So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Kendrick Smith was interviewed by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson, talking about this Saturday's jazz fundraiser show at the Grandel Theatre's "Open Air" tent. There's also a short video accompanying the article.

* Also from Kevin Johnson in the Post, pianist and singer John McDaniel talks up his return engagement tomorrow night at Blue Strawberry.

* Stories, the forthcoming album from bassist Tom Kennedy (pictured), is previewed in an article in Bass magazine. The album is set for release by Autumn Hill Records on Friday, May 21.

* The Sheldon Art Galleries will open a new exhibit of musical instruments created by local students on Friday, April 30 in the AT&T Children's Gallery.

* An interview with drummer Dave Weckl by Daniel Durchholz in the Post-Dispatch discusses Weckl's new live album, his recent move back to the St. Louis area, and more.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Singer Denise Thimes was interviewed about Aretha Franklin by St. Louis Public Radio. 

* Trombonist and St. Louis native Jimmy Wilkins (pictured) has died at age 97 in Las Vegas. Wilkins, the brother of saxophonist Ernie Wilkins, performed with Count Basie, Clark Terry, Motown studio band The Funk Brothers, and more. He spent much of his adult life in Detroit, and had lived in Las Vegas since 1994.

* Pianist Ptah Williams and other jazz acts playing at this year's Loufest are the subjects of a brief St. Louis magazine feature penned by Thomas Crone.

* Also in St. Louis magazine, writer Jeannette Cooperman previews tomorrow night's "Labor of Love" show featuring the Kranzberg Arts Foundation's resident artists at the Grandel Theatre. 

* Bassist and singer Janet Evra of The Bonbon Plot has released a music video for "You or Me," a song from her forthcoming debut album Ask Her to Dance. The video, directed by Bill Streeter of Hydraulic Pictures, features Evra and the musicians who performed on the track, including guitarist Will Buchanan, drummer Montez Coleman, pianist Adam Maness, and trumpeter Khamali Cuffie-Moore.

* The House of Miles East St. Louis is hosting a "Kind of Blue and You Fundraiser!" on Tuesday, September 25 at the Casino Queen.

* St. Louis multi-instrumentalist and freelance writer Kevin Mitchell has teamed up with Webster University Community Music School violin teacher and ensemble director Joanne Keefe to write  Jazz Songs for the Student Violinist, which is available now from Sher Music.

* There still are some spaces open in the "Drum Fantasy Camp" tour group traveling with drummer Dave Weckl in January to Havana, Cuba.

* The Sheldon Art Galleries have announced a new exhibit showcasing more instruments from the Hartenberger World Music Collection. "St. Louis, A Musical Gateway: The Balkans, India and Mexico" will open with a reception at 5:00 p.m. Friday, October 5 and continue through Saturday, April 13, 2019. The exhibit will feature more than 150 "unique and rare" instruments from India, Mexico and the Balkan region.

Curator Dr. Aurelia Hartenberger will present a gallery talk about the instruments at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 4. The talk is free, but space is limited, so to reserve a spot, send an email to plincoln@thesheldon.org or call The Sheldon at 314-533-9900 x37.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Guitarist and St. Louis native Kelvyn Bell has a new recording, Cubed Root Cure, set for release in January, and you can hear a sample now on SoundCloud.

The EP (pictured) will be available from CD Baby and all the major digital music services.

* The Gateway Jazz Festival, a day-long "smooth jazz" event that made its St. Louis debut last summer at the Chesterfield Amphitheater, has a date for 2018 - Saturday, July 21 - and a headliner, saxophonist Boney James.

Last year's event featured a half-dozen acts, including saxophonist Najee, singer Maysa, and Pieces of A Dream; the rest of the 2018 bill currently is TBA.

* "The World of Spectacular Strings" exhibit on view through Saturday, April 21 at the Sheldon Art Galleries was reviewed by Ladue News' Bryan A. Hollerbach.

* The Funky Butt Brass Band has posted to Facebook a photo album of last weekend's  "Holiday  Brasstravaganza" shows. Friday's performance also was reviewed for KDHX.org. by Mike Vachow.

