So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Guitarist Dave Black (pictured) and his "itti bitti Swing Orchestra" are the latest local musicians to record a video for the St. Louis Open Media Integration Center's "Songday Afternoon" series, with a clip of Black's original composition "See Ya at 5" posted to YouTube last week.

* The second half of New Music Circle's 60th season was previewed in an article in the West End Word.

* A celebration of the life of the late Michael Castro, St. Louis' first poet laureate and a member of the STL Free Jazz Collective, will be held from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, January 20 at Central Reform Congregation, 5020 Waterman in the Central West End.

* Shirley Harrold, mother of trumpeter Keyon Harrold and drummer Emanuel Harrold, passed away on Christmas Eve. The wake and funeral services were held this week on Wednesday and Thursday. Ms. Harrold and her experiences raising 16 children were featured last year in an article by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn. StLJN's condolences go out to the Harrold family.

* Beale on Broadway, the bar and music venue that has made up one third of the South Broadway "blues triangle" since the turn of the century, closed this week with final performances from singers Roland Johnson and Kim Massie. In a story in the Post-Dispatch, proprietor Bud Jostes said that he was forced to close when the Beale's landlords sold the building to new owners, adding that after some time off, he may eventually look for a new venue to run.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Michael Castro, the well-known St. Louis poet who was a member of the STL Free Jazz Collective and had a long history of collaborating with jazz and creative musicians, died last Sunday, December 23, as reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch/STLtoday and St. Louis Public Radio and the St. Louis American.

Castro (pictured second from right, with the Collective) recently had completed a term as St. Louis' first-ever poet laureate. He was 73 years old and had battled colon cancer for some time. Funeral arrangements are pending.

* Pianist and singer Harry Connick Jr's show last Thursday at the Stifel Theatre was reviewed for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Dan Durchholz. The Post's website STLtoday also published online an "iParty" gallery of photos of concert-goers.

* Vocal group Take 6's performance with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, also last Thursday, was reviewed by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn, and also was the subject of an STLtoday "iParty" gallery.

* Saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett, who died in October, was the subject of a year-end remembrance in the Detroit Metro Times. Bluiett also was mentioned in NPR Music's tribute to musicians who died in 2018.

* The story behind "Blue Xmas," trumpeter Miles Davis' one-off holiday collaboration with the late singer, pianist, and songwriter Bob Dorough, was recounted in an article in the Anderson Valley Advertiser.

STL Free Jazz Collective's new digital album is Live at the Ozark Theatre

The STL Free Jazz Collective has released a new digital album, Live at the Ozark Theatre, which is available now as a name-your-price download from Bandcamp.com.

As the title suggests, the recording was made at a live performance last December at the Ozark Theatre in Webster Groves.

Along with improvised music from the group's five instrumentalists, the album (pictured) includes three tracks featuring spoken word performances from St. Louis poet laureate Michael Castro, titled "We Need to Talk," "America Loves Its Guns More Than Its Children," and "St. Louis Blues Revisited."

The topical focus is no coincidence, said the group's keyboardist Jim Hegarty via email. "The message is yet again really relevant in the light of recent events," Hegarty said. "We're really into the idea of unity and we're using our music to share a vision of peace and freedom for everyone."

In addition to Hegarty and Castro, the STL Free Jazz Collective includes "Baba" Mike Nelson (trumpet, shells, percussion and vocals), Paul Steinbeck (bass), Gary Sykes (drums), and Jerome "Jay Dubz" Williams (alto sax).

Greg Mills' Esfoma to perform Wednesday, October 22 at Tavern of Fine Arts

From the late 1970s through the 1990s, pianist Greg Mills was a frequent public participant in the St. Louis creative music scene, performing and recording as a solo artist and as part of the duo Exiles with multi-instrumentalist Jay Zelenka.

More recently, Mills has been much less visible, but now he's scheduled a return to the stage as a leader with a gig at 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday, October 22 at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Performing under the name Esfoma (after his 1984 solo release of the same name), Mills will be joined by saxophonist Dave Stone, cellist Tracy Andreotti, percussionist Henry Claude, poet Michael Castro, and fellow pianist David Parker.

