Jazz this week: Charlie Hunter Trio with Lucy Woodward, Good 4 The Soul, and more

With the summer weather in St. Louis forecast to be somewhat less sweltering than usual for a few days, it should be a good time to get out and hear some music. Here's what's happening with live jazz and creative music around town this week:

Wednesday, July 24
Singer Jenna Bauer and guitarist Dave Black will duet at Evangeline's; Miss Jubilee performs at Schlafly Bottleworks; and guitarist Joe Park's trio plays at Yaquis on Cherokee.

Thursday, July 25
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University wraps up their "Jazz in July" schedule of free concerts with a performance by drummer Maurice Carnes and his band.

Also on Thursday, guitarist Brian Vaccaro leads a trio at The Pat Connolly Tavern, trumpeter Brady Lewis and his BLStet perform at The Dark Room, and singer Robert Nelson and the Eddie Randle Jr. Trio are at the Angad Arts Hotel.

Friday, July 26
Funk/jazz quartet Good 4 The Soul (pictured, bottom left) returns for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis.

Also on Friday, the Funky Butt Brass Band plays at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Saturday, July 27
Singer Jan Shapiro and pianist Dave Venn's trio return to the Ozark Theatre; trumpeter Jim Manley and band play at Evangeline's; pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True will perform at Parkside Grille; and The Gaslight Squares will bring their vintage jazz and swing to the Frisco Barroom.

Sunday, July 28
Guitarist Charlie Hunter brings his latest trio, featuring singer Lucy Woodward (pictured, top left with Hunter) and drummer Keita Ogawa to Off Broadway. Though Hunter has had a number of trios in the past, adding a singer definitely has brought new dimensions to his sound. You can see and hear for yourself by checking out the videos in this post from a week ago Saturday.

Elsewhere around town. the Folk School of KDHX presents their monthly Traditional Jazz Jam Session on Sunday afternoon, and singer and bassist Janet Evra performs in a free, outdoor concert Sunday evening at Oak Knoll Park in Clayton.

Monday, July 29
Pianist and singer Jesse Gannon returns to the Dark Room.

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:

* St. Louis magazine's annual "A-List" issue is out, and among the honorees for "Culture and Amusements" are the STL Free Jazz Collective (pictured) and Yaquis on Cherokee, which features live traditional jazz and blues on weekends.

* Also in St. Louis magazine, pianist Adam Maness' regular Thursday night gig at Thurman's in Shaw is the subject of a brief feature story by Thomas Crone.

* Mr. Handy's Blues, a new documentary about the life and legacy of "St. Louis Blues" composer W.C. Handy, will get its first showing this Sunday at a private event at the MX theater on Washington Avenue.

* St. Louis native Greg Osby will join fellow saxophonists Joe Lovano and Dave Liebman as the newest member of "Saxophone Summit" for a five-night run next week at Birdland in NYC. The group, which in this iteration also includes bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Billy Hart, and pianist Phil Markowitz, will play the club starting Tuesday, June 27 through Saturday, July 1.

* A video with highlights from pianist Ethan Leinwand's St. Louis Piano Festival, which showcased an assortment of ragtime, blues, and stride pianists earlier this month at BB's Jazz Blues & Soups, has been posted to Vimeo.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio Network is rolling out a new video course, "Elements of Jazz Piano," featuring Martin and Adam Maness. You can find out more and see a preview here.  

* Jazz St. Louis is looking to hire a part-time box office associate. For details on the job and how to apply, visit their website.

* Guitarist Todd Mosby has posted on YouTube a new live performance video of his composition "Moon Song."

* Multi-instrumental Lamar Harris' Isley Brothers tribute show "Ballad of Atlantis," which is being presented this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro, was previewed on KTVI's morning newscast and in a Post-Dispatch feature story by Kevin Johnson.

* Drummer Maurice Carnes has posted to YouYube a video of his band Avant Gardians playing the music of Ornette Coleman earlier this month at the U City Jazz Festival.

