Jazz this week: Etienne Charles, University City Symphony, Marilyn Maye, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a Trinidadian trumpeter with a distinctive sound, the grand dame of cabaret singers, a community orchestra collaborating with local jazz musicians, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, March 4
Trumpeter Etienne Charles (pictured, top left) performs for the first of five nights continuing through Sunday at Jazz St. Louis

Originally from the island nation of Trinidad, Charles incorporates Caribbean rhythms and culture into his style, which he calls "Creole soul." Look for his sets to feature material from his most recent album Carnival: The Sound Of A People, Vol. 1, which was released last year.

Thursday, March 5
Trumpeter and vibraphonist Joe Bozzi's band will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and The Dark Room has a double bill featuring Chicago-based pianist Lara Driscoll and her trio at the dinner hour, and saxophonist Carlos "Scooter" Brown in late night.

Also on Thursday, pianist Adam Maness and his trio return to Thurman's in Shaw, and saxophonist Vince Sala will play at The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, March 6
Experimental guitarist Mark Shippy, another Chicago-based musician who's known for his work with noise-rockers U.S. Maple, Shorty, Invisible Things, and various other projects, will perform at Flood Plain.

Also on Friday, singer and bassist Janet Evra plays at the Wildey Theatre, and singer and impressionist Dean Christopher presents "A Dean Martin Tribute" at Blue Strawberry.

Saturday, March 7
Saxophonist Tim Cunningham performs at Troy's Listening Room, and keyboardist Mo Egeston and friends will bring the "Late Night Grooves" at The Dark Room.

Also on Saturday, singer Robert Nelson returns to the Parkside Grille, and the Triplets of Grubville play Swing and Gypsy jazz at Evangeline's.

Sunday, March 8
The University City Symphony presents a free concert at the 560 Music Center, with guest performances including pianist Ptah Williams playing Gershwin and selections featuring Bach to the Future with violinist Tracy Silverman and guitarist Dave Black, plus two orchestral works composed by guitarist Todd Mosby.

Monday, March 9
Guitarist Eric Slaughter returns to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, March 10
Marilyn Maye (pictured, bottom left), the nonagenarian phenomenon known to many as the "grand dame of cabaret," will front the Jazz St. Louis Big Band for the first of three nights of performances, with some tickets still remaining as of this writing.

Also on Tuesday, keyboardist and singer Jesse Gannon returns to 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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Today is the release date for The Sound of St. Louis - Jazz Compilation Volume 1, an album featuring original music from the nine participants in the Kranzberg Arts Foundation's music artists-in-residence program.

The album (pictured) will be available on streaming services, as a digital download, and as a CD, which will be sold locally at Vintage Vinyl, Music Record Shop, and Euclid Records, and at various KAF-affiliated venues such as Sophie’s Artist Lounge and The Dark Room.

* In more album-release news, singer Erin Bode is reissuing her 2016 album Here and Now as a vinyl LP, and will perform on Thursday, April 11 at The Sheldon to commemorate the event. 

* One of singer Marilyn Maye's performances last week with the Jazz St. Louis Big Band was reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

* Singer and St. Louis native Alicia Olatuja was interviewed about her new album Intuition by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

* Also as reported in the American, four branches of St. Louis County Library now offer musical instruments, including guitars, keyboards and hand drums, that can be checked out by library patrons for free.

* Multi-instrumentalist and singer Tonina was profiled for a new local website, TheSTL.com, by writer Daniel Durchholz.

* NPR once again this year is holding a contest for unsigned musical acts that would like to perform in a Tiny Desk Concert, filmed at the network's HQ in Washington DC. Local affiliate St. Louis Public Radio has details on the contest and how to enter here.

Jazz this week: Marilyn Maye, "Kind of Blue" at 60, St. Louis Record Show, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a celebration of one of the most influential and best-selling jazz albums in history, a singer known mostly for her intimate cabaret performances stepping out in front of a brassy big band, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, March 6
Singer and grande dame of cabaret Marilyn Maye (pictured), who most frequently works with a trio or solo pianist, will change things up by performing with a 17-piece big band for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis.

At this writing, only a handful of tickets remain for Maye's performances, but as usual, the sets will be live-streamed on video and can be viewed for free in the first-floor lounge adjacent to the Bistro at JSL HQ. 

Also on Wednesday, this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features multi-instrumentalist T.J. Muller and Friends at The Stage at KDHX, along with the jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, March 7 
Vincent Varvel and William Lenihan will play guitar duets in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; pianist Adam Maness leads a trio at Thurman's in Shaw; and pianist Ptah Williams, bassist Darrell Mixon and drummer Gary Sykes will revisit their jazz fusion days as Tracer at The Dark Room.

Friday, March 8
In celebration of 60 years since the recording of Kind of Blue, saxophonist Kendrick Smith leads a sextet performing music from Miles Davis' landmark album (pictured) for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis.

Elsewhere around town, the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom, and the Funky Butt Brass Band plays for the first time at a new spot downtown, the Rhone Rum Bar.

Also on Friday, Jazz St. Louis will hold their $500-per-person annual benefit gala, with music from drummer Herlin Riley's band, and for which some tickets still remain, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Saturday, March 9
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents their monthly jam session matinee at J P's Corner, hosted by keyboardist Bob Row and drummer John Gillick, with trumpeter Brian Casserly as special guest.