You can hear samples from the album Esfoma and from Mills' other recordings, both solo and with Exiles, via the website of Zelenka's label Freedonia Music.

Admission to the performance on October 22 at Tavern of Fine Arts is free.

Freedonia Music releases four new CDs

Freedonia Music, the St. Louis-based independent label run by multi-instrumentalist Jay Zelenka, has released four new CDs from local/regional jazz and creative music performers:

Ghost Machines (pictured) is a sampler album showcasing the label's various recordings of "avant-garde, free jazz & free improv artists from St. Louis USA," including the Human Arts Ensemble, EXILES, The Free Jazz Posse, Squid Choir Orkestra, J.D. Parran, Michael Castro, Greg Mills, and Dave Stone.

Needle of Light is a previously unissued recording of vintage performances featuring saxophonist James Marshall's iteration of the Human Arts Ensemble teamed with poet Michael Castro for "old school free jazz avant-blues & theatrical constructions...deep roots performance poetry 30 years before it became a fashion & acquired a name."

Infinite Circus is the latest release from Squid Choir Orkestra, an electronic free-improv ensemble that includes Zelenka, Jeremy Melsha, Dave Stone, Ajay Khanna, Aaron Smith, and Derek Leu.

Zelenka and Stone also figure in the fourth new release, Lifeline, a series of improv duets and trios for voice, baritone sax and electronic alto sax that also features vocalist Lika Shubitidze.

StLJN will have some impressions of these recordings in a future post, but you can hear extensive audio excerpts from all four albums, and/or purchase your very own copies, right now at the Freedonia Music website.

ROCKPILE Poetry and Music Festival coming to St. Louis on Tuesday, November 24

ROCKPILE is coming to St. Louis. No, not the late 1970s/early 1980s rock band with Dave Edmonds, Nick Lowe, Terry Williams and Billy Bremner - it's the ROCKPILE Poetry and Music Festival, a collaboration between traveling and local performers that will take place at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 24 in the performance space at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar.

ROCKPILE is the brainchild of poet, musician, and essayist David Meltzer (pictured) and Michael Rothenberg, a poet, songwriter and editor of Big Bridge Press. Inspired by "the tradition of the troubadour" and "the spirit of improvisation and collaboration," Meltzer and Rothenberg are traveling to eight U.S. cities to perform poetry, composed on the road, with local musicians in each city.

St. Louis will be the seventh stop of the ROCKPILE tour, which also will have visited New York City, Chicago and New Orleans before wrapping up in San Francisco. Meltzer and Rothenberg are documenting the tour online at http://www.bigbridge.org/rockpile/ with daily performance clips, journal excerpts, interviews, video and audio files.

Performers in St. Louis will include musicians Zimbabwe Nkenya (bass, mbira), Dave Black (guitar) and Bob Malone (piano), plus poets Michael Franklin, Shirley LeFlore, Michael Castro, K. Curtis Lyle, David Jackson, Alexander Balogh, Sean Arnold, Terri Carrion, Howard Schwartz, and Philip Gounis.

Admission is to the St. Louis ROCKPILE performance is free and open to the public. For more information, call 314-863‐5811 or visit the ROCKPILE Web site.

BAG II to present final event next Sunday, December 28

BAG II has scheduled its final event as a presenting organization for 7:00 p.m. next Sunday, December 28 at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe. From the e-mail announcement:

"On Sunday, December 28th BAG II is Out! with its final presentation: an evening of performance and visual art dedicated to the memory of Vincent Terrell and Ajule “Sonny” Rutlin, original founding members of both BAG and BAG II. The presentation will highlight the spirit of Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) the third day of Kwanzaa. Paying tribute to the BAG vision will be original BAG poet Shirley LeFlore, with Michael Castro, and Marsha Cann; visual artist Seitu James Smith and musician Zimbabwe Nkenya. The event is free, 7 – 9 PM at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, 2658 Delmar Blvd...

