While jazz fans from all over the world will be taking note of the long-awaited unveiling of the Miles Davis statue Saturday in Alton, IL, there also will be plenty of other interesting jazz and creative music events happening all around the St. Louis area. Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, September 9
In his first St. Louis show in more than a decade, pianist
Monty Alexander (pictured, top left) and his trio will perform for the first of two evenings at
Jazz at the Bistro.
Alexander, who was born in Jamaica and came to the US as a child, began his jazz career in the mid-1960s, working as a sideman for musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Milt Jackson, Benny Golson, Jimmy Griffin and Frank Morgan. He began leading his own bands in the 1970s, and past editions of his trios have included highly-regarded players such as John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.
More recently, Alexander has become known for making music specifically connected to his Caribbean roots, recording several times with Jamaican guitarist Ernest Ranglin and also issuing several albums of his own mixing jazz with reggae and other regional sounds.
Also on Wednesday, singer
Eve Seltzer returns to
Nathalie's.
Thursday, September 10
Italian pianist
Antonio Figura returns to St. Louis to play a free concert kicking off this semester's
Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.
Friday, September 11
There's no jazz at the Bistro until Sunday this weekend, as Friday is the folk/bluegrass installment of
Grand Center's "Music at the Intersection" series, and a Saturday show that was set to feature bassist Jahmal Nichols got scrubbed a while back due to Nichols' tour schedule with singer Gregory Porter.
However, this year's
St. Louis Art Fair, which runs through Sunday, will have a dedicated jazz stage, with Friday's offerings including sets from singer/pianists
Jesse Gannon and
Anita Rosamond plus a set from the
Bosman Twins. Also at the Art Fair, the
Funky Butt Brass Band will take an early evening turn over on the main stage.
Elsewhere on Friday, guitarist
Dave Black and band will play a free outdoor concert at
Ferguson CityWalk;
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to Nathalie's; and the
Original Knights of Swing play for dancers at the
Casa Loma Ballroom.
Saturday, September 12
After more than a year of anticipation, the
Miles Davis Memorial Project will unveil the statue of the legendary trumpeter created by sculptor Preston Jackson, which finally will be installed in its permanent location on Third St. in downtown Alton.
The unveiling ceremony will be preceded and followed by live music from trumpeter
Kasimu Taylor's quartet on an outdoor stage near the statue, and several bars and restaurants nearby will feature live jazz on Saturday evening. Most notably, the veteran trumpeter
Bobby Shew (pictured, center left) will be as a guest performer with drummer
Montez Coleman's band at
Elijah P's, with gigs featuring trumpeters
Jim Manley and
Dan Smith, guitarist
Tom Byrne with singer
Erika Johnson, and others happening at various other downtown spots.
Back on the west bank of the Mississippi,
Miss Jubilee will be performing in a free outdoor concert at
Lafayette Park, and the Art Fair's lineup for the day will include sets from the
Jazz Edge Big Band, singer
Denise Thimes, pianist
Ptah Williams,
Good 4 the Soul, and more.
Sunday,
September 13
If you're looking for something to do during the day, the early fall edition of the
St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show will take place at the American Czech Hall, while the Art Fair will feature performances from singer
Wendy Gordon, trumpeter
Dawn Weber, and
Animal Children on the jazz stage and singer
Tony Viviano on the main stage.
That evening, the
Dave Dickey Big Band (pictured, lower left) will resume their monthly residency at Jazz at the Bistro, with the University of Missouri's jazz band, directed by saxophonist Arthur White, as the intermission performers.
Monday, September 14
Guitarist
Daryl Darden will be back home to headline a show at
BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups, and
Dizzy Atmosphere plays at
The Shaved Duck.
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
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(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.)
