Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:
* Drummer Dave Weckl has added a full-length video of his band's reunion performance at last year's Chesterfield Jazz Festival to the offerings at his online school. He's also posted to YouTube some short sample excerpts from the show, including "Synergy,""Tower of Inspiration" and "Mud Sauce."
* HEC-TV has posted online A Celebration of the Life & Music of Ray Kennedy, a tribute to the late St. Louis pianist featuring Kennedy's former employer, guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli, along with pianist Konrad Paszkudski, bassist Martin Pizzarelli, and John and Martin's dad, the late guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli.
* Miss Jubilee and the Yas-Yas Boys have a new album, Cool It If You Can, recorded in January as live-in-the-studio performances at Bigtone Records in Bristol, VA. It's now available in digital form via their Bandcamp page, with a physical release to follow at a date TBD.
Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli will returning to St. Louis next year to perform in a benefit for the Sheldon Educational Programs at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, April 18 at The Sheldon.
Pizzarelli (pictured) will be highlighting music from his latest recording For Centennial Reasons: 100 Year Salute to Nat King Cole, which was released in February of this year.
As the name suggests, the album features music associated with the late pianist and composer who has been a major influence on Pizzarelli's style, and is his third recording paying tribute to Cole, following 1994's Dear Mr. Cole and 1999's P.S. Mr. Cole.
A frequent visitor to St. Louis who has become a local favorite over the years, Pizzarelli was here most recently this past May, teaming up with singer Catherine Russell for a week of shows at Jazz St. Louis that featured the music of Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.
Patron tickets for the benefit at The Sheldon are on sale now at $150 per person, and include a pre-concert reception, complimentary parking, preferred seating, and a tax deduction. To purchase, call The Sheldon at 314-533-9900 or order online.
Concert-only tickets will be priced at $50 for orchestra seating, $45 for front balcony, and $40 for rear balcony, and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Friday, March 6 via The Sheldon's box office and Metrotix.
The calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis for this week leading up to Memorial Day features two shows celebrating the birthday of the most influential jazz musician ever to come from this area, plus a tribute to two of the most enduring vocalists in American music; the end of an important anniversary season for a local presenter; and more.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, May 22
Singer Catherine Russell teams up with guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli(pictured, top left) and his trio to present their show "Billie & Blue Eyes" for the first of five nights at Jazz St. Louis.
The show spotlights Russell and Pizzarelli's contemporary interpretations of songs associated with Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. You can find out more and see some video from previous performances, plus songs from both of their latest recordings, in this post from last Saturday.
Sunday, May 26
Sunday marks 93 years since the birth of the late, legendary trumpeter Miles Davis, and two current St. Louis trumpeters are presenting tributes to him, as Randy Holmes headlines a "Double Tribute to Miles Davis & Kind of Blue" at the Ozark Theatre while Kasimu Taylor leads a "Tribute to Miles Davis" at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.
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.)
Today, StLJN's video spotlight shines on singer Catherine Russell and singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli, who are coming to St. Louis to present their show "Billie & Blue Eyes" starting Wednesday, May 22 through Sunday, May 26 at Jazz St. Louis.
Both Russell and Pizzarelli are well-known as headliners in their own right, with Pizzarelli being a particular local favorite thanks to multiple St. Louis appearances over the last couple of decades. They first joined forces last year to create the "Billie & Blue Eyes" show, with the idea of offering their own contemporary interpretations of classic material associated with Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.
Pizzarelli has included songs associated with Sinatra in his repertoire throughout his career, and even has devoted two albums specifically to paying tribute to him. The first, in 2006, was Dear Mr. Sinatra, for which he was accompanied by The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, followed in 2017 by Sinatra & Jobim @ 50, which contained Pizzarelli's interpretations of songs from the famed 1967 collaboration between Sinatra and Brazilian singer-songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Meanwhile, since starting her solo career Russell has earned a reputation as a top interpreter of vintage jazz material from the 1920s, 30s and 40s, making her something of an expert in the songs and styles Holiday likely would have heard during her formative years. Though many singers have attempted to pay tribute to Holiday over the years, some more successfully than others, few have had the musical roots and specific experience that Russell brings to this project.
