StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: More local livestreams, plus the all-star International Jazz Day concert

This week's collection of videos features some of the latest livestreamed performances from St. Louis, plus a bonus video showcasing some of today's top jazz stars.

The first video up above is a program that was livestreamed this past Monday night as New Music Circle's 2020-21 season closer. It features a performance by the STL String Collective dedicated to the memory of Tracy Andreotti, the St. Louis cellist who passed away in December of last year. In addition to the concert by the Collective - violinst Alyssa Avery, cellist Ranya Iqbal, and violinist Sarah Vie - the video also includes an introduction from St. Louis musician Syrhea Conaway (aka SynaSoPro) and some archival footage of Andreotti.

After the jump, you can see the most recent livestream from Jazz St. Louis, featuring saxophonist Carlos "Scooter" Brown in a set recorded back in April and streamed for the first time this past Thursday evening. Along with Brown, the musicians are Antonio Foster (keyboards), Jordan Brewer (bass), and Dorian Sims (drums).

Next up, it's pianist Peter Martin, who last Friday expanded on his ongoing series of online solo concerts with a trio session including drummer Montez Coleman and bassist Bob DeBoo.

That's followed by another set from drummer Demarius Hicks' quintet, this one from last Saturday night at the "Open Air" tent outside The Grandel.

Drummer Dave Weckl is another St. Louis musician who has been doing weekly webcasts during the pandemic, and the fifth video is Weckl's "Weekend Hang" from Sunday, May 9, with a mix of solo performance, Q&A session, and educational material.

Lastly, there's the aforementioned bonus video of the 2021 International Jazz Day "Virtual Global Concert," first webcast live on April 30 with performances by Herbie Hancock, Kris Bowers, Billy Childs, Antonio Sánchez, Terri Lyne Carrington, Linda May Han Oh, Lionel Loueke, and more.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Livestreams from near and far...

This week, we're rounding up some more recent livestream performances from St. Louis presenters and musicians, including a couple of expats now living and working in NYC.

First up is a set from singer Erika Johnson, recorded last Friday, March 26 at the "Open Air" tent at the Grandel Theatre.

After the jump, you can see the latest online concert from New Music Circle, streamed this past Monday. It features a solo set from electronic musician Parisian (aka Ian Jones) and a collaborative effort between electronic musician Oxherding (Fitz Hartwig) and video artist Aaron Owens.

Next, it's percussionist Matt Henry's Agbara Quintet, recorded by Jazz St. Louis on Friday, March 19 and posted on Thursday of this week. Along with Henry, the band includes Adam Hucke (trumpet, flugelhorn), Adaron “Pops” Jackson (keyboards), Zeb Briskovich (bass) and Montez Coleman (drums).

That's followed by a solo set from pianist Ethan Leinwand, who works around town with Miss Jubilee, The Bottlesnakes, and several other groups. His performance of "barrelhouse, boogie-woogie, low down blues & more" was streamed back in mid-January.

The last two videos feature St. Louis musicians now living and working in New York. First, there's a performance from saxophonist Eric Person's Triokinesis, streamed on Friday, March 26 as part of Person's online "Night Flight Music Live" series of webcasts.

FInally, there's a set from bassist and U. City native Neil Caine and his quartet, streamed back in January from the NYC club Smalls. In addition to Caine, the band includes saxophonist Jerry Weldon, pianist Anthony Wonsey, and drummer Kyle Poole

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: More recent livestreams from St. Louis

After an unplanned hiatus last week due to a hard drive crash here at STLJN HQ, this week let's jump right in with some of the latest livestreams from various St. Louis musicians and presenters, starting up above with a set from the Mosaic Jazz Sextet, led by trombonist Dave Dickey.

Dickey is joined bye trumpeter Danny Campbell, saxophonist Ben Reece, pianist Ken Kehner, bassist Bob DeBoo and drummer Montex COleman for the set, which was recorded last Friday, March 12 for the "Open Air" series on the grounds of The Grandel.

The hard bop feel continues after the jump with "Celebrating Cannonball Adderley," which was recorded in February and streamed this past Thursday by Jazz St. Louis. The tribute is led by drummer Montez Coleman and also features Kendrick Smith (alto sax), Brady Lewis (trumpet), Matt Villinger (piano), and Jahmal Nichols (bass).

Next up is pianist Peter Martin, who's been streaming weekly solo shows since the pandemic began last year. This video is the 52nd in that series, marking a full year of livestreams.

After that, it's Miss Jubilee and the Yas Yas Boys with a set of vintage jazz recorded back on February 28 for the "Open Air" series.

That's followed by the most recent livestream from New Music Circle, recorded on March 8 and featuring solo and collaborative performances by saxophonist Matt Nelson, violinist Alex Cunningham, and guitarist Mark Shippy.

For today's final video, we go back to Jazz St. Louis for a set recorded in late February by pianist Kara Baldus-Mehrmann, saxophonist Bennett Wood, bassist Ben Wheeler, and drummer Jerry Mazzuca.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: New Music Circle presents streaming performances

When the COVID pandemic hit last year, New Music Circle, like other local presenters, had to cancel their entire upcoming slate of concerts. Since then, NMC has made a successful pivot to presenting online, offering a lineup for their 62nd season with a musical diversity and quality of artists very similar to what they've had in recent seasons presented in person.

All of those online shows were streamed for free, and subsequently have been archived on their YouTube channel, so today, let's take a look at NMC's season so far.

