So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Two St. Louis venues made it onto the music business trade publication Pollstar's list of the Top 200 Club Venues for worldwide ticket sales in 2018. The Pageant came in at number four on the list, while its sibling just down the street, Delmar Hall, was ranked at number 54.

* Keyboardist and singer Jesse Gannon was interviewed about his new eponymous album by the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer.

* Saxophonists Dave Liebman and Jeff Coffin are featured on On The Corner Live: The Music of Miles Davis, a tribute to Davis' "electric period" that will be released Friday, March 1 on Ear Up Records. Liebman was part of Davis' band from 1970 to 1974. The album (pictured), which was recorded live in 2015 in Nashville, also includes bassist Victor Wooten, drummer Chester Thompson, guitarist James DaSilva, and keyboardist Chris Walters.

* The Arts and Education Council is offering a $20,000 prize for arts entrepreneurs in the St. Louis region via its the third-annual stARTup Creative Competition. The purpose of the competition is "to identify and support organizations filling a hole in the local arts economy." The deadline to apply is Friday, March 1; for more information or to submit an application, go here.

* In what must be the weirdest local music-business story of the week, St. Louis media are reporting that organizers of the ill-fated Loufest are suing the firm that was contracted to provide sound and lights for the event. The suit claims intentional sabotage, and alleges an attempt to hijack the festival's concept after the 2018 event was cancelled.

* The Missouri History Museum has launched "The Townsend Piano Project," a campaign to raise $25,000 to restore a piano that belonged to the late St. Louis blues musician Henry Townsend and incorporate it into the museum's "St. Louis Sound" exhibition planned for 2021. The Museum is accepting donations online, and will stage a fund-raising concert on Sunday, May 26 at BB’s Jazz, Blues and Soups.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Veterans Administration hospital has filed papers to demolish the Palladium, aka Club Plantation, the historic building (pictured) at the intersection of Enright and Delmar that hosted performances from many significant jazz and blues musicians from the 1930s through the 1950s. The VA wants to put a parking lot on the site. Author and illustrator Kevin Belford is keeping track of the story via a "Save The Palladium Building at Grand Center" page on Facebook.

* Author and former St. Louisan Benjamin Cawthra was on KWMU's Cityscape program last week to discuss his book Blue Notes in Black and White: Photography and Jazz and his appearance on Sunday afternoon at the Missouri History Museum.

* The Post-Dispatch's Gail Pennington has a story about Ken Haller's cabaret performance "The TV Show," which happens tonight and tomorrow night at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

* The KDHX website has photos from last Friday's performance by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at the Old Rock House.

* Here's more coverage of Jazz St. Louis' 2012-13 season schedule announcement from Terry Perkins of the St. Louis Beacon, Kevin Johnson of the Post-Dispatch, and Elaine Hoffman of St. Louis magazine. (And in case you missed it, StLJN's story is here.)

* A new episode of HEC-TV's I Love Jazz will get its first airing at 8:00 p.m. next Thursday, June 7 on Charter channel 989, U-Verse channel 99, and via the cable network's website. This installment features a live performance by trumpeter Jim Manley recorded at Jimmy's on the Park.

* As reported by both the Post-Dispatch and Business Journal, Wells Fargo Advisors will contribute $100,000 to Jazz St. Louis to be the presenting sponsor of the 2012-13 Jazz at the Bistro season.

Benjamin Cawthra, author of book on jazz and photography, to speak Sunday, June 3 at the Missouri History Museum

Author, jazz historian and former St. Louisan Benjamin Cawthra is coming back to his old hometown for an event promoting his book Blue Notes in Black and White: Photography and Jazz.

Cawthra will speak and sign copies of the book (pictured) starting at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, June 3 in the Des Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell. The event is free and open to the public.

He'll discuss "the development of jazz photography from the swing era of the 1930s to the rise of black nationalism in the 1960s." Saxophonist Kelvin Evans will play a short set of standards before the lecture.

Cawthra lived in St. Louis for 16 years, earning a Ph.D in history from Washington University and working for the History Museum, where in 2001 he curated the exhibit "Miles: A Miles Davis Retrospective." Cawthra, who also helped coordinate the Sheldon Art Galleries' 2008 exhibit of the jazz photos of Herb Snitzer, now is an associate professor of history and associate director of the Center for Oral and Public History at California State University, Fullerton.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist, composer and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake (pictured) is the latest musician to go the crowd-funding route to finance his next project. Lake is using the website IndieGoGo to attempt to raise $6,000 between now and April 1 to pay for a new album by his big band. The budget includes rehearsal, recording, musician fees, mixing, mastering and pressing.

