Sunday Session: September 17, 2017

Linda May Han Oh

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Mapping The Vast Influence Of Holger Czukay, Alchemist Of Krautrock Legends Can (NPR)
* Lisa Fischer: From Back to Front (Jazz Times)
* What Would the Next Golden Record Carry? (The Atlantic)
* A Conversation with Mark Turner / Ben Ratliff (MusicAndLiterature.org)
* Walter Becker, Glenn Frey, and a Sobering Realization About Dad Rock (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Designing a world of immersive sound (Rochester.edu)
* The Music Industry Bands Together to Finally Get Paid Online (Wired)
* Bokanté: Blues & Roots (Jazz Times)
* Esperanza Spalding's 'Exposure': A Creative Marathon, Live In The Studio (NPR)
* A New Mural Rising to Honor John Coltrane (WRTI)
* Tokyo Jazz Joints: Capturing An Old Love Story (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Blue Note All-Stars Present Their ‘Point Of View’ (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Toronto: Eric Clapton on Rock Music Now: "Maybe the Guitar Is Over" (Hollywood Reporter)
* Photos: Chicago Jazz Festival 2017 (Jazz Times)
* Inside the Americana Genre's Identity Crisis (Rolling Stone)
* Ambitious Rhode Island music fest ends in chaos (Boston Globe)
* Norah Jones' NYC Residency Reveals the Best Contradictions of the Singer/Songwriter's Career (Paste)
* The Most Expensive Music of Today Is Recorded on Mediums from the Past (Robb Report)
* The Right Music Can Change How Your Date Sees You, Say Scientists (Inverse.com)
* These are the biggest pop songs to sample classical music in the last 25 years (ClassicFM.com)
* Interview: Linda May Han Oh (Monterey County Weekly)
* Sun Ra in Sin City (LaphamsQuarterly.com)
* 38th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Musicals back in vogue, and business, as genre lights up Broadway and TV (The Guardian)
* Musician Fred Hersch Recounts A Life 'In And Out Of Jazz' In His New Memoir (NPR)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Fans of adventurous music and/or craft beer can support New Music Circle at a fundraiser scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. next Tuesday, June 13 at Urban Chestnut brewery's Midtown location, 3229 Washington Ave. A portion of beverage purchases made during those hours will be donated to NMC.

* The Boston Creme donut from Old Town Donuts in Florissant is the winner of Jazz St. Louis' "Best Donut" award for 2017, as determined last Friday during JSL's annual "National Donut Day" celebration. You can see photos from the event in a Facebook album here.

* Saxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby, who's been spending a lot of time in Europe recently, last month conducted two workshops for young musicians in Spain, working under the auspices of the US Embassy with students at the Teresa Berganza music conservatory in Madrid and the Padre Antonio Soler music school in San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

* Singer-songwriter Norah Jones' performance on Tuesday at the Scottrade Ceneter was reviewed for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Dan Durchholz.

* Singer Dee Daniels (pictured), who will perform this Sunday with the St. Louis Symphony as part of their "Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and the Ladies of Swing," was interviewed by St. Louis magazine.

* The newly renamed Webster Groves Concert Hall, formerly the Ozark Theatre, is the subject of a St. Louis County Arts blog feature by Valerie Tichacek.

* As one of 77 local bands that will perform in the Riverfront Times' upcoming ShowcaseSTL, the  Funky Butt Brass Band were profiled this week by the RFT's Roy Kasten.

* Singer Tony Bennett's show Wednesday night at the Fox Theatre was reviewed by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson, and the Post also published an "IParty" album of photos from the evening.

* This weekend's U City Jazz Festival and Fair U City are previewed in the Post's "Hot List" section.

* Mozingo Music is presenting a free workshop on audio recording at 7:00 p.m. Monday, June 26 at their store at 4689 Hwy. K in O'Fallon, MO. The 90-minute workshop will feature manufacturer's rep Michael Canning demonstrating the use of PreSonus software and hardware and Audio Technica microphones in a live recording session. Admission is free, but since space is limited, advance reservations are required.

