Jazz this week: Cyrille Aimée, Old Webster Jazz & Blues Festival, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features the return of a rising star vocalist, a free, day-long festival, and more. Let's go to this highlights...

Wednesday, 
September 18
Singer Cyrille Aimée (pictured, top left) returns to perform for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis as part of the series they're co-presenting with Cabaret Project of St. Louis.

Aimée, who first performed in St. Louis in 2016 at the Bistro, released her ninth album Move On: A Sondheim Adventure in February of this year. (For more about her, check out this video showcase post from her previous appearance here.)

Also on Wednesday, NYC-based singer Miss Maybell and pianist Charlie Judkins continue their mini-tour of local nightspots with a show at Evangeline's; and this week's "Wednesday Night Jazz Crawl" in Grand Center features pianist Ethan Leinwand at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, September 19
Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and keyboardist Ryan Marquez and his trio will return to The Dark Room.

Friday, September 20
Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris will provide the music for "Wine & Jazz Under the Stars," a benefit for radio station Classic 107.3 FM at the Columbia Foundation for the Arts on The Hill.

Also on Friday, trumpeter and vibraphonist Joe Bozzi and his band return to Evangeline's and the Ambassadors of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, September 21
The annual Old Webster Jazz & Blues Festival starts at mid-day and continues through the evening with two stages in the Old Webster Business District, near the intersection of Lockwood & Gore Aves.

The free, family-friendly event will feature sets from the Webster University Faculty Jazz Ensemble, Bach to the Future, Dizzy Atmosphere (pictured, center left), Webster Groves High School Jazz Band, and trumpeter Jim Manley, plus blues performers including David Dee, Marquise Knox, Jeremiah Johnson, and more.

Also on Saturday, Miss Maybell wraps up her visit here with a performance at the Frisco Barroom (just down the road from the festival site); and Chicago-based guitarist, composer and improviser Daniel Wyche performs at Flood Plain gallery, with St. Louis' JoAnn McNeil and Michael Williams offering an opening set of electronics, found-sound manipulation, and guitar.

Sunday, September 22
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents pianist Bob Row's Mardi Gras Jazz Band at the Moolah Shrine Center's Oasis Room; and keyboardist Mo Egeston and his trio will perform at The Judson House.

Monday, September 23
Pianist Peter Martin and guitarist Romero Lubambo (pictured, bottom left) celebrate the release of their new duo album Rio Meets New Orleans: Live From Tokyo with a performance at the Open Studios space at Centene Center for the Arts in Grand Center.

Also on Monday, pianist Carolbeth True and her trio will play a concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster University campus.

Tuesday, September 24
Pianist Curt Landes and his trio plus singer Feyza Eren will perform in concert at the Gaslight Theater.

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: Kurt Elling, Nicole Mitchell, Lubambo, Alves & Ribeiro, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis brings sounds from all over, including two prominent performers who each got their start in Chicago, one who made his name on Broadway, and three coming from Brazil via NYC. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, March 13
Singer Kurt Elling - one of the aforementioned Chicagoans, though he now lives in New York - performs for the first of five nights, continuing through Sunday at Jazz St. Louis.

Elling (pictured, top left) returns here for the first time since the release in 2018 of his most recent album The Questions, so it seems likely that a good portion of material from that recording will be part of his sets here. You can see videos of live performances of several of those tunes, and find out more about what Elling has been up to more recently, in this post from last Saturday.

Elsewhere around town, clarinetist and former St. Louisan Chloe Feoranzo, now residing in New Orleans, will be back in town for a concert with her quartet at Focal Point, and guitarist Brian Vaccaro leads a trio at Evangeline's.

Thursday, March 14
Pianist Jim Hegarty returns with his quintet to the The Dark Room; guitarist Dave Black and singer Erika Johnson perform at The Pat Connolly Tavern; and pianist Adam Maness' trio is back at Thurman's in Shaw.

Friday, March 15
Pianist, singer and Tony Award-winning musical theater composer Jason Robert Brown performs in concert at the Grandel Theatre; and the Original Knights of Swing play for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, March 16
Flute player and composer Nicole Mitchell’s Liberation Narratives, featuring poet Haki Madhubuti, performs in a concert presented by New Music Circle at Xavier Hall on the St. Louis University campus.

A composer and conceptualist with wide-ranging interests, Mitchell (pictured, bottom left) is a past president of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and recently was appointed head of the jazz program at the University of Pittsburgh, succeeding the late Geri Allen.

