So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Boyé Multi-National Crusade for Harmony, the seven-CD set drawn from the archives of saxophonist and Black Artists Group co-founder Julius Hemphill and released earlier this year, is the subject of a short feature/review for Jazz Times by Ted Panken.

* Trumpeter and East St. Louis native Russell Gunn, now based in Atlanta, has released the second recording from his band The Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra. Titled The Sirius Mystery opus 4 no. 1, the album is out today via Ropeadope Records on all digital platforms, plus limited editions on CD and vinyl LP.

* Bassist Damon Smith, a recent transplant to St. Louis, also has a new recording, Houston 2012, out this week on digital and as a double CD. The album teams Smith with guitarists Keith Rowe and Sandy Ewen and the ensemble Gooseberry Marmalade.

* And speaking of new releases, a Miles Davis performance recorded in 1991 at La Villette in Paris, France will be released as The Lost Concert on digital services and as a two-CD set on Wednesday, September 29, the 30th anniversary of his death. The album (pictured) is the third in a series from Sleepy Night Records that started with Miles Davis: The Lost Quintet and continued with The Lost Septet, both released last year.

The Lost Concert is particularly noteworthy because Davis' then-current band was augmented for the date by numerous guest stars and former sidemen, including Chick Corea, Al Foster, Steve Grossman, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, Darryl Jones, John McLaughlin, Jackie McLean, John Scofield, and Joe Zawinul.

* Gene Dobbs Bradford of Jazz St. Louis was interviewed about the organization's upcoming 2021-22 season by the St. Louis American's Danielle Brown.

* One of St. Louis' most acclaimed young talents is leaving town, as singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo this week announced in a Facebook post, "I have accepted a job as an audio engineer at a media group in Los Angeles. I’ll be driving from STL to LA this weekend." Saputo will play what she's calling her final show as a St. Louis resident tonight at Tower Grove Park (though she also is on the bill for the Music at the Intersection festival in September).

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn (pictured) has launched a crowd-funding campaign to pay for the next recording by his Royal Krunk Jazz Orchestra.

* Reid Anderson, bassist for The Bad Plus, was interviewed about the group's return to Jazz St. Louis next week by the Post-Dispatch's Daniel Durchholz.

* A new article in DownBeat recalls how the late trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry "fostered generations of performers."

* The closing last weekend of the south side venue Foam was the subject of stories by St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy D. Goodwin and St. Louis magazine's John J. Goddard.

* Singer Katie McGrath's show last Saturday at Blue Strawberry was reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

* Funeral arrangements for the late pianist, singer and saxophonist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum have been announced. A wake and memorial jam session is scheduled from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. today at Archway Memorial Chapel, 111 Taylor Road in Hazelwood. A funeral Mass will take place at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, January 4, at St. Elizabeth Mother of John church, 4330 Shreve Ave in St. Louis, with a repast immediately following. Burial will be at 10:00 a.m. Monday, January 6 at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.

Whalum's obituary as published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch can be seen here, and his passing also was noted in a story by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn.

* Radio host, author and photographer Dennis Owsley bade farewell to listeners of his "Jazz Unlimited" radio show with a message on Facebook (also published in abbreviated form on the St. Louis Public Radio website). In that message, he revealed that the program's Sunday night time slot will be filled, at least for the time being, by music from the nationally syndicated "Jazzworks" service (also heard on one of StLPR's digital sub-channels).

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Radio host, author and photographer Dennis Owsley and his new book St. Louis Jazz: A History were the subjects of a feature story in the Webster-Kirkwood Times. 

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn was interviewed by NextBop.com about Pyramids, the new album from his Royal Krunk Jazz Orchestra.

* Meanwhile, saxophonist Andre Delano (pictured) has released a new single, "Where Will You Go," an instrumental version of a tune by R&B crooner Babyface, for whom Delano currently serves as musical director and bandleader. 

*  Trumpeter Kasimu Taylor, members of the Saint Boogie Brass Band, and saxophonist Kwanae Johnson appeared Monday on the morning newscast at KTVI (Fox 2). They were promoting the benefit show this Sunday at .ZACK raising money for Johnson and his family, who recently lost their home to a fire. 

* Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard's opera Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which premiered last season at Opera Theater St. Louis, next year will be the first opera by an African-American composer ever to be performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

* At the New York opening weekend of the new documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, the film's director Stanley Nelson and writer Quincy Troupe, who co-authored Davis' autobiography, took part in a Q&A session, which was recorded and now has been posted on YouTube.

