Sunday Session: February 24, 2019

Billie Holiday

Here's a roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's various inboxes or feeds over the past week:

* Ken Nordine, Chicago creator of 'word jazz' who had a voice that 'could give you the chills,' dies at 98 (Chicago Tribune)
* What happens when you create a fake music record label and upload bad music to Spotify (Salon.com)
* Jazz Musician And Subject Of Iconic Photo Revisits 'A Great Day In Harlem' (NPR)
* Italian town takes vow of silence for digital recording of centuries-old violins (The Telegraph)
* Cultural evolution of music (Nature)
* How streaming music could be harming the planet (BBC)
* Mandatory Music Surcharges Could Pay Musicians More (Offbeat)
* PBS to Air Nat ‘King’ Cole Special, Marking Centennial (DownBeat)
* PledgeMusic's Failed Promise Leaves Artists in Limbo and the Future of Music Crowdfunding in Jeopardy (Billboard)
* Judge Rules Against Both Parties In Lawsuit Over Kansas City's Mutual Musicians Foundation (KCUR)
* Ryan Adams and the Perils of the Rock-Genius Myth (The New Yorker)
* Ethel Ennis, Sophisticated Singer Who Reigned As Baltimore's First Lady of Jazz, Dies at 86 (WBGO)
* Whither “Musicologist”? (MusicologyNow.AMS.net)
* Rough Around the Edges: The Raw Yet Refined Art of Myra Melford (Jazziz)
* For Promotional Use Only (RockAndRollGlobe.com)
* More Than 50 Years In, Mavis Staples Is Still Delivering Messages Of Hope And Justice (NPR)
* Fans of Max Roach drumming up support to rename Bed-Stuy street after genre-busting jazz great (New York Daily News)
* Billie Holiday Documentary in the Works Featuring New Interviews With Contemporaries (Hollywood Reporter)
* McVouty! (Chisler.org)
* “Hearing” the Hammond Organ (New Music Box)
* Folk and Blues: The Tribulations of The Old Town School (NewCity.com)
* Monkees Singer and Bassist Peter Tork Dead at 77 (Rolling Stone)
* Bill Frisell: The ‘favourite guitarist of many people who agree on little else’ (Irish Times)
*''We Need a Jazz Band, but They All Have to Be Foreigners": The Discrimination Faced by Asian Musicians (The Beijinger.com)
* Peter Erskine: Up Front, In Time, and On Call (AllAboutJazz.com)
* Three-Disc Set Documents Ben Sidran’s Voyage (DownBeat)
* The strange truth behind the Amy Winehouse hologram tour (GQ)
* Debunking Green Book: Jazz Greats on What It Was Really Like to Tour During Jim Crow (Pitchfork.com)
* The Uncertain Future of KMHD and Jazz Radio in Portland (Portland Mercury)
* Save JAZZ.FM91 May Just Do It! (FYIMusicNews.ca)
* The Man Who Wasn’t Gershwin (Commentary)
* Jazz City (KCET)
* The Invisible Village - Sasha Frere-Jones on the Music of John Zorn (Art Forum)
* Ray Charles and Country’s Color Barrier (Rolling Stone)
* On the Road with Esperanza Spalding (Mother Jones)

Music Education Monday: A lesson from Peter Erskine on playing with brushes

Today for Music Education Monday, you can get a video lesson from famed drummer Peter Erskine on "Playing Brushes With All Styles Of Music."

First gaining wide attention in the mid-1970s as a member of Stan Kenton's big band, Erskine (pictured) can be heard on more than 600 albums encompassing styles including jazz, funk, rock, pop and more.

He has performed and/or recorded with headliners such as Weather Report, Diana Krall, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Steps Ahead, Kate Bush, and many others, and also has released 20 albums as a leader, including two - Dr. Um and Side Man Blue - this year. When not touring or recording, Erskine also teaches at the the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.

In this video recorded for Drumeo.com, Erskine talks about basic brush techniques, and how to apply them to many different styles of music.

Jazz this week: Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, Sean Jones, John Jorgenson, Medeski Martin and Wood, FLOW, Dixie Daredevils, Stan Hale, and more

It's the busiest week so far this year for jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis, with a number of touring artists in town and a schedule of shows representing a wide variety of styles, from traditional jazz and big band to straight-ahead modern jazz to free improv, intermedia and more.

Let's go the highlights in chronological order, starting with this evening, when the acclaimed young trumpeter Sean Jones opens a four-night stand continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Jones is considered by many to be a rising star among jazz trumpeters, and this weekend marks his St. Louis debut as a bandleader. For more on Jones and some video samples of his playing, see this post.

On Thursday, singer and pianist Anita Rosamond is doing a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, backed by a group featuring keyboardist Nathan Jatcko, bassist Bob DeBoo, and drummer Jerry Mazucca. That same evening, the Detroit-based free improv duo of saxophonist Wally Shoup and percussionist Ben Hall will perform at Open Lot, 1310 S. 18th St, with opening sets from Dave Stone & Danny McClain and Brain Transplant.

