Jazz this week: Grace Kelly, Steve Swell Quintet, Kevin Eubanks, a benefit for Puerto Rico, and more

The fall presenting season is gathering some momentum this week, as the calendar of jazz and creative music for the next few days in St. Louis includes three significant touring headliners - two of whom are making their local debuts - plus a benefit raising money for hurricane relief in Puerto Rico, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 4
Saxophonist and singer Grace Kelly (pictured, top left) makes her St. Louis debut in the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

For more about Kelly and some video samples of recent performances, take a look at this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also on Wednesday, guitarist Dave Black plays solo at Evangeline's, and the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features saxophonist Andy Ament at KDHX's Magnolia Café, a jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, October 5
Singer Kim Fuller will perform in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, percussionist Joe Pastor leads a trio at The Dark Room, and saxophonist Vince Sala brings his trio to The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, October 6
The Puerto Rican Society of St. Louis presents "STL Stands Up For Puerto Rico," a benefit performance to raise money for hurricane relief on the island, at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park. The event will feature music from Orquestra Son Montuno, Farshid Etniko, Clave Sol, Mark Holland, and more.

Saturday, October 7
Veteran free-jazz trombonist Steve Swell makes his St. Louis debut, leading an all-star quintet in a concert presented by New Music Circle at The Stage at KDHX.

Swell's band (pictured, bottom left) features pianist Dave Burrell, bassist William Parker, drummer Chad Taylor, and saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, and you can find out more of them and see some video performances here.

Sunday, October 8
Guitarist Kevin Eubanks, who's gotten very good notices for his post-Tonight Show efforts both on stage and on records. returns to the St. Louis area to perform in the intimate confines of the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville. 

Also on Sunday night, the Coleman Hughes Project plays an early evening show at Troy's Jazz Gallery.

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.)

Guitarist Kevin Eubanks to perform Sunday, October 8 at Wildey Theatre

Guitarist Kevin Eubanks and his band are returning to the St. Louis area to perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, October 8 at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville.

Eubanks (pictured) first gained wide attention in the jazz world in the 1980s, but probably still is best known to the general public for his stint as bandleader for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992 to 2010.

Since Leno stepped down, Eubanks has refocused on his music career, working with bassist Dave Holland in the band Prism, touring with his own group, and putting out a couple of well-received albums, the most recent being 2016's East West Time Line. He last performed in St. Louis in October 2015 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Tickets for Eubanks' show at the Wildey are $50 each, and are on sale now.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Following up on a story from last week, artist Ray Harvey has completed his mural of the late trumpeter Clark Terry on a building in the Carondelet neighborhood, and St. Louis magazine has a photo of the finished work and an interview with Harvey.

* On a related note, the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, directed by trumpeter Byron Stripling, last week debuted a newly commissioned big band suite paying tribute to Terry. You can read a review of the performance here.

* A story in Wednesday's Alton Telegraph detailed the financial woes of radio station WSIE. With the state of Illinois poised to withdraw all support by 2018, the article says the station will need to replace approximately $140,000, or 80 percent, of its annual budget with additional sponsorships, underwriting, and listener support.

WSIE currently is conducting an IndieGoGo campaign with a goal of collecting $10,000. With 30 days to go, they've raised $1,155 from 21 backers.

* With the hull of what's left of the Goldenrod Showboat destroyed this past summer in a low-water mishap, an article in the St. Louis Business Journal says that preservationists now hope to salvage the Goldernrod's theater and various other artifacts for possible display in a museum setting.

* Drummer Mark Colenburg has been tapped to present a master class, "Connecting Generations," as part of the Percussive Arts Society's 2015 convention, which takes place Wednesday, November 11 through Saturday, November 14 in San Antonio, TX.

* One of guitarist Kevin Eubanks' performances last week at Jazz at the Bistro was reviewed for the Post-Dispatch by Terry Perkins.

* While Eubanks was in town, the former Tonight Show bandleader made several appearances on local broadcast media, including one on NBC affiliate KSDK and one on ESPN Radio affiliate 101Sports.