* Saxophonist Greg Osby will join forces with the experimental multimedia duo Mn'JAM for a performance in January at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.

* Drummer and St. Louis native Marcus Baylor and singer Jean Baylor, the husband-and-wife duo behind The Baylor Project, were interviewed Tuesday on the nationally syndicated radio program "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" about their two nominations in this year's Grammy Awards, their careers, and more.

* The Bosman Twins were interviewed for the most recent episode of KDHX's "Collateral Damage" podcast by guest host Hank Thompson.

* And speaking of podcasts, former WSIE DJ E.B. Stevenson has released a Christmas episode of his "The Jazz Mixer" podcast.

* Max and Louie Productions' current staging of Souvenir, the musical comedy starring singer and Webster U faculty member Debby Lennon as tone-deaf diva Florence Foster Jenkins, was reviewed by the Post-Dispatch's Judith Newmark and OnStL.com's Chuck Lavazzi.

* Also in the Post-Dispatch, singer Dom Thomas' show this Saturday at The Stage at KDHX is previewed in a short feature from the paper's Kevin Johnson.

* Voting is now open in Jazz Times magazine's annual readers poll.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* HEC-TV has posted online a "lost episode" of the program I Love Jazz, featuring an interview with and performances by guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and his son, guitarist and singer John Pizzarelli.

The episode was filmed in 2014, before the death of host Don Wolff in November 2015, but just now has been released for the first time.

* The Sheldon Art Galleries will present a free gallery talk by Dr. Aurelia Hartenberger on the history of stringed instruments at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 12.

The talk is presented in conjunction with the exhibit "The World of Spectacular Strings," which features more than 100 unique stringed instruments from around the world and continues until April 21, 2017. Admission is free, but you must reserve a seat in advance by calling Paula Lincoln at 314-533-9900 x 37 or emailing plincoln@TheSheldon.org.

* Speaking of The Sheldon, they've posted on Facebook an album of photos from last Saturday's concert by Cécile McLorin Salvant.

* Singer Chuck Flowers (pictured) appeared on KTVI-FOX 2's Wednesday morning newscast to promote his appearance tonight at The Dark Room.

* The online radio station Radio63119 has posted an interview featuring poet and percussionist David A.N. Jackson talking with bassist Darrell Mixon and drummer Gary Sykes about their careers in music and more.

* Another new episode of E.B. Stephenson's podcast "The Jazz Mixer" is online, featuring recordings from St. Louis musicians including the Sessions Big Band, Brett Stamps, Farshid Etniko, and more.

James Carter to play benefit concert on Saturday, October 22 at The Sheldon

Saxophonist James Carter and his organ trio are returning to St. Louis to headline the Sheldon Art Galleries' annual "ArtSounds" benefit at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, October 22 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Carter (pictured) and his trio, which includes organist Gerald Gibbs and drummer Leonard King, last performed here in March of this year at Jazz at the Bistro.

As part of his Sheldon concert, Carter will improvise a solo piece inspired by the "Paint for Peace" murals created by St. Louis artists following the death in 2014 of Michael Brown and the subsequent protests in Ferguson.

The murals will be featured in "Outside/In: Paint for Peace," an exhibit opening on Friday, October 7 at the Sheldon Art Galleries. (Additional works from the exhibit will be shown at the Ferguson Youth Initiative, UMSL's Gallery 210, Missouri History Museum, and Vaughn Cultural Center.)

Proceeds from the "ArtSounds" event benefit the exhibits and educational programs of the Sheldon Art Galleries. Patron tickets, which include a pre-concert reception, complimentary parking, preferred seating and a tax deduction, are priced at $500, $300 and $150, and can be purchased now by calling The Sheldon at 314-533-9900.

Remaining tickets for the concert only will cost $35 for orchestra seating, $30 and $25 for the balcony, and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Friday, September 16 via MetroTix outlets and the Sheldon box office.

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.

Hartenberger World Music Collection of instruments is donated to The Sheldon

The Hartenberger World Music Collection, which includes more than 2,500 musical instruments from around the world, has been donated to The Sheldon by Dr. Aurelia and Jeff Hartenberger.