The concerts are presented in reverse chronological order, starting up above with the most recent stream from this past Monday, January 25, which featured solo performances by bassist Damon Smith and saxophonist and electronic musician JayVe Montgomery, plus an introduction and reading by poet Brett Lars Underwood.

After the jump, you can see performances streamed on Monday, January 11 by saxophonist and clarinetist Ken Vandermark and the duo of saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey.

Moving back in time into 2020, next up are solo sets from December 21 by electronic musicians Charmaine Lee and John Wiese.

That's followed by a another video with a solo performance by percussionist Claire Rousay and a duet by saxophonist Michael Foster and drummer Ted Byrnes, originally streamed on December 7.

Two St. Louis musicians are featured in the next video, which first streamed on November 23 and dociments solo performances by percussionist Kaleb Kirby and electronic musician JoAnn McNeil

The penultimate video is a recording of NMC's first online concert of the season, a performance by Sistas of the Nitty Gritty, featuring multi-instrumentalist and composer Angel Bat Dawid with Anaiet Sivad on piano and Brooklynn Skye Scott on bass that originall streamed on October 5.

| The final video, though not officially part of NMC's 2020-21 season, was first streamed last July. It's a compilation of short performances on video by various New Music Circle board members and affiliated musicians, including NNN Cook & Nestor, Michael Williams, the late Tracy Andreotti, Aaron E. Johnson, Fred Tompkins with Greg Mills, Alex Cunningham, and 18andCounting.

NMC's next streaming presentation will feature solo sets from guitarists Wendy Eisenberg and Kee Avil at 8:15 p.m. CST, Monday, February 8 on New Music Circle's YouTube channel. As with previous shows in the series, it will be free to view, but NMC will cheerfully accept donations to help defray the costs of this and other performances.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

New Music Circle announces 2020-21 season schedule, with all shows streaming online

New Music Circle has announced their schedule for the 2020-21 season, which will see the venerable presenting organization going all online for their 62nd year, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

NMC plans to present online performances twice a month on their YouTube channel, starting on Monday, October 5 with a trio led by Angel Bat Dawid, clarinetist, composer and vocalist affiliated with Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) who's also been part of recent shows by a revived Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Then on Monday, October 9, NMC will present a collaboration involving video creator Waterbod and Belleville's Kingston Family Singers.

More local artists will be on tap on Monday, November 9, with a video compilation featuring works by Kevin Harris, Sarah Downen, former St. Louisan John Wiese,  Fiat_Lx, and more. Two weeks later on Monday, November 23, percussionist Kaleb Kirby and electronic musician JoAnn McNeill will present solo sets.

On Monday, December 7, percussionist Claire Rousay and saxophonist Michael Foster will perform together, making up for their St. Louis date originally scheduled for this past April but cancelled due to the pandemic lockdown.

NMC then will wrap up 2020 on Monday, December 21 with a program featuring a solo set from vocalist Charmaine Lee, plus more from John Wiese.

Programming for the new year will get underway on Sunday, January 10, with another show making up for one cancelled this season, featuring saxophonists Ken Vandermark (pictured) and Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey doing solo and collaborative works.

Next up on Sunday, January 24, bassist Damon Smith, a recent transplant to St. Louis, and Nashville-based saxophonist Jayve Montgomery each will play solo sets.

More solo performances will be spotlighted in February, with guitarist and banjo player Wendy Eisenberg and guitarist Kee Avil on Monday, February 8, and St. Louis' own JJ Hamon and Louis Wall on Monday, February 22.

The season continues on Monday, March 8 with an event featuring a solo performance from Nashville bassist Matt Nelson , plus a duo set from violinist Alex Cunningham and guitarist Mark Shippy.

Two weeks later, St. Louis-based electronic musicians Parisian and Oxherding will perform solo sets on Monday, March 22.

The final program of the season, planned for April but with the exact date still TBA, will feature the STL String Collective.

All events will be free to view, but NMC will be accepting donations to help finance their continuing activities.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold (pictured) was the featured guest on a recent episode of "Folded Space with Tony Minvielle" on the UK's JazzFM network.

* Keyboardist Michael Silverman and keyboardist/producer Jeff Lorber appeared last week on Jazziz magazine's "Last Call" video series to promote Silverman's latest album Human Spirit, which is out this week on his Autumn Hill label.

* Silverman and Lorber also were guests this week on BlogTalkRadio's "Hybrid Jazz" program with host Trish Hennessey.

* Willem von Hombracht, a longtime mainstay of the St. Louis music scene, has been ailing (though not with COVID-19), and earlier this week was discharged and sent home after a week and a half at St. Mary's Hospital. To raise money to help with von Hombracht's medical bills and other expenses, friends of the bassist have set up a GoFundMe page.

* New Music Circle has put together a collection of music video performances by some of the organization's board members, and after an online premiere this past Monday, has posted it to YouTube. The collection includes music from NNN Cook & Nestor, Michael Williams, Tracy Andreotti, Aaron E. Johnson, Fred Tompkins with Greg Mills, Alex Cunningham, and 18andCounting.

* Multi-instrumentalist and singer Tonina was profiled by the St. Louis American's Ashley Jones.

