Jazz this week: A celebration of Ray Charles, Sarah Hennies & Merche Blasco, Marissa Mulder, Denise Thimes, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a show with an all-star cast paying tribute to one of the giants of American music; two composer-performers offering provocative sets of experimental sounds; two accomplished female vocalists headlining at intimate venues; and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday,
February 26
Pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson plays the music of Roy Ayers and more for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis, and guitarist Dave Black and his Itti Bitti Swing Orchestra will perform for the monthly concert series at the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Thursday, February 27
The touring show "Georgia On My Mind: A Celebration of the Music of Ray Charles" comes to the Touhill Performing Arts Center, with a cast including vocal group Take 6 (pictured, top left), singers Nnenna Freelon and Clint Holmes, and saxophonist Kirk Whalum.

Also on Thursday, singer and impressionist Dean Christopher returns with his "Rat Pack and More"  show to LoRusso's Cucina; The 442s will perform at Joe's Cafe; and trumpeter Brady Lewis and his BLStet are back at The Dark Room.

Friday, February 28
New Music Circle presents a double bill of composer-performers Sarah Hennies and Merche Blasco (pictured, bottom left) doing separate sets at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

Working with percussion and electronics, respectively, plus other instruments, both Hennies and Blasco craft distinctive soundscapes, often reflecting the site and circumstances of the particular performance time and space. You can see some previous works by both women in this post from Saturday before last.

Also on Friday, singer Marissa Mulder performs her cabaret show "The John Lennon & Paul McCartney Songbooks" for the first of two nights at Blue Strawberry, and singer Denise Thimes is back home from Chicago for the weekend for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis

Saturday, February 29
Singers Jeanne Trevor, Joe Mancuso and Wendy Gordon team up for a matinee performance at Blue Strawberry.

Then on Saturday evening, The Gaslight Squares return to the Frisco Barroom, and keyboardist Mo Egeston and friends bring the "Late Night Grooves" to The Dark Room.

Sunday, March 1
The St. Louis Record Show presents its spring edition at the American Czech Center, while Miss Jubilee performs for jazz brunch at Evangeline's.

Later that afternoon, multi-instrumentalist Joe Bozzi plays a matinee at Circa Pub & Grill, and at the the dinner hour, the Jazz Troubadours return for their monthly gig at Evangeline's.

Tuesday, March 3
The Tick Tock Jazz Band plays vintage jazz and swing for their monthly show at the Tick Tock Tavern, and pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson will perform in a concert at the Gaslight Theater.

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: Dee Dee Bridgewater & Irvin Mayfield, Tammy McCann, Joe Krown, Pink Martini, and more

With the weather taking a timely spring-like turn, it's a very busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with a couple of touring headliners in town plus visits by some lesser-known but worthy musicians from NYC, Chicago, Boston and New Orleans.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, 
March 16
Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater and trumpeter Irvin Mayfield (pictured, top left) will perform for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

The two have been touring together since last year in support of Dee Dee's Feathers, a collaborative album featuring contemporary interpretations of famous songs associated with Mayfield's hometown of New Orleans. For more about that, and some video samples of Bridgewater, Mayfield and their touring band, the New Orleans 7, in action, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Wednesday also is the opening night for Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing, a play at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis that includes in its cast saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person, who's in from NYC to make his theatrical debut in the production.

Set in 1947, the play by Trey Ellis and Ricardo Khan is a story of "baseball by day and jazz by night as the impassioned and devoted players tried to find their place in a country on the verge of change." Playing a character called simply "Jazzman," Person will act and perform music composed for the play by Kansas City saxophonist and former Jazz Messenger Bobby Watson. The production runs through April 10 on The Rep's main stage.

Also on Wednesday, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Open Mic Night" at Tavern of Fine Arts, and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will be deploying an unusual lineup up of vocals, vibes and bass at The Feasting Fox.

Thursday, March 17
The critically acclaimed Chicago-based singer Tammy McCann (pictured, center left) will kick off the weekend's Gaslight Cabaret Festival shows with a performance of "The Storytellers - Sarah, Ella, Dinah and Billie" at the Gaslight Theater, while another Chicago native now based in Boston, drummer Yoron Israel, will bring his band High Standards to the Kranzberg Arts Center.

Friday, March 18
The touring theatrical production "In The Mood", a nostalgic evocation of the Swing Era featuring live music from an onstage big band, will be presented in matinee and evening performances at the Touhill Peforming Arts Center; and singer Marissa Mulder returns from NYC to present the first of two performance of a new show, "Fragments of Marilyn" at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Friday, The 442s will perform at Cyrano's; the Sentimental Journey Dance Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne return to Montrey's Cigar Lounge; and the Funky Butt Brass Band will play their monthly show at Broadway Oyster Bar.

