Rebirth Brass Band returning to perform Saturday, May 30 at Atomic Cowboy

New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band is returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, May 30 at the Atomic Cowboy pavilion.

The group (pictured) last played here in September 2019 at the same venue. Their most recent recording is Move Your Body, which came out in 2014 on Basin Street Records.

Tickets for Rebirth Brass Band are $20 for general admission, $25 day of show, and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Friday, March 6 via Ticketweb.com.

Jazz this week: Rebirth Brass Band, Paa Kow, "Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land," festivals in Alton and Hermann, and more

The fall presenting season gets rolling this week, with a calendar of live jazz and creative music that includes three multi-artist outdoor shows, the return of a New Orleans favorite, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 4
This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" includes cornetist TJ Muller & Friends at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and saxophonist Ben Reese's Unity Quartet at The Dark Room.

Thursday, September 5
Miss Jubilee performs a dinnertime show at Magpie's Cafe, saxophonist Vince Sala leads a trio at The Pat Connolly Tavern, and saxophonist Carlos Brown Jr. returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, September 6
New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band (pictured, top left) returns for an outdoor performance at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, with the Saint Boogie Brass Band opening; and Ghanaian drummer Paa Kow and his Afro-Fusion Orchestra will make their St. Louis debut at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Also on Friday, the annual St. Louis Art Fair begins in Clayton and continues through Sunday with free jazz stage performances from guitarist Tom Byrne, singer Wendy Gordon, pianist Adam Maness, the Jim Widner Big Band, and more. (See the fair's website for a complete schedule.)

Saturday, September 7
It's big day for live jazz around town, with three noteworthy multi-artist outdoor shows happening in three different parts of the metro area.

Starting west of St. Louis in Gasconade County, the Hermann Wine & Jazz Festival will feature a lineup of local and regional talent including The Bosman Twins, Bach to the Future, Jim Manley, Carolbeth True and Two Times True, and the Mo E All-Stars with Cheri Evans at the Clara Eitmann Messmer Amphitheater.

Moving east to Chesterfield, the "Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land" will include sets from multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson (pictured, bottom left), saxophonists Grace Kelly, Eric Darius and Tim Cunningham, and singer Erin Bode at the Chesterfield Amphitheater.

And over on the east side of the Mississippi, the Alton Jazz & Wine Fest will feature music from pianist and singer Diane Schuur plus funk/jazz quartet Good 4 The Soul and the Funky Butt Brass Band at the Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton.

Sunday, September 8
The St. Louis Record Collectors Show presents their fall event at the American Czech Center; singer and bassist Janet Evra plays for brunch at The Dark Room; and drummer Steve Davis' band with singer Feyza Eren will perform at the house-concert venue The Judson House.

Monday, September 9
Dizzy Atmosphere plays vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at The Shaved Duck, and the Webster University Jazz Faculty offers a "Riverside Records Retrospective," featuring music from Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk, and others at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

Tuesday, September 10
Trumpeter Kasimu Taylor plays the music of Miles Davis in a concert at the Gasllght Theater.

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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2019 jazz preview, part one

With fall fast approaching, it's time for the first autumn installment of StLJN twice-yearly jazz preview, featuring videos of noteworthy jazz and creative music performers who will be playing here over the next few months.

Today's preview starts on Labor Day weekend, for that's when pianist Edward Simon will be coming to town for a solo concert presented by Open Studio on Saturday, August 31 at Centene Center for the Arts.

You can see Simon in the first video up above, a trio set with drummer Adam Cruz and bassist Matt Brewer (billed as the "Festival New York Jazz All-Stars") that was recorded in 2016 at Teatro Ocampo in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Also in town over Labor Day weekend will be the Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band from New Orleans, who will perform on Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1 at Focal Point. You can see them in the first video after the jump, a full set of music recorded in July of this year in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The next clip features another New Orleans group, Rebirth Brass Band, who will be in St. Louis the following week for a show on Friday, September 6 at Atomic Cowboy Pavilion. It's another full set, recorded in September 2018 at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta.

That same weekend, singer and pianist Diane Schuur will headline the Alton Jazz & Wine Festival on Saturday, September 7 at Alton Amphitheater, with locals Good 4 The Soul and the Funky Butt Brass Band as supporting acts. Schuur can be seen in the third video after the jump, singing George Gershwin's "S'Wonderful" with the Charleston Jazz Orchestra in February of this year at the Charleston Music Hall in South Carolina.

