So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Miles Davis Memorial Project's benefit dinner and auction on March 22 at Lewis and Clark Community College raised more than $21,000 for the effort to put a statue of Davis in downtown Alton, IL, the trumpeter's birthplace.

According to a story about the event in the Alton Telegraph, that puts the project two-thirds of the way toward having enough money for sculptor Preston Jackson to begin working.

* Saxophonist and St. Louis expat Greg Osby is down under in Australia this week for a series of shows.

* A performance by vibraphonist Peter Schlamb at Kansas City's Take Five Coffee + Bar was reviewed by Bill Brownlee of the KC jazz blog Plastic Sax.

* Happy birthday to saxophonist and former St. Louisan Eric Person (pictured), who turns 51 today.

* Today, we also remember the late organist Richard "Groove" Holmes, who was born on this date in 1931 in Camden, NJ, but spent his last years before his death in 1991 based here in St. Louis.

* Keep On Keepin' On, a new documentary about trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry, premiered last month during NYC's Tribeca Film Festival.

* Saxophonist Dave Stone's trio recently visited the studios of KDHX to record some music, and you can see and hear the sessions here.

* Pianist and Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap is a recipient of one of the new artist support grants from Regional Arts Commission, which he'll use to help produce his first album as a leader. Recording of his band, including trumpeter Danny Campbell, saxophonist Ben Reece and drummer Montez Coleman, is set to begin in July, with the release date TBD.

* New Music Circle has posted to Facebook an album of photos from Joshua Abrams and Natural Information Society's concert back in February at Joe's Cafe.

* KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi has written about several performances from the Gaslight Cabaret Festival, reviewing last Saturday's festival-closing performance by Lara Teeter for the station's website and covering earlier shows featuring Ken Page, Tim Schall and Connie Fairchild for Cabaret Scenes magazine.

* Jazz radio update: On this Saturday's episode of "Somethin' Else" on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis, host Calvin Wilson investigates the compositions of saxophonist John Coltrane, as performed his son Ravi Coltrane, saxophonist David Murray, Medeski Martin & Wood, and others.

Right after that, Jason Church's "The Jazz Collective"  will feature an assortment of cover songs as interpreted by Jeff Golub, Jumaane Smith, Jeff Lorber, Miles Davis, Pat Metheny, Ella Fitzgerald, the Classical Jazz Quartet, Kim Massie, Jim Manley, Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, and more.

Wilson's program airs at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by Church at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen. 

Troy's Jazz Gallery owner says club will showcase St. Louis musicians

If there's any truth to the old saying that "the third time's a charm," Troy Williams is hoping it applies to running a jazz club.

Williams, whose past ventures into presenting live music included Troy's on the Park near Lafayette Square and Filter in the Central West End, recently re-entered the business with the opening of Troy's Jazz Gallery, 4519 Olive. "This is my third space doing jazz," he told StLJN in a phone conversation last week. "You learn, and you try not to make the same mistakes."

Responding to previous posts here about the club, Williams reached out to offer some additional information on what he's got planned for his new space. Regarding the venue's soft opening and relative lack of marketing to date, he said that plans for a grand opening and accompanying advertising campaign are in the works. "I wanted to get the kinks out first," he said. "The most important thing was trying to line up the right bands for the different nights."

For Williams, that means emphasizing local talent, and as 2013 begins, he said he's booked four St. Louis musicians for weekly appearances. Vibraphonist Peter Schlamb (pictured) will perform from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesdays, with up-and-coming saxophonist Kendrick Smith's quartet slotted in from 9:00 p.m. to midnight Fridays. Williams said East St. Louis High School jazz band director and trumpeter Delano Redmond, who taught Smith at ESL HS, will be performing with Smith's group.