The collection features African, Asian, European, Oceanic, Middle Eastern and Central, South and North American instruments dating from pre-Columbian times to the present day, and has an estimated value of more than $2 million.

The donation was announced Wednesday, and will be celebrated with "A World of Music: Africa, Asia and Latin America ~ Instruments from the Hartenberger World Music Collection," a new exhibition opening Friday, February 6 in the Sheldon's Gallery of Music. An opening reception with complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres will be held that evening from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and all the Sheldon galleries will be open until 9 p.m. as part of Grand Center's monthly First Fridays event.

Curated by Dr. Hartenberger, an associate professor of music at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, Webster University, and Maryville University, the exhibition will feature instruments from Africa, Asia and Central and South America, including an eight and one-half octave marimba from Guatemala, a Chimú whistling bottle from 1000 C.E., and a shoko from the 1912 coronation of the Emperor Yoshihito of Japan.

Various parts of the collection have been featured since 2001 in exhibitions at The Sheldon, and the instruments will continue to be shown in rotating exhibits curated by Dr. Hartenberger, as well as used in programs presented by the Sheldon's educational foundation. According to the news release announcing the donation, "it is the goal of The Sheldon to eventually create a world music museum as part of an expanded Sheldon Art Galleries" and to "selectively build the collection through donations, with the help and advice of Dr. Hartenberger and a gallery board committee.”

In addition to instruments from Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and the Americas, the collection also features European and American instruments used in classical music and jazz, including some owned and played by jazz greats with St. Louis connections such as Clark Terry, Oliver Lake and Hamiett Bluiett.

It also includes experimental, unusual and one-off instruments like the jazzophone (pictured), which was made in the 1920s in Germany. When not in use at the Sheldon, instruments in the collection will be stored offsite in a facility made available by MiTek Industries, which is run by Sheldon board member Dick Marriott.

The Sheldon, Metrotix offering online presale of tickets for Kurt Elling concert

The Sheldon Concert Hall and Metrotix are offering a special one-day-only online pre-sale of tickets for the performance by Kurt Elling on Friday, June 6 at the Sheldon.

Elling (pictured), acclaimed as one of the top male singers in jazz today, definitely has a strong St. Louis fan base, thanks to several previous performances at Jazz at the Bistro, but will be making his Sheldon debut with this show. The concert is the centerpiece of a benefit for the Sheldon Art Galleries, and patron tickets have been on sale for several weeks, so the supply of seats will be limited.

Single tickets for the Kurt Elling concert at The Sheldon go on sale to the general public at 10:00 a.m. this Saturday, April 26, but online buyers can purchase tickets a day early, starting at 10:00 a.m. Friday, April 25 by going to the Metrotix site and using promo code KURT14.

(Edited after posting to fix a garbled sentence.)

Kurt Elling to perform Friday, June 6 at The Sheldon

Singer Kurt Elling is returning to St. Louis to perform a benefit concert at 8:00 p.m., Friday, June 6 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Proceeds from the event will go to support the Sheldon Art Galleries.

Elling (pictured) last visited St. Louis in February 2013 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro, a venue he's played numerous times. However, this will be his debut at The Sheldon, and his first trip to St. Louis since parting ways with his longtime musical director and pianist Laurence Hobgood. His most recent recording, made with Hobgood still at the piano bench, is 2012's 1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project.

Patron tickets for Kurt Elling at The Sheldon are on sale now for $500, $250 and $125, and include preferred seating, a post-concert dessert reception, complimentary parking and a tax deduction. To purchase patron tickets or for more information, call The Sheldon's development department at 314-533-9900. Concert-only tickets will be $45 orchestra, $40 balcony, and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, April 26 via MetroTix, The Sheldon’s website, and at the Fox Theatre box office.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Tonight's New Music Circle concert featuring Trinity Piano Trio was previewed by Terry Perkins of the St. Louis Beacon and Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

* Actress/singer Molly Ringwald, who will be in St. Louis to perform next Tuesday and Wednesday at Jazz at the Bistro, had a few words with the P-D's Kevin Johnson.