Also on Saturday, September 7, the "Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land" docks at the Chesterfield Amphitheater, with a crew that will includes multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson, saxophonist and vocalist Grace Kelly, and saxophonist Eric Darius, plus St. Louis' own Erin Bode and Tim Cunningham.

Culbertson can be seen next performing "Feelin' It/Funkin'" as recorded last year for his Colors of Love Tour - Live in Las Vegas concert video.

That's followed by Kelly, cutting tracks for her most recent album GO TiME: Brooklyn 2 live in the studio, and, last but not least, Darius playing Stevie Wonder's "I Wish" at an event last year for the Cannonball Saxophones company in Sandy, Utah.

Look for part two of StLJN's Fall 2019 jazz preview next week in this space. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Rebirth Brass Band, The New Mastersounds returning this fall to Atomic Cowboy

Atomic Cowboy today announced two bookings of interest of StLJN readers.

New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band (pictured) will return to St. Louis to perform at 7:00 p.m. Friday, September 6 at the venue's outdoor pavilion.

Their most recent recording, which was boosted considerably by the group's appearances in the HBO series Treme, is 2014's Move Your Body. They last played here in September 2017, also at the Atomic Cowboy.

Tickets for Rebirth Brass Band at the Atomic Cowboy are $20 in advance, $23 day of show, and are on sale now.

The following month, the British instrumental funk/jazz quartet The New Mastersounds will be back in town to play at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, October 19, also at the outdoor pavilion.

The group will be touring in celebration of their 20th year as a band, with singer Lamar Williams Jr., -  son of late Allman Brothers Band bassist Lamar Williams and featured vocalist on their 2018 single "Trouble" - along as a guest performer.

The New Mastersounds put out two albums last year, Renewable Energy and The Nashville Session 2, the latter being a followup to 2016's The Nashville Session using the same live-in-the-studio format. Their last St. Louis appearance was in May 2016 at Atomic Cowboy.

Tickets for The New Mastersounds at Atomic Cowboy are $20 in advance, $25 day of show, and also are on sale now.

Jazz this week: Rebirth Brass Band, Shotgun Jazz Band with Charlie Halloran, and more

With the start of the fall presenting season still a couple of weeks away, the schedule of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis is a bit light this weekend, but it does feature two bands bringing a bit of New Orleans to our town, plus some other noteworthy shows.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, August 30
Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson will perform at Evangeline's, and this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, a jam session with bassist Bob Deboo and friends at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, August 31
Up for the weekend from New Orleans, the Shotgun Jazz Band - with St. Louis native Charlie Halloran on trombone - will play the first show of their visit at Joe's Cafe & Gallery.

Also on Thursday, Animal Children will perform at The Dark Room, and pianist and singer Jesse Gannon plays solo at The Monocle.

Friday, September 1
Also visiting this weekend from New Orleans, the Rebirth Brass Band (pictured, top left) returns to headline an outdoor show at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion,  with support from fellow New Orleans denizens Dumpstaphunk. You can get a taste of Rebirth's contemporary spin on the traditional brass band sound via video in this post from a couple of weeks ago.

Elsewhere around town, singer-guitarist Tommy Halloran's Guerrilla Swing will play a free show at Eckert's Country Store & Farms in Belleville; singer Meghan Kirk performs her cabaret show "Out of My Head" at The Stage at KDHX; and Cafe Danza, featuring guitarist Farshid Etniko and multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman. will promote their new recording with a concert at Focal Point.

And although it's not a jazz event per se, StLJN readers also may be interested in the Big Muddy Blues Festival, which gets underway on Friday and will feature performances from dozens of local acts throughout the weekend.

Saturday, September 2
Shotgun Jazz Band plays their second show of the weekend, this time at Focal Point; and keyboardist Mo Egeston and friends will keep up the late night grooves at The Dark Room.

Sunday, September 3
The Friends of Scott Joplin present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" matinee at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe; Wright's Project play jazz-fusion and funk at Patois Eatery & Social Lounge (in the space formerly occupied by the Rustic Goat at 2617 Washington Ave downtown), and the Genesis Jazz Project with guest vocalist Joe Mancuso will play straight-ahead and modern jazz at BB's Jazz, Blues & 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The return of Rebirth Brass Band

This week, let's take a look at some videos of New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band, who will be coming back to St. Louis to perform on Friday, September 1 at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion.