* Davis and his landmark album Birth of the Cool are the subjects of an essay in the latest Jazz Times by composer and arranger Ryan Truesdell

* The latest episode of the podcast "Jazz at 100" features music recorded by Davis' quintet and sextet between 1956 and 1959.

* Davis' late 1950s music also was the subject of a recent tribute concert by Richard Pite’s Jazz Repertory Company at Cadogan Hall in London, which was reviewed by London Jazz News.

* Lastly, the Miles Davis estate has announced the impending release of a new music video for "Moon Dreams," as recorded by Davis in 1949 for Birth of the Cool. The video is "influenced by Miles Davis’ own sketches and imagines a night in New York City through every era of jazz."

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Free tickets are available now for "Such Sweet Thunder," a collaboration among Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Big Muddy Dance Company, and Jazz St. Louis that will be presented Thursday, October 3 through Saturday, October 5 outdoors at the Public Media Commons in Grand Center.

* Bassist and singer Janet Evra has released a music video of "Baila," an original tune from her debut album Ask Her to Dance. The video is the first of three being produced as part of Evra's year-long residency with the Kranzberg Arts Foundation.

* Last Saturday's Alton Jazz and Wine Festival was covered in a feature story by the Alton Telegraph's David Blanchette.

* “Black Indian Rain Dance,” a track from Pyramids, the new album (pictured) from trumpeter Russell Gunn's Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, was featured on NextBop.com.

* A new menu at The Dark Room is the subject of a feature by Feast magazine's Mabel Suen.

* A couple of weeks ago at the Landmark Theatre in Los Angeles, Stanley Nelson, director of the new documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, took part in a discussion of the film with musicians Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter; actor Carl Lumbly; Miles Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn Jr.; and Davis' son Erin Davis, and a video of the talk has been posted to YouTube.

* Nelson, Wilburn, Erin Davis, and Miles' daughter Cheryl Davis were in St. Louis last weekend for the film's premiere here, and their visit also included a trip to the trumpeter's restored childhood home in East St. Louis, as documented in stories by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn and St. Louis Public Radio's Chad Davis.

* As seen on social media, Wilburn also made time during his St. Louis visit for a trip to Vintage Vinyl.

* Lastly, now that the Davis documentary has opened in theaters around the country, more reviews are coming in rapidly, including appraisals from RogerEbert.com, San Francisco Chronicle, WeAreMovieGeeks.com, Austin Chronicle, and DenOfGeek.com.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Bernie Hayes wrote a column for the St. Louis American about the recent demolition of Archway Studios, which was the professional home to saxophonist and producer Oliver Sain and significant in jazz history as the place where saxophonist Julius Hemphill recorded his landmark album Dogon A.D.

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn is set to release Pyramids, a new album by his Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, on Friday, August 30.

* Guitarist Todd Mosby promoted the release of his new album Open Waters with a performance last week on KTVI - Fox 2's 9:00 am newscast.

* A recent show by singer Alicia Olatuja (pictured) at Dazzle in Denver, CO was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's Geoff Anderson.

* The Lab, a new educational program for high school music students being run by multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris, was the subject of a feature in St. Louis magazine.

* Pianist Dred Scott's latest album Rides Alone was reviewed by the website PartTimeAudiophile.com.

* Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo was a guest on a recent episode of the podcast "Nina Talks!"

* The Miles Davis official merchandise store is offering fans a chance to win a $100 shopping spree in exchange for an email address. You can enter the drawing here.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Drummer Marcus Baylor and singer Jean Baylor of the Baylor Project (pictured) were interviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's K. Shackelford

* Capitalizing on the St. Louis Blues' run for the NHL's Stanley Cup, singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo has recorded a video of her cover version of "Gloria," the 1982 hit by singer Laura Branigan that has become the team's victory anthem. You can see the video here.

* Pianist Ethan Leinwand was interviewed briefly about Monday's St. Louis Piano Festival by Kevin Johnson of the Post-Dispatch.

* Singer Alicia Olatuja was the featured guest on a recent episode of NPR's "In Black America."

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn was interviewed by Georgia Public Broadcasting about the performance of his Royal Krunk Jazz Orchestra at the Atlanta Jazz Festival. You can see some photos and a video from the show this past Sunday at LibroMusica.com.

