Sunday Session: July 11, 2021

Susie Ibarra

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest:

* Gatemouth Brown memorialized on the road he traveled, in the town where he lived (Nola.com)
* The Urge to Destroy a Violin (The New Yorker)
* Little Walter’s Song That Changed Everything for the Blues (TheDailyBeast.com)
* The Story of Louis Armstrong’s Final Tape (LouisArmstrongHouse.org)
* More really is more with new Lee Morgan jazz release (Denver Post)
* PAMA calls for “outdated” audio terms such as ‘master/slave’ and ‘male/female’ to be replaced (MusicRadar.com)
* Grand Funk Railroad Feed Off Crowd's Energy At First Concert Back (UltimateClassicRock.com)
* In Memoriam: Rick Laird (NoTreble.com)
* John McLaughlin Discusses Mahavishnu Orchestra, Liberation Time, and More (Jazz Times)
* Norwegian Company Creating Doomsday Vault to Preserve Music Recordings (Consequence.net)
* The Sound of Early Sci-Fi: Samuel Hoffman’s Theremin (Reverb.com)
* Back on the Road! Live Sound Gears Up for Reopening (MixOnline.com)
* Five things to know about Hamid Drake (Vancouver Sun)
* Susie Ibarra: Hybrid Culture (New Music Box)
* John McLaughlin Discusses Mahavishnu Orchestra, Liberation Time, and More (Jazz Times)
* Mulgrew Miller Saw Us Through (AdmissionsProjects.com)
* What People Actually Listen To In 2021 (Music3Point0.com)
* Numbers Don’t Lie: Lilli Lewis Talks Black Presence in Americana (Offbeat)
* Frank Sinatra And Quincy Jones: When The Voice Met The Dude (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Jam & Lewis: “With Prince, we learned to use synthesizers in a very musical way” (MusicRadar.com)
* Tony Scott: How A BeBop Jazz Clarinetist Invented New Age Music (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Legendary Pete Escovedo ready to help jump-start Bay Area jazz scene (San Jose Mercury News)
* Call It Mourning: Mark Ruffin Remembers Gil Scott-Heron on the 10-Year Anniversary of the Poet’s Death (Jazziz)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Tonight, the Webster University Film Series will show 60x60 Project: Presenter's Mix, for which "video artists Patrick Liddell, Sabrina Pena, Rachel Cosic & Zlatko Cosic created 60 original works to accompany 60 experimental music compositions from 60 different international composers, each composition being 60 seconds or less in duration." The screening starts at 7:30 p.m. at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

* KSDK's Art Holliday will show segments of his work-in-progress documentary film about St. Louis blues/rock piano great Johnnie Johnson for the Webster Groves Historical Society at 7:00 p.m. this Sunday, June 2. The event will take place at Hawken House, 1155 S. Rock Hill Rd., just south of Big Bend, and also will include a Q&A with Holliday. Admission is $1 for Historical Society members, $3 for non-members.

* Radio station WSIE (88.7 FM) will be holding another on-air fund-raising event this weekend, offering CDs and other premiums for supporters who make a contribution. The pledge drive also will feature guest appearances throughout the weekend from St. Louis musicians and various other people involved with the local jazz scene, including, if all goes to plan, yr. humble StLJN editor. (For updates on this, check out the the StLJN Twitter feed.)

* Meanwhile, on Saturday night over at Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's program "Somethin' Else" will spotlight saxophonists, while Jason Church's "The Jazz Collective" will feature new music from Kyle Eastwood, Terrence Blanchard, Keiko Matsui and George Benson, plus tracks from Bob James, Hilton Feldon, Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie and local music from Clave Sol, Dawn Weber and Naked Rock Fight, Dreaming In Colour and Tommy Halloran. Wilson's show starts at 8:00 p.m., with Church following him from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. broadcasting at 107.3 FM,, 96.3 HD-2 and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

* Turning the radio dial to KWMU (90.7 FM), on Sunday night Dennis Owsley's "Jazz Unlimited" program will feature the ninth part of his audio documentary on the history of St. Louis jazz. Covering the early 2000s, the program will present music from more than two dozen current St. Louis jazz artists, plus interviews with Gene Dobbs Bradford, Erin Bode, Peter Martin, Randy Holmes and Reggie Thomas. It all starts at 9:00 p.m., and if you're outside the broadcast area, you can listen online at http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org.

