So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The University of Missouri-St. Louis Department of Music and the David and Thelma Steward Institute for Jazz Studies at UMSL have named pianist and educator Adaron "Pops" Jackson as the university's new director of jazz studies. Jackson succeeds the program's founder, bassist Jim Widner, who retired at the end of the 2018-19 academic year.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn was interviewed by John Carney on Monday's episode of "The Carney Show" on KTRS (550 AM).

* Singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo (pictured) was interviewed about her new album St. Lost by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson. Saputo is promoting the release with a performance tonight at Sophie's Artist Lounge and Cocktail Club. St. Lost this week also was the subject of a short promotional feature on BassMagazine.com

* Inventor and audio engineer Bob Heil was profiled in a story by KSDK's Art Holliday.

* WSIE (88.7FM) will celebrate Miles Davis' birthday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. this Sunday, May 26 with a two-hour special about his life and music. Listeners outside the St. Louis area can catch the program via the station's online stream.

* The Black Rep's production of Nina Simone: Four Women was reviewed by the St. Louis American's Kenya Vaughn. The play with music, which includes singer Denise Thimes in the cast, continues through Sunday, June 2 at Washington University’s Edison Theatre.

* Vaughn also filed a story for the American about the funeral service for Shirley Bradley LeFlore, former St. Louis poet laureate who worked with many jazz and creative musicians.

* Pianist Phillip Graves will play the title role in Next to Normal: The Thelonious Monk Story, a play by Mariah L Richardson that will be performed at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 12 and Thursday, June 13 at Jazz St. Louis.

The production, which is presented by A Call to Conscience, Inc. and directed by Fannie Belle Lebbie, will celebrate Monk's music and career while also examining "issues of mental illness as it relates to disparities in health care, police interaction, education, and social acceptance."

The performance on June 12 will be followed by a talk and Q&A about Monk led by Washington University professor Gerald Early, and a panel discussion on living with and overcoming the challenges posed by mental illness. Admission to both performances is free, but RSVPs are requested via EventBrite.

* Remember the lawsuit filed by seemingly-defunct-music-festival LouFest against their former sound contractors? Well, per new reporting on Thursday by St. Louis Public Radio's Jeremy Goodwin, the suit has been dropped.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The U City Jazz Fest, which last week was cancelled due to a financial dispute between its companion event Fair U City and the municipal government of University City, is back on for the originally scheduled date, but at a new location.

Temporarily renamed the Old Orchard Jazz Festival, the free event will take place with all the previously announced acts from 1:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 8 at Gazebo Park in the Old Orchard business district of Webster Groves.

(Prospective festival-goers should know that Gazebo Park is considerably smaller than Heman Park, the fest's original location, and Old Orchard is a busy commercial district, so if you're planning on attending, you may want to arrive early so you'll have enough time to find parking and seating.)

* The latest sounds from saxophonist Oliver Lake can be heard on Bamako, the debut recording by the OGJB Quartet (pictured), a band that also includes cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda, and drummer Barry Altschul. The album includes original compositions from all four members, plus two collective improvisations, and will by released next Friday, May 17 by TUM Records.

* The Black Rep's upcoming production of Nina Simone: Four Women is previewed in stories from Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American and Calvin Wilson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The play-with-music, with a cast than includes singer Denise Thimes, opens Wednesday, May 15 and continues through Sunday, June 2 at the Edison Theatre on the Washington University campus.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Pianist Peter Martin is doing an "Ask Me Anything" Q&A session at 2:00 p.m. Central time today (Friday, April 19) via the Facebook page of his company Open Studio.

* Singer Denise Thimes (pictured) has been chosen for the cast of The Black Rep's upcoming production of Nina Simone: Four Women, a play-with-music by Catherine Ham that will run Wednesday, May 15 through Sunday, June 2 at the Edison Theatre on the Washington University campus.

* Drummer and educator Bernard Long Jr. has received the St. Louis Suburban Music Educators Association Certificate of Merit Award for his work as band director at Normandy High School.

* Saxophonist Dave Stone's upcoming move to Oregon is detailed in a feature story by the Riverfront Times' G.M.H. Thompson. Stone's trio will play their final gig at their longtime home Mangia Italiano tonight.

* Bassist Bob DeBoo's recent serendipitous find of a sitar, seemingly in working condition, in an alley near his south St. Louis home is recounted in a brief St. Louis magazine feature by Thomas Crone.