* The 93rd anniversary of the birth of trumpeter Miles Davis last week was noted in a brief story on KTVI-Fox 2's newscast featuring an interview with the co-founders of House of Miles East St. Louis, the museum that now occupies Davis' childhood home.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* A new blog post from saxophonist Greg Osby, "Who's In The Band?", skeptically examines how a group's lineup of musicians can affect the way presenters view and market them.

* Sibling Revelry, the cabaret show featuring sisters Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway that played last week at Jazz St. Louis, was reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

* "The Moon Is Ours Tonight," a new song written and recorded on commission by singer Erin Bode with multi-instrumentalist Viktor Krauss, was the subject of a feature on KSDK's Show Me St. Louis.

* Saxophonist, music educator and St. Louis native Keith Fiddmont (pictured) will conduct the Santa Monica College Jazz Band in a concert "dedicated to the music contributed to the jazz lexicon by musicians from St. Louis, Missouri" on Sunday, October 21 at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, CA. The band will perform compositions by Clark Terry, Ernie Wilkins, Oliver Nelson and Miles Davis.

* The Baylor Project, led by drummer Marcus Baylor and singer Jean Baylor, is featured in the first episode of "Live From The Lobby," a new video series from JustJazzTV

* As recounted in a story from Washington University's news service, Holmes Lounge, which is the venue for the university's Jazz at Holmes series of free concerts, recently was refurbished with new furniture and carpeting.

* Nottelmann Music has started a blog and a podcast with content aimed at music educators in the St. Louis area, with both audio and text pieces compiled on a single page for easy access.

* Get It How You Live, the recent album release from trumpeter Russell Gunn's Royal Krunk Jazz Orchestra, was reviewed by JazzWeekly.com.

* Audri Bartholomew, a former student in Jazz St. Louis' JazzU program who's now attending Milliken University, is a contestant on this season of the NBC TV series The Voice.

* AllAboutJazz.com is polling readers on the "Top 100 Jazz Venues" for 2018, and you can cast a ballot here.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Veteran drummer Gary Sykes, who currently plays with pianist Ptah Williams' trio, the STL Free Jazz Collective, and others, continues to face some serious health issues, most recently making a trip this week to St. Mary's Hospital to have two stents installed.

While Sykes said in a Facebook post that he's feeling better post-surgery, the GoFundMe page to raise money to help with expenses while he's unable to work is still active. Find out more and, if you wish, donate here.

* Singer Valerie Kirchhoff and pianist Ethan Leinwand of Miss Jubilee (pictured) were guests on a recent episode of Rock Paper Podcast.

* The Dark Room has begun live-streaming video of performances on their Facebook page, and archiving the streamed videos on a new YouTube channel.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold was interviewed about his musical influences by Jamie Cullum for BBC Radio Two's "Take Five."

* Get It How You Live, the new album by trumpeter Russell Gunn's Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, was reviewed by DownBeat magazine.

* Guitarist Nels Cline was interviewed about his show tonight at Delmar Hall by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson. (Link is to Google cache.)

* Also in the Post, Tower of Power saxophonist and bandleader Emilio Castillo was interviewed by P-D freelancer Daniel Durchholz. (Link is to Google cache.) TOP performs this Saturday, August 11 at River City Casino.

* Grant Green Jr. talks about his dad, St. Louis-born guitarist Grant Green, on the latest episode of the web series The Pace Report.

* Trumpeter and philanthropist Herb Alpert was interviewed by St. Louis Public Radio. While Alpert's concert with his wife, singer Lani Hall, on Sunday, August 19 at the Grandel Theatre already is sold out, some of his visual art will be on display at the Grandel from Friday, August 17 through Sunday, August 19.

An opening reception will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Friday, August 17. The public also can view Alpert's abstract mixed-media paintings and large and small-scale bronze sculptures from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 18, and from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 19 before the concert and for 30 minutes after the show.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Steward Family Foundation, already a major benefactor of Jazz St. Louis, will give a total of $1.3 million over four years to the University of Missouri-St. Louis to establish the David and Thelma Steward Institute for Jazz Studies at UMSL.

Funds from the gift will be used to help with student recruitment and to support scholarships, artists-in-residence, travel to advance jazz education and performance, and UMSL’s summer jazz camp.

* Get It How You Live, the new release from trumpeter Russell Gunn's Royal Krunk Orchestra (pictured), has been out for a week, and reviews are coming in, so far including positive notices from NextBop.com and Smooth-Jazz.de.

* Gunn also was the subject of a recent feature story on ArtsATL.com

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold's performance at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival was reviewed by the city's daily newspaper The Scotsman.