* Speaking of reviews, KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi has posted one of Lina Koutrakos and Rick Jensen's show last Sunday for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival.

* And speaking of KDHX, they've also posted to Facebook two photo sets of interest, one from Banu Gibson's performance last Sunday at the Sheldon and one from last weekend's St. Louis Gypsy Jazz Festival.

* Saxquest is introducing their own line of saxophone mouthpieces, and they're taking pre-orders now for the first two models, called "The Core" and "The Bridge".

* Saxophonist Oliver Lake has posted to YouTube some video footage from the Krakow show of his recent European tour with the Generations Quartet.

* Trumpeter, singer and U City native Jeremy Davenport was one of a number of musicians taking part last week in a tribute to 100 years of the legacy of Frank Sinatra at the Orpheum Theater in New Orleans. Davenport (pictured) will be back in St. Louis next month for his annual Thanksgiving weekend gig at Jazz at the Bistro.

Jazz this week: Kevin Eubanks, St. Louis Gypsy Jazz Festival, Banu Gibson, and more

The wide variety of music encompassed by the label "jazz" will be on full display this week in St. Louis, with performances of big band swing, cabaret, free improv, Gypsy jazz, ragtime, and numerous other sub-genres and allied musics happening at local venues.

Here's a look at some of the most noteworthy shows coming up...

Wednesday, October 21
Guitarist Kevin Eubanks and his trio begin a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. Since leaving his steady gig on television, the former Tonight Show bandleader has done work for some educational and charitable causes; toured on his own and with bassist Dave Holland; and made several recordings for Mack Avenue Records, the most recent of which was a duet album with fellow guitarist Stanley Jordan that came out earlier this year.

For more about what Eubanks (pictured, top left) has been up to recently, check out the interview he did back in April with the Voice of America program Beyond Category.

Also on Wednesday, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Open Mic Night" at the Tavern of Fine Arts; and guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran plays at Nathalie's.

Thursday, October 22
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present a tribute to the music of Ornette Coleman featuring saxophonist Dave Stone, while the Gaslight Cabaret Festival resumes with singer and impressionist Dean Christopher performing "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime: A Tribute to Dean Martin" at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Thursday, singer Joe Mancuso and keyboardist Curt Landes will take the stage at Thurman Grill.

Friday, October 23
Organized by singer Eve Seltzer and guitarist Ben Wood of the band Franglais, the first-ever St. Louis Gypsy Jazz Festival begins the first of three days and nights of performances at Evangeline's.

The event will include three evening shows followed by late-night jam sessions, plus brunch-time shows on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to Franglais (pictured, center left) the lineup features St. Louis' own Coco Rico, plus visiting acts including accordionist Dallas Vietty, singer Miles Griffith, and the bands Swing '39 and Bedlam Swing. You can see videos of all the participating acts in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, Minnesota's Davina & The Vagabonds will bring their swinging jump blues to the Old Rock House; Ken Haller performs his cabaret show "Mama's Boy" at the Gaslight Theater; and the Gateway City Big Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, October 24
The Friends of Scott Joplin will present pianists Frank LiVolsi and John Reed-Torres (pictured, center left) in an "East Coast Meets West Coast" concert of ragtime music at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe.

Elsewhere on Saturday, trumpeter Jim Manley and guitarist Randy Bahr's "All-Star Band" plays at Nathalie's; singer and actor Jeffrey M. Wright does cabaret at the Gaslight Theater; and the Wire Pilots play original fusion music at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Sunday, October 25
Bassist Jim Widner's Big Band, having shed its former alternate identity as the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, will play a matinee at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Meanwhile, singer Banu Gibson will be back in town for the first time since 2010 to perform a matinee program of music from singer-songwriter Randy Newman at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Then that evening, singer Lina Koutrakos and pianist and singer Rick Jensen will wrap up the Gaslight Cabaret Festival's weekend with their show "Two For The Road" at the Gaslight Theater.

