Jazz this week: Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, tributes to Oliver Nelson and Ella Fitzgerald, a new weekly jam session, and more

As Jazz Appreciation Month 2017 moves past the halfway point, the calendar of live jazz and creative music performances here in St. Louis takes a turn toward the historic, with events scheduled to pay tribute to St. Louis' own Oliver Nelson, as well as to Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Dizzy Gillespie, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, April 19
The Saxquest Jazz Orchestra will play the music of saxophonist, composer and St. Louis native Oliver Nelson for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

The nine-piece band (three reeds, three brass, three rhythm) will perform material from throughout Nelson's career, with an emphasis on works addressing topics of civil rights and social justice, including "I Hope In Time A Change Will Come," "Emancipation Blues" and "The Kennedy Dream Suite," as well as songs from Nelson's most famous album Blues and the Abstract Truth.

Also on Wednesday, the weekly jam session hosted by pianist Curt Landes, bassist Glen Smith, and drummer Chuck Kennedy continues at @Nesby's in South County.

Thursday, April 20
Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly open mic night, now re-named "Broadway Open Mic," at its new home, the Curtain Call Lounge; and trumpeter Jim Manley and keyboardist Chris Swan play at The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, April 21
The first of two nights of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival's public performances at the Touhill Performing Arts Center will feature a tribute to Louis Armstrong, starring trumpeter Terrell Stafford, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, saxophonist Chris Vadala, and the UMSL Big Band directed by Jim Widner.

For more about the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, plus some videos of Stafford, Gordon, Vadala, and Saturday night's headliner, trumpeter Jon Faddis, (pictured, top left) see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, Jazz St. Louis will celebrate the centennial of the birth of Ella Fitzgerald at Jazz at the Bistro with the first of two evenings of music associated with Fitzgerald as sung by Anita Jackson (pictured, bottom left), with help from drummer Montez Coleman, pianist Adaron “Pops” Jackson, bassist Bob DeBoo, and saxophonist Ben Reece.

Elsewhere around town, drummer Steve Davis, singer Feyza Eren, and band will perform at the Ozark Theatre; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, April 22
The Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival concludes with a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dizzy Gillespie, featuring Gillespie's protege Jon Faddis and Friends, at the Touhill.

Sunday, April 23
Singer Chuck Flowers will perform in a late-afternoon matinee at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Monday, April 24
Dizzy Atmosphere will play swing and Gypsy jazz for diners at The Shaved Duck, and the Webster University Jazz Singers will present their final performance of the semester at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus. 

Tuesday, April 25 
Troy's Jazz Gallery begins a new, weekly Tuesday night jam session hosted by drummer Montez Coleman.

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: 2017 Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival

This week, let's take a look at some videos of the headlining musicians for the 2017 Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, which will take place next Friday, April 21 and Saturday, April 22 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

The event actually begins on Thursday with a day devoted to adjudicated performances by jazz bands from area high schools, along with clinics for student musicians, followed by the public concerts on Friday and Saturday at the Touhill.

This year, Friday's concert is billed as a tribute to Louis Armstrong, and will feature trumpeter Terell Stafford, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and saxophonist/flutist Chris Vadala, along with the University of Missouri-St. Louis Big Band directed by bassist Jim Widner, who heads both the festival and UMSL's jazz program.

On Saturday, the concert will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dizzy Gillespie by featuring one of his more notable proteges, trumpeter Jon Faddis "and Friends," which for this occasion will include Stafford, Vadala, trombonist Andre Hayward, drummer Ignacio Berroa, and trumpeter Nick Marchione, plus the UMSL Big Band.

You can see Stafford in the first video up above, a full set of music paying tribute to trumpeter Lee Morgan that was recorded in October 2016 at Dizzy's Club in NYC's Jazz at Lincoln Center. Stafford is accompanied by his close friend and fellow Philadelphia native Tim Warfield on tenor sax, Bruce Barth on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Billy Williams on drums.

After the jump, you can see a full set of music featuring Gordon, also recorded at Dizzy's Club in November of last year. Joining Gordon are Adrian Cunningham (tenor sax, clarinet, flute), Ehud Asherie (piano), Corcoran Holt (bass), and Alvin Atkinson Jr. (drums), plus guest trombonist Corey Wilcox.

