So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's weekly wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Bassist Tom Kennedy (pictured) was interviewed on a recent episode of NoTreble.com's podcast "Groove."

* Generations, the new album from Marcus and Jean Baylor's Baylor project, was reviewed by Martin Johnson of Jazz Times magazine.

* Trumpeter Jim Manley was a featured guest on last Thursday's episode of KTRS radio's "St. Louis In The Know with Ray Hartmann."

* An article by the Riverfront Times' Jack Probst previews the second installment of this year's "Record Store Day," happening this Saturday at music stores here in St. Louis and across the country.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Drummer and St. Charles native Dave Weckl announced this week on social media that he will present a free live online drum lesson at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time tomorrow, Saturday, November 7.

Weckl (pictured) will "review hand technique, take your questions, and do some giveaways" via a livestream on his YouTube channel and Facebook page.

* Trumpeter Jim Manley was the guest on last Friday's episode of KTRS radio's "In The Know with Ray Hartmann."

* Bryan Dematteis, director of the documentary The Black Artists Group of St. Louis: Creation Equals Movement that is screening online this month as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival was interviewed by St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy Goodwin.

* In related news, Dematteis also recorded a brief video interview about his film with the Post-Dispatch's Ben Simon.

* Singer (and physician) Ken Haller's return performance last week at Blue Strawberry was reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* Jazz St. Louis has extended the application period for their 2020-21 JazzU program, and the new deadline for middle school and high school students to apply is Friday, May 29. Auditions that had been scheduled for early June now will be held July 20-23. For more information, visit the Jazz St. Louis website.

* The Sheldon this week debuted a new look for their website, and to commemorate the occasion, they got pianist Peter Martin (pictured) to do a special solo performance on video.

* Jazz St. Louis and The Sheldon are among the local arts institutions taking part in "Arts United STL" a virtual benefit for local working artists that will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 31.

* Music venue The Ready Room has permanently closed their space in the Grove neighborhood, but according to the report from the Riverfront Times' Daniel Hill, the club's owners are seeking a new location to reopen once live shows can resume.

* Singer and pianist Kandace Springs was the featured guest last week on an episode of the KTRS program "In the Know with Ray Hartmann."

* The Kranzberg Arts Foundation, which operates The Dark Room, Kranzberg Arts Center, Grandel Theater and other local venues, has surveyed the public asking what respondents would need to feel safe returning to the Foundation's spaces following the COVID-19 pandemic. Top replies include "A vaccine," "Limited venue capacity," "being able to avoid lines," "outdoor performance opportunities" and "availability of hand sanitizer."

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* The Jazz Journalists Association has named Gene Dobbs Bradford of Jazz St. Louis (pictured) as one of 27 local "Jazz Heroes" for 2020. The awards are given annually to "activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz" in different cities across the USA.

* Keyboardist Mo Egeston was the featured guest on last Friday's episode of "St. Louis In The Know" with Ray Hartmann on KTRS.

* St. Louis Public Radio reporter Chad Davis has the scoop on the Red and Black Brass Band, the impromptu ensemble who have been playing music during the shutdown while walking the streets of the Tower Grove neighborhood in south St. Louis. The band members also were interviewed by KMOX's Debbie Monterrey.  

* Also on St. Louis Public Radio, Christian Frommelt, dance teacher and co-organizer of the Nevermore Jazz Ball, was the subject of a feature story about how local swing dancers are still pursuing their hobby during the COVID-19 shutdown.

* As many cultural organizations dig into their vaults for video and audio material to share during the shutdown, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis has posted to YouTube a full concert performance "The Music of Miles Davis," recorded in November 2018 at the Rose Theater inside Lincoln Center in NYC.

* Also on the Miles Davis beat, LiveForLiveMusic.com has an article looking back at the night 50 years ago when Davis shared a bill with the Grateful Dead at the Fillmore West in San Francisco.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* A story by St. Louis Public Radio's Eric Schmid reports that Miles Davis' childhood home (pictured), now restored and operated as a museum by the not-for-profit organization House of Miles East St. Louis, is the centerpiece of a new weekly tour focused on ESL history and culture.

* In related news, PBS has announced that the American Masters episode featuring the documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool will premiere on Tuesday, February 25. (Check local affiliate listings for the broadcast time in your area.)

* The new vinyl reissue box set of Davis' The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions released last week is the subject of a brief feature in DownBeat and a longer story from UDiscoverMusic.com.

* Guitarist Vincent Varvel and Gaslight Theater owner William Roth were interviewed on Monday's episode of the KTRS program "St. Louis In the Know with Ray Hartmann and Jay Kanzler."

* The holiday cabaret shows of singers Debby Lennon and Dean Christopher last week at Blue Strawberry were reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

* And speaking of Debby Lennon, she'll star next month in Max and Louie Productions' staging of "Songs for Nobodies," a one-woman play by Joanna Murray-Smith that features the music of Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf, and Maria Callas in "a mosaic of stories told by the everyday women who had unexpected life-changing encounters with these musical icons." The production will run from Thursday, January 23 through Saturday, February 1 at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

* Singer, actor, and Belleville native Lea DeLaria was interviewed about her new streaming TV show Reprisal and plans for her next album by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson.

*  Oikos Ensemble has produced a video looking back on past editions of their annual "Jazz Noel" program and promoting this year's performances, which will take place tomorrow at Parkway United Church of Christ and Sunday at First Congregational Church of Webster Groves.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:

* The St. Louis County Library has re-opened submissions for their "Listen Up STL" program, which makes recordings from local bands and musicians available on the library's streaming audio service.

The current submission period will close on Monday, September 30. Library cardholders can get the streaming app or access the service from the web for free here.

* The recent Denver stop of saxophonist David Sanborn's "Double Vision Revisited" tour with pianist Bob James and bassist Marcus Miller was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's C. Andrew Hovan.

* Promoting their appearance at this Saturday's Hermann Wine and Jazz Festival, the Bosman Twins on Tuesday performed and were interviewed on the morning newscast on KTVI (Fox 2).

* Singer and pianist Diane Schuur, who's headlining the Alton Jazz and Wine Festival this Saturday, was interviewed Thursday by John Carney of KTRS.

* Jazz presenter Dorothy Edwards will inducted as an honorary member of the Musicians Association of St. Louis (AFM Local 2-197) at the union's annual awards celebration and dinner on Sunday, September 29 at Bartolino's Osteria.

With her late husband Robert, a trombonist and music educator, Edwards operated the now-closed venue Robbie's House of Jazz in Webster Groves, and she continues to book occasional shows at the Ozark Theatre in Webster.

* As the new documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool opens this weekend in St. Louis, reviews continue to come in, most recently including assessments from The New Yorker and MovieWeb.com.

* Elsewhere on the Miles Davis beat, film footage from 1957 of the trumpeter in Paris - believed to contain the oldest existing moving images of Davis - recently was rediscovered was during an inventory operation at the INA Conservation Center in France.

* Last but not least, in related news, a custom trumpet designed and owned by Davis (pictured) will be auctioned on Tuesday, October 29 in New York at Christie’s auction house, who enlisted trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold to demonstrate the horn on video.