sale by phone at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 24; call 314-533-9900 to order. Online sales begin Wednesday, June 25 at www.thesheldon.org.

Sheldon Concert Hall announces 2008-09 season

The Sheldon Concert Hall has announced its season schedule for 2008-09. The hall's five-concert jazz series will include performances by legendary pianist and composer Dave Brubeck (pictured) and his Quartet (October 4) and acclaimed bassist Dave Holland's Quintet (January 24) as well as guitarist John Jorgenson and band doing a tribute to Django Reinhardt (April 18) and shows featuring singers Paula West (November 22) and Rachael Price (March 14).

Local jazz performers are featured prominently in the Sheldon's series of 10 a.m. "Coffee Concerts." Jean Kittrell and Red Lehr with the Old St. Louis Levee Band will kick off that series on October 27 and 28, followed by Swing Set on December 9 and 10, Mardra and Reggie Thomas doing a Mardi Gras-themed program on February 23 and 24, and traditional jazz and swing band Cornet Chop Suey on April 29 and 30. And of course, other St. Louis jazz performers can be expected to show up in the "Notes From Home" schedule as those concerts are announced throughout the year.

So, what's the takeaway on this lineup? Well, word of the Holland and Jorgenson shows had already leaked via the online tour information service Pollstar, and Brubeck is making a return visit to the Sheldon after appearing in the jazz series a few years back and again at the hall's 2007 benefit gala. Although all three have played St. Louis in recent years, all would seem to be good bets to deliver satisfying performances. I'm especially glad to see Holland on the schedule, as his group continues to be one of the very best small ensembles in jazz, and Brubeck, a genuine innovator who at age 87 can't have too many more years of touring left, is always welcome. Jorgenson, though not a big name, is a first-rate picker who's made Reinhardt's music an ongoing project, and if you dig that style of playing, he delivers the goods.

West also has performed in St. Louis recently, appearing at the Cabaret at Savor earlier this year. I've gotten divergent reports from a couple of people I trust who heard her then - one favorable and one not so favorable - but West certainly has gotten many good reviews for performances elsewhere. The sole local debut performance in the jazz series will be from Price, a 22-year-old who's just now getting out of the New England Conservatory of Music but has attracted some good notices in the press based on a handful of relatively high-profile festival appearances and work with drummer T.S. Monk's band.

I'm all in favor of the presentation and promotion of new talent, and maybe this is just a manifestation of my deep skepticism of most of the current glut of female singers, but what I've seen and heard about Price so far seems suspiciously like press-agent hype of the sort associated in recent years with the pleasant but ultimately forgettable Jane Monheit. In any event, two singers in a five-concert series is one too many; I would much rather have seen one of those slots devoted to another, more challenging instrumental performer or band that we haven't heard before in St. Louis.

If recent seasons are any guide, it's likely that the Sheldon will add another jazz concert or two to next year's lineup along the way, slotted into the schedule as a non-subscription show. However, unless they're able to snag a really major performer - someone on the order of Sonny Rollins or Ornette Coleman, who hasn't played St. Louis either for a long while, or at all - it won't be quite enough to offset the shortcomings of a schedule that seems less ambitious than it ought to be.

While the need to sell tickets is both understandable and indisputable, a major not-for-profit presenter gets held to a high standard. Unlike commercial, for-profit concert promoters, they have a certain obligation to educate, challenge and lead their audiences, not pander to them. The Sheldon remains a very fine place to hear a concert, with excellent acoustics and sightlines and a very capable, professional production staff led by veteran operations director and all-around-good-guy Dale Benz. I don't want to be too harsh here, because overall the Sheldon obviously is a major asset to the St. Louis music community. But for the sake of St. Louis' jazz fans, I wish their booking policy showed just a bit more vision and, dare I say it, guts.

Pollstar: Guitarist John Jorgenson to perform at the Sheldon in April 2009

The online concert information service Pollstar has added a listing indicating that guitarist John Jorgenson will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall on Saturday, April 18, 2009. Jorgenson has played rock and country with the Desert Rose Band and the Hellecasters and worked as a sideman for pop star Elton John, but in his own group he focuses on swing and Gypsy jazz in the style of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. He performed in St. Louis most recently in September 2007 as part of Trinity Presbyterian Church's "Reverberations" concert series.

Jazz this week: Average White Band, Konk Pack, Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, KMOX Jazz and Wine Festival, John Jorgenson, and more

It's another busy week for jazz in St. Louis, with performances representing a variety of subgenres including mainstream, experimental improv, funk, and even some 1930s-style string band hot jazz in the spirit of legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt.

On Thursday night, 1970s funk heroes Average White Band will play at Jazz at the Bistro. This was a late addition to the Bistro's schedule this year, and obviously AWB are a bit different than the venue's usual straightahead jazz fare. Still, given that the group's last St. Louis appearance a couple of years ago was at the much larger (and now defunct) Mississippi Nights, I'd expect enough of a turnout from AWB fans to pack the place. And judging from video of recent incarnations of the group, and the assessment of a someone who saw that last St. Louis show, those fans expecting spirited renditions of funky hits such as "Pick Up The Pieces" and "Cut The Cake" likely will be quite pleased with what they hear.