Formed in 1983 by brothers Keith and Phillip Frazier, Rebirth Brass Band is, along with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, one of the longest running of the contemporary groups re-inventing the New Orleans brass band tradition. Their most recent recording is 2014’s Move Your Body on the Basin Street Records label, which was the follow-up to their 2012 Grammy Award-winning album Rebirth of New Orleans, and they were here in St. Louis last in September 2016 for a show at the same venue.

Today, you can see a half-dozen videos featuring some fan favorites from RBB's repertoire, starting up above with a version of one of their signature songs, "Do Whatcha Wanna," recorded in 2014 in New Orleans for the web series Jam in the Van.

After the jump, there's a video of "Move Your Body" recorded at the same session, followed by a full set of music recorded in 2012 at the Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans.

The fourth video shows the RBB doing their version of the New Orleans standard "Big Chief," recorded in 2011 at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans.

Next is a medley of two more of their best-known tunes,  "Rebirth Groove" and "Feel Like Funkin It Up," recorded in February 2014 at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton, FL.

The final clip is a riff on another New Orleans classic, "I Like It Like That," recorded in 2011 for the radio program "Soundcheck" on WNYC in New York City.

For more about the Rebirth Brass Band, check out Keith Frazier's 2015 interview with HollywoodSoapbox.com and this 2012 feature from Gambit.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

Rebirth Brass Band to perform Friday, September 1 at Atomic Cowboy Pavilion

New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band will return to St. Louis to perform (with special guests TBA) on Friday, September 1 at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion.

Formed in 1983 by brothers Keith and Phillip Frazier, Rebirth Brass Band (pictured) has grown over the years from a local act playing bar gigs into a touring attraction recognized internationally for their contemporary re-imagining of the classic New Orleans brass band sound.

Their most recent recording is 2014’s Move Your Body on the Basin Street Records label, which was the follow-up to their 2012 Grammy Award-winning album Rebirth of New Orleans. RBB's last St. Louis performance was in September 2016, also at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion.

Tickets for Rebirth Brass Band will go on sale next Thursday, July 13 via Ticketmaster, prices TBA.

Jazz this week: David Sanborn, Rebirth Brass Band, Chick Corea, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Stanley Clarke Band, and more

It's the busiest week for jazz and creative music so far this fall in St. Louis, with a half-dozen touring headliners passing through town in the next seven days. Let's go to the highlights....

Tonight, alto saxophonist and Kirkwood's own David Sanborn returns home to begin a four-night run continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

Sanborn will be accompanied on this visit by an all-St. Louis rhythm section, with Eric Slaughter on guitar, U City's Peter Martin on piano and Chris Thomas on bass, plus East St. Louis' Montez Coleman on drums. As you might guess, advance reservations are a must; at last report, tickets were scarce for the 7:30 p.m. shows but some seats still may be available for the 9:30 p.m. sets.

Also tonight, The 442s will be joined by pianist Peter Henderson for a free concert that's part of Powell Symphony Hall's "On Stage" series, which, as the name implies, puts the musicians and audience together on the hall's ample stage. 

Tomorrow, New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band will be back to perform at The Gramophone. Along with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth are one of the standard-bearers for their hometown's brass band tradition, adding their own contemporary twists and over the the years serving as a launching pad for several solo careers, including that of trumpeter Kermit Ruffins. If you like New Orleans music, they're definitely a must-see.

Also tomorrow, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present "Freedom Summer '64: A Love Supreme," a free concert featuring the music of John Coltrane as performed by a group including saxophonists Freddie Washington and Paul DeMarinis, guitarist William Lenihan, drummers Maurice Carnes and Steve Davis, and pianist Kara Baldus.The concert will be preceded by panel discussion let by Wash U professor Patrick Burke, author of the 2008 book Come In And Hear the Truth: Jazz and Race on 52nd Street.

Other Thursday night possibilities include jazz-fusion group Common Time, who will perform at The Engine Room; and singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne's trio at Venice Cafe.

On Friday, singer Feyza Eren will perform at the Ozark Theatre; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will return to Nathalie's; the St. Louis Big Band will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and saxophonist Kendrick Smith leads a trio at Cigar Inn.

