So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* With the wrecking ball poised to swing at the historic Castle Ballroom, site of performances by many important jazz musicians, Nicholas J. C. Pistor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that much of the recent deterioration of the building came while it was owned by groups that included some St. Louis city officials.

* Also on the historic preservation front, Steve Smith, owner of the south side tavern The Royale, has recorded a video in support of the effort to save the Palladium, aka Club Plantation, another building in the Grand Center district with a musically significant history that also is threatened with demolition. The effort to raise awareness and save the building is being led by artist and author Kevin Belford, who created the collage of musicians who played at Club Plantation used to illustrate this post.

* In this week's Miles Davis-related news, Peter Bacon of the UK blog The Jazz Breakfast wonders if the number of Davis CD box sets has reached the saturation point.

* Meanwhile, an article in Audiophile Review critiques the quality of various reissues of Davis' landmark album Kind of Blue.

* The Presenters Dolan have posted to their Facebook page an album of pictures from last weekend's Gaslight Cabaret Festival performances by singer Marissa Mulder.

* Singer Connie Fairchild, whose Gaslight Cabaret Festival performance on Saturday night is sold out, was interviewed by Terry Perkins for the St. Louis Public Radio website.

* Guitarist Pat Metheny was interviewed by Calvin Wilson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for a preview story about Metheny's Unity Group concert this Sunday at The Pageant. 

* Trumpeter Roger Ingram has posted to his Facebook page a photo album from his workshops and performances at last week's Mineral Area College Jazz Festival

* The St. Louis Big Band's Ryan Sheehan was profiled by the Webster University Journal.

* Guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran was interviewed by Liz Schranck of KDHX.

* The New Orleans-style cuisine at Evangeline's, the new Central West End spot that features live music several nights a week, was reviewed by the Riverfront Times' Cheryl Baeh.

* St. Louis writers K. Curtis Lyle and Quincy Troupe spoke on the program New Day Jazz about the late author, poet and critic Amiri Baraka.

* Jazz St. Louis reports via this week's email newsletter that their 2014 fundraising gala held last Friday at the Ritz-Carlton raised more than $260,000 for the organization's education programs, making it the second most successful gala in JSL's history. You can see photos from the gala, which featured music from saxophonist Maceo Parker, on Jazz St. Louis' Facebook page.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday night on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis' "Somethin' Else," host Calvin Wilson will feature jazz interpretations of the music of composer Stephen Sondheim by clarinetist Don Byron, saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., singer Sarah Vaughan, and others. Listen in at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays via 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Then, this Sunday evening on KWMU's "Jazz Unlimited," host Dennis Owsley continues his exploration of music recorded live in New York, ranging from vintage tracks featuring Art Tatum, Sarah Vaughan with Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Don Byas with Thelonious Monk, and many others to more recent recordings by Chucho Valdes, the Gil Evans Orchestra, the Dave Holland Quintet, the World Saxophone Quartet, Medeski, Martin & Wood, the Anthony Braxton Quartet with Marty Ehrlich, and Hamiet Bluiett.

The program can be heard at 9:00 p.m. Sundays over the air on KWMU (90.7 FM) or online at http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org. (This is a "pledge week" for KWMU, so if you're so inclined, you can show your support for "Jazz Unlimited" by calling in during the program with a membership contribution.)

Also on Sunday nights: While Josh Weinstein presents avant-jazz, improvised music and more each week on "All Soul, No Borders", airing at 10:30 p.m. KDHX (88.1 FM), he rarely tips his playlists in advance. However, we have been remiss in not noting in this space that once the show has aired, you can see the ASNB playlists, and more importantly, access an audio stream of the previous two weeks' shows, via the KDHX website.

(Edited after posting to add the link to the Pat Metheny interview.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* "Jazz Unlimited" host Dennis Owsley will will serve as interviewer and moderator for a discussion with multi-instrumentalist and composer Marty Ehrlich at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, October 3 at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Blvd.

Ehrlich, who grew up in University City, will play with his Rites Quartet in a concert presented by New Music Circle the following evening, Friday, October 4, at the Kranzberg Arts Center. The Ehrlich/Owsley conversation is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served.