* Trombonist Brett Stamps, former director of jazz studies at SIUE, is on the mend at a hospital in Springfield, IL. According to a post on Facebook from his wife Kim Stamps, "while performing in Sacramento, Brett developed bacterial pneumonia. Once home and diagnosed, he was put in the hospital and was then transferred to Springfield. He is getting great care and is progressing well."

* As usual, the anniversary of Miles Davis' birth last weekend inspired a number of online tributes; here's one of my favorites, a slide show from the New Yorker of photos of Davis.

* While guitarist Lionel Loueke was here a couple of weeks ago to play at Jazz at the Bistro, he also recorded a video interview for our town's Mel Bay Publishing. The first part of the three-part conversation is here; for the rest, follow the links.

* Shattinger Music, the St. Louis based retailer who has supplied sheet music to musicians and band directors all over the country since 1876, is going through some changes, according to this story from the Post-Dispatch's business reporter Tim Bryant. For now, they've shuttered their storefront at 1810 S. Broadway while seeking a new location, but still are doing business online.

* A local judge has issued an injunction blocking the City of St. Louis' proposed licensing requirements for street musicians. Saxophonist Fred Walker was one of the plaintiffs in a suit filed by the ACLU to block the law.

* Lastly, it is with sadness that we must report the death of pianist Mulgrew Miller (pictured), who recorded several albums for the St. Louis based MAXJAZZ label and played here at Jazz at the Bistro, the Touhill and other venues numerous times over the years. Miller, who was only 57, suffered a stroke last Friday at his home in Pennsylvania, and died on Wednesday at a nearby hospital. Down Beat magazine has more about Miller here, and the Lehigh Valley Express Times, the local paper from near where Miller lived, has a nice tribute here.

In a statement to the Washington Post, MAXJAZZ president Richard McDonnell said,“Mulgrew Miller was one of a kind. His gifts were both musical and humanitarian. He was held in the highest regard by the jazz community - musicians and fans alike. He mentored a number of young jazz musicians. Mulgrew Miller and his trio had the distinction of being the inaugural act to perform at The Kennedy Center Jazz Club on Thursday, September 5, 2002.”

Edited after posting to add the item about Brett Stamps. Edited on 6/3/13 to add statement from Richard McDonnell.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival 2011

This week, let's take a look at the headliners for next weekend's Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The GSLJF begins Thursday with adjudicated performances by middle school and high school jazz ensembles from around the area, along with workshops and clinics for the student musicians.

Those activities continue during the day on Friday and Saturday, but the main attraction for most listeners will be the concerts featuring the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra on Friday night and bassist Ron Carter's Golden Striker trio on Saturday night. The UMSL Big Band - directed, as is the festival itself, by bassist Jim Widner - will open both shows.

That common element notwithstanding, the two nights certainly offer plenty of musical contrast, with the intimate, chamber jazz of Carter, guitarist Russell Malone and pianist Mulgrew Miller offset by the expansive big band sound of the VJO.

Carter (not to be confused with saxophonist and educator Ronald Carter) perhaps is still best known for his work in the 1960s with Miles Davis, but he's also one of the most-recorded and most influential jazz bassists of the past 50 years. Miller and Malone, both a generation younger than Carter, excel at the kind of straight-ahead, swinging jazz that is the trio's meat and potatoes. Both men also have a local connection, having recorded fine CDs as leaders for the St. Louis based MAXJAZZ label.

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra is the present-day incarnation of the big band originally started in 1965 by trumpeter/arranger Thad Jones and drummer Mel Lewis. Though both founders now are deceased, the VJO continues to be a Monday night staple at NYC's Village Vanguard and a significant showcase for both players and arrangers.

Up above, you can see Carter, Malone and Miller in a video shot from the audience at their performance last month in Kassel, Germany. Down below, you'll find another clip from the same show. The videos are just one static shot, occasionally obscured by audience members walking in front of the camera, but the sound is good and the footage is the most recent available. For more on what to expect from the Golden Striker trio, check out this review of their London show last week from the London Jazz blog.

Next, we've got some clips of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra that also happen to have a connection to Missouri. The first is taken from the VJO's performance two years ago at the Missouri Theatre in Columbia, Missouri. They're playing the first part of trombonist, arranger, composer and Kansas City native Bob Brookmeyer's "Suite for Three," which was commissioned for the occasion.