Mitchell has been involved in a constantly evolving variety of musical projects over the years, with her latest collaboration with poet Haki Madhubuti offering "an unabashed take on the state of the nation" via her compositions and the poet's spoken word performances.  For a bit more about that, plus some videos of Mitchell performing in various contexts, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Elsewhere around town, pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio will present a concert of Brazilian jazz featuring guitarist Romero Lubambo, pianist Helio Alves, and drummer Edu Ribeiro, along with St. Louis' own Bob DeBoo on bass.

Also on Saturday, the Coleman Hughes Project celebrates six years as a band with a gig at Lowes Entertainment; and trumpeter Jim Manley and keyboardist Chris Swan will play at One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar.

Sunday, March 17
Friends have organized a benefit for saxophonist Fred Walker, who no longer can perform due to recent health issues, for late Sunday afternoon at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups, with announced performers including Walker's former band Mystic Voyage, saxophonist Kendrick Smith, blues singers Kim Massie, Eugene Johnson, and Lady J Huston, and more.

Monday, March 18
Pianist Carol Schmidt and saxophonist Paul DeMarinis will team up for a concert of duets at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster University 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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The 20th anniversary edition of singer Denise Thimes' (pictured) Mother's Day show, which has moved this year to the Touhill Performing Arts Center, was previewed in feature stories by Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American and Kevin Johnson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and in an interview on St. Louis Public Radio. 

* Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap wrote about Don Cheadle's Miles Ahead and Born to Be Blue, the recently released feature film about trumpeter Chet Baker, in an essay for Washington University's Common Reader.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold will pay tribute to Miles Davis with three nights of shows from Friday, May 13 through Sunday, May 15 at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in NYC's Jazz at Lincoln Center complex. The gigs, marking 90 years since Davis' birth, will feature an all-star cast including saxophonists and former Davis sidemen Gary Bartz and David Liebman; drummer Chris Dave and bassist Derrick Hodge, from Robert Glasper's band; St. Louis native Shedrick Mitchell on keyboards; and more.

* Harrold and his brother Emanuel Harrold, the drummer in singer Gregory Porter's band, also pulled off a near-simultaneous dual-sibling appearance on two national TV networks this week, as on Wednesday night Keyon performed with singer Maxwell on CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, while Emanuel was playing with Porter on PBS' The Tavis Smiley Show.

* A story published this week by St. Louis Public Radio says that radio station WSIE, doubly pressed for cash by a preexisting need for additional funding plus recent budget cuts to Illinois universities, will add blues music to its playlist in an attempt to broaden its appeal and become self-sustaining.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio Network today rolled out "Brazilian Jazz Guitar," a new premium online course taught by guitarist Romero Lubambo.

* The recently announced "arts incubator" at 3224 Locust in the Grand Center district is seeking tenants now in anticipation of its opening in January of next year.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The latest episode of HEC-TV's I Love Jazz with Don Wolff premieres this Sunday, February 8, and features the jazz studies program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The show also looks in on the recording of pianist Phil Dunlap's debut CD, and includes vintage video spotlighting the late alto saxophonist and clarinetist LeRoy Harris.

I Love Jazz can be seen on Charter channel 989 and AT&T U-verse 99 at noon on Wednesdays; 8:00 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays; and 4:00 p.m. Fridays. (For other TV providers, check your program guide.) You also can watch episodes, including the latest one, online at the HEC-TV website, or download them for free from the "Beyond University" section of iTunes U.

* Pianist Peter Martin's performance with guitarist Romero Lubambo last week at South on Main in Little Rock was reviewed by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and also documented in a photo set posted to Facebook.

* Martin also will provide the music for the "Eleventh Annual Evening of Hope," a benefit for the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders at Washington University School of Medicine to be held on Thursday, April 30 at the Sheldon. The evening includes cocktails, dinner, and the musical performance by Martin's trio and guest singer Brian Owens. For tickets or sponsorship information, call Hope Happens at 314-725-3888 or email them at info at hopehappens dot org.

* Saxophonist Oliver Lake's latest album, a duet performance with bassist William Parker called To Roy, is out now on the Intakt label. The title is a dedication to the late trumpeter Roy Campbell, who died last January at age 61.

* Drummer and St. Louis native Andre "Dre Energy" Boyd has blogged about his experiences playing with Cirque du Soleil for Modern Drummer magazine.

