St. Louis Jazz Cafe closes

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson is reporting today in a blog post that the St. Louis Jazz Cafe has closed, effective immediately. The club, located downtown at 1500 St. Charles in the Terra Cotta Lofts building, had been open for just four months.

Operation manager Tim Simms is quoted in Johnson's story saying that although the abrupt timing of the shutdown was due to noise complaints from neighbors - the Terra Cotta Lofts is a residential building - the cafe had been losing money due to lack of a late-night crowd. A commenter on the post, which you can read in its entirety here, said that "the place was packed on Fridays and Saturdays (”noise”) and empty the rest of the week (”losing money”)". According to the story, the cafe's owners hope to reopen in a new location, but there was no indication as to a time frame.

Even in good times, the restaurant/bar business can be a tough way to make a dollar, and given the state of the overall economy this year, and the inherent problems with this particular location, I suppose this doesn't come as a great shock. Still, the loss of any local jazz venue is unfortunate for listeners and players alike. Here's hoping that the St. Louis Jazz Cafe's proprietors are both sincere about their expressed desire to reopen, and successful in finding a new, more suitable location.

Jazz this week: Good 4 The Soul, Lamar Harris, Le Jazz Hot, and more

There's only time for a short post today, as yr. humble editor is in the process of setting up a new computer here at StLJN HQ to replace the on-its-last-legs system I've been using, but I did want to call to your attention a handful of jazz-related events happening this weekend in St. Louis.

On Friday and Saturday, the jazz/funk/R&B group Good 4 The Soul returns once again to Jazz at the Bistro, closing out the venue's summer 2009 season. JATB will go dark during August, with clarinetist Scott Alberici scheduled to kick off the 2009-10 season on September 4 and 5.

Also on Friday, trombonist/low brass man Lamar Harris will do a free concert on the grounds of the Saint Louis Art Museum as part of the Museum's Art After Five series. In case of rain, the show will move inside the Museum to the Grigg Gallery.

Meanwhile, over at the St. Louis Jazz Cafe, Le Jazz Hot, with pianist Ptah Williams (pictured), saxophonist Chad Evans, bassist Daryl Mixon and drummer Bensid Thigpen, will perform on Friday; the Usual Suspects Quartet will play on Saturday; and pianist Dave Becherer's trio will be providing the music for Sunday brunch.

For more listings of jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: Peter Martin, Jim Manley, Tim Cunningham, and more

While there are no major touring jazz headliners passing through St. Louis this week, there are several noteworthy shows from locally based musicians coming up over the next few days.

Tonight, trombonist/bassist Wayne Coniglio will do a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, while guitarist Tom Byrne's trio performs at the St. Louis Jazz Cafe.

Tomorrow, pianist Peter Martin, a St. Louis native who has worked with jazz luminaries such as Dianne Reeves, Chris Botti and Christian McBride, will play a free solo piano concert in the Grigg Gallery of the Saint Louis Art Museum as part of SLAM's "Art After Five" series. For more on Martin and a couple of video samples, see this post from last Saturday

Also on Friday, the hard-swinging trumpeter Jim Manley (pictured) returns to Jazz at the Bistro to open a two-night stand. I quite enjoyed Manley's latest CD, Eight, and though he gigs around town frequently in a duo setting and with various other ensembles, this weekend should give him a good chance to stretch out a bit playing straight-ahead jazz with a full rhythm section.

Meanwhile, the St. Louis Jazz Cafe this weekend will emphasize smooth jazz, with the band 3 Central on Friday night and two shows from the popular saxophonist Tim Cunningham on Saturday.

As always, these are just some of the notable performances coming up around town; for more listings of jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: The Cunninghams, Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, St. Louis Ragtimers, Dawn Weber, Erin Bode, and more

Though summer vacation season is officially underway, the next few days will offer St. Louis jazz fans a pretty fair number of musical choices during what's usually a relatively slow time of year.

Tonight, the Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Jazz Orchestra (pictured at left), a select ensemble of mostly teenage musicians from the West Coast that's touring the country this summer, stops in St. Louis for a performance at Jazz at the Bistro. The East St. Louis High School Jazz Band will open the show.

There are also a couple of noteworthy free concerts tonight, as trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber plays for the at Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and singer Erin Bode takes the stage for the Whitaker Urban Evenings concert series at St. Louis Place Park, located at St. Louis and Rauschenbach Avenues on the near North Side. Rounding out the musical menu for Thursday is drummer Joe Pastor's trio at the St. Louis Jazz Cafe.