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn, originally from East St. Louis and now residing in Georgia, is one of alt-weekly Creative Loafing's "6 rising Atlanta music MVPs for 2017". As mentioned last week in this space, Gunn recently launched a crowd-funding campaign to finance his next recording.

Jazz at Holmes concert series announces summer schedule

The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University has announced the schedule for their summer series of free concerts. The "Jazz in July" events will kick off on Thursday, July 9 with a performance from guitarist Vincent Varvel and his trio.

Drummer Maurice Carnes' quartet will follow on Thursday, July 16, with the Wire Pilots playing on Thursday, July 23. A quartet led by drummer Montez Coleman (pictured) will close out the summer series on Thursday, July 30.

The Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public. Concerts begin at 8:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, located on Washington University’s campus at the west end of the Brookings Quadrangle, near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.

Jazz at Holmes series announces Fall 2014 schedule

The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University has announced their schedule of free concerts for the Fall 2014 semester.

The series begins this Thursday, September 11, with a reunion performance by Tracer, the jazz-fusion trio featuring keyboardist Ptah Williams (pictured), bassist Darrell Mixon, and drummer Gary Sykes.

As has been the custom in recent years, the series also includes a couple of themed programs. The first, a look back at the Gaslight Square entertainment district of the late 1950s and early '60s, will take place on Thursday, September 25 and will be preceded by a short panel discussion featuring pianist Dave Venn, trumpeter Bob Ceccarini, and saxophonist Freddie Washington, who all gigged at various establishments in Gaslight Square, and Wash U professors Pat Burke and William Lenihan.

The second, "Freedom Summer '64: A Love Supreme" will take place on Thursday, October 9, and will feature the music of John Coltrane as performed by Washington, Lenihan, Paul DeMarinis, Maurice Carnes, Steve Davis, Kara Baldus, and others.

The complete schedule for the semester is:

Thursday, September 11: Tracer
Thursday, September 18: Vince Varvel
Thursday, September 25: "Gaslight Square" with Bob Ceccarini, Scott Alberici, Wayne Coniglio, William Lenihan, Eric Stiller and Steve Davis.

Thursday, October 2: Brian Vaccaro Trio
Thursday, October 9: "Freedom Summer '64: A Love Supreme"
Thursday, October 23: Bob DeBoo plays the music of Charles Mingus
Thursday, October 30: Adam Schefkind

Thursday, November 6: Mike Buerck Orchestra
Thursday, November 20: Jeff Anderson Quartet

Thursday, December 6: Wash U Student Jazz Combo

Presented most Thursday evenings when school is in session, the Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public. Concerts begin at 8:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, located on Washington University’s campus at the west end of the Brookings Quadrangle, near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.

Jazz this week: Kermit Ruffins, Nora Germain, Good 4 The Soul, All That Tap XXI, Dave Dickey Big Band, and more

The weekend starts early for fans of jazz and creative music in St. Louis, as Kermit Ruffins - trumpeter, singer, entrepreneur, bon vivant and ambassador of New Orleans music - will be playing at The Gramophone tonight and again on Thursday evening.

While he's in town, Ruffins also will be doing a meet-and-greet and signing copies of his new album We Partyin' Traditional Style on Thursday morning at Vintage Vinyl.

Ruffins (pictured), who helped found the Rebirth Brass Band and has been seen as a recurring character on the HBO series Treme, is known as a winning showman as well as a fine trumpeter. For much more about Ruffins, and footage of him and his band the Barbecue Swingers in action, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also tonight, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden.

Then on Thursday, Los Angeles violinist Nora Germain, a 21-year-old USC student and protege of Cowbop guitarist Bruce Forman, will bring her band to Robbie's House of Jazz as part of a Midwest tour called "Music Licks on 66".

Also on Thursday, drummer Maurice Carnes and his group will play a free concert to wrap up the summer Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and the Tavern of Fine Arts presents their monthly "Avant Garde Arts Night" featuring live improvised music.

On Friday, Good 4 The Soul, featuring pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson, drummer James Jackson, bassist John King and guitarist Shaun Robinson, will play for the first of two nights to close out the summer season at Jazz at the Bistro.