* Videographer Chad Eivins of Chizmo.tv has posted online a video documenting last February's New Music Circle-sponsored concert by Joshua Abrams and; Natural Information Society at Joe's Cafe Gallery.

* You can get a close-up look at some of the unusual musical instruments from the Hartenberger World Music Collection recently donated to the Sheldon Art Galleries via a video posted online this week by the Riverfront Times. An exhibit featuring instruments from the collection opens tonight in conjunction with Grand Center's "First Friday" series of free gallery openings and events in the district.

* The Saxophone Museum at Saxquest has just acquired the original sample model bell for the Buescher 400 tenor saxophone, and Saxquest owner Mark Overton explains why it's "the coolest find of the year" in an article published on the shop's associated site Saxophone.org.

* Singer, actress, dancer and St. Louis native Josephine Baker (pictured) is just one of the black adventurers featured in a series of Black History Month illustrations recently created by comic artist Chris Schweizer. Baker, who spied for the resistance against the Germans in occupied France during World War II, is shown with her pet Chiquita the Cheetah.

* Jazz radio update: On this Saturday's edition of Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis' “Somethin’ Else,” host Calvin Wilson will highlight music from composer Kurt Weill as performed by Michael Brecker, Nina Simone, Roy Hargrove, and more. The program airs at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Then on Sunday morning, WSIE's "Jazz Talk" will feature hosts Dick Ulett, Michael Silverman, and Rob Silverman chatting with drummer Ron Carr. The program airs from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on 88.7 FM, and also can be streamed online from the station's website.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The new book Miles Davis: The Complete Illustrated History was reviewed by Calvin Wilson of the Post-Dispatch/STLtoday.com.

* Elsewhere on the Miles Davis front, Jeff Hyatt of Miles Davis Online has another update on the status of the proposed Hollywood biopic of the trumpeter; a Los Angeles concert paying tribute to Davis was named one of 2012's best by the Los Angeles Times; and the blog London Jazz Collector has an interesting post about acquiring a particularly desirable Davis LP.

* Drummer Marcus Baylor was interviewed by the P-D's Wilson for a brief article about his “Sons of St. Louis Reunion” next week at the Bistro at Grand Center, which you can read online here. (Note, however, that while the article includes the Jazz St. Louis website and phone number, they're not actually producing the show; advance tickets are available only via Metrotix.)

* Bassist John King (pictured) appeared yesterday on the 9:00 a.m. newscast at local Fox affiliate KTVI to promote his show tonight at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; you can see a clip online here.

* Last Thursday's performance by pianist Peter Martin and guitarist Romero Lubambo at the Sheldon Concert Hall was reviewed by KDHX's Mike Gualdoni.

* Trumpeter, singer and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport was interviewed on New Orleans radio station WWNO. Davenport will be back in St. Louis for a concert on Thursday, February 2 at The Sheldon.

* The KDHX website also has up a photo set of the Funky Butt Brass Band's Holiday Brasstravaganza last Saturday, shot by Caroline Philippone. And the FBBB have posted audio of their rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and three other tunes from the Brasstravaganza on SoundCloud.

* Speaking of photo sets, Saxquest has posted one to their Facebook page detailing Chris Potter's visit to the shop while he was in town last week to play Jazz at the Bistro.

* Also, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra (formerly the Meramec Jazz Band) has documented their recent holiday concert with a photo album here.

* Soul Jazz Records/Universal Sound are reissuing NTU: The Point From Which Creation Begins, the recorded debut as a leader of saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake. The record originally was issued in 1971 and has been out of print for many years; the re-release will come in both CD and vinyl LP formats.

* Finally, let's extend all best wishes to author, photographer and "Jazz Unlimited" radio host Dennis Owsley and Sara Serot, who were married a week ago Tuesday at the Ethical Society. Mazel tov to the happy couple!

Jazz this week: Zappa Plays Zappa, Chris Potter Trio, Peter Martin & Romero Lubambo, George Lewis & Marina Rosenfeld, and more

It's another busy weekend for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, and with two of the week's headliners in town for performances this evening, there's no time to waste. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, the Frank Zappa repertory group Zappa Plays Zappa, led by FZ's younger, guitar-playing son Dweezil Zappa, returns to St. Louis play at The Pageant. In case you're keeping track, this will be ZPZ's fourth stop at that particular venue since the band was formed in 2006. Along with Dweezil, only drummer Joe Travers and saxophonist/keyboardist Scheila Gonzalez remain from that first tour, and the band has become a bit more focused on DZ's guitar playing, for the most part now eschewing the guest appearances by former FZ sidemen that marked their first outings.

