Sunday Session: February 9, 2020

Albert Ayler

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* Interview with Colin Stetson (FilmMusicMag.com)
* The 10 most groundbreaking avant-garde albums of all time (HappyMag.tv)
* 58 Minutes With the Omnivorous Composer Caroline Shaw (Vulture.com)
* Rodney Whitaker Explores Ellingtonia on Latest Disc (DownBeat)
* Michel Camilo: Teller of Tales (Jazz Times)
* Appeals Court Gives Drake a "Fair Use" Win in Sampling Case (Hollywood Reporter)
* Beatles, Rolling Stones Appear in New Chuck Berry Tribute Program (Rolling Stone)
* Myra Melford on Jazz’s Cutting Edge and Improvisation (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* Battle for the bass: the story of Fender and Gibson's fight for low-end supremacy (Guitar World)
* Why are pop songs getting sadder than they used to be? (Aeon.co)
* Jimmy Haslip: Amperes Beyond The BASSics, Part One (AllAboutJazz.com)
* The Overlooked Activist Power Of Marlena Shaw (NPR)
* One Company Now Owns The Only Record Store Chains Left In US, UK and Canada (Hypebot.com)
* Ballaké Sissoko's Kora Dismantled by American TSA (Afropop.org)
* Nights in Brazil: Dianne Reeves & Ivan Lins (SFJAZZ.org)
* Roscoe Mitchell Remembers Joseph Jarman (Jazz Times)
* “Round and Round and Round You Go” (WUSTL.edu)
* A Chronological Roadmap to Albert Ayler’s Almighty Free Jazz (Bandcamp.com)
* John McLaughlin Heads Out on the Road Again (DownBeat)
* Five Questions with Kermit Ruffins on His New 9th Ward Juke Joint (Offbeat)
* “Devastating” Manufacturing Plant Fire Threatens Worldwide Vinyl Record Supply (Pitchfork.com)
* New Company and Video Aim to Keep the Spirit of Roy Hargrove Alive (Jazz Times)
* We'll Soon Be Able To Stream Nina Simone's Late-Career Rarity 'Fodder On My Wings' (NPR)
* Ever-evolving guitar hero Mary Halvorson brings two distinct bands to Minneapolis (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
* This guy now owns Murfie’s nearly 1 million abandoned CDs (TheVerge.com)
* At 91, Charlie Parker protege Sheila Jordan still dedicating her life to the jazz music she loves (Calgary Herald)
* Take one: lost Dave Brubeck tapes reveal jazz hit originally sounded like ‘a bad student band’ (The Guardian)
* Ahmad Jamal on having a ‘spiritual anchor,’ remembering Jimmy Heath and the world beyond the piano (CapitalBop.com)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* If you missed trumpeter Kermit Ruffins when he was in St. Louis last week to play at The Gramophone, you're in luck.

While Ruffins was here, he made it into the studios of KDHX to do some recording, and you also can see pictures from his Wednesday night gig online at the site of photographer Tim Bottchen.

* From the the "Shows we'd like to see in St. Louis" file, saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille - known collectively as Trio 3 - will team up with pianist Vijay Iyer next Wednesday through Saturday for a gig at Birdland in NYC.

* Snarky Puppy's performance Monday night at the Manchester Jazz Festival in England was reviewed by Adrian Pallan of London Jazz News. The band (pictured) will play here in St. Louis next Friday, August 9 at the Old Rock House.

* A post on St. Louis magazine's Look/Listen blog recounts recent progress towards putting up a statue honoring Miles Davis in his birthplace of Alton, IL.

Meanwhile, the folks behind the statue, the Miles Davis Memorial Project, are looking for volunteers to work information booths on August 17 at the Alton Block Party and August 31 at The Alton Farmers' & Artisans' Market. Prospective volunteers can call 618-467-2375 or contact board member Derrick Richardson via email at derrickdrichardson at gmail dot com.

* Drummer and St. Louis native Mark Colenburg, who's currently playing with the Robert Glasper Experiment among others, has signed an endorsement deal with Remo. Glasper's next album Black Radio Volume 2 will be released on October 29.

* The Ozark Theatre in Webster Groves is booking music acts for the fall. For more information and available dates/times, call owner Dan Stevens at 314-962-7000.

* Saxquest is encouraging St. Louis players to enter Keilwerth's "Saxophone Idol" contest, in which saxophonists will compete before a panel of judges including famed tenor man Ernie Watts. The prize package include a Keilwerth sax; mouthpiece and reeds from Van Doren; subscription to Down Beat; and a chance to perform with Watts at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. The entry deadline is September 30.

* Jazz radio update: This week's episode of Calvin Wilson's "Somethin' Else" will feature blues-influenced music from singer Cassandra Wilson, drummer Joey Baron and saxophonist J.D. Allen. The program can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays via 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2 and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Meanwhile, NPR will be broadcasting live this weekend from the Newport Jazz Festival from noon to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 3 and Sunday, August 4. This year's Newport fest features performances from Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Chick Corea, Joshua Redman, and more.

Jazz this week: Kermit Ruffins, Nora Germain, Good 4 The Soul, All That Tap XXI, Dave Dickey Big Band, and more

The weekend starts early for fans of jazz and creative music in St. Louis, as Kermit Ruffins - trumpeter, singer, entrepreneur, bon vivant and ambassador of New Orleans music - will be playing at The Gramophone tonight and again on Thursday evening.