On Friday, the public performance portion of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival kicks off with a concert featuring guest artists Peter Erskine on drums and Lou Marini (pictured) on saxophone with the University of Missouri - St. Louis Jazz Ensemble at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. For some background on Erskine and some video samples of his playing, see this post. Also on Friday, the NYC-based saxophonist Kim Bock and his jazz organ trio FLOW will take the stage at The Gramophone.

Saturday brings some free educational opportunities for aspiring musicians during the morning and afternoon, with Erskine and trumpeter Jon Faddis each presenting free master classes at the Touhill while Bock and FLOW will be giving a free workshop and performance at Saxquest.

On Saturday night, the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival continues with a concert featuring Faddis, singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli and the UMSL Jazz Ensemble at the Touhill. For more about Faddis and some video samples of his playing, see this post.

Also on Saturday, guitarist John Jorgenson brings his Django Reinhardt-inspired quintet to the Sheldon Concert Hall. For some background on Jorgenson and a video sample of his playing, check out this post from when he was last in St. Louis in September 2007.

That same evening, New Music Circle will present a program at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium featuring videos created by Van McElwee, Roy Zurick and others with live musical accompaniment by S.A.N.E. (Semi-Acoustic Noise Ensemble), percussionist Rich O'Donnell, and friends

Sunday is another busy day, as the St. Louis Jazz Club presents a performance by the Peoria, IL-based traditional jazz band Dixie Daredevils at Bel Air Bowl in Belleville, and St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers ends its spring 2009 series with a free concert featuring guitarist Steve Schenkel and singer Ashley Mason at the Second Baptist Church.

Also on Sunday, veteran drummer Stan Hale is having a CD release event at the Jazz Spot to promote The Stan Hale Experience, his debut jazz recording as a leader. Hale's band for the show will feature Jeff Anderson on tenor sax, Tony Simmons on keyboards, Henry Taylor on guitar, and Jamal Nichols on bass, with vocals by Ralph Butler and Virginia Williams, and the $10 admission price includes a copy of the CD. (Full disclosure: Hale is a musical associate of yr. humble editor, and there's a possibility I may end up playing some intermission piano at this gig.)

Last, but not least, Sunday also is the pick day for jazz fans at this weekend's jam-band-oriented Loyal Earth Festival, with performances scheduled during the evening by the groovalicious organ trio Medeski Martin and Wood and pan-stylistic Chicago guitarist Fareed Haque of Garaj Mahal fame.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band is back at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and on Tuesday, the ambient music duo Mountains will perform at Open Lot, while the David Wiatrolik Trio is set to perform at The Gramophone.

With so much going on, these are just some of the noteworthy shows happening around St. Louis over the next few days. To see more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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.)

Peter Erskine interview, GSLJF preview now online at the Beacon

The St. Louis Beacon online news site has some coverage of this weekend's Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival in the form of two pieces by freelance music journalist/artist manager (and occasional StLJN co-conspirator) Terry Perkins. You can read Perkins' preview story on the GSLJF here, and his interview with drummer Peter Erskine, who's one of the event's guest artists, here.

Peter Erskine, Jon Faddis to present free master classes April 17 & 18 at the Touhill

In conjunction with their appearances next week as guest artists for the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, drummer Peter Erskine and trumpeter Jon Faddis will present free master classes on their respective instruments.

Erskine's drum classes will be from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Friday, April 17 and 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, April 18. Faddis' trumpet class will be held from 12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.> (See update below.) All three master classes will take place in the Touhill Performing Arts Center's Lee Theater, and all are free and open to the public.

UPDATE, 4/9/09, 12:15 p.m.: Via GSLJF publicity guru Dawn DeBlaze, the word now is that, to accommodate the rehearsal schedule for Saturday evening's concert, Faddis' and Erskine's master classes will trade time slots on Saturday, with Faddis now set to teach from 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. and Erskine taking over the 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. slot.

In addition to the weekend concerts featuring Erskine, Faddis, guitarist/singer John Pizzarelli and saxophonist Lou Marini, the GSLJF also will include a number of performances and clinics featuring student combos and big bands from local schools. For a schedule of those events, go here.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Three views of Peter Erskine

This week, we've a little video taste of the work of drummer Peter Erskine, who will be in St. Louis April 16-18 as a guest artist for the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Erskine has had a long and varied career, starting in the mid-1970s as a big band drummer with Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson, moving into fusion as a member of Weather Report and Steps Ahead, and continuing into the present day with a busy and eclectic schedule of gigs as a sideman, leader and clinician.

These days, Erskine plays with all sorts of musicians in all sorts of ensembles, from the small combo of singer/pianist Diana Krall to saxophonist Bob Mintzer's big band to the backup bands of pop artists such as Queen Latifah and Linda Ronstadt. He's also active in jazz education, and that makes him a good fit for the GSLJF, which involves its guest artists in workshops and clinics with local student musicians.