On Friday and Saturday, Jazz at the Bistro will feature keyboardist Reggie Thomas' jazz-organ trio OGD, augmented for the occasion by the great tenor saxophonist Willie Akins, while the St. Louis Jazz Cafe has the Usual Suspects Quartet on Friday and smooth jazz saxophonist Tim Cunningham on Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Jazz Club will present a concert featuring the St. Louis Ragtimers plus special guest pianist Dr. Dave Majchrzak. Note that while yhis show originally had been announced as playing at one of the SLJC's longtime venues, the Moolah Shrine Center in Maryland Heights, it's been moved to a new location, the Doubletree Hotel in Chesterfield.

Then on Sunday night, the jazz vocal duo The Cunninghams (pictured at right) , featuring multi-instrumentalist and former St. Louisan Don Cunningham and his wife, singer and pianist Alicia Cunningham, will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Now a resident of Las Vegas, Don Cunningham got his start in the music business in St. Louis' Gaslight Square, and this show is being billed as "Coming Home One Mo' Time," perhaps in recognition of the reduced touring schedule he and Alicia have adopted in recent years after spending the previous couple of decades criss-crossing the U.S., Asia and Europe as headliners of their own show and special guests with the Count Basie Orchestra.

I won't reiterate all of StLJN's previous coverage of the Cunninghams, because, hey, that's what links are for. Suffice it to say that they are fine musicians and old-school entertainers in the best possible sense, the sort of jazz veterans who should be heard and celebrated while the opportunity is still there, so go check 'em out.

As always, these are just some of the notable performances happening over the next several days; for more listings of jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: Support your local jazz musicians

The Independence Day weekend is not usually a busy time for touring jazz acts visiting St. Louis, and that's true again this year. However, if you've got an urge to hear some jazz over the next few days amidst the flurry of backyard cookouts, fireworks displays, and similar seasonal activities, you can check out one or more of these performances featuring some of St. Louis' fine local musicians:

Tonight, Dizzy Atmosphere (pictured) will bring their blend of string-band swing and Gypsy jazz to the Missouri Botanical Garden in a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival.

Due to the holiday weekend, there's no Jazz at Holmes concert this Thursday, and Jazz at the Bistro is dark this weekend, too. However, it's business as usual at the St. Louis Jazz Cafe, which will present pianist James Matthews' trio on Thursday night, Good 4 The Soul on Friday, Trio Tres Bien on Saturday, and the Dave Becherer Trio for Sunday brunch.

Of course, there are a number of recurring weekly gigs around town that are worth hearing, starting tonight with guitarist John Farrar's Park Avenue Jazz at Hammerstone's and pianist Ptah Williams at Riddle's. On Thursday, you can check out singer Gene Lynn at Sasha's on Shaw, and on Friday saxophonist Dave Stone continues his long running engagement at Mangia Italiano.

Since Saturday is the big holiday, I'm not sure if saxophonist Willie Akins will be doing his regular weekly performance that evening at Spruill's, and the club's infrequently updated Web site is little help; best to call ahead if you're thinking of going. Last but not least, on Sunday you can check out trumpeter Jim Manley and keyboardist Mark Friedrich at Jimmy's Cafe on The Park for brunch, and the St. Louis New Jazz X-Tet will play their usual Sunday night show at Riddle's. Looking beyond the weekend, there's a free show by saxophonist Bennett Wood at The Gramophone on Tuesday.

As always, you can find more listings of jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond by visiting the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: Lea DeLaria, Musica Slesa, KMOX Jazz & Wine Festival, Scott Alberici, and more

It looks like the weather in St. Louis will be going directly from "soaked" to "sizzling" this weekend, but fortunately, there's jazz and creative music all around town (including several free concerts) to provide diversion from the onset of another steamy summer in the Gateway City.

Here's a brief look at what's going on over the next few days:

Tonight, clarinetist Scott Alberici plays a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden. With any luck, the rain that has plagued the event for the past couple of weeks will stay away tonight, but if the skies look threatening, you can check the Garden's Web site or tune into WSIE (FM 88.7) for an update.

On Thursday, pianist and singer Curt Landes performs a free show for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University, and singer Erin Bode is doing a free concert outdoors at Bluebird Park in Ellisville.

Then on Friday, Latin/jazz group Musica Slesa (pictured at top left) returns to Jazz at the Bistro for the first evening of a two-night stand, while guitarist Matthew Von Doran will bring some jazz out to St. Charles county with a show in the performance space at Mozingo Music in O'Fallon. Also on Friday, the St. Louis Jazz Cafe has guitarist Gregg Haynes, while Brandt's will feature singer Kim Massie.