On Saturday, pianist Chick Corea will play a solo piano concert at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Though Corea has performed here in various contexts over the last couple of decades - with his Elektrik Band, the reunited Return to Forever, and most recently in a duo with banjo player Bela Fleck - this will be the first time he's ever played here solo. For some video samples of Corea alone at the piano, check out this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy will be in town to perform at the Ozark Theatre. The Houston native, once called "the baddest sideman in jazz" by Down Beat magazine, served as music director for Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, has been a member of the Mingus Big Band, and has a long list of collaborators that includes St. Louis musicians such as Greg Osby, Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, and Lester Bowie, as well as Henry Threadgill, Carla Bley, Dizzy Gillespie, Abdullah Ibrahim, Bobby Watson, David Murray, McCoy Tyner, and numerous R&B and hip-hop performers.

Elsewhere around town that evening, Miss Jubilee will be swinging the Casa Loma Ballroom, and the Gaslight Cabaret Festival resumes with singer Katie McGrath performing her show "Love in the Desert: Romance in an Age of Scarcity" at the Gaslight Theater.  And still more local vocal talent will be on offer Saturday in the form of  Joe Mancuso at EdgeWild Restaurant & Winery; the Ann Dueren Trio at Il Bel Lago; and Mary Dyson and Diane Vaughn at Troy's Jazz Gallery

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday drummer and St. Charles native Dave Weckl, who first gained wide recognition as part of Corea's Elektrik Band, will be in town to present a clinic sponsored by the Fred Pierce Studio Drum Shop at the Hilton St. Louis Airport

Also on Monday, percussionist Joe Pastor will bring his group to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups; and guitarist John Farrar and the Park Avenue Trio will be at Evangeline's, which now serves as the lone outpost for their weekly sessions after they recently wrapped up a 16-year run (!) of Wednesdays at Hammerstone's.

Then on Tuesday, bassist Stanley Clarke, yet another former compatriot of Corea's, will lead his electric band in a concert at The Pageant. Clarke's latest album Up was released on September 30 by Mack Avenue Records, and features members of his touring group as well as an all-star roster of guest musicians. St. Louis' Bach to the Future will open the show, which is a benefit for the not-for-profit adoption agency Dillon International.

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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2014 jazz preview, part 2

Today, it's part two of StLJN's video preview of the touring jazz and creative music performers who will be playing in St. Louis this fall. You can find part 1, which covered the month of September, here.

The first videos up above feature trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, who will be returning here on Thursday, October 2 and Friday, October 3 to re-open the newly renovated and expanded Jazz at the Bistro. These two clips represent a complete show from the 2013 Jazz San Javier festival.

(For more footage of Marsalis and JaLCO, see this post about their touring production "Abyssynian," which played here last October; this one, about Marsalis' "Swing Symphony," which they performed here in 2012 with the St. Louis Symphony; and the video showcase posts previewing their appearances here in 2008 and 2010.)

(Update, 9/7/14: The Thursday performance by Marsalis and JaLCO is for Jazz St. Louis donors only, and Friday's is now sold out. Contrary to the info in the original version of this post, there is no performance scheduled on Saturday. StLJN regrets the error.)

After the jump, you can see fluegelhornist Hugh Masekela, who will team with singer Vusi Mahlasela to perform their show "20 Years of Freedom" on Saturday, October 4 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. This video shows Masekela and his band performing a show titled "Celebrate Mama Africa" for the 2011 Estival Jazz Lugano in Switzerland.

Next, it's alto saxophonist (and Kirkwood's own) David Sanborn, peforming "Comin' Home Baby" in 2012 at the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia. Sanborn will be back home again to play with an all-St. Louis rhythm section of Peter Martin (piano), Chris Thomas (bass), and Montez Coleman (drums) starting Wednesday, October 8 through Saturday, October 11 at Jazz at the Bistro.

(For more Sanborn on video, you can check out the showcase posts that preceded his appearances here in 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2008, as well as this post about Quartette Humaine, his 2013 album with Bob James.)

That same week, the Rebirth Brass Band will return to St. Louis to perform on Thursday, October 9 at The Gramophone. They're seen here in a video of a full set recorded in 2012 at the club Howlin' Wolf in their hometown of New Orleans.

On Friday, October 11, pianist Chick Corea will be in town for a solo performance at The Sheldon. Corea, who has performed here in recent years with banjo player Bela Fleck and with Return to Forever, is seen in a clip from 2009 playing his composition "Alegria" at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr in Dortmund, Germany.

A few days later, bassist Stanley Clarke will be here with the latest version of his electric band to play on Tuesday, October 14 at The Pageant. The video here shows Clarke's touring band from last year, with keyboardists John Beasley and Nick Smith, drummer Ronald Bruner Jr., and violinist Zach Brock, performing in August 2013 at the Telluride Jazz Festival in Colorado.