Jazz this week: Kuzu, Galactic, Julian Lage & Dave King, Dikeman/ACA Quartet, Soul Message Band, SFJAZZ Collective, and more

It's a busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with a half-dozen noteworthy shows from visiting performers offering funk, free jazz, re-imaginations of music from two iconic artists, and much more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, March 11
Improvising trio Kuzu (pictured, top left), featuring guitarist Tashi Dorji, drummer Tyler Damon and saxophonist Dave Rempis, will perform in a New Music Circle concert at Joe's Cafe.

You can find out more, and see and hear performances on video from all three of them, separately and together, in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also on Wednesday, cabaret grande dame Marilyn Maye continues with her second of three nights of performances with the Jazz St. Louis Big Band; and Jazz St. Louis' "Whitaker Jazz Speaks" series presents a free event with author William Studdart discussing his book The Jazz War: Radio Nazism, and the Struggle for the Airwaves in WW2 at the St. Louis County Library.

Thursday, March 12
New Orleans funk/jazz band Galactic (pictured, center left) returns to perform at Delmar Hall.

You can find out more about what they've been up to since their last appearance here, and see videos of some recent performances in this post from Saturday before last.

UPDATE - 10:00 a.m., 3/12/20: In an announcement made this morning on Twitter,  Galactic has canceled all tour dates, including tonight's show in St. Louis, until Saturday, March 28.

Also on Thursday, guitarist Julian Lage and drummer Dave King bring their "pop-up" tour to Gaslight Studio, and Dutch saxophonist John Dikeman headlines a bill of free improvisors at the Way Out Club.

Elsewhere around town, Chicago-based organ trio Soul Message Band will perform at The Dark Room, and two more Chicago-based musicians, saxophonist Rob Denty and drummer Tim Mulvenna, will team up with guitarist Vincent Varvel to play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

UPDATE - 7:45 a.m., 3/12/20: In a message published Wednesday night on Facebook, the Jazz at Holmes series announced that the remaining shows for the spring semester, including this week's Denty/Mulvenna/Varvel concert, have been cancelled, in keeping with Wash U's policy regarding current public health concerns over the coronavirus.

Friday, March 13
Keyboardist Dave Grelle's Playadors perform for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis, and singer Erin Bode will present at a concert at Focal Point.

Also on Friday, the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom, and the Mineral Area College Carol Moore Memorial Jazz Festival, with trombonist Michael Dease as the featured guest, gets underway for the first of two nights at the Mineral Area College Theater in Park Hills, MO.

Saturday, March 14
The all-star SFJAZZ Collective (pictured, bottom left) will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall, featuring new arrangements of music from Miles Davis' In A Silent Way and Sly and the Family Stone's Stand!.

You can find out more about about the Miles/Sly project and see some brief musical excerpts on video in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, bassist and singer Janet Evra leads her quartet at Evangeline's, and saxophonist Tim Cunningham returns to Troy's Listening Room.

Sunday, March 15
The Original Knights Of Swing will play a matinee at the Opera House of Pacific; the Coleman Hughes Project celebrates seven years as a band with a show at HollyLou Entertainment; and the JazzU Big Band student ensemble performs at Jazz St. Louis.

Tuesday, March 17
Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Singers Open Mic" at Sophie's Artist Lounge, and pianist Kim Portnoy teams up with voice faculty members from Webster U and Webster alumna Erin Bode for  "The Poetry Project" at Union Avenue Christian Church.

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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Dark Room has announced new hours of operation, with the biggest change being that the venue will be closed on Mondays.

New hours for the rest of the week are 4:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays; 4:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 4:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Sundays.

* Last Friday's New Music Circle concert by Merche Blasco (pictured) and Sarah Hennies at the Contemporary Art Museum was reviewed by Julio Prato of the blog St. Louis Music Report.

* The weeknight jazz series at the Gaslight Theater is featured in an article by the Jewish Light's Ellen Futterman about current businesses in the old Gaslight Square district.

* St. Louis County Library this month has reopened to new submissions their "Listen Up" program, which makes recordings from local musicians available as part of the library's streaming audio service. Musicians can submit their works now through the end of March at https://www.slcl.org/content/listen-up-stl.

* The recent documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (available free online for a limited time via streaming from PBS) was reviewed in the UK magazine Jazz Journal.

* The 2020 Carol Moore Memorial Jazz Festival, coming up next weekend at Mineral Area College with trombonist Michael Dease as featured guest, was previewed in a news release published by the Park Hills Daily Journal.

* Audition dates are set for student musicians from St. Louis area middle schools and high schools who would like to take part in Jazz St. Louis' JazzU program next year. The auditions for the 2020-21 school year will take place Monday, June 8 through Thursday, June 11 at JSL's HQ in Grand Center. For details and/or to sign up, go to https://jazzstl.org/education/jazz-u/2020-21-jazzu-auditions/.

Jazz this week: A celebration of Ray Charles, Sarah Hennies & Merche Blasco, Marissa Mulder, Denise Thimes, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a show with an all-star cast paying tribute to one of the giants of American music; two composer-performers offering provocative sets of experimental sounds; two accomplished female vocalists headlining at intimate venues; and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday,
February 26
Pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson plays the music of Roy Ayers and more for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis, and guitarist Dave Black and his Itti Bitti Swing Orchestra will perform for the monthly concert series at the World Chess Hall of Fame.

Thursday, February 27
The touring show "Georgia On My Mind: A Celebration of the Music of Ray Charles" comes to the Touhill Performing Arts Center, with a cast including vocal group Take 6 (pictured, top left), singers Nnenna Freelon and Clint Holmes, and saxophonist Kirk Whalum.