Saturdays will feature saxophonist Willie Akins and his group playing from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., as a sort of successor to Akins' long-running Saturday matinee gig at the now-defunct Spruill's. "I've wanted to work with Willie for five years," said Williams. Saturday evenings will feature bassist Darrell Mixon leading a group from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Williams hopes that presenting the same bands each week will help both the club and the musicians to get repeat business. "We all agreed to three to six months to try to build a following over time," he said. However, he's also continuing to talk about possible bookings with other local musicians, mentioning singer Erin Bode and guitarist Dave Black as two performers of interest.

As for the rest of the week, Williams said that by February, he hopes to be open on Wednesdays, presenting a weekly poetry night, and on Thursdays with a DJ spinning, presumably jazz, soul and other compatible music. Watch this space for more info on that, and on the "grand opening" of Troy's Jazz Gallery.

More on two new jazz venues

Following up on last week's post about the new Central West End jazz venue Troy's Jazz Gallery, we can tell you now that more information was added over the weekend to the club's website.

Among the additions were an "About" page, a map that suggests patrons will have access to a gated parking lot across the street from the club, and a beverage menu with a long list of cocktails and coffee drinks named after jazz musicians. The venue will not offer food service; a note on the drinks page says "We suggest you eat before coming to the jazz gallery."

The band schedule shows live music booked five times a week. Wednesday will feature the Soul Thump Chronicles, with a trio led by bassist John King backing performances by local poets. Guitarist Eric Slaughter will be fronting a group on Thursdays, with vibraphonist Peter Schlamb on Fridays, Tommy Holland and Friends on Saturday afternoons, and saxophonist Willie Akins' quartet on Saturday nights.

According to the "reservations" page, cover charges will range from $5 to $10, depending on the night of the week, with a two-drink minimum and advance reservations required on weekend evenings.

As no dates are listed, it's not clear yet exactly when this schedule will begin. (I also checked the Facebook page for Troy's Jazz Gallery, but it hasn't been updated since last week.) Slaughter and guitarist Tom Byrne last week had announced they'd be playing a gig there last Thursday, then a day later announced that it was postponed until this Thursday, December 6. We'll be checking back to see if that comes off as planned, and as soon as more information becomes available, we'll have it for you here.

In related news, Voce, a bar, restaurant and live music venue located downtown at 212 N. Tucker (at Pine St) and described on its Facebook page as "jazz themed," will open this weekend.

The pertinent question here is, of course, what exactly is meant by "jazz themed"? A graphic elsewhere on the Facebook page says "Voce invites all styles of music and comedy," and the club's opening on Friday, December 7 will feature rock/pop acts Billy Schuh, Foxing, and The Breaks.

On the other hand, the handful of other bookings listed on the page include dates for singers Kim Massie on Saturday, December 15 and Erin Bode (pictured) on Saturday, December 29. Voce's website sheds no additional light, however, as it's mostly empty right now.

Suffice it to say then that the venue's policy with regard to musical genres to be featured seems a bit unclear at this point. Again, yr. humble editor will be looking into this further, with updates here as warranted.

Jazz this week: The Bad Plus and more

The week after New Year's can be a slow one for the bar business, what with people being tired and/or tapped out financially after the holidays. Not only that, as of this writing several local night spots that present jazz haven't even updated their websites with January schedules yet. Combine that with the fact that some of St. Louis' not-for-profit jazz presenters won't be back in action until later in the month, and the local menu of live jazz and creative music is looking a bit sparse for the next few days, though there still are several noteworthy shows coming up:

The big news of the week is that tonight the distinctive piano trio The Bad Plus (pictured) returns to Jazz at the Bistro, kicking off a four-night run at the club to open the New Year here in St. Louis for the fifth consecutive time. After a busy 12 months that included the debut of their version of Stravinsky's iconic The Rites of Spring, TBP reportedly are readying another album of new original material to follow up on 2009's Never Stop, so don't be surprised if there's some new stuff mixed into their sets at the Bistro among the more familiar numbers.