(Except for a couple of one-off shows related to the upcoming St. Louis Cabaret Festival and American Music Festival, the Bistro is scheduled to be dark for nearly two months, until the week of September 25 - 28 when Yellowjackets come to town to open the 2013-14 Jazz at the Bistro season.)

Also on Friday, guitarist Tom Byrne and Have U Heard play at Jazz on Broadway; saxophonist Kendrick Smith leads a trio with bassist Charles Clements and drummer Micah Walker at Cigar Inn; and saxophonist Jay Hutson and Da Wolvez, featuring singer Tamesha Foote, are at Robbie's.

On Saturday night, it's the 21st annual "All That Tap' festival at the Touhill Performing Arts Center Edison Theater, featuring a lineup of top tap-dancing talent from across the USA demonstrating their terpsichorean skills with music from pianist Carolbeth True's trio.

Also on Saturday, Miss Jubilee plays a free outdoor concert at Lafayette Park; Tommy Halloran and Guerilla Swing will perform at the Venice Cafe; and singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will duet at Chaser's Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

On Sunday, the Dave Dickey Big Band will be back after a month's hiatus for their usual fourth-Sunday gig at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will play at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; and on Tuesday, saxophonist Dave Cheli's Tribal Chicken and friends, including Ajay Khanna, Dave Stone, Chris Smentkowski and Jeremy Melsha, will present a show of free improv at Foam on S. Jefferson.

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.)

Edited 7/25/13 to correct the venue for All That Tap XXI.

U City Jazz Festival sets lineup for Saturday, September 7

The U City Jazz Festival has announced the lineup of musicians who will perform at this year's event, which will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 7 in Heman Park in University City.

The all-St. Louis musical menu for the festival will include Willie Akins and Montez Coleman, Bach to the Future, Phil Gomez and Clave Sol, the Joe Mancuso Quintet, Tom Byrne and Have U Heard?, and a tribute to Wes Montgomery led by Maurice Carnes (pictured).

The event will be staged in conjunction with the annual Fair U. City, and is free and open to the public. Heman Park is located on Olive Blvd, near the corner of Midland Ave and Olive.

Jazz at Holmes series announces dates of free summer concerts

The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University has announced a summer schedule of three free concerts during the month of July.

The summer series starts on Thursday, July 11 with a performance by singer Feyza Eren and her band.

Next up, trumpeter Erik Jekabson (pictured), who's from San Francisco, will play with a quartet of local St. Louis musicians on Thursday, July 18. Drummer Maurice Carnes and his group will close out the summer series on Thursday, July 25.

All concerts are free and open to the public, and begin at 8:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, located on Washington University’s campus at the west end of the Brookings Quadrangle, near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.

Jazz this week: Dave Easley, Alan Evans Trio, "Webster's Got Talent" contest finals, and more

With heavy rain from Hurricane Isaac expected to reach well up into the Midwest this Labor Day weekend, organizers of outdoor events like the Big Muddy Blues Festival on Laclede's Landing and the Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden are hustling to implement their bad-weather contingency plans and/or inform the public of possible schedule changes.

Fortunately, while there are a couple of outdoor jazz events scheduled for the weekend, there also are plenty of jazz and creative music events happening indoors where it's safe and dry. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, the Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival will present the finals of their "Webster's Got Talent" contest at Robbie's House of Jazz, with the winner getting an opening slot at the OWJ&BF on Saturday, September 15. The finalists performing are North of the Quarter, Sarah Jane & the Blue Notes, Sarah LeBeau & Friends, and singer Ron Wilkerson & Friends.

Also tonight, it's the monthly "Avant-Garde Arts Night," featuring live improvised music, at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Tomorrow night, drummer Maurice Carnes leads a quartet with saxophonist Freddie Washington and guitarist Chris Burchett at Robbie's House of Jazz, while saxophonist Willie Akins and drummer Montez Coleman will bring a quartet to the Cigar Inn in Belleville.