* Saxophonist and St. Louis expat Greg Osby (pictured) talked to London Jazz News about his upcoming appearance at the Whirlwind Festival in UK.

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn, raised in East St. Louis and now living in Atlanta, has a new album, Elektrik Funeral, out this month on the Atlanta-based indie label Hot Shoe Records. Described as "inspired by the work of the Brecker Brothers Heavy Metal Bebop and the music of the classic Black Sabbath lineup," the album features a cover version of Sabbath's "War Pigs" and guest appearances from musicians including saxophonist Branford Marsalis, pianist Robert Glasper, and trombonists Andre Hayward and Fred Wesley.

* A new short film, Trane and Miles, takes a fictionalized look at Miles Davis and John Coltrane in 1959 during the recording of Davis' landmark album Kind of Blue.

* Saxophonist Eric Person (also from St. Louis, now living in Brooklyn, NY) has posted on Facebook an album of pictures from his big band's first live gig earlier this month at NYC's Jazz Standard.

* Speaking of Facebook photo sets, here's one posted by the American Embassy in Guyana, documenting the recent trip to that country by pianist and Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap, bassist Nick Jost and drummer Marty Morrison. The trio were in Guyana from September 9 through September 14 on behalf of the U.S. State Department's Jazz Ambassadors program to perform a concert and lead workshops for local students and musicians.

* In other Jazz St. Louis-related news, there's a new promo video online for the touring edition of "Abyssinian: A Gospel Celebration," the extended work composed in 2008 by Wynton Marsalis for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and a gospel choir. JSL is presenting the St. Louis stop of the "Abyssinian" tour next month at the Touhill.

* Meanwhile, JSL executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford on Wednesday night took part in a Jazz Journalists Association online video panel, "The Future of Jazz: Where We’ll Hear Jazz," with Revive Music's Meghan Stabile and former Jazz at Lincoln Center head Adrian Ellis. You can watch a replay of their discussion here.

* Singer Michael Buble's concert last Friday at the Scottrade Center was reviewed by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson.

* The St. Louis Jazz Orchestra's tribute to Maynard Ferguson next Tuesday night at the Touhill is previewed in an online story from UMSL's news service.

* Trumpeter Roger Ingram's appearance Sunday night with the Dave Dickey Big Band at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company is previewed by St. Louis magazine intern Kim Aubuchon (who's a trumpet player herself).

* Congrats to Logic Systems Sound & Lighting, based in the St. Louis suburb of Valley Park, for being named one of the finalists for Front Of House magazine's 2013 Hometown Hero awards.

* In some less felicitous news, St. Louis blues guitarist and singer Jimmy Lee Kennett is facing a relapse of the colon cancer he's fought for several years, and friends and family have launched an online fund-raising effort to help with medical bills and other expenses.

* Jazz radio update: This week's edition of Calvin Wilson's "Somethin' Else" is devoted to the music of legendary bassist and composer Charles Mingus, as heard on recordings by Mingus himself; his former sideman, saxophonist Charles McPherson; and the Mingus Big Band, which continues to perform his compositions under the auspices of his widow Sue Mingus. The program can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays via 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2 and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Roger Ingram to present master class Saturday, March 3 at UMSL

Trumpet player Roger Ingram (pictured) will be in St. Louis to present a trumpet clinic and master class at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, March 3 at the Villa Annex on the South campus of the University of Missouri – St. Louis (UMSL).

Ingram is a noted jazz educator and clinician whose performing resume includes tours and recordings with the big bands of Louis Bellson, Quincy Jones, Woody Herman, Frank Sinatra and Harry Connick Jr. as well as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The clinic at UMSL is open to the public and admission is $10, with no advance registration required.

Ingram also will be offering a limited number of private lessons that day, with a special rate to high school and middle school students of $75 for a one-hour lesson; his usual charge is $200 for a two-hour lesson. Advance registration is required; for more information, visit his website at http://rogeringram.com/lessons.php, or send an email to Vic @ RogerIngram.com.