Jazz this week: Melissa Aldana, Keri Johnsrud, Peter and Will Anderson, and more

Although this week's schedule of jazz and creative music is considerably less jam-packed than last week's, listeners still will have a chance to check out several intriguing young performers visiting St. Louis, plus an assortment of shows from various hometown favorites.

Let's go to this highlights...


Wednesday, April 27
Saxophonist Melissa Aldana (pictured, top left) makes her St. Louis debut with the first of four evenings of performances continuing though Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro

Aldana, a 27-year-old native of Chile who studied at Berklee College of Music, draws significant inspiration from saxophonists a couple of generations her elder - most notably Sonny Rollins, but also Joe Henderson, Cannonball Adderly, and even older players as Don Byas and Lucky Thompson, whom she learned about as a young girl from her father, also a professional sax player.

She first made a big splash here in the US in 2013 when she became the first female instrumentalist ever to win the annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. For more about Aldana, and some video samples of her performances - including her award-winning set at the Monk competition - see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Wednesday, The 442s will perform for the monthly music series at the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Thursday, April 28
Saxophonist Jim Stevens leads a quartet at Hammerstone's; pianist Brad Ellebrecht and singer Wendy Gordon will perform at Evangeline's; the Tavern of Fine Arts hosts their monthly open mic featuring live improvised music; and singer Ken Haller reprises the cabaret show "Song by Song by Sondheim" at The Monocle.

Friday, April 29
Chicago-based singer Keri Johnsrud, who made her St. Louis debut a few weeks ago with a concert at The Chapel in Clayton, will be back in our town for a more informal show at Evangeline's.

Johnsrud (pictured, center left) is a third-generation singer who's originally from Iowa. She's played top Chicago venues including the Green Mill and the Jazz Showcase, and has released two albums, the most recent of which, 2015's This Side of Morning, featured all original material.

Also on Friday, the saxophone-playing brothers Peter and Will Anderson will perform at the Tavern of Fine Arts. Hailing from Washington DC, the brothers both studied at the Juilliard School and then took up residence there in NYC after graduation. Since then, in addition to fronting their own group on tour and as leaders on a couple of recordings, they've also appeared with the Jimmy Heath Big Band, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.

Elsewhere that evening, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play for a swing dance sponsored by Lindy Hop St. Louis at the Casa Loma Ballroom, and the Funky Butt Brass Band plays their monthly gig at Broadway Oyster Bar.

Saturday, April 30
Guitarist Todd Mosby (pictured, bottom left) will play music from his new album On Eagle Mountain at the Focal Point in Maplewood; singer Feyza Eren will perform at Alton's Jacoby Arts Center; and guitarist Vincent Varvel leads a trio at The Dark Room.

Sunday, May 1
The Spring edition of the St. Louis Record & CD Collector Show will take place Sunday morning and afternoon at the American Czech Hall, and that evening, the St. Louis Low Brass Collective will present their annual "Showcase Concert" at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, 1201 S Warson Rd, 63124

Monday, May 2
Trumpeter Jim Manley continues his regular Monday night residency at Momo's Greek Restaurant in U City.

Tuesday, May 3
Pianist Greg Mills and friends will present "Soliloquy IV," a night of solo improvised performances, at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

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.)

Jazz this week: Dee Dee Bridgewater & Irvin Mayfield, Tammy McCann, Joe Krown, Pink Martini, and more

With the weather taking a timely spring-like turn, it's a very busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with a couple of touring headliners in town plus visits by some lesser-known but worthy musicians from NYC, Chicago, Boston and New Orleans.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, 
March 16
Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and trumpeter Irvin Mayfield (pictured, top left) will perform for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

The two have been touring together since last year in support of Dee Dee's Feathers, a collaborative album featuring contemporary interpretations of famous songs associated with Mayfield's hometown of New Orleans. For more about that, and some video samples of Bridgewater, Mayfield and their touring band, the New Orleans 7, in action, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Wednesday also is the opening night for Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing, a play at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis that includes in its cast saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person, who's in from NYC to make his theatrical debut in the production.

Set in 1947, the play by Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan is a story of "baseball by day and jazz by night as the impassioned and devoted players tried to find their place in a country on the verge of change." Playing a character called simply "Jazzman," Person will act and perform music composed for the play by Kansas City saxophonist and former Jazz Messenger Bobby Watson. The production runs through April 10 on The Rep's main stage.

Also on Wednesday, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Open Mic Night" at Tavern of Fine Arts, and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will be deploying an unusual lineup up of vocals, vibes and bass at The Feasting Fox.

Thursday, March 17
The critically acclaimed Chicago-based singer Tammy McCann (pictured, center left) will kick off the weekend's Gaslight Cabaret Festival shows with a performance of "The Storytellers - Sarah, Ella, Dinah and Billie" at the Gaslight Theater, while another Chicago native now based in Boston, drummer Yoron Israel, will bring his band High Standards to the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Friday, March 18
The touring theatrical production "In The Mood", a nostalgic evocation of the Swing Era featuring live music from an onstage big band, will be presented in matinee and evening performances at the Touhill Peforming Arts Center; and singer Marissa Mulder returns from NYC to present the first of two performance of a new show, "Fragments of Marilyn" at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Friday, The 442s will perform at Cyrano's; the Sentimental Journey Dance Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne return to Montrey's Cigar Lounge; and the Funky Butt Brass Band will play their monthly show at Broadway Oyster Bar.

Saturday, March 19
Another Chicago-based singer, Keri Johnsrud, will be making her St. Louis debut in concert with her quartet at The Chapel, while New Orleans keyboardist Joe Krown and his organ trio, featuring guitarist Walter "Wolfman" Washington and drummer Russell Batiste Jr. will bring the funk to the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Also on Saturday, guitarist Matthew Von Doran makes a rare live appearance with his trio at the gallery and event space 1900 Park; singer Danita Mumphard will performs in a benefit concert for North Side Community School; Franglais plays Gypsy jazz and swing at Evangeline's; and trumpeter Jim Manley and guitarist Randy Bahr's All-Star Band returns to Nathalie's

Sunday, March 20
Pianist Jon Weber, in town to accompany Tammy McCann and Melissa Mulder, gets his own moment in the spotlight with "From Joplin to Jarrett: 100 Years of Piano Jazz" at the Gaslight Theater; and the Dave Dickey Big Band plays their monthly gig at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Sunday, NYC-based saxophonist Michael Eaton will perform with organist Brad Whiteley and drummer Shareef Taher at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups. They'll be playing music from Eaton's 2014 album Individuation and previewing material from his planned next album Dialogical, which is scheduled to be recorded at live sessions next month in Brooklyn.

Monday, March 21
The eclectic ensemble Pink Martini (pictured, lower left), which draws on jazz, classical, Latin, and pop music to create a singularly suave sound, will make their St. Louis debut in a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Also on Monday, guitarist Steve Schenkel and pianist Kim Portnoy will perform in Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

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.)