Jazz this week: Manhattan Transfer & Take 6; Cassity, Jensen & Wolfe; and more

While this week's concert calendar isn't as jam-packed with jazz and creative music as last week's almost-insane schedule, there still are several noteworthy shows happening over the next few days, including a long-anticipated concert teaming up two of the top jazz-influenced vocal groups in the world, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 26
The eclectic instrumental quartet The 442s will take the stage for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, where their sets will include music they created this past summer as the first-ever artists-in-residence for Forest Park Forever.

Elsewhere in Grand Center, the weekly "jazz crawl" proceeds with bassist Bob Deboo and friends hosting a jam session at the Kranzberg Arts Center and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor leading a trio at The Dark Room. Also on Wednesday, Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris return to Nathalie's, and the Jazz Troubadours play at Evangeline's.

Thursday, October 27
Singer Denise Thimes headlines her 12th annual benefit performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall, raising money for the Mildred Thimes Foundation (named after her late mother) to fight pancreatic cancer. Thimes will be joined by guest performers including the Chicago-based singer Dee Alexander and comedian Monique Marvez.

Also on Thursday, the New Orleans Suspects are back in town for another performance at the Broadway Oyster Bar, and singer Erin Bode returns to Cyrano's.

Friday, October 28
The joint tour by vocal groups Manhattan Transfer and Take 6 (pictured, top left) billed as "The Summit" arrives in St. Louis for a concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Based on reports from earlier in the tour, the show will include favorites from both groups, performing separately and together, as well as an entertaining segment in which each group performs some of the other's material. If you're a fan of jazz vocal harmony or ensemble singing in general, this should rank as the "must-see" concert of the year.

Also on Friday, saxophonist Sharel Cassity, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, and bassist Ben Wolfe wrap up their week-long educational residency for Jazz St. Louis with the first of two nights of performances at Jazz at the Bistro, with some help from pianist Phil Dunlap and drummer Marty Morrison. For more about Cassity, Jensen, and Wolfe (pictured, bottom left), and some video samples of all three musicians in action, see this post from last Saturday.

That same evening, the Gaslight Cabaret Festival resumes with singer and actress Tovah Feldshuh performing for the first of two nights at the Gaslight Theater; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to the Venice Cafe; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, October 29
Singer Feyza Eren returns to the house concert venue KindaBlue, and Animal Children will play at The Dark Room.

Sunday, October 30
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents pianist Stephanie Trick in a matinee performance at the Moolah Temple,
and the JazzU Big Band, made up of the top high school students in Jazz St. Louis' education programs, will make their debut at Jazz at the Bistro.

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.)

Manhattan Transfer, Take 6 performing together on Friday, October 28 at the Touhill

Tickets are on sale now for a concert featuring a team-up of the jazz-influenced vocal groups Manhattan Transfer and Take 6 at 8 p.m. Friday, October 28 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

The concert is part of a joint tour featuring the two groups (pictured) billed as "The Summit" that will begin October 1 in Bangor, ME and will include nearly 50 dates across the country before wrapping up in the spring.

Now with a new member, Trist Curless, who replaced founder Tim Hauser after Hauser's death in October 2014, the Manhattan Transfer are marking the 40th anniversary of their debut album on Atlantic Records. Their most recent recording The Chick Corea Songbook was issued in 2009 by the indie label Four Quarters Entertainment. Take 6's most recent album Believe was released in March of this year on the SoNo label.

Tickets for Manhattan Transfer and Take 6 at the Touhill are priced from $39 to $79 for regular admission, $37 to $77 for seniors, and are on sale now online and via the Touhill box office.

Jazz this week: Jacky Terrasson, Manhattan Transfer, the final week for Cookie's, and more

The week before Christmas is a busy one for many people, but if you've got the time, and are willing to brave the colder-than-usual weather, there's definitely some music worth hearing around St. Louis over the next few days, starting with the two well-known touring jazz headliners who will be in town this weekend.

First up, there's pianist Jacky Terrasson (pictured), who opens a four-night stand tonight at Jazz at the Bistro and continues through Saturday. You can find out more about Terrasson and see some video clips of him performing in this post from last Saturday.