Down below that, you can see and hear the VJO playing "St. Louis Blues," at the 2008 Hague Jazz Festival. The performance is split into two parts, and the chart is a good demonstration of how much a talented arranger and big band can wring from a well-known standard. For more VJO on video, check out their YouTube channel, and then look here.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of links and short local news items of interest that you may have missed:

* The Post-Dispatch's Sarah Bryan Miller reports that the new work composed by Wayne Shorter for soprano Renée Fleming and conductor David Robertson, which gets its world premiere Saturday night at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's gala concert, now has a name: "Aurora." Miller also talked with Fleming about working with Shorter and the SLSO, while the St. Louis American's Chris King scored an interview with the often-elusive saxophonist to discuss the project.

* Meanwhile, the P-D's Suburban Journal subsidiaries had a couple of items of interest this week: a feature on the St. Louis Banjo Club, written by Chris Campbell for the South County edition; and an unbylined Q&A with trumpeter and educator Prince Wells in the Madison County paper.

* Jazz St. Louis has photos from last week's shows by Kenny Barron and Mulgrew Miller on their Facebook page. (You don't have to have a Facebook account to view them.) JSL also has begun a series of blog posts back on their main site in which various staff members describe their 15 favorite jazz albums. Director of operations Bob Bennett was first up last week.

* Lisette Dennis of the Regional Arts Commission sends word of a French-American jazz exchange offering grants of up to $10,000 for small jazz ensembles and/or individual musicians from France and the United States or their territories engaged in collaborative projects and/or exploring new music. The application deadline is October 22; for more details, go here.

* Last but not least, a belated "Happy Birthday" to one of St. Louis' foremost jazz advocates, broadcaster Don Wolff (pictured), who celebrated his 75th natal day last week. Although yr. humble editor's knowledge of Yiddish is gleaned entirely from old Lenny Bruce records and a few other Jewish comedians, I believe it would be accurate to describe Mr. Wolff as a mensch, as well as a longtime and vocal supporter of jazz in general and St. Louis jazz in particular. Here's hoping he'll continue to do his thing for many years to come.

(Edited 10/4/10 to correct Lisette Dennis' last name.)

Jazz this week: Kenny Barron & Mulgrew Miller, Jonathan Butler, Phil Perry, and more

This week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes several shows featuring keyboard players, starting tonight when pianists Kenny Barron and Mulgrew Miller (pictured) begin a four-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro.

Both men are considered to be among the top piano players in mainstream jazz , and being able to hear them together, working out on a pair of nine-foot Steinway grands, is a rare opportunity. For more about Miller and Barron, and some videos of both performing, see this post.

Also tonight, singer Erin Bode and her band perform downtown at the recently re-opened Copia Urban Winery, which hasn't featured much live music yet but would certainly be a welcome addition to the mix in the area.

Thursday night is a bit sparse this week, as the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University is beginning an unexplained, mid-semester two-week hiatus. The series will return on October 7 with a concert by saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen.

On Friday, singer and guitarist Jonathan Butler will perform at 560 Music Center, with saxophonist Tim Cunningham opening the show. For more about Butler, see this post from Saturday.

Also on Friday, Robbie's House of Jazz has keyboard player Marvin F. Cockrell and his band Focus, whicle on Saturday, the club will feature keyboardist Brock Walker's quartet in a tribute to Sarah Vaughan.

On Sunday, Good 4 The Soul has an early evening show at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday pianist Kim Portnoy and his Big Band will play a concert at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium, and BB's has the return of bassist David Certain's CertainBeat WorldBop.

On Tuesday, singer Phil Perry, who got his start here in St. Louis as a member of the yesteryear vocal group the Montclairs, will be back in his hometown to perform a free outdoor concert at the Missouri History Museum as part of the Museum's Twilight Tuesdays series

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.)

Notes from the Net: Bitches Brew turns 40; new CDs from Vijay Iyer and The Bad Plus; plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* We start, as usual, with some Miles Davis news, much of it related in some way to this year's 40th anniversary re-release of Bitches Brew. The website LAist has a look at a panel discussion on the 40th anniversary of Bitches Brew at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, featuring saxophonist Bennie Maupin, who played on the sessions; actor Don Cheadle, who's set to portray the trumpeter in the proposed film biography; Davis's nephew Vince Wilburn, Jr. and his son, Erin Davis; and others.

