Jazz this week: Mary Stallings, Erin Bode, Dalton Ridenhour, and more

With Valentine's Day and the annual Mardi Gras parade falling on the same Saturday this year, there's a bountiful selection of jazz and creative music performances on tap this weekend in St. Louis. Let's go to the highlights...

Thursday, February 12
Guitarist Tim Fischer will lead a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and bassist Willem von Hombracht and saxophonist Eric Schugren will duet at Thurman Grill.

Friday, February 13
Singer Erin Bode (pictured, top left) returns to Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights of performances, backed by an ensemble including her husband, bassist Syd Rodway, plus pianist Kara Baldus, guitarist Dave Black and drummer Mark Colenburg.

Notably absent will be multi-instrumentalist Adam Maness, a mainstay of Bode's group for a decade who in recent months has gotten increasingly busy with The 442s and other personal projects. In addition to it being Valentine's Day weekend, longtime fans of Bode no doubt will interested to hear what effects the changes to her long-running backing band will have on her sound, so reservations would seem to be a must for this one.

Elsewhere around town, Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; saxophonist Tim Cunningham will take the stage for the first of two nights at Troy's Jazz Gallery; and percussionist Herman Semidey's Orquesta Son Montuno will bring their Latin sound to Club Viva.

Saturday, February 14
This year, although the Mardi Gras parade celebration once again will feature mostly DJs and rock cover bands, organizers have thrown a bone to the musical-authenticity contingent by booking the Funky Butt Brass Band for an early afternoon outdoor set at 9th and Geyer in Soulard. Later in the day, the FBBB will head to the Old Rock House for a split-bill show with R&B group Al Holliday and the East Side Rhythm Band.

Also on Saturday, the Friends of Scott Joplin will present pianist Dalton Ridenhour (pictured, center left), fresh from this week's ragtime festival activities in Sedalia, in a performance at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site.

Elsewhere around town that evening, singers Liz Callaway (sister of St. Louis fave Ann Hampton Callaway) and Jason Graae will present their cabaret show "Happily Ever Laughter: A Valentine's Party" at the 560 Music Center; and singer Danita Mumphard will offer her own Valentine's Day show, "Love's Taking Over," at Orlando Gardens in Maryland Heights.

Also, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes are playing for a "St. Valentine's/Mardi Gras Speakeasy Party" at singer Sarah Ulrich's South Broadway HQ, the Deco Fortress; and the Schlafly Tap Room will present a triple-bill of eclectic sounds featuring the Gypsy jazz of Dizzy Atmosphere, contemporary composition and improv from the Vernacular String Trio, and "folk opera" from May Day Orchestra. 

Sunday, February 15
St. Louis Jazz Club presents a matinee performance featuring pianist Bob Row and friends at the Sheraton Westport Hotel.

Later that afternoon, Community Women Against Hardship's annual benefit concert will feature a performance from singer Mary Stallings at Jazz at the Bistro. Stallings (pictured, lower left) made several St. Louis appearances in the early 2000s while signed to the locally based MAXJAZZ label, but hasn't performed here since 2007. For this gig, the San Francisco native will be backed by pianist David Udolf plus a local rhythm section including Jeff Anderson on bass, Jerome "Scrooge" Harris on drums, and Eric Slaughter on guitar.

Also on Sunday, BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups will feature a matinee from percussionist Joe Pastor's group, plus an early evening show in which Good 4 The Soul and saxophonist Jim Stevens will offer an encore of their tribute to the music of David Sanborn.

Monday, February 16
Trumpeter Jim Manley has added another recurring weekly gig to his schedule, playing each Monday at  Momo's Greek Restaurant in University City, while the Sessions Big Band will return to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, February 17
Saxophonist Christopher Braig, bassist Willem von Hombracht, guitarist Dave Black and singer Joe Mancuso will offer a "Tribute to John Coltrane" at the Tavern of Fine Arts; and the Fat Tuesday parade celebration wraps up with the Funky Butt Brass Band and zydeco ensemble The Boudin Brothers at the Broadway Oyster 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.)

