Jazz this week: Kevin Eubanks, Keyon Harrold, RnR with Rick Braun & Richard Elliot, and more

This week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis is atypically busy for this time of year, but rather than complain about a surfeit of potential choices, let's go to the highlights:

On Thursday, guitarist Kevin Eubanks, back on the road playing jazz again after wrapping up a long stint as bandleader on NBC's Tonight Show, performs at the Casino Queen.

Also on Thursday, guitarist Chris Burchett does a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and Robbie's House of Jazz presents the JW Trio, with bassist Nick Jost, drummer Joe Winstein-Hibbs and vibraphonist Ben Portner.

On Friday, trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold (pictured) returns home from NYC with his quintet to begin a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro, ostensibly in celebration of the release of his CD Introducing Keyon Harrold, which came out in the fall of last year on the Criss Cross label. Harrold is considered a rising star among jazz trumpeters, and also has gotten some high-profile sideman gigs with various R&B and hip-hop performers. For more about him and some video performances, see this post from a couple of weeks ago.

(Jazz St. Louis is offering a two-for-the-price-of-one discount on tickets for Harrold's sets on both Friday and Saturday. It's available by calling the Jazz St. Louis office at 314-289-4030, or at the door. To get the discount, use promotion code KHJUL10.)

Also on Friday, The Pageant begins a late-summer series of smooth jazz shows with RnR, featuring trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot. To see video of them laying down some of their popular funk-flavored sounds, check out this post.

That same evening, guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio will be at Robbie's; and the blues documentary film M for Mississippi, a co-production of the St. Louis based Broke & Hungry Records, finally gets an official local premiere nearly two years after its release with a screening at the south side rock club Off Broadway.

On Saturday afternoon, singer Erika Johnson will conclude up the Nu-Art Series' summer set of concerts featuring local jazz vocalists, performing the music of Anita O'Day in a matinee concert at the Metropolitan Gallery downtown.

Then on Saturday evening, singer Anita Rosamond plays a free concert in Lafayette Park; the 2010 St. Louis Tap Festival wraps up with the annual "All That Tap" extravaganza at the Touhill Performing Arts Center; and the Tim Aubuchon Quartet plays at Robbie's House of Jazz. Aubuchon is a tenor saxophonist and an assistant professor of music at Truman State University in Kirksville, and he'll be backed pianist Ken Kehner, drummer Brian Steever and bassist Kevin Hennessey.

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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: RnR with Rick Braun and Richard Elliot

This week, let's check out a sampling of clips featuring trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot, who are coming to St. Louis on Friday, July 30 to perform at the Pageant.

Braun and Elliot are longtime friends and collaborators who had enjoyed successful solo careers before teaming up in 2007 under the handle RnR (sometimes written as "RNR" or even "R 'n R"). However you spell it, the duo's funk grooves have proved popular enough with smooth jazz fans to keep Braun and Elliot working together frequently ever since then.

Today, we've got four recent clips of them in performance, starting up top with the song "Q It Up" from a show in February at Pizza Express jazz club in London. The band members are keyboardist Oli Silk, guitarist Mark Jaimes, drummer Marc Parnell and bassist Frank Felix. Down below, there's a version of "Down and Dirty" from the same Pizza Express gig.

Batting third is a mostly Elliot-centric version of the Stylistics' oft-covered "People Make the World Go Round," taped on a cruise ship this past January. (Note the sign for the ship's whirlpool directly in front of Elliot!) The saxophonist first recorded the tune for his 2005 solo CD Metro Blue, which was co-produced by Braun. The rhythm section for this performance includes Rayford Griffin (drums), Nate Phillips (bass), Ron Reinhardt (keyboards) and Dwight Sills (guitar).

In the fourth slot is a version of "Curveball" recorded by an audience member at a concert at the Lyman Center in New Haven, CT. (The handheld video looks a bit shaky, and the camera's angle doesn't reveal all that much, but the audio quality on this one is surprisingly good.)

The Pageant announces three summer smooth jazz concerts

The Pageant today announced a series of three smooth jazz shows this summer, including the Guitars and Saxes show first mentioned here on StLJN last month and now officially scheduled for Friday, August 13.