Finding recent, high-quality clips of Vadala was something of a challenge. Since he's a very active clinician with high school and college jazz programs - he was last here in St. Louis in 2012 working with students from Webster Groves High School and Western Illinois University - there are dozens of amateur shaky-cam videos of him on YouTube performing as guest soloist with various student groups all around the country, but most of them devote as much time to the ensembles as to Vadala, or have audio/video quality below even StLJN's rather forgiving standards.

In the end, the best available, recently shot, close-up showcase for Vadala seemed to be the next two clips, which feature him playing with a band called the Eastern Standard Time Jazz Quartet at the 2016 Takoma Park JazzFest in Maryland.

Finally, you can check out a couple of clips of Faddis, first doing a dueling-trumpets thing with Wynton Marsalis on an arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie's "Things To Come," and then playing Tadd Dameron's "If You Could See Me Now" with the Barcelona Jazz Orquestra.

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

Jazz this week: "Triumph of Trumpets" with Faddis, Stafford & Jones, "Seeing Sound," Marco Benevento, Hot 8 Brass Band, and more

If you're a fan of brass instruments, it's a good week to be a jazz listener in St. Louis, with three first-rate trumpet players performing together on one stage, plus a chance to see one of New Orleans' most spirited brass bands. And if you're not in the mood for brass, there are plenty of other options, too, from spacey keyboard jams to swinging guitars to experimental film and audio. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, singer Erin Bode performs at Troy's Jazz Gallery, and singer Ralph Butler and keyboardist Gigi Darr will play at Brazikat (a recently opened Brazilian restaurant in Clayton).

Tomorrow night, brothers Dan Rubright (guitar) and Ted Rubright (percussion) will bring their new group WirePilots to Washington University to play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series; and guitarist Todd Mosby plays a concert of original music at Webster University's Community Music School.

On Friday, it's the first of two evenings of the "Triumph of Trumpets" at Jazz at the Bistro, featuring noted brass men Jon Faddis, Terell Stafford (pictured) and Sean Jones. The three have been teamed up for a weekend at the Bistro after being in town all this week for an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis. If you're a fan (or student) of jazz trumpet, this obviously is the pick show of the week, as the chance to hear three top players on one stage doesn't come along all that often. 

That same evening, New Music Circle and Webster University Film Series present "Seeing Sound," a program of experimental film and audio that's screening at Webster's Moore Auditorium. For all the details on that, and some samples of the films that will be shown, please see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, Lindy Hop St. Louis present their monthly "West End Stomp" swing dance at the Mahler Ballroom , with live music from Miss Jubilee; and pianist/singer Jesse Gannon will lead a trio at Cigar Inn.

On Saturday, keyboardist Marco Benevento will be back in town to perform at 2720 Cherokee, with Downstereo as opening act. Benevento was in St. Louis most recently in September of last year, and for more about him and his music, check out the video showcase post that preceded that appearance.

Also on Saturday, keyboardist and singer Curt Landes is at Robbie's House of Jazz; guitarist Randy Bahr and pianist Carolbeth True play at One 19 North Tapas and Wine Bar; and guitarist Tom Byrne's trio with singer Feyza Eren will be at Thurman Grill.

On Sunday, New Orleans' Hot 8 Brass Band comes to town to perform at The Demo,  with a opening set from the Funky Butt Brass Band. Also on Sunday, Dizzy Atmosphere plays swing, Gypsy jazz, and more at the Schlafly St. Louis Brewery & Tap Room.

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.)

(Edited after posting.) 

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2013 jazz preview, part 3

Today, it's part 3 of our video preview offering samples of some of the touring jazz and creative musicians who will be coming to St. Louis during the first part of 2013. (Part 1 of the preview is here and part 2 is here.)

Most of the musicians spotlighted in this week's installment may need little introduction to St. Louis jazz fans, as they've all played here at some point in the recent past, some multiple times.