Jazz St. Louis announces more shows for spring 2015

Jazz St. Louis this week announced additional bookings filling out the rest of the spring 2015 schedule at Jazz at the Bistro.

Perhaps the biggest news is that, as tipped here a couple of weeks ago, pianist Ramsey Lewis will return to St. Louis to perform at the Bistro on Friday, March 13. (JSL's Devin Rodino tells StLJN that the listing shown on Pollstar for Lewis on Saturday, March 14 at the Bistro is for a private event.)

The announcement also confirms dates at the Bistro previously announced by local acts the Bosman Twins (Friday, April 10 and Saturday, April 11) and Miss Jubilee (Friday, May 8 and Saturday, May 9).

In addition, Jazz St. Louis will "welcome" singer Mary Stallings (pictured) on Sunday, February 15 in a benefit performance for the not-for-profit organization Community Women Against Hardship; and St. Louis expats, singer Mardra Thomas and pianist Reggie Thomas, have booked a return trip home for Friday, May 22 and Saturday, May 23 to promote the release of a new CD, Matters of the Heart.

Other shows added include a return visit from singer Denise Thimes (Friday, March 27); the Bistro debuts of jazz-fusion band Koplant No (Saturday, March 28) and the up-and-coming Kansas City-based ensemble Shades of Jade (Sunday, March 29); and a one-night, one-set return by the SIUE Concert Jazz Band and  SIUE Alumni Jazz Band (Tuesday, April 21).

Lastly, singer/guitarist Tommy Halloran’s Guerrilla Swing, who currently are playing Sunday brunch every week at the Bistro, will get a full weekend of shows on Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25; and the annual performances by students from the JazzU and the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars programs, with a special guest artist yet to be determined, will take place on Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6.

Tickets for all of these shows went on sale to Jazz at the Bistro subscribers on Wednesday, January 28, and will be available to the general public starting at 10:00 a.m. next Wednesday, February 4 via Metrotix or the Jazz St. Louis website.

Jazz This Week: Mary Stallings, the St. Louis Jazz Club picnic, free music at the Art Fair, and more

Apologies to all for for the relative lateness of this post; several unpleasant and/or inconvenient events have conspired to delay the usual heads-up on this week's jazz highlights, one of which would have been the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra's return to Jazz at the Bistro on Thursday night. That ship has sailed, so speak, but not to worry, as the ensemble led by Jim Widner will be making monthly appearances at the Bistro at least through the end of the year, and presumably longer.

So, for the rest of this missive, let's concentrate on the music that hasn't actually happened yet - like singer Mary Stallings (pictured), who will be at the Bistro tonight and tomorrow night. Stallings recorded a CD not too long ago for the local MAXJAZZ label, but she's been around since the early 1960s, when a record she made with vibist Cal Tjader helped establish her on the scene. She later performed with Count Basie for several years. After taking some time off to raise her daughter, Stallings returned to the stage work and continues to work and to be held in high esteem in her hometown of San Francisco. You can read an interview with her here and a brief biography here.

Another noteworthy event this weekend is the St. Louis Jazz Club's annual picnic, which runs from noon to 6 p.m. at the Concord Farmers Club, 10140 Concord School Rd. The event is open to the public, including non-members of the StLJC, and will feature music from the St. Louis Stompers, the St. Louis Banjo Band and the St. Louis Ragtimers.

If traditional jazz isn't your thing, maybe you'd rather take in some of the free music at the St. Louis Art Fair, which runs Friday through Sunday and is put on by the same organization that presents tthe St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival. There are at least a half-dozen acts appearing over the three days that are of potential interest to jazz fans, including Latin jazz group Clave Sol, Carbondale combo The New Arts Jazztet and pianist Carolbeth True and her trio with special guest Larry Johnson on saxophone. See the event's Web site for all the details.

Also especially worth noting are two more gigs on Friday night, when smooth jazz saxophonist Tim Cunningham returns to Finale Music and Dining, and singer/flute player Margaret Bianchetta brings a trio to Brandt's.

For more local jazz-related events, please see the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, (which has received several updates over the last week but still has more to go).

(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.)

(Edited slightly after posting.)