Jazz this week: Antonio Hart, Glenn Miller Orchestra, Norah Jones, St. Louis Piano Festival, and more

With spring winding down and summer just ahead, this week's calendar of jazz and creative music is a bit back-loaded, with several of the more noteworthy musicians visiting our town scheduled to perform early next week rather than over the weekend.

Fortunately, St. Louis' local musicians and singers also have a few things planned between now and then. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, May 31
With Jazz at the Bistro now on its weekends-only summer schedule, there's no live music there this Wednesday, but the weekly Grand Center Jazz Crawl will include music from Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, pianist Phil Dunlap at the Curtain Call Lounge, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Elsewhere around town, trumpeter Jim Manley will be playing his weekly gig at Sasha's Wine Bar, and guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran will entertain diners at The Shaved Duck.

Thursday, June 1
Pianist Adam Maness' trio returns to Thurman's in Shaw, and pianist Ptah Williams and guitarist Eric Slaughter will hold forth at at The Dark Room.

Friday, June 2
On Friday morning, Jazz St. Louis will celebrate the annual observance of "National Donut Day" with an event featuring free donuts, live music from students in the JazzU program, and more, at Jazz at the Bistro.

That evening, the JazzU students will be back on stage for the first evening of their annual weekend of performances at the Bistro, with alto saxophonist Antonio Hart (pictured, top left) as guest soloist. Hart, who first gained notice as a collaborator with trumpeter Roy Hargrove, bassist Dave Holland, and others, has recorded nine albums as a leader and also teaches jazz studies at Queens College City University of New York.

Saturday, June 3
The Funky Butt Brass Band will be playing at two different faux-New Orleans events in one day, providing the music for "Crawfish Fest 2017" in late afternoon at Ballpark Village, then heading a few blocks over to the Old Rock House to wrap up their "Summer Gras," an afternoon-into-evening affair also featuring music from Al Holliday and the The East Side Rhythm Band, The Grooveliner, The Provels, and Big Mike Aguirre and The Blu City All Stars.

Also on Saturday, pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson will perform at the Parkside Grille.

Sunday, June 4
Following up on the weekend's Scott Joplin Festival, an annual event held in Joplin's birthplace of Sedalia, MO, the Friends of Scott Joplin will present an "Afterglow Party" featuring festival performers and St. Louis players at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's New Rosebud Cafe.

Monday, June 5
Also capitalizing on the aftermath of the Joplin festival, the second year of pianist Ethan Leinwand's St. Louis Piano Festival will pay tribute to a famed St. Louis ragtime pianist and historian with the "Trebor Tichenor Ragtime Concert," featuring Tichenor's daughter Virginia Tichenor, Marty Eggers, Terry Parrish and John Reed-Torres, at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Tuesday, June 6
Singer/songwriter, pianist and guitarist Norah Jones will perform at the Peabody Opera House. 

Jones (pictured, bottom left) is touring in support of her most recent album Day Breaks, which was released in October of last year on the Blue Note label and offered something of return to the jazz-influenced sound featured on her first album 15 years ago.

Day Breaks features guest performances from well-known jazz musicians including drummer Brian Blade, bassist John Patitucci, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, and includes Jones' interpretations of Horace Silver's "Peace" and Duke Ellington's "African Flower," both of which seem like good candidates for her set list at the Peabody.

Also on Tuesday, the Glenn Miller Orchestra "ghost band" will perform a "Salute to the Heroes of D-Day" at the Webster Groves Concert Hall (formerly the Ozark Theatre); and the St. Louis Piano Festival wraps up with an evening of blues pianists including Silvercloud, Carl "Sonny" Leyland, Gene Taylor, Ethan Leinwand and Christopher Parrish, at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

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.)

Norah Jones to perform Tuesday, June 6 at Peabody Opera House

Singer, songwriter, and pianist Norah Jones will return to St. Louis for the first time in more than three years to perform at 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 6 at the Peabody Opera House.

Jones (pictured) last played St. Louis in a "secret" un-billed appearance during the Open Highway Music Festival in August 2013 at Off Broadway, and previously performed at the Peabody in October, 2012.

