Jazz this week: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Brothers Lazaroff album release, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a visit from one of the most popular bands of the 1990s swing revival, a local group releasing a new album, a birthday tribute to jazz's first real virtuoso soloist, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, July 31
This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" includes guitarist Joe Park at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session hosted by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and bassist Chano Cruz leading a trio at The Dark Room.

Thursday, August 1
Saxophonist Carlos Brown Jr. plays at The Dark Room, and singer Joe Mancuso brings his organ trio to the Chase Club.

Friday, August 2
Nineties swing revivalists Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (pictured), remarkably on the verge of celebrating 30 years together as a band, perform at River City Casino & Hotel.

Also on Friday, the Brothers Lazaroff will play for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis, promoting the release of their new album Sisters And Brothers.

Elsewhere around town, the Brian Sullivan Quartet reunites for the first time in nearly six years for a performance at Foam; the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom; and singer Tony Viviano returns to Table Three.

Saturday, August 3
Guitarist Brian Vaccaro leads his quartet in a live recording session at Gaslight Studio & Lounge; saxophonist Tim Cunningham returns to Troy's; and Dizzy Atmosphere will play vintage swing and Gypsy jazz at the Missouri Botanical Garden's "Garden Party Lights Biergarten."

Sunday, August 4
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes perform for brunch at the Angad Arts Hotel; trumpeter Randy Holmes leads a birthday tribute to Louis Armstrong at the Ozark Theatre; and the Jazz Troubadours play an early evening gig at Evangeline's.

Tuesday, August 6
The Tick Tock Jazz Band plays traditional jazz at the Tick Tock Tavern.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Denise Thimes, Blood Sweat & Tears, Chicago, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the return of a unique fusion group; a visit home from a favorite local expat; two of the bands that launched the "jazz-rock" genre 50 years ago; and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, June 26
This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features singer Feyza Eren and guitarist Dave Black at The Stage at KDHX, along with the jam session hosted by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, June 27
The reunited original lineup of Béla Fleck and The Flecktones (pictured, top left) return for their first St. Louis performance in seven years at Powell Hall. You can see some videos of recent performances and some footage from the early days of the Flecktones, including their very first performance, in this post from last Saturday. 

Also on Thursday, it's the penultimate performance of trumpeter Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, with the finale set for Saturday night.

Elsewhere around town, trumpeter Jim Manley and keyboardist Chris Swan play The Pat Connolly Tavern; and the latest installment of the Bruxism experimental music series, featuring Curt Oren, William Morris, Michael Williams and Henry Claude, and Francis Hacienda, happens at the Schlafly Tap Room.

Friday, June 28
Singer Denise Thimes (pictured, bottom left), who last year moved from St. Louis to Chicago in search of greater career opportunities, will be back home to perform for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis.

Also on Friday, the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson return to the Parkside Grille; and guitarist Dan Rubright and the Wire Pilots will perform at the Ozark Theatre.

Saturday, June 29
Guitarist Brian Vaccaro and vocalist Stephanie Stewart will play a matinee at Alpha Brewing Company; singer Bre Hammond presents "A Tribute To The Ladies of Jazz" at the Ozark Theatre; and The Dark Room features pianist Ryan Marquez playing for dinner and Andrew Stephen's Texturz performing for the late show.

Sunday, June 30
There are several noteworthy daytime events on Sunday, including the summer edition of the St. Louis Record Show at the American Czech Center; jazz brunch with pianist Adam Maness at Thurman's in Shaw or singer and bassist Janet Evra at Evangeline's; and the monthly Traditional Jazz Jam Session at the Folk School of KDHX.

Then on Sunday evening, in an odd bit of synchronicity, two of the bands that helped popularize the jazz-rock genre a half-century ago will be in St. Louis on the same night, as Chicago plays at the Fox Theatre and Blood, Sweat & Tears performs at the River City Casino & Hotel.

The current touring version of Chicago includes three original members - keyboard player and singer Robert Lamm, trumpeter Lee Loughnane and trombonist (and St. Louis native) James Pankow. 