* Pianist and St. Louis native Tom McDermott, who's made his home for many years in New Orleans, has a new album, Tom McDermott Meets Scott Joplin, out this month on the Arbors label.

* Last weekend's Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival was the subject of a story on the University of Missouri-St. Louis' official blog UMSL Daily.

* This year's local celebration of Record Store Day was spotlighted in a feature story by HEC-TV's George Sells.

* On The Corner Live! The Music of Miles Davis, the new release featuring an all-star band gathered by saxophonist and former Davis sideman Dave Liebman, was reviewed in Jazz Journal and Jazz Times.

* If you've been wondering what's happening with seemingly-defunct music festival LouFest's legal battle with their former sound and lighting contractors Logic Systems, there's an update via a story in the trade publication Projection Lighting and Staging News by St. Louis writer and musician Kevin Mitchell.

* The deadline for local student musicians in grades 6-12 to apply for Jazz St. Louis' JazzU program for the 2019-20 school year is next Friday April 26. Audition and application details are online at https://jazzstl.org/education/jazz-u/2019-20-jazzu-auditions/.

* And in a related story, current JazzU student Joanna Serenko, a singer, guitarist and senior at Kirkwood High School, last week was announced as the winner of this year's St. Louis Teen Talent Competition sponsored by the Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Writing for DownBeat, Terry Perkins reported on last week's reunion of former members of the Black Artists Group for a discussion and performance at Jazz at the Bistro.

* The reunion of former BAG members included saxophonist Oliver Lake, who's now playing with bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille as Trio 3 at NYC's Village Vanguard through Saturday.  

Lake also was named this week as co-recipient of a $25,000 grant from the Multi-Arts Production (MAP) Fund to support the development and staging of Interruption!, a live performance piece for 14-piece ensemble with music by Rob Reddy and a libretto written and performed by Lake.

* Two St. Louis musicians, drummer Emanuel Harrold and bassist Jahmal Nichols, can be heard on the new album from singer Gregory Porter, which NPR made available online this week for a "First Listen."

* Guitarist Todd Mosby is featured on the latest episode of the podcast A Concert Pitch. Mosby will play music from his new album On Eagle Mountain on Saturday night at Focal Point.

* The Black Rep's production of Twisted Melodies, a play about singer/songwriter, pianist and former St. Louisan Donny Hathaway's battle with mental illness, was reviewed by Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American and by HEC-TV's Two On The Aisle. The one-man show by Kelvin Roston Jr. (pictured) closes this Sunday, May 1.

* A proposal from The 442s was one of three selected for Forest Park's new artist-is-residence program.

* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's annual "Go List" issue has named Jazz St. Louis' Ferring Jazz Bistro as the "Best Place to Hear Jazz."

* Saxquest has posted to Facebook a photo album from saxophonist David Liebman's appearance there last Saturday.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

Miles Ahead opens today in St. Louis

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

* Miles Ahead, actor/director Don Cheadle's film about Miles Davis, opens nationwide this weekend and will play in St. Louis starting today at the AMC Creve Coeur 12 and Tivoli theaters.

The film's local opening has occasioned reviews from Calvin Wilson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kenya Vaughn of the St. Louis American and a short feature story from the Alton Telegraph's Mary Cox. For complete Miles Ahead coverage, see StLJN's ongoing series of "Miles on Monday" posts.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn, who was back home in St. Louis last week to play at Jazz at the Bistro, has been announced as one of the performers for the February 2017 edition of The Contemporary Jazz Cruise, along with Pat Metheny, Gregory Porter, Terence Blanchard, and others.

* The St. Louis Black Rep is taking a dramatic look at the life of the late keyboardist, singer/songwriter and former St. Louisan Donny Hathaway with Twisted Melodies, a play written by and starring St. Louis native Kelvin Roston Jr.  The production continues through Sunday, May 1 at the Edison Theatre on the campus of Washington University.

* Drummer Kimberly Thompson was interviewed by Nylon magazine in conjunction with the official release last Saturday of her new album, Treasures Abound. Thompson also may have broken some news about her next appearance in her hometown with a recent Tweet listing upcoming concert dates, one of which was "Kim Thompson & Mike Stern at the Bistro Feb 14 - 18 2017". (Jazz St. Louis usually announces the next season's schedule in May.)

* Last Saturday's Record Store Day festivities in St. Louis were featured in stories on the local newscasts of KSDK and KTVI/Fox 2.

