So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Kranzberg Arts Foundation this week announced the St. Louis Music Initiative, consisting of three related projects intended to promote the local music scene.

St. Louis Music Week, set for September 4 through September 13, 2020, will "actively market and promote music events at participating music venues...to showcase the depth and breadth of music offerings available throughout the region."

The week will conclude with Music at the Intersection, a three-day event featuring more than 60 local acts performing at various venues in Grand Center. Then in 2021, the foundation will present the Midwest Music Summit, which is "designed to build music industry infrastructure in St. Louis through panels, workshops, exhibitions and classes."

* Singer and St. Louis native Alicia Olatuja was the featured guest on last week's episode of Montana Public Radio's "Musician's Spotlight."

* Bassist, instrument inventor, and former St. Louisan Mark Deutsch (pictured) was the subject of a short Riverfront Times feature story by Thomas Crone. Deutsch will perform a solo concert on his instrument, the Bazantar, tonight at the Judson House.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold was interviewed by AustralianJazz.net. Harrold is visiting the "land down under" this week, performing at the club Bird's Basement at Melbourne.

* Dizzy Atmosphere has posted to YouTube a playlist of videos from their concert last Saturday at the Focal Point.

* Cabaret singer and former St. Louisan Katie McGrath's appearance on Saturday in the show "Immigrant Song" at .ZACK was touted in a brief item by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Joe Holleman.

* Keyboardist Jim Hegarty has posted a video of his solo piano concert last month at Principia College on YouTube and the audio from the show as a free download on Bandcamp.

* In the latest development regarding the financial troubles of community radio station KDHX, the Riverfront Times' Daniel Hill reports that the Kranzberg Arts Foundation will take over the first floor of the KDHX building, which includes a performance space, The Stage at KDHX, and a bar/cafe that has gone through several iterations and operators since opening in 2014.

* More than a year after the last-minute cancellation of the Loufest music festival, St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy Goodwin reports that the festival's former sound and lighting contractor Logic Systems is suing LouFest promoter Listen Live Entertainment and its managing partner Mike Van Hee for defamation, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process.

Jazz this week: "Such Sweet Thunder," Ben Lamar Gay, Cécile McLorin Salvant, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes visits from a Grammy Award winning singer and an intriguing, genre-busting musician making his debut here, plus a multi-media event bringing together the words of Shakespeare and the music of Duke Ellington, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...


Wednesday, October 2
Pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin will team up for the first of two evenings of duets (plus a Thursday matinee) at Jazz St. Louis.

Also on Wednesday, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra returns for a "Notes From Home" performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Thursday, October 3
"Such Sweet Thunder," a collaboration among Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Big Muddy Dance Company, and Jazz St. Louis, will be presented for the first of three nights at the Public Media Commons in Grand Center.

The event, which is free and open to the public but requires a ticket, will feature the Jazz St. Louis Big Band playing Duke Ellington's score along with the actors, dancers, and big-screen video supplied by Nine Network.

Also on Thursday, singer and bassist Janet Evra and her quartet play at Joe's Cafe; singer Cheri Evans and CEEJazzSoul return to the Chase Club; and Kansas City jump blues band Grand Marquis will take the stage at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Friday, October 4
Jazz St. Louis will present the first of two nights of "Abbey Road at 50," with the Beatles' penultimate release re-imagined as jazz by keyboardist Ryan Marquez, The People's Key, and guest vocalist Lola.

Also on Friday, vibraphonist Tom Rickard leads a trio at Cigar Inn, and multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris will be in his not-so-secret identity as DJ Nune for late night sets at The Dark Room.

Saturday, October 5
Multi-instrumentalist Ben Lamar Gay (pictured, top left) and his quartet will make their St. Louis debut in a performance presented by New Music Circle at Off Broadway.

The Chicago native's sound is a bit hard to pin down, involving disparate elements including free jazz, Brazilian music, electronics, and more, but you can get some idea of his musical range by perusing the videos collected in this post from Saturday before last.

Also on Saturday, three-time Grammy Award winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant (pictured, bottom left) returns with pianist Aaron Diehl's trio for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

For a look at what Salvant has been up to since her last appearance here in 2017 (besides snagging that third Grammy for her most recent album The Window), check out this post from last Saturday featuring video from several recent performances.

Sunday, October 6
Dizzy Atmosphere plays swing and Gypsy jazz for brunch at The Dark Room, and the Jazz Troubadours play their monthly first-Sunday gig at Evangeline's.

Monday, October 7
Pianist Carol Schmidt and saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will play a concert of duets at the Thompson Music Building Recital Hall on the Webster University campus.

Tuesday, October 8
Former St. Louisan Mark Deutsch, who's been living in California for much of the last two decades, returns home to perform on his self-invented instrument, the Bazantar, at the Sheldon Concert Hall;  and the Glen Smith/Eric Slaughter Quartet will play 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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Jazz St. Louis announced this week that they'll be live-streaming online video of selected performances this season at Jazz at the Bistro.

According to a news release, "the series will highlight four artists from the 2017-18 performance season through pre-recorded videos hosted by local jazz pianist Peter Martin and live-streaming activities of the programs which will be available on the Jazz St. Louis website, Facebook page and Ustream".

Featured performances to be streamed include Yellowjackets (pictured) on Friday, September 22; Sammy Miller and the Congregation on Friday, October 27; The Bad Plus on Friday, January 19; and Sean Jones Quartet on Friday, March 2.

* The Alton Jazz and Wine Festival, set for tomorrow at the Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton, is the subject of a preview story in St. Louis magazine.

* Former St. Louisan Mark Deutsch, now living in California, has released The Picasso Tunings, a set of four related albums featuring the Bazantar,  the instrument he invented that combines acoustic bass and sitar. You can hear the new recordings, plus a newly remastered version of Deutsch's first solo album Fool, on his BandCamp page.

* The Gaslight Cabaret Festival was previewed by the West End Word.

* Applications for the latest round of Regional Arts Commission's Artist Support Grants are open now through Thursday, October 12. Grants are available from $500 to $3,000 to artists from all disciplines for a variety of purposes. For more info or to apply, go to https://racstl.org/grant/artists-support-grants/.

* Megan Kirk's cabaret show "Out of My Head," performed last week at The Stage at KDHX, was reviewed for the station by Chuck Lavazzi.

* Wide Open, the forthcoming album from singer, keyboardist and St. Louis native Michael McDonald, features guest performances from several well-known jazz musicians including Robben Ford, Marcus Miller and Branford Marsalis.

It's McDonald's first record of original material since 2000's Blue Obsession and is scheduled for release next Friday, September 15, but you can hear the whole thing now via an online stream from NPR Music’s “First Listen.” McDonald will support the release with a fall tour than includes a stop here on Friday, November 3 at Peabody Opera House.