So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Violinist Alex Cunningham will be featured alongside U.S. Maple guitarist Mark Shippy on a new duo recording called Ghost Note. The album (pictured), which features a series of improvised duets, will be released by the Personal Archives label as a vinyl LP and to digital music services on Friday, June 4.

* Drummer Dave Weckl's new album Live in St. Louis at the Chesterfield Jazz Festival was reviewed by Modern Drummer magazine. The album also is featured this month in a Jazziz magazine article, "Crate Digging: 10 Albums You Need to Know for April 2021."

* An essay by bassist and Wash U faculty member Paul Steinbeck about composer George Lewis has been republished on the website of the CTM Festival in Berlin

* Bassist Tom Kennedy's forthcoming album Stories was previewed in an article on BroadwayWorld.com.

* Across the state in Sedalia, MO, the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival has announced that while there will be no festival in 2021 due to COVID concerns, the annual event will return on June 1-4, 2022.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Gaslight Squares appeared last week on the morning news broadcast at Fox 2/KTVI, promoting their upcoming "coffee concerts" next Tuesday and Wednesday at The Sheldon.

* Bassist and Washington University faculty member Paul Steinbeck talked with Black Agenda Report about Message to Our Folks, his book recounting the history of the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

* The Cherokee Street venue Foam (pictured), purveyors of coffee and beer and home to performances of all sorts of music including free improv and (occasionally) vintage jazz, is continuing their GoFundMe campaign in an effort to keep their doors open.

* The Funky Butt Brass Band has posted to their website audio recordings of their recent weekend gig at Jazz St. Louis.

* Student musicians in the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars will provide some live music for Big Muddy Dance Co's show “Footnotes” next week at the Grandel Theatre.

* Cabaret Project St. Louis has announced that this year's St. Louis Cabaret Conference will take place as three different educational "tracks," with the first starting Saturday, July 13 and the last wrapping up on Sunday, July 21. The organization also will present "Sing Center Stage," an intensive workshop specifically for singers of high school age, from Friday, July 12 to Tuesday, July 16.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Bassist and Washington University faculty member Paul Steinbeck - author of Message To Our Folks, a history of the Art Ensemble of Chicago - has received the 2018 Steve Larson Award for Jazz Scholarship from the Society for Music Theory's Jazz Interest Group.

* Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True have released a new album for the holidays called True Christmas. The album (pictured) features True's original arrangements of 14 favorite seasonal songs, and is on sale now as a digital download, with CDs available soon.

* Keyboard player David Grelle was the subject of a feature on the newscast of local NBC affiliate KSDK. Grelle and his group, the Playadors, perform tonight and tomorrow night at Jazz St. Louis.

* This weekend's homecoming of singer Kate McGrath, the St. Louis expat whose show "Aunt of The Year" is a sell-out tonight at the Gaslight Cabaret Festival, was the subject of an item by Post-Dispatch columnist Joe Holleman.

* An exhibit of visual art created by trumpeter Miles Davis opened this week at Jackson State University in Jackson, MI. The exhibit, which features 15 of Davis' paintings and photos, continues through November 30.

* Keyboardist and Metro East native David Garfield was interviewed on the Inside Musicast podcast.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Drummer and U City native Ronnie Burrage (pictured) was interviewed on the "Jazz on the Tube" podcast.

* Singer Anita Jackson was the subject of a feature story by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson.

* Saxophonist, clarinetist and St. Louis native Dan Block's album Block Party was reviewed by London Jazz News.

* A decades-old trumpet track from Miles Davis is incorporated into a new version of "Quiet Nights, Quiet Stars" just released by singer Alexandra Jackson on her new album Legacy and Alchemy.

* The Regional Arts Commission's new plan for the future of St. Louis' arts scene was examined in an article by the Riverfront Times' Paul Friswold.

* Message To Our Folks, the book about the Art Ensemble of Chicago by bassist and Wash U assistant professor Paul Steinbeck, is out now in a paperback edition, which is available from the publisher University of Chicago Press as well as bookstores and online retailers.

* Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway's performance of their show "Sibling Revelry" this week at Jazz St. Louis was reviewed by Chuck Lavazzi of KDHX.

* Drummer Kimberly Thompson was interviewed by DailyMailTV.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be any more un-issued Miles Davis recordings sitting on a shelf somewhere, Sleepy Night Records has announced the release on CD of Miles Davis Best of Live 1986 - 1991.

As the name implies, the album (pictured) features newly mastered versions of nine tracks recorded in the last five years of Davis' life during live performances in Paris, Melbourne, New York City, and Milan, Italy, and includes a 12-page booklet with "rare photos and insightful commentary."

Sleepy Night Records previously has released DVDs and live audio recordings featuring trumpeters Maynard Ferguson and Don Ellis.

* The Riverfront Times this week published a photo gallery documenting Sunday's "Sound of St. Louis" showcase at the Grandel Theatre and The Dark Room.

* Jazz St. Louis' 2018-19 season is previewed in an article in Alive magazine.

* Bassist and Wash U professor Paul Steinbeck's book Message to Our Folks: The Art Ensemble of Chicago will be the subject of a program and discussion at the Padova Jazz Festival, held in November in Padova, Italy.

* Max & Louie Productions has announced that singer Debby Lennon will star and Ken Page will direct the company's upcoming staging of Love, Linda, a play with music about Cole Porter's wife Linda Lee Thomas that features a number of Porter's classic songs. Tickets go on sale on Monday, October 1 for the production, which will run from Thursday, January 17 through Sunday, January 27 of next year at the Marcelle Theater in Grand Center.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Singer Denise Thimes, who just moved to Chicago but is back in St. Louis this weekend to perform at Jazz at the Bistro, got a warm welcome to the Windy City, courtesy of what can only be described as a rave review from the Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich for her shows last weekend at Winter's Jazz Club downtown.

* Drummer and St. Louis native Marcus Baylor and singer Jean Baylor of The Baylor Project were interviewed in advance of their appearance next week at Jazz at the Bistro by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

* Message to Our Folks, the book about the Art Ensemble of Chicago written by bassist and Washington University professor Paul Steinbeck and released last year by the University of Chicago Press, has been translated into Italian as Grande Musica Nera. Published by Quodlibet, the Italian edition (pictured) is being celebrated this week with a book release event at the Bergamo Jazz Festival.

* Jazz Times is offering readers a chance to win a free copy of the soon-to-be-released CD box set Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Final Tour. You can enter the drawing for the giveaway here.

On a related note, NYC radio station WBGO last week previewed a live version of Davis' "So What" from the set as part of their weekly online feature "Take Five."

* Also on the Miles Davis beat, rapper Q-Tip will star as the trumpeter in a staged reading of My Funny Valentine, a new play by Nelson George about "a day in the life of the jazz giant."  The reading happens this coming Monday, March 26 at Joe's Pub in NYC.

* Trumpeter Freddie Hendrix will play the part originally conceived for the late Hugh Masekela when pianist Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya present “Jazz Epistles - The Story in Concert” on Saturday, April 14 at The Sheldon. Hendrix's resume ranges from work with jazz artists including saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake, the Count Basie Orchestra and the Christian McBride Big Band, to backing up singers such as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys.

* St. Louis has what might be called a cameo role in the promotional campaign for Standing Room Only, a forthcoming collection of previously unreleased performances by singer Frank Sinatra that will come out in May as a 3-CD set and in digital formats from Capitol/Universal Music Enterprises.

To promote the release, the label has posted online a clip of Sinatra singing “Fly Me To The Moon” with the Count Basie Orchestra recorded in 1965 at Kiel Opera House in St. Louis. Although the performance is not included in Standing Room Only, which collects shows from 1966 at the Sands in Las Vegas, 1974 at The Spectrum in Philadephia, and 1987 at Reunion Area in Dallas, you can watch the video here.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* This year for Record Store Day on Saturday, April 21, Resonance Records will release on vinyl two previously unheard albums by guitarist and St. Louis native Grant Green.