Meanwhile, BS&T, which has seen dozens of musicians come and go over the past 50 years, has no members remaining from their hit-making days, but fields a lineup of players selected by founding member and drummer Bobby Colomby, who doesn't perform with the group but owns rights to the name.

Tuesday, July 2
Guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran plays a free outdoor concert at Fanetti Park.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: Nels Cline 4, Tower of Power, free outdoor concerts, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis is somewhat busier than usual for late summer, with a couple of significant touring acts in town as well as a number of noteworthy shows from the hometown contingent.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, August 8
This week's free "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" will feature bassist Guy Cantonwine and Willem von Hombracht doing duets at The Stage at KDHX; the jam session led by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center; and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, August 9
Miss Jubilee and The Gaslight Squares will play traditional jazz and swing on a double-bill at Joe's Cafe, and Dean Christopher will bring his "Rat Pack and More" show to 50/Fifty Kitchen.

Also on Thursday, saxophonist Dave Stone's plays at Element Restaurant and Lounge, and trumpeter Keith Moyer's quartet returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, August 10
The Nels Cline 4, featuring Cline (pictured, top left) and fellow guitarist Julian Lage, performs at Delmar Hall. Touring in support of their recent Blue Note album Currents, Constellations, they're getting good notices both for the recording and for their live shows, which feature plenty of interplay between the two star guitarists. You can see some samples of recent performances on video in this post from two Saturdays ago.

Also on Friday, drummer Montez Coleman will celebrate his birthday with the first of two nights of performances at Jazz St. Louis, and you can take in one of three free outdoor concerts, as the Funky Butt Brass Band plays for the "Ferguson CityWalk" at Plaza At 501; The Bosman Twins perform at the Dellwood Recreation Center, and Miss Jubilee will provide the music for the St. Louis Zoo's "Jungle Boogie".

Saturday, August 11
Celebrating 50 years of the "Oakland Stroke" and supporting a new album release with a summer tour, the singular funk band Tower of Power (pictured, bottom left) stops in St. Louis for a show at the River City Casino Event Center. 

You can see some previous performances from the 50th anniversary tour and more in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, keyboardist Marvin Cockrell and Focus play smooth jazz, R&B and more at the Grandel Theatre, and the Joe Bozzi Band returns to Evangeline's.

Elsewhere around town, The Wire Pilots wll play original jazz, fusion and world music at the Ozark Theatre, and percussionist Herman Semidey and his Orquestra son Montuno will make their debut at Club Diamonds.

Sunday, August 12
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents Red Lehr & the St. Louis Rivermen playing traditional jazz at the  DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St. Louis - Westport.

Monday, August 13
Dizzy Atmosphere performs Gypsy jazz and swing for diners at The Shaved Duck.

Tuesday, August 14
Multi-instrumentalist and singer Tonina Saputo and her band host "The Tuesday Night Hit" at The Dark Room.

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: 50 years of Tower of Power

This week, our video spotlight is focused on Tower of Power, who will be coming to St. Louis to perform next Saturday, August 11 at River City Casino.

Touring this summer to celebrate 50 years as a band and to support a newly released album called Soul Side of Town, TOP under the direction of co-founder and tenor saxophonist Emilio Castillo has maintained its signature sound through dozens of personnel changes and shows no sign of slowing down.

You can see the current edition of the band in today's collection of videos, all but one of which come from the 50th anniversary tour. The first clip up above features a performance of the title track from Soul Side of Town, recorded in May for the BBC Two program Later… with Jools Holland.

After the jump, you can see three audience-made clips from the band's 50th anniversary shows presented the first weekend of June at the Fox Theater in their hometown of Oakland, CA: a medley of "What is Hip?" and "Soul Power"; the instrumental "Squib Cakes"; and a medley of "Do You Like That?" and "Drop It In The Slot."

That's followed by another medley, including "Soul with a Capital S," "You Ought To Be Having Fun," and "On The Soul Side Of Town," recorded in May in Tucson, AZ.

