So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Jazz St. Louis is one of 13 local organizations that will share a total of $115,000 in funding from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis as part of a new program called the Arts and Healing Initiative.

JSL will use their portion of the money for Beat NF, described as "a jazz music motor therapy program for toddlers with special needs," which was developed in conjunction with the Washington University Neurofibromatosis (NF) Center and will be implemented by Jazz St. Louis educational staff and St. Louis Children’s Hospital Therapy Services practitioners.

* Jazz/fusion band Bach to the Future will provide part of the musical entertainment for "Wine and Jazz Under the Stars," a "virtual happy hour" being presented online for the benefit of radio station Classic 107.3 on Saturday, October 24.

The cost is $220 per household, which includes delivery of three bottles of wine from A. Bommarito Wines and appetizers provided by WhiteBox Catering, plus live-streamed entertainment, which also will include music from violinist Anne Akiko Myers, Americana band The Brothers Lazaroff, and more. Proceeds from the event will go to Classic 107.3 (fka Radio Arts Foundation) and its mission to support classical music programming and the arts in the St. Louis region.

* Miles Davis (pictured) is the number one jazz musician of all time, according to the "Jazz 100" poll recently conducted by ABC Jazz radio in Australia.

* If you didn't get the opportunity to see trumpeter Terence Blanchard's opera Champion when it was premiered by Opera Theater of St. Louis back in 2013, now you've got another chance. Presenting organization SFJAZZ will be streaming a video of their 2016 co-production of the work with San Francisco's Opera Parallèle for three days later this month, from Wednesday, October 21 to Saturday, October 24. You can get details and sign up at https://sfjazz.org/.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* St. Louis magazine's annual "A List" issue is out, and the winners in the readers poll include Vintage Vinyl for "Record Store," the Whitaker Music Festival for "Free Music Series," and singer Erin Bode for "Musical Artist, Female."

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo also got a special mention from the editors as a "Musician So Good, Barack Obama Loves Her." You can see the complete list of 2019 "A List" winners here.

* Following up his 2006 tome City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973, radio host, photographer, and author Dennis Owsley has written Jazz in St. Louis: A History, which he calls "a new book on St. Louis jazz that brings everything up to date." The book (pictured) comes out on Monday, July 15 from The History Press and can be pre-ordered here. (Full disclosure: StLJN and yr. humble editor are name-checked on page 122.)

* Guitarist Todd Mosby will release a new album, Open Waters, on Thursday, August 1.

* Saxophonists and former St. Louisans Oliver Lake, Marty Ehrlich, and the late Hamiet Bluiett are among the 33 musicians interviewed by bassist William Parker for his new book Conversations 3, now available (in English) from the French publishers RogueArt.

* With Opera Theatre of St. Louis' production of Terence Blanchard's opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones set to close this Saturday night, reviews still are coming in, including notices locally from the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn and KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

Jazz this week: Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Denise Thimes, Blood Sweat & Tears, Chicago, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the return of a unique fusion group; a visit home from a favorite local expat; two of the bands that launched the "jazz-rock" genre 50 years ago; and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, June 26
This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features singer Feyza Eren and guitarist Dave Black at The Stage at KDHX, along with the jam session hosted by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, June 27
The reunited original lineup of Béla Fleck and The Flecktones (pictured, top left) return for their first St. Louis performance in seven years at Powell Hall. You can see some videos of recent performances and some footage from the early days of the Flecktones, including their very first performance, in this post from last Saturday. 

Also on Thursday, it's the penultimate performance of trumpeter Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, with the finale set for Saturday night.

Elsewhere around town, trumpeter Jim Manley and keyboardist Chris Swan play The Pat Connolly Tavern; and the latest installment of the Bruxism experimental music series, featuring Curt Oren, William Morris, Michael Williams and Henry Claude, and Francis Hacienda, happens at the Schlafly Tap Room.

Friday, June 28
Singer Denise Thimes (pictured, bottom left), who last year moved from St. Louis to Chicago in search of greater career opportunities, will be back home to perform for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis.

Also on Friday, the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson return to the Parkside Grille; and guitarist Dan Rubright and the Wire Pilots will perform at the Ozark Theatre.

Saturday, June 29
Guitarist Brian Vaccaro and vocalist Stephanie Stewart will play a matinee at Alpha Brewing Company; singer Bre Hammond presents "A Tribute To The Ladies of Jazz" at the Ozark Theatre; and The Dark Room features pianist Ryan Marquez playing for dinner and Andrew Stephen's Texturz performing for the late show.

Sunday, June 30
There are several noteworthy daytime events on Sunday, including the summer edition of the St. Louis Record Show at the American Czech Center; jazz brunch with pianist Adam Maness at Thurman's in Shaw or singer and bassist Janet Evra at Evangeline's; and the monthly Traditional Jazz Jam Session at the Folk School of KDHX.