Also on Friday, the Gaslight Theater is the venue for "Labors of Love," a cabaret show featuring singers Anna Blair, Robert Breig, Ken Haller, Charlene Reimann and Chuck Lavazzi with pianist Carol Schmidt; and the Funky Butt Brass Band plays at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

On Saturday, there's a chance to hear a virtuoso improviser on an instrument rarely used in jazz, as pedal steel player Dave Easley (pictured) comes to town for a gig at Robbie's. Easley, who's based in New Orleans, has played with drummer Brian Blade's Fellowship, Coco Robcheaux, and numerous other well-known performers, as well as with several local jazz groups in NOLA.

Then on Sunday, the St. Charles Community Big Band has a free concert scheduled for Frontier Park on the St. Charles riverfront, and keyboardist Pete Ruthenberg will play an early evening set at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

On Monday afternoon, the Funky Butt Brass Band plays a free outdoor concert in Benton Park, and that evening, guitarist Tom Byrne and Have You Heard? return to BB's.

Looking ahead to Tuesday, drummer Alan Evans of Soulive and his new trio will pay a return visit to the Old Rock House. The group, which also features organist Beau Sasser and guitarist Danny Meyer, was here back in May at the same venue, promoting their recent debut release Drop Hop.

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.)

Second annual U City Jazz Festival to be held Saturday, September 22

The second annual U City Jazz Festival will take place from 12:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 22 in Heman Park in University City. Festival organizer Michael Silverman announced the date in a Facebook post yesterday, and also revealed the list of musicians who will play the event this year.

The musical lineup for 2012 will include the STL Metrobones; trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber; a reunion concert featuring pianist Ptah Williams and his 1980s jazz-fusion group Tracer; Bach to the Future; a tribute to Miles Davis with drummer Maurice Carnes' Hipjaz Quintet; and Trio Tres Bien (pictured).

The event is free and open to the public.

(Edited 6/6/12 to fix a broken link and add tags.)

U City Jazz Festival to be held Saturday, September 24 in Heman Park

The municipality of University City will present the first ever U City Jazz Festival from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Saturday, September 24 at Heman Park, 7210 Olive Blvd.

The free outdoor concert will feature performances from singer Jeanne Trevor, Latin jazz group Clave Sol, and the Classical Jazz Quartet (pictured), plus a tribute to John Coltrane from drummer Maurice Carnes' Hipjaz Quartet, and a set by an all-star band of music students from University City.

Brothers Mike and Rob Silverman, best known to St. Louis audiences as the keyboard player and drummer for the Classical Jazz Quartet, Downtown Trio and Bach to the Future, are organizing the event. For more information, visit the website at http://www.ucityjazzfestival.com/.

Jazz at Holmes sets summer series schedule

Although there's been no formal announcement yet, the Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University apparently has set their schedule for this summer.

A recent update to their site (linked above) lists four concerts for July 2011, starting with a performance on Thursday, July 7 by Ritmo Caliente, "one of St. Louis' premier Latin Jazz groups fusing modern improvisation with Caribbean and Brazilian music."

The following Thursday, July 14, it will be the St. Louis Jazz Ensemble with Maurice Carnes playing "straightahead modern repertoire and original music. The ensemble rotates a roster of the best of St. Louis' jazz community."

Next up on Thursday, July 21 is a trio led by guitarist Brian Vaccaro (pictured), playing "modern jazz...new sounds and music for the traditional instrumentation of guitar, bass and drums."

The Jazz at Holmes summer 2011 series will wrap up on Thursday, July 28 with The Poor People of Paris, "presenting traditional jazz along with European song."

All Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public, and begin at 8:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, which is located in Ridgley Hall, on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.