Though there's been no album (yet) documenting the collaboration, there are a few videos online from when they toured the presentation in 2018, starting with a promotional clip that explains the concept along with some very brief musical excerpts, which you can see up above.
After the jump, there's a clip from one of their 2018 dates showing Russell and Pizzarelli performing "I Thought About You."
That's followed by a video from 2017 of Pizzarelli performing "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," as recorded for the Sinatra & Jobim @50 album.
That's followed by a version of "All of Me," also from last year's "Bilie & Blue Eyes" tour.
Next up is a song recorded by Pizzarelli for his latest album For Centennial Reasons: 100 Year Salute to Nat King Cole, a version of "Straighten Up And Fly Right" in which he's accompanied by the members of his current working trio, Mike Karn on bass and Konrad Paszkudzki on piano.
After that, you can see Russell in the studios last month at radio station KNKX in Tacoma, WA, singing "You Can’t Pull the Wool Over My Eyes," a song included on her latest album Alone Together, which came out in March.
The final video showcases Pizzarelli doing another number from his Nat Cole tribute album, the venerable standard "Route 66."
* The Sheldon Art Galleries will present a free gallery talk by Dr. Aurelia Hartenberger on the history of stringed instruments at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 12.
The talk is presented in conjunction with the exhibit "The World of Spectacular Strings," which features more than 100 unique stringed instruments from around the world and continues until April 21, 2017. Admission is free, but you must reserve a seat in advance by calling Paula Lincoln at 314-533-9900 x 37 or emailing plincoln@TheSheldon.org.
* Another new episode of E.B. Stephenson's podcast "The Jazz Mixer" is online, featuring recordings from St. Louis musicians including the Sessions Big Band, Brett Stamps, Farshid Etniko, and more.
* Saxquest will present their 2017 Woodwind Musical Instrument Expo next Saturday, November 11 at the Sheraton Westport. The free, all-day event will feature representatives showing off the latest from major manufacturers of saxophones, flutes, clarinet and double-reed instruments, with private test rooms available by appointment.
They'll also be offering door prizes, discounts and free set-ups with instrument purchases, and more. You can register in advance online, by calling Saxquest at 314-664-1234, or by sending an email to info@saxquest.com.
* St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts is sponsoring two "Every Artist Insured" informational sessions offering one-on-one, in-person guidance to artists (including musicians!) on how to purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchange. Trained counselors will be available to guide you through the enrollment process, help you find out if you qualify for subsidies, and compare plan prices and coverage details.
The sessions are scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Thursday, November 16 and 10:00 a.m. Saturday, December 9 at Regional Arts Commission, 6238 Delmar. The sessions are free, but you must reserve a spot in advance by sending an email (including a phone number) to vlaa@stlrac.org.
This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the St. Louis debut of an up-and-coming young band; a tribute to a distinctive jazz composer and pianist; the return of a longtime local favorite for a benefit performance; and more.
Also on Wednesday, the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features cornetist and singer T.J Müller at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, a jam session at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.
Thursday, October 26
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents "Streams of Extremity II," a free concert featuring pianist Ptah Williams, guitarist/bassist William Lenihan, drummer Steve Davis, and a string trio performing and improvising based on the music of Bela Bartok, Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and more.
Friday, October 27
Drummer/singer Sammy Miller and the Congregation(pictured, center left) will make their St. Louis debut and wrap up a week-long educational residency for Jazz St. Louis with the first of two nights of performances at Jazz at the Bistro.
For more about Miller and his band of twenty-somethings, plus some sample performances on video, see this post from last Saturday.
Saturday, October 28
Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli(pictured, top left) will perform for the annual "ArtSounds" benefit gala at the Sheldon Concert Hall. (For those interested in just hearing the music, the Sheldon may have some concert-only tickets available; check with their box office for details.)