Monday, October 26
The music department at Webster University will present its annual TKT Scholarship Benefit at Winfred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus. The event raises money for scholarships awarded in the names of Terry Jackson, Kirk Cappello and Tony Saputo, three former Webster students who died in the 1991 plane crash that :killed eight members of country singer Reba McIntyre's band.

This year's theme is "Jazz Interpretations of Pop Hits of the 1960s," as performed by members of the jazz faculty, the Webster University jazz Singers, and guest vocalists.

Also on Monday, saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective return to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups,

Tuesday, October 27
The Luminary presents "Change is a Sound: Free Jazz and Collective Practice in Political Movements," an event featuring a conversation between percussionist Charles "Bobo" Shaw, a founding member of the Black Artists Group, and St. Louis University's Ben Looker, who wrote The Point From Which Creation Begins, a book about the history of BAG. KDHX's Josh Weinstein will spin BAG-related recordings before and after.

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: Fall 2015 jazz preview, part 3

Today, it's the third part of StLJN's video preview of jazz and creative music performers coming to St. Louis this fall. (You can see part 1 here, and part 2 here.)

Continuing from last time in chronological order, we resume in mid-October with the New Mastersounds, who will be here Tuesday, October 20 to play at the Old Rock House. You can see them at the top of this post jamming on the tune "Dusty Groove" in a video recorded in June of this year at a gig in Oakland, CA.

After the jump, there's a video featuring guitarist Kevin Eubanks, who will perform with his trio Wednesday, October 21 through Saturday, October 24 at Jazz at the Bistro. It's an episode of the Voice of America's program "Beyond Category" that features footage of Eubanks playing with his trio as well as an interview with former "Tonight Show" bandleader.

Next up is singer Banu Gibson, who will perform a program of Randy Newman songs in a matinee on Sunday, October 25 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The video shows Gibson singing "It's A Jungle Out There" - written by Newman as the theme for the TV show "Monk" - earlier this year at The Mint, in New Orleans, accompanied by former St. Louisan Tom McDermott on piano and Matt Perrine on sousaphone.

The next two clips feature performers from the Gaslight Cabaret Festival, starting with singer Lina Koutrakos and singer/pianist Rick Jensen, who will return to St. Louis to perform Sunday, October 25 at the Gaslight Theater. The first clip features Koutrakos singing "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" with Jensen on piano, and was recorded in 2013 at the Metropolitan Room in NYC.

Then it's singer Kat Edmonson, who's booked to appear on Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30 at the Gaslight Theater. This version of her singing "Rainy Day Woman" was recorded in March 2015 for radio station WNRN in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Last but certainly not least, it's the veteran tenor saxophonist Houston Person, who will be coming back to town for gigs on Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31 at Jazz at the Bistro. In this clip, Person and pianist Joe Alterman's trio, with James Cammack on bass and Gregory Hutchinson on drums, work out on "Kelly's Blues" at a gig back in August 2012 at Jazz At Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola.

Look for part 4 of StLJN's Fall 2015 jazz preview here next week. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Jazz St. Louis announces changes to 2015-16 Jazz at the Bistro schedule

The vagaries of scheduling and musicians' lives being what they are, Jazz St. Louis has made some alterations to the previously announced 2015-16 season schedule for Jazz at the Bistro.

In the most significant change, the shows from Wednesday, October 21 through Saturday, October 24 originally scheduled for bassist Dave Holland's PRISM with guitarist Kevin Eubanks (pictured) and drummer Eric Harland now will be filled by Eubanks' own trio, sans Holland and Harland. Subscription tickets already purchased for PRISM will be valid for the Eubanks trio.

Also, the tribute to Clark Terry with trumpeter and singer Byron Stripling and the Jazz St. Louis Big Band originally set for Friday, October 16 and Saturday, October 17 has been moved to Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26 of next year. Subscribers who bought tickets already have had them exchanged for the new dates, based on the original day and set time. The October dates left open will be filled by the Coleman Hughes Project featuring Adrianne Felton.