Also on Thursday, singer and impressionist Dean Christopher returns with his "Rat Pack and More"  show to LoRusso's Cucina; The 442s will perform at Joe's Cafe; and trumpeter Brady Lewis and his BLStet are back at The Dark Room.

Friday, February 28
New Music Circle presents a double bill of composer-performers Sarah Hennies and Merche Blasco (pictured, bottom left) doing separate sets at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

Working with percussion and electronics, respectively, plus other instruments, both Hennies and Blasco craft distinctive soundscapes, often reflecting the site and circumstances of the particular performance time and space. You can see some previous works by both women in this post from Saturday before last.

Also on Friday, singer Marissa Mulder performs her cabaret show "The John Lennon & Paul McCartney Songbooks" for the first of two nights at Blue Strawberry, and singer Denise Thimes is back home from Chicago for the weekend for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis

Saturday, February 29
Singers Jeanne Trevor, Joe Mancuso and Wendy Gordon team up for a matinee performance at Blue Strawberry.

Then on Saturday evening, The Gaslight Squares return to the Frisco Barroom, and keyboardist Mo Egeston and friends bring the "Late Night Grooves" to The Dark Room.

Sunday, March 1
The St. Louis Record Show presents its spring edition at the American Czech Center, while Miss Jubilee performs for jazz brunch at Evangeline's.

Later that afternoon, multi-instrumentalist Joe Bozzi plays a matinee at Circa Pub & Grill, and at the the dinner hour, the Jazz Troubadours return for their monthly gig at Evangeline's.

Tuesday, March 3
The Tick Tock Jazz Band plays vintage jazz and swing for their monthly show at the Tick Tock Tavern, and pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson will perform in a concert at the Gaslight Theater.

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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Sarah Hennies, Merche Blasco to perform at the Contemporary Art Museum

Today, let's take a look at some videos featuring music by Sarah Hennies and Merche Blasco, two composer-performers who will be doing separate sets on a shared bill presented by New Music Circle on Friday, February 28 at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

Hennies, who's currently a visiting professor of music at Bard College in upstate new York, is a percussionist and composer of concert music for soloists and small ensembles, and also is active in improvisation, film, performance art, and dance.

She has presented her work internationally as both a composer and percussionist, has created commissioned works for various performers and ensembles, and has received a number of grants a fellowships supporting her projects.

Blasco, who's based in New York City, is "an interdisciplinary artist and composer engineering participatory performances through electroacoustic intervention and instrument building."

She's done performances and installations at museums, concert venues, and festivals throughout the United States and Europe, and her work has been featured in major publications including the New York Times, Wired, and more.

Although the specific pieces they will perform here in St. Louis are not available online in video form, you can at least get a feel for the sound and scope of both composers' work from what's there, starting with the first video up above, which documents part of Sarah Hennies' set from a show in January, 2018 at The Cherry Artspace in Ithaca, NY.

After the jump, you can see an excerpt from another live performance by Hennies in April 2017 as part of the Ende Tymes VII Festival of Noise and Experimental Liberation at a venue called Silent Barn in NYC. That's followed by a clip of her performance of a piece called "Falsetto" from October 2016 at the Sacred Root Kava Lounge in Ithaca.

Next up are three videos featuring Blasco, the first recorded in May, 2018 at Spectrum in Brooklyn, NY.

That's followed by an excerpt from her performance from May 2017 at Creative Tech Week in NYC. The final video shows Blasco's set from a show in June 2015 at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival.

For more about Sarah Hennies, read her 2017 interview on the National Sawdust website, and her 2018 chat with TomTomMag.com. For more about Merch Blasco, check out her profile page on New Music USA, and watch the video of her talk in October 2018 at the interdisciplinary creative space Brooklyn Research.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* A performance by trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold and a screening of the documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool will be featured during the upcoming "Celebration of Cool" at the famed Apollo Theater in NYC on Saturday, February 1.

* Euclid Records in Webster Groves (pictured) was noted as "The Largest Record Store In Missouri" by the website OnlyInYourState.com.

* New Music Circle administrator Jeremy Kannapell was interviewed about the organization's upcoming concerts by the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer.

* A recent episode of the podcast The Funky Blues Show focused on St. Louis, offering "a celebration of the Jazz and Blues tradition of one of the great musical cities of the USA, with music from Albert King, Roosevelt Sykes, Chuck Berry, Clark Terry, Donny Hathaway and many more."

* St. Louis County will get a new outdoor music venue later this year with the opening of Saint Louis Music Park, a new 4,500 seat facility at the Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights. The venue will debut on May 25 with a show featuring pop singer Kesha and hip-hop star Big Freedia, with operators promising to book acts from a variety of musical genres going forward.

* Singer Anna Blair's cabaret show last week at Blue Strawberry was reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

Jazz this week: Matthew Shipp, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, Funky Butt Brass Band, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a solo performance from a singular pianist, the local debut of a rising star on organ, a new album release from a hometown favorite band, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, January 22
Organist Delvon Lamarr and his trio will make their St. Louis debut with the first of five nights of performances continuing through Sunday at Jazz St. Louis.

The Seattle-based Lamarr, who cites Booker T and the MGs as a major influence, formed the band in 2015 and they've issued two recordings so far, both of which made the top 10 of the US jazz albums chart.