Then on Saturday evening, pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson will play at the house concert venue KindaBlue Club; and keyboardist Mo Egeston performs at The Dark Room.

Sunday, March 10
Miss Jubilee is back for brunch at Evangeline's, while trumpeter Jim Manley will be making his debut at The Dark Room with a quartet at their brunch. 

Also on Sunday, the St. Louis Record Show presents their spring event at the American Czech Center, and Sunday evening, the local students in Jazz St. Louis educational programs who make up the Jazz U Big Band will perform for the public 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.)

Jazz this week: Marilyn Maye, Jeanne Trevor & Dave Black, Funky Butt Brass Band, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes return gigs for an acclaimed veteran of cabaret singing and a favorite local act at the city's premier jazz club; a rare performance by one of St. Louis' own jazz divas; and more.

Let's go to the highlights...


Wednesday, March 7
Marilyn Maye (pictured, top left), who's sometimes called "the grand dame of cabaret," returns for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Not unlike Tony Bennett, Maye, who's set to turn 90 next month, draws on a deep knowledge of the Great American Songbook and seven decades of show business experience to deliver still-relevant performances seemingly in defiance of the passage of time. If you have any serious interest in cabaret singing and are not already a fan, catch her while you can, but know that Maye has a substantial local fan base, thanks to multiple appearances here in recent years, so advance reservations definitely are suggested.

Maye's opening night performance will be video-simulcast to the first-floor lounge adjacent to the Bistro as part of this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl," which also features guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith at The Stage at KDHX; the jam session led by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, March 8
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present a free concert titled "Women's Voices in Music" featuring Wash U students Helen Kaul, Hannah Gilberstadt, Nadia Irvin, Ella-Marie West, and Eden Diamond, accompanied by clarinetist Linda Gurney, pianist Kara Baldus, bassist Jeff Anderson, and drummer Eddie Campbell.

Also on Thursday, singer Jeanne Trevor will make a rare appearance in a duet with guitarist Dave Black at The Pat Connolly Tavern, and the fusion/funk band SpaceShip returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, March 9
The Funky Butt Brass Band (pictured, bottom left) will perform for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, with various friends sitting in to augment the ensemble, including singers Roland Johnson and Anita Jackson, guitarist Jimmy Griffin, keyboardist Dave Grelle, and more.

Also on Friday, the Original Knights of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, March 10
Troy's Jazz Gallery celebrates five years in business with music from the Coleman Hughes Project; saxophonist and singer Cary Colman and her trio return to Evangeline's; and saxophonist Dave Stone and his trio continue their Saturday night residency at Thurman's in Shaw.

Sunday, March 11
Singer Chuck Flowers and pianist Dave Becherer will play for brunch at The Dark Room, and then that evening, the Dave Dickey Big Band returns to the adjacent Grandel Theatre, this month featuring guest vocals from singer Anita Jackson and an intermission performance by the Parkway Central High Schooll Jazz Band.

Monday, March 12
Trumpeter Jim Manley continues his regular Monday night gig at Momo's Greek Restaurant.

Tuesday, March 13
Miss Jubilee plays for the weekly "NOLA Swing" event at HandleBar.

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.)

Sunday Session: January 14, 2018

The Bad Plus

Here's the 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:

* Jazz, but not as you know it (Vice.com)
* Record Bin: How Herbie Hancock subverted jazz traditions and asserted his funk dominance on “Head Hunters” (Nooga.com)
* And Look—She’s a Star! (The Nation)
* Music fans bought a lot of cassettes last year (NME.com)
* Why I Still Buy Music in the Age of Spotify (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Wes Gets Royal Treatment (DownBeat)
* 'Dock Of The Bay' At 50: Why Otis Redding's Biggest Hit Almost Went Unheard (NPR)
* The musical secrets of FAME Studios legend Rick Hall (Birmingham News)
* A Cabaret Star’s Comeback (Wall Street Journal)
* Ice Music: Building Instruments Out Of Water (NPR)
* White Noise Story Generates White Noise on Copyright (IllusionOfMore.com)
* Just How Similar Are Radiohead's 'Creep' and Lana Del Rey's 'Get Free'? (Esquire)
* Inside the Amish town that builds U2, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift's live shows (Wired)
* Funk Carves Out A Groove At The Funk Music Hall Of Fame In Ohio (NPR)
* Mitchell Takes Homage to Winter Jazzfest (DownBeat)
* Why this awful-sounding album is a masterpiece (Vox.com)
* Surprise! The ‘Music Modernization Act’ Prohibits Litigation Against Streaming Services (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* First Listen: The Bad Plus, 'Never Stop II' (NPR)
* Why music venue closures 'make all of our lives poorer' (BBC)
* Lester Bangs Play 'How to Be a Rock Critic' Captures Writer's Wild Spirit (Rolling Stone)
* At Peabody jazz: discrimination allegations, a forced ouster — and new hope (Baltimore Sun)
* ********, ∆, †‡† ... the most unpronounceable band names ever (The Guardian)
* Spotify Is in the Business of Selling You Spotify, Not Music (TrackRecord.net)
* Q&A: Chick Corea on his regrets, Grammys, future plans and more (Creative Loafing - Tampa)
* Portrait Of: Eddie Palmieri (LatinoUSA.org)
* Roy Hargrove’s rousing Showcase residency (DownBeat)
* The “True” Story Of How Brian Eno Invented Ambient Music (OpenCulture.com)
* Chartmania!! I Broke Down Every Song That Reached the Billboard Top 5 in 2017 (Soundfly.com)
* Life’s Work: An Interview with John Adams (Harvard Business Review)
* Dr. Demento, comedic song hero and unsung punk rock legend, gets his due on new album (Los Angeles Times)
* Preservation Hall’s Musical Mission (Garden and Gun)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2018 jazz preview, part 4