Saturday afternoon brings the KMOX Jazz and Wine Festival to the grounds of the historic Cabanne House in Forest Park (at the corner of Lindell and Union). This year's lineup featuring Erin Bode, Kim Massie, the Original Knights of Swing big band, and saxophonist Tim Cunningham. (Note that, contrary to what some folks searching online seem to be thinking, this is not a free event; tickets are $10 in advance, with a $3 surcharge for online purchases, or $15 at the gate.)

Also on Saturday, singer, actress, comic and Belleville, Illinois native Lea DeLaria (pictured at right) performs a free concert as part of Metro East Pride Festival in downtown Belleville; saxophonist Rod Tate is at the St. Louis Jazz Cafe; and the Joe Pastor Jazz Trinity plays at Brandt's.

As always, this summary only covers some of the notable performances happening over the next few days; for more listings of jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: Peter Martin, Terence Blanchard, Eugene Chadbourne, Belleville's Wine Dine and Jazz Festival, and more

There's quite a bit of notable jazz and creative music on tap this week in St. Louis, including several free events that should help stretch your live music-listening and/or entertainment dollars a bit farther, certainly a good thing in these tight-money times

The first of those freebies is tonight, when pianist Peter Martin opens this year's Whitaker Music Festival with a free outdoor concert at Missouri Botanical Garden. The St. Louis native is known for his work backing major jazz headliners such as singer Dianne Reeves and trumpeter Chris Botti, but he's also maintained ties to his hometown, recording as a leader in the past for the local MAXJAZZ label.

Martin was one of a number of St. Louis musicians, including bassist Neal Caine and trumpeter Jeremy Davenport, who had relocated to New Orleans in the 1990s to build their careers. After Hurricane Katrina, he and his family moved back to St. Louis, and continue to live here.

However, Martin's busy touring schedule means he rarely plays local gigs, so there should be an especially good turnout for this show, for which he'll be performing with Victor Goines on saxophone and clarinet, St. Louis' own Montez Coleman on drums, and Reginald Veal on bass. In case of rain, check the Garden’s website at www.mobot.org or tune in to radio station WSIE (88.7 FM) for cancellation information. (Incidentally, Martin also has a new self-released solo piano CD that's just come out; for more on that, see this post.)

UPDATE - 6/3/09, 3:30 p.m.: Via email, Martin tells StLJN that his concert this evening at the Missouri Botanical Garden has been canceled due to rain. Instead, he and his band will perform a free indoor concert starting at 7:30 tonight at the Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington. The doors open at 6:30 p.m..

Also tonight, trumpeter Terence Blanchard (pictured) and his group start a four-night stand continuing though Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. A New Orleans native who embraces both his hometown's venerable traditions and more contemporary forms of jazz, Blanchard is considered by fans and critics to be among the first rank of current jazz trumpeters; he's also well-regarded in and out of the jazz world for the soundtracks he's composed for numerous films helmed by director Spike Lee.

Blanchard has played St. Louis before, at the Bistro and the Sheldon Concert Hall, and by all accounts, he delivers the goods in a live situation - so, if you're going to pay to see just one jazz event this week, this would seem to be the one. For more on Blanchard and some video samples of his playing, see this post from a couple of weeks ago.

On Thursday, there are more free events downtown, starting at 5:30 p.m., when the Jeff Anderson Trio kicks off a month-long series of free Thursday shows being presented by the Sheldon Concert Hall outdoors at the Old Post Office Plaza, 801 Locust between 8th and 9th streets.

The free concert is scheduled to run for about an hour, which theoretically should give you plenty of time to head west a dozen blocks or so in order to catch multi-instrumentalist, composer and improviser Eugene Chadbourne, who will be performing free shows at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.at the Schlafly St. Louis Brewery and Tap Room.

If you're already a Chadbourne fan, chances are you're already making plans to be there. If you don't know the man's work, but are intrigued by the idea of an artist who brings together free jazz, rockabilly, folk, noise, and a dozen other genres, spiked with surreal humor and progressive politics, then see this post for more about him and some video samples of assorted Chadbournia.

On Friday and Saturday, the second annual Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival takes place in and around the public square in downtown Belleville, IL It's a free event that features local and regional jazz musicians; this year's lineup includes singer Anita Rosamond, Two Times True with pianist Carolbeth True; Wild Cool and Swingin'; singer Mary Dyson with the Brock Walker Trio, Tony D. and the Groove Merchants, and more. For more, see this post.