Then on Sunday evening, in an odd bit of synchronicity, two of the bands that helped popularize the jazz-rock genre a half-century ago will be in St. Louis on the same night, as Chicago plays at the Fox Theatre and Blood, Sweat & Tears performs at the River City Casino & Hotel.

The current touring version of Chicago includes three original members - keyboard player and singer Robert Lamm, trumpeter Lee Loughnane and trombonist (and St. Louis native) James Pankow. 

Meanwhile, BS&T, which has seen dozens of musicians come and go over the past 50 years, has no members remaining from their hit-making days, but fields a lineup of players selected by founding member and drummer Bobby Colomby, who doesn't perform with the group but owns rights to the name.

Tuesday, July 2
Guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran plays a free outdoor concert at Fanetti Park.

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:

* Saxophonist, clarinetist and former U Citian Marty Ehrlich (pictured) was the subject of an "Overdue Ovation" profile in Jazz Times.

* The world premiere production of trumpeter Terence Blanchard's opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones at Opera Theatre of St. Louis continues to generate press coverage, including preview stories from Bob Duffy in St. Louis magazine and St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy Goodwin, and reviews from Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Paul Friswold of the Riverfront Times, Mark Bretz of Ladue News, and John von Rhein on the website Chicago Classical Review. The production continues in "rolling rep" at OTSL until the end of the month.

* Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True appeared Tuesday on the morning newscast from KTVI (Fox 2).

* The new Miles Davis set Complete Birth of the Cool was reviewed by Nate Chinen for Pitchfork.

* Jazz Journal reviewed the new reissue of Davis' Cup, a 1956 compilation of some of Davis' early recordings for the Prestige label, originally issued only in Europe.

* Twenty local arts organizations have won operating support grants for the next year from the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis, including Jazz St. Louis, the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the Radio Arts Foundation.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis has announced the winners of its 2020 St. Louis Arts Awards, and among the honorees will be pianist Adam Maness (pictured), who will receive the Arts Collaborator award at a banquet and ceremony to be held on January 27, 2020 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

* The Miles Davis Jazz Festival, held last Saturday at the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton, was the subject of a feature story in the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

* Stanley Nelson Jr., the director of the new Miles Davis documentary Birth of the Cool, was interviewed about the film by Jazz Times.

* Meanwhile, combination listening sessions and panel discussions on the new reissue of Davis' Complete Birth of the Cool, which was released last Friday, were presented in New York City and Los Angeles.

* Lastly, after putting out excerpts on a four-song EP for this year's Record Store Day, the Miles Davis estate and Rhino/Warner Records will release the full version of the trumpeter's "lost" album Rubberband, recorded in the mid-80s and then shelved in favor of what would become the album Tutu. The vinyl LP includes 11 tracks, which were completed by the original producers and Davis’ nephew Vince Wilburn Jr, with new vocals added by Lalah Hathaway and Ledisi.

* Fire Shut Up In My Bones, the new opera by trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard that premieres tonight at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, was previewed by Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American.

* Pianist and former St. Louisan Tom McDermott wrote about the music of the late Dr. John for The Daily Beast.

* Former Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap, who left the organization last month to take a job as director of the cultural division of Broward County, FL, was profiled in the south Florida publication Art Hive.

* Snarky Puppy's performance last month at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion was reviewed by KDHX's Joseph Ferber.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Arcadia Dance Orchestra is featured in a story by Paul Schankman for HEC-TV.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold (pictured) was interviewed by Jazz in Europe.

* Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard will be in town this month for three days of events promoting Opera Theatre St. Louis' premiere in June of his new opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones.

Events will include "Music and Words: Composing Across Genres," a panel discussion on Sunday, March 17 at the Missouri History Museum; "Representation & Responsibility: Equity in the Music Industry," a "community conversation on Monday, March 18 at Jazz St. Louis; and a screening of Spike Lee's film BlacKkKlansman, which features an Oscar-nominated score by Blanchard, on Tuesday, March 19 at Maryville University.

* The relative influence of Chuck Berry and Miles Davis was the subject of a story by KSDK's Art Holliday, who asked veteran broadcaster Bernie Hayes and Vintage Vinyl's Tom Ray to weigh in on the subject.

* The updated edition of The Miles Davis Reader, a book compiling of DownBeat's coverage of the trumpeter over the years, was reviewed by Jazz Journal's Steve Voce.

* The Regional Arts Commission has two more free workshops coming up for local artists seeking one of their Individual Artist Support Grants. An online workshop will take place on Thursday, March 7, and an in-person session is set for Monday, March 11 at the offices of Northside Community Housing, 4067 Lincoln Ave.