According to Dweezil's website, on this tour they're "playing a selection of material from 3 different decades, 60s, 70s, 80s" as well as "premiering some more new material we have never performed before including an orchestral piece that I have wanted to play I started this project."

At around the same time this evening and just a few miles to the east, saxophonist Chris Potter (pictured) will be back in town to open a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

Potter, who continues to be one of the most in-demand and critically acclaimed saxophonists in jazz, played last year at the Bistro with his electric group Underground. This time, he'll be fronting a trio with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Adam Cruz, which should provide ample opportunity for the players to stretch out and for the audience to hear every detail of Potter's playing. For more about what Potter's been up to since his last visit here, and some recent video clips of him in action, check out this Saturday video post from a couple of weeks ago.

Also tonight, the Webster Groves HS Jazz I ensemble will play Stan Kenton's A Merry Christmas in its entirety in a free concert (donations accepted) at Webster Groves Presbyterian Church; and the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra (formerly the Meramec Jazz Band) will perform at Sky Music Lounge in Ballwin.

On Thursday, pianist Peter Martin resumes his eponymous music series by teaming up with guitarist Romero Lubambo for a show at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The two men have worked together behind singer Dianne Reeves, and also teamed up to play at the Sheldon a couple of years ago. The theme of this concert is "New Orleans meets Brazil," which alluded to the city where Martin made his professional breakthrough and to Lubambo's place of birth, and also should give them plenty of potential musical territory to explore.

Also on Thursday, funk/jazz/R&B ensemble Good 4 The Soul will do their monthly early evening show at BB's Jazz Blues & Soup,

On Friday, guitarist Dave Black leads a trio at Cigar Inn, and there four different female vocalists in action at various spots around town. Debbie Lennon will team with pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True for a holiday themed show at Robbie's House of Jazz; Feyza Eren, backed by guitarist Tom Byrne and drummer Steve Davis, will be at the south side house-concert venue KindaBlue; Erin Bode and her group, with guest violinist David Halen of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, will play at the Foundry Arts Centre; and Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers will perform in the Sheldon's upstairs ballroom.

Then on Saturday, trombonist/composer/electronic musician George Lewis and "sound artist" Marina Rosenfeld will perform their duet piece "Sour Mash" in a concert presented by New Music Circle at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Lewis, who grew up in Chicago and gained early experience with that city's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, recently spoke with the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson about "Sour Mash" for an article published online here, and you can see and hear a previous, relatively short version of the work here.

Also on Saturday, the Funky Butt Brass Band will present their annual "Holiday Brasstravaganza" at Off Broadway; and guitarists Teddy Presberg and Brian Vaccaro will share a bill at Broadway Oyster Bar, leading their respective organ trios in tributes to the music of Led Zeppelin and the Beatles.

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.)

Peter Martin, Romero Lubambo to play Thursday, December 13 at The Sheldon

Having recently completed a commissioned composition celebrating the Sheldon Concert Hall's 100th anniversary, pianist Peter Martin now is set to return to the Sheldon for another performance in his eponymous concert series when he teams once again with guitarist Romero Lubambo (pictured) for a show at 8 p.m., Thursday, December 13.

Lubambo, a native of Brazil who's now based in NYC, has worked with Martin in singer Dianne Reeves' band and has played with many other jazz and Brazilian performers, including Trio da Paz, Astrud Gilberto, Al Jarreau, Ivan Lins, Flora Purim and Airto, Kenny Barron, Paquito D’Rivera, Harry Belafonte, Luciana Souza, Dave Douglas, and more. He and Martin previously performed together at the Sheldon in December, 2010.

Tickets for Peter Martin and Romero Lumbabo will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Saturday, November 3 via Metrotix. Prices are $50 for VIP preferred seating, which includes free parking; $35 orchestra; and $30 balcony. There's also a student ticket offer of "buy one, get one free" for the balcony only.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person (pictured) and his band Meta-Four are wrapping up a ten-day tour of Belgium today, and you can see a webcast of his final performance there at 2:00 p.m. St. Louis time this afternoon, Friday, December 10. (That's 3:00 p.m. EST here in the USA, or 9:00 p.m. in Belgium.) The webcast will be available via UStream here.