The 2010 Guitars and Saxes tour features Kirk Whalum, Gerald Albright, Peter White and Jeff Golub. The Pageant's summer smooth jazz series also will present trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot reprising their "R&R" collaboration on Friday, July 30; and a double bill of saxophonists Euge Groove and former East St. Louisan Andre Delano (pictured) on Friday, August 20. All three concerts will be hosted by radio personality Rick Sanborn.

Ticket prices are $35 - $50 for each show, with three- and two-show packages available. Tickets will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, May 14 via Ticketmaster and the Pageant box office.

Notes from the Net: More Miles Davis news; a new solo CD from Rick Braun; NEA names 2010 Jazz Masters; and more

Though it's a bit smaller than usual, thanks to some slow news days over the holiday weekend and a still somewhat-gimpy computer here at StLJN HQ, 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:

* Though we've had a couple of Miles Davis-related items already during his birthday week, there's even more, starting with this review from Popdose.com of That's What Happened, a new DVD release of a 1987 Davis concert in Munich with a band featuring Kenny Garrett on sax and flute and go-go/funk master Ricky Weltman on drums.

Courtesy of Miles Davis Online, we also have news of a Miles "50th Anniversary T-Shirt; a brief audio interview Davis did with UK musician and broadcaster Jools Holland; and an essay about The Complete Columbia Recordings: Miles Davis & John Coltrane by Horace Mungin of BlogCritics.com

* Opening the "recent visitors" file, trumpeter Rick Braun (pictured), who was here in April with Jazz Attack at the Ameristar Casino's Bottleneck Blues Bar, will release a new solo CD called All It Takes in July. It's Braun's first solo release in four years.

* To round out this installment of NFTN, we've got some items of general interest to jazz fans. The National Endowment for the Arts has named eight Jazz Masters for 2010, including pianists Muhal Richard Abrams, Kenny Barron and Cedar Walton, composer/arranger Bill Holman, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, saxophonist Yusef Lateef, singer Annie Ross, and, for his work as a "jazz advocate," producer, manager, critic and educator George Avakian. Congratulations to all the honorees.

* If it's really true that misery loves company, then perhaps St. Louisans who are lamenting this year's "hiatus" of the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival will take some small solace in the fact that even the jazz capital of the world is having festival troubles right now, as seen in this New York Times article "New York Loses its Jazz Festival": "Around this time of year, posters for the JVC Jazz Festival would be appearing on the streets of New York, and jazz tourists would be finalizing plans to arrive in the middle of June for two weeks of bragworthy shows. But for the first time in 37 years, there will be no major summer jazz festival in New York. Nor will there be related series in Miami or Chicago, as the concert company behind them is suffering a financial crisis."

* Closing out on a somewhat more hopeful note, if you're an independent musician who'd like to make more money and sell more recordings, you may find some useful information over at Music Think Tank, which seems to have lots of ideas about marketing music in the digital age. You can see a list of some of the site's most popular posts here.

Jazz this week: Jazz Attack, Greg Osby with Willie Akins, Wee Trio, Gutbucket, NIU Jazz Ensemble with Benny Golson, and more

It's the beginning of a couple of busy weeks for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with plenty of competition for the time, attention and dollars of music fans from a number of touring musicians as well as local acts. In particular, this weekend's lineup features several stellar saxophonists playing in a variety of musical contexts, from smooth jazz and R&B to post-bop to big band. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, the 2009 edition of the popular Jazz Attack smooth jazz tour, featuring saxophonist Richard Elliot, trumpeter Rick Braun and singer/guitarist Jonathan Butler, stops at the Ameristar Casino St. Charles' Bottleneck Blues Bar.

Also this evening, The Wee Trio, a Brooklyn, NY-based group that features St. Louis expat Dan Loomis on bass and has drawn comparisons to The Bad Plus and Medeski, Martin and Wood, will do a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and the St. Louis Jazz Cafe features smooth jazz saxophonist Readus Miller .

In addition, saxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby (pictured), who's in town this week for an educational residency and performances for Jazz St. Louis, and JSL education director Phil Dunlap will present "Understanding The Blues," another class in JSL's "Jazz 101" series, at Jazz at the Bistro.

On Friday, Osby's "St. Louis Shoes," a multi-generational project featuring Osby, his band, special guest saxophonist Willie Akins, and student saxophonists recruited from local schools, opens a two-night run at the Bistro. Also on Friday, the NYC-based "punk/jazz" band Gutbucket plays at the Mad Art Gallery, and the St. Louis Jazz Cafe features Trio Tres Bien.