Back in downtown St. Louis, the St. Louis Jazz Cafe this weekend has 2Smooth, with saxophonist Rod Tate and guitarist Gregg Haynes, on Friday, and singer Erin Bode and her group on Saturday.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday, there are two more free events worth noting. At 7:00 p.m., the Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club will meet at Borders, 1519 S. Brentwood Blvd. in Brentwood. JSL executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford will lead the discussion of this month's featured CD, Atomic Basie by the Count Basie Orchestra. That should wind down in plenty of time to catch saxophonist Bennett Wood and his group over at The Gramophone in another of the no-cover-charge shows the club is presenting in conjunction with Jazz St. Louis.

As always, these are just some of the notable events happening over the next few days, and, since it's early in the month, band and venue schedule information for June is still arriving here at StLJN HQ;. So, to see the most recently updated list of jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: Glendale Jazz Festival, Kim Massie, Matthew Von Doran, and more

With Memorial Day weekend coming up, it's a relatively light few days in the offing for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis. Moreover, with StLJN HQ still in recovery mode after a computer crash Tuesday night, yr. humble editor has his hands full right now with software re-installs, restoring files from backup, and similar fun-inducing tasks. Still, there are a few noteworthy shows on tap this weekend, so here's a brief look:

The tenth annual Glendale Jazz Festival is this Friday night at the city hall complex in Glendale. This year's event will feature music from the St. Louis Stompers, singer Denise Thimes, and Terry Thompson's band Swing Alive with vocalist Dean Christopher, plus jazz radio personality Don Wolff as MC. It's free and open to the public.

On Friday and Saturday, singer Kim Massie is at Jazz at the Bistro, while the St. Louis Jazz Cafe this weekend will feature saxophonist Readus Miller on Thursday, the Sky West Trio on Friday, and 3 Central on Saturday.

Singer Erin Bode has a busy weekend planned, with a gig at Cyrano's in Webster Groves tonight, a free show on Saturday afternoon at the Crestwood Court mall, another show that same night at Peppertini's in Chesterfield, and a Sunday afternoon performance at the Blumenhof Winery in Dutzow.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday night, guitarist Matthew Von Doran (pictured) will do a free show at The Gramophone.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: The Yellowjackets with Mike Stern, New Music Circle turns 50, and more

This will be a relatively short post by the usual "Jazz this week" standard, both because yr. humble editor has some time constraints due to other pressing matters, and because there's a slight lull in the St. Louis concert scene this weekend with regard to jazz and creative music. Specifically, we're at the time of year when some of our not-for-profit presenters, such as the Sheldon and the Touhill, have already wrapped up their jazz concert series for the season; the universities are coming to exam time and the end of their spring semesters; and the summer slate of festivals, fairs, concerts in the park, and so on has yet to begin.

As a result, there's only one major jazz headliner in town over the next few days to recommend - the Yellowjackets with guitarist Mike Stern (pictured), who will be performing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. For more on this pairing of two very popular acts among jazz-fusion fans, including some video samples, see this post from last Saturday. Given that both Stern and the 'Jackets have their own respective fan bases, and the presence of St. Louis native Marcus Baylor (second from right) on drums, these shows should draw some good crowds. So, while advance reservations are usually a good idea if you're planning to go to the Bistro, in this case, calling ahead is definitely recommended.

Not far from the Bistro, singer Brian Owens is doing a free show starting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night at the Vaughn Cultural Center, which is located in the Urban League building, 3701 Grandel Square in the Grand Center district. The flyer for the show says seating is limited, so get there early to be assured a spot.

Also in the very same neighborhood, electronic musician and former St. Louisan Tom Hamilton will be back in town this weekend to do a 50th anniversary-themed concert for New Music Circle on Saturday at the Kranzberg Arts Center, which is in the newly renovated Big Brothers-Big Sisters building at 501 N. Grand. For more about Hamilton's concert, check out the preview story Terry Perkins wrote for the St. Louis Beacon here.

Elsewhere in town, St. Louis Jazz Cafe will have smooth jazz saxophonist Readus Miller on Thursday and again on Saturday; drummer Joe Pastor's trio on Friday; and the Usual Suspects Duo for Sunday brunch. On Sunday night, jazz/funk/R&B band Good 4 The Soul has an early evening gig at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and on Tuesday, saxophonist Bennett Wood is back for another no-cover-charge show at The Gramophone.

With a new month beginning this week, band and venue schedule information for May is still coming in. So, as always, updates on more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond will be posted to the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar as they arrive at StLJN HQ.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: Trio Globo, Box Deserter Trio, Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, and more

After a veritable banquet of musical activity last week, the menu of jazz, improvisation and creative music this weekend in St. Louis is a bit shorter, but still offers some potentially tasty choices. Also notable in these recessionary times is the fact that the two touring attractions in town are both doing shows with no admission fees or cover charges, which is certainly good news for anyone who may have already spent their live music budget for the month. .