Lastly, bassist Jahmal Nichols' performance on Saturday, September 12 has been cancelled, due to Nichols being on tour with singer Gregory Porter. No replacement show will be booked for that date, and there's no indication as to when Nichols might be rescheduled.

Suubscribers who have questions about any of this can contact the Jazz St. Louis box office at 314-571-6000.

Jazz this week: Kevin Eubanks; Garfield, Ligertwood & Stevens; Emily Bergl; a tribute to Miles Davis; and more

While some revelers this weekend no doubt will be wearing green in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day, your StLJN staff would like to remind you that one doesn't have be Irish, or indeed of any particular national origin or ethnicity, to enjoy jazz, either.

You just have to know where to go and when, and to help you with that, we've compiled these highlights of upcoming jazz and creative music performances in the St. Louis area...

Tonight, bassist Christian McBride, who was just here last month with his trio at Jazz at the Bistro, drops into the area again for a day to do a master class and concert with pianist Peter Martin down I-55 at Jefferson College in Hillsboro.Tickets for the evening concert are only $5 for the general public, so even figuring in that it's a bit of drive from many parts of the area, that's still a bargain.

Meanwhile back in downtown St. Louis, keyboardist and St. Louis expat David Garfield, former musical director for George Benson, and singer Alex Ligertwood, who's toured and recorded with Santana, Average White Band and Brian Auger, will join forces with saxophonist Jim Stevens and his rhythm section for two sets of funk, soul and jazz at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.

Also tonight, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival resumes with singer and actress Emily Bergl, who's best known for her work in musical theater and a recurring role on ABC's Desperate Housewives, presenting the first of three performances of her show "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" at the Gaslight Theater.

On Friday, pianist and Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap brings his new quintet to Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two evenings featuring the music of Miles Davis. Along with Dunlap, the group includes trumpeter Danny Campbell, saxophonist Ben Reece, bassist Nathan Pence, and drummer Montez Coleman.

Also on Friday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes play at the Atomic Cowboy; singer Wendy Gordon and pianist Arthur Toney perform at the Tavern of Fine Arts; and guitarist Dave Black, violinist Asako Kuboki and saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will team up for a trio show at the house concert venue KindaBlue, 6101 1/2 Idaho in south St. Louis.

On Saturday afternoon, the revived Nu-Art Series will present drummer Charles "Bobo" Shaw, pianist David Parker and trumpeter George Sams at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site.

Then on Saturday evening, guitarist Kevin Eubanks (pictured) will play two shows at Lumiere Place Casino's Lumiere Theatre. Eubanks just got back from a series of dates in Europe and Russia with bassist Dave Holland, performing in both a trio format and with the quartet Prism. The former bandleader for Jay Leno's Tonight Show also made news recently when he dropped by Arsenio Hall's syndicated late night program for a chat and a bit of jamming.

Elsewhere around town on Saturday evening, the Pennsylvania-based contemporary chamber music group NakedEye Ensemble will make their St. Louis debut at The Chapel; trombonist Doug Burns returns to Robbie's House of Jazz; Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and The People's Key and Elastik Soul will present "Bold as Jimi: Love as Jazz," a jazz/funk tribute to Jimi Hendrix, at the Schlafly St. Louis Brewery and Tap Room.

On Sunday, multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman and pianist Carolbeth True will be the featured performers at this month's free "Inner Jazz" concert at Kirkwood United Church of Christ; and Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center continues their “Quiet Concert” series with a performance headlined by Kansas City-based electronic musician and composer Jason Zeh.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the jazz faculty at Webster University will present their annual concert in Winifred Moore Auditorium to raise funds for the school's Shepard/Davis scholarships.

On Tuesday, the Sheldon Concert Hall is busy day and night, starting with a morning "Coffee Concert" (also repeated on Wednesday) featuring Red Lehr and the St. Louis Rivermen, and continuing with an evening performance by trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber as part of the hall's "Notes From Home" series. Also on Tuesday, the Twin Cities jump-blues and swing band Davina and The Vagabonds will be back in town for a show at The Gramophone.