The two-LP set Slick! Live at Oil Can Harry's (pictured) was recorded on September 5, 1975 at the titular club in Vancouver, BC, while Funk in France: From Paris to Antibes (1969-1970) is a three-LP set compiling recordings from ORTF studios in Paris and the Antibes Jazz Festival.

* The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra has posted to Facebook a photo album from their performance last week at The Sheldon.

* And speaking of the Sheldon, they've posted to Facebook some photos from last Saturday night's performance by trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra.

* Thurman's in Shaw has hired Denise Mueller, formerly of The Dark Room, as its new general manager.

* Music educator, author, and STL Free Jazz Collective bassist Paul Steinbeck has been promoted to associate professor with tenure at Washington University.

* Episodes of the podcast "You'll Hear It," featuring pianists Peter Martin and Adam Maness, are now available on Spotify.

* Martin also has a couple of new blog posts up on his Open Studio Network website, offering his take on "7 Essential Jazz Piano Albums" and a "7 Step Guide to Learning Jazz Piano."

* Saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake last week was part of an all-star ensemble assembled for "The Sonic Universe Project" at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, along with multi-instrumentalists Douglas R. Ewart and Roscoe Mitchell, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, bassist Antony Cox, and percussionist Hamid Drake.

* Bassist and singer Tonina Saputo was profiled by the Riverfront Times' Christian Schaeffer. 

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 appears on the cover of the latest issue of Jazziz magazine (pictured), and was interviewed by journalist Ted Pankin for the magazine's cover story.

* Trombonist Joe Bowie's band Defunkt has released a new album, The Cleansing, recorded live last year in Europe.

The recording features Bowie, guitarist and fellow St. Louis native Kelvyn Bell, bassist Kim Clarke, and trumpeter John Mulkerin from the band's classic lineup, plus drummer Gary "GMan" Sullivan, and can be downloaded from the Defunkt Bandcamp page.

* Message to Our Folks, bassist Paul Steinbeck's history of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, was named a "Notable Book of 2017" by the Seminary Co-op bookstore in Chicago.

* A brief article in the latest Alive magazine looks at "A Night Out at Jazz St. Louis."

* As recounted in an article in Jazz Times, the compositions of the late saxophonist and St. Louis native Oliver Nelson are featured in a new album by trumpeter and arranger John Vanore.

* In a new post on his blog, saxophonist Greg Osby responds to a story published in November by the Boston Globe alleging misconduct by former faculty members at the Berklee College of Music.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Tonight's 7:30 p.m. set by Sammy Miller and the Congregation at Jazz at the Bistro will be streamed live online by Jazz St. Louis. You can see it on JSL's website, their Facebook page, or on UStream.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold was named one of "10 New Artists You Need To Know" in the October issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

Harrold (pictured) also was featured on a recent episode of B-Side, a web series produced and curated by the BRIC arts and media nonprofit in Brooklyn, NYC.

* A recent show by saxophonist Dave Sanborn, and his kindness to a young fan, are the subjects of a feature story on AllAboutJazz.com.

* New Music Circle will present a free program of short films by composer and electronic musician John Wiese at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, November 9 at the Moolah Theatre & Lounge. Wiese will be in town for a concert presented by NMC on Saturday, November 11 at St. Louis University's Xavier Hall.

* In conjunction with a talk this week at Washington University, bassist, author and educator Paul Steinbeck was interviewed about Message to Our Folks, his book about the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

* Saxophonist Greg Osby was interviewed on a recent episode of the Neon Jazz podcast.

* The Sheldon has posted to Facebook a set of photos from the Hudson concert earlier this month.

* Euclid Records has released a free smartphone app, with a barcode scanner that provides access to sound samples, plus info on new releases and store events, and more. The app is available for both Android and iPhone via Google Play and the iTunes app store.

* Actor and singer Alice Ripley's show last weekend for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival was reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

* The remains of the hull of the Goldenrod Showboat - which for decades on the St. Louis riverfront served as the site for performances of traditional jazz and ragtime - were destroyed in a fire last week in Calhoun County, IL.