* Oliver Lake's recent big band release Wheels was reviewed by Aaron Cohen and made an Editors' Pick in the latest issue of DownBeat, while All Decks, the saxophonist and former St. Louisan's recent collaborative effort with Christian Weber and Dieter Ulrich, was reviewed by John Sharpe for AllAboutJazz.com

* Singer and former St. Louisan Jan Shapiro's latest CD Piano Bar After Hours was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's C. Michael Bailey.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn is profiled in the latest issue of the American Federation of Musicians' publication International Musician. Sanborn and keyboardist Bob James are about to launch a tour in support of their new collaborative album Quartette Humaine, and to promote it, they've also released a "making of" video and are offering a free download of a sample track, "Deep In The Weeds," from the recording.

* Speaking of Sanborns, longtime local DJ and impresario Rick Sanborn (no relation to David) will be a guest on this Saturday night's broadcast of "The Jazz Collective" with Jason Church. The program airs at 9:00 p.m. as part of the Saturday night jazz block on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis' new classical station, following the syndicated "Jazz at Lincoln Center" at 7:00 p.m. and "Somethin' Else" with Calvin Wilson at 8:00 p.m.. RAF-STL's programming can be heard on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

* And while we're on the radio beat, the sixth part of Dennis Owsley's audio documentary on the history of St. Louis jazz, covering the Black Artists Group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, will air during Owsley's "Jazz Unlilmited" program at 9:00 p.m. this Sunday on KWMU (90.7 FM). Also, the Sheldon Art Galleries have announced that they will reprise the companion exhibition for Owsley's book City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973 this summer from June 7 until August 17.

* Saxophonist Fred Walker (pictured) is one of the plaintiffs in a suit filed this week by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the City of St. Louis' new licensing requirements for street performers. The suit alleges that, by forcing performers to audition and charging a $100 fee for a permit, the ordinance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments with vague terms that outlaw “a substantial amount of expressive activity.”

* Lastly, filmmaker Rod Milam sent a link to a brief video showing artist and fellow U City native Tom Seltzer installing his original limited edition prints of portraits of jazz greats at Dizzy's On 5th in Park Slope in Brooklyn, NYC. The show went up this past Sunday, May 5 and will hang until November 2013. Seltzer's subjects include Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins. The images can be seen online and prints purchased at http://seltzerstudio.com/store.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The Sheldon Art Galleries will present a major retrospective exhibition of the work of St. Louis-born artist Al Hirschfeld starting Friday, September 7 as part of The Sheldon’s 100th anniversary celebration. From the news release: "Al Hirschfeld’s Jazz and Broadway Scrapbook, the first major retrospective of the artist to be mounted in his hometown, will feature more than 100 original drawings, paintings, prints, collages, posters and ephemera from his long and important career, and reveals a heretofore unexplored, lifelong fascination with jazz."

"In addition to his artwork, the installation will feature his specially-made stereo system, his extensive jazz record collection, and African drums and Balinese shadow puppets from his home...A separate section of the exhibit focuses on his work in jazz and includes luminaries such as Jelly Roll Morton, Johnny Mercer, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, among many others."

* Jazz St. Louis has mailed out a lavish season brochure for 2012-13 that's really more like a magazine - it's 56 pages, with edge-to-edge color photos throughout. If you didn't get one from from the postman, you can view it online here.

* And speaking of Jazz St. Louis, their Young Friends organization is throwing a patio party outside Jazz at the Bistro from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 28. Latin jazz group Musica Slesa (pictured) will playing inside the Bistro, with an audio feed going out to the patio in nearby Strauss Park so partygoers can hear them while enjoying drinks, snacks and socializing. Entry to the patio is free, but donations to Jazz St. Louis's education programs are suggested.

* The Revivalist has some behind-the-scenes photos from the recent concert by the all-star Miles Davis tribute group, the Miles Electric Band, in Los Angeles.

* And since it's been an unusually slow news week, why not finish it by asking who looks more formidable in a lab coat - Amazing Spider-Man villain The Lizard, or avant-jazz trumpeter and St. Louis native Lester Bowie?

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* This past Tuesday's first day of issue of stamps honoring Miles Davis and Edith Piaf by the postal services in the United States and France was covered locally by the Post-Dispatch and the Associated Press.