Thursday, January 23
Pianist Kara Mehrmann and her quartet will perform in a free concert to kick off this semester's offerings from the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; drummer Steve Davis' band with singer Feyza Eren plays at Joe's Cafe; and guitarist Vincent Varvel leads a trio The Dark Room

Friday, January 24
Pianist Matthew Shipp (pictured, top left) will perform in a solo concert presented by New Music Circle and Washington University at 560 Music Center. (Shipp also will present a free "artist talk" on Friday afternoon in Room 102 of the Music Classroom Building on the Wash U campus.)

Shipp's improvised solo performances defy easy description, but you can sample several of them via video in this post from Saturday before last.

Also on Friday, the Jazz Troubadours perform at Evangeline's; singer Robert Nelson returns to Parkside Grille; and the eclectic multi-instrumentalist Sam Golden has rounded up a posse of like-minded St. Louis players to perform as Fiddlin' Sam and the Golden Bolo Band for a "Western Swing Showcase" at Focal Point.

Saturday, January 25
Singer and actress Sara Sheperd, who's starred on Broadway in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, brings her cabaret show "Female On Fire - A Celebration of Female Singer/Songwriters" to Blue Strawberry; Miss Jubilee performs for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and The Gaslight Squares return to the Frisco Barroom.

Sunday, January 26
The Funky Butt Brass Band (pictured, bottom left) will promote the release of their latest recording Onward with a matinee performance at Off Broadway; and jazz-fusion trio Tracer, aka pianist Ptah Williams, bassist Darrell Mixon and drummer Gary Sykes, continues their weekly residency at Troy's Listening Room.

Monday, January 27
Guitarist Dave Black leads a quartet in a concert at the Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster University campus.

Tuesday, January 28
Singer Jan Shapiro, pianist Dave Venn and bassist Eric Warren perform at Evangelines, and Arvell Keithley, Jim Manley and the Wild, Cool & Swingin' Horns return for another encore performance at the Gaslight Theater.

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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Matthew Shipp

Today, StLJN's video spotlight is focused on pianist Matthew Shipp, who will be performing a solo concert presented by New Music Circle and Washington University on Friday, January 24 at 560 Music Center.

Shipp also will present an "artist talk" that will be free and open to the public at 3:00 p.m. that Friday in room 102 of the Music Classroom Building on the Wash U campus.

With a distinctive style that defies easy comparisons, Shipp has said he sees his playing as part of the "black mystery school" of pianists, led by Thelonious Monk and including other singular talents such as Mal Waldron, Randy Weston, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, and Andrew Hill.

Since moving to New York in mid-80s, Shipp has been credited as leader or co-leader on nearly 70 recordings, playing solo; with a trio; in duos with bassist William Parker, saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Evan Parker, and others; and in larger groupings including stellar players such as trumpeters Wadada Leo Smith and Roy Campbell and saxophonist Marshall Allen. Shipp also forged enduring partnerships with two saxophonists, the late David S. Ware and Ivo Perelman, recording 20 albums with the former and, to date, more than 30 with the latter.

The last time Shipp was here in St. Louis, in March 2015, he performed with bassist Michael Bisio at The Stage at KDHX. This time, he'll be playing solo, and so today's post features several videos of his solo work, starting up above with a set recorded in September 2018 at Zurcher Gallery in New York City.

After the jump, there are four more sets of solo piano by Shipp in reverse chronological order, starting with one from April 2018 at a venue called Kaleidophon in Ulrichsberg, Austria, followed by another from November 2017 recorded at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Then, there's a set from August 2015 at Jazzfestival Saalfelden in Austria, and one from February 2014 recorded at Cafe Oto in London.

The final video shows Shipp playing a duo set with his frequent collaborator, bassist William Parker, in June 2019 during the 24th annual 24th Vision Festival at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, NY.

For more about Matthew Shipp, read his interview from May 2019 with Jazz Times, and his 2018 conversations with DownBeat and JazzTrail.net.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2020 jazz preview, part five

Today, it's time for the fifth and final installment of StLJN's winter/spring 2020 jazz preview, featuring videos of noteworthy bands and musicians who will be coming to St. Louis to perform over the next few months. You can see part one here, part two here, part three here, and part four here.

Resuming in chronological order where last week's post left off, the first video features percussionist Claire Rousay and saxophonist Michael Foster, who will perform in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Friday, April 24 at the Urb Arts gallery. You can see them in the video embed up above performing a duo show last April in San Antonio, TX.

Next, it's swing and jump blues band Davina and the Vagabonds, who will be back in town on Saturday, April 25 for their first performance ever at Blue Strawberry. They can be seen in the first video after the jump, which documents a full set of music recorded in February 2018 at Knuckleheads Saloon in Kansas City.

After that, it's pianist Connie Han, who will make her St. Louis debut with shows starting Wednesday, April 29 and continuing through Sunday May 3 at Jazz St. Louis. She is featured in today's third video performing her original composition "Grüvy" from her debut album Crime Zone in September 2018 at the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe in Grosse Pointe, MI.

That same weekend, multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson will return to play on Saturday, May 2 at The Pageant. Video number four is an excerpt from Culbertson's DVD Colors of Love Tour - Live in Las Vegas that shows him performing "Feelin' It/Funkin'".

The following week, singer Paulo Szot will make his St. Louis cabaret debut with performances on Wednesday, May 6 and Thursday, May 7 at Jazz St. Louis, wrapping up their series of co-presentations this season with Cabaret Project of St. Louis. Szot is featured in today's fifth video, singing "This Nearly Was Mine" from the musical South Pacific in May 2018 at at Feinstein's/54 Below in New York City.