Then on Friday, the singing group Manhattan Transfer once again brings their annual holiday show to the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Some jazz critics find the Transfer's slickness a bit off-putting, but I've always enjoyed them for what they are, and in an era when so many singers seem to traffic exclusively in melismatic over-emoting, their overall musicality and general good taste in songs, musicians and arrangements stands out even more.

This also marks the final week for the Webster Groves music venue Cookie's Jazz and More, which is closing after Saturday's show. (There is potential for the space to reopen under new ownership; more about that in an upcoming post.) The club's final three nights will feature a jam session with Sound Unlimited on Thursday; Trio Tres Bien with singer Danita Mumphard on Friday; and a no-cover-charge evening of smooth jazz with Three Central on Saturday.

Elsewhere around town, on Thursday singer Erin Bode returns to the Tenderloin Room (inside the Chase-Park Plaza Hotel). Somehow, Bode's delicate vocals seem like they'd be a mismatch for the Tenderloin's old-school steakhouse atmosphere, but this is, in fact, just the latest in a series of gigs for her there, so obviously it must be working out OK for both band and venue.

On Friday, Louisiana-based steel guitarist Dave Easley will be sitting in with the Dave Stone Trio during their regular Friday gig at Mangia Italiano. Easley's got some nice credits - he's performed and/or recorded with a wide variety of jam bands and jazz artists, including the Brian Blade Fellowship, Dave Liebman, Kenny Garrett, Howard Levy, Charlie Byrd, Seamus Blake, Dr. John, members of the String Cheese Incident, the Greyboy Allstars and Tiny Universe, and more. The slippery sound of steel guitar ought to provide an interesting complement to Stone's somewhat elliptical style on tenor sax, and given Easley's diverse experiences and Stone's willingness to go outside as well as inside, I'm thinking this gig very well could be the hidden gem of the week. In an email telling StLJN about Easley's sit-in, drummer Kyle Honeycutt also notes that Stone's trio plays until 2:30 a.m., which is good news for those in search of late-night sounds.

On Saturday afternoon, you can check out a couple of free in-store performances at Webster Records, which will host sets from singer and pianist Anita Rosamond at 1:00 p.m. and guitarist Art Ruprecht at 3:00 p.m.. On Sunday night, the St. Louis New Jazz Xtet continues their weekly gig at Riddle's, and on Monday, the Sessions Big Band is back at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Due to the Christmas holiday, the next "Jazz this week" post likely will go up late next Monday or early Tuesday. In the meantime, you can find more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond by visiting the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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 delete a sentence fragment.)

A guide to holiday jazz concerts in St. Louis

StLJN has been getting a number of hits lately combining the search terms "Christmas" and "jazz," and so for the benefit of those visitors looking for more information on holiday jazz concerts in St. Louis, here's a quick overview of some noteworthy upcoming events:

Sunday, November 30: Smooth jazz guitarist Peter White's Christmas show, featuring trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Mindi Abair, at The Pageant.

Thursday, December 4: Guitarist Steve Schenkel and singer Ashley Mason perform music from their new Christmas CD A Midnight Clear with pianist Carolbeth True and bassist Ric Vice in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Thursday, December 4: Singer Jeanne Trevor and pianist Dave Venn headline a performance of jazz and holiday music at the Black Cat Theatre.

Sunday, December 7: Singer/pianist Harry Connick, Jr and his big band perform a holiday-themed concert at the Fox Theatre.

Friday, December 12: Trumpet player and singer Dawn Weber of Mo & Dawn does a holiday themed concert at the Black Cat Theatre.

Saturday, December 13: Singer/pianist Anita Rosamond performs her third annual Christmas show "Celebrate The Season" at the Black Cat Theatre.

Sunday, December 14: "A Soulful Christmas" with saxophonist Gerald Albright (pictured) and singers Lalah Hathaway and Will Downing at The Pageant.

Monday, December 15: Steve Schenkel and Ashley Mason with guitarist Dan Rubright and bassist Ric Vice at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

Friday, December 19: The singing group Manhattan Transfer brings their annual holiday show to the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

As for local Christmas CD releases, in addition to Schenkel and Mason's A Midnight Clear, singer Erin Bode has a new Christmas-themed CD titled A Cold December Night that's now available for purchase on her Web site.