* Singer Wendy L Gordon announced that the Leevert & Wendy Gordon Scholarship Fund will grant another $1000 scholarship this year to a yet-to-be-selected Sumner High School senior attending Harris Stowe State University in the fall.

The scholarships are funded with proceeds from Gordon's series of "Jazz Heaven" tribute concerts, the next of which is scheduled for Sunday, September 11 at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre, and from special events like the upcoming tribute to singer Mae Wheeler by Gordon and fellow vocalist Jeanne Trevor set for Tuesday, May 17 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Freddie Washington to open Black Rep concert series on Sunday, January 29

Saxophonist Freddie Washington (pictured) and his group will be the first performers for a Sunday night concert series being presented by the Black Rep. Washington will kick off the series at 7:00 p.m. this Sunday, January 29 at the Grandel Theater.

A mainstay on the local jazz scene from the 1960s through the mid-2000s, Washington recently returned to St. Louis after living in Dallas, Nashville and Atlanta. The Black Rep's marketing director Joe Hanrahan tells StLJN that Washington's concert is the first of a planned series of four or five Sunday night shows that will take place about once a month this winter and spring. (We'll have info on any further jazz-related performances right here when more details are revealed.)

Tickets for Freddie Washington at the Grandel Theater are $20, and can be reserved by calling the Black Rep box office at 314-534-3810.

Black Rep to open Louis Jordan musical on Wednesday, March 24

Having just closed its production of Yesterdays: An Evening With Billie Holiday with singer Vanessa Rubin, the Black Rep has another musical coming up that also may appeal to St. Louis jazz fans. The company's staging of Five Guys Named Moe, which is based on the music of saxophonist and singer Louis Jordan, opens next Wednesday, March 24 and continues through Sunday, April 25 at the Grandel Theatre.

Combining elements drawn from big band swing and rhythm & blues with a hefty dose of humor, Jordan (pictured) was hugely popular in the 1940s with songs like "Let The Good Times Roll," "Caledonia," "Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens," "Choo-Choo Ch' Boogie," and many others.

Five Guys Named Moe takes its name from another of Jordan's hits, and originated in London in 1990 before premiering on Broadway in 1992. The show features two dozen of Jordan's songs, knitted together by a storyline devised by actor and writer Clarke Peters (who played the thoughtful detective Lester Freamon on the HBO TV series The Wire). The Black Rep production stars Drummond Crenshaw, Sean Walton, Gary Vincent, Herman Gordon, Horace E. Smith and Anthony Tarvin, Jr. Black Rep founder and producing director Ron Himes is directing the show, with pianist Charles Creath serving as musical director.

Tickets are priced from $17 to $43, and can be purchased online here. Performances times are 7:00 p.m. Thursdays; 8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 3:00 p.m. for Saturday and Sunday matinees. There also will be student matinee performances at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 31 and Wednesday, April 14. For more information, call the Black Rep at 314-534-3810 or visit their website.

Review of Black Rep's Yesterdays now online

This was the opening weekend for the Black Rep's production of Yesterdays: An Evening with Billie Holiday starring Vanessa Rubin, which continues at the Grandel Theatre through Sunday, March 14. The Post-Dispatch's pop music critic Kevin Johnson has written a review of the show, and you can read it online here.

Jazz this week: Vanessa Rubin as Billie Holiday, Jay Oliver, the Bosman Twins, McElwee's "Modular Mazes" and more

From a dramatic portrayal of a legendary diva to some straight-ahead and soulful jazz to a multimedia event with video, animation and an improvised soundtrack, there's lots going on in St. Louis this weekend to interest fans of jazz and creative music. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, the Black Rep presents the first performance of its production of Yesterdays: An Evening with Billie Holiday starring Vanessa Rubin (pictured) as Holiday. The show runs Wednesdays through Sundays at the Grandel Theatre through March 14. For more on the production and Rubin, see this post and this post.

On Thursday, longtime local favorite Jeanne Trevor brings her swinging song stylings back to Brandt's .

On Friday evening, the Bosman Twins open a two-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro. It's been a while since the reed-playing brothers have performed at the Bistro, and the latest word from JSL's Devin Rodino on Twitter indicates that tickets are moving briskly.

Also on Friday, band boosters in O'Fallon, IL are sponsoring the benefit event "O'That Jazz" at the Regency Conference Center to raise money for the high school's marching band program. Featured performers will include the St. Louis Jazz All-Stars, with Dawn Weber, Jason Swagler, Shaun Robinson, Zeb Briskovich, Miles Vandiver and Charlie Brown; Twilight Jazz Club; and the O’Fallon High School Band Jazz Combos, with and Ross Gentile as MC. (Dinner reservations are no longer available, but they will be selling tickets at the door for the concert portion of the evening.)