Then on Saturday night, Osby continues at the Bistro; the multi-woodwind playing Bosman Twins will perform at the Jazz Cafe; and singer Kim Massie will be at Brandt's.

Moving on to Sunday afternoon, the Northern Illinois University Jazz Ensemble, directed by saxophonist Ronald Carter and featuring as special guest the legendary saxophonist and composer Benny Golson, will perform in a benefit show at the Sheldon Concert Hall

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday the Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club will have its April meeting, this month featuring singer Jeanne Trevor and JSL executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford in a discussion of the recording The Audience With Betty Carter. Later that evening, the "West Coast" jazz-inspired band Utter Chaos plays at The Gramophone.

As usual, these are just some of the noteworthy shows happening around St. Louis this week, so 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.)

Notes from the Net: Miles Davis on PBS, Pizzarelli plays Rodgers, plus news, reviews, and more

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:

* For our mandatory weekly portion of Miles Davis-related content, via Blogcritics, here's a review of Miles Davis: The Sound of Miles Davis, a newly restored and reissued 1959 television special featuring most of the band from Davis' Kind of Blue sessions that's airing on PBS stations this month during pledge drives.

Alas, from what I can tell, the Davis film is not scheduled to be shown on St. Louis' PBS affiliate KETC. If you'd like to express your feelings about that, here's the relevant information from the station Web site's contact page: "For questions about programs on Channel 9, changes of address, KETC Guide delivery, general station information and questions about membership or pledge, call (314) 512-9199 or 1-800-729-9966 or send your letters by e-mail to letters@ketc.org."

* Another of our favorite Notes from the Net subjects, alto saxophonist and one-time Webster University student John Zorn, is set to headline the Equinox Festival in London this June.

* Opening the "coming attractions" file, trumpeter Chris Botti, who's got two gigs in St. Louis on his "to do" list for 2009, kicked off the month of March by visiting a number of PBS stations around the country promoting his latest PBS special, Chris Botti In Boston, which is being released on DVD on Tuesday, March 31. Also, word comes this week that a performance by Botti with orchestra will be one of the headline events of the 30th annual Montreal Jazz Festival in July.

* Before a gig in Stuart, FL, guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli (pictured) talks with the local paper about performing the music of Richard Rodgers. Pizzarelli will be one of the guest artists at the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival in April.

* Trumpeter Rick Braun is working on his first solo studio CD in several years, and it's a tribute to Chet Baker. Braun will be in the St. Louis area on April 9 to perform as part of the Jazz Attack show at the Ameristar Casino's Bottleneck Blues Bar

* Next up, we've got news of recent visitors to St. Louis, starting with a review of the Pat Martino Trio's February 28 gig at the Lakeland Jazz Festival in Ohio, penned by Mike Marshall for AllAboutJazz.com. Martino was in St. Louis last month to play Jazz at the Bistro.

* Then there's "Trying to Understand the Logic of The Bad Plus," in which Saby Reyes-Kulkarni of the Seattle Weekly wonders if the much-hyped, sometimes controversial trio, last seen here in January at the Bistro, is just covering the same old ground with their latest release For All I Care.

* As regular StLJN readers doubtless are already aware, the Blue Note 7 played St. Louis' Sheldon Concert Hall in February. More recently, Blue Note records recently had an event commemorating its 70th anniversary at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, and DJ and blogger Leroy "The JazzCat" Downs was there and has a story with photos.

* Here's a New York Times review of singer and actor Tom Wopat's latest cabaret/nighclub act. Wopat was in St. Louis last month to perform under the auspices of Cabaret St. Louis.

* And here's a short review of Return to Forever's new live CD Returns, written by John Kalman for AAJ.com. The CD is drawn from recordings made during last year's reunion tour, which included a stop at St. Louis' Fox Theatre.

* Following up on another story we've been tracking here recently, here's a nifty Fred Kaplan review for Slate of the recent Thelonious Monk Town Hall tribute that makes very nice use of audio clips from the album of the original concert and the tribute show. Also, Doug Ramsey's Rifftides has some "inside stuff" on the Monk tribute from Sam Stephenson of the Jazz Loft Project at Duke University, who helped produce the concerts.