Her newest album Day Breaks, which was released in October of this year on the Blue Note label, has been perceived by many critics and fans as a welcome return to the jazz-influenced sound Jones offered on her 2002 debut album Come Away With Me.

Day Breaks features guest performances from well-known jazz musicians including drummer Brian Blade, bassist John Patitucci, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, and includes Jones' interpretations of Horace Silver's "Peace" and Duke Ellington's "African Flower" as well as nine original tunes and a cover of Neil Young's "Don't Be Denied."

Tickets for Norah Jones at the Peabody Opera House are priced at $52.50 and $68 and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Thursday, December 15 via Ticketmaster, by phone at 800-745-3000, and at the Scottrade Center box office.

Sunday Session: October 16, 2016

Charlie Parker

Some interesting music-related items that have landed in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Music of the Presses: How an L.A. Printer Kept the Art of the Album Cover Alive (Collector's Weekly)
* Dual Identities: A Conversation With Jazz Soulmates Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthappa (Pitchfork)
* Computer Scientist Publishes Manifesto for Expressive Algorithmic Music (Vice.com)
* Norah Jones: "2016 Is a Weird Place to Be" (Paste)
* Is the Album a Dead Format for Music? (Inc)
* Friday essay: the sound of fear (TheConversation.com)
* Music of the mind: a stunning string quartet created through brainwaves (Aeon.co)
* Surviving Oldchella: Scenes From the Ultimate Classic Rock Rager (Pitchfork)
* The Making of The Last Waltz, the Band’s Concert-Film Masterpiece (Vanity Fair)
* How Rock and Roll Became White (Slate.com)
* Mind-blowing psychedelic 60s posters of Hendrix, Dylan, Pink Floyd, Yoko Ono & The Who (DangerousMinds.net)
* Bob Dylan, the Musician: America’s Great One-Man Songbook (New York Times)
* After Dylan's Nobel, how about Springsteen, Mitchell, Cohen? (CNN)
* How the Most Important Promoter in NY Ensures the Music Never Stops (Observer.com)
* The Night When Charlie Parker Played for Igor Stravinsky (1951) (OpenCulture.com)
* Jazz great Steve Coleman putting down roots in Detroit (Detroit Free Press)
* Is New Orleans A Music City? (Offbeat)
* Avishai Cohen: A Beautiful Melancholy (Jazz Times)
* How improving US-Cuba relations has helped this jazz musician (PRI)

Sunday Session: August 14, 2016

"A Great Day In Harlem"

Some interesting music-related items that have landed in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* We’ve Passed Peak Vinyl – Here Comes The Collapse (Stereogum)
* What It Takes for an Independent Record Store to Survive Now (Pitchfork)
* Twang Time: Scofield Explores Country Music on New Album (DownBeat)
* A Conversation With ... Norah Jones (FYIMusicNews.ca)
* Norah Jones Teams with Jazz Icons for Day Breaks (DownBeat)
* Kittens, Kisses, And Razorblades: Behind Star Trek's Iconic Sounds (AudibleRange.com)
* 5 Musicians Pick Their Favorite Herbie Hancock Recordings (NPR)
* The Collapse of Music Dealers and Music Licensing’s “Race to the Bottom” (ConsequenceOfSound.net)
* Harry Connick Jr. joining daytime talk world and all that jazz (Fresno Bee)
* Herman Leonard’s intimate portraits of jazz greats draw viewers into smoky clubs (Washington Post)
* Paul McCartney Looks Back: The Rolling Stone Interview (Rolling Stone)
* SoundGirls Go To Camp (Pro Sound News)
* Bonerama Sends Love to Roswell Rudd (MySpiltMilk.com)
* Reviving a Detroit jazz legacy: Terry Jean Pollard was queen of the vibes (Detroit Metro Times)
* Tunisia’s Dying Jazz (Foreign Policy)
* From Gladiators to Bog Bodies: How inventive, evocative museum sound design is created today (ASoundEffect.com)
* Epic Records Whips Up Hit Album Out of Thin Air (and Online Streams)(New York Times)
* Tony Bennett's Season of Celebration: At 90, the Singer Reflects On A Life Rich with Collaborations, from Frank Sinatra to Lady Gaga (Billboard)
* Randy Weston Archive Provides Glimpse Into the History of Jazz in America and Africa (Harvard.edu)
* A visual chronicle of Tokyo’s disappearing jazz bars (TheVinylFactory.com)
* 12 Sound Artists Changing Your Perception of Art (Artnet.com)
* Cruisin’: Vintage photos of cars tricked out with record players (DangerousMinds.com)
* Stoop Summit - How a Harlem brownstone was immortalized when the living legends of jazz assembled there for an iconic photograph (New York Daily News)
* Inside Elvis Presley's Legendary Man-Cave Studio (Rolling Stone)
* Review: Herbie Hancock, Basking in a Boundless Legacy of Fusion (New York Times)
* Saving American Music: Heather West (ElmoreMagazine.com)
* Robert Glasper Experiment Returns with Eclectic ArtScience (DownBeat)