* As mentioned here earlier, the Sheldon Art Galleries' exhibit on the jazz photography of Ralston Crawford is about to go on display at the New Orleans Museum of Art. You can see the exhibit being installed in a photo set here, and read curator Olivia Lahs-Gonzales' essay about it here. (.pdf file)

* Speaking of photo albums, Saxquest has posted on their Facebook page two sets of pictures documenting saxophonist Kirk Whalum's demonstration and performance at the store last Sunday.

* Here's another review of Stages St. Louis' production of Ain't Misbehavin', from KMOX radio's Harry Hamm. The show runs through July 1.

* Pianist Peter Martin was featured last week in Town & Style magazine

* Drummer Andre Boyd, a St. Louis native who performs with the company of Cirque du Soleil's Quidam that's coming next week to the Chaifetz Arena, spoke briefly about the show with the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson.

* Another native St. Louisan, saxophonist Greg Osby (pictured), has teamed up with keyboardist Shimrit Shoshan for a new project, and they talked about it to The Revivalist in a two-part video interview.

* Commenting on the recent pledge drive held by radio station WSIE (88.7 FM), general manager Greg Conroy told StLJN, "With the $4,000 our listeners sent in December and then this current amount we received earlier this month during our second phone-a-thon, we're very gratified with the generosity of our loyal listeners. They understand the investment it takes to keep modern American Jazz playing on the airwaves and on-line. Like I always say....we're fans too, and we love to play this music as much as the listeners love to hear it. Thanks to everyone who contributed." The station has added nearly 1,500 new music selections to its servers this year, Conroy said.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Congratulations are due to the proprietors of the St. Louis based independent record label MAXJAZZ, which is celebrating its 13th anniversary today. Since its founding in 1999, the label, run by the father-and-son team of Richard McDonnell (pictured) and Clayton McDonnell, has issued a total of 70 different albums, comprising more than 750 individual tracks.

* Stages St. Louis' current revival of the Fats Waller musical Ain't Misbehavin' was reviewed, and quite positively, by Post-Dispatch theater critic Judith Newmark and Chris Gibson of BroadwayWorld.com. The show runs through July 1, with multiple performances each week.

* The photo exhibit "Ralston Crawford and Jazz," originally displayed at the Sheldon Art Galleries here and curated by the Sheldon's Olivia Lahs-Gonzales, is opening next week at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

* Saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake, who's just wrapping up some tour dates in Australia, will be in residency for three nights later this month at Shapershifter Lab in Brooklyn, NY.

* Next Tuesday, June 12 will be the first day of issue for the USPS' new commemorative stamps honoring Miles Davis and Edith Piaf.

* And speaking of Davis, if you happen to hear someone mention "Jazz at Walter Circle" in East St. Louis, don't get too excited thinking there's a new venue for live jazz in ESL. According to this story in the Post-Dispatch, it's a new apartment complex for senior citizens, named in recognition of Davis and other musicians who have called the city home.

* Lastly, did you know that there's a St. Louis Jazz Notes page on YouTube? Well, until a few days ago, neither did I - but apparently YouTube now automatically creates pages collecting all the videos posted by blogs that are frequent embedders. If you're looking for a convenient way to browse all the video content offered here on StLJN, it's worth checking out.

Exhibit at Sheldon Art Galleries to feature African drums, experimental instruments, and more

The Sheldon Art Galleries once again will display musical instruments from the collection of St. Louis music educator Dr. Aurelia Hartenberger in a new exhibit, "The Beat Goes On: Instruments from the Hartenberger World Music Collection," that will open this Friday, February 17 in the Sheldon's History of Jazz gallery.

"The Beat Goes On" will include one room filled with drums and other rhythm instruments from Africa, such as the one pictured at left; a room featuring rare, experimental and one-of-a-kind instruments, some once owned by famous jazz musicians, including Clark Terry and Artie Shaw; and a room showcasing musical instruments from the American Civil War, including rare drums, saxhorns and OTS (Over the Shoulder) horns.

The Hartenberger collection includes more than 2,000 instruments from Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Australia, and parts of it were featured in a previous exhibit at the Sheldon in 2009.