Last but not least, the final video offer a retrospective look at the band's past, documenting TOP's 40th anniversary show in 2008 in Oakland.

For more about Tower of Power and Soul Side of Town, read Castillo's interview with Billboard from April of this year; his interview published last week in Denver's Westword; and this review of a show in March in Lake Tahoe, NV.

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

Tower of Power returning to perform Saturday, August 11 at River City Casino

Bay Area funk band Tower of Power will return to St. Louis this summer to perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, August 11 at River City Casino's Event Center.

Founded in 1968 in Oakland, CA, TOP (pictured) will celebrate their 50th anniversary this year. Their most recent recording is a box set from their 40th anniversary tour, which was released on CD/DVD in 2011 and on Blu-Ray in 2012. Their last performance in the St. Louis area was in February 2017, also at River City.

Tower of Power also made national news in January of last year when drummer David Garibaldi and substitute bassist Marc van Wageningen were seriously injured in a freak train accident before a gig at Yoshi's in Oakland. Fortunately, both men survived, the band continued to work with substitute drummer Herman Matthews, and Garibaldi was recovered and back playing with TOP again before the year was over.

Tickets for Tower of Power at River City Casino are priced from $40 to $50 and will go on sale starting at 10:00 a.m. today at the casino, by phone at 800-745-3000 and via Ticketmaster.

Jazz this week: Mike Stern & Kimberly Thompson, George Sams, Ralph Towner, Ikue Mori & Nate Wooley, Russell Gunn, and more

As you might be able to deduce from looking at the headline for this post, it's very busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis.

Over the next few days, there will be a plethora of visiting performers on local stages, plus the opening of a play about one of the most famous jazz singers ever, free master classes from two guitar greats, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, February 15
Guitarist Mike Stern performs for the first of four nights continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro, joined by drummer Kimberly Thompson, saxophonist Bob Franceschini, and bassist Teymur Phell.

It's been nearly seven years since Stern (pictured, top left) last headlined a show at the Bistro, and with St. Louis native Thompson on the gig, demand for tickets should be brisk, so advance reservations are strongly recommended.

Also on Wednesday, Cabaret St. Louis presents their monthly "Open Mic Night" at The Emerald Room at The Monocle.

Thursday,
February 16
On Thursday afternoon, Mike Stern will present a free jazz guitar clinic sponsored by Mozingo Music at Lindenwood University's J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts.

Thursday evening, trumpeter George Sams (pictured, center left) will perform for the "Not So Quiet" concert series at the St. Louis Public Library's main location downtown with a group including poet Shirley LeFlore, percussionist Henry Claude, cellist Tracy Andreotti, and violinist Alyssa Avery.

Also on Thursday, singer Erin Bode returns to Cyrano's; and the first preview performance of Max and Louie Productions' staging of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, the Tony Award-winning play-with-music about Billie Holiday, will be presented at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

The show, which features Chicago-based actress and singer Alexis J. Roston reprising her award-winning performance as Holiday, opens officially on Friday night and continues through Saturday, March 4.

Friday, February 17
Friday afternoon, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents a "Symposium on the Music of Ralph Towner" with Towner, William Lenihan and Steve Schenkel at the Goldberg Formal Lounge in the Danforth University Center on the Wash U campus.

That evening, funk legends Tower of Power will perform at River City Casino. Although drummer David Garibaldi and substitute bassist Marc Van Wageningen are still recovering from serious injuries suffered in an accident before a gig last month in Oakland, TOP's current tour is continuing, with original bassist Francis "Rocco" Prestia back on the bandstand and former drummer Herman Matthews, who played with the group for several years in the 1990s, filling in for Garibaldi.

Also on Friday, trumpeter Byron Stripling will be guest soloist with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as they present their Black History Month program "Lift Every Voice and Sing," at Powell Symphony Hall.