* Finally, a couple of items of more general interest: Via the indispensible Avant Music News, the Los Angeles Times reviews the new music scene in the San Francisco bay area

* And Icons Among Us: jazz in the present tense. is a new four-part documentary film series that examines the world of contemporary jazz. It feature live footage and interviews of current jazz stars, including many musicians familiar to St. Louis audiences, such as The Bad Plus, Terence Blanchard, Jason Moran, Charlie Hunter, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Medeski Martin and Wood, as well as predecessors and influences including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Wynton Marsalis. The Documentary Channel will telecast the Icons Among Us series on four consecutive Mondays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time beginning April 20, following its world premiere on April 15 at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Jazz Attack tickets now on sale

The Pollstar item cited here last month can now be considered officially confirmed, as tickets are now on sale for the Jazz Attack show scheduled for Thursday, April 9 at the Ameristar Casino St. Charles' Bottleneck Blues Bar.

Tickets for the show, which will feature trumpeter Rick Braun, saxophonist Richard Elliot and singer/guitarist Jonathan Butler, are priced at $45 and $50 and are available at the casino box office, online at Ameristar.com or Tickets.com or via phone by calling 1-877-444-2637.

Pollstar: Jazz Attack to hit Ameristar's Bottleneck Blues Bar on Thursday, April 9

The online tour information Pollstar has added a listing indicating that the "Jazz Attack" smooth jazz package tour, headlined this year by saxophonist Richard Elliot, trumpeter Rick Braun, and singer/guitarist Jonathan Butler (pictured), will come to the St. Louis metro area for a concert on Thursday, April 9 at the Ameristar Casino St. Charles' Bottleneck Blues Bar.

Braun and Elliot were in St. Louis last summer on their "R&R" tour to perform at The Pageant, which also has hosted previous editions of the Jazz Attack show. This would be the first jazz show of 2009 for the Bottleneck Blues Bar, which brought in saxophonist Boney James last year.

There's no mention of the concert yet on the casino's Web site, so, as with all Pollstar listings, this should be considered tentative until it is officially confirmed by the venue. However, the show is showing up on the itinerary pages of both Braun and Elliot's individual sites, along with a gig the next night at Ameristar's Kansas City casino, so it seems likely to happen.

Jazz this week: Peter White with Rick Braun and Mindy Abair, Jeremy Davenport, Denise Thimes, and more

The Thanksgiving holiday means a somewhat reduced level of activity on local concert stages (and a holiday posting schedule here at StLJN) but there are still some noteworthy jazz and creative music events happening in St. Louis this weekend:

Let's start with trumpeter, singer and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport (pictured), who returns home from New Orleans to perform at Jazz at the Bistro on Friday and Saturday, plus a matinee on Sunday to benefit PAN CAN, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. For much more on Davenport, see thhis post.

Also on Friday, pianist Peter Henderson is performing John Cage's "Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano" in a free concert at the Grigg Gallery of the St. Louis Art Museum.

The on Saturday, Trio Tres Bien with singer Danita Mumphard are at Cookie's Jazz and More in Webster Groves, and Clave de Sol, featuring pianist Phil Gomez, plays Latin jazz at Brandt's in University City.

On Sunday afternoon, singer Denise Thimes will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall in what as being billed as a "women only" benefit for the Mildred Thimes Foundation, which supports pancreatic cancer research and awareness. Thimes will sing during the first half of the show, with the second half given over to spoken word performer Sharon McGhee, who will do a piece called "The Pocketbook Monologues."

Then on Sunday night, guitarist Peter White brings the 2009 edition of his Christmas show to The Pageant. White has been doing a holiday show for several years now using different smooth jazz musicians as co-headliners, and this year's featured guest stars are trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Mindi Abair.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band is back at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups downtown, and Tuesday saxophonist Bennett Wood returns to The Gramophone.

You can find more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond by visiting 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.)

A guide to holiday jazz concerts in St. Louis

StLJN has been getting a number of hits lately combining the search terms "Christmas" and "jazz," and so for the benefit of those visitors looking for more information on holiday jazz concerts in St. Louis, here's a quick overview of some noteworthy upcoming events:

Sunday, November 30: Smooth jazz guitarist Peter White's Christmas show, featuring trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Mindi Abair, at The Pageant.

Thursday, December 4: Guitarist Steve Schenkel and singer Ashley Mason perform music from their new Christmas CD A Midnight Clear with pianist Carolbeth True and bassist Ric Vice in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Thursday, December 4: Singer Jeanne Trevor and pianist Dave Venn headline a performance of jazz and holiday music at the Black Cat Theatre.