Jazz this week: Legacy Jazz Quintet, Maurice Carnes, Mardra Thomas, and more

It's the dog days of summer, and as often happens this time of year, once again this weekend the St. Louis area is bereft of touring jazz performers. That makes it a good time to sample some of the proverbial home cookin', so here's a brief look at some of the next few days' highlights:

On Thursday evening, drummer Maurice Carnes will do a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

On Friday, the Legacy Jazz Quintet, , led by Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap (pictured) will open a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. The performances are being presented in association with Washington University's National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute "The New Negro Renaissance in America, 1919-1941," and so Dunlap and company will perform what's being billed as "music of the Harlem Renaissance." (No word as to how the Magnus Chord Organ seen in the photo with Dunlap figures into this scenario.) Also, Jazz St. Louis is offering a two-for-the-price-of-one discount on tickets for both nights; for details, see this post.

Meanwhile, this weekend Robbie's House of Jazz will feature keyboardist Curt Landes and his trio with singer Mary Dyson on Friday, and pianist Carolbeth True on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, singer Mardra Thomas continues the Nu-Art Series' current slate of shows featuring St. Louis vocalists, performing songs associated with Nancy Wilson in a matinee at the Metropolitan Gallery.

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 at Holmes series announces summer schedule

The Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts at Washington University has announced the lineup for this summer's series, which has been dubbed "Jazz in July."

The series will feature four shows, starting with the concert by pianist Linda Presgrave and her quintet on Thursday, July 9 that we told you about here a couple of weeks ago.

Guitarist Tom Byrne and his quartet will perform on Thursday, July 15, followed by drummer Maurice Carnes and friends on Thursday, July 22. Guitarist Chris Burchett (pictured) and his quartet will wrap up the summer series on Thursday, July 29.

All concerts are free and open to the public, and begin at 8:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, which is located in Ridgley Hall, on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.

Jazz this week: Kenny Garrett, Maude Maggart, benefits at SIUE and Webster U, and more

As fall weather really begins to settle in to the St. Louis area, here's what's going on around town over the next few days with jazz and creative music:

Tonight, saxophonist Kenny Garrett (pictured) begins a four-night stand that continues through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. For more on Garrett, see last Saturday's video post here, and his interview with the Post-Dispatch here.

Also tonight, singer Maude Maggart begins a four-night run for Cabaret St. Louis at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Broadly speaking, Maggart seems to come more from the theatrical side of cabaret than from jazz, but she's known for interpreting works by great American songwriters such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, Vernon Duke, and Rodgers and Hart, so there may indeed be some interest there for some local jazz fans.

Tomorrow night, trumpeter Danny Campbell and drummer Maurice Carnes will do a free concert of hard bop and straight-ahead jazz for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Also on Thursday, the Unity Theatre Ensemble resumes their production of Lady Day at the Boston Bistro (An Evening with Billie Holiday), which feature singer Mardra Thomas and her husband, pianist Reggie Thomas, and continues through Sunday at the Ivory Theatre in south St. Louis. You can read a review of the show here.

Moving ahead to Sunday, singer Erin Bode will headline the annual benefit for the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Friends of Music benefit at Dunham Hall on the SIUE campus. Proceeds from the event go to support music scholarships at SIUE.

Then on Monday, Webster University holds the annual benefit concert for its TKT Scholarship Fund at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus. The"Celebration of the Great American Songbook" concert will include songs by Hoagy Carmichael, George Gershwin, Sammy Fain, Tadd Dameron, Burton Lane and Paul Simon performed by vocalists Amanda Carr, Ashley Mason and Peter Ayres; the Webster Jazz Singers directed by Debby Lennon; and Webster jazz faculty members Steve Schenkel (guitar), Paul DeMarinis (saxophones) , Kim Portnoy (piano), Carolbeth True (piano), Willem von Hombracht (bass) and Kevin Gianino (drums).

Proceeds benefit a scholarship established in memory of former Webster music students Terry Jackson, Kirk Cappello and Tony Saputo, who in 1991 were all killed in a plane crash while on tour with country singer Reba McIntyre.

For more jazz and creative music events this weekend and beyond, check out the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, available for viewing on the left sidebar or by clicking here.

(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 at Holmes series sets schedule for Fall 2009

The Jazz at Holmes series of free Thursday night concerts at Washington University in St. Louis has announced its schedule for Fall 2009.

