Sunday Session: November 25, 2018

Ambrose Akinmusire

Here's a roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* Billy Harper charges up Church Of Sound (Jazzwise)
* REVIEW: Ethan and the British Composers at Kings Place (2018 EFG LJF) (London Jazz News)
* Alice Coltrane’s Ashram Lost in California Wildfires (Pitchfork.com)
* Why the Hideout is vital to Chicago’s music scene (Chicago Tribune)
* Blood on the Tracks: Canonizing Bob Dylan’s Human Opus (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Joshua Redman keeps Old and New Dreams alive (Vancouver Sun)
* Spinal Tap to reunite, will presumably be billed above puppet show this time (AV Club)
* Jazz great 'Sweet Papa’ Lou Donaldson’s has sports memories to treasure (New York Daily News)
* This Tiny Record Player Plays Oreo Cookies…Kinda (Food and Wine)
* More Evidence That Trained Musicians Are Superior Thinkers (Pacific Standard)
* This is the story of how Africa and slavery have influenced Brazilian music (RedBull.com)
* How Brainfeeder Leads The Charge For Esoteric Funk, Hip-Hop, Pop, & Jazz (Bandcamp.com)
* How a small Philadelphia record company gave an Oscar contender its sound (Philadelphia Inquirer)
* Live Review: 2018 JazzMi Jazz Festival (Jazz Times)
* Laurin Talese Wins Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition (Jazz Times)
* Ambrose Akinmusire’s Jazz of Pure Possibility (The Nation)
* The Largest Sun Ra Retrospective Yet is Hidden on the Top Floor of the Portland Art Musuem (Willamette Week)
* What is All the Fuss About? Kenny Barron Takes Years of Experience and Plays in the Moment (VoiceOfOC.org)
* Robert Glasper On How To Get More Young People Into Jazz (NPR)
* Legendary Jazz Guitarist Explains Why ‘The Beatles’ Are Better Than ‘Rolling Stones’ (MetalheadZone.com)
* The Invisible Hit Parade: How Unofficial Recordings Have Flowered in the 21st Century (Wired)
* The History of Play-A-Long (and More) (Jazz Times)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Happy birthday wishes go out to drummer and St. Louis native Marcus Baylor, who turns 37 today. The Baylor Project, his new band with his spouse, singer Jean Baylor, is set for NYC dates this month at Smoke and Zinc Bar.

* Today's also the anniversary of the birth of the legendary trumpeter and former St. Louisan Lester Bowie (pictured), who was born on this date in 1941. Bowie, who died in 1999, gained worldwide fame for his work with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and as a composer and bandleader in his own right. To celebrate his memory, check out this clip of a live show by his "From The Root to the Source" band, featuring his former wife Fontella Bass, her mother Martha Bass and brother David Peaston, posted last month to StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds.

* In an announcement posted last Saturday night on their Facebook page and website, organizers of St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers said they've ended the series and will produce no further concerts this year or in the future. The free concerts presented at Second Baptist Church in Richmond Heights began in the fall of 2008 under the church's former pastor, Rev. Dr. Stephen Jones.

* Jazz St. Louis has posted to their Facebook page an album of photos from saxophonist Lou Donaldson's opening night Wednesday at Jazz at the Bistro. Donaldson continues at the club through tomorrow night.

* Meanwhile, saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake has posted online a video excerpt from his show last week at NYC's Roulette, which featured guest pianist Vijay Iyer and a string ensemble.

* As the tour of "Abyssinian: A Gospel Celebration" winds its way towards St. Louis, where trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and a 70-voice choir will perform the extended work next Friday at the Touhill, Marsalis has been posting updates from the tour to the JALC Facebook page.

* St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts is exhorting us to remind all area musicians that they're sponsoring a free workshop called "Navigating Health Care Reform" at 7:00 p.m. Monday, October 21 at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar.

The event is part of a campaign that VLAA is calling "Every Artist Insured."  Ryan Barker, vice president of Health Policy at the Missouri Foundation for Health, will explain the Affordable Care Act; define terms and answer questions;, and provide strategies to help freelancers and the self-employed get quality and affordable health care coverage. This workshop is open to artists of all disciplines and their guests, but seating is limited, so you must register in advance here. The program will be repeated on Tuesday, November 19.