Sunday, December 7: Singer/pianist Harry Connick, Jr and his big band perform a holiday-themed concert at the Fox Theatre.

Friday, December 12: Trumpet player and singer Dawn Weber of Mo & Dawn does a holiday themed concert at the Black Cat Theatre.

Saturday, December 13: Singer/pianist Anita Rosamond performs her third annual Christmas show "Celebrate The Season" at the Black Cat Theatre.

Sunday, December 14: "A Soulful Christmas" with saxophonist Gerald Albright (pictured) and singers Lalah Hathaway and Will Downing at The Pageant.

Monday, December 15: Steve Schenkel and Ashley Mason with guitarist Dan Rubright and bassist Ric Vice at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

Friday, December 19: The singing group Manhattan Transfer brings their annual holiday show to the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

As for local Christmas CD releases, in addition to Schenkel and Mason's A Midnight Clear, singer Erin Bode has a new Christmas-themed CD titled A Cold December Night that's now available for purchase on her Web site.

Other St. Louis musicians with Christmas CDs still in print include Anita Rosamond, whose release This Is Christmas came out in 2006, and saxophonist Rod Tate, who put out an album called Jazzy Melodies of Christmas last year. You can see Tate performing his version of "The Little Drummer Boy," taken from a show last December at the Vaughn Cultural Center, in the embedded video window below.

Do you know of any local jazz shows or CDs with a holiday theme that we've missed? Do you have a favorite holiday jazz CD (or CDs) of all time? Please use the comments to share your thoughts.



(Updated 11/28/08 to add the shows at Black Cat Theatre.)

Peter White Christmas show coming to The Pageant on November 30

This just in: Smooth jazz guitarist Peter White's Christmas show will be coming to St. Louis on Sunday, November 30 for a performance at The Pageant. Along with White, this year's edition of the holiday program features trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Mindi Abair (pictured).

Tickets for the Peter White Christmas show go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, September 19, and can be purchased online via Ticketmaster and in person at The Pageant box office and all Ticketmaster outlets.

Jazz this week: Rick Braun and Richard Elliot, All That Tap XVII, Good 4 The Soul, and more

Though things are starting to slow a bit as July winds down and we head toward the dog days of August, there are still a few noteworthy shows of interest to jazz fans in St. Louis this week. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, the Poor People of Paris, led by saxophonist/vocalist Elsie Parker, bring their blend of French cabaret, pop and jazz to Missouri Botanical Garden for a free concert as part of the Whitaker Music Festival

On Thursday, the very busy drummer:Miles Vandiver gets a chance to lead his own group in a free concert as part of Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series. Vandiver will be joined by Nick Jost on bass, Peter Schlamb on vibes and Jason Schwagler on saxophones. Also on Thursday, Jazz St. Louis' Bob Bennett, who plays tenor sax in addition to serving as JSL's operations director, will team up with Good 4 The Soul for a free concert at St. Louis Place Park as part of the Whiatker Urban Evenings series.

On Friday, Rick Sanborn's Smooth Summer Party series at The Pageant continues with a show by R 'n R, featuring trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot (pictured). (You can read more about Braun and Elliot in a preview story on the show written by Terry Perkings for the Post-Dispatch, available online here.)

Also on Friday, Wild, Cool and Swingin' performs at Cookie's Jazz and More, and Good 4 The Soul starts a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro to wrap up that venue's summer season. The Bistro will go dark until Friday, September 5, when the Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project kicks off the club's 2008-09 season.

On Saturday, the 2008 St. Louis Tap Festival concludes with the concert presentation All That Tap XVII at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The event will feature more than a dozen pro tap dancers with experience in TV, movies and/or Broadway performing with musical accompaniment by the Carolbeth True Trio. The Post's Calvin Wilson interviewed festival director Robert L. Reed for a feature story that you can read right here.

Also on Saturday, singer Anita Rosamond is performing a concert at the Black Cat Theatre in Maplewood to celebrate the release of her latest CD. She talked with the Post's Kevin Johnson about the CD and the show for an article that's available online here.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events 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.)

(Updated 7/23/08 to add two more events and links to three Post-Dispatch stories.)