Other St. Louis musicians with Christmas CDs still in print include Anita Rosamond, whose release This Is Christmas came out in 2006, and saxophonist Rod Tate, who put out an album called Jazzy Melodies of Christmas last year. You can see Tate performing his version of "The Little Drummer Boy," taken from a show last December at the Vaughn Cultural Center, in the embedded video window below.

Do you know of any local jazz shows or CDs with a holiday theme that we've missed? Do you have a favorite holiday jazz CD (or CDs) of all time? Please use the comments to share your thoughts.



(Updated 11/28/08 to add the shows at Black Cat Theatre.)

Ellington Orchestra, Manhattan Transfer coming to TouPAC next season

The Touhill Performing Arts Center has announced its 2008-09 season schedule, and it includes a couple of concerts that may be of interest to jazz fans along with the expected presentations of theater, dance, pop and classical music.

As previously shown on Pollstar, the Manhattan Transfer will return to the TouPAC on Friday, December 19 with their annual holiday show. In addition, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, now under the direction of Duke's grandson Paul Mercer Ellington (pictured), is booked for a matinee performance on Sunday, March 22, 2009.

Creative music aficionados may also take an interest in the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra "Explosions Percussion Festival" scheduled for Sunday, November 23, as past editions of this concert have included some interesting works by contemporary composers.

Regrettably, the TouPAC's management has also made the inexplicable decision to schedule a return date for the odious, zoot-suited oafs Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, who will befoul the stage with their inept, clumsy and tasteless presentation in something called "Wild and Swingin' Holiday Party" on Saturday, December 6. One can only hope that listeners will stay away in droves so as to help discourage any future repeats of this grievous error. It's sad to think that someone in a position of responsibility is so misguided as to think that those doofuses are actually worth hearing once, let alone twice. Then again, as H.L. Mencken once said, and the success of reality television continues to prove, no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.

The Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson has the rundown on the rest of the TouPAC's 2008-09 season in a feature story that can be read online here.

Coming attractions for St. Louis include Alyse Black, Garaj Mahal, Tom Waits and Manhattan Transfer

The past couple of days have brought announcements of several concerts coming to St. Louis that may be of potential interest to jazz fans:

* Singer, songwriter and guitarist Alyse Black, who won first place in the Jazz category of Billboard magazine's 2007 World Song Contest for her song "Stood for Stand for," is coming to St. Louis next Friday, May 16 to perform at The Gramophone. Black, who's from Seattle but is now based in Austin, calls her music "indie-pop-jazz," and has drawn comparisons to artists ranging from Fiona Apple, Regina Spektor and Fiest to Billie Holiday, Maria Muldaur and Norah Jones.

* Jazz-influenced jam band Garaj Mahal has scheduled a show in St. Louis on Wednesday, July 2 at Lucas School House. The group includes guitarist Fareed Haque, bassist Kai Eckhardt, keyboardist Eric Levy and drummer Alan Hertz.

* Singer-songwriter Tom Waits (pictured) will make St. Louis the midpoint of his 13-city summer tour, stopping in our town on Thursday, June 26 to play the Fox Theatre. Waits' early music had a distinct jazz influence, incorporating walking bass lines, woozy horns, barroom piano and Beat-influenced lyrics, while some of his later compositions, with their unusual instrumentation and Nino-Rota-meets-Harry-Partch-at-the-circus arrangements, almost certainly must meet someone's criteria for experimental music.

* Last but not least, Pollstar has added a listing indicating that the famed vocal group Manhattan Transfer will be returning to the Touhill Performing Arts Center on Friday, December 19 with what must surely will be a reprise of their popular touring holiday show. As always, Pollstar listings should be considered tentative until confirmed by the venue, but given that the Transfer has been a solid draw at the TouPAC since the venue first opened, this one seems like a lock.

Jazz this week: The Kennedy Brothers, Manhattan Transfer, a tribute to Clark Terry, and more

With Christmas just a couple of weeks away, there are several seasonally themed jazz shows happening this week, as well as a pre-holiday homecoming for a couple of St. Louis' favorite sons.

On Wednesday night, the Manhattan Transfer brings their holiday show to the Touhill Performing Arts Center. This will be the popular vocal group's third appearance at the TouPAC since the hall opened in 2003, and their repertoire for this tour includes material from their two Christmas albums as well as a few familiar fan favorites drawn from the rest of their extensive catalog.