Saturday, March 19
Another Chicago-based singer, Keri Johnsrud, will be making her St. Louis debut in concert with her quartet at The Chapel, while New Orleans keyboardist Joe Krown and his organ trio, featuring guitarist Walter "Wolfman" Washington and drummer Russell Batiste Jr. will bring the funk to the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Also on Saturday, guitarist Matthew Von Doran makes a rare live appearance with his trio at the gallery and event space 1900 Park; singer Danita Mumphard will performs in a benefit concert for North Side Community School; Franglais plays Gypsy jazz and swing at Evangeline's; and trumpeter Jim Manley and guitarist Randy Bahr's All-Star Band returns to Nathalie's

Sunday, March 20
Pianist Jon Weber, in town to accompany Tammy McCann and Melissa Mulder, gets his own moment in the spotlight with "From Joplin to Jarrett: 100 Years of Piano Jazz" at the Gaslight Theater; and the Dave Dickey Big Band plays their monthly gig at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Sunday, NYC-based saxophonist Michael Eaton will perform with organist Brad Whiteley and drummer Shareef Taher at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups. They'll be playing music from Eaton's 2014 album Individuation and previewing material from his planned next album Dialogical, which is scheduled to be recorded at live sessions next month in Brooklyn.

Monday, March 21
The eclectic ensemble Pink Martini (pictured, lower left), which draws on jazz, classical, Latin, and pop music to create a singularly suave sound, will make their St. Louis debut in a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Also on Monday, guitarist Steve Schenkel and pianist Kim Portnoy will perform in Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

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

* With the wrecking ball poised to swing at the historic Castle Ballroom, site of performances by many important jazz musicians, Nicholas J. C. Pistor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that much of the recent deterioration of the building came while it was owned by groups that included some St. Louis city officials.

* Also on the historic preservation front, Steve Smith, owner of the south side tavern The Royale, has recorded a video in support of the effort to save the Palladium, aka Club Plantation, another building in the Grand Center district with a musically significant history that also is threatened with demolition. The effort to raise awareness and save the building is being led by artist and author Kevin Belford, who created the collage of musicians who played at Club Plantation used to illustrate this post.

* In this week's Miles Davis-related news, Peter Bacon of the UK blog The Jazz Breakfast wonders if the number of Davis CD box sets has reached the saturation point.

* Meanwhile, an article in Audiophile Review critiques the quality of various reissues of Davis' landmark album Kind of Blue.

* The Presenters Dolan have posted to their Facebook page an album of pictures from last weekend's Gaslight Cabaret Festival performances by singer Marissa Mulder.

* Singer Connie Fairchild, whose Gaslight Cabaret Festival performance on Saturday night is sold out, was interviewed by Terry Perkins for the St. Louis Public Radio website.

* Guitarist Pat Metheny was interviewed by Calvin Wilson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for a preview story about Metheny's Unity Group concert this Sunday at The Pageant. 

* Trumpeter Roger Ingram has posted to his Facebook page a photo album from his workshops and performances at last week's Mineral Area College Jazz Festival

* The St. Louis Big Band's Ryan Sheehan was profiled by the Webster University Journal.

* Guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran was interviewed by Liz Schranck of KDHX.

* The New Orleans-style cuisine at Evangeline's, the new Central West End spot that features live music several nights a week, was reviewed by the Riverfront Times' Cheryl Baeh.

* St. Louis writers K. Curtis Lyle and Quincy Troupe spoke on the program New Day Jazz about the late author, poet and critic Amiri Baraka.

* Jazz St. Louis reports via this week's email newsletter that their 2014 fundraising gala held last Friday at the Ritz-Carlton raised more than $260,000 for the organization's education programs, making it the second most successful gala in JSL's history. You can see photos from the gala, which featured music from saxophonist Maceo Parker, on Jazz St. Louis' Facebook page.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday night on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis' "Somethin' Else," host Calvin Wilson will feature jazz interpretations of the music of composer Stephen Sondheim by clarinetist Don Byron, saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., singer Sarah Vaughan, and others. Listen in at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays via 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Then, this Sunday evening on KWMU's "Jazz Unlimited," host Dennis Owsley continues his exploration of music recorded live in New York, ranging from vintage tracks featuring Art Tatum, Sarah Vaughan with Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Don Byas with Thelonious Monk, and many others to more recent recordings by Chucho Valdes, the Gil Evans Orchestra, the Dave Holland Quintet, the World Saxophone Quartet, Medeski, Martin & Wood, the Anthony Braxton Quartet with Marty Ehrlich, and Hamiet Bluiett.