For example, the bassist John Clayton and his son, pianist Gerald Clayton played here as part of the Clayton Brothers Quintet (co-fronted by John's saxophone-playing brother Jeff Clayton) in April 2010 at  Jazz at the Bistro and again in October 2011 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

They're coming back to play as a duo from Wednesday, March 13 through Saturday, March 16 at the Bistro, and though online footage of just the two of them is scarce, we did manage to find the undated clip embedded up above, which features them together playing a medium-slow blues at the 2009 Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy.

The second clip, embedded just below the text, features another duo, pianist Chick Corea and banjo player Béla Fleck. Corea was here most recently with Return to Forever in August 2011 at the Fox Theatre, while Fleck appeared with the reunited original Flecktones lineup in March of this year at the Sheldon.

They'll be playing together in a concert presented by Jazz St. Louis on Saturday, March 23 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Here you can see them in a clip from 2008, performing "Sunset Road" from their 2007 collaborative album The Enchantment. (It was shot by an audience member, so the video quality is a bit shaky, but the audio is good enough.)

Next, it's pianist Joe Sample, who will lead a trio starting Wednesday March 27 through Saturday, March 30 at Jazz at the Bistro. Sample and singer Randy Crawford performed in 2008 at the now-defunct St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival, and Sample also was here with the reunited Jazz Crusaders in June 2011 at the Touhill. This clip shows him playing "Old Places, Old Faces" with Jay Anderson on bass and Lenny Castro on drums

Trumpet fans and players should relish the combination of Jon Faddis, Terell Stafford and Sean Jones, who will join forces to play on Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6 at Jazz at the Bistro. It'll be a rare chance to see these three top trumpeters together on one stage, and all three have headlined their own gigs here in the past few years.

Faddis played St. Louis in 2009 at the Touhill for the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival and again with pianist Cyrus Chestnut in 2011 at the Bistro; Jones headlined at the Bistro in April 2009 and again May 2011, and also did a one-nighter there with Stefon Harris this April as part of the 2012 GSLJF. (You can check out StLJN's previous video features on Jones here and here.)

For his part, Stafford led his own quartet in a week of dates at the Bistro in October (and was the subject then of his own video showcase post). He also played the club in March of this year with drummer Matt Wilson's band Arts and Crafts.

Stafford is shown with Wilson below in today's final clip, but before we get to that, there's Faddis playing "Autumn Leaves" from a 2011 concert paying tribute to Miles Davis at the Prague Castle in the Czech Republic. Below that, you can see Jones working out on "I'll Remember April" in an undated video recorded at Gregory's Jazz in Rome, Italy.

Singer Marlena Shaw is next on the calendar, as she'll be in town the following week to perform Wednesday, April 10 through Saturday, April 13 at Jazz at the Bistro. Shaw last played the club in May 2010, and had been scheduled to return in the spring of 2012, but postponed and was rescheduled for 2013. Here, you can see her performing "Feel Like Making Love" in March 2010 at New Morning in Paris, France. 

We close out today's video preview with clips featuring clarinetist Anat Cohen and drummer Matt Wilson, who will be paired for a gig to open the 2013 Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival on Thursday, April 18 at Jazz at the Bistro. Cohen made her St. Louis debut as a leader in February of this year at the Bistro, and also played the club in 2007 with Waverly Seven; Wilson was here most recently in March for a week-long educational residency with Jazz St. Louis that culminated in a two-night stand with his band Arts and Crafts at the Bistro.

The video of Cohen shows her and her quartet - Jason Lindner on piano, Joe Martin on bass, and Daniel Freedman on drums - playing "As Rosas Nao Falam" from her most recent album Claroscuro. It was filmed in June 2012 at at the Sixth and I Synagogue in Washington D.C..

Today's final clip was recorded during Wilson's last visit to St. Louis, when he and Arts and Crafts (with Stafford on trumpet) also did an in-store performance and clinic at Saxquest. Here, you can see them at Saxquest playing "Beija-Flor" by Brazilian samba singer Nelson Cavaquinho, from their 2001 debut album. Then Wilson talks for a bit before they play his original composition "In Touch With Dewey", first recorded on the 2007 album The Scenic Route.