IndieGoGo functions much like Kickstarter, the site that saxophonist Eric Person recently used successfully to raise money for his next recording project; for more details on how it works, go here. Depending on the amount pledged, contributors to the project will receive premiums ranging from a copy of the finished CD to concert tickets or even a piece of Lake's original visual artwork. Lake plans to complete the big band album by early summer and release it on his own Passin' Thru label.

* Jazz On Broadway has posted a photo album from New Year's Eve on their Facebook page.

* The Missouri History Museum is looking for young musicians from a variety of genres, including jazz, to take part in a concert on March 19 at the Museum that will "reflect the diversity of Missouri and the strength of its young musicians." For more info, see here (.pdf file).

* The online concert information Pollstar has released their list of the Top 100 club venues worldwide based on total ticket sales during 2011, and The Pageant in St. Louis once again was among the leaders, coming in at number five.

Jazz this week: Tim Cunningham and Jim Stevens, Oleta Adams, Wayne Coniglio's live recording, Larry Brown Jr., and more

While St. Louis no longer has a major jazz festival in June since the demise a couple of years ago of the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival, that doesn't mean the local scene is completely devoid of jazz and creative music activity this time of year. Here's what's going on around town this weekend...

Tonight, trombonist (and sometimes bassist) Wayne Coniglio will perform with his band and guest trombonist Scott Whitfield for a live CD recording session at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Whitfield is perhaps best known for his ten years as lead trombonist for NYC's Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra; the band also will include Ken Kehner (piano), Eric Warren (bass) and Kevin Gianino (drums).

On Thursday, singer Erin Bode and her band will perform a free outdoor concert in downtown Kirkwood as part of the city's annual summer concert series.

On Friday and Saturday, St. Louis gets its own local version of one of those contemporary jazz package shows, as the R&B-oriented saxophonists Tim Cunningham (pictured) and Jim Stevens will team up for the first time to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Friday, Michael Silverman's Classical Jazz Quartet (basically the Downtown Trio plus one) will perform at the Focal Point; Chicago-based guitarist Larry Brown Jr. is playing at Robbie's House of Jazz; guitarist Dave Black's trio, with drummer Kevin Gianino and bassist Willem von Hombracht, will perform at the Cigar Inn in Belleville; and the Original Knights of Swing will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

That same evening, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will present "Vegas and the Rat Pack," with orchestral versions of songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr featuring singer and conductor Matt Catingub and singer Anita Hall.

Also on Saturday, Swing Set will perform in the afternoon at Montelle Winery, and that evening Robbie's has drummer Brian Sullivan's trio, with Dave Becherer on keyboards and Darrell Mixon on bass.

On Sunday, the jazz-influenced singer Oleta Adams will perform at the Missouri History Museum as part of a Juneteenth commemoration.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday drummer Joe Pastor's trio will play at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups, and on Tuesday, Robbie's will present their weekly open jam session.

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.)

(Edited after posting to add details on Erin Bode, SLSO and Swing Set.)

Jeremy Davenport, Phil Perry to perform in fall Twilight Tuesdays concerts

The Missouri History Museum has announced the schedule for its fall series of Twilight Tuesdays concerts, and the lineup includes a couple of shows that will be of particular interest to jazz fans.

Trumpeter, singer and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport will perform on Tuesday, September 7, and singer and former East St. Louisan Phil Perry (pictured) will take the Twilight Tuesdays stage on Tuesday, September 28. Fans of classic soul also may enjoy guitarist Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers, who will headline a show on Tuesday, October 5.

Other performers in the fall 2010 series will include Tribute to Earth, Wind and Fire (August 31); Take It to the Limit Eagles Tribute Band (September 14); The Fabulous Motown Revue (September 21); PowerPlay (October 12): and HoneyVox (October 19).

Twilight Tuesdays concerts take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the lawn outside the History Museum, 5700 Lindell in Forest Park. In the event of bad weather, concerts will be rescheduled. For more information, go to www.mohistory.org or call 314-746-4599 or 800-916-8212.