* The Regional Arts Commission is surveying the St. Louis arts and culture community in conjunction with EVOKE, a new initiative described as "a cultural planning process that seeks to elicit, inspire and explore how the arts can become more relevant in addressing St. Louis’s cultural challenges...The outcome of the conversations, studies, data gathered and ideas shared will be a regional cultural plan designed to guide RAC’s work and evolve our vision for a more vibrant and equitable future for St. Louis." You can weigh in by taking the survey online here.

* Chasing Trane, the documentary about saxophonist John Coltrane that briefly played in movie theaters earlier this year, will be broadcast as part of the PBS series Independent Lens and will air in St. Louis at 10:00 p.m. Monday, November 6 on Nine PBS (aka KETC).

Jazz this week: Harold López-Nussa, Filippo Cosentino, Alice Ripley, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a pianist from Cuba, a guitarist from Italy, a cabaret show from a singer and actress who has earned Broadway's highest honor, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, October 18
Cuban-born pianist Harold López-Nussa makes his St. Louis debut in the first of four evenings at Jazz at the Bistro. For more about López-Nussa (pictured, top left) and some video samples of him and his trio in action, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Wednesday, Bach to the Future and guitarist Dave Black will perform for the Webster Arts series at Cyrano's, and this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's quartet at The Dark Room.

Thursday, October 19
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present "From Torino - Music of Italian Film Composers," a free concert featuring Italian guitarist Filippo Cosentino, guitarist and bassist William Lenihan, and the Sogni D'Alba String Trio.

Elsewhere around town, violinist Christopher Voelker's trio plays The Pat Connolly Tavern, drummer Kaleb Kirby’s Animal Children returns to The Dark Room, and Cabaret Project St. Louis will present their monthly "Broadway Open Mic" at the Curtain Call Lounge.

Friday, October 20
The Gaslight Cabaret Festival's fall series resumes with Tony Award-winning actress and singer Alice Ripley (pictured, bottom left) performing for the first of two nights at the Gaslight Theater.

Also on Friday, singer Feyza Eren returns to the Webster Groves Concert Hall.

Saturday, October 21
Saxophonist Dave Stone will play a free matinee show at Saxquest, and trumpeter/vibraphonist Joe Bozzi and his band return to Evangeline's

Sunday, October 22
Miss Jubilee will play for brunch at Evangeline's, and singer Chuck Flowers will perform a late-afternoon show BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups

Monday, October 23
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays for diners and drinkers at Momo's Greek Restaurant.

Tuesday, October 24
Bassist, educator and author Paul Steinbeck will discuss his book Message to Our Folks: The Art Ensemble of Chicago in Room 142 of Olin Library on the Washington University campus. The free, public event is part of the Washington University Library Faculty Book Talk series.

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:

* Trombonist Steve Swell will present a free, public "artist's talk" at 4:00 p.m. today (Friday October 6) in Room 102 of Washington University's music classroom building.

Swell (pictured) is in St. Louis to lead his quintet in New Music Circle's season-opening concert on Saturday night at The Stage at KDHX.

* Speaking of Washington University, bassist, educator and author Paul Steinbeck will discuss Message To Our Folks, his book about the history of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, as part of Wash U's library faculty book talk series at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 24 in room 142 of the Olin Library on the Wash U campus. The event is free and open to the public.

* Saxophonist and singer Grace Kelly is the subject of a photo feature on the website Sound of STL, and her performance Wednesday night at Jazz at the Bistro was briefly reviewed on the website of Sophisticated Living magazine. Kelly continues at the Bistro through Saturday night.

* The Wee Trio's upcoming concert on Tuesday, October 17 at SIU Edwardsville was previewed by the Edwardsville Intelligencer.

* KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, which serves as one of the sites on the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl," is getting a new menu, a new operator, and a new name. According to reports published this week by Feast magazine and others, chef Rob Connoley will take over the restaurant, renaming it Squatter's Cafe, on Wednesday, November 1.

* The annual musical instrument drive sponsored by Music for Lifelong Achievement was the subject of a feature story on KTVI-Fox 2's morning news.

* "Wayfaring Traveler," a track from trumpeter Keyon Harrold's new album The Mugician that features guest performances from Jermaine Holmes, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Robert Glasper, this week made it onto Apple Music's jazz playlist "The A List."