Video number six features singer Nicole Henry, who will be performing on Wednesday, May 13 through Sunday, May 17 at Jazz St. Louis, and shows her singing "Teach Me Tonight" in Bovember 2017 at at the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe.

The penultimate clip spotlights pianist Orrin Evans of The Bad Plus, who will return with his own trio to perform Wednesday, May 20 through Sunday May 24 at Jazz St. Louis. Since recent footage of Evans' trio seems relatively hard to come by, you can see him here in a clip from September 2013 with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Karriem Riggins perform his original composition "The Answer" at the Jazz Standard in NYC.

The final video features percussionist Poncho Sanchez, a frequent visitor and local favorite here who will return to perform Wednesday, May 27 through Sunday, May 31 at Jazz St. Louis. Sanchez and his band are seen performing the title song from his new album Trane's Delight during a show in September 2019 at Spaghettini in Seal Beach, California.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2020 jazz preview, part three

Today it's time for another installment of StLJN's winter/spring 2020 jazz preview, presenting videos of bands and musicians who will be visiting St. Louis over the next few months. This is part three of the series, covering those shows in chronological order; you can see part one here, and part two here.

Picking up where last week's post left off, the first video up above features Kuzu, an improvising trio from Chicago that includes guitarist Tashi Dorji, drummer Tyler Damon, and saxophonist Dave Rempis

They're coming here for a concert presented by New Music Circle on Wednesday, March 11 at Joe's Cafe, and can be seen in the video performing a full set of music in October 2018 at if ART Gallery in Columbia, SC.

After the jump, it's the SFJAZZ Collective, who will be playing on Saturday, March 14 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

This season's edition of the group is commemorating the 50th anniversaries of the release of Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way and Sly & The Family Stone’s Stand!, with a touring show featuring original arrangements of music from both albums. The video is a promotional clip for the tour, outlining the concept with some brief interview quotes and musical excerpts.

Next, it's keyboardist and singer Kandace Springs, who will make her St. Louis debut with shows starting Wednesday, March 18 continuing through Sunday, March 22 at Jazz St. Louis.

She's seen here in the first episode of saxophonist David Sanborn's new online video series "Sanborn Sessions," released earlier this month.

The following week, cabaret singer and pianist Billy Stritch will perform music associated with Mel Torme on Wednesday, March 25 and Thursday, March 26 at Jazz St. Louis. You can get a feel for Stritch's style by checking out the video excerpt from his show "Lucky To Be Me" recorded in 2018 at Birdland in NYC.

Today's fifth video features guitarist Dweezil Zappa, who's returning to St. Louis to perform on Saturday, March 28 at The Ready Room.

While he's currently forbidden from using his father's name and image, Dweezil still is keeping Frank Zappa's music alive for a new generation of listeners, as seen in this performance of the complete Hot Rats album recorded in September, 2019 at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ.

The final video showcases harmonium player Amirtha Kidambi’s group Elder Ones, who will perform in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, March 28 at Xavier Hall on the St. Louis University campus. It shows a complete set recorded on March 25, 2019 at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC,

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump. Look for part four of StLJN's 2020 winter/spring jazz preview next week in this space...

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2020 jazz preview, part two

Today's post is part two of StLJN's winter/spring 2020 jazz preview, in which you can get a look via video at noteworthy bands and musicians who are coming to St. Louis to perform in the next few months. You can see part one, which covers the month of January, here.

Picking up where last week's installment left off, today's first video features guitarist Pat Martino, who will be playing starting Wednesday, February 5 through Sunday, February 8 at Jazz St. Louis. He's seen here performing a set in October 2019 at a club called Moods in Zurich, Switzerland.

After the jump, there's a clip of pianist Christian Sands who will be "Remembering Erroll Garner" on Saturday, February 8 at Sheldon Concert Hall. Sands is playing "My Funny Valentine," accompanied by bassist Luques Curtis and drummer and East St. Louis native Terreon Gully, and recorded last month at Cadogan Hall in London.

Next up, it's saxophonist Tim Warfield, who's bringing his Organ Band to town to perform starting Wednesday, February 19 through Sunday, February 23 at Jazz St. Louis. There's not a lot of quality video of this particular ensemble online, so the clip here goes back to 2012 to capture the Detroit native and his cohorts performing "Calvary" at La Rose Jazz Club

The following week, the show "Georgia On My Mind: A Celebration of the Music of Ray Charles," featuring vocal group Take 6, singers Clint Holmes and Nnenna Freelon, and saxophonist Kirk Whalum will come to town for one night only on Thursday, February 27 at Touhill Performing Arts Center. The video, recorded a few years back to promote the show's Las Vegas run, explains the concept and features some interview quotes from the artists and brief snippets of them performing.

The next night, New Music Circle will present a double bill, featuring composer/performers Sarah Hennies and Merche Blasco performing separate sets on Friday, February 28 at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

Hennies is seen in a video from April 2017, performing at the Ende Tymes VII Festival of Noise and Experimental Liberation at the venue Silent Barn in Brooklyn, NY. After that, there's a clip of Blasco showing part of a performance called "FAUNA," a "live improvisation with a set of custom-made instruments used to process field recordings, incorporating body movements and the live exploration of intricate material textures" recorded in October 2018 at the Issue Project Room Brooklyn.