"The Beat Goes On" opens with a reception in the galleries from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 17, and continues through August 18. Admission is free. Gallery hours are noon to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday; noon to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday; and one hour prior to Sheldon performances and during intermission.

Jazz this week: Tony Bennett, Kurt Elling, Peter Martin & Wendell Brunious, "Drum Line II" and more

Along with an assortment of jazz and creative music instrumentalists, this week brings two outstanding male vocalists to St. Louis - one representing the tradition of jazz-influenced popular singing, the other offering what amounts to a survey of the current state of the art in contemporary jazz vocals.

The representative of tradition is, of course, the great Tony Bennett, who returns to our city tonight to perform at the Fox Theatre. Bennett is currently enjoying another popular success with his recently released album Duets II, which finds him mixing it up with a gaggle of pop, rock, R&B and country singers ranging from Willie Nelson to Lady Gaga. To get an idea of how this plays out in concert, check out this review of Bennett's November 4 show in Philadelphia by AllAboutJazz.com's Lewis J. Whittington.

The contemporary singer, then, would be Kurt Elling (pictured), who's just a little more than half Bennett's age but for the last 15 years has helped define the state of contemporary male jazz singing. While Bennett is on stage at the Fox tonight, Elling will be opening a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. This will be Elling's first appearance in St. Louis since the release earlier this year of his most recent recording, The Gate. For more about him, the album, and some video clips of songs from it, see this post from last Saturday.

On Thursday, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University wraps up their fall slate of free concerts with "Bass 3 - Basses with Drums," described in this week's promotional email from JAH as "an avant-garde take on the standard jazz trio. As with last week, the performers in the group have yet to be announced, so come for a surprise in this atypical jazz setting." UPDATE - 11/16/11, 10:50 a.m.: Bassist Willem von Hombracht has posted on his Facebook page that he'll be playing this gig along with fellow bassist Bob DeBoo and Eric Stiller.

Also on Thursday evening, saxophonist Jim Stevens' group plays an early show at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; and Webster Groves High School's award-winning jazz combos will give a public performance at Highway 61 Roadhouse in Webster.

On Friday, guitarist Brian Vaccaro will celebrate the release of his new CD Going Through the Motions with a concert at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood. Guitarist Teddy Presberg's band will share the bill. Also on Friday, guitarist Dave Black's trio plays at the Cigar Inn.

On Saturday afternoon, the Nu-Art Series presents "Drum Line II," a collaboration among jazz and creative music percussionists including Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Gary Sykes, and others, at Metropolitan Gallery downtown.

Then that evening, the Sheldon Art Galleries will stage a benefit at the adjoining Sheldon Concert Hall with music from a group billed as the New Orleans Modern Jazz Masters, which features native New Orleanians Wendell Brunious on trumpet and Jason Marsalis on drums, along with St. Louisans Peter Martin on piano and Chris Thomas on bass, both of whom who have spent time living in NOLA.

Also on Saturday evening, pianist Ptah Williams will lead a trio with bassist Bob Deboo and drummer Demarius Hicks at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Sunday, singer Denise Thimes will do a free concert for the St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers series at Second Baptist Church, 9030 Clayton Rd. in Richmond Heights

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Webster University Big Band performs at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus, and drummer Joe Pastor's trio plays at BB's.

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.)

Peter Martin, Wendell Brunious to perform for benefit on Saturday, November 19 at the Sheldon

Pianist Peter Martin will team with New Orleans trumpeter Wendell Brunious to provide the music for "ArtSounds: French Quarter Fête," an event to benefit the Sheldon Art Galleries to be held at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 19 at the Sheldon.

Martin and Brunious will team with bassist Chris Thomas - who, like Martin, originally is from St. Louis - and drummer Jason Marsalis in a group billed as the New Orleans Modern Jazz Masters. Brunious, 56, has played with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Eureka Brass Band and is the son of trumpeter John "Picket" Brunious, while Marsalis is the son of famed pianist and teacher Ellis Marsalis and the brother of musicians Wynton, Branford and Delfeayo Marsalis .