Next up, it's the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, who will begin their third St. Louis season by taking part in the "250 Years of St. Louis Music" concert on Friday, October 17 at The Sheldon.

Along with performances from Denise Thimes, Kim Massie, Billy Peek, the St. Louis Ragtimers, and other St. Louis jazz and blues favorites, AWS* will play a set including a new work composed by Peter Martin specifically for the occasion. In this clip, you can see them in 2013 giving the world premiere performance of a very different sort of piece, composer Jason Thorpe Buchanan's "Asymptotic Flux Second Study in Entropy," at the Mizzou International Composers Festival in Columbia.

Also on Friday, October 17, singer Karen Mason will be in town for the first of two performances for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival at the Gaslight Theater. Mason, who will do her show "Secrets of the Ancient Divas" again on Saturday, October 18, is seen here singing a medley of "My Favorite Things" and "Count Your Blessings" from a performance last December in Norwalk, CT.

Below that, you can see guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli playing a solo version of "The Way You Look Tonight" recorded in August of this year in the offices of Fretboard Journal magazine. Pizzarelli will be back in St. Louis to perform Wednesday, October 22 through Saturday, October 25 at Jazz at the Bistro. You can see more of him on video in previous posts from 2012 and 2013.

Closing out our jazz preview of October in St. Louis is singer and pianist Steve Ross, who will return to perform as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival on Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25. Although Ross has been a fixture on the cabaret scene for decades, oddly there's almost no video online of him performing, so a very brief clip of him singing "You Were Never Lovelier" by Johnny Mercer and Jerome Kern will have to suffice for now.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump. Look for part three of the fall 2014 jazz preview here next week.

Rebirth Brass Band to perform Thursday, October 9 at The Gramophone

New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band is returning to St. Louis to perform at 9:00 p.m., Thursday, October 9 at The Gramophone.

The group (pictured) played here most recently in October 2011 at the same venue. Since then, their 2011 CD Rebirth of New Orleans on the Basin Street Records label won a 2012 Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album. The NOLA-based indie label also is home to St. Louis native, trumpeter and singer Jeremy Davenport.

Rebirth's most recent album Move Your Body was recorded live at the club Howlin' Wolf in their hometown and released on CD in April of this year. Then in July, it was issued on vinyl along with an LP version of Rebirth of New Orleans.

Their St. Louis gig is part of a busy late-summer and fall touring schedule that will include visits to more than 20 different cities interspersed with gigs back home in New Orleans. To promote the tour, the group last week released a music video of a song from Move Your Body, "Rebirth Groove," which you can see at the end of this post.

They also recently have lent their name to Rebirth Pale Ale, a craft beer introduced last month by the NOLA Brewing Company, which will direct a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the brew to The Roots of Music, a nonprofit music-education program co-founded by Rebirth drummer Derrick Tabb. For now, distribution is local to New Orleans, but the company hopes to sell the beer elsewhere in the near future.

Tickets for Rebirth Brass Band at The Gramophone are $21 for general admission and are on sale now.

Jazz this week: Ralph Towner, STO Jazz Orchestra, Sherman Irby, Clayton Brothers Quintet, Rebirth Brass Band, and more

Along with Halloween and the conclusion of baseball's World Series, there's a whole lot of jazz and creative music happening in St. Louis over the next few days. So, without further ado, let's go straight to the highlights:

On Thursday, Ralph Towner, known for his work with the Paul Winter Consort and Oregon as well as his own recordings, will perform a free solo guitar concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Also on Thursday, Robbie's House of Jazz will present the STO Jazz Orchestra, a student big band from the Czech Republic that's currently touring the USA; and jazz radio host and historian Dennis Owsley begins his workshop on "Miles Davis: Jazzman" at the Ethical Society.

On Friday, after spending the week working with student musicians from the area and giving school performances for Jazz St. Louis, alto saxophonist Sherman Irby wraps up his stay fronting his quartet for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro. For more about Irby, a modern exponenet of the alto tradition of Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt and Cannonball Adderley, plus some videos of him in action, see this post from last Saturday.

That same evening and just around the corner, New Music Circle will present a concert of the music of James Mobberley and Paul Rudy at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Both composers are affiliated with the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and their work will be performed by Rudy (various instruments, voice and electronics), Keith Benjamin (trumpet), John Leisenring (trombone) and Carter Enyeart (cello).