This week, StLJN's winter/spring 2018 jazz preview continues with part four of a series of posts featuring videos of the jazz and creative music performers who will be coming to St. Louis in the first few months of the new year. (If you missed the previous installments, you can see part one here, part two here, and part three here.)

Continuing in chronological order from where part three left off, today's first video features singer Marilyn Maye, the grande dame of cabaret who will perform Wednesday, March 7 and Thursday, March 8 at Jazz at the Bistro. She's seen here singing a medley of "Secret of Life" and "Here’s to Life," recorded June 5, 2017 at the fifth anniversary celebration of Feinstein's/54 Below in New York City.

After the jump, you can see a clip of Melissa Aldana, who will lead her quartet in shows starting Wednesday, March 14 continuing through Saturday, March 17 at the Bistro. The video shows the Chilean-born, Berklee-educated saxophonist with pianist Sam Harris, bassist Pablo Menares and drummer Craig Weinrib playing "Turning & Over There" in November 2017 at the venue musig im pflegidach in Muri, Switzerland.

That week also features two more concerts of interest to StLJN readers on Thursday, March 15, when New Orleans jazz/funk band Galactic will be playing at Delmar Hall while saxophonist Ben Wendel performs at The Ready Room.

Galactic can be seen in the second video after the jump, playing a full set recorded in February 2017 at the Music Box in San Diego, CA, followed by Wendel, a founding member of Kneebody, playing "Song Song" from his album What We Bring in a undated video with Gerald Clayton, Joe Sanders, and Henry Cole.

Next up, it's The Thing, the avant-jazz trio of saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, and drummer Paal Nilssen Love. They'll be in St. Louis on Thursday, March 22 for a concert presented by New Music Circle at Off Broadway, and can be seen here playing a full set recorded November 27, 2017 at Blue Tomato in Vienna, Austria.

the penultimate clip features bassist Victor Wooten's trio with drummer Dennis Chambers and saxophonist Bob Franceschini. They're set to perform on Tuesday, March 27 at the Old Rock House, and are seen here playing "Love is My Favourite Word" in February 2016 at the Blue Note in Milano, Italy.

Last, but certainly not least, it's The Baylor Project, fronted by the husband-and-wife team of drummer and St. Louis native Marcus Baylor and singer Jean Baylor, who are performing Wednesday, March 28 through Saturday, March 31 at the Bistro.

The Baylors, who are nominated in for 2018 Grammy Awards in both the "Best Traditional R&B Performance" and "Best Jazz Vocal Album" categories, can be seen in today's final video performing their Grammy-nominated song "Laugh and Move On," in a version recorded live last year at the studios of radio station WERS in Boston.

Look for part five of StLJN's winter/spring 2018 jazz preview next week in this space. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Jazz St. Louis adds shows to Bistro schedule

Jazz St. Louis has announced nine more events for the 2017-18 season at Jazz at the Bistro, filling in some gaps in the previously-announced schedule for the fall and adding one more headliner in the spring.

Three of the shows are co-productions with Cabaret Project of St. Louis, as the two organizations will team up to present singer and actor Kyle Dean Massey on Wednesday, September 27 and Thursday, September 28; actor, singer and Bellevile native Lea DeLaria (pictured), who will make her debut at the Bistro with shows on Wednesday, December 27 and Thursday, December 28; and Marilyn Maye, the 89-year-old known as the "grand dame of cabaret," on Wednesday, March 7 and Thursday, March 8.

Three other newly-scheduled events will pay tribute to jazz greats.

Drummer Montez Coleman will helm "The Art of Blakey," a celebration of the iconic drummer and his Jazz Messengers, on Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10, joined by saxophonist Ben Reece, trumpeter Danny Campbell, bassist Bob DeBoo, and pianist Adam Maness.

Coleman, DeBoo and Maness then will return the following month for a "Thelonious Monk Centennial" tribute on Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26.

Then on Wednesday, November 5, a free event titled "Duke Ellington and Film" will examine Ellington's music for film and his onscreen appearances via a talk by John Edward Hasse, curator of American music at the Smithsonian Institute, and a performance from the Jazz St. Louis Big Band.

Also added to the fall schedule are a performance by the JazzU Big Band student ensemble on Sunday, October 29, and return dates for the 1970s jazz-fusion tribute Weather Forever on Friday, November 10 and Saturday, November 11, and trumpeter Jim Manley's holiday show "A Very Manley Christmas" on Friday, December 22 and Saturday, December 23 .

Tickets for all these shows are available now via the Jazz St. Louis website.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Musicians Association of St Louis will be collecting signatures supporting a referendum on Missouri's new "Right to Work" law from 10:00 a.m. to noon this Saturday, July 8 at the union hall at 2103 59th Street.