On a similar note, the New York Times' Ben Ratliff devoted a good part of recent podcast to Miles and the recording of Bitches Brew. In somewhat-related news, here's a beer enthusiast's review of the new Bitches Brew ale, the brewers of which claim Miles as inspiration. Lastly, Miles Davis Online recently asked readers to pick their favorites from a gallery of Davis' album covers.

* Following up on some recent visitors to St. Louis, guitarist Pat Metheny's Orchestrion Tour, which played here in May at the Touhill, is set to resume in October for 19 more shows, mostly in the northeast US.

* Meanwhile, bassist Christian McBride and his band Inside Straight, including St. Louis' own Peter Martin on piano, recently were featured on NPR's Jazz Set. McBride and Martin did a duo concert last Saturday at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the bassist will be back here in March for a Ray Brown tribute at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Speaking of Martin, he and fellow MAXJAZZ recording artists Russell Malone and Romero Lubambo will perform this weekend with vocalist Dianne Reeves at the 53rd annual Monterey Jazz Festival. Malone will be at the Bistro next month to celebrate his upcoming release on the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ, while Lubambo will play with Martin at the Sheldon in December.
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* In other news of coming attractions, singer and guitarist Jonathan Butler recently was featured on CNN. Butler will be in St. Louis next Friday for a concert at the 560 Music Center.

* Singer Jane Monheit just did an interview with Jazz Times discussing the Great American Songbook and her favorite contemporary composers. Monheit comes back to St. Louis in December for four nights at the Bistro.

* Also on the road right now are pianists Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Barron, seen here together at the Detroit Jazz Festival; singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli, who just did a Duke Ellington-themed show at Scullers in Boston; and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who were just in Indiana at Goshen College. Miller and Barron are here next week at the Bistro; Pizzarelli will return to St. Louis in April to play the Sheldon, and the PHJB will perform with the Del McCoury Band in October at the Family Arena in St. Charles.

* Pianist Vijay Iyer's new solo CD was featured on NPR's "Piano Jazz," reviewed in DownBeat and on the blog Music and More, and served as impetus for a feature about Iyer in the Wall Street Journal. Iyer will be in St. Louis with the Golden Quartet in November for a New Music Circle-sponsored concert at the 560 Music Center.

* Speaking of new records, The Bad Plus' latest album Never Stop is out this week, and already has been featured on NPR and on the website Spinner, and reviewed by Music and More. They'll be back in St. Louis in January to kick off the new year at Jazz at the Bistro.

* In other recording news, the band Yellowjackets have signed a deal with Mack Avenue Records. The 'Jackets, with drummer Will Kennedy back in the fold after the departure last year of St. Louis native Marcus Baylor, will return to St. Louis in April to play at the Bistro.

* Also, Rebirth Brass Band (pictured) have signed with Basin Street Records, also home to trumpeter, singer and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport and many other jazz artists. The label "worked with Rebirth from the sidelines" in 2005 on Throwback, an album that reunited the band with founding member and now labelmate Kermit Ruffins. Rebirth are expected to release their first album on Basin Street in February 2011. They'll be in St. Louis on Thursday October 7 to perform at The Gramophone.

* Finally, those with an interest in unusual musical instruments and/or extended instrumental techniques may enjoy this recent New York Times piece about "Robert Dick's Glissando Headjoint and Other Inventions"

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Kenny Barron and Mulgrew Miller

This week, we're featuring video clips of pianists Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Barron , who are coming to St. Louis for a series of duo performances starting Wednesday, September 22 and continuing through Saturday, September 25 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Both men are considered among the top pianists in mainstream jazz, and both got their big break from a jazz legend. Miller, 55, first came to wide public attention in the mid-1980s while working with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He's gone on to perform with many other well-known jazz musicians, including legends such as Betty Carter, Freddie Hubbard, Tony Williams and Ron Carter, as well as younger musicians including Terell Stafford, Nicholas Payton, Wallace Roney and Cassandra Wilson. Miller also has recorded a number of albums as a leader, with his most recent releases handled by the St. Louis based MAXJAZZ label.