Jazz this week: Lou Donaldson, Alarm Will Sound, Three Tenors of St. Louis, David Grisman, St. Louis Stompers, and more

Though Cardinal baseball may be preoccupying large segments of the populace in St. Louis, the fall jazz and creative music presenting season nevertheless continues this week with a full slate of performances in a wide variety of styles.

Music fans who care to venture forth into clubs and concert halls over the next few days will find everything from traditional New Orleans jazz  to bluesy, bop-inflected saxophone from an old-school jazz master to top touring groups showcasing recombinant genres rooted in classical and bluegrass. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, the veteran alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson will begin a four-night gig continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Performing with an organ trio, the 86-year-old Donaldson mixes blues, bop, ballads, and backbeats in a crowd-pleasing fashion, and usually adds additional entertainment with some wry, between-song quips along the way. For more about Donaldson (pictured) and some video samples of what you're likely to hear this weekend, see this post from last Saturday.

Also tonight, the 20-member new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound begins their second St. Louis season at the Sheldon Concert Hall, previewing the program they'll play this weekend at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Elsewhere around town, the 442s play at the Tavern of Fine Arts; singer Joe Mancuso leads a trio at EdgeWild Restaurant and Winery in Chesterfield; and vibraphonist Peter Schlamb's group performs at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tomorrow night, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents a free concert featuring "Three Tenors of St. Louis," namely Freddie Washington, Willie Akins and Paul DeMarinis. While Washington and Akins have performed together occasionally in the past, the three-tenor format adds a new wrinkle and should make for some friendly but spirited competition. Also on Thursday, funk/R&B/jazz group Good 4 The Soul plays their monthly show at BB's.

On Friday, mandolinist David Grisman, inventor of the acoustic swing/folk/rock/bluegrass hybrid style he calls "dawg music," brings his FolkJazz Trio to the Sheldon Concert Hall. Also on Friday, saxophonist Jay Hutson and Da Wolvez are at Robbie's House of Jazz; and pianist Ptah Williams leads a trio at Cigar Inn.

On Saturday afternoon, guitarist Corey Christiansen will present a jazz improvisation workshop at Mozingo Music. Christensen, who lived in St. Louis for several years before moving back to Utah in 2007, also will lead a trio in a Saturday night performance at Robbie's.

Elsewhere on Saturday night, the Bosman Twins and friends from several different locales are teaming up for one of their periodic "Reunion Jazz Band' gigs at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes trio perform at Thurman Grill.

On Sunday, the St. Louis Jazz Club presents the St. Louis Stompers at the Doubletree Hotel in Westport.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday guitarist Robben Ford, who's played with jazz stars including Tom Scott, Jimmy Witherspoon and Miles Davis, will present a guitar clinic sponsored by Mozingo Music at Sky Music Lounge in Ballwin. Also on Monday,  the Sessions Big Band plays at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

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: The return of Lou Donaldson

Once upon a time, just about every major city in the USA had at least a couple of guys who played in a similar style, if not with the same amount of skill, as alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson, who's coming back to St. Louis next week to perform Wednesday, October 9 through Saturday, October 12 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Fronting a trio of organ, guitar and drums, Donaldson offers a mix of bebop, blues and ballads that evokes the very center of the jazz mainstream of the post-WWII era, with the influence of Charlie Parker predominant. Back then, the North Carolina native, who cut his first record in 1952, was just one of a host of players working in that style. Today, still remarkably spry and sly at age 86, Donaldson is one of the last remaining veterans of that era still touring.

Donaldson worked with many leading musicians of the 1950s, including Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, Art Blakey and Clifford Brown, before settling in during the 1960s with Blue Note Records for a long tenure as one of their most popular artists. That's also when he began adding to his repertoire more backbeat-driven numbers like "Alligator Boogaloo," which proved to be the final ingredients in the musical recipe that sustains him and a legion of fans to this day.

Last featured in this space back in 2010, Donaldson has been a regular visitor to St. Louis in recent years. Those who are already fans don't need any more convincing to go catch him at the Bistro, but for those who aren't familiar with him, these six videos offer a preview of the sort of things you're likely to hear at a typical Lou Donaldson performance.

