Jazz this week: The Brothers Peterson, Good 4 The Soul, New Year's Eve jazz in St. Louis, and more

With Santa Claus' labors complete and his flying reindeer out to pasture for another year, there are just a few days of live jazz and creative music left in 2013. Let's see what's coming up in and around St. Louis...

Tonight, it's the final "Avant-Garde Arts Night" of the year at the Tavern of Fine Arts, featuring live improvised sounds from musicians mostly associated with New Music Circle; and trumpeter Jim Manley plays his weekly gig at Joyia Tapas in the Grove neighborhood.

Tomorrow night, bassist Mark Peterson and guitarist Anthony Michael "Tru" Peterson, brothers and St. Louis natives, will team up as The Brothers Peterson for a homecoming performance at The Engine Room, a new live music venue at 7700 Ivory on the south side.

Also tomorrow night, in what's become a year-end tradition for the group, the jazz/funk/R&B quartet Good 4 The Soul (pictured) checks into Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights. Elsewhere around town, the Funky Butt Brass Band will play the Broadway Oyster Bar; the multi-talented trio of Curt Landes, Alan Ox and Vince Martin will join forces for a performance at Robbie's House of Jazz; and Wack-A-Doo will be at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

On Saturday evening, drummer Montez Coleman will lead a trio with keyboardist Matt Villinger and bassist Bob DeBoo in a live recording session at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Also on Saturday, singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black are back at Chaser's Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel; the Dixie Dudes play at Jazz on Broadway; the Kevin Mitchell 4 perform at Robbie's House of Jazz; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Then on Sunday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will perform at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and Dizzy Atmosphere plays the Schlafly Tap Room.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday The 442s return to Cyrano's, and saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective play their monthly gig at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

On Tuesday, if you're looking to hear some jazz on New Year's Eve, there are a few options to consider, though once again the city's best-known venue, Jazz at the Bistro, will be closed due to the annual First Night celebration in the surrounding Grand Center district.

As compensation, First Night includes some musical performances of potential interest among its family friendly offerings; this year's lineup features cabaret duo Joe Dreyer and Rosemary Watts, singers Brian Owens and Kim Massie, and electronic musician Eric Hall,  plus swing and Gypsy jazz from Dizzy Atmosphere and the Latin/jazz/world music of Farshid Etniko.

Elsewhere on New Year's Eve, singer Erin Bode and her band will perform for two seatings at Cyrano's, and singer Tony Viviano will headline the evening at Four Seasons Winery in Chesterfield.

Meanwhile, Robbie's House of Jazz will present a "New Year Eve Variety Show" with drummer Maurice Carnes' band, comedian Don Clair, Jeff Stewart's Broadway Show, Belly Dancing to the Blues and Nicholas Gates Dancers; and Miss Jubilee will provide the live music for a "Roaring 20s" event at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

(If you're looking for tickets for the sold-out New Years Eve Speakeasy Ball with Sarah Jane and The Blue Notes at The Deco Fortress, your best bet would seem to be to check the event's Facebook page for possible cancellations, returns, etc.)

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.)

The Brothers Peterson to perform Friday, December 27 at the Engine Room

This just in: Bassist Mark Peterson and guitarist Anthony Michael "Tru" Peterson, brothers and St. Louis natives, will be back in their hometown for a performance at 8:00 p.m. next Friday, December 27.  The gig will be at the Engine Room, a brand new music space at 7700 Ivory on the South Side that's next to Feraro's Pizza and run by the same owners.

Both of the Brothers Peterson, as they're being billed, have some impressive credits. Mark (pictured) has toured with singer Cassandra Wilson and numerous others, and now is working with Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid producing soundtracks for TV and film. "Tru" is a both a graduate and former faculty member of Berklee College of Music who's worked with the Black Rock Coalition, Oliver Lake, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and more.

They'll be joined by two St. Louis musicians, keyboardist Mike Carosello and David Certain, who's best known as a bassist but will be on drums for this gig. Certain also will be working with the Engine Room's proprietors to book more live music there in the future; stay tuned to StLJN for more details on that.

Admission to the Brothers Peterson at the Engine Room will be $10 at the door.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* While in St. Louis last week to play at Jazz at the Bistro, guitarist John Scofield was interviewed by KSDK's Art Holliday on the NBC affiliate's 4:00 p.m. newscast.

* Jazz St. Louis has posted photo albums with shots of pianist Ahmad Jamal in performance last Sunday at the TouPAC, and of the reception following the concert by Jamal and singer Dianne Reeves.

* Retro-swing string band Wack-A-Doo (pictured) was spotlighted this week in the Post-Dispatch's "Listen" music video feature, performing "By The Sea" at the Fox Theatre.

* Bassist and luthier David Certain sends word that bassist and St. Louis native Mark Peterson will be playing a CertainBass Model One on an upcoming recording with pianist Bob James. You can see Peterson and his instrument with singer Ben E. King's band here.

* In more celebrity recording news, keyboardist Michael Silverman of the Classical Jazz Quartet says that famed fusion guitarist Scott Henderson has agreed to record on CJQ's next album project, The Rebirth of Fusion. Henderson, known for his work with Tribal Tech and Chick Corea's Elektrik Band, will lay down his tracks in January.

* St. Louis Kids magazine is giving away four tickets to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra's November 27 performance of the "The Nutcracker Meets Jazz," featuring music by George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and Duke Ellington. The performance is presented in partnership with Jazz St. Louis, and specifically designed to introduce children to the symphony. To enter the drawing for the free tickets, go here.

* NPR's Kevin Whitehead last week reviewed the new, limited-edition CD reissue of saxophonist Julius Hemphill's landmark debut album Dogon A.D., with the NY Times Ben Ratliff weighing in on the disc here. The reissue is limited to 1,500 copies, and was done by the small International Phonograph label, which earned plaudits for its earlier re-issue of another long-out-of-print session, trumpeter Bill Dixon's Intents and Purposes. The reissue already is out of stock or back-ordered at some online retailers, but if you like, you still can download and hear a free .mp3 rip of the original recording via this StLJN Audio Archive post from back in August.