So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Tonight's New Music Circle concert featuring Trinity Piano Trio was previewed by Terry Perkins of the St. Louis Beacon and Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

* Actress/singer Molly Ringwald, who will be in St. Louis to perform next Tuesday and Wednesday at Jazz at the Bistro, had a few words with the P-D's Kevin Johnson.

* Oliver Lake's recent big band release Wheels was reviewed by Aaron Cohen and made an Editors' Pick in the latest issue of DownBeat, while All Decks, the saxophonist and former St. Louisan's recent collaborative effort with Christian Weber and Dieter Ulrich, was reviewed by John Sharpe for AllAboutJazz.com

* Singer and former St. Louisan Jan Shapiro's latest CD Piano Bar After Hours was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's C. Michael Bailey.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn is profiled in the latest issue of the American Federation of Musicians' publication International Musician. Sanborn and keyboardist Bob James are about to launch a tour in support of their new collaborative album Quartette Humaine, and to promote it, they've also released a "making of" video and are offering a free download of a sample track, "Deep In The Weeds," from the recording.

* Speaking of Sanborns, longtime local DJ and impresario Rick Sanborn (no relation to David) will be a guest on this Saturday night's broadcast of "The Jazz Collective" with Jason Church. The program airs at 9:00 p.m. as part of the Saturday night jazz block on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis' new classical station, following the syndicated "Jazz at Lincoln Center" at 7:00 p.m. and "Somethin' Else" with Calvin Wilson at 8:00 p.m.. RAF-STL's programming can be heard on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

* And while we're on the radio beat, the sixth part of Dennis Owsley's audio documentary on the history of St. Louis jazz, covering the Black Artists Group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, will air during Owsley's "Jazz Unlilmited" program at 9:00 p.m. this Sunday on KWMU (90.7 FM). Also, the Sheldon Art Galleries have announced that they will reprise the companion exhibition for Owsley's book City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973 this summer from June 7 until August 17.

* Saxophonist Fred Walker (pictured) is one of the plaintiffs in a suit filed this week by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the City of St. Louis' new licensing requirements for street performers. The suit alleges that, by forcing performers to audition and charging a $100 fee for a permit, the ordinance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments with vague terms that outlaw “a substantial amount of expressive activity.”

* Lastly, filmmaker Rod Milam sent a link to a brief video showing artist and fellow U City native Tom Seltzer installing his original limited edition prints of portraits of jazz greats at Dizzy's On 5th in Park Slope in Brooklyn, NYC. The show went up this past Sunday, May 5 and will hang until November 2013. Seltzer's subjects include Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins. The images can be seen online and prints purchased at http://seltzerstudio.com/store.

Review: DMS at the Touhill Performing Arts Center

Much like blockbuster action films and mystery thrillers suitable for beach reading, summer tours by big-name musicians tend to be geared toward providing popular entertainment, not profound artistic statements.

Such was the case with the concert by the jazz "supergroup" DMS on Sunday at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, as George Duke, Marcus Miller and former St. Louisan David Sanborn put on an entertaining, crisply paced two-hour show offering a sampling of familiar material from their respective catalogs, delivered with the expected first-rate musicianship but few real surprises.

The concert, which was presented by Jazz St. Louis, opened with second keyboardist Federico Pena and drummer Louis Cato taking the stage first and starting a stripped-down funk groove. Miller, Sanborn and Duke then made individual entrances, and the groove turned into a version of Sanborn’s “Run For Cover” that featured Duke (pictured) wailing on a guitar-style strap-on keyboard as well as some gritty riffing from Sanborn.

The saxophonist then took the lead for most of the rest of the first half of the show, playing tunes from his songbook including “Straight From The Heart,” “Lisa” and “Maputo,” which Miller wrote for Sanborn and pianist Bob James. Sanborn’s solos were typically concise, but also full of his characteristic verve and blues feel. The band, after a few minor sound adjustments, supplied tight and sympathetic accompaniment, with Duke adding more synth flash to “Straight From the Heart” and Miller soloing effectively on “Maputo” as well.

After an energetic “Chicago Song” that hewed closely to the recorded arrangement, the band stretched out a bit more on a medley of “Cobra,” written by Duke for Miles Davis’ album Amandla, and “Tutu,” penned by Miller as the title track for another Davis album. The latter included the evening’s only brief glimpse of straight-ahead swing, as Miller and Cato played with time feels during an extended solo by the bassist.

Duke followed that by showcasing his falsetto vocals on the slow-jam hits “Sweet Baby” and “No Rhyme, No Reason.” Then it was Miller’s turn once again, as he demonstrated his slapping-and-popping technique on his composition “Blast.” DMS kept the funk going for both the official closing number, Duke’s 1970s hit “Reach For It” and the encore, a version of E.U.’s “Da Butt,” which was written for them by Miller for use in Spike Lee’s movie School Days. At this point, it seemed a little bit like DMS had morphed from a collection of jazz greats into The World’s Most Over-Qualified Funk Cover Band, but most of the audience was having too good of a time to protest.

Random Notes:
* All three of DMS’ principals seemed in a jocular mood, with Duke drawing laughs from the moment he came onstage, just for his facial expressions and body language. While introducing “Lisa,” Sanborn wisecracked that it was finally safe to play the song again, since the statute of limitations on resentment had expired; Duke then turned that around on him during the intro to “Sweet Baby,” noting that at least he’d had the good sense not to name his love song after a specific woman.

* The audience did witness what very well may have been one genuine first, as Miller managed to goad Sanborn into singing a verse of “Da Butt” not once, but twice, to the delight of the hometown crowd and the band alike. However, while Sanborn and the song both escaped relatively unscathed, don’t look for him to cut a vocal album anytime soon.

* Sanborn mentioned that his 91-year-old mother was in the wings watching the show, and after the end of the concert, Mrs. Sanborn came to edge of the stage, peeked out around the curtains for a moment, then walked out a couple of steps on stage and waved, to cheers and applause from the remaining audience members.

Set list:
Run For Cover
Straight To The Heart
Brazilian Love Affair
Lisa
Maputo
Chicago Song
Cobra
Tutu
Sweet Baby
No Rhyme, No Reason
Blast
Reach For It
Encore: Da Butt

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.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Dave Koz' "Silver Lining," plus Red Holloway plays "Nica's Dream"

This week's videos offer previews of two saxophonists with very different styles who both will be performing in St. Louis this month. The clip up top spotlights Dave Koz, who will play The Pageant next Friday, August 8 to close out DJ and impresario Rick Sanborn's 2008 "Smooth Summer Party" series. Koz is seen here doing the tune "Silver Lining" at a festival in Maui, Hawaii.

The second video shows Red Holloway, who is scheduled to perform a free concert on Friday, August 29 at Kiener Plaza under the auspices of the new presenting organization St. Louis City Jazz. This clip of Holloway playing the Horace Silver composition "Nica's Dream" was recorded at a concert in Tokyo, Japan.

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.

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.)