Also on Friday, saxophonist Jim Stevens will be at Jazz on Broadway in Alton; guitarist Dave Black will lead a trio with bassist Willem von Hombracht and drummer Kevin Gianino at the Cigar Inn in Belleville; and saxophonist Willie Akins and his band will play at Robbie's.

On Saturday, the Clayton Brothers Quintet (pictured) comes to town for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Headed by John Clayton on bass and Jeff Clayton on saxophone, the group also includes the fine trumpeter Terell Stafford, John's son Gerald Clayton on piano, and drummer Obed Calvaire. As demonstrated on their Grammy nominated album Brother to Brother, the Claytons offer a swinging, straight-ahead sound with occasional tinges of hard bop and Latin jazz.

Also on Saturday, the Alton Landing Jazz Quartet plays at Jazz on Broadway; saxophonist Rod Tate is at the Halls Ferry Inn Jazz Cafe; and Robbie's has two separate shows: a late afternoon set featuring Dave Black and saxophonist Christopher Braig, followed by an evening performance from a sextet of young musicians led by saxophonist Matt Leininger.

On Sunday, New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band returns to town for a late afternoon show at The Gramophone, with St. Louis' own Funky Butt Brass Band opening (and perhaps even joining forces at some point with the headliners).

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday keyboardist Brock Walker performs at the Sheldon to promote the release of his new CD 25th & State.

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.)

Rebirth Brass Band returning to The Gramophone on Sunday, October 30

New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band (pictured) is coming back to town to play at 5:00 p.m. Sunday, October 30 at The Gramophone, sharing a bill with St. Louis' own Funky Butt Brass Band.

The RBB's last visit to the Gateway City was in July of this year for a concert at Bandwagon Hall in South County and performances with the Compton Heights Concert Band, and they also performed at The Gramophone in October 2010.

Tickets for Rebirth Brass Band and the Funky Butt Brass Band at The Gramophone are $15 in advance and are on sale now, or $20 at the door.

Jazz this week: Rebirth Brass Band, Ronnie Burrage, Willie Akins, and more

Like most of the rest of the midsection of the USA, St. Louis is mired in some truly nasty summer weather this week, but there are several jazz and creative music performances coming up in the next few days that should be worth braving the inferno-like conditions. Here's what's happening:

Tonight, guitarist Brian Vaccaro will lead a trio in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and saxophonist Tim Cunningham plays a free outdoor concert at Bluebird Park in Ellisville.

On Friday, drummer and St. Louis native Ronnie Burrage returns home to begin a two-night stand at Robbie's House of Jazz, leading a trio with Jeff Anderson on tenor sax and Bob DeBoo on bass. For more about Burrage, see this story published a couple of weeks ago by the St. Louis American. Also, you can see some videos of Burrage in action in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday and Saturday, saxophonist Willie Akins and his group will play at Jazz at the Bistro, performing the music of John Coltrane as part of the series of tribute shows being presented this month at the Bistro.

Other gigs of note on Friday include guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio with bassist Nick Jost and drummer Marty Morrison at the Cigar Inn in Belleville; and the Ambassadors of Swing big band at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

On Saturday, the Rebirth Brass Band (pictured) returns to St. Louis for a concert at Bandwagon Hall, 2151 Lemay Ferry Rd. in south county. The RBB also will appear as guest performers with the Compton Heights Concert Band, the promoters of Saturday's show, at free outdoor concerts on Sunday at Francis Park and Monday at Tower Grove Park.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday drummer Joe Pastor's trio is at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups, and Tuesday brings the weekly jam session at Robbie's House of Jazz. On Wednesday, trumpeter Jim Manley will play a duo show at Sasha's Wine Bar, which will be a regular weekly gig for him going forward.

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.)

(Edited after posting to add Tim Cunningham's show.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: New Orleans comes to St. Louis

From big names like Dr. John, the Neville Brothers and Harry Connick Jr. to lesser-known acts, New Orleans musicians usually seem to do well in St. Louis. Longtime readers may remember yr. humble editor's half-baked theory, advanced several times before in this space, that this is in part because the two cities share a number of attributes - early settlement by the French, the Mississippi River, large numbers of Catholics, significant cultural contributions from the African-American and Italian-American communities, and so on.