The program will feature performances of songs first released in 1967 by artists including John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Lloyd, Gary Burton, Sam Rivers, Chick Corea, and more.
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.)
Welcome to part three of StLJN's Fall 2017 jazz preview, presenting videos featuring noteworthy jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting St. Louis over the next few months. (You can see part one here, and part two here.)
Continuing in chronological order from where part two left off, today's first clip features singer and pianist Eric Comstock and singer Barbara Fasano, whose show "Downton Abbey Road: The Best of Britain" will be presented as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Friday, October 27 at the Gaslight Theater.
Although no excerpts of that show are available on video, you can see them up above performing "When In Rome (I Do As The Romans Do)" as recorded in April 2015 during the weekly "Cast Party" event at Birdland in NYC.
After the jump, there's a clip featuring guitarist, singer and St. Louis favorite John Pizzarelli, who's returning to headline the annual "ArtSounds" benefit on Saturday, October 28 at Sheldon Concert Hall.
Recorded last month at KNKX in Tacoma, WA, it features Pizzarelli and Daniel Jobim, the grandson of Brazilian music legend Antonio Carlos Jobim, performing "The Girl From Ipanema" from Pizzarelli's latest album Sinatra & Jobim @ 50.
The third video features saxophonist Houston Person, who will be back in town to perform Wednesday, November 1 through Saturday, November 4 at Jazz at the Bistro.
Person, who usually works with local rhythm sections on gigs like the one he's doing at the Bistro, is seen here in a video from March of this year that documents his team-up with fellow saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person for a gig at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC. Along with the two Persons, the band includes pianist Zaccai Curtis, bassist Kenny Davis, and drummer McClenty Hunter.
Next, it's singers Farah Alvin and William Michals, who will join forces to present "Broadway's Greatest Hits of All Time" for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Friday, November 3 and Saturday, November 4 at the Gaslight Theater.
In their individual clips, Michals is performing "This Nearly Was Mine" from South Pacific, recorded last month at Feinstein's/54 Below in NYC, while Alvin is singing "Infinite Joy" as part of a show last month at the the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, MA.
Today's sixth video features a full set from singer Cécile McLorin Salvant, recorded in December 2016 at Dizzy's with a band including pianist Aaron Diehl, bassist Paul Sikivie, drummer Lawrence Leathers, and guest star Anat Cohen on clarinet.
Salvant has a new album called Dreams and Daggers coming out at the end of this month, and her tour in support of the record will include a performance on Saturday, November 11 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.
Billed as "a site-specific composition that includes over 20 local musicians,
utilizing both traditional and non-traditional instrumentation," the performance can't really be previewed here, but you can get an idea of the sort of thing Wiese does in today's penultimate video, which documents a performance in August 2016 at the Artifex Guild in Bloomington, IN.
The final video features actress and singer Emily Skinner, who will perform "Broadway Her Way" for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Saturday, November 11 at the Gaslight Theater.
Word came down this week that Skinner already has sold out this single performance, but since this post was mostly written by the time that news reached StLJN HQ, you might as well enjoy a clip of her performing "Could I Leave You" last fall in the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis' production of Follies.
Look for part four of StLJN's Fall 2017 jazz preview next week in this space. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...
It's a fine week to be a fan of jazz and creative music in St. Louis, as the calendar offers a jam-packed schedule of upcoming performances in a variety of styles and genres from big band and straight-ahead swing to free improv and experimental music.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, April 20 The Bad PlusJoshua Redman finish their two-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. While some tickets may remain for the 9:30 performance, call ahead to check for availability.
Lake, poet Shirley LeFlore and drummer Charles “Bobo” Shaw will take part in a panel discussion about BAG, and then will perform, abetted by bassist Darryl Mixon and trumpeter George Sams. The latest from Jazz St. Louis is that this free event is at capacity, so if you don't already have a ticket, you can still show up and watch from the Bistro's adjacent first floor lounge or hope for returns and/or no-shows.