One of those touring groups is Trio Globo, featuring keyboardist/harmonica player Howard Levy, cellist Eugene Friesen and percussionist Glen Velez (pictured). They'll be in residency at St. Louis Community College-Meramec on Thursday and Friday, doing a series of free workshops and rehearsing during the day, and then closing things out with a free concert on Friday night in the Meramec Theatre on campus, accompanied by the Meramec orchestra and choir. For more on Trio Globo and a complete schedule of events, please see this post.

The other touring ensemble in question is the Box Deserter Trio, featuring pianist Thollem McDonas, saxophonist Skeeter Shelton, and bassist/multi-instrumentalist Joel Peterson. They're also performing on Thursday and Friday, doing a pair of free shows downtown at the Schlafly St. Louis Brewery and Tap Room. On Thursday, the opening acts will be the bands Holy! Holy! Holy! and Allgorithms, and on Friday, it's poet K. Curtis Lyle with multi-instrumentalist David A.N. Jackson and bassist and mbira player Zimbabwe Nkenya.

This is also the weekend when the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, the ensemble featuring the top students from JSL's educational programs, does their annual gig at Jazz at the Bistro. They'll be on stage for two sets a night on Friday and Saturday, showing off what they've learned over the past year of rehearsing, performing, workshopping with visiting artists including Greg Osby and Bruce Barth, and studying with their regular instructors, trumpeter Anthony Wiggins and pianist/JSL education director Phil Dunlap.

UPDATE - 4/23/09, 12:10 p.m.: Drummer T. S. Monk, son of the legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, is also in the St. Louis area this weekend, performing with his sextet on Saturday night at SIU-Edwardsville as part of the University's Arts and Issues series. Tickets are $27 for general admission, $12 for students, and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Meridian Ballroom of the Morris University Center.

Elsewhere this weekend, the St. Louis Jazz Cafe has smooth jazz saxophonists Readus Miller on Thursday and Michael Anthony Fitzgerald on Friday, then singer Danita Mumphard on Saturday night and the Usual Suspects Duo for Sunday brunch. On Sunday, Bud Shultz and the You Can't Beat Experience Jazz Band will offer their monthly session of traditional jazz at the Alton VFW hall, and on Tuesday, neo-swing group Swing DeVille will play at The Gramophone/

As always, these are just some of the noteworthy shows happening around St. Louis over the next few days. To see more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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.)

Post has more on St. Louis Jazz Cafe

Those with an interest in the new St. Louis Jazz Cafe will want to check out this blog post made Thursday by St. Louis Post-Dispatch pop music critic Kevin Johnson, in which the Jazz Cafe's owner and manager discuss the club's cuisine and music policy.

The Post also has a series of "party pics" online from the Jazz Cafe's grand opening two weeks ago. Although the shots are mostly close-ups of the people attending the event, you can get a little bit of a feel for the club's look and atmosphere as well. You can see the picture album here.

Jazz this week: Chris Botti, Legacy Jazz Quintet, Oikos Ensemble, and more

With spring definitely in the air here in St. Louis, it's looking like another good weekend to get out and hear some live sounds. Here's what's going on around town over the next few days with jazz and creative music:

Tonight, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present a free concert from guitarist Chris Burchett and his quartet.

Also tonight, the new St. Louis Jazz Cafe, open for its first full week of operations, features the Usual Suspects, fronted by keyboard player Charles Brown and singer/saxophonist Jessica Butler (daughter of well-known local pop crooner Ralph Butler).

On Friday and Saturday, the Legacy Jazz Quintet performs at Jazz at the Bistro. The group is conceived "in the mold of the classic quintets of Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Horace Silver" and features Jazz St. Louis director of education Phil Dunlap on piano, Anthony Wiggins on trumpet, Jason Swagler on saxophones, Nick Jost on bass and Marty Morrison on drums.

On Saturday, trumpeter Chris Botti (pictured) will be in town to give a special benefit performance for St. Louis Children's Hospital at J. Buck's restaurant downtown. I don't know if there are any of the $175 tickets for the event still available as of this writing, but if you'd like to go, call Children's Hospital at 314-286-0974 to check.

Also on Saturday, longtime local favorites Trio Tres Bien perform at the St. Louis Jazz Cafe, while singer Kim Massie holds forth at Brandt's.

On Sunday morning, the Oikos Ensemble, which mixes jazz and world music with Christian spirituality, will give a free performance at Mount Tabor UCC in south St. Louis. Then on Sunday afternoon, Bud Shultz and the You Can't Beat Experience Jazz Band will present their monthly session of traditional New Orleans style jazz and swing at the VFW hall in Alton.