* Speaking of webcasts, if you missed the performance last week at the Sheldon Concert Hall by Peter Martin, Romero Lubambo, Erin Bode and Chris Thomas, or just want to revisit favorite moments from the show, there's archived video of it online now, courtesy of St. Louisan Rod Milam's website The Global Loop. You can see a clip of the song "Agua De Beber" here, and the entire webcast of the concert here. Also, while you're watching and listening, you can follow along with the setlist, which Martin has posted on his website here.

* And speaking of reliving shows from last week, electronic musician Eric Hall has posted online the audio from his performance at last Saturday's New Music Circle Showcase at Steinberg Auditorium on the Wash U. campus.

* The Riverfront Times music blog A to Z has photos of Wednesday's Zappa Plays Zappa concert at The Pageant, shot by photographer Todd Owyoung and available for viewing here.

* Freelance music journalist Terry Perkins has an article in the St. Louis Beacon this week about Play It Forward, a new local not-for-profit organization that finds unused musical instruments and gets them into the hands of kids who need them. Get the whole story here.

* Want a job working in the business of jazz? Jazz St. Louis is seeking an Accounting and Administrative Manager and an Arts Management Intern. There's more information about the positions and how to apply here.

* The Sheldon Art Galleries have won a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support the upcoming exhibition "Ralston Crawford and Jazz." The exhibit and accompanying catalogue will feature images of New Orleans and its musicians made by Crawford, a painter and photographer who first visited NO in 1949 and returned many times until his death in 1978. It will be shown from September 30, 2011 to January 7, 2012 in the Sheldon ’s Gallery of Jazz History and Gallery of Photography.

* The Friends of The Sheldon will present their 3rd Annual Trivia Night on Friday, February 4. The event is a fundraiser for The Sheldon's educational programs. Tickets are $25 per person or $200 per table, and include refreshments, prizes, and so on. For reservations or information, contact Lauren Wilhite at 314-533-9900, ext. 17 or email her at lwilhite@thesheldon.org.

* Radio station KWMU (90.7 FM) announced Thursday that it has received an anonymous $50,000 donation to establish a St. Louis Public Radio Classical Music Endowment Fund in support of the station’s classical music broadcasts. The St. Louis Business Journal has the story here.

* The We Always Swing jazz series down the road in Columbia, MO is producing a fund-raising telethon from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m this Saturday, December 11, featuring eight different mid-Missouri jazz groups. Performers will include The Beeson Bunch with trumpeter Allen Beeson, Lee World Drumming Ensemble, Lisa Rose Trio, MU Concert Jazz Quintet with Arthur White, Tom Andes-John Turner Duo, Norm Reubling Band, La Movida, and the John D’Agostino/Tony Lotven Group. The event can be seen in mid-Missouri on Mediacom Ch. 85, Charter Ch. 24 and CenturyLink Ch. 603, and simulcast on Mediacom Connections Ch. 22; and also will be streamed online at wealwaysswing.org/telethon and columbiaaccess.tv.

Jazz this week: Pat Martino, Romero Lubambo & Peter Martin, Tatsuya Nakatani, Barb Jungr, New Music Circle Showcase, and more

It's a busy time for jazz and creative music over the next few days in St. Louis, with events in styles ranging from soulful mainstream swing to adventurous free improv, plus holiday music, a tribute to a fallen Beatle, and lots more besides. Let's go to the highlights:

Perhaps the best known musician visiting our town this week is guitarist Pat Martino, who plays tonight through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Martino is an acknowledged master of the classic organ-trio style of jazz guitar playing, but he also incorporates more modern and/or outside concepts and tonalities into his solos, resulting in a sound that's reasonably familiar but never formulaic.

For more about Martino and some videos of him performing, see this post from last Saturday. (Martino also will be honored Thursday afternoon at a free, public symposium on the Washington University campus; for more about that event, see this post.)

Wednesday evening also marks the first performance in British singer Barb Jungr's four-night run at the Kranzberg Arts Center under the auspices of Cabaret St. Louis. Jungr's show "The Men I Love: The New American Songbook" emphasizes work from contemporary songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, David Byrne and others, as arranged by Jungr and her pianist Simon Wallace.

Also on Wednesday, Robbie's House of Jazz will present the first in a series of concerts by local collegiate jazz ensembles, with the Meramec Jazz Band getting the honor of batting lead-off.