Two spring/summer concert series announce schedules

The schedules have been announced for the Missouri History Museum's spring Twilight Tuesdays and for the fourth annual Whitaker Urban Evenings series, and while neither has much in the way of straight-ahead jazz, both will offer some concerts of potential interest to jazz fans in the St. Louis area.

The Twilight Tuesdays series starts next Tuesday, April 27 with R&B vocal group L.L.C., and will include shows from the Latin band El Caribe Tropical (May 4), singer Anita Rosamond (May 18, pictured), and the Sinatra Songbook featuring the Steve Schankman Orchestra (May 25). The free concerts take place starting at 6:30 p.m. each Tuesday through June 8 on the front lawn of the History Museum in Forest Park. For more information and a complete schedule, visit the History Museum's website.

Meanwhile, the Whitaker Urban Evening Series, which happens at St. Louis Place Park, Rauschenbach Avenue and St. Louis Avenue, has a lineup that will include singer Kim Massie (June 10), Brazilian music group Samba Bom (June 17) and the Funky Butt Brass Band (July 8). Performances will begin at 7:00 p.m. Thursdays starting with Massie's June 10 show and continuing through July 15. Admission is free; for more information and a complete schedule, visit the website of series co-sponsors Grace Hill.

History Museum schedules fall Twilight Tuesdays concerts

The Missouri History Museum has announced the musical lineup for their fall 2009 Twilight Tuesdays series of free outdoor concerts, and there are three shows featuring artists of potential interest to jazz fans.

The New Orleans-style funk/R&B combo Gumbohead will kick off the fall series this Tuesday, August 25, with singer Denise Thimes performing the following week on Tuesday, September 1. The Legacy Jazz Quintet also will appear in the series, reprising their tribute to Miles Davis' album Kind of Blue on Tuesday, September 22.

Non-jazz performances will include the Rhythm Rockers (September 8), Dr. Zhivegas (September 15), the Fabulous Motown Review (September 29) and Boogie Chyld (October 6).

All concerts are free and open to the public, and take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. outside the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. Listeners are encouraged to bring their own lawn chair and/or blanket. In the event of inclement weather, concerts will be rescheduled to a later date. For more information, you can call the Twilight Tuesdays hotline after 3:00 p.m. on concert days at 800-916-8212.

Jazz this week: "Jazz Cavalcade" with Kirk Whalum, Chicago Afrobeat Project, Javier Mendoza, Cornet Chop Suey, and more

From African and Latin rhythms to traditional jazz and swing to a free concert featuring a well-known smooth jazz saxophonist, here's a look at what's going on over the next few days with jazz and creative music in St. Louis.

The polyrhythmic portion of the weekend gets underway on Friday night, when the Chicago Afrobeat Project performs at The Gramophone. The CAB can include from seven to 14 musicians, and draws on influences such as juju, highlife, American funk, and afro-Cuban music as well as the experimental jazz and rock of the Chicago music scene.

Also on Friday, Latin/pop/rock singer-songwriter Javier Mendoza will start a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro, trying his hand at some Latin jazz with an assist from special guest guitarist Dave Black (pictured). Since this is something of a first-time experiment, I don't think anyone quite knows what to expect, but given Mendoza's apparently substantial fan base, it could be a good draw for the Bistro - and if not, well, at least they're trying something a little different, something yr. humble editor generally encourages.

Also on Saturday, there's a benefit at the White Flag Projects art gallery for electronic musician Joe Raglani, who recently had a van-full of equipment stolen while on tour. See this post for details.

On Sunday, the St. Louis Jazz Club presents a concert of traditional jazz and swing from Cornet Chop Suey at Bel-Air Bowl in Belleville. And elsewhere around town, Brandt's has singer Kim Massie on Friday, and the St. Louis Jazz Cafe will feature the Neal Connors Quartet on Thursday, singer Diane Vaughn on Friday, and saxophonist Rod Tate and guitarist Gregg Haynes, aka 2Smooth, on Saturday.

Looking beyond the weekend, the next event in the Twilight Tuesdays series of free concerts at the Missouri History Museum will be "Jazz Cavalcade" featuring saxophonist Kirk Whalum. The Twilight Tuesdays shows generally feature local acts, so the presence of an internationally known, Grammy nominated headliner like Whalum is especially noteworthy.