Of course, this is just a taste of what's happening around St. Louis over the next few days, so to see listings for more jazz-related events this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(If you have calendar items, band schedule information, news tips, links, or anything else you think may be of interest to StLJN's readers, please email the information to stljazznotes (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz this week: Dr. Lonnie Smith, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Boney James, the St. Louis Jazz Cafe's grand opening, and more

Better weather, the official onset of spring, and a nicely varied slate of musical attractions make this a good week in St. Louis to get out and hear some live jazz and creative music.

Here's a chronological look at the highlights of the next seven days, starting with veteran jazz organist Dr. Lonnie Smith (pictured), who opened last night and plays through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

For this visit to St. Louis, Smith is joined by the bluesy guitarist Russell Malone and the drummer and New Orleans native Herlin Riley, who seem like they ought to be a very sympatico couple of bandmates. For more about Smith and some video samples of his funk-infused organ wizardry, see this post from Saturday before last. To hear Jazz St. Louis' podcast interview with the good Doctor, go here.

(And while we're at it, a couple of unusual facts about Dr. Lonnie Smith: He is not a physician, nor does he hold a doctorate, earned or honorary, in any academic subject. Also, he's not a Sikh (the religious faith that today is most commonly associated with turbans), nor is he a member of any other denomination that requires believers to wear a turban. Both the "Dr." designation and the distinctive headgear originally came about, so the story goes, for "no particular reason." Both, however, seemed to have served the purpose of making Smith more recognizable and/or memorable, which was probably mighty useful while he was coming up in the 1960s amidst a flock of popular jazz organists, and presumably still handy today.)

Also this evening, guitarist William Lenihan and pianist Kim Portnoy will team up to do a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. This is being billed as a duo show, and the intimate confines of Holmes Lounge should provide a good opportunity to hear both players' contributions in fine detail.

On Saturday night, St. Louis Jazz Cafe has its grand opening, with music from Erin Bode. The cafe also will host its first jazz brunch on Sunday, with music from the Neal Conners Trio. For more about the St. Louis Jazz Cafe, including links to all previous StLJN coverage of the new downtown jazz club, see this post.

Sunday will be a busy day, with three noteworthy performances competing for local listeners' time and attention. First, there's the Duke Ellington Orchestra, now under the direction of conductor and trumpeter Barrie Lee Hall Jr., who will be in St. Louis for a matinee concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. While many of the present-day members of the Orchestra weren't even born yet when the Duke himself died back in 1974, Ellington's vast catalog of compositions and arrangements remains timeless, and always worth hearing.

Of course, if you're anywhere near St. Louis and already a big band fan, chances are that you've already made plans to attend this show. But if you've never heard a big band perform live before, and/or are just getting acquainted with jazz and want to learn more about it, you definitely should get to know Ellington's music - not just because it's historically important, but because, like all art of lasting value, it still is truly engaging, emotive and entertaining, even many years after its creation.

Also on Sunday, guitarist Matthew Von Doran will do a trio concert with bassist Nick Jost and drummer Miles Vandiver at Music Folk, 8015 Big Bend Blvd in Webster Groves. Van Doran hasn't done too many live performances since moving to St. Louis a couple of years ago, and that seems a shame, because based on what's available on record, the man really can play. This event will feature Von Doran, Jost and Vandiver playing both acoustically and electrically in the single-story, storefront space, which is intimate on the scale of someone's living room.

Last - but not least - on Sunday, the presenting organization St. Louis City Jazz is sponsoring a performance by smooth jazz saxophonist Tim Cunningham at the Schlafly Brewery and Tap Room downtown.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Black Wolf Consort, a new project involving trombonist John Wolf, guitarist Dave Black, and classically trained singer Jessica Heuser, is at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and on Tuesday, The Gramophone will feature the Andrew Miramonti Trio.

Next Wednesday, the popular smooth jazz/funk saxophonist Boney James begins a tour in support of his latest CD, Send One Your Love, right here in St. Louis at The Pageant. James' CD came out around Valentine's Day and, as the name suggests, emphasizes love songs. However, while he will no doubt be playing some romantic songs from the latest release, I'd bet James will be serving up a few fan-pleasing funky jams as well.

As always, these are just a few of the noteworthy performances happening around St. Louis over the next few days. To see listings for more jazz-related events this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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.)

Is jazz coming back to downtown St. Louis?

Though many jazz clubs have come and gone in downtown St. Louis over the decades, in recent years it's been tough to find live jazz in the figurative shadow of the Gateway Arch.