The program can be heard at 9:00 p.m. Sundays over the air on KWMU (90.7 FM) or online at http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org. (This is a "pledge week" for KWMU, so if you're so inclined, you can show your support for "Jazz Unlimited" by calling in during the program with a membership contribution.)

Also on Sunday nights: While Josh Weinstein presents avant-jazz, improvised music and more each week on "All Soul, No Borders", airing at 10:30 p.m. KDHX (88.1 FM), he rarely tips his playlists in advance. However, we have been remiss in not noting in this space that once the show has aired, you can see the ASNB playlists, and more importantly, access an audio stream of the previous two weeks' shows, via the KDHX website.

(Edited after posting to add the link to the Pat Metheny interview.)

Jazz this week: Marissa Mulder, Jazz St. Louis benefit gala, Hamiet Bluiett & George Sams, Roger Ingram, and more

It's Mardi Gras weekend in St. Louis, and though the "official" Mardi Gras events in recent years have tended to feature rock cover bands and DJs rather than jazz and blues, there will be plenty of jazz and creative music around town this week, if you know where to look.

For the Funky Butt Brass Band, St. Louis' best known exponents of the New Orleans brass band sound, the next few days are the equivalent of the week before Christmas for Santa Claus' various helpers and stand-ins. The FBBB will kick off the weekend this evening at Blues City Deli's King Cake Party, then team up with NOLA R&B/zydeco tribute band Gumbohead for gigs on Saturday at the Old Rock House and Tuesday at the Broadway Oyster Bar.
 
Elsewhere around town tonight, singer Marissa Mulder (pictured) makes her St. Louis debut as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival, performing her show "The Songs of Tom Waits" at the Gaslight Theater.  Mulder will do the show twice more, on Friday and Saturday, while the Gaslight Cabaret Festival continues weekends through April 26. .

Also tonight, singer Denise Thimes performs at the Ethical Society of St. Louis; pianist Ptah Williams' trio will play a free concert featuring the music of Chick Corea for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and the Tavern of Fine Arts will present their monthly "Experimental Arts Open Improv Night" with live improvised music from keyboardist Jim Hegarty, flute player Fred Tompkins, and others.

Tomorrow night, Jazz St. Louis will hold their annual benefit gala at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Clayton, featuring the legendary funk saxophonist Maceo Parker as the headline entertainment, plus dinner, drinks, a silent auction, and more. As of this writing, there still are some tickets available, starting at $400 per person; call 314-289-4034 for details.

Also on Friday, pianist Pete Ruthenberg will play "The Music of Herbie Hancock" at the Kranzberg Arts Center; trombonists Doug Bert and Rodney Lancaster join forces for a gig at Robbie's House of Jazz; singer/pianist Jesse Gannon and his band Truth return to The Engine Room; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

On Saturday afternoon, trumpeter George Sams will re-start his Nu-Art Series by playing a duo concert with baritone sax great Hamiet Bluiett at a new location, the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site downtown.

Then on Saturday evening, Roger Ingram, known as lead trumpeter for Harry Connick Jr.'s big band and as as jazz educator much in demand, will be the featured guest performer at this year's Mineral Area College Jazz Festival down in Park Hills.

Also on Saturday evening and a bit closer to home, pianist Dave Venn and saxophonist Willie Akins will team up for a one-night-only performance at Jazz at the Bistro; the Coleman-Hughes Project with singer Adrienne Felton will play at Troy's Jazz Gallery; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will return to The Wine Press, and pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson will take the stage at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Sunday, the St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show will hold their first event of the year - January's show was canceled due to bad weather - at the usual location, the American Czech Hall at 4690 Lansdowne in south St. Louis.

Also on Sunday, trumpeter Russell Gunn will be back home, performing on a bill with singer Dionne Ferris of Arrested Development at the Casino Queen's Club Sevens.While the first show is sold out, a second show at 8:30 p.m. has been added.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday guitarist Tom Byrne is at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; and on Tuesday, the St. Louis Community College at Meramec Jazz Combos will present a free performance at Meramec Theatre on campus.

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.)

(Updated after posting with info on the Russell Gunn show.) 

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2014 jazz preview, part 3

This week, it's an extra-large part three of StLJN's video preview of jazz musicians and bands coming to St. Louis in the first part of 2014. (In case you missed them, here's part one and part two.)

Today's first clip features singer Marissa Mulder, who will make her St. Louis debut as one of the headliners of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival, performing "The Songs of Tom Waits" from Thursday, February 27 through Saturday, March 1 at the Gaslight Theater. In this clip, Mulder can be seen singing "Day After Tomorrow," written by Waits and Kathleen Brennan, during a show in March of this year at the Metropolitan Room in NYC.