* Singer Debby Lennon will star in the upcoming production of the musical comedy Souvenir being staged by Max & Louie Productions from Thursday, December 14 through Sunday, December 31 at The Marcelle in Grand Center.

The show tells the story of the notoriously tone-deaf Florence Foster Jenkins, "a real-life socialite who set elite eardrums in Manhattan a-trembling in a series of notorious private concerts during the 1930s and 1940s...Her flamboyant costumes and uninhibited love of music was as much her trademark as her inability to sing on key."  Jenkins' story also was the subject of an eponymous 2016 feature film starring Meryl Streep in the title role.

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 looking to hire a full-time Education Associate to help launch a new program for at-risk middle school students called Jazz Academy. For more information about the job and how to apply, go here.

* In advance of his gig tonight for The Sheldon's annual fundraising gala, guitarist and singer George Benson did a brief Q&A with St. Louis magazine's Erin Williams.

* Singer Joe Mancuso has organized an event to raise money for music scholarships in the name of the late saxophonist Willie Akins. Set up as a structured jam involving a couple of dozen St. Louis musicians, the "Willie Akins Jazz Festival" is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 28 at the Grandel Theatre, with an informal jam session at The Dark Room to follow. Mancuso also has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the scholarship fund.

* The Bosman Twins (pictured) were interviewed last week on the WSIE (88.7 FM) program "Voices," and their chat with host Hank Thompson has been archived online as an MP3 file here.

* The STL Free Jazz Collective has posted on Facebook a photo album from their recent show at the 14th St Artists Community.

* The website Sound of STL has photo coverage of the recent gig by Thomas Fujiwara's The Hookup presented by New Music Circle at The Stage at KDHX.

* Speaking of KDHX, singer Ken Haller's latest reprise of his cabaret entertainment "The Medicine Show" was reviewed for the station by Chuck Lavazzi.

* In the latest chapter in the saga of the Goldenrod Showboat, St. Louis Public Radio reports that the remains of the venerable venue - once home to performances of ragtime and vintage jazz on the St. Louis riverfront - are sinking in the flooded Illinois River. The flooding threatens the plans of preservationists who hoped to salvage artifacts and materials from the boat for display in a museum.

* The British music magazine The Wire has published an excerpt from Message To Our Folks, bassist and Washington University faculty member Paul Steinbeck's new book about the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

* "The Music Seen - Beyond the Stage," an exhibit featuring music-related images from seven different photographers, will open with receptions from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Friday, June 9 and from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday, June 10 at Bullivant Gallery, 3321 Washington Blvd in Grand Center. The exhibit, which features work from Michael Eastman, David Godlis, Jason Lee, Charles Peterson, David Rocco, Dr. Ernest Withers, and Baron Wolman, continues through Friday, July 14.

* Just in time for Mothers Day, the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn interviews Shirley Harrold, a St. Louis mom whose flock of 16 children includes two young jazz stars, trumpeter Keyon Harrold and drummer Emanuel Harrold.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The 10th annual Record Store Day celebration will be held this year on Saturday, April 22, and yr. StLJN editor once again will be playing a small part in the festivities at Vintage Vinyl in University City, serving as a "guest DJ" spinning tunes on the in-house sound system for an hour starting at 4:00 p.m.

In addition to this year's special RSD releases, VV's all-day event will feature live bands outside, guest DJs inside, and free Schlafly beer. Other St. Louis stores participating in RSD 2017 include Euclid Records, Planet Score Records, Music Record Shop, and Kismet Creative Center.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn talked about his friendship with the late drummer and fellow former St. Louisan Phillip Wilson for an interview published on Do The Math, the blog of The Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson.

* Trumpeter and vibraphonist Joe Bozzi was profiled on KSDK's Show Me St. Louis in a segment by reporter Heidi Glaus highlighting his decades of service as a music teacher for schools in the St. Louis Archdiocese.