In the first clip up above, Donaldson plays the swinging blues "Gravy Train," and in the second down below, a slow blues called "It Was A Dream." Both clips feature him with his frequent collaborator, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, who unfortunately will not be along for this trip to St. Louis.

Below that, there are four more videos featuring Donaldson with the musicians who perform with him most frequently on dates when Smith is not involved: guitarist Randy Johnston, organist Akiko Tsuruga and drummer Fukushi Tainaka.

The first of those clips, recorded earlier this year in Madrid, shows them working out on the Donaldson staple "Midnight Creeper." Below that, Donaldson pays homage to Louis Armstrong with a version of Armstrong's 1960s pop hit "What A Wonderful World," recorded in Vancouver with Johnston, Tsuruga, and Rudy Petschauer subbing on drums.

The remaining two videos feature Donaldson's versions of evergreen standards, the ballad "Body And Soul," recorded in 2010 at Dizzy's in NYC, and "Cherokee," in a clip that's undated but probably from the mid 2000s.

There is at least one thing new since Donaldson's last visit, though, as he was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2013. For more about Lou Donaldson, check out this interview he did in 2010 with blogger Mark Myers of JazzWax, and this podcast he recorded with Jazz St. Louis' Bob Bennett before his appearance in 2010 at the Bistro.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2013 jazz preview, part 3

Today's, it's part three of StLJN's preview of jazz and creative music concerts coming to St. Louis this fall. Previously in this space, part one and part two covered shows that are happening through the first week of October, which is where today's installment picks up.

Our first clip features the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound*, who will kick off their second St. Louis season on Wednesday, October 9 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.  They'll be performing a program called "Permanent Collection," which covers 150 years of music written for their instrumentation, the sinfonietta (a small orchestra that has one of every instrument found in a full-sized symphony). The concert will include AWS' version of Aphex Twin's "Cock/Ver 10," first recorded for their 2005 album Acoustica and seen here in a rather rough-quality video shot from the audience in 2009 at NYC's Le Poisson Rouge.

That same week, saxophonist Lou Donaldson will return to St. Louis for a four-night engagement beginning Wednesday, October 9 and continuing through Saturday, October 12 at Jazz at the Bistro. Donaldson, who turns 87 (!) in November, plays blues, bop and ballads in the old-school manner, and by all accounts continues to be an very engaging performer, age notwithstanding. He's seen here with his frequent collaborator, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith - who, alas, will not be on the upcoming St. Louis dates - performing one of his signature songs, "Alligator Boogaloo."

The following week, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will return to St. Louis, this time to perform Marsalis' extended work "Abyssinian" with Chorale Le Chateau in a concert presented by Jazz St. Louis on Friday, October 18 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Written to celebrate the 200th anniversary of NYC's Abyssinian Baptist Church, the work was premiered in 2008. Today's second video contains some short excerpts from that premiere performance with Dr. Rev. Calvin Butts III and the Abyssinian Church Choir at Rose Hall in NYC.

Also on Friday, October 18, trombonist William Cepeda will perform at the Sheldon. Originally from Puerto Rico, Cepeda is known for mixing jazz and urban Latin sounds with folk elements from Puerto Rican music, and today's fourth video clip shows off some of that in an excerpt from his performance at this year's Heineken Jazz Festival in San Juan.

The following week, New Orleans saxophonist Donald Harrison will bring his "A Night In Treme" tour here to play Wednesday, October 23 through Saturday, October 26 at Jazz at the Bistro. After establishing himself as a skilled hard bop player with Art Blakey and on own recordings, Harrison in recent years has incorporated more direct references to traditional New Orleans music into his sound, which seems fitting for someone who's also the Big Chief of The Congo Square Nation. The fifth video clip shows Harrison and trombonist Glen David Andrews dueting on "When The Saints Go Marching In" and was recorded in 2011 at the studios of KPLU in Tacoma, WA.

The sixth video features bassist William Parker's In Order To Survive Quintet, who will perform here in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Friday, October 25 at Mad Art Gallery. Parker, drummer Hamid Drake, pianist Cooper-Moore, alto saxophonist Rob Brown and trumpeter Lewis Barnes are seen here in an excerpt from their set at the 2012 Vision Festival in NYC.