For more about The Bad Plus, see this review I wrote for the Riverfront Times about one their Wednesday night sets last year at the Bistro; this video showcase post from before that same run of shows; and this weeks' Critic's Pick from my RFT colleague Ryan Wasoba.

Elsewhere around town, on Friday vibraphonist Peter Schlamb leads a group for an early evening set at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups; and the Yard Dawgs Jazz Quartet plays at Cigar Inn.

On Saturday, Latin jazz band Clave Sol plays the early show at BB's.

Then on Sunday, the first St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show of the year will take place at the American Czech Center on the south side.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday BB's has a double bill of guitar-centric groups, with the Dave Black Group in the early slot and Tom Byrne's Pat Metheny inspired ensemble Have You Heard? playing later on.

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.)

Jazz this week: Charlie Hunter, Bonerama, Bloom Project, Dave Black, and more

This week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis offers a grab-bag of styles, from a funky, soul-jazz-inspired guitar trio to straight-ahead standards to free improv. Let's go to the highlights....

The big name in town this week is guitarist Charlie Hunter, who plays with his trio tonight through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Hunter was in St. Louis most recently in 2009 at the Bistro, playing in a duo format, and has released a couple of CDs since then, including his most recent effort, the 2010 solo disc Public Domain.

His current trio includes drummer Eric Kalb and bass trumpeter Michael Williams, and you can see some footage of them performing live in this post from last Saturday.

Also tonight, the New Orleans-based Bonerama brings its four-trombone front line to The Gramophone, and saxophonist Christopher McBride plays an early evening gig at Brandt's, which recently underwent a change in management and seems to be doing better both at updating their online music schedule and at once again booking some jazz-oriented acts.

On Thursday evening, the Webster Groves HS and middle school jazz bands hold their "Cool Nights, Hot Jazz" fundraiser at The Pageant, and on Friday, pianist Ptah Williams leads his trio at Robbie's House of Jazz.

UPDATE - 10:00 a.m., 1/20/11: Webster Groves HS jazz band director Kevin Cole just emailed with the news that tonight's fundraising event at the Pageant has been postponed due to the snowstorm that hit St. Louis today. Cole says they'll try to reschedule, and when they do, StLJN will have the news right here.

On Saturday morning, pianist Carolbeth True and singer Christi John Bye will play a program of jazz and pop standards at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and later that afternoon, pianist Heather Bosshardt has a CD release event at Robbie's.

On Saturday night, Bloom Project, aka pianist Thollem McDonas and saxophonist Rent Romus (pictured), will offer a performance of improvised music at the Kranzberg Arts Center under the auspices of New Music Circle, and vibraphonist Peter Schlamb is at Brandt's.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday bassist David Certain's CertainBeat WorldBop returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and on Tuesday, guitarist Dave Black will perform in a "Notes from Home" concert at the Sheldon.

Black's concert will feature original music performed by four different ensembles, with a cast of players including violinists Asako Kuboki and Justin Branum; cellist Ranya Iqbal; saxophonist Paul DeMarinis; bassists David Deriso, Marc Torlina, Willem von Hombracht, and Dave Troncoso; drummers Kevin Gianino and Joe Meyer; and vocalists Margaret Bianchetta and Javier Mendoza.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Jazz this week: Peter Martin, Tim Cunningham, Peter Schlamb and more

It's a relatively light week for jazz performances in St. Louis, but there are at least a handful of shows worth noting around town. Here's a quick look:

Tonight, pianist Peter Martin leads his trio in a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden. For more on Martin, see StLJN's previous coverage here.

Tomorrow, the Latin/jazz group Samba Bom does a free outdoor concert at St. Louis Place Park.

On Friday and Saturday, smooth jazz saxophonist Tim Cunningham (pictured) will perform at Jazz at the Bistro.

Meanwhile, Robbie's House of Jazz features singer Wendy Gordon and her trio on Friday night, and vibraphonist Peter Schlamb and his band on Saturday.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)