* Jazz/fusion band Koplant No has released a music video for their song "Knock Knock Ghost." The clip features dancer Belicia Beck of MADCO moving through spooky surroundings at the old Lemp Brewery complex.

* The recent performance of Bob Wetzel and Craig Becker's cabaret show "A Fine Bromance" at the Kranzberg Arts Center was reviewed by KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

* Miles Davis' son Erin Davis wrote an article about his relationship with his dad for Fatherly.com.

* According to a report from the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson, trumpeter Herb Alpert's show on August 19 at the Grandel Theatre is sold out. (Link paywalled for non-subscribers)

* Also in the Post, Johnson interviewed Boney James in advance of the saxophonist's performance for the Gateway Jazz Festival this Saturday at Chesterfield Amphitheater. (Link paywalled for non-subscribers.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Singer and bassist Tonina Saputo (pictured) is the latest musician to be featured as one of NPR's 2018 "Slingshot" artists, in what's described as "a collective effort among taste-making music stations to introduce exceptional up-and-coming artists."

* A video of guitarist Dave Black performing his original composition "Still The Same" is the latest release in the St. Louis Open Media Integration Center's "Songday Afternoon" series.

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn has released another track from the forthcoming album by his Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, previewing “Sybil’s Blues” via a post on Revive Music.

* The LouFest music festival has announced its 2018 lineup, which includes trumpeter Keyon Harrold on the main stage, as well as a secondary stage featuring jazz musicians from the Kranzberg Arts Foundation's artists-in-residence program.

* Teenage piano phenom Royce Martin, who's headed for Berklee College of Music this fall, was profiled in a story by Art Holliday of KSDK.

* The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis has announced seven honorees for their 2019 St. Louis Arts Awards, and the group includes actor and singer Ken Page for "Lifetime Achievement in the Arts" and Chris Hansen of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation for "Arts Innovator." The awards will be presented at a celebratory dinner next January.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio Network has added another product to their line of instructional videos, as singer Dianne Reeves' new course "Define Your Voice" went online this week.

* The recently issued box set Miles Davis & John Coltrane—The Final Tour from Columbia/Legacy Recordings’ has inspired a feature story about the record and the tour from DownBeat's James Hale.

* Singer and pianist Diana Krall's performance last week at the Peabody Opera House was reviewed for the Post-Dispatch/STLtoday by Dan Duchholz. (Link may be paywalled)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Just in time for the Riverfront Times' "Showcase STL" this weekend, trumpeter Adam Hucke of the Funky Butt Brass Band was profiled as another of the RFT's "STL 77."

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold's July tour dates in the UK are previewed in a post on the website Jazz in Europe.

* The sartorial style of Miles Davis inspired an article from Vanity Fair magazine about "what we imagine he might have in his (online) shopping bag now."

* Saxophonist, clarinetist and U City native Marty Ehrlich (pictured) has a new release, Trio Exaltation, which was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's Troy Dostert.

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn's Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra backs singer Dionne Farris on a new remake of her hit "Hopeless." The track is featured on the Orkestra's debut album Get It How You Live, which is set for release on Friday, July 13 from Ropeadope Records.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* More reviews of the just-released box set Miles Davis and John Coltrane: The Final Tour - Bootleg Series, Vol 6 are surfacing online, including one from AllAboutJazz.com's Doug Collette,
one from Slate's Fred Kaplan, and one by Jeff Tamarkin for Relix.

* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch/STLtoday.com has put online an "iParty" gallery of photos from Ken Page's performance Wednesday night at Jazz at the Bistro, shot by the P-D's Jon Gitchoff. 

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn (pictured) this week announced the release date for his next album. Get It How You Live, the debut recording of Gunn's Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, will be out on Ropeadope Records on Friday, July 13.

* Drummer Allison Miller talked about her gigs this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro with the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson.

* Organizers of the Nevermore Jazz Ball have announced the event's dates for 2018. The annual celebration of swing dancing and music will take place from Thursday, November 1 through Sunday, November 4 at various venues around town, with tickets going on sale on a date this summer TBA.

* North County is getting a new musical instrument store in a familiar location, as Low Key Music will open next Monday, April 9 at 6235 N. Lindbergh, the former site of Dale's Music. The store's Facebook page also has announced an "open house" for musicians and band directors from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, April 7).

* The St. Louis American's inimitable Delores Shante offered her impressions of one of last week's performances by The Baylor Project at the Bistro.