There are many Erskine video clips online, showing him playing with many different artists in many different styles. Here, the better to get a closeup look at the drummer himself, we've got a couple of videos of Erskine playing alone, and another featuring him in a small group setting.

The first clip up above shows Erskine playing a more-or-less free form drum solo. It was recorded in 2004 at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC). The second video, down below, features the drummer in a trio with guitarist John Abercrombie and bassist Marc Johnson, recorded at NYC's Village Vanguard. Lastly, the third clip provides a glimpse of Erskine the teacher, as he demonstrates a New Orleans-style groove and solo.

Notes from the Net: Oliver Lake reviewed, Peter Erskine interviewed, John Zorn goes west, and more

A day late but otherwise none the worse for the wear, here's our weekly compilation of news and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Miles Davis' landmark album Kind of Blue officially turned 50 years old this past week, and the jazz blogs Straight No Chaser and Rifftides both had noteworthy commemorative posts. Also, here's a review of Scottish trumpeter Colin Steele's Kind of Blue tribute show, mentioned a couple of weeks ago in this space.

* Speaking of reviews, via Jazz.com, here's a report on saxophonist Oliver Lake's recent organ trio concert at Twins in Washington D.C., and, via AllAboutJazz.com, a review of Berne Concert, a new CD on Intakt Records for which Trio 3, which includes the former St. Louisan Lake (pictured), Andrew Cyrille on drums and bassist Reggie Workman, joined forces with pianist Irene Schweizer.

* And speaking of alto saxophonists with a St. Louis connection, SF Weekly had a nice feature on John Zorn's recent West Coast stand at Yoshi's. (Zorn studied here at Webster University before moving to NYC.)

* Following up on some items about recent visitors to St. Louis, here are a couple of reviews of the recent Thelonious Monk Town Hall tribute concert last week in NYC from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The concert featured ensembles led by Jason Moran (who was here last fall at the History Museum) and Charles Tolliver offering distinctly different takes on Monk's music.

* Here's a review of the Blue Note 7's album Mosaic. The group performed selections from the CD last month at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* The Smithsonian magazine has an interesting interview with another recent visitor to the Sheldon, New Orleans singer and pianist Dr. John

* Here's the New York Times review of Bela Fleck's new Africa Project CD; the related tour comes to the Sheldon on April 1.

* There's also news of a couple of the guest artists scheduled to appear at the upcoming Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival in April. Drummer Peter Erskine recently appeared with DJ and blogger Leroy "The JazzCat" Downs on his radio program "Live With The JazzCat," and an MP3 of their conversation is archived online here. Meanwhile, trumpeter Jon Faddis will lead the the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in "The Art of the Composer: Music by William Russo and Frank Foster" featuring special guest Von Freeman on Friday, March 20 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago.

* Last but not least, jazz journalist Howard Mandel laments that the economic stimulus money going to the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the bill that recently passed by Congress and signed by President Obama will be distributed only to previous recipients of NEA grants. Mandel notes that while this will help preserve existing arts institutions at a time when income from other funding sources is down - a worthy goal, to be sure - it won't necessarily help stimulate much new activity.

(Edited 3/11/09 to add more tags.)

Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival set for April 16-18 with guests Peter Erskine, Lou Marini, John Pizzarelli, and Jon Faddis

The Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival has announced its 2009 guest artists, and organizers have booked some well-known musicians this year to serve as clinicians and performers for the three-day event, which will run from Thursday, April 16 through Saturday, April 18.

While some details are yet to be announced, here's what's been revealed so far: On Friday, April 17, drummer Peter Erskine and saxophonist Lou Marini will be the featured performers in a concert at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. Then on Saturday, April 18, trumpeter Jon Faddis (pictured) and guitarist John Pizzarelli and his quartet will play the TouPAC. Tickets for both concerts are now on sale.

(As regular readers may recall, word of Pizzarelli's appearance leaked out a few months ago via Pollstar, at which time yr. humble editor speculated that the gig in question might indeed be part of the festival. Admittedly, as predictions go, it's not particularly startling, but, hey, it's always nice to get one right.)

Pizzarelli is a favorite of St. Louis audiences, having performed here in the past at both Jazz at the Bistro and the Sheldon Concert Hall. Erskine is known for a diverse career that encompasses early big band work with Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson; tours and recordings with the jazz-fusion ensembles Weather Report and Steps Ahead, and many other significant credits as both leader and sideman.

Marini is familiar to many music fans as part of both the Blues Brothers band and Blood, Sweat and Tears, but also has been a busy session player in New York for many years. Faddis, once a teenage protege of Dizzy Gillespie, is known as both a powerful lead trumpet player - for groups including his own big band and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra - and a daring soloist, and is actively involved in jazz education.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis jazz ensemble, directed by bassist (and festival head honcho) Jim Widner, also will perform at both concerts. The fest's publicist, Dawn DeBlaze, says that a news release with full details on all three days will drop soon, and when it does, we'll have the updated information for you right here.