Next week in this space, the plan is to have more about singer Gregory Porter, who will open 2013 at Jazz at the Bistro, with the fourth and final part of StLJN's winter/spring 2013 jazz preview set for two weeks from today. Stay tuned...















(Edited 12/26/12 to fix a typo and a formatting problem.)

Jazz this week: Brad Mehldau, Cyrus Chestnut with Jon Faddis, John Pizzarelli, Marlin Bonds, Diverse, New Tricks, and more

It's a very busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with several well-known touring musicians coming to town to perform over the next several days.

Perhaps the most highly anticipated performances are those of pianist Brad Mehldau, who brings his trio with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard to Jazz at the Bistro tonight and Thursday as part of a short spring tour. Mehldau currently is riding a wave of critical acclaim for his two most recent recordings; you can read more about it and see some video of the trio in action in this post from last Saturday. Also, you can read my Critic's Pick on Mehldau for the Riverfront Times here.

Also on Thursday, the young Kansas City band Diverse, featuring trumpet player Hermon Mehari, returns to St. Louis to perform at Robbie's House of Jazz; and pianist Kara Baldus Vandiver plays the music of Bill Evans in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

On Friday, another fine pianist, Cyrus Chestnut (pictured), checks into the Bistro for a two-night engagement with his trio and their special guest, trumpeter Jon Faddis. Chestnut's vivid, gospel-influenced style has made him a local favorite, and he, Faddis and the band are in town all week doing an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis. They're performing at area schools and working with the student musicians in JSL's various educational programs, and Faddis also is doing a free master class this afternoon.

On Saturday afternoon, trumpeter and St. Louis native Marlin Bonds, who's also enjoyed success as a producer for various hip-hop performers, comes home to play the music of Herbie Hancock in a concert for the Nu-Art Series at the Metropolitan Gallery. See this post for more on Bonds and the Nu-Art Series' spring schedule.

Then on Saturday evening, singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli, another frequent visitor to St. Louis, returns with his band the Swing Seven to play the music of Duke Ellington for the Sheldon Concert Hall's annual benefit gala. Some single tickets may remain for the show; check Metrotix for the latest.

On Sunday, the Webster University jazz faculty will do a matinee performance for the St. Louis Jazz Club at the Doubletree Hotel at Westport Plaza; and New Tricks, a quartet co-led by saxophonist Mike Lee and trumpeter Ted Chubb, will play an early evening show at the Bistro at Grand Center, with the Webster Groves High School jazz combos as opening acts.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday pianist Dave Becherer's trio plays at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. On Tuesday morning, Swing Deville will play the first of two Coffee Concerts this week at the Sheldon. (The performance will be repeated at the same time on Wednesday.) On Tuesday evening, bassist Bob Deboo and his quartet will play Brandt's, and Robbie's will host their weekly jazz jam session.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

(Edited after posting to add a link to the RFT item on Brad Mehldau.)

Jon Faddis to present free master class this Wednesday, April 6

Trumpeter Jon Faddis (pictured) will give a free master class at 1:00 p.m. this Wednesday, April 6 in the Rialto Ballroom of the Centene Center for Arts & Education, 3547 Olive St in the Grand Center district.

Faddis will be in town along with with pianist Cyrus Chestnut and his group to do an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis and perform next Friday and Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

The master class is open to middle school, high school and college students, with no advance reservations required. For more information, call Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap at 314-289-4030.

Jazz St. Louis announces educational residencies for 2010-11 season

Jazz St. Louis has announced the artists who will be coming to St. Louis for educational residencies during the 2010-2011 season.

The resident artists each come to St. Louis for a week, taking part in educational activities at schools all over the St. Louis area, including clinics, master classes, workshops, lectures, and in-school performances. They also work directly with smaller groups of students involved in Jazz St. Louis’ JazzU, Jazz St. Louis All-Stars and Adopt-a-School programs.

Gene Aitken will be the first resident artist/instructor of the season, coming to St. Louis from November 8 through November 12. Aitken is the former director of jazz studies for the award-winning program at the University of Northern Colorado. More recently, he served as director of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore, and he continues to be active in Southeast Asia, China, and the United States, working with students, teachers, ensembles, and administrators in both the wind ensemble and jazz areas.