The series kicks off with what seem like a couple of odd musical choices: a jazz tribute to Woodstock, led by guitarist and Wash U director of jazz performance William Lenihan and held outside on Brookings Quadrangle on Thursday, September 10; and the rock/funk/hip-hop band Fresh Heir on Thursday, September 17.

Regarding the former, the news release announcing the series' Fall schedule quotes Lenihan as saying, "The connections between rock music and jazz of the era of Woodstock are many, and not just that which the sonic possibilities of electric and electronic musical instruments brought to the stage. Breaking stylistic boundaries, creating new expressions and symbols of musical thought, whether through Coltrane, Hendrix or Dylan, American popular music had freed itself from its commercial limitations, with audiences fully participating in it's creation. Jazz at Holmes Series is celebrating the music in this spirit of performance."

Color me puzzled. While there's really no disputing the points about the music of the 1960s extending sonic possibilities and going beyond commercial limitations, this statement doesn't really make a connection between Woodstock and jazz, nor does it attempt to describe what the music that's going to be played that night will sound like...so at this point, your guess is as good as mine.

As for Fresh Heir, an energetic young group that mixes 1970s-style funk and contemporary hip-hop, their music doesn't seem to contain much of a jazz influence beyond the occasional background riff played by trumpet and tenor sax. While they may be popular with college students, and for all I know they're probably a nice bunch of fellas, to these ears they seem out of place on the Jazz at Holmes series. (That said, if someone can point me to some examples of their music that shows more of a jazz influence than the selections on their MySpace page, I'd be glad to take a listen...)

Here's the complete Jazz at Holmes Fall 2009 schedule:

Thursday, September 10: William Lenihan leads a tribute to Woodstock's 40th anniversary. (Concert to be held outdoors on Brookings Quadrangle.)

Thursday, September 17: Fresh Heir

Thursday, September 24: Utter Chaos performs music of Gerry Mulligan

Thursday, October 1: Clarinetist Scott Alberici plays music of the swing era

Thursday, October 8: William Lenihan leads a Miles Davis tribute recreating music from Birth of the Cool

Thursday, October 22: Trumpeter Danny Campbell and drummer Maurice Carnes

Thursday, October 29: Ptah Williams

Thursday, November 5: Willie Akins Quartet

Thursday, November 12: William Lenihan leads a Miles Davis tribute featuring "Petit Machins" and selections from In a Silent Way

Thursday, December 3: Drummer Steve Davis, Willian Lenihan and friends

Note that with the concert featuring Davis (pictured), the Jazz at Holmes series continues its recent practice of booking at least one touring musician each semester. Davis is the author of six books about playing drums; has performed and recorded with musicians including Bill Evans, Lynne Arriale, Benny Golson, Richie Beirach and John Pattitucci; and served as visiting professor of jazz studies at the Berlin Conservatory of Music. He'll play with a group of St. Louis musicians led by Lenihan, who, with major roles in four of the semester's concerts, will once again be a frequent presence on stage in the series as well as an important one behind the scenes.

All Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public. Holmes Lounge is located in Ridgley Hall, on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives. For further information, call Sue Taylor at 314-862-0874 or email staylor@wustl.edu.

Jazz at Holmes fall series begins this Thursday

Washington University's Jazz at Holmes concert series, which presents live jazz in the Holmes Lounge of Ridgley Hall on campus most Thursdays during the school year, gets underway this Thursday, September 13 with a concert by drummer Maurice Carnes and his band featuring pianist Ptah Williams.

This kickoff concert for the series will be held outdoors on the Quadrangle near Ridgely Hall. No start time was listed in the message I got from the Jazz at Holmes list, but the concerts last year started at 8 p.m. And while the Web site linked above still hasn't been updated for 2007 yet, presumably you can still call 314-
935-4841 for more information.

The rest of the Jazz at Holmes concert schedule for the fall semester has yet to be announced, but the nice folks at Wash U have told me they'll send the information as soon as it's available, and when they do, you'll be able to read it here shortly thereafter.