* St. Louis will be represented at this year's North Sea Jazz Festival, as saxophonist David Sanborn and trumpeter Keyon Harrold are among the musicians announced this week who will be heading to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in July for the three-day event.

* Voting is now open for the next group of prospective inductees to Jazz at Lincoln Center's Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame, and one of this year's 10 nominees has a local connection. That would be the innovative bassist Jimmy Blanton, who gained fame playing with Duke Ellington's orchestra before his tragic death from tuberculosis at age 23. Blanton's very first professional job was in St. Louis, playing with the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra for a year before joining Ellington.

You can see the whole list of nominated musicians and cast your vote here. Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 28, and the three nominees who receive the most votes will be inducted in 2018.

* Keyboardist and Metro East native David Garfield, best known for his work with guitarist and singer George Benson, has a new tune on, of all places, the country charts. According to a press release,  “I Lied,” a "power pop" ballad written by Garfield with Motown's Smokey Robinson and sung by vocalist J. Paris, has reached No. 60 on the Music Row singles chart this week and gained New & Active status on the Billboard Indicator chart. The song will appear on Garfield’s upcoming album Vox Outside the Box, release date TBA.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* "Rubberband," a "lost" Miles Davis recording made after the trumpeter's mid-'80s switch of record labels from Columbia to Warner Brothers and then shelved, will be released as a vinyl EP (pictured) for Record Store Day 2018.

* On a related note, Paste magazine has posted online some tracks featuring Davis' band recorded live in 1970 at NYC's Fillmore East, just before the release of the trumpeter's landmark album Bitches Brew.

* And while we're on the subject of Miles Davis, Pitchfork's ongoing series of retrospective album reviews this week found a lot to like about his album Get Up With It, a compilation of tracks from various early '70s sessions released in 1974, just before Davis' infamous six-year hiatus from performing.

* Speaking of Record Store Day, pianist and St. Louis native Lawrence Fields performs on a special RSD release from Sound Prints, the band co-led by trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxophonist Joe Lovano. The limited-edition, green vinyl 45 RPM record on Douglas' Greenleaf Music label features Lovano’s new original tune “On Pebble Street” and an alternate take of "Scandal," a Douglas composition that's the title track of the band's forthcoming album.

* Trumpeter Kasimu Taylor, The Dark Room, saxophonist Kendrick Smith, and Thurman's in Shaw all were mentioned this week in an article about St. Louis by the New York Times' "Frugal Traveler" columnist Lucas Peterson.

* Applications for program grants from the Arts & Education Council of Greater St. Louis are due on Friday, April 20.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn recently sat down with journalist/author Cal Fussman for an episode of Fussman's new podcast "Big Questions." The interview goes online soon at https://www.calfussmanpodcast.com/.

* Singer Denise Thimes was interviewed on the latest episode of the "Chicago Jazz" podcast from  ChicagoJazz.com.

* Jazz St. Louis is now accepting applications for their 2018-19 JazzU program for middle school and high school student musicians, with auditions set for Monday, June 4 through Thursday, June 7. Applications are due by Friday, April 27.

* Trumpeter and former East St. Louisan Russell Gunn's residency this week at Columbia College Chicago is the subject of an article in DownBeat.

* The Funky Butt Brass Band has posted to SoundCloud more than 30 tracks of audio from last weekend's gigs at Jazz at the Bistro.

Jazz this week: Russell Gunn's "Blackhawk Revisited," Cécile McLorin Salvant, and more

There's some interesting jazz and creative music on local stages this week in St. Louis, including only the second local performance ever by a highly acclaimed young singer, and a re-examination of music from an oft-overlooked period of Miles Davis' career, courtesy of a trumpeter raised in Davis' hometown.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, November 15
Trumpeter Russell Gunn, who grew up in East St. Louis and now lives in Atlanta, will be back home with his "Blackhawk Revisited" project for the first of four nights, continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

"Blackhawk Revisited" is dedicated to exploring the music of Miles Davis in the early 1960s, post-Kind of Blue and before the formation of his "Second Great Quintet." To lend authenticity and elder wisdom to the proceedings, Gunn (pictured, top left) has enlisted 88-year-old drummer Jimmy Cobb, who played with Davis during those years (and is the last participant from Kind of Blue still living) . You can find out more about the project, and see some videos of them in action, plus an interview with Cobb, in this post from last Saturday.