Also on Friday, the Presenters Dolan kick off a weekend of cabaret shows at the Kranzberg Arts Center, with Alice Kinsella on Friday, Christine Rios on Saturday and Monya Fisher on Sunday.

On Saturday afternoon, saxophonist Chad Evans will play his own compositions and the the music of legendary saxophonist and bebop originator Charlie Parker as part of the Nu-Art Series' jazz composers' concert series at the Metropolitan Gallery.

Meanwhile, Robbie's House of Jazz has a double-header on Saturday, with a matinee featuring swing and classic songs from vibraphonist and trumpeter Joe Bozzi and an evening performance spotlighting the funk and fusion of Good 4 The Soul.

Also on Saturday, pianist and St. Louis native Jay Oliver returns home for a performance at Holmes Lounge on the Washington University campus, and New Music Circle presents Van McElwee and Friends in a multimedia event called "Modular Mazes" at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium. The NMC event will include new video creations from McElwee, 3D animation (with glasses provided!) from Casper McElwee, and live audio from musicians including the Semi-Acoustic Noise Ensemble (SANE).

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 by becoming a "fan" of 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.)

Black Rep's Billie Holiday show previewed in Post article

The Black Rep's production of Yesterdays: An Evening with Billie Holiday, featuring Vanessa Rubin as Holiday, opens this Wednesday at the Grandel Theatre. The Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson talked to director Woodie King Jr. and playwright Reenie Upchurch for a feature story in the weekend paper, and you can read it online here.

Vanessa Rubin to star in Black Rep's Yesterdays: An Evening with Billie Holiday

Singer Vanessa Rubin (pictured) is coming to St. Louis to star in the Black Rep's production of Yesterdays: An Evening with Billie Holiday, which will run Wednesday, February 24 through Sunday, March 14 at the Grandel Theater, 3610 Grandel Square (just west of Grand Ave).

The play by Reenie Upchurch tells the story of Holiday's last performance at a New York club, incorporating songs such as "My Man", "Strange Fruit", "Fine and Mellow" and "God Bless the Child."

Rubin is originally from Cleveland and has performed with many well-known jazz musicians, including St. Louis' own Clark Terry, Pharoah Sanders, Barry Harris, Kenny Barron, Lionel Hampton, the Mercer Ellington Orchestra, Cecil Bridgewater, Etta Jones, Toots Thielemans, Steve Turre, Cedar Walton, Grover Washington, Jr., Herbie Hancock, the Woody Herman Orchestra, and the Jazz Crusaders.

Interestingly, a performance of "God Bless The Child" helped steer Rubin toward a career in music. After earning her degree in journalism from Ohio State, Rubin sang the song while competing in the Miss Black Central Ohio contest and got a standing ovation, which caused her to reconsider her vocational choices. First signed to RCA Novus in 1991, Rubin has recorded seven albums as a leader, but for a time also held down a job in the NYC public school system, and she's also been actively involved in jazz education. She portrayed Holiday last year in a production of Yesterdays for Hartford Stage, and you can read more about that here.

Rubin will be joined on stage in St. Louis by Levi Barcourt (musical director and piano), David Jackson (bass) and Bernard Davis (drums). Tickets for the Black Rep's production of Yesterdays: An Evening with Billie Holiday range in price from $43 to $17, and are on sale now via Metrotix.

Black Rep announces Sunday concert series

The St. Louis Black Repertory Company has announced a new Sunday night concert series to be presented at the Grandel Theater, and several of the acts involved may be of interest to local jazz enthusiasts.

The series' jazz-related offerings include singer Brian Owens and the Cole Sessions Trio, who will kick off the series at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 1; singer Anita Jackson, who will perform on Sunday, March 29; and the jazz/Latin/world music band Farshid Etniko, who will take the stage on Sunday, April 5.

Other performances in the Black Rep's Sunday concert series will include the Genesis Arts Ministry on Sunday, March 8; the Voices of Praise Choir on Sunday, March 15; and a Father's Day benefit concert, with musicians TBA, on Sunday, June 21. The Black Rep also will present a free open house featuring preview performances from some of the Sunday series acts at 6:00 p.m. this Sunday, February 22 at the Grandel.

Tickets for the concerts are $20 each, and are available through Metrotix.