The final video features trumpeter Etienne Charles, who made his St. Louis debut as a bandleader in 2017 at The Sheldon and will return to perform starting Wednesday, March 4 through Sunday, March 8 at Jazz St. Louis. Recorded in June 2019 (by an audience member, so the video quality is a little spotty in places), it shows a full set by Charles and his band at the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in Wilmington, DE.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump. Look for part three of StLJN's winter/spring 2020 jazz preview next week in this space...

Jazz this week: Fred Frith, "A Very Manley Christmas," The Motet, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the long-awaited return of an influential experimental guitarist, a whole bunch of holiday-themed shows, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, December 11
The Jazz St. Louis Big Band will perform Duke Ellington's arrangements of Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker' plus more Ellington favorites at Jazz St. Louis, with one more performance on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Grand Center, the weekly "Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl" will feature Miss Jubilee at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and bassist Ben Wheeler's Sketchbook at The Dark Room.

Thursday, December 12
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University wraps up the semester with a free concert from the university's jazz combo students; singer Tony Viviano returns to Fallon's Grill & Tap; and saxophonist Kendrick Smith brings his trio to The Dark Room.

Friday, December 13
Trumpeter Jim Manley (pictured, center left) returns with his holiday show "A Very Manley Christmas" for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis.

Also on Friday, guitarist Dave Black and multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman bring their "3rd Annual Holiday Show" to Focal Point, and singer and impressionist Dean Christopher reprises his "A Rat Pack Christmas" at Blue Strawberry

Elsewhere around town, the Second Generation Swing Band plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom, and traditional jazz and swing band Annie and the Fur Trappers return to the Frisco Barroom.

Saturday, December 14
Guitarist Fred Frith (pictured, top left) will perform solo in a concert presented by New Music Circle at Joe's Cafe. He'll also present a free artist talk/workshop on Sunday afternoon at 14th Street Artist Community.

Frith has been an important voice in improvised music for nearly a half-century, bringing innovative guitar techniques to a variety of bands and collaborative projects. For a brief overview of his storied career, plus some videos of recent solo performances, take a look at this post from Saturday before last.

Also on Saturday, the Oikos Ensemble presents this year's edition of their annual "Jazz Noel" program in a matinee at Parkway United Church of Christ (with another performance on Sunday at First Congregational Church in Webster Groves); and Chicago pianist Paul Asaro, last seen here in November as part of the Nevermore Jazz Ball, headlines an evening at Casa Loma Ballroom.

Sunday, 
December 15
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes are back to perform for brunch at the Angad Arts Hotel, while just across Grand, guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran will play at The Dark Room,

Then on Sunday night, Denver-based funk/jam band The Motet (pictured, bottom left) returns to the Old Rock House. After putting out their ninth album Death or Devotion in January, they've been doing shows all year to promote the release, including the current 30-date tour that brings them here.

Monday, December 16
Eclectic instrumental quintet The 442s and some special guests will perform in their annual "Holiday Spectacular" for the first of two nights at 560 Music Center.

Tuesday, December 17
Cabaret Project St. Louis presents a "gala holiday edition" of their monthly "Singers Open Mic" at Sophie's Artist Lounge.

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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2020 jazz preview, part one

With 2019 winding down and 2020 coming up fast, it's time for StLJN's semi-annual video preview of bands and musicians who will be coming to St. Louis to perform over the next few months. Today's post is part one of the winter/spring 2020 preview, starting with what's coming up in January and continuing chronologically in subsequent posts.

First up are The Bad Plus, who will keep up their decade-plus long tradition of being the first visiting act to play the Bistro at the start of a new year when they return to perform Wednesday, January 8 through Sunday, January 12 at Jazz St. Louis. They can be seen in the first video up above, which chronicles their visit in March 2019 to the studios of public radio station KNKX in Tacoma, WA.

After the jump, you can see the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, who will be making their St. Louis debut starting Wednesday, January 22 through Sunday, January 26 at Jazz St. Louis. The video shows them in May 2019 at Paste Studios in New York City, playing a short set that includes "Brotha James," "Memphis" and "Hole in One."

Next, it's pianist Matthew Shipp, who will be returning to play in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Friday, January 24 at 560 Music Center. The video shows him in a solo performance in July of this year at Michiko Rehearsal Studio in New York City.

The following week, the cabaret series co-produced by Jazz St. Louis and Cabaret Project of St. Louis will welcome singer and actor Norm Lewis, who replaces the originally announced Lindsay Mendez. Lewis, who will perform on Wednesday, January 29 and Thursday, January 30 at Jazz St. Louis, is seen in the third video after the jump singing "Home" from the Broadway show The Wiz in September 2019 at Feinstein's/54 Below in New York City.

Following Lewis that same week, the Bistro also will host the Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, an ad hoc ensemble put together from among musicians visiting to do educational residencies for Jazz St. Louis. In this iteration, the group includes saxophonist Camille Thurman, trumpeter Pharez Whitted, bassist Endea Owens, and drummer Steve Fidyk, who will team up to perform on Friday, January 31 and Saturday, February 1 at Jazz St. Louis

Thurman can be seen in the fifth video with her band, the Darrell Green Trio, playing a show last week in the studios of WGBH radio in Boston. That's followed by a clip of Whitted and his group, recorded in October 2017 at BLU Jazz+ in Akron, OH.