Elsewhere in the neighborhood, this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith at Squatters Cafe, the new name for the front half of The Stage at KDHX, plus the weekly jam session hosted by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor and band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, November 16
The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents a free concert featuring the "Arc of Light Ensemble," which includes guitarist and series curator William Lenihan, saxophonist Paul DeMarinis, trumpeter Randy Holmes, trombonist Wayne Coniglio, pianist Ptah Williams, bassist Paul Steinbeck, and drummer Montez Coleman.

Also on Thursday, the UMSL Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Lab Band, and choral group Vocal Point will give a free concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, trumpeter Jim Manley plays The Pat Connolly Tavern, and percussionist Joe Pastor returns to The Dark Room

Friday, November 17
Drummer Steve Davis' "Super Band" featuring singer Feyza Eren returns to the Webster Groves Concert Hall, while just down the street, The 442s will be back to perform at Cyrano's.

Elsewhere around town, the Sentimental Journey Big Band will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom, and Miss Jubilee returns to the Moonshine Blues Bar in St. Charles.

Saturday, November 18
Singer Cécile McLorin Salvant, one of the most talked-about jazz vocalists to emerge in the last decade, returns for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

With one Grammy Award for "Best Jazz Vocal Album" already in her trophy case at age 28, Salvant (pictured, bottom left) has a distinctive sound that is both rooted in the tradition and quite contemporary. You can find out more about her and see some videos of recent performances in this post from a couple of weeks ago.

Also on Saturday, saxophonist Jeanette Harris will play smooth jazz and R&B in two shows at .ZACK; Thaxton Speakeasy will celebrate ten years in business with an event aptly named "A Decade of Decadence," featuring music from Annie & the Fur Trappers; and saxophonist Dave Stone and his trio are performing at Thurman's in Shaw.

Sunday, November 19
It's a Sunday made for matinees, as the St. Louis Jazz Club presents the Funky Butt Brass Band at the DoubleTree Hotel in Westport, while the Midwest Jazz-tette will bring their West Coast sound to the Webster Groves Concert Hall.

If you're looking to make it a full day of music, you can catch either one of those gigs and probably still make it to the debut performance of the Arcadia Dance Orchestra, a new 11-piece vintage jazz group fronted by cornetist and singer TJ Muller, at The Stage at KDHX.

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: Russell Gunn's Blackhawk Revisited

Today, let's check out some videos featuring trumpeter and East St. Louis native Russell Gunn, who's bringing his "Blackhawk Revisited" project to St. Louis to perform starting next Wednesday, November 15 through Saturday, November 18 at Jazz at the Bistro.

The word "Blackhawk" in this case refers not to the hockey team, the comic-book hero, or the helicopter, but to the Black Hawk nightclub in San Francisco where Miles Davis in 1961 recorded In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, which turned out to be one of the more enduring live albums of his long career.

Since his death in 1991, musicians frequently have paid tribute to Davis by revisiting and sometimes re-imagining music from Kind of Blue, Birth of the Cool, and Davis' post-1967 electric bands. In contrast, this time period - between the recording of KoB and the formation of Davis' "Second Great Quintet" a few years later - has remained relatively under-examined, making Gunn's interest in it that much more notable.

The trumpeter's engagement with Davis' music from the turn of the '60s also gets a significant boost in authenticity from the presence of Jimmy Cobb, the 88-year-old drummer who's the last living participant from the Kind of Blue sessions and will be in the band for Gunn's shows at the Bistro.

So how close do they get to the sound of Miles' band in 1961? You can decide for yourself by checking out today's videos, starting up above with a clip of "So What" recorded in November 2015 at the Velvet Note in Atlanta, with Gunn, Cobb, pianist Kevin Bales, saxophonist Mike Walton, and bassist Kevin Smith.

After the jump, there's a version of Thelonious Monk's "Well, You Needn't" - another staple of Davis' repertoire in the late 1950s and early '60s - recorded at the same gig.

Below that, there are two full sets of the "Blackhawk Revisited" band in action, the first featuring Gunn, Cobb, Bales, saxophonist Morgan Guerin, and bassist Corcoran Holt in October 2016 at Dizzy's Club in NTC's Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the second from the 2015 Atlanta Jazz Festival, with Gunn, Bales, Walton, Smith, and Kinah Botto Ayah in for Cobb on the drums.

Next up are three videos that show Gunn working out on three more tunes associated with Davis - "Solar," "Walkin'" and "Blue in Green" - recorded at various jam sessions in 2017 and 2016 at Churchill Grounds in Atlanta.