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.)

Kevin Eubanks to perform Saturday, March 15 at Lumiere Place

Guitarist Kevin Eubanks (pictured) is coming to St. Louis to perform shows at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 15 at Lumiere Place Casino's Lumiere Theatre.

Eubanks, who led the band on NBC's Tonight Show from 1995 to 2010, has returned to jazz since giving up his TV gig. He's released two albums on the Mack Avenue label - 2010's Zen Food and 2012's The Messenger - and last year joined bassist Dave Holland, keyboardist Craig Taborn and drummer Eric Harland in the group Prism for an album and subsequent touring. He last performed in the St. Louis area in July 2010 at the Casino Queen.

Tickets for Kevin Eubanks at Lumiere Theatre are $25 and $35, and will go on sale at this Friday, January 24 via Ticketmaster and in the gift shop at the casino. Ticketmaster also will offer an online-only pre-sale beginning at 9:00 a.m. Thursday, January 23.

Notes from the Net: A Miles Davis interview rediscovered; fall CD releases; plus news, reviews, interviews and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs 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:

* Starting once again with some Miles Davis news, via Miles Davis Online we learn that Soulandjazz.com has posted a radio interview with Davis originally done in the mid-1980s for musician/broadcaster/author Ben Sidran's NPR program "Sidran on Record." Also via MDO, netmag The Quietus asks rock stars to name their favorite Miles Davis albums, and the news that the list price of the recent box-set-of-box-sets The Genius of Miles Davis has been reduced from $1,199 to $749.

Meanwhile, over at AllAboutJazz.com, Victor L. Schermer considers "Miles: The Autobiography... Two Decades Later", while Warner Jazz in the UK has issued Perfect Way – The Warner Bros. Years, a compilation album drawn from Davis' late-career output that also includes some previously unreleased tracks.

* Trumpeter, singer and St. louis native Clark Terry is the subject of an interview at Marc Myers' JazzWax blog; check out part one here, and part two here.

* The Wall Street Journal reports that saxophonist and former St. Louisan David Sanborn, who was back home in August to play Jazz at the Bistro, is selling his NYC townhouse for $9 million.

* From the "coming attractions" file, the New York Times' Nate Chinen reviews The Bad Plus' new CD Never Stop here. Also, TBP finally made their Kansas City debut last month at the Folly Theater, and Bill Brownlee of the KC jazz blog Plastic Sax was there to review the show for the Kansas City Star. The Bad Plus return to St. Louis in January to play at the Bistro.

* Singer Jane Monheit (pictured), who will perform at the Bistro in December, also has a new CD, Home, on sale now.

* Guitarist John McLaughlin and his band 4th Dimension are set to play NYC's Town Hall on November 13, six days before they come to St. Louis to play the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* JazzHouston has an interview with pianist Vijay Iyer, who will be back in St. Louis next month with Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet for a New Music Circle-sponsored concert at the 560 Music Center.

* In news of some recent visitors, saxophonist Kirk Whalum has released his new CD paying tribute to singer, songwriter, pianist and St. Louis native Donny Hathaway. Special guests on the disc include Hathaway's daughter, R&B singer Lalah Hathaway; bassist Christian McBride; and guitarist Jeff Golub. Whalum and Golub were in St. Louis with the Guitars and Saxes tour at the Pageant in August , while McBride has played here this year with his band Inside Straight at the Bistro and in a duo concert with pianist Peter Martin at the Sheldon.

* Meanwhile, guitarist Kevin Eubanks, who was here in July to play at the Casino Queen, will release a new CD called Zen Food on Mack Avenue Records on November 23.