In the nearly four years I've been writing StLJN, jazz bookings at the Adams Mark Hotel's lounges and restaurants, once a staple there, first dwindled, and then were eliminated when the riverfront property was sold and re-flagged as a Hyatt Regency. Elsewhere downtown, BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups has continued to book the Sessions Big Band on Mondays, as well as occasional gigs on Sundays featuring locals such as Good 4 the Soul, Todd Mosby and Anita Rosamond, but it remains primarily a blues club. Also, a bit farther to the west, George Sams' Nu-Art Series has presented occasional jazz and creative music performances at the Metropolitan Gallery. Beyond that, though, live jazz in downtown St. Louis proper has been relatively scarce here in the 21st century.

(UPDATE: A reader emails to point out that the concerts put on by the now-defunct Black Artists Group revival in 2007 and 2008 at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site ought to be included in any accounting of recent jazz activity downtown, and he's right. Although BAG II didn't succeed in building a large audience, the efforts of the group, and particularly those of bassist and event producer Zimbabwe Nkenya, should not be forgotten.)

The deficit has not gone completely unnoticed. A couple of years ago, Jazz St. Louis made an attempt to establish a downtown beachhead of sorts, co-presenting a handful of free, cocktail-hour shows in conjunction with the Hilton at the Ballpark. Having played one of those gigs myself, backing singer Kim Massie, I can say based on first-hand observation that the hotel - how do I put this nicely? - did not seem strongly committed to making the series a success. As it turned out, the idea was abandoned after a few weeks.

More recently, though, there have been a few signs that jazz may be making something of a comeback in downtown St. Louis. Consider the following data points:

1) The St. Louis Jazz Cafe, located at 1500 St. Charles, and previously written about in this space here, here and here, appears to be on track for its grand opening celebration featuring music from Erin Bode this Saturday, March 21.

Someone associated with the cafe apparently has been reaching out to local food writers, as evidenced by these blog posts from the Riverfront Times and Sauce magazine, and Post-Dispatch pop music critic Kevin Johnson also mentioned the grand opening in a blog post here. (Curiously, any press releases intended for St. Louis Jazz Notes, and/or grand opening invitations for yr. humble editor, seem to have been mysteriously lost in the electronic ether and/or mail.)

The St. Louis Jazz Cafe also has updated parts of its Web site, particularly the music calendar, which now reveals who's booked for the first couple of weeks after the grand opening. 3 Central, a smooth jazz band seen in semi-regular rotation at the now-closed Cookie's Jazz and More, will play for the cafe's soft-opening "Friends and Family" night on Thursday, with the Usual Suspects taking over on subsequent Thursdays. (I'm reasonably certain that would be these Usual Suspects, fronted by keyboardist Charlie Brown and singer/saxophonist Jessica Butler, and not these Usual Suspects, who, save for a few videos on YouTube, seem to have evaporated without a trace in the two years since winning the RFT's "Best Cover Band" award.)

Other musical offerings now on the St. Louis Jazz Cafe calendar include the Neal Connors Trio, for the cafe's first Sunday brunch on March 22; Trio Tres Bien (pictured), who are set to appear on Saturday, March 28 and Friday, April 10; and Lamar Harris, who's booked on Saturday, April 4 and Friday, April 17. That's about as far as the calendar goes right now, though there is an RSS feed for those who'd like direct access to any updates.

2) St. Louis City Jazz, the fledgling not-for-profit organization whose mission statement, as their name suggests, involves "bringing live jazz back to the city of St. Louis," is presenting smooth jazz saxophonist Tim Cunningham at the Schlafly Brewery and Tap Room this Sunday, March 22. Cunningham plays from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and tickets are $20 at the door.

3) Then there's the Jazz Spot, housed in the space at 400 N. Washington Ave. that once contained the Mandarin Bay restaurant, back when the surrounding hotel first opened a few years ago. The Jazz Spot came into being in 2008, when local real estate and media moguls the Roberts Brothers took over the hotel. However, to date, I haven't written anything about the place here on StLJN, because they haven't featured much in the way of actual jazz music.

Instead, the half-dozen groups listed on the club's Web site's "live music" page would seem to fall mostly into what might loosely be termed the "variety band" category, mixing jazz, R&B, pop, blues and other genres. Only one group listed there has its own Web site, the On Call Band, led by drummer Marty Spikener and saxophonist David Spruill. They're an entertaining band, featuring some good musicians, but not a jazz group per se; indeed, their own Web site emphasizes not their jazz chops, but their versatility, pitching them as able to play everything from blues to reggae.