Also on Wednesday, the Kennedy Brothers open a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro, performing two sets a night through Saturday. Pianist Ray Kennedy probably is best known to jazz fans for his long tenure backing singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli, while bassist Tom Kennedy (pictured) has played with a number of well-known musicians, most notably serving as the regular bassist for fellow St. Louisan Dave Weckl's acclaimed electric jazz ensemble. This week, the brothers, who grew up in Maplewood, will be in the spotlight doing their own music as they get a relatively rare chance to perform together as headliners for their many friends and fans here in their hometown.

Other noteworthy shows this weekend: Singer Jeanne Trevor performs at Brandt's on Thursday night, and trumpeter Randy Holmes will lead Hard Bop Heritage in a tribute to St. Louis trumpet great Clark Terry on Friday night at Cookie's Jazz and More. Meanwhile, Finale Music and Dining will feature two local singers offering jazz-flavored holiday shows this weekend, as Dean Christopher presents "A Swingin' Holiday" on Friday night, and Debby Lennon goes "Home for the Holidays" on Saturday. And on Sunday afternoon, traditional jazz and swing band Cornet Chop Suey will perform in a concert sponsored by the St. Louis Jazz Club at the Moolah Shrine Center, 12545 Fee Fee Rd.

To see a more extensive list of local jazz-related events, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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 at the Movies:Manhattan Transfer's "Jeannine" meets Tom Scott's "Dirty Old Man"

This week's videos feature a couple more of the coming attractions that St. Louis jazz listeners will be able to enjoy in the not-too-distant future.

Up top, it's the vocal group Manhattan Transfer, who will be in town next Wednesday to do their annual holiday show at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. While the Transfer will be doing mostly Christmas music at the TouPAC, here they can be seen and heard doing their arrangement of "Jeannine," a song written by pianist Duke Pearson that's perhaps best known for the vocal version done by Eddie Jefferson, who wrote the lyrics. While they definitely remove some of the rougher edges found in Jefferson's version, the Transfer's rendition still swings pretty hard while also showing off their tight four-part ensemble vocals.

The clip down below features saxophonist Tom Scott, who will be in St. Louis in April as one of the guest performers and clinicians at the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival. It's a 2003 performance of Scott's tune "Dirty Old Man," with backing from keyboardist Larry Goldings, drummer Rick Marotta, guitarist Michael Landau and bassist Jimmy Johnson.

Manhattan Transfer, Bob Dorough previewed in Post articles

Today's Post-Dispatch has a couple of articles of interest to jazz listeners. The paper's former theatre critic Joe Pollack, who retired a few years back but still does freelance work, returns to the P-D's pages to do an interview with Bob Dorough, found online here.

Also, Terry Perkins has an interview with Janis Siegel of Manhattan Transfer about the group's holiday show, which comes to the Touhill Performing Arts Center next Wednesday. You can read that article online here.

TouPAC's 2007-08 season will offer more of the same

The Touhill Performing Arts Center has announced its 2007-08 season of concerts and theatrical presentations, and while there are a few shows that may be of interest to jazz listeners, for the most part they feature artists who already have played the venue in the very recent past.

In addition to the October 8 concert featuring Frank Sinatra, Jr. that previously showed up on Pollstar, the TouPAC's upcoming season will include return appearances by vocal group the Manhattan Transfer (December 12, pictured), trumpeter Chris Botti (January 18 and 19), and the Glenn Miller Orchestra (April 26) as well as another "Explosions" percussion concert featuring members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra on March 29.

There is one new entry on the schedule that ought to stir up some interest in the local jazz community and beyond: an 80th birthday tribute to Maynard Ferguson, scheduled for May 4. No word as to what form the tribute will take, or the musicians involved, but given the loyalty of the late trumpeter's former sidemen and fans, and the probable involvement of Ferguson's manager and friend Steve Schankman, I'm sure no effort will be spared to do it up right.

In addition to these shows, the main hall at the TouPAC will serve as one of the performance venues for the 2008 edition of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, which will be held April 16-19.

Beyond that, though, it looks like pretty slim pickings for jazz fans, and that's too bad. As a major concert facility at a University that's trying very hard to promote its jazz program, it seems as if the TouPAC ought to be both more active in the genre and less risk-averse in selecting acts.

You can see the entire season schedule and read a bit more about it in Calvin's Wilson's piece from the weekend Post-Dispatch, available online here.