On Thursday evening, saxophonist Willie Akins will play a free concert to wrap up this semester's Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and the Lindenwood University Jazz Ensemble takes the stage at Robbie's.

Friday evening offers some potentially intriguing musical variety, as the Japanese-born improvising percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani returns to the the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center; and the AWA Jazz String Trio, featuring violinists Alyssa Avery and Justin Branum and bassist Willem von Hombracht, will perform a mix of standards, covers and original material at Robbie's.

On Saturday, Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo (pictured) will join pianist Peter Martin for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The concert also will feature singer Erin Bode as special guest and Martin's fellow U. City native Chris Thomas on bass. To hear some samples of Lubambo's playing, check out the video showcase post from last Saturday. In a nice added touch, the Lubambo/Martin concert also will be webcast live by The Global Loop.

Also on Saturday, New Music Circle will present what's being billed as a showcase for St. Louis-based performers at Steinberg Auditorium on the Washington University campus. The event will feature short sets from five artists, including trumpeter/percussionist "Baba" Mike Nelson; electronic musician Eric Hall; video artist and musician Zlatko Cosic; percussionist, synthesist and instrument builder Ron Coulter; and musique concrête sound designer Lauri des Marais.

On Sunday, the UMSL music department is putting on its annual holiday show at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The free event will feature the University Jazz Ensemble, Vocal Point, and the University String Orchestra under the direction of Jim Widner and Jim Henry. Also on Sunday, singer Wendy Gordon will present a reprise of her cabaret-style musical "A Jazz Heaven," featuring fellow singer Jeanne Trevor and a three-piece band, at Klub Klymaxx in the Ambassador Events Center.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Webster University jazz singers will perform a a free concert at Winifred Moore Auditorium on campus; and drummer Joe Pastor's trio plays at BB's Jazz Blues & Soups.

Then on Tuesday, guitarist Steve Schenkel will lead a group of Webster University music faculty and students in a jazz-flavored tribute to the songs of the late John Lennon at Webster's Community Music School, 535 Garden Ave. in Webster.

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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Here's the latest wrap-up of links and short local news items of interest that you may have missed:

* Pianist Peter Martin has added singer Erin Bode (pictured) and bassist Chris Thomas to the lineup for his concert with guitarist Romero Lubambo on December 4 at the Sheldon.

* Jazz St. Louis offers some pictures on their Facebook page of guitarist Russell Malone's Wednesday night performance at Jazz at the Bistro. (You don't have to be logged in to Facebook to view the photos.) Malone, who continues at the club through tomorrow night, also appeared today on the morning news program at local FOX affiliate KTVI (Channel 2).

* Local music journalist, KDHX DJ and record-store-guy Steve Pick has a review of Jazz Matters, a new book by Donald Ake, now up at Blurt Online.

*The Riverfront Times' Diane Benanti previews this weekend's Noise Fest at the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center.

* The Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson writes that The Jazz Spot - which, despite its name, hardly ever programmed any actual jazz music - has closed, yielding the space at 400 Washington Ave. to a dance club called Love.

* More than a year after switching from mostly local programming to syndicated fare, radio station WSIE (88.7 FM) has revamped their website. A blog post on the new site offers an update on current happenings at the station, and indicates that more changes are in the works, including the potential return of programs with local content. For those interested in keeping up with the latest developments, WSIE also has set up a Facebook Fan page and Twitter feed.

Romero Lubambo, Peter Martin to perform December 4 at the Sheldon

Pianist Peter Martin today announced another performance in his Peter Martin Music series at the Sheldon Concert Hall: a duo show with guitarist Romero Lubambo (pictured) on Saturday, December 4.

Lubambo, who's originally from Brazil, came to the USA in the mid-1980s and has made numerous recordings as a leader, sideman, and member of Trio de Paz, which recently released a CD on the St. Louis based label MAXJAZZ. He's played with many well-known jazz musicians and singers, including Herbie Mann, Claudia Acuna, Luciana Souza, Diana Krall, Astrud Gilberto, Michael Brecker, Al Jarreau, Flora Purim and Airto, Paquito D’Rivera, and Grover Washington, Jr. Lubambo and Martin have worked together previously behind singer Dianne Reeves, for whom Martin has served as music director for the last decade.

Tickets for the concert by Romero Lumambo and Peter Martin are priced at $25 to $50, and are on sale now via Metrotix and Martin's website.

Updated after posting to correct the date.