Finally, the last video features an interview with Jimmy Cobb, recorded in November 2014 at SubCulture in New York for NYU's Steinhardt Jazz Interview Series, in which Cobb discusses his career, his time with Davis, and other topics.

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

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2017 jazz preview, part four

Here's the fourth and final part of of StLJN's Fall 2017 jazz preview, featuring videos of jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting St. Louis in the next several months. (You can see part one here, part two here, and part three here.)

Picking up the chronology at the point when part three left off, today's first video features trumpeter and East St. Louis native Russell Gunn, who will be coming back home to perform Wednesday, November 15 through Saturday, November 18 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Gunn's "Blackhawk Revisited" band celebrates Miles Davis' sound at the turn of the 1960s, as exemplified by the box set In Person Friday and Saturday Night at the Blackhawk, recorded in 1961 at the Black Hawk nightclub in San Francisco.

On hand to lend authenticity to the proceedings will be Jimmy Cobb, the octogenarian drummer who played on the original Blackhawk dates and is the only musician from Davis' landmark album Kind of Blue still living. This video was recorded last October at Dizzy's in New York, and features Gunn, Cobb and bandmates Morgan Guerin (tenor sax), Kevin Bales (piano), and Corcoran Holt (bass) doing a full set of the Blackhawk material.

After the jump, it's singer Jane Monheit, who will perform Wednesday, November 29 though Saturday, December 2 at the Bistro. She's seen here singing "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" in May 2016 at the studios of KNKX Public Radio in Tacoma, WA.

The third clip features Battle Trance, the all-tenor-sax quartet who will be presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, December 2 at The Luminary. It's a video of the title track from their album Blade of Love, as performed in January at the Vandoren Studio in Los Angeles.

Next, it's pianist and singer Freddy Cole, seen here performing "Songs for Lovers" in February 2017 at Dizzy's. Cole and his band, with guest saxophonist Harry Allen, will be in St. Louis starting Wednesday, December 6 through Saturday, December 9 at Jazz at the Bistro.

That same weekend, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra will make their St. Louis debut with a holiday-themed show called "Salsa Navidad" on Friday, December 8 at Sheldon Concert Hall. The sixth video depicts highlights from that show, as performed last year at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.

The penultimate video features vocal group Take 6, who will be back to perform starting Wednesday, December 13 through Saturday, December 16 at the Bistro. You can see them here singing "Stand By Me" and "Straighten Up and Fly Right," as recorded in August at the studios of Hawaii Public Radio. 

Last but not least, it's actor, singer, and Belleville native Lea DeLaria, who will perform her cabaret show on Wednesday, December 27 and Thursday, December 28 at Jazz at the Bistro. She's seen in the final video doing an impromptu version of "Since I Fell For You" last October at an NYC spot called the Duplex.

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

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* St. Louis magazine's annual "A-List" issue is out, and among the honorees for "Culture and Amusements" are the STL Free Jazz Collective (pictured) and Yaquis on Cherokee, which features live traditional jazz and blues on weekends.

* Also in St. Louis magazine, pianist Adam Maness' regular Thursday night gig at Thurman's in Shaw is the subject of a brief feature story by Thomas Crone.

* Mr. Handy's Blues, a new documentary about the life and legacy of "St. Louis Blues" composer W.C. Handy, will get its first showing this Sunday at a private event at the MX theater on Washington Avenue.

* St. Louis native Greg Osby will join fellow saxophonists Joe Lovano and Dave Liebman as the newest member of "Saxophone Summit" for a five-night run next week at Birdland in NYC. The group, which in this iteration also includes bassist Cecil McBee, drummer Billy Hart, and pianist Phil Markowitz, will play the club starting Tuesday, June 27 through Saturday, July 1.

* A video with highlights from pianist Ethan Leinwand's St. Louis Piano Festival, which showcased an assortment of ragtime, blues, and stride pianists earlier this month at BB's Jazz Blues & Soups, has been posted to Vimeo.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio Network is rolling out a new video course, "Elements of Jazz Piano," featuring Martin and Adam Maness. You can find out more and see a preview here.  

* Jazz St. Louis is looking to hire a part-time box office associate. For details on the job and how to apply, visit their website.

* Guitarist Todd Mosby has posted on YouTube a new live performance video of his composition "Moon Song."

* Multi-instrumental Lamar Harris' Isley Brothers tribute show "Ballad of Atlantis," which is being presented this weekend at Jazz at the Bistro, was previewed on KTVI's morning newscast and in a Post-Dispatch feature story by Kevin Johnson.