Abrams and Dawkins are last-minute replacements for percussionist Adam Rudolph, who was scheduled for a duo performance with Drake but unfortunately, has fallen ill and can't travel this week.While their presence will make the program undoubtedly different than a Drake/Rudolph duet, it nevertheless should prove to be a satisfying experience for fans of creative improvised music.
Elsewhere on Thursday, trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's quartet will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and the high school students of the North County Big Band will show off what they've learned this semester in a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.
A longtime favorite of St. Louis audiences, Pizzarelli (pictured, center left) was here most recently last year to perform at a benefit gala for The Sheldon. You can read StLJN's review of a Pizzarelli performance in 2014 at Jazz at the Bistro here.
Saturday, April 23
Saxophonist David Liebman makes a rare visit to St. Louis with his group Expansions, presenting a free workshop and concert during the afternoon at Saxquest and then performing two sets on Saturday evening at Jazz at the Bistro.
For more about Liebman (pictured, lower left) and a video of a workshop and performance featuring him and the members of Expansions, see this post from Monday.
Also on Saturday, the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival wraps up with a "Tribute to Maynard Ferguson,"featuring a group of former Ferguson sidemen billed as the M.F. All-Star Band, at the Touhill. You can see videos of some of the musicians performing in the concert in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.
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.)
Pizzarelli (pictured) is a frequent visitor to St. Louis who played here most recently in July at the Sheldon in a fundraiser for the family of pianist Ray Kennedy. His latest album Midnight McCartney, which was released in September, features interpretations of the songs of Paul McCartney. Pizzarelli also was one of the headliners at the 2009 GSLJF.
The UMSL Jazz Ensemble, directed by Jim Widner, will open both shows. The GSLJF also will include three days of adjudicated performances and clinics for high school jazz ensembles from around the area, beginning on Thursday, April 21 and continuing through Saturday.
Tickets for the Friday and Saturday concerts will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. next Tuesday, October 20 via the Touhill box office, online at http://touhill.org/, and by phone at 314-516-4949.
* Saxophonist Oliver Lake will be back in action next week with Trio 3 for three dates at the Blue Note in NYC. Lake, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille will be joined by a different guest pianist every night, with The Bad Plus' Ethan Iverson playing on Tuesday, Vijay Iyer on Wednesday, and Jason Moran on Thursday.
* A new exhibit at the Luminary Center for the Arts that includes posters, poetry chapbooks, and other materials from the Black Artists Group is the subject of a story on St. Louis Public Radio. Titled "The Marvelous is Free," the exhibit displays the BAG artifacts with "other art from The Black Arts Movement, Gay Rights Movement and the fight for Latino rights during the late 1960s and early ’70s," and will continue through November 6.
The movie, produced by the Dutch public broadcasting system Boeddhistische Omroep, offers an intimate look at the Defunkt founder's life both on and off-stage, and includes some footage shot here in St. Louis as well as interviews with St. Louis musicians including Ronnie Burrage, Oliver Lake, Kelvyn Bell, and more.
* Trumpeter, St. Louis native, and former Jazz St. Louis student All-Star Joshua Williams and his band Shades of Jade are prepping a new album, Fingerprinted Memories Part 2, for release in the fall. The Kansas City based ensemble will drop an advance track, a jazz-infused R&B slow jam called "That One" featuring guest singer Derick Cunigan, on Thursday, August 20.
* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's program “Somethin’ Else,” will focus on jazz versions of soul and R&B songs such as "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" as performed by musicians including Joshua Redman, John Scofield and Marcus Miller. The program can be heard over the air on 107.3 FM, on HD radio at 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.
Then on Sunday night, Dennis Owsley's "Jazz Unlimited" program on KWMU/St. Louis Public Radio will be the second part of a special featuring music from the labels run by the late jazz impresario Norman Granz. You can listen in from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Sundays over the air at 90.7 FM and online at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/listen.php.
* StLJN sends condolences to bassist Willem von Hombracht, whose wife Ira passed away earlier this month. A memorial celebration of Ira von Hombracht's life is planned for Sunday, August 2 upstairs at the Sheldon Concert Hall.
* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis' “Somethin’ Else,” host Calvin Wilson will feature the music of pianist Robert Glasper, including tracks from his new trio album, Covered. You can listen over the air on 107.3 FM, on HD radio at 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.
Then on Sunday, and a bit to the left on your radio dial, bassist Darrell Mixon will be the featured guest this week on WSIE's "Jazz Talk". The program can be heard from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Sundays over the air on 88.7 FM and online.
Sunday night on KWMU/St. Louis Public Radio, Dennis Owsley's "Jazz Unlimited" program will feature music recorded for labels run by the late jazz impresario Norman Granz. Starting in 1957, Granz founded labels including Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve and Pablo, and recorded important jazz musicians including Oscar Peterson, Ben Webster, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Jazz at the Philharmonic, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Kenny Barron, Charlie Parker, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, Clark Terry, and more. The program can be heard from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Sundays over the air at 90.7 FM and online at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/listen.php
If you're trying to shake the mid-summer doldrums after some punishing heat and humidity over the past few days in St. Louis, getting out to hear some live jazz and creative music could be just the thing.
This weekend's musical menu features a benefit for the family of a well-known local musician, a visit from a fast-rising trumpet talent, a free evening of music at multiple venues in Grand Center, and more. Let's go to the highlights...
Thursday, July 16
Drummer Maurice Carnes leads a quintet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; guitarist Dave Black and friends, with singer Feyza Eren, perform at Nathalie’s, and singer Joe Mancuso and pianist Nick Schlueter will boldly go where no jazz musician has gone before with a happy-hour show at the dueling-piano bar Jive and Wail in Westport Plaza.
Also on Friday, Grand Center presents the first evening of its new "Music at The Intersection" series, this month featuring free sets by local jazz and blues acts at eight different venues throughout the district.
Saturday, July 18
St. Louis Community College-Meramec and Saxquest present a day-long "Saxfest" on the Meramec campus with workshops and performances from saxophonists Paul DeMarinis, Christopher Braig, Jason Swagler, Arthur White, Jeffrey Collins, and more. Following the events at Meramac, Braig also will lead a quartet for an evening after-party at Tavern of Fine Arts.
Sunday, July 19
Chicago-based trumpeter Marquis Hill(pictured, lower left), winner of the 2014 Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition, will be in town to raise funds for Community Women Against Hardship with a performance at the Ferring Jazz Bistro.
Billed as "A Tribute to Freddie Hubbard," the benefit will feature Hill fronting a group of St. Louisans including Villinger, Jerome "Scrooge" Harris (drums), Jeff Anderson (bass), and Chad Evans (alto sax).
Also on Sunday, percussionist Mike Dillon and band will headline an all-ages matinee also featuring The Feed and Richie Kihlken Band at 2720 Cherokee.
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.)
With proceeds benefiting Kennedy's widow and two young daughters, the show will be headlined by singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli, who featured Kennedy as the pianist in his working group for more than a decade, and Pizzarelli's dad Bucky, the veteran jazz guitarist with whom Kennedy also performed and recorded. Also on hand will be Martin Pizzarelli, son of Bucky, brother of John, and longtime bassist in his trio; and Konrad Paszkudzki, the current pianist in John Pizzarelli's group.
Although Ray Kennedy came of musical age during the height of fusion, his playing for the most part eschewed the usual influences on his generation (Hancock, Corea, Tyner, et al) for that of older pianists such as Erroll Garner and Teddy Wilson. Kennedy left behind a fairly extensive discography, recording numerous times with John Pizzarelli and also leading a number of small-group dates, often with his brother, bassist Tom Kennedy. Videos featuring Kennedy are a bit harder to find online, but here are a few clips, drawn from his work with the Pizzarelli clan, that demonstrate his considerable pianistic prowess, albeit in relatively small doses.
Up above, you can see and hear Kennedy's solo on "Oscar Night," an original piece of his that John Pizzarelli incorporated into his performances as a showcase for the pianist. This version was recorded in 2000 at Jazzwoche Burghausen in Germany.