* Drummer Kimberly Thompson, back home this week for an educational residency at Jazz St. Louis and gigs this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro, is also back online in animated form, as the second episode of her children's program "Music Time with Kimberly Thompson" has been posted to YouTube. As part of that educational residency, Thompson returned to her alma mater Pattonville High School for a clinic with the school's jazz band. 

* Bassist, Washington University faculty member, and now, author Paul Steinbeck went to Chicago last month for a concert and book signing to promote Message To Our Folks, his new history of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and DownBeat magazine was there to cover the event.

* The weekly Wednesday night jam sessions at @Nesby's are the subject of a brief feature in St. Louis County Arts, a new blog started by Valerie Tichacek and writer/photographer Bill Motchan.

* Drummer and St. Louis native Andre Boyd, now living in New Orleans after leaving Cirque du Soleil's road show Quidam last year, was profiled by the New Zealand magazine elocal..

* Pioneering bassist Jimmy Blanton, who played his first professional gigs in the late 1930s with the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra in St. Louis before going on to fame with Duke Ellington's band, is one of 10 musicians eligible this year for election to Jazz at Lincoln Center's Jazz Hall of Fame. You can see a list of all the candidates and cast your vote by April 30 here.

* The 2017 Chesterfield Jazz Festival has announced this year's date and musical lineup. The free concert will be held Saturday, June 24 at the Chesterfield Amphitheater and will feature music from the Wooten Brothers, with bassist Victor Wooten, drummer Roy "Futureman" Wooton and siblings, along with Bach to the Future with Tracy Silverman, Anita Jackson, Soul Cafe, and Kim Fuller & Maurice Carnes.

New book by St. Louisan Paul Steinbeck tells history of the Art Ensemble of Chicago

Message to Our Folks: The Art Ensemble of Chicago, a new book by St. Louis bassist and educator Paul Steinbeck, has been published by The University of Chicago Press.

Generally considered one of the most important small groups of the creative music movement that began in the 1960s, the Art Ensemble originally spun off from saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell's sextet, which was made up of musicians who were part of Chicago's storied Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.

Released in time to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Art Ensemble's founding, Message to our Folks is touted by its publisher as "the definitive study of the Art Ensemble," and Mitchell has called the book "more than we could have hoped for, telling the complete history of the Art Ensemble of Chicago in careful, engaging detail.”

"The book tells the complete history of the band, from its founding in 1966 to its final performances in the 2010s," said Steinbeck, who is an assistant professor of music theory at Washington University and plays bass with the STL Free Jazz Collective, in an email to StLJN. "Message to Our Folks also closely examines some of the group's best performances."

(At this point, it's worth noting that though born and based in the Windy City, the AEC also featured two St. Louis natives in important roles: original drummer Phillip Wilson, who left the group after one album to join the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and was replaced by Famoudou Don Moye; and trumpeter Lester Bowie, another co-founder who would remain with the band until his death in 1999.)

The book (pictured) can be purchased directly from the University of Chicago Press; from booksellers everywhere, including St. Louis' Left Bank Books and the bookstore at Washington University; and in digital form from ebook vendors such as Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Google Play, and Kobo.

STL Free Jazz Collective's new digital album is Live at the Ozark Theatre

The STL Free Jazz Collective has released a new digital album, Live at the Ozark Theatre, which is available now as a name-your-price download from Bandcamp.com.

As the title suggests, the recording was made at a live performance last December at the Ozark Theatre in Webster Groves.

Along with improvised music from the group's five instrumentalists, the album (pictured) includes three tracks featuring spoken word performances from St. Louis poet laureate Michael Castro, titled "We Need to Talk," "America Loves Its Guns More Than Its Children," and "St. Louis Blues Revisited."

The topical focus is no coincidence, said the group's keyboardist Jim Hegarty via email. "The message is yet again really relevant in the light of recent events," Hegarty said. "We're really into the idea of unity and we're using our music to share a vision of peace and freedom for everyone."

In addition to Hegarty and Castro, the STL Free Jazz Collective includes "Baba" Mike Nelson (trumpet, shells, percussion and vocals), Paul Steinbeck (bass), Gary Sykes (drums), and Jerome "Jay Dubz" Williams (alto sax).