* Drummer Maurice Carnes has posted to YouYube a video of his band Avant Gardians playing the music of Ornette Coleman earlier this month at the U City Jazz Festival.

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn, originally from East St. Louis and now residing in Georgia, is one of alt-weekly Creative Loafing's "6 rising Atlanta music MVPs for 2017". As mentioned last week in this space, Gunn recently launched a crowd-funding campaign to finance his next recording.

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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Jim Manley has a new album, 62 Summers, out this month.

Available now in digital formats and as a limited-edition CD, the recording (pictured) includes 12 tracks of groove-oriented original material and also features guest solos from guitarist and former St. Louisan Jeff Snider.

* The Bosman Twins' gig this weekend at the Blue Room in Kansas City was previewed on the KC jazz blog Plastic Sax.

* Drummer Kimberly Thompson was profiled last month in a promotional feature by microphone manufacturer Audix.

* Drummer Dave Weckl recently took part in a big band tribute to Buddy Rich at London’s Royal College of Music.

* Bassist Dan Loomis has posted to YouTube a video of his jazz oratorio "Job's Trials - Our Trials," which premiered in a performance in June at Ibeam in Brooklyn, NYC.

* Trumpeter Bruce Purse is the co-author of "The Band Room," a new semi-autobiographical play set in 1986 in St. Louis that "pays tribute to the power of music education." The play debuts next week at Lehman College in NYC.

* Flow, the latest recording by saxophonist Oliver Lake with the Generations Quartet, was reviewed by Karl Ackermann of AllAboutJazz.com.

* Saxophonist Chris Cheek's new album Saturday Songs was reviewed by AAJ's Jakob Baekgaard.

* Jazz St. Louis' efforts to bring jazz performances to area public schools were featured in a story on St. Louis Public Radio.

* St. Louis musicians are being invited to submit music videos to GOTV, a new local cable channel featuring original documentaries and films and "the largest independent made-for-television music format in the world." GOTV's programming airs on Charter’s channel 995 from 7-11 am and 6-10 pm daily, with "plans to expand to Atlanta and LA in September and Dallas in January of 2017." For more information, visit mygotvmusic.com.

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn was the featured attraction for the final performances last weekend at the Atlanta jazz club Churchill Grounds, which closed after a 16-year run.

* The voice of the late Beat Generation author William S. Burroughs, who grew up in St. Louis, is accompanied by music from guitarist Bill Frisell, keyboardist Wayne Horvitz, and others on a new album, Let Me Hang You, out now from Ernest Jenning Record Co/Khannibalism. Recorded by producer Hal Wilner shortly before Burroughs' death in 1997 but unreleased until now, the album features Burroughs reading excerpts from his infamous novel Naked Lunch.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Singer, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Femi Kuti was interviewed by writer Dan Durchholz for a Post-Dispatch story previewing Kuti's performance Saturday night at the Ready Room.

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn, originally from East St. Louis and now living in Atlanta, will release his latest recording The Sirius Mystery on Friday, August 12. According to a news release, the album (pictured) blends jazz with "EDM, American Trap, African Drums, Dub Step and Charlie Parker improvisation in a four movement suite that is inspired by and based on the “mythology” of the Dogon Tribe of Mali." A single from the album, "Sirius B (The Unseen Absolute)", already is available online.

* Meanwhile, singer and St. Louis native Lynne Fiddmont has released online the first single from her upcoming album, a cover of the Gamble and Huff song "Groovy People".  The song, first made famous in 1976 by Lou Rawls, will be included on Fiddmont's forthcoming CD Power of Love.

* A feature story on St. Louis Public Radio looked at Forest Park's new artist residency program, which this year included The 442s.

* Speaking of St. Louis Public Radio, the station has a new arts and culture editor, David Cazares, who comes to our town via Minnesota Public Radio, the NPR affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul. An avowed jazz fan, Cazares has gone public with an appeal to St. Louisans, inviting listeners to offer their input on the sort of arts coverage they'd like to hear.

* You can get a close-up look at the Fox Theatre's recently opened Curtain Call Lounge, which is featuring live jazz and cabaret performances on select nights, via this article from the firm that designed the space.

* Pianist Peter Martin's Open Studio Network has announced another new jazz education course available via online video, a "brand new" edition of drummer Gregory Hutchinsons's "Hutchology" offering "fresh content weekly, new studio recorded lessons, exclusive quick tips and more."