Saxophonist Ronald Carter, the noted jazz educator and former band director for East St. Louis HS who now heads the jazz program at Northern Illinois University, will return to St. Louis for a residency March 7 through March 12, 2011. Carter's stint in St. Louis will include public performances on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 at Jazz at the Bistro, backed by keyboardist Reggie Thomas and OGD.

Then from April 4 through April 9, pianist Cyrus Chestnut will team with special guest trumpeter Jon Faddis (pictured) for a weeklong residency. Both should know their way around town; Chestnut has been a frequent visitor to St. Louis in recent, performing most recently in April at the Sheldon Concert Hall, while Faddis was here for the 2009 Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival. Chestnut and Faddis will wrap up their week with public performances on Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9 at the Bistro.

Tickets for the Bistro performances featuring Carter, Chestnut and Faddis will be available through Metrotix and directly from Jazz St. Louis. For more information on JSL's residency program, go 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Jon Faddis

This week, our video spotlight shines on trumpeter Jon Faddis, who will be in St. Louis next Saturday, April 18 to play at the Touhill Performing Arts Center as part of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival.

Faddis, who's now 55, emerged on the international jazz scene in the early 1970s as a teenage prodigy mentored by Dizzy Gillespie. Playing bop and mainstream swing at a time when fusion was in vogue for most musicians his age, Faddis was a youthful traditionalist a decade before Wynton Marsalis and the other "Young Lions" of the 1980s. He developed personal relationships with many older jazz musicians in addition to Diz, and as his career has progressed, has become very involved in jazz education, passing the knowledge he gleaned from those veterans on to new generations of players.

Faddis is known as a excellent technician who's equally at home soloing in a small group or playing lead trumpet in a big band. With that in mind, here are some video clips that show off his versatility and, in the process, also may shed some light on his connections to the jazz tradition.

In the window up above, you can see Faddis, his quintet, and his mentor Gillespie performing the bop standard "Blue 'N Boogie" at a jazz festival in Japan. (The other musicians in the clip are uncredited, but sharp-eyed viewers also may recognize St. Louis native Greg Osby as the saxophonist.)

Down below, you'll see Faddis swinging with another jazz trumpet legend, St. Louis' own Clark Terry, as they play "Straight Up" with a Japanese rhythm section consisting of pianist Masuda Mikio, bassist Kawahara Hideo and drummer Okudaira Shingo. Finally, below that is a clip of Faddis in 2006 with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, demonstrating his high note prowess by playing the screaming trumpet part at the end of Duke Ellington's "Rockin' In Rhythm."





(Edited 4/15/09 to fix a garbled sentence.)

Peter Erskine, Jon Faddis to present free master classes April 17 & 18 at the Touhill

In conjunction with their appearances next week as guest artists for the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, drummer Peter Erskine and trumpeter Jon Faddis will present free master classes on their respective instruments.

Erskine's drum classes will be from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, April 17 and 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, April 18. Faddis' trumpet class will be held from 12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.> (See update below.) All three master classes will take place in the Touhill Performing Arts Center's Lee Theater, and all are free and open to the public.

UPDATE, 4/9/09, 12:15 p.m.: Via GSLJF publicity guru Dawn DeBlaze, the word now is that, to accommodate the rehearsal schedule for Saturday evening's concert, Faddis' and Erskine's master classes will trade time slots on Saturday, with Faddis now set to teach from 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. and Erskine taking over the 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. slot.

In addition to the weekend concerts featuring Erskine, Faddis, guitarist/singer John Pizzarelli and saxophonist Lou Marini, the GSLJF also will include a number of performances and clinics featuring student combos and big bands from local schools. For a schedule of those events, go here.

Notes from the Net: Oliver Lake reviewed, Peter Erskine interviewed, John Zorn goes west, and more

A day late but otherwise none the worse for the wear, 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:

* Miles Davis' landmark album Kind of Blue officially turned 50 years old this past week, and the jazz blogs Straight No Chaser and Rifftides both had noteworthy commemorative posts. Also, here's a review of Scottish trumpeter Colin Steele's Kind of Blue tribute show, mentioned a couple of weeks ago in this space.