It's also interesting to note that several St. Louis musicians, such as pianist Tom McDermott and trumpeter and singer Jeremy Davenport, have moved to New Orleans and done pretty well there. (Pianist Peter Martin also made career breakthroughs while living in New Orleans, though he wound up moving back to St. Louis after Hurricane Katrina.)

Of course, there also are many significant differences between the two cities, but for whatever reason, we definitely share some of the same musical tastes, and so it should come as no surprise that two more New Orleans acts are making their way to St. Louis for performances this month.

The Rebirth Brass Band will be here for three gigs - headlining at Bandwagon Hall on Saturday, July 23, and appearing as special guests at free concerts the next two nights with the Compton Heights Concert Band at Francis Park and Tower Grove Park. The following week, Bonerama will play at the Sheldon Concert Hall's upstairs ballroom on Sunday, July 31 in a show presented by The Gramophone and The Sheldon. So, today, let's take a look at some video clips from both bands.

Up above, you can see and hear a slightly stripped-down version of Rebirth Brass Band at, of all places, a Borders bookstore, playing one of their their best known songs, "Feel Like Funkin' It Up," which was used prominently in a season one episode of the HBO series Treme. (There are several versions of this tune online, but this one had the best overall audio quality, and besides, it's kind of fun to see RBB bring some stank to the rather sterile environment of a Borders.)

Down below, you can check out the RBB doing "Do Whatcha Wanna" in a clip shot in 2008 in the streets of the French Quarter, and "A.P. Tureaud," recorded at the Pigeon Town Steppers second line parade in 2009

Below that, there are three clips of Bonerama, starting with a version of the Led Zeppelin tune "When The Levee Breaks" from 2009, with heavily effected trombone filling the spot occupied on Led Zep's recording by distorted guitar. Next up is their take on Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," also recorded in 2009, which gets a sort of funk-rock treatment. The final video, a version of "I'll Fly Away" from the same 2009 gig in DeKalb, IL, serves to demonstrate Bonerama's approach to more traditional material.

Rebirth Brass Band to play Saturday, July 23 at Bandwagon Hall

New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band (pictured) is returning to St. Louis for a concert at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, July 23 at Bandwagon Hall, 2151 Lemay Ferry Rd. in south county.

While they're in town, RBB also will appear as guest performers with the Compton Heights Concert Band at two free outdoor concerts, on Sunday, July 24 at Francis Park and Monday, July 25 at Tower Grove Park.

The RBB last played in St. Louis in October 2010 at The Gramophone. They've just completed "A Night in Treme," a short tour with several other New Orleans acts sponsored by HBO to help promote the TV series Treme.

On this trip to St. Louis, they'll be playing a venue that is largely unfamiliar to local music fans. Online directories list Bandwagon Hall as a bingo hall, and photos show what appears to be a former furniture store located in a strip mall. The hall has hosted at least one previous music event, a Johnny Cash tribute show back in February that also was promoted by the Compton Heights Concert Band.

Tickets for Rebirth Brass Band at Bandwagon Hall are $20 each, and can be purchased from Brown Paper Tickets by calling 1-800-838-3006 or online.

Notes from the Net: Still more Miles to cover; Brubeck on the mend; plus news, reviews, interviews, and more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs 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:

* Starting with some Miles Davis news, here's a recent article by PopMatters.com's Will Layman that asks, "How much Miles Davis is enough?" Well, for us, not just one item, that's for sure - so here's a review of the deluxe 40th anniversary collectors' edition of Bitches Brew, written for AllAboutJazz.com by Chris M. Slawecki. Meanwhile, yet another Davis-related book, Miles: The Companion Guide to the Autobiography, is currently scheduled for a February 2011 release date.

Also, via Miles Davis Online, there's news that hip-hop star/actor Q-Tip is working on a play about Davis (pictured) with author and filmmaker Nelson George. Also, there's another documentary film about Davis in the works, and the magazine The Revivalist just ran several stories on the Bitches Brew anniversary in their inaugural issue. The package includes interviews with saxophonist Bennie Maupin and drummer Lenny White, who played on the sessions for the album, and Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn, as well as a never-before-released live recording of “Directions.”

* Turning to news of other former St. Louisans, saxophonist Oliver Lake has just opened a show of his visual art in the galleries of radio station WBGO in Newark. The exhibit runs through January 28.

* Here's a review of guitarist Grant Green's CD Retrospective from Tim Niland of Music and More.

* In news of recent visitors, guitarist Russell Malone, who played Jazz at the Bistro in October and has a new CD on the St. Louis-based label MAXJAZZ, just did an interview on WBGO's The Checkout.