Notes from the Net: More on Miles From India, an appreciation of Oliver Nelson, plus reviews, interviews and more

It's now officially summer time, and the linkin' is easy...to yet another collection of news bits about jazz musicians with a St. Louis connection, recent visitors and coming attractions, pus assorted other items of interest:

* First up, some links related to the Miles Davis-inspired project Miles From India, starting with another review of the two-CD set, written by ContemporaryJazz.com's John Luciano. The CDs have also spawned a limited series of concerts, including one in Los Angeles, reviewed here, and one in San Francisco that inspired an article about how the jazz now is incorporating musical influences from all over the world, Last but not least, AllAboutJazz.com has an interview about the project with former Davis sideman, guitarist Pete Cosey (pictured).

* The film blog Cinema Styles recently had a nice appreciation of saxophonist and St. Louis native Oliver Nelson's film and TV scoring, with an accompanying .mp3 of his composition "A Typical Day in New York."

* Saxophonist Oliver Lake is featured in Breakin' Glass, a new book in the Photonality Jazz Series

* Saxophonist and composer John Zorn recently designed a sound installation/experiment for a San Francisco museum.

* Composer, sound artist and St. Louis native Ben Manley is taking part in NYC performance space Roulette's annual Mixology Festival, which focuses on new and unusual uses of technology in music.

* Here's a review of No Strangers Here, bassist Ben Wolfe's new CD from the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label, and a review of Wolfe's recent gig at NYC's Jazz Standard.

* Check out these two interviews with saxophonist John Ellis, who guests on the new Erin Bode CD The Little Garden - one in print from AllAboutJazz.com, the other on radio with blogger and DJ LeRoy "The Jazzcat" Downs.

* The Return to Forever reunion tour, which came through St. Louis last week for a date at the Fox Theatre, is getting lots of press, starting with news that group's two-CD Anthology has been released; the collection gets an AllAboutJazz.com "extended analysis" here. Also, check out reviews of the band's shows in Denver, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles, and this interview with drummer Lenny White in Drum Magazine

* Since playing at Jazz at the Bistro last October, bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding's star has contined to rise. She recently was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered, and the New York Times has reviewed her new CD.

* Guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli, who's performed in St. Louis at both the Bistro and the Sheldon Concert Hall , has released a new CD devoted to the songs of Richard Rodgers

* Singer Paula West will perform at the Sheldon next season; here's a review of her recent gig in Charleston, SC.

* Trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot have been added to the lineup of this fall's Dave Koz Cruise, produced by St. Louis-based Jazz Cruises LLC. Braun, Elliot and Koz all will perform at The Pageant this summer.

* Pianist Les McCann and saxophonist Javon Jackson, who will team up for a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro in October, were a last-minute replacement for pianist McCoy Tyner at the jazz festival earlier this month in Telluride, CO.

* The National Endowment for the Arts has announced its 2009 Jazz Masters honorees, including guitarist and singer George Benson, drummer Jimmy Cobb, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, guitarist and harmonica player Toots Thielemans and trumpeter Snooky Young. Recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder will receive the 2009 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Award for Jazz Advocacy.

* Last but not least, composer and blogger Darcy James Argue recently had a couple of insightful and amusing posts about the phenomenon of "fan service," which he defines as "a marker or signifier that serves no legitimate aesthetic purpose, but is there to stroke those in the in-crowd while simultaneously alienating even the most sophisticated and open-minded newbies."

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Jeff Lorber's "He Had A Hat" plus Rick Braun & Richard Elliot's "Notorious"

This week's videos feature some of the musicians who will be coming this summer to The Pageant in St. Louis as part of smooth jazz DJ/impresario Rick Sanborn's "Smooth Summer Party" series.

Up top, it's keyboardist Jeff Lorber, who will be here on Sunday, June 22 as part of the "Guitars and Saxes" show, playing his composition "He Had His Hat". The clip is from a performance in April 2007 at a resort in Arizona, and that's bass player Brian Bromberg with Lorber.

Down below, it's trumpeter Rick Braun, aided and abetted by saxophonist Richard Elliot, doing a version of Braun's tune "Notorious" in June 2007 at a festival in Southfield, MI. Longtime musical associates, Braun and Elliot have recorded and now are touring together under the name R&R, and they'll be playing The Pageant on Friday, July 25.