Union officials will be outside on the hall's back lot so that Local 2-197 members can drive up and sign the petitions, which seek to allow Missouri voters to approve or reject the state's recently enacted "Right to Work" law during the next statewide election in November, 2018.

* St. Louis County Library is seeking recorded original music from St. Louis bands and musicians for "Listen Up STL," described as "a pilot project that will give local musicians the opportunity to make their music available to a wider audience of SLCL cardholders" via a free streaming service. SLCL is accepting submissions until July 31; for more details on how to submit, go here.

* The Nevermore Jazz Ball, presented here each fall by Lindy Hop St. Louis, has become a sell-out event attracting swing dancers from all over the country. So this year the organizers are giving St. Louisans a chance to purchase tickets first in person via their "2017 Local Love Pre-Sale," which will be held this Sunday, July 9 during the "River City Mess Around" event at 2720 Cherokee. See the link for details on ticket costs and pre-sale procedures.

* Cabaret Project St. Louis still has a few tickets left for their annual fundraising gala scheduled for Friday, July 21 at the Fox Theatre. The event will feature performances from Tony Award winner Faith Prince, 89-year-old cabaret grande dame Marilyn Maye (pictured), and more.

* The Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition is looking for solo female or male vocalists of all nationalities who are not signed to a major record label. The sixth annual competition, sponsored by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and Indaba Music, is the first time that male singers have been allowed to participate, and will culminate in a live competition on Sunday, November 12 at NJPAC. For details and information on how to enter, go here.

* Saxophonist Charlie Cerpa was profiled by St. Louis magazine's Thomas Crone.

* A closing reception for the exhibit "The Music Seen: Beyond the Stage" will take place from 5:30 p.m. to  8:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 13 at Bullivant Gallery, giving photography aficionados one last chance to view (and perhaps purchase) music-related photos by Michael Eastman, David Godlis, Jason Lee, Charles Peterson, David Rocco, Ernest Withers, and Baron Wolman.

* Saxquest will hold an official "grand opening" event for their Saxquest West store on Saturday, August 12. The store, which shares space with Top Notch Violins, is located in an industrial park at 2614 Metro Blvd in Maryland Heights.

Jazz this week: Dweezil Zappa, Lettuce, Marilyn Maye, Project/Object, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes one grande dame of cabaret; a couple of danceable funk/jazz acts; two pianists sharing one stage at the city's most prestigious jazz club; and not one, but two tributes to the music of the eclectic guitarist and composer Frank Zappa, plus more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 12
Promoting their latest recording, Within You, The People's Key begin a two-night stand that marks their debut at Jazz at the Bistro.

For the details, check out their appearance Monday on KTVI-Fox 2's morning newscast, and the brief Q&A between keyboardist Ryan Marquez and the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson.

Thursday, October 13
Guitarist Dweezil Zappa (pictured, top left) brings his "50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F@%k He Wants—The Cease and Desist Tour" to The Ready Room.

Although he's still more-than-capably performing music from his father Frank Zappa's vast catalog of compositions, and using the same musicians formerly known as Zappa Plays Zappa, Dweezil can no longer use his dad's name or likeness, due to what's become a rather ugly legal battle with his mother and two of his siblings. As the name suggests, this year's tour offers a broad retrospective of FZ music going back to his first album Freak Out, which was released 50 years ago.

Also on Thursday, funk/jazz band Lettuce returns to The Pageant, with electronic music duo The Geek x Vrv as opening act.

Friday, October 14
The aforementioned grande dame of cabaret, Marilyn Maye, returns for the first of two nights at the Gaslight Theater, kicking off the fall series for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival.

With a career stretching back more than 60 years, Maye (pictured, bottom left) remains a compelling performer, even at 88 years old. Although she was here this summer for the St. Louis Cabaret Conference, both shows are likely to sell out, if they haven't already, so advance reservations are suggested.

Also on Friday, pianists Adaron “Pops” Jackson and Phil Dunlap will team up on two grand pianos for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, supported by bassist Nick Jost and drummer Kaleb Kirby.

Elsewhere around town, singer Feyza Eren will present an evening of Brazilian music at The Chapel, and The BonBon Plot, a new trio that describes their sound as "bossa nova and modern French jazz with an indie twist" will play for the first of two nights at the Ozark Theatre.

Saturday, October 15
Bassist Kent Miller is in from Washington, DC with his quartet for a show of straight-ahead jazz at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and Wack-A-Doo plays swing and Americana at Evangeline's.

Also on Saturday, trumpeter Jim Manley and guitarist Randy Bahr's All-Star Band returns to Nathalie's; and the Funky Butt Brass Band's monthly gig at the Broadway Oyster Bar will feature a second-set tribute to the music of Huey Lewis and the News. (Don't say we didn't warn you!)

Sunday, October 16 
The area gets a second helping of Zappa music for the week as the long-running FZ tribute act Project/Object plays at 2720 Cherokee, joined by two of Zappa's former sidemen, singer, guitarist and St. Louis native Ike Willis and keyboardist Don Preston.

