A guide to holiday jazz in St. Louis

The holiday season always comes with lots of thematic music, and here in St. Louis, listeners can take in plenty of performances aimed at those who'd like to mix some jazz with their jingle bells.

Although this year's calendar includes fewer touring shows than last year, our hometown performers are stepping up with a variety of seasonal programs to suit a diversity of musical tastes.

Here's a quick look at some noteworthy holiday-themed jazz (and jazz-adjacent) shows starting next week and continuing throughout the next month:

Route 66 Jazz Orchestra - "1/2 a Christmas Concert"
7:30 p.m., Tuesday, December 3
Sheldon Concert Hall
St. Louis-based Route 66 Orchestra presents one set of big band jazz and one set of holiday music. $15 at the door.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis - "Big Band Holidays"
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, December 4
Powell Hall
NYC-based big band led by the famed trumpeter offers swinging arrangements of holiday tunes. $50 - $90.

Funky Butt Brass Band - "Holiday Warmup"
8:00 p.m., Thursday, December 5
Joe's Cafe
St. Louis' New Orleans-style brass band gets ready for their annual "Holday Brasstravaganza' (see below). $15 at the door.

Debby Lennon - "My Favorite Christmas"
8:00 p.m., Thursday, December 5
Blue Strawberry
Singer and Webster University voice teacher offers her versions of seasonal favorites. $30 & $35.

Dean Christopher - "A Rat Pack Christmas"
8:00 p.m., Friday, December 6 & Friday, December 13
Blue Strawberry
Singer and impressionist offers seasonal songs in the style of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and more. $25 & $30.

Cornet Chop Suey - "St. Louis Jazz Club Christmas Party"
2:00 p.m. Sunday, December 8
Moolah Shrine Center - Oasis Room
St. Louis-based septet plays traditional jazz and swing, plus some selected holiday music. $15 members, $20 non-members, Free for students with ID

UMSL Jazz Orchestra, Vocal Point & Wind Ensemble - "Jazz for the Holidays"
3:00 p.m. Sunday, December 8
Touhill Performing Arts Center
UMSL music students perform in their annual holiday concert. Free and open to the public.

Jazz St. Louis Big Band plays "Ellington's 'Nutcracker"
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 10 continuing daily until Thursday, December 12
Jazz St. Louis
Duke Ellington's re-imagining of Tchaikovsky's famous work played live by a big band of St. Louis musicians, plus additional favorites from the Ellington catalog. $10 & $26.

Jim Manley - "A Very Manley Christmas"
7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m., Friday, December 13 & Saturday, December 14
Jazz St. Louis
St. Louis trumpeter and his seven-piece band offer high-energy versions of holiday favorites. $10 & $21.

Dave Black & Sandy Weltman - "3rd Annual Holiday Show"
8:00 p.m., Friday, December 13
Focal Point
Guitarist Black and multi-instrumentalist Weltman play acoustic versions of seasonal tunes. $15.

The 442s - "Holiday Spectacular"
7:30 p.m., Monday, December 16 & Tuesday, December 17
560 Music Center
Eclectic instrumental quintet (plus guest stars) presents originals and holiday favorites. $30, $25 & $15.

Erin Bode - "Holiday Concert"
7:30 p.m., Wednesday, December 18
Wildey Theatre
One of St. Louis' favorite vocalists sings original music and seasonal songs. $25.

David Giuntoli - "A Swinging Holiday Soiree"
Thursday, December 19⋅8:00 – 9:30pm
Blue Strawberry
Holiday music in the vintage style of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. $30 & $25.

Funky Butt Brass Band - "Holiday Brasstravaganza"
8:00 p.m., Friday, December 20 & Saturday, December 21
3:00 p.m., Saturday, December 21
Delmar Hall
St. Louis' popular New Orleans-style brass band moves to a new venue for the ninth year of their holiday show, with a family-friendly Saturday matinee in addition to two evening shows. $20 advance, $25 day of show for evening performances; $10 for Saturday matinee (free for kids under 5 years old).