Barron, who's 67, first became known in the 1960s as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's group. He's also worked with Hubbard and Ron Carter, as well as with Stanley Turrentine, Milt Jackson, Buddy Rich, Yusef Lateef, Stan Getz, and many others. Barron was a founder of the group Sphere, dedicated to the music of Thelonious Monk, and earlier this year, the National Endowment for the Arts named him a Jazz Master, the highest honor a jazz musician can receive from the US government.

The Barron/Miller duo is a relatively new combination, put together for gigs this summer and fall, so, sadly, there seems to be no video footage available online of the two men performing together. But we do have four performances - two for each man - that should serve to whet your appetite.

Up top, you can see and hear Miller's trio with bassist Ira Coleman and drummer Mark Johnson perform the standard "I Hear a Rhapsody," while down below, Miller does a solo turn on what I'm fairly sure is "Night And Day."

In the third slot, Barron plays a discursive solo medley, incorporating bits of a number of tunes including Monk's "Well, You Needn't," to promote an appearance this past July at the Paris jazz club Duc des Lombards. Below that, there a clip from 2008 of Barron's trio performing "Ask Me Now" at a festival in Italy. Kiyoshi Kitagawa is on bass and Francisco Mela is the drummer.

For more about Miller check out this interview from the Detroit Free Press, done last month as Miller served as artist in residence for the Detroit Jazz Festival, and this review of a trio show in Chicago, also from last month. For more on Barron, see this interview, or listen to his performance on an episode of NPR's "Jazz Set" program.







(Edited 9/14/10 to fix typos.)

Notes from the Net: More Miles Davis biopic news; Jamie Cullum's Pursuit; plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Via Miles Davis Online, there's a bit more news this week about actor Don Cheadle and his interest in starring in the proposed film biography of the trumpeter.

* Saxophonist and former St. Louisan David Sanborn and pianist Joe Sample are among the headliners for the fifth annual Jazz in the Gardens at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on March 20 and March 21.

* Here's a review of Rollo-Coaster, the new CD from saxophonist and Webster University grad Chris Cheek and accordion player Victor Prieto, written by Dan Bilawsky for AllAboutJazz.com

* Turning to news of recent visitors, singer Vanessa Rubin was profiled last week by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Manny Theiner. Rubin finishes her run this Sunday as star of the Black Rep's production of Yesterdays: An Evening With Billie Holiday. On a related note, the Village Voice's Francis Davis recently reviewed two more tributes to Holiday by singers DeeDee Bridgewater and Stephanie Nakasian (via NPR's A Blog Supreme).

* Pianist Mulgrew Miller (pictured), who records for the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label and seems to make it here for a performance at least once a year, has been named Artist in Residence for the 2010 Detroit International Jazz Festival.

* After playing The Pageant here last month, Galactic and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe took their tour on to the Fillmore in Denver, where their performance was reviewed by Geoff Anderson for AllAboutJazz.com.

* Meanwhile, pianist Vijay Iyer , who was here in January to play Jazz at the Bistro, recently went to London for a duo performance with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa. Here's a review of their show from the LondonJazz blog.

* From the "coming attractions" file, singer and pianist Jamie Cullum's new CD The Pursuit was released last week, and he's featured in the current issue of Nylon magazine. He also will perform songs from his new CD on a live broadcast this Thursday evening, March 11, for Canada's JAZZ.FM91, which you can hear online here. JAZZ.FM91 also is offering Cullum's song "I Think I Love" as a free download this month in their iTunes Lounge. Cullum arrives in St. Louis this Sunday, March 14 to play the Roberts Orpheum Theatre.

* Saxophonist Houston Person just wrapped a gig at NYC's Jazz Standard, and Nate Chinen was there to review it for the New York Times. Person is coming to St. Louis on Sunday, April 11 to headline the Jazz St. Louis benefit gala at the Hilton at the Ballpark.

*Via Kansas City's jazz blog Plastic Sax, we see that Pat Metheny is on the cover of the March issue of Jazz Inside magazine, and learn of a Metheny fan who seems a little too excited about getting his copy of the guitarist's latest CD, Orchestrion. Metheny will be in St. Louis on May 8 to play the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

* Vocalist Michael Buble has been nominated for six Juno Awards this year, including Album of the Year and Artist of the Year. The Juno Awards are the Grammy Awards equivalent for Canadian-born recording artists. Buble comes to St. Louis' Scottrade Center on June 25.