* And here's a review of drummer/keyboardist Gary Husband's latest, Dirty and Beautiful Volume 1, from AAJ.com's Ian Patterson. Husband was in St. Louis last month at The Sheldon with guitarist John McLaughlin's band 4th Dimension.

* The Rebirth Brass Band, who played at The Gramophone in October, have just released Rebirth Revisited, a collection of remixes by the band and various contributing producers. You can check out a sample track, "Do Whatcha Wanna (Jazzhouse SPD Remix)," by clicking on the embedded audio player below.



* Dave Brubeck is on the mend from the health difficulties that forced him to cancel his appearance here in October at the Sheldon. Here's a review of Brubeck's return to the stage at the Blue Note in NYC, courtesy of the Times' Nate Chinen, and a recent feature story on the venerable pianist and composer written by Marc Myers for the Wall Street Journal.

* Wrapping up with some items of more general interest, a recent story from the New York Times' Daniel J. Wakin chronicles the shrinking amount of work available to NYC freelance classical musicians, while another recent Times piece from A.G. Sulzberger looks at the ambivalent relationship that many working musicians have with holiday music.

* The first season of the HBO series Treme will be released on DVD in March. Pianist and former St. Louisan Tom McDermott is just one of many jazz and blues musicians who appeared earlier this year in the HBO series about New Orleans residents recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of the city.

* Nominees for the 2001 Grammy Awards were announced last week, and though no St. Louis jazz musicians were nominated this year, a number of the jazz nominees have played here recently, as you can see if you check out the complete list here.

Jazz this week: Joshua Redman Trio, Tierney Sutton, Rebirth Brass Band, Nicole Johänntgen, Bee vs. Moth, and more

It's another busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with several touring acts in town offering a variety of musical styles. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, saxophonist Joshua Redman begins a four-night stand with his trio, featuring bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Gregory Hutchinson, at Jazz at the Bistro. For more about Redman and some video samples of the trio in action, see this post from last Saturday.

Thursday night offers several interesting choices, with the Rebirth Brass Band at the The Gramophone; saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen performing a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, directed by bassist Jim Widner, doing what's being billed as their first concert at their new home, the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Also on Thursday, bassist David Certain will play a solo set at the The Vine to help kick off the south side cafe's "Felafel Fest," then return on Friday and Saturday with his CertainBeat WorldBop group.

On Friday, Robbie's House of Jazz has the Kaleb Kirby Trio with Charles Clements on bass and Jo-el Williams on saxophone; and on Saturday, singer and actor Roland "Bob" Harris takes the Robbie's stage. Also on Friday, the eclectic instrumental rock band Bee vs. Moth will play at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center.

Saturday will bring saxophonist Dick Oatts, a veteran of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, doing a mid-day performance and master class at Saxquest, and singer Tierney Sutton (pictured) returning to the Sheldon Concert Hall. (Sutton superfans take note: After her St. Louis date, the singer heads to Columbia, MO on Sunday to perform for the We Always Swing series at Murry's.)

UPDATE - 4:00 p.m., 10/6/10: The Sheldon and Metrotix are offering a "buy one, get one free" deal on ticket's to the Tierney Sutton concert. To get the discount, go here and enter the promo code SUTTON10.

On Sunday, guitarist Tom Byrne's trio does the early set at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups. Then on Monday, singer Debby Lennon and friends will perform at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium, while the Next Generation Jazz Band plays at BB's.

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.)

Rebirth Brass Band to play October 7 at the Gramophone

This just in: New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band (pictured), recently featured in several episodes of the HBO TV series Treme, is coming to St. Louis to perform on Thursday, October 7 at the Gramophone.

Former in 1983 by Keith Frazier, Philip Frazier and Kermit Ruffins, the Rebirth Brass Band (along with their New Orleans cohorts the Dirty Dozen Brass Band) helped spark renewed attention for the city's brass band tradition back in the 1980s, and has continued to perform, tour and record ever since.

In the first video clip below, you can see one of Rebirth's appearances on Treme, as they march, perform and banter in the opening episode with the fictional trombonist Antoine Baptiste, played by actor Wendell Pierce. Below that, you can see the RBB in a real-life performance of the same tune shown in the Treme segment, "Feel Like Funkin' It Up".

Tickets for the Rebirth Brass band's show at the Gramophone are $20, and go on sale Monday, August 16 at www.thegramophonelive.com.