Elsewhere around town, trumpeter Jim Manley returns to Evangeline's; trumpeter Kasimu Taylor and pianist Ptah Williams perform duets at Thurman's in Shaw; and Second Generation Swing plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, 
February 18
New Music Circle presents electronic musician Ikue Mori and trumpeter Nate Wooley at The Luminary.

For more about that, and some videos of Mori and Wooley (pictured, bottom left) in performance, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, the Jazz at Holmes series presents a solo concert by Ralph Towner at 560 Music Center. Towner has just released a new album of solo guitar performances, and you can read more about that and see and hear some videos of him in this post from a couple of weeks ago.

Sunday, February 19
Trumpeter and East St. Louis native Russell Gunn, now living in Atlanta, will be back home to headline Community Women Against Hardship's "Black History Benefit" at Jazz at the Bistro, accompanied by pianist Adam Maness, singer Anita Jackson, bassist Jeff Anderson and drummer Montez Coleman.

Also on Sunday afternoon, St. Louis Jazz Club presents pianist Bob Row and friends at the Elks Lodge #9 in Creve Coeur.

Monday, February 20
Webster University Jazz Collective will perform at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

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: Winter/spring 2017 jazz preview, part two

Today, it's part two of StLJN's winter/spring 2017 jazz preview, featuring videos of the top jazz and creative musicians who will be performing here in the next few months. (You can see part one here.)

This week's installment begins with saxophonist Branford Marsalis and singer Kurt Elling, who collaborated last year on the album Upward Spiral and will be coming to St. Louis to perform together on Tuesday, January 24 and Wednesday, January 25 at Jazz at the Bistro. In the first clip up above, you can see them doing "There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York" and "Doxy" in a show in June of this year at New Morning in Paris.

After the jump, you can see pianist Bruce Barth, who will lead his trio in shows on Wednesday, February 8 and Thursday, February 9 at the Bistro. Barth, who recorded for the St. Louis-based label MAXJAZZ in its early days, is seen here playing a solo set in March, 2016 at PianoForte Studios in Chicago.

The next headliner to hit the Bistro will be guitarist Mike Stern, who will play the Grand Center venue from Wednesday, February 15 through Saturday, February 18 with drummer and St. Louis native Kimberly Thompson and bassist Teymur Phell. Stern and Thompson often work together at the former's long-running gig at NYC's 55 Bar, and the next video is an excerpt from one of their shows there in August 2015.

Also in town that week will be the venerable funk band Tower of Power, who will return to perform on Friday, February 17 at River City Casino. The version of "Don't Change Horses In The Middle Of The Stream" seen here was recorded in July at the California State Fair in Sacramento, and though the video quality isn't the best, there's some nice audio showcasing the performance of TOP's new lead singer Marcus Scott, a Memphis native who joined the band in April.

That same weekend, New Music Circle will present a concert by electronic musician Ikue Mori and trumpeter Nate Wooley on Saturday, February 18 at The Luminary.

Though Mori and Wooley are both prolific collaborators, and worked together with saxophonist Ken Vandermark and drummer Paul Lytton in the band The Nows, there doesn't seem to be any video online of just the two of them together. So instead, you can check out a duo set that Mori played with drummer Steve Noble in September at Jazzhouse in Copenhagen, and a solo performance by Wooley recorded in November at the Park Church Co-op in Brooklyn, NY.

Below that, you can see a clip of guitarists Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge, who will perform together on Wednesday, February 22 at the Old Rock House. The two blend jazz, bluegrass and more in an acoustic duo presentation that includes songs ranging from honky-tonk country to standards like the performance of "Someone to Watch Over Me" seen here.

last but not least, today's final clip features the Clayton Brothers Quintet, fronted by bassist John Clayton and saxophonist Jeff Clayton, and also usually including the fine young pianist Gerald Clayton, who is John's son. The video is an excerpt from a performance they did in 2013 at the Outpost in Albuquerque, NM, and the brothers will be back in St. Louis for a four-night run starting Wednesday, March 1 and continuing through Saturday, March 4 at the Bistro.

Look for part three of the winter/spring 2017 jazz preview here next week. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...