The evening also will include a viewing of artwork by artist Ralston Crawford, who though "often remembered for his pre-World-War II precisionist paintings of urban and industrial subjects...produced a significant body of work after 1949 inspired by the visual and auditory culture of New Orleans." The exhibit of Crawford's work currently on display at the Sheldon galleries contains more than 150 photographs, prints, paintings and films.

Patron tickets for the event are on sale now at prices from$100 to $500, and include a pre-concert cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception with music from the Funky Butt Brass Band, VIP concert seating, a post-concert dessert reception and a tax deduction. Patron tickets can be purchased before Tuesday October 25 by calling the Sheldon’s development department at 314-533-9900.

Tickets for just the concert, which begins at 8:00 p.m., are $35 orchestra, $30 balcony, and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, October 22 via MetroTix or the Sheldon's website.

Miles Davis Festival to debut this year in St. Louis

The estate of the late jazz trumpeter Miles Davis will team up this summer and fall with several St. Louis area organizations and venues to present the Miles Davis Festival, a series of concerts, exhibits and celebrations of Davis’ musical legacy that organizers hope will become an annual event.

Yr. humble StLJN editor was at yesterday's press conference announcing the festival, and you can read more about it in my post for the Riverfront Times' music blog A to Z here.

Bob Koester to speak Saturday, May 1 at the Sheldon Art Galleries

Bob Koester, a former St. Louisan who owns the Delmark Records label and Jazz Record Mart in Chicago, will speak on the history of Delmark in St. Louis at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, May 1 at the Sheldon Art Galleries.

Delmark, which is one of the most long-lived and well-respected independent jazz and blues labels currently in operation, was founded by Koester in St. Louis in 1953. A native of Wichita, KS, Koester originally came here to study at St. Louis University, where he sold records out of his dorm room, and later opened a small shop not far from campus. In 1958, Koester and the Delmark operation moved to Chicago, where the label has documented many of the city's significant jazz and blues musicians.

Koester's talk will take place in the Sheldon's History of Jazz Gallery, and is free and open to the public. The current exhibit in the gallery, "Legends of St. Louis Blues," continues through August 28.

Fundraising events to combine jazz, visual art

Two St. Louis not-for-profit presenters have announced upcoming fundraising events involving jazz and the visual arts.

Jazz St. Louis will present a meet-and-greet and art sale with artist Russell Kraus on Friday, August 28 at Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave. The 91-year-old Kraus is a St. Louisan who's known both as a graphic designer - he created the famous red and white logo for Budweiser - and for his work in posters, jewelry, mosaics, and paintings.

Kraus will be showing and selling about 30 of his works at the event, which begins with a private reception at 7:00 p.m. and opens to the public at 8:00 p.m. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Jazz St. Louis' education programs. To RSVP, call Melissa Jones at 314-289-4037 or send email to melissa@jazzstl.

Meanwhile, the Sheldon has scheduled "ArtSounds: Blues & Bling," described as "an exciting interactive music and art event" for 7:00 p.m. Thursday, November 19 at the Sheldon Art Galleries.

The event will feature the premiere of "a new blues-based composition by Sheldon Executive Director and composer Paul Reuter, performed by acclaimed jazz and blues singer Kim Massie," as well as cocktails, hors d’ouevres and dessert. Upper level patrons also will receive a commemorative limited-edition signed bottle of wine with label design by Berlin artist Jessika Miekeley.

Tickets for the Sheldon's "ArtSounds" event range in price from $75 to $500, and can be purchased by calling Lauren Schwartz at 314-533-9900, ext. 17. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Sheldon Art Galleries' educational programs.

(Edited 8/25/09 to fix typos.)

"Visions of Sound" extended until August 29

If you're interested in seeing the Sheldon Art Galleries’ “Visions of Sound” exhibit but haven’t yet had the chance to check it out in person, you’re in luck. The display of jazz and African instruments from the Hartenberger World Music Collection has been extended through August 29.

The Sheldon Art Galleries will host a all-gallery reception for its summer exhibitions from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, June 12. Admission is free. Regular gallery hours are noon to 8:00 p.m. Tuesdays; noon to 5:00 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturdays; and one hour prior to all Sheldon performances and during intermissions. For more on the “Visions of Sound” exhibit, see this post.