Although Dweezil Zappa has been, until recently anyway, the most "official" and best-known keeper of his dad's musical legacy, Project/Object are worthy and experienced interpreters, too. Yr. StLJN editor saw them play a few years back at Cicero's here in St. Louis, with Willis and former FZ saxophonist Napoleon Murphy Brock as guest performers, and they performed Zappa's music with skill and enthusiasm to spare.

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.)

Gaslight Cabaret Festival announces Fall 2016 series

Gaslight Cabaret Festival impresario Jim Dolan has announced the festival's schedule for Fall 2016.

The series will feature six different performers over five weekends in October and November at the Gaslight Theatre, starting with the return of Marilyn Maye (pictured), the "grand dame of cabaret," on Friday, October 14 and Saturday, October 15.

Next up will be singer Storm Large, who will present her third festival performance here in as many years on Friday, October 21, followed by Broadway actress and singer Tova Feldshuh and her show "Aging Is Optional" on Friday, October 28 and Saturday, October 29.

After that, singer Karen Irwin will present "A Janis Joplin Tribute" on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5, followed by singer and pianist Judy Carmichael on Friday, November 11 and closing out the series, St. Louis' own Ken Haller on Saturday, November 12.

Ticket for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival Fall 2016 series are priced from $30 to $55, depending on the performer and the date, and are on sale now.

Jazz this week: St. Louis Cabaret Festival, Houston Person & Montez Coleman, New Orleans Jazz Vipers, and more

As yr. humble StLJN editor this week has been both swamped with paying-gig-type work and plagued by various equipment malfunctions, and this post is already late, this intro will be both mercifully brief and without embellishment.

Here are some of the more noteworthy jazz and creative music performances happening in and around St. Louis over the next few days: 

Wednesday, July 20
Saxophonist and East St. Louis native Andre Delano, now based on the West Coast, is back in town for a visit and will perform with Good 4 The Soul at The Lux.

Also tonight, the St. Louis Cabaret Festival gets underway with Broadway star Faith Prince and actor/singer Jason Graae performing at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For more about the festival and video samples of the headling performers, see this Saturday video post from a couple of weeks ago.

Elsewhere around town, singer Erin Bode will perform a free concert (weather permitting) for the Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden; the Liberation Organ Trio plays at Evangeline's; and the New Orleans Jazz Vipers, featuring former St. Louisans Charlie Halloran on trombone and Chloe Feoranzo on clarinet will perform on a double-bill with Feoranzo's old band, the Sidney Street Shakers, at Foam.

The Vipers' gig is the first of four this week in St. Louis for the band, with shows to follow on Thursday at Joe's Cafe, Friday at Focal Point, and Saturday afternoon at the Blues City Deli. For more about that, see Terry Perkins' article about Halloran, Feorenzo and the band posted yesterday on the website of Alive! magazine.

Thursday, July 21
The St. Louis Cabaret Festival continues with singer Marilyn Maye (pictured, top left), her special guest Ann Hampton Callaway, and pianists Billy Stritch and Tedd Firth at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For more on  what the four of them have planned, listen to Maye and Callaway's interview from yesterday on St. Louis Public Radio.

Also on Thursday, trumpeter Danny Campbell leads a quartet in a free "Jazz in July" show for the Jazz at Holmes series at the Tisch Commons of Danforth University Center on the Washington University campus; and guitarist Brian Vaccaro and his trio will play at The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, July 22
The St. Louis Cabaret Festival continues with pianist and singer Tony DeSare at the Sheldon, while over on the other side of Grand Ave, the veteran tenor saxophonist Houston Person (pictured, lower left) will be in town as a special guest soloist with drummer Montez Coleman's band as they undertake two nights of performances at Jazz at the Bistro. You can find out more about Coleman's shows in a preview story written by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson

Also on Friday, Second Generation Swing will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber performs in a free outdoor concert as part of the summer series at 370 Lakeside Park in St. Peters.

Saturday, July 23
Singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will celebrate the release of their new duo CD with a performance at the Kranzberg Arts Center; bassist Bob DeBoo brings his trio to The Dark Room; saxophonist Tim Cunningham will be playing soul jazz and R&B at @Nesby's; and Miss Jubilee will offer up danceable swing, jump blues and more at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Sunday, July 24
The Coleman Hughes Project will play an early evening show at The Rustic Goat; the Ambassadors of Swing return to Kirkwood Station Brewing Company; and the St. Louis Cabaret Festival wraps up with a final celebration and showcase of students from the coterminous St. Louis Cabaret Conference at the Ferring Jazz 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: 2016 St. Louis Cabaret Festival

This week, it's time to take a look at some of the performers who will part of the 2016 St. Louis Cabaret Festival, which will feature performances by touring headliners on Wednesday, July 20; Thursday, July 21; and Friday, July 22 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

(A final performance on Sunday, July 24 at the Ferring Jazz Bistro will showcase participants from the St. Louis Cabaret Conference, an annual week-long event that encompasses the festival as well as daily educational programming for both aspiring and experienced cabaret performers, professional development, networking, and more.)

This year's festival will feature return appearances by several performers who have been well-received in years past, including longtime St. Louis favorite Ann Hampton Callaway and Kansas native Marilyn Maye, the amazingly spry 88-year-old who's been called the "grande dame of cabaret." They'll both be featured along with pianists Billy Stritch and Tedd Firth on Thursday night's show, titled "Marilyn Maye and her Piano Men".