Smooth jazz returning to the Pageant this summer

The Pageant has announced the scheduling of three smooth jazz concerts for summer 2008. Presented under the auspices of radio personality Rick Sanborn's "Smooth Summer Party," the concerts will feature the 2008 edition of Guitars and Saxes, with guitarists Peter White and Jeff Golub, saxophonist Gerald Albright (pictured) and keyboard player Jeff Lorber, on Sunday, June 22; R&R, with saxophonist Richard Eliot and trumpeter Rick Braun, on Friday, July 25; and saxophonist Dave Koz on Friday, August 8.

Tickets for each show are $35 and $40, with a $5 per ticket discount if you buy seats for all three concerts. Tix will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, May 2, via Ticketmaster and the Pageant box office.

Notes from the Net: Reviews of Roy Haynes & Elliot/Braun; free Wynton Marsalis MP3s; and more

Not much on the Interwebs this week about St. Louis' native jazz musicians, but there are a few items of interest pertaining tosome musicians who have performed here recently, or will soon:

* Saxophonist Kirk Whalum, whose performed in St. Louis at the Pageant last month as part of the Guitars and Saxes show (and who's also been known to sit in with his uncle Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum at Brandt's), has a new "best of" disc coming out.

* Trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Richard Elliot, just here at the Pageant as part of the Jazz Attack show, have released a new CD together, reviewed here.

* Drummer Roy Haynes (pictured), due in town to perform at Jazz at the Bistro in September, last week played Dizzy's Club Cola, the jazz club at Lincoln Center. Read the NY Times review here.

* Wynton Marsalis, who's coming to St. Louis to play the Sheldon in February, has a Web-only album available as a free download; go here for more info and links to the individual tracks from Here and Now.

* And lastly, pianist and singer Diana Krall continues to do lots of press for her current tour. This week's entries include interviews with the Detroit Free Press and Wichita Eagle. Krall also wound up on the receiving end of some snark from the Toronto Globe and Mail about her taste in Canadian wine, as recently revealed in tour riders published online by The Smoking Gun.com

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: The Casino Lights All-Stars' "Always There" plus Gerald Albright's "Georgia On My Mind"

This week's video spotlight offers sights and sounds from some of the musicians who will be performing in St. Louis this summer as part of DJ/impresario Rick Sanborn's two smooth jazz shows at the Pageant.

The first clip is from the "Casino Lights" DVD (recorded live in 1999 at the Montreux Jazz Festival), and presents a star-studded ensemble getting down on the familiar groove of Ronnie Laws' tune "Always There".

The front line includes tenor saxophonist Kirk Whalum, who's part of the "Guitars and Saxes" tour that hits town on Sunday, June 24, along with trumpeter Rick Braun, who's in the "Jazz Attack" show on Friday, July 20. As for the rest of the band in the clip, tenor man Boney James gets the first solo, followed by Kenny Garrett on alto sax and then Whalum, blowing over a rhythm section that includes George Duke on keyboards, Larry Carlton on guitar, Billy Kilson on drums and Mike Manson on bass.

The second video showcases Gerald Albright, who's the other sax in the "Guitars and Saxes" show, performing the standard "Georgia On My Mind". No indication as to where or when this was recorded, and there seem to be some sync problems between the audio and video, but Albright's extended solo is worth hearing even with these slight distractions.

Guitars and Saxes, Jazz Attack set for summer dates at the Pageant

The Pageant has just announced return dates this summer for two smooth jazz package shows.

On Sunday, June 24, the popular "Guitars and Saxes" show comes back to the venue with a lineup featuring saxophonists Gerald Albright and Kirk Whalum (pictured), guitarist Jeff Golub and guitarist/vocalist Tim Bowman. Then on Friday, July 20, it's another "Jazz Attack," with trumpeter Rick Braun, singer/guitarist Jonathan Butler, saxophonist Richard Elliot and guitarist Peter White.

Both concerts are being presented by smooth jazz radio personality and impresario Rick Sanborn under the "Smooth Summer Party" banner, and as with past events he's promoted, there are special prices for ticket buyers who want to attend both shows: $80 for reserved VIP seating, or $60 for reserved main floor/balcony seats.

Single tickets for either show individually will be $35 each for reserved main floor/balcony seating and $45 each for reserved VIP seating. Tickets go on sale at 5 p.m. this Friday, April 6 via The Pageant box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets.

(Edited after posting to add a tag.)