Of course, the fact that the Memphis native is the nephew of our town's Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum likely played a role in getting him here, and the show will still have a strong local flavor, as he'll be accompanied by what should be a first-rate band of St. Louis musicians, including his uncle "Peanuts" plus Jeff Anderson, Reggie Thomas, Marty Morrison, Eric Slaughter and Danny Campbell. The Twilight Tuesdays shows usually draw a crowd, and as long as the weather is agreeable, look for a big turnout for the Whalums and company.

Also on Tuesday, after things wind down at the History Museum, you've still got time to get over to The Gramophone to hear the band Utter Chaos in another of the club's no-cover-charge shows co-sponsored with Jazz St. Louis.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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.)

STLtoday has online video of Kind of Blue tribute

STLtoday.com has a short video online today with excerpts from last night's free concert by the Legacy Jazz Quintet at the Missouri History Museum. The tribute to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue was presented by Jazz St. Louis and the History Museum as part of JSL's Whitaker Community Concerts series. You can see the video here.

History Museum to host Kind of Blue tribute, "Jazz Cavalcade" with Kirk Whalum

The Missouri History Museum and Jazz St. Louis are teaming up to present a 50th anniversary tribute to Miles Davis' classic album Kind of Blue at 6:00 p.m., Thursday, May 7 in the Museum's MacDermott Grand Hall. The tribute concert will feature JSL director of education Phil Dunlap and the Legacy Jazz Quintet performing and discussing selections from Kind of Blue. Admission is free and open to the public.

The History Museum's just-announced Twilight Tuesdays series of free outdoor concerts also has some shows of interest to jazz fans, most notably the "Jazz Cavalcade" on Tuesday, June 2. This concert will feature saxophonist Kirk Whalum; his uncle, the veteran pianist, saxophonist and singer Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum; and a group of St. Louis musicians including Jeff Anderson, Marty Morrison, Danny Campbell, Eric Slaughter and Reggie Thomas. (Fans of Kirk Whalum also should note that he'll be back in the St. Louis area in July with fellow saxophonist Gerald Albright when their "Sax for Stax" tour plays the Bottleneck Blues Bar in St. Charles.)

Other noteworthy dates in the Twilight Tuesdays series include a show on May 5 by Friendz, featuring singer Cheryl Brown, keyboardist/singer Jeremiah Allen and saxophonist Amos Brewer; and a May 12 concert by singer Kim Massie. The Twilight Tuesdays shows are free and open to the public, and begin at 6:30 p.m. on the front lawn of the History Museum, Lindell & DeBaliviere in Forest Park. For more details and a complete schedule of the spring 2009 Twilight Tuesdays concerts, go here, or call 314-454-3199 or 800-916-8212 for more information.

Jazz this week: Dave Brubeck, Jason Moran, Brett Stamps, Logan Richardson, SIUE Friends of Music benefit, and more

It looks to be a nice, crisp fall weekend here in St. Louis, perfect weather for getting out of the house and hearing some live music. Here's a look at some of the noteworthy jazz and creative music performances coming up over the next few days.

Due to the Vice-Presidential debate being held on campus, there's no Jazz at Holmes concert tonight at Washington University. However, if multi-media performance of a different sort piques your interest, Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center is presenting a show this evening featuring Italian composer and sound artist Alessandro Bossetti and Brooklyn, New York’s Byron Westbrook. They'll be performing "Corridors," which is described as "a multi-channel audio/video environment that uses video projections, amplifiers and speakers strategically placed within a performance space. The project emphasizes how redistributed energy of sound and light in space can alter perception." Also on the bill are the 7th epicycle, performing a new version of Mark Sarich’s improv/electronics piece “[you]like(it)” and Eric Hall doing solo electronics.

On Friday, trombonist Brett Stamps and his quartet begin a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. Stamps has a wide range as a player, from traditional New Orleans-style jazz to big band swing to bop, hard bop and modern styles. His recent CD release Bad to the Bone teamed him with fellow trombonist Jim Owens for a set recalling the J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding collaborations of the 1950s. Expect at least a taste of several of the aforementioned genres and who knows, perhaps Owens will stop by and sit in for a number or two.

Unquestionably the biggest musical name in town this week is pianist Dave Brubeck (pictured), who returns to St. Louis on Saturday night to play at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The term "legendary" gets thrown around rather promiscuously in today's overheated media environment, but the adjective truly applies to Brubeck, a musician and composer whose work has evoked continued interest for more than 50 years now. Along with his classic quartet, he helped popularize the use of odd-meter time signatures in jazz, opening a lot of ears among both musicians and listeners along the way. It's a marvel that he's still out on the road performing at age 83, and the Sheldon is, as always, a fine venue for acoustic jazz.