* Finally, a few more notes of general interest: The MU Concert Jazz Band from the University of Missouri has released their debut CD Vertigo, featuring a guest appearance by vibraphonist Mike Manieri;

* AllAboutJazz.com has revamped their free services for jazz musicians as part of an overall site redesign;

* And "early bird" registration for the next Jazz Education Network conference, to be held in January in New Orleans, ends this Friday.

Notes from the Net: John Zorn's Montreal controversy, Kevin Eubanks unbound, plus news, reviews, interviews and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs 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:

* In the latest Miles Davis-related news, Michael Bourne reviewed the "We Want Miles" exhibit in Montreal for DownBeat magazine. Coincidentally enough, there's a new live DVD just out of a 1985 Davis concert at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Elsewhere in North America, Austin, Texas trumpeter Jeff Lofton's Electric Thang recently mounted a tribute to Davis' album Bitches Brew; and bassist Michael Henderson, who anchored Davis' funk-oriented early 1970s bands, is suing rapper Snoop Dogg over music samples.

* Speaking of Montreal, saxophonist (and one-time Webster University student) John Zorn recently led a retrospective of his various Masada ensembles at the Montreal Jazz Festival, then found himself at the center of a controversy after audience members walked out of his subsequent festival concert with Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. One local journalist even compared the audience response to the premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, a famously contentious event back in 1913.

Coming up for Zorn in August: A three-night stand at Yoshi's in Oakland, featuring a duo concert with Terry Riley, a performance of the improv game "Cobra" with Bay Area improvisors, and more.

* Turning to news of coming attractions, guitarist Kevin Eubanks recently talked with NPR's "Tell Me More" about life after The Tonight Show, while a recent Eubanks gig at LA's Baked Potato is reviewed here by Tony Gieske of the International Review of Music. Eubanks will play at the Casino Queen in East St. Louis on Thursday. July 29.

* Bassist Stanley Clarke's latest CD, featuring the single-named keyboardist Hiromi as part of the band, is reviewed here by AllAboutJazz.com's Jeff Winbush, while AAJ's Ernest Barteldes has a review of a double bill last month at NYC's Carefusion Jazz Fest featuring Clarke's band and the McCoy Tyner Quartet. Clarke and Hiromi will be in St. Louis in February to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Meanwhile, the reunited Jazz Crusaders and Al Jarreau, both set to perform next season at the Touhill under the auspices of Jazz St. Louis, are among the headliners of this year's Long Beach Jazz Festival

* Guitarist John McLaughlin is the subject of Jazz Times' cover story for the July/August issue. You can read an excerpt of the article by Geoffrey Himes here. McLaughlin will be in St. Louis in November to play at Sheldon Concert Hall.

* The Bad Plus' upcoming album Never Stop is set for release on September 14, and will be their first disc to feature all original material (and their eighth release overall). TBP will be the first touring act to play the Bistro in 2011, which will be the fifth consecutive year they've opened at the club.

* Lastly, let's wrap up this installment with links to two pairs of articles of more general interest to jazz fans. First up, PopMatters.com's Will Layman has yet another take on the long-forecast "death" of jazz, while Fred Kaplan, writing for Stereophile magazine, asks "Is Jazz a Young Person's Music After All?" And in another pair of synchronicitous items, the website The Root looks at the economics of being a working jazz musician, while the New York Times' Nate Chinen blogs about jazz and music publishing rights.

Kevin Eubanks to perform Thursday, July 29 at Casino Queen

Before he took the job leading the band for NBC's Tonight Show 18 years ago, Kevin Eubanks (pictured) had established a very respectable career as a jazz guitarist. Now that Eubanks has left his long-running gig, he's got more time to devote to his own music and to tour, and his live dates this summer will include a performance on Thursday, July 29 at the Casino Queen's Sevens nightclub.

Eubanks' band will include former Tonight Show cohort Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums, as well as the veteran saxophonist Bill Pierce, keyboard player Gerry Etkins and bassist Rene Camacho. Eubanks will play sets at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.; tickets are $20 each, and are on sale now via Ticketmaster, Macy's, Schnucks and the Casino Queen gift shop.