Also returning for an encore appearance will be Broadway star Faith Prince, who was part of the event in 2014. This year, she'll team up with singer and actor Jason Graae on Wednesday night for "The Prince and the Showboy," which they first did together in 2012 in New York City.

New to the event in 2016 is singer and pianist Tony DeSare, who will be featured on Friday night. Though this is his first year as part of the Cabaret Festival, DeSare has played in St. Louis before, in 2007 at the Bistro and in 2011 at the Sheldon. You can see him in the first video up above, singing "Baby Dream Your Dream," a song from the Broadway musical Sweet Charity, at a gig in March of this year in Las Vegas.

After the jump, you can see DeSare performing his original song "Chemistry" in a recording made at the same Las Vegas gig.

Below that, there are a couple of examples of impromptu interaction between Ann Hampton Callaway and Marilyn Maye, as they're featured in two audience-made clips (one from 2010, the other undated) improvising a bit of blues and playing around with "Our Love Is Here To Stay".

(For more videos of Maye and Callaway, together and separately, plus a clip of Billy Stritch, see StLJN's preview of the 2014 fest. There also are a couple of nice clips of Maye in the preview post from 2015.)

You'll also find a couple of videos of Faith Prince in that 2014 post, and you can see her and Jason Graae in today's fifth clip, which excerpts from and promotes the NYC run of "The Prince and the Showboy".

Last but not least, the sixth and final video features Tedd Firth playing a solo piano version of "When A Woman Loves A Man," a song recorded by both Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holliday, as well as many others.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Jazz this week: Harry Connick Jr., St. Louis Cabaret Festival, Russell Gunn with Montez Coleman, and more

It's looking like a good week to get out and hear some live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, particularly for fans of vocalists.

With three headliners performing for the St. Louis Cabaret Festival, plus the opening of a locally produced show paying tribute to a legendary singer, plus the much-anticipated return of one of today's most popular crossover performers, and more, there are plenty of options from which to choose. Let's go to the highlights....

Wednesday, July 22
Marilyn Maye (pictured, top left), considered by many to be the grande dame of cabaret singers, begins the concert portion of the St. Louis Cabaret Festival with a performance of her show "Sinatra Her Way" at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Produced by Cabaret Project of St. Louis, the festival is the performance portion of their annual St. Louis Cabaret Conference, and continues through Saturday night. You can find out more and see videos of Maye and the festival's other headliners in this post from last Saturday.

Also tonight, guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran's Guerrilla Swing will perform for the World Chess Hall of Fame's music series, and Dizzy Atmosphere returns to The Shaved Duck.

Thursday, July 23
The St. Louis Cabaret Festival continues with a performance by singer, songwriter and pianist Jason Robert Brown at the Sheldon, while a couple of blocks away at Jazz at the Bistro, Jazz St. Louis will be presenting "Swingin’ for the Fences: Big Bands & Baseball," the first in a series of three free events over the next two weeks highlighting the connections between jazz and baseball. 

Also in the Grand Center district, the tribute show "Sinatra at 100" with singer Joe Scalzitti and the St. Louis Big Band begins a three-week run at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Elsewhere around town, the Wire Pilots will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes summer series at Washington University; Franglais returns to Howard's in Soulard; and singer Erin Bode will perform in a free outdoor concert at  Kirkwood Station Plaza in downtown Kirkwood.

Friday, July 24
It's an East St. Louis reunion in Grand Center, as trumpeter Russell Gunn (pictured, center left) comes back from his current home in Atlanta to join drummer and fellow Lincoln HS alum Montez Coleman and his group for a weekend of shows at Jazz at the Bistro.

While Gunn's recent album Electric Butterfly showed a heavy rock influence, with songs built on distorted, riffing guitars, the musical menu for this weekend's collaboration with Coleman remains undisclosed, as Jazz St. Louis' promo for the show has been light on specifics. But regardless of whether they're playing Gunn's funk and rock-oriented material, swinging jazz, or a mix, the gig definitely should be worth hearing.

Also on Friday, the Cabaret Festivial continues with a performance by Christine Ebersole at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and pianist Carolbeth True, her band Two Times True and singer Christi John Bye will play a concert at St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Ferguson.

Elsewhere around town, singer Joe Mancuso leads a quartet at Nathalie's; Wack-A-Doo will play swing, hot jazz and Americana at Thurman Grill; and the Original Knights of Swing perform for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom

Saturday, July 25
The St. Louis Cabaret Festival wraps up with a showcase for Cabaret Conference participants at the Kranzberg Arts Center; Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham will be at Troy's Jazz Gallery.

Sunday, July 26
Gaslight Square veterans Trio Trés Bien emerge for a rare public live performance, joined by singer Danita Mumphard for a free outdoor concert at Ivory Perry Park, 800 N. Belt.

Monday, July 27
"Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective are back for their regular monthly gig at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, July 28
Singer and pianist Harry Connick Jr. returns to St. Louis to perform at the Peabody Opera House. The New Orleans native (pictured, lower left), who has enjoyed wide attention the past couple of years as a celebrity judge on TV's American Idol, released his most recent album Every Man Should Know back in 2013.