There's lots going on this Sunday, starting in late morning with the brunch and concert paying tribute to Don and Heide Wolff at Harris Stowe State University, described in detail in this post. Featured performers at the concert at 1:00 p.m. will include Mae Wheeler, Gene Lynn, Bill Tucker, Willie Akins, Anita Jackson and Anita Rosamond. The information sent out by Harris-Stowe indicated that reservations for the brunch closed yesterday, but if you're interested in attending, call 314-340-3386 for the latest. The auditorium at Harris-Stowe is a good-sized room, and even if the brunch is sold out, they may very well still be able to accommodate additional concert-goers.

Later that afternoon, there's a benefit dinner and dance/concert for the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Friends of Music's scholarship fund, featuring performances by singer Mardra Thomas and the SIUE Concert Jazz Band conducted by saxophonist Jason Swagler. The "Hollywood Jazz" event gets underway at 5:00 p.m. in SIUE's Meridian Ballroom with a cocktail hour and performance by Thomas, followed by dinner and dancing.

Then on Sunday evening, the acclaimed pianist Jason Moran will perform a solo concert at the Missouri History Museum, with St. Louis' Hugh "Peanuts' Whalum as opening act. You can see some videos of Moran in this previous StLJN post. And as if all that weren't enough for one day, BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups also a has double bill on Sunday evening with Good 4 The Soul and singer Anita Rosamond and her group.

Looking beyond the weekend, the Sessions Big Band is at BB's on Monday, and on Tuesday, saxophonist Logan Richardson performs at The Gramophone. Richardson is a Kansas City native now based in New York City. He studied saxophone with St. Louis native Greg Osby and has a CD on the Fresh Sound New Talent label. In addition to leading his own groups, Richardson has performed and recorded with Joe Chambers, Stefon Harris, Greg Tardy, Nashiet Waits, and many others. St. Louis saxophonist Bennett Wood will open the show.

As always, these are just some of the highlights of what's happening around town, so to see listings of more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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 to present community concerts, CD listening club

With the 2008-09 season at Jazz at the Bistro now well underway, Jazz St. Louis is launching two new initiatives this month.

The first is the Whitaker Community Concerts, a series of free Thursday night performances featuring St. Louis-based musicians at various venues around the metro area. The Community Concerts series kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 16 with a concert by singer Kim Massie at the Foundry Arts Centre in St. Charles.

JSL director of operations Bob Bennett tells StLJN that they're still booking talent for the rest of the shows, which will include a concert on December 11 at the Black Cat Theatre in Maplewood that will focus on the music of Louis Armstrong; a show on March 12, 2009 at Lucas School House; and the series finale on May 7, 2009, which will be devoted to the music of Miles Davis and take place at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.

The other new program is the Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club, described as a "book club for your ears" that will help listeners explore and understand great jazz recordings while building their personal jazz libraries. The first CD Listening Club session will take place at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 14 at Borders Books and Music, 1519 S. Brentwood Blvd in Brentwood. Jazz journalist/artist manager/producer Terry Perkins will serve as MC and interviewer as he and JSL executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford discuss one of Bradford's favorites, Duke Ellington's classic live recording Ellington at Newport 1956.

Subsequent listening sessions will take place at the same location beginning at 7:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month. Admission is free, and special discounts on the featured CD and other music-related items will be available the night of the listening club event. Seems like a promising idea, though one might wish that JSL had been able to work out an arrangement with one of St. Louis' fine independent music stores instead of sending more business to a national chain like Borders.

(Edited 10/2/08 to better explain Perkins' and Bradford's roles in the CD listening club discussion.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Jason Moran

This week, let's take a look at some video footage of pianist Jason Moran, who's coming to St. Louis next Sunday, October 5, to perform a solo concert at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. The 33-year-old is considered one of the top young piano players in jazz, and in addition to leading his own group, he has toured and recorded with jazz notables such as Greg Osby, Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lovano, Don Byron, Steve Coleman, Lee Konitz, Von Freeman, Christian McBride and Ravi Coltrane.

