Webster U faculty, alums to perform Monday, June 21 in support of jazz academy in Poland

St. Louis musicians associated with jazz studies at Webster University will perform in support of an international jazz education program in "Bebop, Blues, Ballads and Bossas," a concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 21 at the First Congregational Church, 10 W. Lockwood Ave. in Webster Groves.

The participating musicians all are current and former faculty members and alumni from Webster U, including trumpeter and former department of music chair Mike Parkinson; pianists Kim Portnoy, Carol Schmidt, and Carolbeth True; bassists Willem von Hombracht and Ben Wheeler; drummers Kevin Gianino and Joe Meyer; violinist Abbie Steiling; and saxophonists Paul DeMarinis, Hugh Jones, Mike Karpowicz, Chris Hubbard and Zac Minor.

They'll be playing in support of the International Summer Jazz Academy (ISJA) in Krakow, Poland, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. ISJA serves high school and college students from Poland and other countries, offering a curriculum that includes small combos, vocal jazz ensemble, music theory, history and improvisation, master classes, and nightly jam sessions for students and faculty. More than 100 students are expected at this year's session.

Parkinson was the ISJA's artistic director from 1995 to 2004, and von Hombracht served in the same capacity from 2008 to 2014. In addition, a number of Webster U faculty members and gradate students over the years have served as guest instructors or teaching assistants for the program.

Now, as the organization celebrates its 25th anniversary, both Parkinson and von Hombracht (pictured) have been invited to return for the anniversary festivities, which will be held July 25 through August 1 at the Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow. Proceeds from the June 21 concert will help to underwrite their travel expenses to and from Krakow.

General admission to "Bebop, Blues, Ballads and Bossas" is $10 per person, and tickets will be available only at the door.

Jazz this week: The Bad Plus plays Stravinsky, Marty Ehrlich's Rites Quartet, the Brubeck Brothers, Laurence Hobgood & Ernie Watts, and more

The good news is that it's another busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, including some very attractive free events.

The bad news is that, absent time travel, cloning or some other fictional technology that doesn't exist, it's probably impossible for one person to hear it all. Nevertheless, to help you decide which shows are worth checking out, here are StLJN's picks for the week.

Tonight, Dizzy Atmosphere plays swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck, and trumpeter Jim Manley performs at Sasha's Wine Bar.

On Thursday night, Jazz St. Louis presents "Stravinsky: Real & Imagined" with The Bad Plus at Viragh Center for the Arts, on the campus of Chaminade College Prep, 425 S. Lindbergh Blvd. In addition to The Bad Plus' performance of their version of Igor Stravinsky's "The Rites of Spring," which they've named "On Sacred Ground," the free concert also will feature members of the St. Louis Symphony performing several other works composed by Stravinsky.

Also on Thursday, the Eric Slaughter/Tom Byrne Quartet will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and "Jazz Unlimited" host Dennis Owsley will serve as moderator for a live interview and discussion with multi-instrumentalist, composer and former St. Louisan Marty Ehrlich at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Blvd. The free event is sponsored by New Music Circle.

Ehrlich, who's now based in NYC, has returned to his old hometown to perform with his Rites Quartet in a concert on Friday at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand, also presented by New Music Circle. For more about Ehrlich, and some video samples of him performing with different groups including the Rites Quartet, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, pianist Laurence Hobgood's quintet with special guest tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts (pictured) opens a two-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. Although the two headliners don't work together regularly, Hobgood, who's the longtime pianist and musical director for singer Kurt Elling, teamed up with the vastly underrated Watts for a one-off date last year at the Bistro, and it went so well they decided to double down this season.

Elsewhere around town on Friday, pianist Ptah Williams plays a free early evening set as part the monthly "First Friday" program at the Kemper Art Museum at Washington University; Lindy Hop St. Louis presents their monthly West End Stomp swing dance at the Mahler Ballroom, with Miss Jubilee as October's featured performer; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham returns to The Precinct, formerly known as Jim Edmonds 15 Steakhouse, at 1900 Locust downtown.

UPDATE: 11:00 a.m., 10/4/13 - Lindy Hop St. Louis has announced via Facebook that tonight's "West End Stomp" is cancelled, due to a booking conflict at the venue. 

On Saturday, pianist Carolbeth True and friends will play a free early afternoon set as part of the Rock Hill Fall Festival, and singers Mary Dyson and Diane Vaughn will join forces for a late afternoon show at Troy's Jazz Gallery.

Then on Saturday evening, the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, led by Dave Brubeck's sons Chris, a bassist and trombonist, and Dan, a drummer, will perform what's billed as a "Tribute to Dave Brubeck" at Sheldon Concert Hall. The remaining tickets for this show have been discounted to $25 for online buyers; for information on how to get the discount, see this post.

Also on Saturday, singer Feyza Eren returns to the Wine Press; the Sidemen play swing at Schlafly Bottleworks; and bassist Bob Deboo begins a new weekly gig at the Kranzberg Arts Center, in which he'll lead a rhythm section that's joined by a different special guest each month. This month's guest is saxophonist Dave Stone.

On Sunday, the Friends of Scott Joplin present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at Dressel's, 419 N Euclid Ave in the Central West End.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday trumpeter and former Webster University faculty member Mike Parkinson, who's now director of the school of music at Middle Tennessee State University, will be back in town for a visit, teaming up with guitarist Steve Schenkel, bassist Willem von Hombracht and drummer Kevin Gianino to play at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

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.)