Jazz this week: Jazz at Holmes resumes, Javier Mendoza, "Jazz Under The Stars," and more

Though this weekend's offerings of jazz and creative music in St. Louis are less numerous than last week's, there are at least a few noteworthy events happening around town. So, let's take a look and see what's coming up...

Tonight, Brandt's has an early set from saxophonist Christopher McBride, and singer Erin Bode and her band are playing Porter's in Collinsville.

On Thursday, saxophonist and clarinetist Mike Buerk and his 13-piece big band will open this semester's Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University with a performance of music of the Swing Era.

Also on Thursday, the Young Friends organizations of Jazz St. Louis and the St. Louis Science Center are cosponsoring an event called "Jazz Under The Stars" at the Planetarium in Forest Park, featuring music from guitarist Eric Slaughter's trio; and alto saxophonist Kendrick Smith's quartet plays at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Friday and Saturday, singer/songwriter Javier Mendoza (pictured) returns to Jazz at the Bistro. Though Mendoza's usual sound is more along the lines of Latin-flavored pop/rock, for these shows he reportedly has rearranged his songs and augmented his band with the fine guitarist Dave Black to add a jazz aspect to his music.

Also on Friday, guitarist Matthew Von Doran and his trio play at Broadway Bean Coffee, and Robbie's will feature a band called Elements, about whom I can tell you absolutely nothing.
(The club's website has no information about them, and Google serves up a number of groups with similar names, none based in St. Louis. Maybe they're brand new?)

On Saturday, Robbie's will feature their house band, led by co-owner/trombonist Robert Edwards, and on Tuesday, they'll host their usual weekly jazz jam session.

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 1/27/11 to add the Matthew Von Doran gig.)

Jazz this week: New Year's Eve jazz in St. Louis, and more

While New Year's Eve isn't usually a particularly big night for live jazz in St. Louis, there seem to be slightly more than the usual number of jazz-related options out there this year.

Among the more noteworthy revels occurring this Thursday evening:

* Singer Erin Bode (pictured) and her band will be doing two performances at the Joe Buck Show Room, which is part of the sportscaster's JBuck's restaurant downtown on Clark St.;
* The Robert Edwards Big Band will play at Robbie's House of Jazz;
* Singer Kim Massie will be at Brandt's;
* Singer Cherilyn Evans & CEE JazzSoul are performing at Smoking Joe's Bar-Be-Que downtown on Washington Ave;
* Singer/pianist Anita Rosamond teams up with guitarist Grant Krener at Chandler Hill Wineries in Defiance.

As has been the case for the last few years, the city's premiere jazz room, Jazz at the Bistro, will be dark on New Year's Eve, yielding the streets in the immediate neighborhood to Grand Center's annual First Night event, which usually features a variety of music in addition to dance, theater, visual arts and family oriented activities.

Acts scheduled to perform at this year's First Night include singers Wendy Gordon and Jeannie Trevor; multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman's gypsy-jazz band Hot Club Caravan; singer Brian Owens; Le Jazz Hot (with pianist Ptah Williams, saxophonist Chad Evans, bassist Daryl Mixon and drummer Bensid Thigpen); Wackadoo (with singer Valerie Tichacek); and Jazz St. Louis executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford's blues band, the Blues Inquisition. For a complete schedule of performances, visit the First Night website.

Beyond New Year's Eve, it looks to be a relatively uneventful few days for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, save for some regular weekly standing gigs carrying over into the new year. That's not unusual - the first couple of weeks of the year are usually a slow time for live music, and with many people still on holiday, a lot of January schedule information from musicians and clubs has yet to arrive here at StLJN HQ.

As that info comes in, I'll be updating the the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar - which can be found on the left sidebar, or by clicking here - with the latest information on more jazz and creative music events this weekend and beyond. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or by becoming a "fan" of 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: Shaun Robinson, a tribute to Miles Davis, student big bands, and more

While there are no major touring jazz musicians visiting St. Louis this weekend, and a relatively light schedule overall, there are some noteworthy events featuring local musicians coming up over the next few days. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, guitarist William Lenihan will lead a tribute to the electric music of Miles Davis, drawing on compositions from In A Silent Way and Filles de Kilimanjaro in a free concert for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series

On Friday and Saturday, guitarist Shaun Robinson (pictured), best known as a member of Good 4 The Soul, will bring his own band to Jazz at the Bistro for the weekend. I've not heard Robinson's own group yet, and they've released no recordings; however, the advertised ingredients - a mix of jazz, funk, rock and R&B - are similar to those employed by G4TS, and presumably the guitarist has his own personal recipe for combining them.