* The Nevermore Jazz Ball has announced that this year's event will take place the weekend of November 7-10. Registration will open on July 8.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* A tribute to Ella Fitzgerald by singer Anita Jackson (pictured), set for Saturday, February 2 at The Sheldon, is previewed in a short article by St. Louis magazine's Amanda Woytus.

* Opera Theatre of St. Louis is sponsoring a series of events to promote Fire Shut Up In My Bones, the new opera by trumpeter Terence Blanchard that will premiere in June at OTSL.

You can read about the first event, a film screening and talk by the opera's librettist, writer/director and St. Louis native Kasi Lemmons, in this story by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

* Singer and actor Lea DeLaria was a guest Wednesday on KSDK's Show Me St. Louis program. DeLaria performs tonight and tomorrow night at Jazz St. Louis.

* Keyboardist and singer Jesse Gannon talked about his eponymous new album for a story by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson.

* The Friends of Scott Joplin are conducting their annual membership drive; find out more on their web site.

* Benjamin Cawthra, the former St. Louisan who in 2001 curated the Missouri History Museum's exhibit "Miles: A Miles Davis Retrospective," writes in a recent blog post about consulting with director Stanley Nelson on Nelson's documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, which premieres this Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival.

* Two local music venues that are experiencing hard times financially are asking the public for help. Foam, the south side spot that serves up coffee, beer and performances ranging from alt-rock to free improv, has set up a GoFundMe page to help keep the doors open after revenue shortfalls in recent months.

Meanwhile, The Focal Point, which in recent years has featured vintage jazz and swing along with folk, bluegrass, singer-songwriters, and Americana, is "faced with the loss of a key subsistence grant and some unexpected expenses." As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, they're able to solicit and accept donations directly via their website.

* The UMSL Symphonic Band is looking for additional woodwind, brass, and percussion players. The band is open to all musicians with at least six years of experience on their instrument, and rehearses under the direction of professor Gary Brandes on Monday evenings starting January 28 at the Lee Theater in the Touhill Performing Arts Center. For information on auditions, contact Brandes by email at brandesg@umsl.edu.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Drummer Marcus Baylor (pictured) and The Baylor Project are featured on the latest episode of the web video series "Black Friday Live - Celebrity Edition."

* Multi-instrumentalist, DJ and composer Lamar Harris will team up with Grammy Award winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard and Opera Theatre of St. Louis to present "The Lab," a workshop for "high school musicians, producers, deejays and spoken word artists to develop and collaborate with other composers." Applications are due by February 15 for the six-session program, which will run from Sunday, March 17 through Sunday, May 19.

* The traveling exhibition “Guitar: The Instrument That Rocked the World”, now on display at the St. Louis Science Center through April 14, is the subject of a Post-Dispatch story by Dan Durchholz.

* The fate of the remains of the Goldenrod Showboat, once the site of jazz and ragtime performances on the St. Louis riverfront, is the subject of a story by Paul Schankman for HEC-TV.

* Via Marc Myers' Jazzwax blog, video has surfaced on YouTube of a recently rediscovered interview with Miles Davis from 1984 that finds the trumpeter being quizzed by a couple of local talk-show hosts in Baltimore who apparently had no idea who he was, with results that are both cringe-worthy and kind of funny (as long as you weren't one of the participants). See part one here, and part two here.

* The Sundance Film Festival's screenings of the new documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool starting on Sunday, January 27 are previewed by the website what (not) to doc.

* Saxophonist Tim Cunningham was a guest Wednesday morning on KTVI-Fox 2's morning newscast, promoting his show last night at The Laugh Lounge STL and other upcoming performances.

Terence Blanchard writing new work to premiere at Opera Theatre of St. Louis

Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard is writing a new work to be premiered in 2019 at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

In a post Wednesday night on Facebook, Blanchard (pictured) announced that he's composing the music for a new opera based on the book Fire Shut Up In My Bones, the 2014 memoir by New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow.

The libretto for the operatic version of Blow's story will be written by Kasi Lemmons, the St. Louis native, director and actress who's known for films such as Eve's Bayou, The Caveman's Valentine, and Talk to Me.

In a Tweet on Wednesday, Blow said that the opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones is scheduled to premiere on June 15, 2019 at OTSL, and that the lead roles will be played by baritone Davone Tines (as the protagonist) and soprano Julia Bullock.

Described as "a pioneering journalist's indelible coming-of-age tale," Blow's book won considerable critical acclaim when released four years ago, with The AV Club calling it "the memoir of the year." It traces his life story from a troubled childhood in Louisiana to his current status as an internationally respected journalist.