After the jump, you can check out Kennedy's solo on a version of "Just You Just Me" from an appearance by the Pizzarelli trio in 2003 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and there's another tasty solo on their version of the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face" recorded at the Montreal Jazz Festival, probably around the time Pizzarelli released his album Meets the Beatles in 1998.
Rounding out today's offerings are two more John Pizzarelli performances featuring solos from Kennedy, "After You've Gone" and "O, My Heart Beats For You," and a short clip showing Ray Kennedy and Bucky Pizzarelli in the studio recording Harold Arlen's "Let's Fall In Love," made to promote the 2008 album Bucky Pizzarelli & The Kennedy Brothers Play Harold Arlen.
If you'd like to help Ray Kennedy's family but can't attend next Friday's performance, you still can make a contribution via this YouCaring.com page.
You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...
* While in town to perform at Jazz at the Bistro, trumpeter Terence Blanchard on Thursday also visited bassist Jim Widner's jazz camp at UMSL to teach and perform for the students there.
* In Denmark, a 2-CD set issued last year featuring the late saxophonist and former St. Louisan Luther Thomas(pictured) performing with various Danish musicians, was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's Jakob Baekgaard.
* Multi-instrumentalist and St. Louis expat J.D. Parran recently played on a new recording with Marshall Allen and Danny Thompson of the Sun Ra Arkestra, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sun Ra's Heliocentric Worlds, Volume 2 using same instrumentation, and even the exact same bass marimba, and recording at the same studio used at Ra's session a half-century ago.
* The latest episode of HEC-TV's I Love Jazz features singer Feyza Eren and her quartet, plus a segment on host Don Wolff's recent "Jazz Hero" award from the Jazz Journalists Association, and more. Unfortunately, the newly redesigned HEC website makes it very difficult to find out when the show airs, so you'll have to consult your TV provider's program guide for airdates and times, or just watch online here.
* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's program “Somethin’ Else” features the jazz-influenced works of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, as interpreted by Linda Oh, Jason Moran, Paula West, and more.
Immediately following on "The Jazz Collective," host Jason Church will spin tracks from George Benson, Junior Walker and the All Stars, Simply Red, Nathan East, Soul Ballet, John Coltrane, Common Time, the Bosman Twins, Jesse Gannon, Beth Bombara, and more.
"Somethin' Else" airs at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by "The Jazz Collective" at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.
Then on Sunday, Dennis Owsley's "Jazz Unlimited" program on St. Louis Public Radio will present the second part of a special devoted to the "cool school" of West Coast jazz. Tune in from 9:00 pm to midnight Sundays on KWMU (90.7 FM) or listen online at http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org.
Singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli(pictured) and guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli will headline a concert paying tribute to the late pianist Ray Kennedy and raising money for Kennedy's family at 8:00 p.m., Friday, July 17 at The Sheldon.
John Pizzarelli employed Kennedy as his piano player on recordings and tours for more than a decade. For "A Celebration of the Life & Music of Ray Kennedy," in addition to his dad, he's bringing along his brother, bassist Martin Pizzarelli, and current pianist Konrad Paszkudzki.
Unfortunately, Ray Kennedy's brother and frequent collaborator, bassist Tom Kennedy, will be unable to attend, as he'll be on tour in Europe with guitarist Mike Stern and violinist Didier Lockwood.
Ray Kennedy died of complications from multiple sclerosis on May 28 after an extended illness, and is survived by his wife Eve Langner and two young daughters, Lauren and Brielle. Before his death, friends had established a page at YouCaring.com to help raise money for his medical care, and that page remains active for anyone who'd like to donate to help the family with funeral and ongoing expenses.
Tickets for "A Celebration of the Life & Music of Ray Kennedy" are $125 and $75 for preferred seating, which includes admission to a post-concert dessert reception, or $50 for orchestra seats, $40 for balcony seats for the concert only.
Tickets will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Monday, June 8 via MetroTix outlets and The Sheldon box office.
(Updated after posting to correct the start time of the concert & some typos.)
