StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Inside the Nu-Art Series video vault

This week, we're taking a break from previewing upcoming concerts to take a brief trip into the video vault of the Nu-Art Series, the long-running, St. Louis-based jazz presenting organization run by trumpeter, arts administrator and consultant George Sams.

Headquartered in recent years at the Metropolitan Gallery, 2936 Locust St. downtown, the Nu-Art Series has a shoestring budget compared to Jazz St. Louis or the Sheldon, but over the years has presented a number of worthy performers while helping to preserve St. Louis' jazz legacy.

One of the musicians the series has championed is the great baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett, who can been seen in today's first clip, sitting in on the reunion of Sams' own group, the Sound Clinic, last year for a version of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman." Along with Bluiett and Sams, that's Chicago's Yosef Ben-Israel on bass, San Francisco's Lewis Jordan on alto sax, and St. Louis' own Gary Sykes on drums.

Although many of Nu-Art's productions feature musicians playing in free, avant- garde or post-Coltrane styles, they also have presented a number of concerts exploring the repertoire of more mainstream jazz musicians. Today's second clip is from one of those shows, a tribute to guitarist Grant Green staged in May 2011 by former St. Louisan Marvin Horne. Horne is seen here playing a blues in Green's style, accompanied by Sykes on drums, bassist Nick Jost, and pianist Brock Walker.

Below that are a couple of clips from 2008's "BAG and Beyond," which examined the legacy of St. Louis' Black Artists Group through concerts and panel discussions. That's trumpeter Rasul Siddik in the first of the two clips, leading a band featuring Bluiett, pianist Katherine Roberts, bassist Raymond Eldridge and drummer Tayammun Falah. The second clip features a duet between Falah and saxophonist Oliver Lake, whose visual art is currently is being exhibited at the Metropolitan Gallery.

In the fifth slot, we've got a much older clip, dating from the late 1990s when Sams still was presenting shows at variety of locations around town. It shows flutist James Newton in a 1997 solo concert at the Washington University Gallery of Art.

To wrap up, there's an excerpt from last October's "Drum Line II" concert, featuring the combined talents of percussionists Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, Johnny Johnson, and Gary Sykes. (Be warned that there's a rather abrupt splice between two segments at around 8:50.)

The Nu-Art Series' next concert will take place next Saturday, April 7, and will feature Erika Johnson singing songs associated with the legendary jazz vocalist Betty Carter. To see more video from the Nu-Art Series vault, check out their YouTube channel.











(Edited 7/6/12)

Jazz this week: Bill Frisell, Houston Person, Tower of Power, Steve Tyrell, Marvin Horne, Reptet, St. Louis Jazz Club picnic, and more

It's going to be a busy few days for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, and time is short, so let's go to the highlights without further preamble...

Tonight, tenor saxophonist Houston Person is back to open a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. Equally adept at blues, bop and ballads, Person has played in St. Louis several times in recent years, most recently at Jazz St. Louis' benefit gala in February 2010, and before that, at the Bistro and at Harris-Stowe State University in 2009. In conjunction with those 2009 gigs, Person did an interview for Jazz St. Louis' now-defunct podcast series, which you can still listen to online here. (.MP3 file)

Tomorrow night, guitarist Bill Frisell makes a rare St. Louis appearance at Old Rock House. He'll be playing with a quartet including bassist Tony Scherr, drummer Kenny Wollesen, and trumpeter Ron Miles. You can read more about Frisell and see some video clips of him in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

On Friday, drummer Paul Shaw's trio with pianist Ptah Williams and bassist Bob Deboo will play at the Cigar Inn in Belleville, while yr. humble StLJN editor will be playing some blues piano at Robbie's House of Jazz with drummer Stan Hale's band, featuring singer Renee Smith and bassist Phil Burton.

On Saturday afternoon, guitarist and St. Louis native Marvin Horne returns home to wrap up this spring's schedule of concerts from the Nu-Art Series, performing the music of Grant Green at Metropolitan Gallery.

Also on Saturday, the St. Louis Jazz Club will hold their annual picnic at the Concord Farmers Club, with music from Red Lehr & the St. Louis Rivermen in the afternoon and the Michael Lacey Band in the evening.

That same night, a little bit of Oakland comes to downtown St. Louis, as the legendary funk band Tower of Power is back here for the first time in five years to play at Lumiere Place Casino. (I've got a Critic's Pick on the TOP show in this week's Riverfront Times; look for the link here as soon as it's online.)

Meanwhile, for those in the mood from something a bit more intimate on Saturday evening, Robbie's will present pianist Carolbeth True's trio with singer Christi John Bye.

Last but not least on Saturday, Trio Kinsella, featuring flute player Jonathan Borja, cellist Ben Gitter and pianist Brendan Kinsella, performs at the Kranzberg Arts Center for New Music Circle. The program will include music by George Crumb, John Corigliano, Thailand’s Narong Prangcharoen and former St. Louis Symphony composer in residence Joseph Schwantner, as well as the world premiere of “Falling Through Infinity” by Nicholas Omiccioli.

UPDATE - 5/14/11: Terry Perkins previews the Trio Kinsella concert for the St. Louis Beacon here.

On Sunday, singer Steve Tyrell returns to the Sheldon Concert Hall for a performance benefiting education programs at the Sheldon. Tyrell's previous show at the same venue sold out, and at last word tickets for this one were almost gone, but if you're interested in going it may be worth a call to the Sheldon to see if any seats are released at the last minute.