The first two clips are excerpted from a performance by Moran and his group, the Bandwagon, in Munich, Germany, while the third video features the group performing Moran's composition "He Puts On His Hat And Leaves" at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tickets for Moran's St. Louis concert are available here.

Jason Moran to perform October 5 at Missouri History Museum

Confirming the news that showed up a few weeks ago on Pollstar, the Missouri History Museum has announced officially that they'll present a concert by jazz pianist Jason Moran (pictured) at 7:00 p.m., Sunday, October 5 in the MacDermott Grand Hall of the Museum's building in Forest Park.

St. Louis pianist, singer and saxophonist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum will be the opening act, accompanied by Jeff Anderson on bass and Marty Morrison on drums. Moran will play a solo piano set of about 70 minutes, and also will meet and greet audience members at a post-concert reception. Considered one of the top young pianists in jazz, the 33-year-old Moran leads his own group, The Bandwagon, and has toured and recorded with jazz notables such as Greg Osby, Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lovano, Don Byron, Steve Coleman, Lee Konitz, Von Freeman, Christian McBride and Ravi Coltrane.

The concert is part of the Missouri History Museum's "Urban Stories: Reflections of History" series, which "explores how artists - including an actor, a spoken word artist, a musician and an author - explore modern issues facing 21st-century urban dwellers."

Tickets for the Jason Moran concert are $7 for members of the History Museum and $10 for the general public. Advance tickets may be purchased online at museumtix.com and at the History Museum's site, or by phone by calling 314-361-9017.

Jazz this week: St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival; a tribute to Miles Davis; Lamar Harris CD release party; and more

This weekend's major jazz event is the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival, which will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in Clayton's Shaw Park. Singer Cassandra Wilson headlines, and the other mainstage performers are ex-Crusaders keyboardist Joe Sample (pictured) with singer Randy Crawford; Latin percussionist Tito Puente Jr.; and smooth jazz/fusion keyboardist Lao Tizer with guitarist Chieli Minucci and violinist Karen Briggs.

Local groups and musicians appearing on the festival's second stage will include pianist Ptah Williams, performing a tribute to Stevie Wonder; jam band singer-guitarist Teddy Presberg; the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, directed by bassist Jim Widner; singer Brian Owens; and Two Times True featuring pianist Carolbeth True and her son, drummer David True.

UPDATE, 5/29/08, 1:30 a.m.: The Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson has an interview with Cassandra Wilson in today's paper, available online here.

Elsewhere around town, on Friday trombonist Lamar Harris will have a release party for his latest CD at The Gramophone, and trumpeter Randy Holmes and his Quintet will present a tribute to Miles Davis at Cookie's Jazz and More. Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday singer Jeanne Trevor will perform a free concert at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park as part of the "Twilight Tuesdays" series

For more St. Louis jazz-related events this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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.)

History Museum sets lineup for fall Twilight Tuesdays concerts

The Missouri History Museum has announced the musical lineup for the fall Twilight Tuesdays series, and the first three concerts feature artsts of potential interest to jazz fans. Singer Kim Massie will kick off the fall series this Tuesday, September 4, followed by the Tommy Money Orchestra on September 11 and singer Denise Thimes on September 18.

Non-jazz performances in the series will include disco cover band Dr. Zhivegas (September 25; Steve Davis' Memories of Elvis show (October 2); the Grateful Dead-inspired Jake's Leg (October 9); and variety group Power Play (October 16).

All concerts are free and open to the public, and take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.n. outside the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. Listeners are encouraged to bring their own lawn chair and/or blanket, but the Museum also provides up to 100 chairs free on a first-come, first-served basis. When those are gone, they'll rent you one for $5. They also now are selling seats in a VIP section for $10 per person or $8 for Museum members; to purchase those tickets in advance for individuals or a group, call 314-361-9017.

"Twilight Tuesdays" concert series to feature Thimes, Cunningham

Speaking of free outdoor concerts, the Missouri History Museum, located in Forest Park, has announced their first batch of "Twilight Tuesdays" concerts for 2007, and that series also includes a couple of jazz performers.

Singer Denise Thimes kicks off the series on Tuesday, May 1, and saxophonist Tim Cunningham will be the featured perfomer on Tuesday, May 15.

The shows run from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the History Museum's front lawn. In the event of inclement weather, the concert will be rescheduled to a later date. The Museum tells concertgoers to listen to KEZK 102.5 or call (314) 746-4599 for details on cancellations and reschedulings.