Jazz this week: Mulgrew Miller, Rasul Siddik, Tortoise, Dave Black, and more

Though this week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis isn't quite as jam-packed as last week's, there are still a number of notable performances happening over the next few days that are worthy of your attention. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, the very fine pianist Mulgrew Miller opens a four-night run that continues through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Miller was the subject of one of the very first concert reviews on StLJN four and half years ago, and his work since then continues to impress. Miller's gig also is a celebration of the ten-year anniversary of the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label, for which the pianist has recorded his five most recent CDs. For some video samples of Miller in action, see this post.

On Thursday evening, the quartet Utter Chaos, which draws inspiration from the pianoless Gerry Mulligan-Bob Brookmeyer combos of the 1950s, will do a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Then on Friday, acoustic guitarist Jack Rose performs at Open Lot, 1310 South 18th Street. Rose plays "a unique brand of blues, folk, ragtime and raga, all the while experimenting with guitar tunings and frequently reinterpreting and rerecording his earlier compositions." Drummer Danny McClain and saxophonist Dave Stone will open the show with a duo improv set.

On Saturday evening, the Nu-Art Series presents trumpeter and St. Louis expat Rasul Siddik (pictured) and his quartet in a performance at Luna Bar in the Central West End.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday guitarist Dave Black will perform a concert of original music at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

On Tuesday, the Chicago-based instrumental "post-rock" band Tortoise comes to town to perform at the rock club the Firebird, located at 2706 Olive downtown.

For more jazz and creative music events this weekend and beyond, check out the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, available for viewing on the left sidebar or by clicking here.

(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.)

New podcast from Jazz St. Louis features interview with Mulgrew Miller

Jazz St. Louis has just put online another one of their ongoing series of podcast interviews. The latest installment features a conversation with pianist Mulgrew Miller, who will be in St. Louis from Wednesday, September 23 through Saturday, September 26 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.
You can download the podcast or listen to an audio stream here. (To check out some video clips of Miller in action, see this post from last Saturday.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Mulgrew Miller

This week, our video spotlight shines on pianist Mulgrew Miller, who will be back in St. Louis to perform Wednesday, September 23 through Saturday, September 26 at Jazz at the Bistro. The 54-year-old Miller is one of the most recorded jazz pianists of his generation, and will be familiar to many St. Louis listeners from his previous dates at the Bistro (as both sideman and leader) and through his affiliation with the locally based label MAXJAZZ.

Miller has released a total of five CDs on MAXJAZZ, the most recent being the second volume of Live at the Kennedy Center, which came out in 2007. His appearance here later this month will help celebrate ten years in business for MAXJAZZ, which has offices in Webster Groves. (More about that in a subsequent post...)

In the first video clip up above, Miller can be heard playing "I Hear A Rhapsody," accompanied by Ira Coleman on bass and Mark Johnson on drums. The second video, recorded at Duc des Lombards jazz club and restaurant in Paris, shows an excerpt from Miller's interpretation of "Relaxin' at Camarillo," performed with the help of bassist Ivan Taylor and drummer Rodney Green. Unfortunately, it cuts away as Miller seems poised to take his solo to the next level, but there's still some very fine playing up until that point.

At the bottom, there's a clip with excerpts from a performance at NYC's Kitano's by Miller's quartet with vibes played Steve Nelson. Though the live audio is poorly balanced, with Nelson and the drummer overwhelming Miller and the bassist, the voiceover portions featuring Miller talking about his philosophy of music offer interesting insights into his creative process.

Notes from the Net: More reviews of Miles Davis' On The Corner box set, a thankful Clark Terry, and more

Once again, it's been a while since our last compilation of St. Louis jazz-related news and assorted musical items of interest from all over the Internet. So, let's not waste any time...

* First, here's another extended analysis of Miles Davis' Complete On The Corner Sessions box set, plus more reviews here, here and here.

* And via eMusic, here's a review/essay by Kevin Whitehead about Miles' early 1960s quintet and the recently issued recording Live at Monterey Jazz Festival 1963 .

* In other Miles-related news, Toronto trumpeter Nick "Brownman" Ali recently produced a five-week series of Miles Davis tribute concerts exploring music from different periods of Miles' career.

* Another St. Louis trumpet great, the venerable Clark Terry (pictured), recently performed with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band on public radio's "Riverwalk" program as part of a Thanksgiving special.

* Ssxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby got some local press in Nashville as a result of his recent residency at Middle Tennessee State University.

* Pianist and composer Linda Presgrave, another St. Louisan turned New Yorker, was back in the Gateway City earlier this month to play at Cookie's Jazz and More, and she's now giving NYC audiences a preview of the same material, which she'll perform on an upcoming tour through Italy.

* Former Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra "creative conductor" Marin Alsop continues to make news as the new musical director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, with a feature in the New York Times and one in Baltimore's City Paper.

* Turning to coming attractions, the Bad Plus, who will be in St. Louis at Jazz at the Bistro during the first week of January2008, are pretty newsworthy themselves, with an interview and performance on NPR affiliate WBGO in Boston; from be.jazz, a review of a gig last month in Belgium; and, from Blogcritics, a review of the latest CD from side project Happy Apple.

* Saxophonist Javon Jackson recently played at NYC's Iridium with a band co-led by pianist Benny Green. Jackson is set to return to the Bistro in January with what's being billed as the "Superband," originally set to feature drummer Jimmy Cobb and pianist George Cables. However, it looks like Jackson, Cobb et al will have to find a replacement for Cables, who's just had double transplant surgery, getting a new liver and kidney. The good news is that the surgery went well and Cables is expected to recover; the bad news is that he'll be laid up for at least six months, whcih means no trip to St. Louis.

* Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, who will be in St. Louis in February to perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall, recently did a "Best of the Big Bands" repertory concert at NYC's Rose Theater, and soon will be performing Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker" at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. They'll offer more Ellingtonia on their Winter 2008 tour, spotlighting some of Duke's love songs.

* Trumpeter Chris Botti is also due in St. Louis early in 2008, with two performances scheduled in January at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Botti recently did an interview with About.com hyping his new CD Italia, and also was the subject of a recent feature story in the Boston Herald.

* Pianist Michael Wolff, who's playing the Sheldon in February, recently did an interview with AllAboutJazz.com

* Pianist Cyrus Chestnut recently cut a CD of songs associated with Elvis Presley - reveiwed here by Bagatellen - and is doing a show based on the CD at Iridium. Chestnut returns to Jazz at the Bistro on March 7 and 8.

* Catching up with some recent visitors, we find that pianist Mulgrew Miller, who's played the Bistro several times and has recorded for the St. Louis based label MAXJAZZ, recently played Dizzy's Club Coca Cola in NYC and got a very nice review from the New York Sun.

* Bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding, just here last month as an artist-in-residence for Jazz St. Louis, has signed a new record deal with the Heads Up label.

* Saxophonist Josh Redman, who's played St. Louis with his trio and mosre recently with the SF JAZZ Collective, is now working in a trio format and has a new CD, Back East, featuring some of the last recorded performances from his dad, the late tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman.

* Finally, by way of link-dumping a few items of more general interest, my fellow Zappaphiles will be glad be to know that the Frank Zappa family is issuing a DVD of live performances from last year's Zappa Plays Zappa tour as well as a set of live recordings from the Grand Wazoo, Zappa's 1970s big band project.

* Veteran jazz journalist Howard Mandel recently had a nice post on his new blog recently on the influence and enduring importance of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).

* And, in a technological development that could cast many song titles and/or lyrical metaphors in a completely new light, Japanese engineers have come up with a way to build roads that play music as you drive over them. Maybe they can devise one to play Wes Montgomery's "Road Song," or Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again," or (fill in the road-related song title of your choice.)

Jazz this week: Mulgrew Miller, Jeff Coffin's Mu'tet, Denise Thimes with Clark Terry, Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project, BAG II and more

The jazz-related events happening in St. Louis this week represent a variety of stylistic options for for local music fans.

If you've got a taste for some straightahead, mainstream jazz, give a listen to the powerful pianist Mulgrew Miller, who's at Jazz at the Bistro with his trio tonight through Saturday. Miller, who records for the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label, has been a sought-after sideman for years and is now getting more and more attention for his work as a leader. He's rooted in blues and gospel and almost always swings hard, but Miller also has a refined touch and technique that can evoke the fleet-fingered inventions of Tatum, Peterson et al, when he chooses to deploy it.