Norah Jones concert reviewed by Post-Dispatch

St. Louis Post-Dispatch pop critic Kevin Johnson was at last night's Norah Jones concert at the Fox Theatre, and has a review of the show up on STLtoday. Read it here.

Jazz this week: Norah Jones, Linda Presgrave, Erin Bode, St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, and more

While last week's calendar was dominated by distinguished gentlemen such as Ahmad Jamal and Freddie Cole, this week's lineup of jazz-related events in St. Louis finds the spotlight shining on some talented female musicians.

It all starts this evening, when pop-jazz-country vocalist and pianist Norah Jones (pictured) and the Handsome Band take the stage at the Fox Theatre in Grand Center. If you're a big fan of Jones, you've probably already got your tickets, but if not, it appears as if Metrotix still has at least a few seats available.

Just across Grand Avenue, Jazz at the Bistro is featuring some homegrown musicians this week, starting with the monthly appearance by Saint Louis Jazz Orchestra directed by Jim Widner and featuring vocalist Mardra Thomas on Thursday night. Then on Friday and Saturday, the seemingly ever-more-popular Erin Bode returns to the Bistro once again for two shows each night.

But not all the musical action is in Midtown this weekend, as pianist, composer and St. Louisan-turned New Yorker Linda Presgrave returns to her hometown to perform on Saturday night at Cookie's Jazz and More in Webster Groves. Over in University City, Brandt's has Gaslight Square veterans Hugh "Peanuts' Whalum on Thursday and Mae Wheeler on Sunday, plus the R&B-flavored duo of vocalist Anita Jackson and keyboardist Jeremiah Allen (a fine singer in his own right) on Saturday.

Beyond the weekend, saxophonist Tim Cunningham will play next week's Twilight Tuesday show at the History Museum in Forest Park. (No word yet as to when Denise Thimes' Twilight Tuesday show, originally set for yesterday but postponed due to rain, will be rescheduled. Watch this space for further updates.)

As usual, you can see a more extensive list of the week's jazz-related events by visiting the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar. And, as is also usual during the first week of the month, schedule information is still coming in from various bands and venues, so the calendar likely will be getting several updates over the next few days. If you don't see a current listing for your favorite venue or musician, you'll find direct links to dozens of local jazz-related sites over on the sidebar.

(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.)

StlJN Saturday at the Movies: Tony Bennett and Diana Krall sing "I've Got The World On A String" plus Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why"

Last week's Miles Davis performance video featured more than half an hour of uncompromising live improvisation, so if for no other reason than contrast's sake, this week we've got some nice listener-friendly vocal numbers featuring two singers who will be performing in St. Louis this spring.

Up top is a clip of Tony Bennett performing a duet of "I've Got The World On A String" with Diana Krall on the David Letterman show. The interview segment doesn't add much value to the viewing experience, but it's fun to hear Bennett work with a sympatico younger talent like Krall. He'll be here in June to perform at a benefit for the American Liver Foundation, and again in October for a concert at the Fox Theatre.

The Fabulous Fox is also where you'll find Norah Jones, who's featured in today's second clip, performing on May 2. The video is a live version of "Don't Know Why," the big hit single from her debut recording.