...According to Zimbabwe Nkenya, “BAG II has had its run, but the creative spirit that has driven this work over the past two years will continue.” For more information on the December 28th event call 314-340-5790 or email bag_blackartistgroup@yahoo.com."

Freedonia Music releases five new CDs

The St. Louis-based label Freedonia Music, which specializes in free jazz and improvisation, has just added five new CD titles to its catalog. The new releases are:

* Autonomous Oblast from The James Marshall Human Arts Ensemble, which originally was recorded in 1975 and has been digitally remastered from the original studio tapes. The CD (pictured) is described as "big band old school free-blown' free jazz. Featuring rare performances by Maurice Malik King, James Marshall, Luther Thomas, Thurman Thomas, Jim Miller, Carl Arzinia Richards, Papa Glen Wright, and others."

* Esfoma, a 1984 set of solo improvisations by pianist Greg Mills, also digitally remastered.

* Dave Stone Solo, featuring newly recorded improvisations from Stone on tenor, soprano and baritone saxes and alto, soprano and bass clarinets.

* Kokopilau, from poet Michael Castro and multi-reedman J.D. Parran, described as "a ceremony of the ancient future celebrating a 30 year collaboration...Retelling mythic tales of life, death & rebirth with voice, tenor sax, indigenous hand crafted instruments and postmodern techniques."

* Endless Root, a 1996 live recording of performance poetry with music, from Michael Castro and multi-instrumentalist Joe Catalano.

The label, which is headed by saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Jay Zelenka, also has a revamped Web site with a new look, improved functionality and more information about the various products and artists. Listeners can hear numerous short excerpts from each CD on the home page, and download full length MP3s of selected tunes. All Freedonia Music releases are available from the site for $10 each, which includes shipping in the USA and Canada.

BAG to present "One For King" on Sunday, January 20

Via email, BAG has announced that they'll present a program called "One For King" this Sunday, January 20 at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe. The event is, as the name suggests, dedicated to the memory and message of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and will feature a lineup of poets, musicians and artists including Michael Castro and the BAG Trio ("Baba" Mike Nelson on trumpet and percussion, Zimbabwe Nkenya on bass and mbira, and the great Gary Sykes on drums and percussion).

The program will include several group improvisations as well as individual performances. Sykes will be featured on a solo drum composition "in remembrance of the struggle" and Nkenya will offer a piece based on "Dr. King, The Peaceful Warrior," a Cal Massey composition featured on the Archie Shepp album Things Have Got to Change. Nelson and Castro also will perform original solo pieces honoring the Rev. Dr. King.

"One For King" takes place from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and admission is free. For more information, call the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site at 314-340-5790 or send email to bag_blackartistgroup@yahoo.com.

New label Freedonia Music offers adventurous sounds

Saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Jay Zelenka has been around the St. Louis music scene for quite a while - long enough to have performed with Luther Thomas and the Human Arts Ensemble back in the 1970s. Over the ensuing three decades, Zelenka has maintained a comparatively low profile, resurfacing occasionally (often in the company of pianist Greg Mills) for a concert or two or a new recording.

Now Zelenka has a way to keep his music before the public on a more consistent basis with the launch of Freedonia Music, described as "a web based outlet for CDs of new music produced by myself and various friends."

Specializing in "free jazz/free improv & creative composition," Freedonia Music has five CDs in its initial offering, including titles credited to Squid Choir Orkestra, Free Jazz Posse, Exiles, Stone/Zelenka/Mills, and Greg Mills solo. You can download sample tracks in .MP3 format by visiting Freedonia's downloads page.

Zelenka says he has "numerous projects in the works for future release," including historic performances and new recordings by Human Arts Ensemble, Exiles and Free Jazz Posse; solo projects by keyboardist Greg Mills and multi-reed player Dave Stone; and some spoken word recordings featuring poet Michael Castro with reed player J.D. Parran, with keyboardist Joe Catalano, and with The Human Arts Ensemble.