Wrapping up today's post is a video of pianist and singer Harry Connick Jr., who wil be back in St. Louis for the first time in several years to perform on Sunday, October 27 at the Fox Theatre. Connick is touring in support of his latest album, Every Man Should Know, and is seen here playing the title song on ABC's daytime talk show The View.

Look for the fourth and final part of StLJN Fall 2013 jazz preview next week.

(*Full disclosure: Yr. StLJN editor has worked with Alarm Will Sound for the past four years in conjunction with the Mizzou International Composers Festival in Columbia, where they are the resident ensemble, and I'm still working with the PR firm that assists them with publicity in the region. That said, I'd still be highlighting this show even if I were not associated with them.)

Webster University announces 2013-14 jazz concert schedule

The music department at Webster University has announced their schedule of Monday night jazz concerts for 2013-14.

The series will kick off with a tribute to Cannonball Adderly at 7:00 p.m. Monday, September 9 in Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus, 470 E. Lockwood Ave.

The performance will feature songs associated with Adderly such as “Unit Seven,” “Jive Samba,” “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” and “Sack O’ Woe,” performed by an ensemble including Paul DeMarinis (pictured, saxophones), Keith Moyer (trumpet), Steve Schenkel (guitar), Kim Portnoy (piano), Willem von Hombracht (bass), Kevin Gianino (drums) and Debby Lennon (vocals).

Here's the complete schedule for the year:

Monday, September 9: A Tribute to Cannonball Adderley
Monday, September 16: Four in One: The Thelonious Monk Project
Monday, September 23: Paul DeMarinis & Friends with DeMarinis (saxophones), Dave Black (guitar), Ben Wheeler (bass) and Kyle Honeycutt (drums).
Monday, October 28: TKT Scholarship Benefit Concert
Monday, November 18: Webster Jazz Collective

Monday, January 27: TBA
Monday, February 3: Black History Month Concert
Monday, February 10: Kim Portnoy Ensemble
Monday, February 24: Webster Jazz Collective
Monday, March 17: Shepard/Davis Scholarship Benefit Concert

All Monday night faculty concerts begin at 7:00 p.m. and take place in Moore Auditorium. Tickets for most concerts are $5 for general admission; $3 for seniors; free for students.

Tickets for the TKT concert will be $20 $10 general admission; free for Webster faculty, staff, & students, and for the Shepard/Davis concert, $10 general admission; $5 seniors; free for Webster faculty, staff, and students. The two Webster Jazz Collective concerts are priced at $3 general admission; free for faculty, staff and students. For more information, call 314-647-1415.

In addition to the concert series featuring Webster's faculty members, the University also will present a seminar by famed alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, October 10 in the recital hall on campus. Donaldson will be in town that week to perform with his quartet at Jazz at the Bistro.

Lastly, Webster also has released the schedule of student jazz performances for the year. The student jazz combos will present performances for the fall semester on November 4 and 11, and in the spring on March 31 and April 7. The free concerts start at 7:00 p.m. in Room #10 of Webster's Community Music School, 535 Garden Ave.

The university's student jazz singers will present their fall performance on December 8 and their spring concert on April 21. Both concerts take place at 7:00 p.m. in Moore Auditorium, with admission at $3 for the general public, free for students, faculty and staff.

Edited 10/11/13 to correct the ticket price of the TKT Scholaship concert.

Jazz this week: Dianne Reeves & Peter Martin, Lou Donaldson, FLOW, St. Louis Musicians for Haiti, and more

It's looking like a very good weekend of live music in St. Louis, with a number of events of interest to fans of jazz and creative music. Let's go to the highlights, presented in chronological order:

Things get started tonight with the veteran saxophonist Lou Donaldson (pictured), who's back in town to perform at Jazz at the Bistro through Saturday. For more on Donaldson, see this video post from a couple of weeks ago, and this recent podcast interview from Jazz St. Louis.

On Thursday, Broadway actress and singer Sutton Foster will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall as part of a fundraising gala for Cabaret St. Louis. You can find links to a couple of interviews with Foster about the event here. Also on Thursday, saxophonist Jason Swagler will lead his group in a free concert for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series.