For the weekend, the Bistro goes in a completely different stylistic direction with shows on Friday and Saturday by St. Louis veteran pianist, singer and saxophonist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum. A local fixture since the Gaslight Square era, Whalum plays frequently around town and is well known for his classy renditions of jazz standards and numbers from the Great American Songbook. However, the chance to hear him work in the Bistro's "listening room" format is both a welcome acknowledgement of his continued appeal and artistic vitality and a good opportunity for fans used to hearing him in noisier settings to catch all the nuances of Whalum's performance.

There's plenty happening beyond the Bistro, too, starting with experimental pianist Thollem McDonas, who must like St. Louis; he was just here in June and this week he's back in town once again, doing another intimate concert performance at Jackson Pianos , 3131 Cherokee, on Friday night and returning for another performace at the St. Louis Brewery and Tap Room downtown on Saturday.

Friday night also brings a show by the improv trio Konk Pack, who will kick off New Music Circle's 2007-08 season with a performance in an "alternative space" downtown at the Kerr Foundation Building, 21 O’Fallon Street (on the riverfront just north of Laclede's Landing.)

On Saturday, this year's edition of the KMOX Jazz and Wine Festival takes place at Faust Park in Chesterfield, with a lineup of popular performers including Kim Massie, Denise Thimes, the Bosman Twins and Anita Rosamond. I'm told that last year's event attracted several thousand people, and, weather permitting, this year's should be well-attended, too, which somehow seems a bit ironic considering that Saturday night is also the final time KMOX will air Don Wolff's long-running jazz radio broadcast.

Closing out the weekend, guitarist John Jorgenson (pictured) and his quintet will perform Sunday night at Trinity Presbyterian Church in University City as part of the church's "Reverberations" concert series. From the samples I've seen and heard, Jorgenson is definitely a highly proficient picker, and fans of both Gypsy jazz and great guitar playing in general will want to check him out.

Other noteworthy shows this week: Saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will do a free concert Thursday night at Washington University as part of the Jazz at Holmes series. Also, Cookie's Jazz and More has Trio Tres Bien with singer Danita Mumphard on Friday, and an event for alumni of Webster University's jazz studies program on Saturday. Last but not least, on Sunday, Brandt's has singer Mae Wheeler and Friends for another late-afternoon/early evening performance.

Update - 9/27/07, 4 p.m.: There's one more pick to add for the weekend: Bassist Ric Vice emailed with late news that the Kim Portnoy Trio will be playing a concert at 7:30 p.m. this Sunday at Eliot Chapel, 100 N. Taylor in Kirkwood. The show will feature a number of pianist/composer Portnoy's originals, and a portion of the proceeds from CDs sold at the show goes to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
As always, these highlights are but a sampling of what's out there, so for more St. Louis area jazz-related events, 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 at the Movies:John Jorgenson plays "Limehouse Blues," plus Frank Sinatra Jr & Was (Not Was) do "Wedding Vows In Vegas"

This week we've got two more videos previewing upcoming jazz performances in St. Louis. Batting leadoff is guitarist John Jorgenson, who will perform with his quintet on September 30 at Trinity Presbyterian Church in University City as part of the Church's "Reverberations" concert series. Jorgenson's quintet plays in the Gypsy inflected, hot-jazz string band style associated with Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli, and here you can see them doing an appropriately idiomatic version of "Limehouse Blues".

Down below is, in the words of Monty Python catchphrase, something competely different - it's Frank Sinatra, Jr, teamed with conceptual rock/funk/pop band Was (Not Was) for a little something called "Wedding Vows In Vegas". This track is one of many in which Was (Not Was) employed what might be called "stunt casting" of vocalists; they've recorded with everyone from the late Mel Torme to Mitch Ryder of Detroit Wheels fame, using singers in both iconic and ironic fashion.

Video footage of Sinatra Jr. is not plentiful on the Internet, but this clip at least provides a small sample of his vocals while demonstrating that he's probably got at least a semblance of a sense of humor about himself as well. Sinatra Jr. will undoubtedly be acccompanied by a more traditional orchestra when he plays the Touhill Performing Arts Center on Sunday, October 7, but since he served as his Dad's bandleader and music director for many years, one would expect him to have a high quality contingent of players, especially for a show billed as a tribute to Sinatra Sr. This feature story, published last year in the Washington Post, provides additional insight into Sinatra Jr. as singer, musician, bandleader and son of a legend.

Guitarist John Jorgenson to perform in St. Louis on September 30

Guitarist John Jorgenson (pictured), a versatile picker whose musicial interests run the gamut from rock, pop and country to the gypsy jazz style identified with the legendary Django Reinhardt, is coming to St. Louis with his Quintet to perform on Sunday, September 30. The concert starts at 7 p.m. and is part of the "Reverberations" series sponsored by and held at the Trinity Presbyterian Church, 6800 Washington Avenue in University City.

Jorgenson is known in the rock and country fields as a founder of the Desert Rose Band and one of the front men of the multi-guitar ensemble the Hellecasters, but he also spent six years as guitarist for pop singer, songwriter and pianist Elton John. The Quintet project is his vehicle for pursuing his interest in jazz, specifically the "Hot Club" string-band sound made famous by Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grapelli. For a taste of Jorgenson's approach to the genre, check out the embedded video below, which features him and the Quintet performing the Swing Era standard "Dinah" at a festival in Germany.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors, and you can make reservations by calling (314) 725-3840 or by emailing music_tpc @ swbell.net. (Don't forget to remove those spam-foiling extra spaces from the email address.) Tickets also will be available at the door on a first come, first serve basis.