He last performed here in March 2014 as headliner for Variety's "Dinner With The Stars," also at the Peabody, and though that gig was well-received by all accounts, no doubt fans will be looking forward this time to the full-length version of his touring show.

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: 2015 St. Louis Cabaret Festival

Today, let's take a look at some video clips featuring the stars of next week's St. Louis Cabaret Festival. Produced by Cabaret Project of St. Louis, the festival serves as the performance portion of their annual St. Louis Cabaret Conference, a week-long event offering educational programs, professional development, networking, and other activities for aspiring and established cabaret performers.

Three of the best-known singers involved in the conference will headline public performances at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The concerts begin with Marilyn Maye, who's still remarkably spry and vocally sharp at age 87 and considered by many to be the matriarch of contemporary cabaret. She was a main attraction at last year's conference and will return this year to perform a program of songs associated with Frank Sinatra on Wednesday, July 22 at the Sheldon.

In the first video up above, you can see Maye singing "Here's to Us" at the 2014 Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs (MAC) Awards, where she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

After the jump, there's a clip of Maye performing "The Man That Got Away," recorded in March 2014 at The Allen Room by Jazz at Lincoln Center, with assistance from her musical director, pianist Billy Stritch, along with bassist David Katzenberg and drummer Daniel Glass.

Next up is singer and pianist Jason Robert Brown, who will perform on Thursday, July 23 at the Sheldon. Known more as a composer and songwriter than a performer, Brown has won two Tony Awards for writing the scores for Parade and The Bridges of Madison County.

But though he may spend most of his time behind the scenes, Brown also is quite capable of capturing an audience's attention on stage, as you can see in the third video, which features him performing "When You Say Vegas" from the short-lived Broadway musical Honeymoon in Vegas. Brown is backed by Charlie Rosen's Broadway Big Band in the clip, which was recorded last October at 54 Below.

In the fourth video, you can see Brown talking for a couple of minutes about the process of making changes in a new show during previews, and then performing a solo piano/vocal version of "Being A Geek," which was written for, and then cut from, the musical 13.

The festival's final headliner is Christine Ebersole, who will perform on Friday, July 24 at the Sheldon. Ebersole is a two-time Tony Award-winning actress and singer who has had many roles in TV and film and has starred in Broadway shows such as 42nd Street, Grey Gardens, Dinner at Eight, and Blithe Spirit.

Ebersole also is a veteran concert and cabaret performer, and the fifth video embed shows her singing "Something There" from her album Strings Attached in a show last year at the NYC venue 54 Below. In today's final clip, she can be seen performing "After All," from the musical Ever After, in May of this year on an episode of Sirius/XM radio's theater-talk show Seth Speaks.

In addition to the concerts by the three headliners, the festival also will include a showcase performance by conference participants on Saturday, July 25 at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

For more about the St. Louis Cabaret Festival and the Cabaret Conference, you can listen to an interview with Marilyn Maye and Tim Schall, producer and co-founder of the conference, from yesterday's “Cityscape” program on KWMU/St. Louis Public Radio.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

The Sheldon offering discount tickets for Cabaret Festival performances

The Sheldon Concert Hall and the St. Louis Cabaret Festival are offering discounts on tickets to three festival performances next month.

With the discount, ticket buyers can get $10 off of the regular $45 orchestra level ticket price for the concerts at the Sheldon featuring Marilyn Maye on Wednesday, July 22; Jason Robert Brown on Thursday, July 23; and Christine Ebersole (pictured) on Friday, July 24. All three concerts start at 8:00 p.m.

To get the ticket discount, go to http://metrotix.com/, select the concert(s) of your choice, and when prompted, enter the promo code SHELDON.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Miles Davis Memorial Project's campaign to place a statue of Davis in downtown Alton was featured this week in a story on St. Louis Public Radio.

* Meanwhile, this week's news from the set of Miles Ahead, actor-director Don Cheadle's feature film about Davis now lensing in Cincinnati, includes a first look at Emayatzy Corinealdi in costume as Davis' ex-wife Frances Taylor, via IndieWire; and a brief feature about the film on WNYC radio.

* Saxophonist and U City native Marty Ehrlich will help kick off the fall season of the New York chapter of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians with a concert on Friday, September 12 at the Community Church of New York. Ehrlich's Trio Exaltation, with bassist John Hebert and drummer Nasheet Waits, will share the bill with drummer Thurman Barker's ensemble. The series also will feature a concert by saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake on November 7.

* Singer Denise Thimes (pictured) has been named a recipient of a 2015 St. Louis Arts Award from the Arts and Education Council. Thimes' trophy for "Excellence in the Arts" will be presented along with the rest of this year's awards at a gala event on January 19 at the Chase Park Plaza.

* The Big Little Big Band has posted to Facebook an album of photos from their concert last week for the St Louis Jazz Club.

* Last Friday's St. Louis Cabaret Festival performance by pianist/singer Billy Stritch and singer Marilyn Maye was reviewed by Chuck Lavazzi of KDHX.

* Single tickets for the various 2014-15 series at the Sheldon Concert Hall go on sale at 10:00 a.m tomorrow, Saturday, August 9. (However, you can get a day's head start by going here and entering the promo code SHE14.) You can listen to music samples from the various performers on the Sheldon's SoundCloud page.

