So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist David Sanborn's new video series "Sanborn Sessions," inspired in part by his turn-of-the-90s NBC show Night Music, is set to debut on the web next week.

Each episode will feature Sanborn (pictured) with a different musical guest or guests, starting on Tuesday, December 3 with singer and keyboardist Kandace Springs.

* The Gil Evans score of "Porgy and Bess" originally recorded in 1959 by Miles Davis was revisited on the final night of the recent EFG London Jazz Festival by a 21-piece band directed by Nick Smart, head of the jazz program at the Royal Academy of Music.

* The story of what singer Jenna Bauer did with the 7,000 piece collection of vinyl records she inherited from her late father is recounted by the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer.

* Singer and pianist Katarra Parson's album-release show tonight at The Dark Room is the subject of feature stories from the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson. 

Jazz this week: Jeremy Davenport, Steve Ross, Jeanette Harris & Althea René, and more

While this week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis is slightly curtailed by the Thanksgiving holiday, there nevertheless are several noteworthy gigs happening, including the annual return of a noted local expat now living in New Orleans; a visit from one of NYC's most storied cabaret performers; and a tour stop by two "Queens of Soul Jazz." Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, November 27
This week's free "Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl" in Grand Center features multi-instrumentalist Jacob Alspach and friends at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Brady Lewis and BLStet at The Dark Room.

Also on Wednesday, singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black are back at Scarlett's Wine Bar; Miss Jubilee performs vintage swing, hot jazz and more at Schlafly Bottleworks; and trumpeter Jim Manley does his weekly gig at Sasha's Wine Bar.

Friday, November 29
Trumpeter, singer and U City native Jeremy Davenport (pictured, top left) returns to his hometown for the first of two nights of his annual post-Thanksgiving performances at Jazz St. Louis. Davenport, who leads the house band at the Ritz-Carlton in his adopted home in New Orleans, usually draws a sell-out crowd, so advance reservations are strongly advised.

Elsewhere around town, singer and pianist Steve Ross, nicknamed the "Crown Prince of Cabaret" and a noted interpreter of the music of Cole Porter, will perform songs by Porter and more for the first of two nights at Blue Strawberry.

Also on Friday, there are two shows by local acts promoting debut recordings, with Annie and the Fur Trappers playing traditional jazz at the Focal Point and singer and pianist Katarra Parson offering songs from her album Cocoa Voyage at The Dark Room.

Saturday, November 30
Saxophonist Jeanette Harris and flute player Althea René (pictured, bottom left) bring their "Queens of Soul Jazz" tour to the Sheldon Concert Hall.

The two teamed up earlier this year to release the singer "We Are One," but both have had successful solo careers leading up to the collaboration. For more about both women, and some live performance videos, check out this post from Saturday before last.

Also on Saturday, saxophonist Tim Cunningham is back at Troy's Listening Room; pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True return to the Parkside Grille; and The Gaslight Squares are playing at the Frisco Barroom.

Sunday, December 1
Dizzy Atmosphere plays Gypsy jazz and vintage swing for brunch at The Dark Room; the Jazz Troubadours play their monthly show at Evangeline's; and pianist and singer Jesse Gannon leads a trio at The Judson House.

Monday, December 2
The Folk School of KDHX hosts their weekly Traditional Jazz Jam Session.

Tuesday, December 3
The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra plays their fourth annual "1/2 a Christmas Concert" at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Terence Blanchard's shows this week at Jazz St. Louis were previewed in a story by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio is sponsoring a holiday giveaway with prizes including free access to their instructional videos featuring well-known jazz players, and more. Winners will be chosen at random and announced on Monday, December 23. You can find out more and enter (with a valid email address) here.

* The Kranzberg Arts Foundation's St. Louis Music Initiative was spotlighted this week by John Pertzborn of KTVI (Fox 2),who interviewed KAF's Sean Smothers and Gene Dobbs Bradford of Jazz St. Louis.

* Cabaret Project of St. Louis will hold a holiday fundraiser on Saturday, December 7, featuring musical entertainment by singer and impressionist Christine Pedi. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the CPStL website.

* The biographical documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, directed by Stanley Nelson and released earlier this year, was nominated this week for the 2020 Grammy Award for "Best Music Film."

* On a related note, the recently issued box set of Davis' complete Birth of the Cool recordings (pictured) was reviewed in DownBeat.

* Singer and keyboardist Katarra Parson's forthcoming debut recording Cocoa Voyage was the subject of a feature by the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer. Parson, who is one of this year's Kranzberg Arts Foundation artists-in-residence, will promote the release with a show on Friday, November 29 at The Dark Room.

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 Symphony Orchestra's newly released recording of Wynton Marsalis' "Swing Symphony" (pictured), also featuring the trumpeter and composer and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, was the subject of a short feature story by the Post-Dispatch's Sarah Bryan Miller.

* Speaking of new releases, singer and keyboardist Katarra Parson, one of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation's 2019-20 music artists-in-residence, spoke with writer Thomas Crone for a St. Louis magazine article about her upcoming album Cocoa Voyage, which comes out in October.

* The Radio Arts Foundation (aka Classic 107.3) will raise funds next month with "Wine and Jazz Under the Stars," an event set for Friday, September 20 at the Columbia Foundation for the Arts. Tickets are $95 per person, which includes wine, appetizers, and music from Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris. For more details or to make a reservation, visit the station's website.

* Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo announced this week via Twitter that she has signed a contract with Empire, a San Francisco-based label that releases hip-hop, R&B and more from a roster than includes rap veteran Snoop Dogg as well as many younger artists.

* To promote the theatrical release of the new documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, the film's producers have released another clip from the movie, with the first look at the excerpt appearing on the website of Billboard magazine.

* With this month being the 60th anniversary of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, there's been a flurry of related items showing up in the news, including historic overviews of the album and its significance from OpenCulture.com, Albumism.com and Counterpunch.

* In addition, drummer Jimmy Cobb, who at 90 years old is the only musician still living who played on Kind of Blue, was interviewed about the sessions by Billboard and the Associated Press.

* In related news, NPR asked bassist Christian McBride to take a look back at Davis' album Bitches Brew, which is 50 years old this summer.

* Lastly, Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn Jr. and his son Erin Davis were interviewed by CBC Canada about Kind of Blue, Bitches Brew, and the trumpeter's musical legacy.

Kranzberg Arts Foundation announces music artists-in-residence for 2019-20

The Kranzberg Arts Foundation has announced their new group of music artists-in-residence for 2019-20.

This year's roster includes (pictured, from left) pianist Andrew Stephen, bassist Ben Wheeler, keyboardist/vocalist Ryan Marquez, bassist and singer Janet Evra, singer and pianist Brianna "Be Be" Brown, drummer Kaleb Kirby, saxophonist Carlos Brown Jr., trumpeter Brady Lewis, pianist and singer Katarra Parson, and keyboardist Mark Harris II.

The artists-in-residence program, launched in March 2018, provides participants with performance opportunities at Kranzberg Arts Foundation venues, such as the Dark Room and the Grandel Theatre, plus co-working spaces at the foundation's .ZACK building, marketing support, networking opportunities, studio time at Clayton Studios and Gaslight Studios, and pro bono accounting and legal services.

Participants in 2018-19 also were featured on The Sound of St. Louis - Jazz Compilation Volume 1, a sampler album including one original track from each.