While he's in town, Ruffins also will be doing a meet-and-greet and signing copies of his new album We Partyin' Traditional Style on Thursday morning at Vintage Vinyl.

Ruffins (pictured), who helped found the Rebirth Brass Band and has been seen as a recurring character on the HBO series Treme, is known as a winning showman as well as a fine trumpeter. For much more about Ruffins, and footage of him and his band the Barbecue Swingers in action, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also tonight, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden.

Then on Thursday, Los Angeles violinist Nora Germain, a 21-year-old USC student and protege of Cowbop guitarist Bruce Forman, will bring her band to Robbie's House of Jazz as part of a Midwest tour called "Music Licks on 66".

Also on Thursday, drummer Maurice Carnes and his group will play a free concert to wrap up the summer Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and the Tavern of Fine Arts presents their monthly "Avant Garde Arts Night" featuring live improvised music.

On Friday, Good 4 The Soul, featuring pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson, drummer James Jackson, bassist John King and guitarist Shaun Robinson, will play for the first of two nights to close out the summer season at Jazz at the Bistro.

(Except for a couple of one-off shows related to the upcoming St. Louis Cabaret Festival and American Music Festival, the Bistro is scheduled to be dark for nearly two months, until the week of September 25 - 28 when Yellowjackets come to town to open the 2013-14 Jazz at the Bistro season.)

Also on Friday, guitarist Tom Byrne and Have U Heard play at Jazz on Broadway; saxophonist Kendrick Smith leads a trio with bassist Charles Clements and drummer Micah Walker at Cigar Inn; and saxophonist Jay Hutson and Da Wolvez, featuring singer Tamesha Foote, are at Robbie's.

On Saturday night, it's the 21st annual "All That Tap' festival at the Touhill Performing Arts Center Edison Theater, featuring a lineup of top tap-dancing talent from across the USA demonstrating their terpsichorean skills with music from pianist Carolbeth True's trio.

Also on Saturday, Miss Jubilee plays a free outdoor concert at Lafayette Park; Tommy Halloran and Guerilla Swing will perform at the Venice Cafe; and singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will duet at Chaser's Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

On Sunday, the Dave Dickey Big Band will be back after a month's hiatus for their usual fourth-Sunday gig at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will play at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; and on Tuesday, saxophonist Dave Cheli's Tribal Chicken and friends, including Ajay Khanna, Dave Stone, Chris Smentkowski and Jeremy Melsha, will present a show of free improv at Foam on S. Jefferson.

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 7/25/13 to correct the venue for All That Tap XXI.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Partyin' traditional style with Kermit Ruffins

This week, let's check out some video clips featuring trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, who's coming to St. Louis to play on Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25 at The Gramophone.

The 48-year-old New Orleans native first gained fame for co-founding the Rebirth Brass Band while still a high-school student. He's gone on to establish a career as a solo performer and crowd-pleasing entertainer, playing weekly gigs in his hometown at Vaughan's and his own club, Kermit's Treme Speakeasy, and occasionally venturing out on tour or the festival circuit.

Many locals consider Ruffins an ambassador for New Orleans music, and his national profile also has been raised considerably in recent years by several appearances playing himself in HBO's Treme, often working opposite main cast member Wendell Pierce, who plays trombonist Antoine Baptiste in the series. The trumpeter has released 13 albums as a leader, the latest of which, We Partyin' Traditional Style, came out earlier this year on Basin Street Records.

Today's first two clips were recorded last September in New Orleans as part of an online video series sponsored by the Bonnaroo music festival. Up top, Ruffins and his band the Barbecue Swingers play "Drop Me Off In New Orleans," and down below, it's "If You're A Viper."

Below that, you can see and hear Ruffins play the New Orleans standard "St. James Infirmary" in an undated video recorded at Tipitina's in New Orleans.

That's followed by a version of "Skokiaan," a South African song made famous in this country by Louis Armstrong and performed by Ruffins during one of his appearances on Treme. This clip was recorded by an audience member at Brooklyn Bowl in NYC, and though the video bounces a bit, the audio quality is good.

Then, it's back to New Orleans for a a version of "Exactly Like You" recorded during this year's JazzFest at the Louisiana Music Factory.

Last but not least, there's an extended video of Ruffins' concert last year with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra at LSU, which gave him a chance to show off his trumpet and vocal stylings outside of the small-combo context.

Kermit Ruffins to perform Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25 at The Gramophone

This just in: via the Twitter feed of Basin Street Records, StLJN has learned that New Orleans trumpeter and singer Kermit Ruffins (pictured) will be coming to St. Louis to perform on Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25 at The Gramophone.

Ruffins is a fixture on the New Orleans scene, playing weekly gigs with his band the Barbecue Swingers at various spots, most notably Vaughan's Lounge, where he recorded a live album in 2007. Ruffins also has been a recurring character playing himself in the HBO series Treme. His most recent album, We Partyin' Traditional Style, was released last month on the Basin Street label.

There's nothing yet on The Gramophone's site about the shows, but when ticket prices and an on-sale date are announced, we'll have the information for you right here.

UPDATE, 6/11/13: The Gramophone today officially announced Ruffins' shows. Tickets are priced at $25 and are on sale now for both Wednesday and Thursday.