Also on Sunday, the clever, eclectic Seattle sextet known as Reptet (pictured) will be here to play at 2720 Cherokee. I've enjoyed their most recent CD At The Cabin and was prompted to write more about them in this video post from last Saturday.

That same evening, there will be a benefit for bassist Gus Thornton at Beale on Broadway. Thornton is an East St. Louis native who's best known for playing blues with Albert King, Katie Webster and others, but also has done his share of local jazz gigs. He recently had a heart transplant and although his prognosis is said to be good, the operation has left him with huge medical bills and no income while he recovers.

Sunday's event will help raise some cash to assist the universally well-liked Thornton with those bills and living expenses. There's been no information released on the lineup of performers, but given that Thornton seems to have played with at least half the musicians in town at some point, I'm sure it'll be well worth the $10 requested donation at the door.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Jamie Cullum, Marvin Horne, Ron Carter, Funky Butt Brass Band, and more

It's going to be a jam-packed weekend of jazz and creative music in St. Louis, so, without further preamble, let's go straight to the highlights:

Tonight, the Meramec Jazz Lab Band from St. Louis Community College-Meramec performs at the Black Cat Theatre in Maplewood. This evening also marks the beginning of the closing weekend for Vanessa Rubin in the Black Rep's production of Yesterdays: An Evening With Billie Holiday. The show runs through Sunday at the Grandel Theatre.

On Thursday, guitarist Matthew Von Doran returns to the Broadway Bean Coffeehouse, while Jazz St. Louis presents its first-ever "High School Invitational," featuring the East St. Louis Senior High School Jazz Band and the Webster Groves High School Jazz Band, at Jazz at the Bistro. (There's no Jazz at Holmes concert this week, as Washington University is on spring break.)

On Friday, the Funky Butt Brass Band returns to Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights, and saxophonist Ron Carter and the Northern Illinois University Jazztet begin a weekend stand at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Saturday afternoon, guitarist Chris Burchett will do the music of Freddie Hubbard for the Nu-Art Series at the Metropolitan Gallery. (Burchett will be subbing for trumpeter Anthony Wiggins, who's recovering from a brain aneurysm; however, despite the previous announcement here, the show will not be a benefit for the Wiggins family.)

Saturday night presents several intriguing options, starting with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (pictured) and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, who will be performing at the Sheldon Concert Hall for the Sheldon's annual benefit gala. To see some video of Wynton and the JaLCO in action, check out this post.

That same evening, New Music Circle will present composer John Tamm-Buckle's "Droning Maud Land" at the Kranzberg Arts Center, while the world premiere of a Meredith Monk work by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, with the composer on hand, takes place just up the street at Powell Hall.

On Sunday, singer and pianist Jamie Cullum will play at the Roberts Orpheum Theatre. For more about Cullum and some performance videos, see this post from last Saturday. Also on Sunday, guitarist and St. Louis native Marvin Horne returns home for a gig with NYC drummer Greg Bandy and St. Louis bassist David Certain at BB's, Jazz Blues and Soups.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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 by becoming a "fan" of 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.)

Marvin Horne, Greg Bandy & David Certain to perform Sunday, March 14 at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups

Bassist David Certain sends word that he's put together a show with guitarist and St. Louis native Marvin Horne (pictured) and drummer Greg Bandy for Sunday, March 14 at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Born in St. Louis in 1953, Horne has worked with Chico Hamilton, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, The Dells, Nancy Wilson, Billy Eckstine, James Spaulding, Jack McDuff and many others. He can be heard on recordings with Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers and on Luther Thomas and the Human Arts Ensemble's cult favorite Funky Donkey.

Known to NYC fans and musicians as "The Mayor of Harlem," Bandy first gained wide attention at age 20 performing with Charles Mingus. He has played with prominent jazz artists such as Gary Bartz, Joe Henderson, Betty Carter, Pharoah Sanders, Freddie Hubbard, Olu Dara, Curtis Fuller, Jack McDuff, Leon Thomas, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, George Benson, Yusef Lateef, and many others. Bandy has recorded with many artists as a sideman, and his own 1997 CD Lightning in a Bottle earned two Grammy nominations. He also is a busy teacher and clinician, and leads an ensemble called Bandy Does Blakey paying tribute to the late Art Blakey with former members of Blakey's Jazz Messengers.

Certain moved to St. Louis from the San Francisco Bay area in 2006. He performs with singer/guitarist Billy Barnett, serves as bassist and musical director for The Oliver Sain Revue tribute band, and works with many other St. Louis jazz and blues performers. He has played with a number of well-known national artists, including saxophonists Gary Bartz, Willie Smith and Vincent Herring, free jazz pianist Bobby Few, organist Jimmy McGriff, singer "Little" Jimmy Scott, trumpeter Eddie Henderson, percussionist Babatunde Lea, and singer Paula West. Certain also makes makes custom instruments for bassists around the world through his company CertainBass.

Certain says set times will be 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., with a third set possible if there's still a crowd. Tickets for Marvin Horne with Greg Bandy, David Certain and CertainBeat WorldBop at BB’s Jazz, Blues and Soups will be $15, and available in advance at BB's and at the door the evening of the show.

(Full disclosure: Yr. humble StLJN editor has worked with David Certain in the aforementioned Oliver Sain Revue and on various other gigs.)

(Edited twice after posting, to add set times and disclosure information. Edited again to clarify advance ticket info.)