Down below, the next video shows off trumpeter Sean Jones playing his song "Transitions" at the 2011 Detroit Jazz Festival. Jones will return to St. Louis once again this spring to play Wednesday, March 5 through Saturday March 8 at Jazz at the Bistro.

The third video features another act that's visited St. Louis frequently in recent years, the New Orleans funk/jazz group Galactic. They'll be back on Thursday, March 6 to play at The Pageant, but in the meantime, you can watch their entire set from this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Below that, the fourth clip present another of the visiting headliners for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival, singer/actress Emily Bergl, whose performances of "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" from Thursday, March 13 through Saturday, March 15 at the Gaslight Theater will be her first here in St. Louis. Bergl, an acclaimed musical theater performer who also had a recurring role on ABC's Desperate Housewives, is seen here singing "42nd Street" at the Cicada Club in Los Angeles.

In the fifth video window, you can see an NPR Music "Tiny Desk Concert" featuring alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, who will be making his St. Louis debut Wednesday, March 19 through Saturday, March 22 at Jazz at the Bistro. Mahanthappa, who leads several different ensembles, is seen here performing "Killer" and "Playing With Stones" with guitarist Rez Abbasi, bassist Rich Brown, and drummer Rudy Royston.

The last five clips all relate to a single concert, the all-star "Newport Jazz Festival: Now 60" ensemble that will play the final date of a 17-city tour on Sunday, March 30 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The group includes St. Louis' own Peter Martin (who should be quite familiar to regular StLJN readers by now) as pianist, and will be directed by clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen, who was featured in this space last year when she and her quartet played a week at the Bistro.

Also taking part will be singer and Kansas City native Karrin Allyson, seen here performing "The Shadow of Your Smile" with her quartet; trumpeter Randy Brecker, who in his clip is playing "Round Midnight" in a 2011 performance with Washington DC's Jazz Academy Orchestra; and guitarist Mark Whitfield, offering his version of "In a Sentimental Mood" this part June at the JazzAscona festival in Switzerland (with some help from bassist Roland Guerin and drummer Troy Davis).

Providing the foundation for the band will be bassist Larry Grenadier, who is seen in the ninth video soloing at a clinic in June of this year in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and drummer Clarence Penn, who's featured in today's tenth and final clip playing a solo in 2010 at the Blue Note club in Poznań, Poland.

Look for part four of StLJN's winter/spring 2014 jazz preview here next week.

Gaslight Cabaret Festival to be held February 22 - April 26 at Gaslight Theater

Cabaret producers The Presenters Dolan yesterday announced a new series of performances called the Gaslight Cabaret Festival that will begin February 22 and continue through the end of April at the Gaslight Theater, 358 Boyle in the Central West End.

Twelve acts are booked for a total of twenty-two performances, including three touring headliners - Marissa Mulder (pictured), Emily Bergl, and rocker/reality-TV-star Storm Large - making their St. Louis debuts, as well as a number of St. Louis' favorite homegrown performers.

The schedule in chronological order is:

Saturday, February 22:  Tim Schall - "1961"
Thursday, February 27 - Saturday, March 1:   Marissa Mulder - "The Songs of Tom Waits"

Thursday, March 6:  Ken Haller - "The TV Show"
Friday, March 7:  Joe Dreyer and Rosemary Watts - "Swing Into Spring"
Saturday, March 8:  Connie Fairchild - "Down By The River"
Thursday, March 13 - Saturday, March 15:  Emily Bergl - "Until the Real Thing Comes Along"
Saturday, March 29:  Joe Dreyer and Rosemary Watts - "Swing Into Spring"

Thursday, April 3:  Morgan A. Faulkner - "I Got It All From My Mother"
Friday, April 4:  Katie McGrath - "Love in the Desert: Romance in an Age of Scarcity"
Saturday, April 5:  Todd and Kelly Decker - "They Can't Take That Away from Me: Songs and Stories of George and Ira Gershwin"
Thursday, April 10:  Taylor Pietz - "If I Only Had a Brain"
Friday, April 11 & Saturday, April 12:  Storm Large - "Taken By Storm: songs of seduction and obsession"
Friday, April 25 & Saturday, April 26:  Lara Teeter - "An Evening With..."

Four-show subscriptions are available at $139 for premium seating, $121 for regular seating, while single tickets are priced from $22 to $45, depending on the performance and seating option selected. Subscriptions and single tickets for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival are on sale now via http://www.licketytix.com or by phone at 314-725-4200, ext 10.