The penultimate video is an episode of the web series "The Indie Beat" from November 2018, featuring an interview with and performance by Endea Owens. And last but not least, the final clip features Steve Fidyk, performing "Time Check" in 2008 as a tribute to Buddy Rich with the US Army Blues band.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump. Look for part two of the winter/spring 2020 jazz preview next week in this space.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Fred Frith

This week, let's have a look at some videos featuring guitarist Fred Frith, who's coming to St. Louis to perform in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, December 14 at Joe's Cafe. While he's in town, he also will present a free master class on Sunday, December 15 at the 14th St. Artists Collective in north St. Louis.

Fred Frith, who turned 70 this year, was born in Sussex, England and first came to wide attention in the late 1960s and early 70s as a member of the art-rock band Henry Cow. His 1974 album Guitar Solos made a splash showcasing his unusual approach to improvising, using lots of effects and deploying various found objects, including ball bearings, egg beaters, drumsticks and many more, both to strike the guitar and sometimes to "prepare" it in a manner recalling John Cage's prepared pianos.

In 1979, Frith moved to New York City, where he became part of the then-burgeoning downtown experimental music scene, which led to him forming groups such as Massacre and Skeleton Crew and eventually, collaborating with Brian Eno, Robert Wyatt, Syd Barrett, Mike Oldfield, The Residents, John Zorn, Bill Laswell, and many others.

Frith in the 1980s also began writing music for dance, film, and theater. After spending a couple of years living in Germany, he moved in 1997 to Oakland, CA to join the faculty at Mills College, where he taught composition until retiring last year, all the while maintaining an active performing and recording schedule.

For his St. Louis show - his first since a duo performance with John Zorn many years ago at The Sheldon - Frith will be playing solo, and so today, we've collected some performance videos including four solo shows, starting up above with a full performance recorded in April of this year at the Torino Jazz Festival in Turin, Italy.

After the jump, there are two more solo concerts, from February 2019 in Ottensheim, Austria and June 2016 in Paris, France.

Next is a combination solo performance and Q&A session recorded in January 2013 in New York City, in which Frith plays and also talks about five of his favorite songs, followed by another older solo show from March 2007 in Mexico City.

The final video shows Frith and his West Coast trio with bassist Jason Hoopes and drummer Jordan Glenn in December 2018 at Starline Social Club in Oakland, CA.

For more about Fred Frith and his distinctive approach to guitar, check out his interview from 2013 with the website Prepared Guitar, his 2014 interview with Chicago Reader, conducted by experimental filmmaker Lori Felker, and his 2016 Q&A with HitChannel.com.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Jazz this week: "Such Sweet Thunder," Ben Lamar Gay, Cécile McLorin Salvant, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes visits from a Grammy Award winning singer and an intriguing, genre-busting musician making his debut here, plus a multi-media event bringing together the words of Shakespeare and the music of Duke Ellington, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...


Wednesday, October 2
Pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin will team up for the first of two evenings of duets (plus a Thursday matinee) at Jazz St. Louis.

Also on Wednesday, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra returns for a "Notes From Home" performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Thursday, October 3
"Such Sweet Thunder," a collaboration among Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Big Muddy Dance Company, and Jazz St. Louis, will be presented for the first of three nights at the Public Media Commons in Grand Center.

The event, which is free and open to the public but requires a ticket, will feature the Jazz St. Louis Big Band playing Duke Ellington's score along with the actors, dancers, and big-screen video supplied by Nine Network.

Also on Thursday, singer and bassist Janet Evra and her quartet play at Joe's Cafe; singer Cheri Evans and CEEJazzSoul return to the Chase Club; and Kansas City jump blues band Grand Marquis will take the stage at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Friday, October 4
Jazz St. Louis will present the first of two nights of "Abbey Road at 50," with the Beatles' penultimate release re-imagined as jazz by keyboardist Ryan Marquez, The People's Key, and guest vocalist Lola.

Also on Friday, vibraphonist Tom Rickard leads a trio at Cigar Inn, and multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris will be in his not-so-secret identity as DJ Nune for late night sets at The Dark Room.

Saturday, October 5
Multi-instrumentalist Ben Lamar Gay (pictured, top left) and his quartet will make their St. Louis debut in a performance presented by New Music Circle at Off Broadway.

The Chicago native's sound is a bit hard to pin down, involving disparate elements including free jazz, Brazilian music, electronics, and more, but you can get some idea of his musical range by perusing the videos collected in this post from Saturday before last.

Also on Saturday, three-time Grammy Award winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant (pictured, bottom left) returns with pianist Aaron Diehl's trio for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

For a look at what Salvant has been up to since her last appearance here in 2017 (besides snagging that third Grammy for her most recent album The Window), check out this post from last Saturday featuring video from several recent performances.

Sunday, October 6
Dizzy Atmosphere plays swing and Gypsy jazz for brunch at The Dark Room, and the Jazz Troubadours play their monthly first-Sunday gig at Evangeline's.

Monday, October 7
Pianist Carol Schmidt and saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will play a concert of duets at the Thompson Music Building Recital Hall on the Webster University campus.

Tuesday, October 8
Former St. Louisan Mark Deutsch, who's been living in California for much of the last two decades, returns home to perform on his self-invented instrument, the Bazantar, at the Sheldon Concert Hall;  and the Glen Smith/Eric Slaughter Quartet will play a concert at the Gaslight Theater.

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.)