And speaking of straightahead jazz legends, St. Louis native Clark Terry will be back in his hometown on Sunday as the special guest at this year's edition of singer Denise Thimes' annual Mothers Day show at the Sheldon Concert Hall. While I've been hearing some buzz about a sellout, as of this writing it looks like Metrotix still has some seats left.

But let's say you're in the mood for something a bit more electrified and contemporary; if so, go check out Bela Fleck and the Flecktones' saxman Jeff Coffin (pictured) and his Mu'tet tonight at the Lucas Schoolhouse. The group is one of several ensembles currently blurring the boundaries of jazz and jam bands, but they're a bit quirkier and more versatile than some similar groups that rely almost exclusively on funk-based grooves. And of course, Coffin's two-saxes-at-once routine certainly is entertaining to see.

Latin jazz fans can head out to see the Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project at Finale Music and Dining on Saturday night. A percussionist who hails from just up the road in Champaign/Urbana, Russo is making his third St. Louis appearance in less than a year, so presumably he's developing something a fan base here.

Also on Saturday, aficionados of the avant garde can hear BAG II's "The Group" (Zimbabwe Nkenya, Glenn "Papa" Wright and Jerome "J-Dubz" Williams) performing with poet Michael Castro in a free show at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site.

Some other noteworthy performances this weekend include singer Jeanne Trevor at Brandt's and Visions Jazz at Cookie's Jazz and More on Thursday night; the Randy Holmes Quintet at Cookie's and smooth jazz saxophonist Tim Cunningham at Finale on Friday; Trio Tres Bien with singer Danita Mumphard at Brandt's on Saturday; and guitarist Todd Mosby playing outside on the patio at Terrene on Sunday.

For more of this weekend's musical menu, please consult the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

On a sadder note, the memorial service for guitarist Bob Borgstede will be held at 7 p.m. this evening in the gymnasium at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, where Borgstede taught music and served as band director. A musical remembrance of Borgstede will follow the service.

For those who'd like to do something in addition to paying their respects, Borgstede's solo CD Narrative Threads is available for purchase as a download from the iTunes store and Napster, and as a physical CD from CD Baby. Since the recording was self released, after the sales outlets take their cut, the rest of the revenue goes directly to Borgstede's family.

(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. No attachments, please)

Mulgrew Miller interviewed in today's Post

The stellar pianist Mulgrew Miller (pictured) will be in St. Louis next week to perform at Jazz at the Bistro, and the ever-industrious Terry Perkins has a preview story and interview with Miller in today's Post-Dispatch. Read it online here.

Mulgrew records for the St. Louis-based label MAXJAZZ, and has a new CD due to be released this month.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Regina Carter with the Ray Brown Trio,plus the Terell Stafford Quintet featuring Mulgrew Miller

This week, we've got two videos featuring artists who will be performing in St. Louis during the month of May.

Today's first clip shows violinist Regina Carter playing the Gershwin standard "Lady Be Good" with the Ray Brown Trio. It was recorded at the 2001 Bern Jazz Festival as part of a concert paying tribute to Brown. Carter will be in St. Louis with her own group to play at Jazz at the Bistro from Wednesday, May 23 through Saturday, May 26.

The second video shows pianist Mulgrew Miller, who will be at the Bistro with his trio May 9 - 12, working as a member of the Terell Stafford Quintet at Jazzbaltica 2006. (Both Miller and Stafford record for the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label, and, coincidentally, both have new CD releases this spring.) The tune is "Off The Marc," and in addition to Miller on piano and Stafford on trumpet, the band includes Matt Wilson (drums), Martin Wind (bass) and Tim Warfield (saxophones).

MAXJAZZ to release new Mulgrew Miller CD in May

An email from Clayton McDonnell of MAXJAZZ alerts StLJN that the St. Louis-based label will release a second volume of pianist Mulgrew Miller performing Live at the Kennedy Center on May 22.

The first volume was released in August 2006 to favorable notices from reviewers. For example, All About Jazz.com writer C. Michael Bailey called it "a Thanksgiving feat in five courses," adding that "The best thing about Live at the Kennedy Center, Volume 1 is that there will be a Volume 2". Joel Roberts, also reviewing the CD for All About Jazz, said "There’s probably no better pianist working in the jazz mainstream today than Mulgrew Miller."

Miller and his trio will be in St. Louis from May 9 - 12 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

(Edited after posting to fix a typo in the headline.)