On Friday, pianist Peter Martin's eponymous new series at the Sheldon kicks off with a duo performance featuring Martin and singer Dianne Reeves, for whom he has served as music director since 2001. For more on both, check out this video post, these previous posts on the Peter Martin Music series, and this interview with Martin from the St. Louis Beacon.

Also on Friday, NYC saxophonist Kim Bock and his organ-centric trio FLOW will perform an early show starting at 8:00 p.m. at The Gramophone. The next morning, they'll be at Saxquest at 11:00 a.m. for a concert and clinic.

Later on Saturday, the Nu-Art Series begins "The Jazz Composers Series: Re-Arrangements & Nu-Compositions" with a matinee concert at the Metropolitan Gallery downtown. The first installment of the series features an ensemble led by bassist Darrell Mixon doing original compositions and the music of Charles Mingus. For more on Nu-Art's jazz composers series, see this post.

On Saturday evening, percussionist and trumpeter "Baba" Mike Nelson will bring his group Sworn to the Drum to Robbie's House of Jazz.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday pianist Carolbeth True and her trio will back saxophonist Willie Akins in a concert at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

On Tuesday, the Sheldon Concert Hall will present "St. Louis Musicians For Haiti," an event raising funds for post-earthquake relief efforts in the beleaguered island nation. The lineup includes singer Brian Owens; folk group Mayor Taylor, featuring Lydia Ruffin and Charlie Pfeffer; the Bottoms Up Blues Gang; pianist Peter Martin; singer Mardra Thomas and her pianist/husband Reggie Thomas; singer Kim Massie; pianist Peter Henderson; singer Christine Brewer; and more. Author and former TV newscaster Julius Hunter will serve as host for the evening, and it appears as of this writing that there are still some tickets available.

Also, Jazz St. Louis has two Stevie Wonder-related events planned for the first part of next week. On Tuesday, the monthly meeting of the CD Listening Club at Borders in Brentwood will focus on Wonder's Songs In The Key of Life, with keyboardist and jazz educator Reggie Thomas as the special guest. Then on Wednesday, Thomas will lead his band in a free concert of music from the same album at East St. Louis High School as part of JSL's Whitaker Community Concerts series.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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 by becoming a "fan" of 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 after posting to add the Carolbeth True concert at Webster U.)

Lou Donaldson interviewed in new Jazz St. Louis podcast

Jazz St. Louis has put online another installment in their ongoing series of podcast interviews. The latest podcast features a conversation between JSL's Bob Bennett and alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson (pictured) , who will be in St. Louis from Wednesday, February 3 through Saturday, February 6 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

You can download the Lou Donaldson interview in .mp3 format or listen to an audio stream of it here.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Lou Donaldson

Our video spotlight this week shines on the veteran alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson, who will return to St. Louis to play Wednesday, February 3 through Saturday, February 6 at Jazz at the Bistro.

A native of North Carolina, the 83-year-old Donaldson came of age in the post-war bebop era and first recorded way back in 1952. He went on to work with many of the leading jazz musicians of the 1950s, including Milt Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Horace Silver, Art Blakey and Clifford Brown. By the 1960s Donaldson was a staple of the Blue Note label, which released his signature tune "Alligator Boogaloo" as well as many other LPs featuring him. He continues to perform regularly, often teaming up with the organ player Dr. Lonnie Smith, and delivers a crowd-pleasing mix of bop, ballads, blues and backbeats.

Today's first clip features Donaldson swinging the standard "Bye Bye Blackbird" at a 1994 gig in Geneva, Switzerland, accompanied by pianist Horace Parlan, bassist Wayne Dockery and drummer John Riley. Down below, you can check out Donaldson's ballad style on a version of "Laura" from the same show.

Next up, it's an extended version (in two parts) of "Alligator Boogaloo" from the 2008 North Sea Jazz Festival, for which Donaldson was joined by Smith on organ, guitarist Randy Johnson and drummer Fukushi Tainaka. The final clip features Donaldson singing the blues "Whiskey Drinkin' Woman," again backed by Smith, Johnson and Tainaka.