John McDaniel - "A John McDaniel Christmas"
8:00 p.m., Friday, December 20
Blue Strawberry
St. Louis native, singer and pianist, known for his work on Broadway and on TV's Rosie O'Donnell Show, returns home for a solo performance in an intimate setting. $30 & $35.

Ken Haller - "Happy HallerDays!"
8:00 p.m., Saturday, December 21
Blue Strawberry
A St. Louis cabaret favorite reprises his popular holiday show. $30 & $25.

Dean Christopher - "A 'Rat Pack and More' Christmas Show"
6:30 p.m., Sunday, December 22
St. Peters Cultural Arts Centre
Singer & impressionist offers holiday favorites with an expanded seven-piece band. $15.

Katie McGrath - "Home(sick) for the Holidays"
8:00 p.m., Saturday, December 28
Blue Strawberry
Singer and former St. Louisan, now based in New York City, performs her versions of seasonal songs. $35 & $30.

Do you know of any holiday jazz shows this year in St. Louis that we missed? If so, please share the relevant info in the comments.

Jazz this week: Melissa Aldana Quartet, Ben Wendel's "The Seasons," Galactic, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features performances from two stellar saxophonists, one of New Orleans' favorite funk bands, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, 
March 14
Saxophonist Melissa Aldana returns with her quartet for the first of four nights of performances at Jazz at the Bistro.

Aldana, who was born in Chile and educated at Berklee, has enjoyed a fast rise in the jazz world since becoming the first female instrumentalist and the first South American to win the annual Thelonious Monk competition in 2013, thanks to her distinctive tone on tenor sax and a musical approach influenced by players such as Sonny Rollins, Don Byas and Mark Turner.

For more about Aldana, you can see and hear some samples of her playing on video in this post, which dates from her St. Louis debut two years ago, and read an interview with her published a few weeks ago by the Chicago Tribune here.

Aldana's sets also will be simulcast on video to the first-floor lounge opposite the Bistro, where they can be viewed for free as part of the "Grand Center Jazz Crawl,"  which this week also includes Jacob Alspach and Friends at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's quartet at The Dark Room.

Thursday, March 15
Saxophonist Ben Wendel performs at The Ready Room. Wendel (pictured, top left), best known as a member of the cooperative band Kneebody, currently is touring with music from a project called "The Seasons," which featured 12 original compositions dedicated to musical friends and colleagues that were released as a series of duo performances on video over the course of a year.

You can find out more about Wendel and "The Seasons," and hear some of the compositions that have been expanded to full-band arrangements for the tour, in this post from a week ago Saturday.

Update: 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 14: StLJN has just gotten word from Ben Wendel's publicist that his St. Louis date has been cancelled. If you bought tickets, contact your point of purchase for refund details.

Also on Thursday, New Orleans funk/jazz band Galactic (pictured, bottom left) will be back for another visit to St. Louis, their destination this time being Delmar Hall; Cincinnati "garage jazz" band Animal Mother tops a bill that also includes Animal Children and saxophonist Dave Stone at Foam; and saxophonist Ben Reece's Unity Quartet returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, March 16
Catch some of St. Louis' own at one of several weekly residencies happening on Fridays, including pianist Ptah Williams' trio at The Dark Room; singer and guitarist Tommy Halloran at Das Bevo Underground, or saxophonist Tim Cunningham at Troy's Jazz Gallery.

Saturday, March 17
Pianist Christopher Parrish plays a matinee at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe as part of a new monthly series presented by the Friends of Scott Joplin.

Then on Saturday night, singer Tony Viviano will be doing his thing at Table Three, while keyboardist Mo Egeston offers late night grooves at The Dark Room.

Sunday, March 18
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents Miss Jubilee in concert at the Moolah Shrine Temple in Maryland Heights.

Monday, March 19
Trumpeter Jim Manley will be back at Momo's Greek Restaurant, and pianist Carolbeth True and saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will perform a duo concert at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

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.)