Tonight, pianist Marcus Roberts (pictured) and his trio will be the featured performers for the tenth annual "Evening of Hope" event benefiting the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders at the Sheldon Concert Hall.
Roberts last played in St. Louis in November 2012 concert for the Sheldon's jazz series, and you can read more about him and see some performance clips in this video showcase post from just before that gig. For info on ticket availability for tonight's show, contact The Sheldon directly.
Tomorrow night, guitarists Shaun Robinson and Eric Slaughter team up with drummer Montez Coleman and bassist Jahmal Nichols for "Great Guitars 2014" at Jazz at the Bistro; and the St. Louis Big Band will present an extravaganza they're calling "Gatsby Night," with "aerial dancers, music from the 2013 soundtrack, food, flappers and gangsters," at the Casa Loma Ballroom .
Also on Friday, the contemporary/smooth jazz quintet Dreaming In Colour plays at Robbie's House of Jazz; Koplant No performs at the Tavern of Fine Arts; guitarist Dave Black and Joe Mancuso return to Chaser's Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel; singer Mary Dyson takes the stage at Voce; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will be at Nathalie's.
Saturday offers several performances featuring female vocalists, as Wendy Gordon settles into a new weekly matinee at The Choice Restaurant, 3265 S. Jefferson Ave; Ann Dueren's trio with Jan Ammerman and Bob Stout is back at Il Bel Lago; Anita Rosamond sings for diners at Truffles; and Miss Jubilee will play at the Trainwreck Saloon in Westport Plaza.
Then on Sunday, singer Denise Thimes will present her annual Mother's Day concert at The Sheldon, with special guests including pianist Cyrus Chestnut, who was here last month to play with his trio and guitarist Russell Malone at the Bistro, and saxophonist Tom Braxton, just back from playing in Japan with guitarist Earl Klugh.
Also on Sunday, Saxquest presents another in their series of free workshops and performances, this time featuring Pedro Rafael Garcia Moreno, aka Pedrosaxo, who's developed a number of unusual performance techniques, allegedly including an ability to play, sing, beatbox, and throat-sing all at the same time.
Lastly, Sunday is when the "Inner Jazz" series Kirkwood United Church of Christ will present their final concert of the season, featuring Rev. Cliff Aerie's Oikos Ensemble plus some words from special guest, writer and filmmaker Phil Cousineau.
Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday singer Dean Christopher will perform his Rat Pack repertoire at One 19 North Tapas and Wine Bar; and percussionist Joe Pastor's group will be back at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups
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.)