* Saxophonist Tim McAllister, the soloist on the St. Louis Symphony's recent recording of composer John Adams' City Noir, recounts the history and development of the work in an interview with the San Jose Mercury News' Richard Scheinin.

* Yr. humble StLJN editor is serving this month as a guest blogger for New Music Box, the online publication of New Music USA, and you can see the first of four scheduled posts - an essay about the potential uses and misuses of musical genre designations - here.

* To celebrate the 65th anniversary of Prestige Records, the label is holding a giveaway of prizes including a 20-CD boxed set of remastered recordings supervised by legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder and reissues of early music by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and more. You can enter the drawing here.

* Jazz radio update: On this Saturday's edition of “Somethin’ Else” on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis, host Calvin Wilson will spin music from trios led by saxophonists, including Joshua Redman, Joe Henderson and Branford Marsalis. "Somethin' Else" can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Then on Sunday night, KWMU's "Jazz Unlimited" continues host Dennis Owsley's documentary look at the history of St. Louis jazz with an episode covering the late-1960s rise of the Black Artists Group and Human Arts Association. "Jazz Unlimited" can be heard from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Sundays on KWMU (90.7 FM) and online at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/listen.php.

(Updated after posting to add New Music Box link.)

Jazz this week: St. Louis Cabaret Festival, Bull of Heaven, "All That Tap XXIII," and more

Though the dog days of August are looming nigh, it's a busy week for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with local festivals representing two different branches of jazz-related performance, a rare live gig from a much-talked-about experimental music duo, and a whole lot more. Let's go the highlights...

Tonight, Broadway star Faith Prince kicks off the St. Louis Cabaret Festival with a performance of her show "Have A Little Faith" at the Sheldon ballroom. Produced by Cabaret Project of St. Louis, the festival takes place in conjunction with their annual St. Louis Cabaret Conference. You can read more about it and see some video of Prince and the festival's other headliners in this post from last Saturday.

Tomorrow, the Cabaret Festival continues with longtime St. Louis favorite Ann Hampton Callaway (pictured) presenting "The Streisand Songbook" at the Sheldon.

Also on Thursday, pianist Kara Baldus, bassist Eric Stiller and drummer Kyle Honeycutt will play a free concert to wrap up Washington University's summer Jazz at Holmes series, which is being staged at Tisch Commons in the Danforth University Center; and the Tavern of Fine Arts will present their monthly "Experimental Arts Open Improv Night" with live improvised music.

On Friday, the Cabaret Festival presents a double bill at the Sheldon, with pianist and singer Billy Stritch opening with his own show entitled "I've Got Your Number: The Jazz of Cy Coleman" and then accompanying singer Marilyn Maye for her headlining set. Given Maye's status as one of the reigning grande dames of cabaret, this seems a likely sellout, so if you're interested in going, advance reservations would be a must.

Fortunately, if you can't get tickets in time, there will be plenty of St. Louis jazz vocal talent on display around town on Friday, too, as Miss Jubilee plays a free show at the St. Louis Art Museum; Wendy Gordon and pianist Arthur Toney return to DeLeo's Cafe & Deli; the Ann Dueren Trio performs at Il Bel Lago; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will be swinging at Evangeline's. And should you be out west in Union, MO, you can catch singer Joe Mancuso's quartet at Domenic's Ristorante and Social Club (membership in la familia not required.).

On Saturday, the Cabaret Festival wraps up with the St. Louis Cabaret Conference Showcase at the Kranzberg Arts Center, featuring performances from a roster of up-and-coming singers in town to take part in the conference.

That same evening, the spotlight shines on yet another part of the jazz diaspora as the annual St. Louis Tap Festival comes to a conclusion with "All That Tap XXIII", presented this year at the Edison Theatre.

Pianist Carolbeth True's trio will provide the music for a lineup of dancers including the festival's founder, Robert L. Reed; Emmy Award-winning choreographer Jason Samuels Smith; dancer and author Karen Callaway Williams; the Israeli dance team of Avi Miller and Ofer Ben; Reed’s protégé Logan Miller; multi-media choreographer Bob Audy; Evan Ruggiero; Maud and Chloe Arnold, who were featured on this past season of the Fox network's So You Think You Can Dance; Martin 'Tre' Dumas III; and Megan Maltos.

Elsewhere around town on Saturday, the experimental duo Bull of Heaven will be in town for a rare live performance at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center. As much a conceptual art project as a performing unit, Bull of Heaven reportedly have released hundreds of thousands of hours of audio since being formed in 2006, including individual "songs" that are hundreds of hours long, as well as "music puzzles" using some of the peculiarities and specifics of digital technology to deliver unexpected results. For a bit more about them, and links to interviews with the group's members, see this post.

And if all that's not enough for one Saturday night, the Funky Butt Brass Band will be making a comparatively rare non-holiday appearance at Off Broadway; and singer Tony Viviano will present his "Tony Bennett 88th Birthday Tribute" at Four Seasons Winery in Chesterfield.

On Sunday, the Friends of Scott Joplin will host their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site; singers Mary Dyson and Dianne Vaughn will be this week's guest stars with saxophonist Willie Akins' quartet at Troy's Jazz Gallery; and guitarist Dave Black will play at Pomme Cafe & Wine Bar.

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.)