* Speaking of reviews, via Jazz.com, here's a report on saxophonist Oliver Lake's recent organ trio concert at Twins in Washington D.C., and, via AllAboutJazz.com, a review of Berne Concert, a new CD on Intakt Records for which Trio 3, which includes the former St. Louisan Lake (pictured), Andrew Cyrille on drums and bassist Reggie Workman, joined forces with pianist Irene Schweizer.

* And speaking of alto saxophonists with a St. Louis connection, SF Weekly had a nice feature on John Zorn's recent West Coast stand at Yoshi's. (Zorn studied here at Webster University before moving to NYC.)

* Following up on some items about recent visitors to St. Louis, here are a couple of reviews of the recent Thelonious Monk Town Hall tribute concert last week in NYC from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The concert featured ensembles led by Jason Moran (who was here last fall at the History Museum) and Charles Tolliver offering distinctly different takes on Monk's music.

* Here's a review of the Blue Note 7's album Mosaic. The group performed selections from the CD last month at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* The Smithsonian magazine has an interesting interview with another recent visitor to the Sheldon, New Orleans singer and pianist Dr. John

* Here's the New York Times review of Bela Fleck's new Africa Project CD; the related tour comes to the Sheldon on April 1.

* There's also news of a couple of the guest artists scheduled to appear at the upcoming Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival in April. Drummer Peter Erskine recently appeared with DJ and blogger Leroy "The JazzCat" Downs on his radio program "Live With The JazzCat," and an MP3 of their conversation is archived online here. Meanwhile, trumpeter Jon Faddis will lead the the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in "The Art of the Composer: Music by William Russo and Frank Foster" featuring special guest Von Freeman on Friday, March 20 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago.

* Last but not least, jazz journalist Howard Mandel laments that the economic stimulus money going to the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the bill that recently passed by Congress and signed by President Obama will be distributed only to previous recipients of NEA grants. Mandel notes that while this will help preserve existing arts institutions at a time when income from other funding sources is down - a worthy goal, to be sure - it won't necessarily help stimulate much new activity.

(Edited 3/11/09 to add more tags.)

Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival set for April 16-18 with guests Peter Erskine, Lou Marini, John Pizzarelli, and Jon Faddis

The Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival has announced its 2009 guest artists, and organizers have booked some well-known musicians this year to serve as clinicians and performers for the three-day event, which will run from Thursday, April 16 through Saturday, April 18.

While some details are yet to be announced, here's what's been revealed so far: On Friday, April 17, drummer Peter Erskine and saxophonist Lou Marini will be the featured performers in a concert at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. Then on Saturday, April 18, trumpeter Jon Faddis (pictured) and guitarist John Pizzarelli and his quartet will play the TouPAC. Tickets for both concerts are now on sale.

(As regular readers may recall, word of Pizzarelli's appearance leaked out a few months ago via Pollstar, at which time yr. humble editor speculated that the gig in question might indeed be part of the festival. Admittedly, as predictions go, it's not particularly startling, but, hey, it's always nice to get one right.)

Pizzarelli is a favorite of St. Louis audiences, having performed here in the past at both Jazz at the Bistro and the Sheldon Concert Hall. Erskine is known for a diverse career that encompasses early big band work with Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson; tours and recordings with the jazz-fusion ensembles Weather Report and Steps Ahead, and many other significant credits as both leader and sideman.

Marini is familiar to many music fans as part of both the Blues Brothers band and Blood, Sweat and Tears, but also has been a busy session player in New York for many years. Faddis, once a teenage protege of Dizzy Gillespie, is known as both a powerful lead trumpet player - for groups including his own big band and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra - and a daring soloist, and is actively involved in jazz education.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis jazz ensemble, directed by bassist (and festival head honcho) Jim Widner, also will perform at both concerts. The fest's publicist, Dawn DeBlaze, says that a news release with full details on all three days will drop soon, and when it does, we'll have the updated information for you right here.