Also on Friday and Saturday, trombonist Robert Edwards and his ensemble will take the stage at Robbie's House of Jazz, offering a mix of hard bop, soul/jazz and more.

Looking beyond the weekend, there are two free concerts early next week featuring up-and-coming talent from local jazz studies programs. On Monday, the Webster University Big Band will perform at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus, and on Tuesday, the SIUE Big Band will play at Dunham Hall on campus in Edwardsville.

For information on more jazz and creative music events this weekend and beyond, check out the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, available for viewing on the left sidebar, or by clicking here. Also, you can follow St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes and become a "fan" by signing up 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: A jazz tribute to Woodstock; music at the St. Louis Art Fair; a new book about the St. Louis blues; and more

While this weekend in St. Louis offers no shows featuring big name jazz musicians - think of it as a chance to save up a bit for next weekend's concerts by Sonny Rollins, Trio 3 and/or Chris Botti - there are still some jazz-related events over the next few days that may merit your attention. Here's a look at some highlights:

Tonight, the fall series of free weekly Jazz at Holmes concerts at Washington University begins with guitarist William Lenihan leading "a jazz tribute to Woodstock" outdoors on the Brookings Quadrangle.

Presumably, it's not a concert featuring jazz versions of songs that were played at Woodstock and/or written by musicians who performed there, or they would have just described it as such. (You can read Wash U's rather uninformative blurb on the show, and my initial reaction to it, here. ) Still, with a lineup of very capable musicians including Lenihan, Jason Swagler (who's listed in the show's promotional email as playing guitar, rather than his more usual alto sax), pianist Ptah Williams, drummer Kyle Hunnicutt, percussionist Henry Claude, and bassist Zeb Briskovich, there's certainly plenty of potential for some good music, even if the concept is a bit vague.

On Friday, St. Louis artist and writer Kevin Belford will be at Mad Art Gallery, signing copies of his new book Devil at the Confluence: The Pre-War Blues Music of St. Louis and showing his original paintings of St. Louis blues musicians that illustrate the tome. The free event also will include a performance from singer/guitarist Tom Hall, vintage film footage of St. Louis blues legends, and a spin of the book's companion CD. .

Friday night is also the beginning of the official "grand opening" weekend for Robbie's House of Jazz, which is located in the old Cookie's Jazz and More space at 20 Allen Ave. in Webster Groves. The featured performers this weekend will be the 16-piece Robert Edwards Big Band, which delves into a variety of big band jazz styles and includes trombonist Lamar Harris and pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson among its members. (For more about Robbie's, see this previous post. I've also got a new post about the club scheduled to go online today at the Riverfront Times music blog, A to Z; when it goes live, I'll post a link here.)

The annual St. Louis Art Fair also gets underway on Friday, but there's not much music of interest to jazz fans until Saturday, when the event will feature performances from the Funky Butt Brass Band and the Sheldon Jazz Quintet, comprised of Rick Haydon (guitar), Mardra Thomas (vocals), Reggie Thomas (piano), Miles Vandiver (drums) and Zeb Briskovich (bass).

Jazz St. Louis executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford's band the Blues Inquisition also will perform on Saturday, and Sunday's musicians of interest include pianist Monika Herzig's group, and trumpeter/vocalist Dawn Weber (pictured) and her band Electro Funk Assembly.

On Sunday, there will be a benefit performance for singer Elaine Donahue from 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at BB’s Jazz, Blues and Soups, 700 S. Broadway. Performers will include Willie Akins, Marty Abdullah and members of the Soulard Blues Band, Denise Thimes, Skeet Rogers, the Bosman Twins, Mae Wheeler, Jeanne Trevor, Roland Johnson, Wendy Gordon, Marsha Evans, Eugene Johnson, Renee Smith and more. All proceeds will go to medical and living expenses for Donahue, who has been fighting cancer and has been unable to work as a singer or at her day job in the treasurer’s office for the city of East St. Louis. In addition to leading her own group, Donahue has worked with Akins, pianist Ed Nicholson’s trio, and many others.

For more jazz and creative music events this weekend and beyond, check the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, available for viewing on the left sidebar or by clicking here.

(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 9/10/09 to fix problems with tags & add additional tags. Edited again on 9/11/09 to restore a paragraph accidentally dropped during the editing process.)