This will be Blanchard's second collaboration with Opera Theatre St. Louis, which in 2013 premiered his first opera Champion, based on the story of professional boxer Emile Griffith.

The New Orleans native, also known for his film scoring work, has been a frequent visitor to St. Louis over the last decade. He was just here this past Saturday to play a benefit for Metro Theater Company, which this month at the Grandel Theatre is staging Bud, Not Buddy, a "concert play" for children with a score by Blanchard that's performed live on stage by a 13-piece band. The trumpeter also will play here with his band the E-Collective in May at the Grandel.

St. Louis premiere of Terence Blanchard's opera gets national media attention

Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard's new opera Champion, which will receive its world premiere performance this Saturday, June 15 at Opera Theatre St. Louis, got some national attention today in an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Jazz Times magazine recently also ran a short item about the premiere, while Opera News had a more extensive piece.

Blanchard also appeared last month on PBS' The Tavis Smiley Show to discuss Champion and his new album on Blue Note records, Magnetic. You can see that interview in the embedded video window below.

Here locally, St. Louis magazine's Stef Russell interviewed Blanchard and librettist Michael Cristofer, and the St. Louis Beacon's Patricia Rice talked with baritone Aubrey Allicock about his role as one of the singers portraying the opera's protagonist, real-life professional boxer Emile Griffith.

Meanwhile, the Post-Dispatch's Sarah Bryan Miller filed a preview story about the production; an interview with singer Denyce Graves, who plays Griffith's mother; and a story recapping a roundtable discussion with Allicock and fellow singers Arthur Woodley, who plays the older version of Griffith, and Robert Orth, who portrays Griffith's boxing trainer.

Champion will be performed a total of six times, starting with the premiere on Saturday and continuing through the end of the month. For performance dates and times and ticket information, see the OTSL website.

Blanchard also will play two free outdoor jazz concerts this week in St. Louis, on Wednesday night at the Missouri Botanical Garden and Thursday night at St. Louis Place Park. For more about Blanchard and those concerts, see this post from a couple of Saturday ago.

(Edited after posting.)

Terence Blanchard commissioned to write new work for Opera Theatre St. Louis

Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard (pictured) has been commissioned to write a new work called Champion for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. The opera will get its world premiere during OTSL's 2013 season, with six performances taking place between June 15, 2013 and June 30.

Based on the story of professional boxer Emile Griffith, Champion is a joint project of OTSL and Jazz St. Louis. OTSL artistic director James Robinson will direct a cast starring Denyce Graves, Aubrey Allicock, Arthur Woodley, and Robert Orth, and the opera's libretto will be written by Michael Cristofer, a playwright, filmmaker and actor who in 1977 won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and the Tony Award for best play for The Shadow Box. Cristofer's screen credits include work on films such as The Witches of Eastwick, Falling in Love, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and HBO’s Gia, and he currently is a cast member of the NBC drama Smash.

Though Champion is Blanchard's first opera, he has plenty of experience with long-form composition, notably from his work scoring numerous films for director Spike Lee. Blanchard in 2007 won the Grammy Award for Large Jazz Ensemble for A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina), and most recently wrote the score for Lucasfilm’s Red Tails, about the Tuskegee Airmen. His music also is currently represented on Broadway by the score for the revival of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Blair Underwood.

Blanchard performed in St. Louis most recently last month, playing with percussionist Poncho Sanchez' band at the Touhill Performing Arts Center during the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival. Also, a listing published earlier this year on Pollstar shows Blanchard returning in September to play Jazz at the Bistro .

The subject of Champion, Emile Griffith, was a three-time world welterweight champ and twice a world middleweight champion, fighting from the late 1950s into the 1970s. During a bout in 1962 for the welterweight championship, Griffith knocked out his opponent, Benny “The Kid” Paret, who fell into a coma and died ten days later.

During the press conference before the fight, Paret had mocked Griffith repeatedly with a derogatory term for homosexual. Years later, Griffith’s sexuality as a gay man was revealed to the public after he was nearly killed by a gang outside a gay bar in New York. The incident with Paret, and the widespread publicity and criticism of boxing which accompanied it, became the basis of the 2005 documentary Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story.

The commissioning and development of Champion is funded by a leadership gift from the Whitaker Foundation and major support from the National Endowment for the Arts and OPERA America. Support for the production is coming from the Whitaker Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Phoebe Dent Weil. OPERA America and PNC Arts Alive are supporting New Voices for Opera, the audience development programming surrounding the project.

Champion will be performed on June 15, 19, 21, 25, 27, and 30, 2013. Tickets are available now as part of a season subscription to OTSL; single tickets will go on sale in February of next year.