That said, the Jazz Spot did present a show last October featuring singer and East St. Louis native Phil Perry, who works the boundary of smooth jazz and R&B, and the club will serve as the site for the upcoming CD release event for drummer Stan Hale, so perhaps they will yet begin booking live music on a regular basis that lives up to the implications of their name. For now, I'll be adding a link to the Jazz Spot's site, and to the site of the St. Louis Jazz Cafe, over on the StLJN sidebar, and keeping on eye on developments at both places.

Granted, these are but a handful of semi-random data points, there's a major recession happening, and a handful of shows do not a full-fledged resurgence make. But one would think jazz fans in St. Louis will be hoping for these new downtown presenters to meet with some success. It certainly would be good for local listeners, as well as tourists, left for for some time without adequate musical options in the heart of a city supposedly famous for its jazz heritage. And it would, of course, be good for St. Louis' jazz musicians, who can always use more work. For now, all we can do is wait and see what happens next.

St. Louis Jazz Cafe to open Saturday, March 21 with Erin Bode

Downtown St. Louis' newest jazz venue, the St. Louis Jazz Cafe, has set the date of its grand opening for Saturday, March 21, with singer Erin Bode as the featured entertainment. The club's opening night bash will include a "Happy Hour" from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., dinner service beginning at 5:00 p.m., and two sets of music from Bode and her band, exact times TBA.

The Cafe, which has been the subject of a couple of previous posts here at St. Louis Jazz Notes, also now has a Web site at http://stlouisjazzcafe.com. On the home page, you can see a small photo of the bar/restaurant's interior, which looks quite nice, but for the most part, the site still appears to be a work in progress. For example, while the menu page says that the club's fare "combines classic American standards with a French/Creole influence associated with New Orleans" and will "reflect the migration of of the food and the music, from New Orleans to Kansas City, to St. Louis to Memphis, to Chicago to New York," the link to the actual menu isn't working yet.

Similarly, the only musicians listed on the calendar page are Bode for the grand opening, and singer Donna Marie Moody on Saturday, March 28. The home page does say that the club will feature live music on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and at Sunday brunch, which will run from 10:00 a.m. to either 2:30 p.m. or 3:00 p.m., depending on which page of the site you're viewing.

(Presumably, little glitches like this, and the misspelling of the word "tradition" in the headline on the "entertainment" page, will get cleaned up in the near future as the site gets fleshed out. However - if I may put on my Internet media-critic hat here for a second - that still won't make up for the fact that the site's designers chose to build the whole thing in Flash, which makes it impossible to link to anything other than the home page. Apparently, it's not so good for search engine rankings either, as the site doesn't show up until the second page of results for a Google search on "St. Louis Jazz Cafe." Web designers, please note: Flash is great for animation, but not so good as a way to build entire sites.)

Anyway, based on the number of search engine hits StLJN gets on a weekly basis for variations on the phrase "Sunday jazz brunch," having music on Sundays could prove to be a good draw right out of the gate for the St. Louis Jazz Cafe. Also, there's no doubt that there's presently a void in the market for live jazz in St. Louis left by the closings of venues such as Finale Music and Dining, Cookie's Jazz and More, and Crossings Taverne and Grille over the last year or so. Here's hoping that the St. Louis Jazz Cafe's musical lineup will help fill some of that void, and when more information becomes available, we'll have it for you right here.

More on the St. Louis Jazz Cafe

Following up on a story from last month, there was an interesting comment this past week on the December 26 post about the St. Louis Jazz Café, a new music venue scheduled to open in March at 1501 Locust downtown.

Responding to the original Post-Dispatch story as well as an earlier commenter here at StLJN, "Anonymous" wrote:

"I have it from a source close to the owners of The St Louis Jazz Cafe, that 1) The mention of streaming music from the internet in the article is a misquote; They do not intend to use that as a source.

2) The types of Jazz played and performed will cover the gamut of the genre, i,e. everything from Big band era, & swing, to modern, and contemporary, smooth Jazz, to free form, from Thelonious Monk, and Miles, to Stanley Turrentine and Grover Washington Jr, from Mel Torme & The Chairman of the Board, to Wes Montgomery, or Grant Green, From Oscar Peterson to Stanley Clark.

3) Also a misquote; The fact that Tim Sims will be putting together the food offerings,....that too is incorrect, the St Louis Jazz Cafe, will employ the services of a notable Chef, Tim Sims is the Operations Manager, more like an F&B Manager."

Now granted, this is from an anonymous commenter, and thus can't automatically be ascribed the same degree of credibility as a properly sourced statement from someone connected with the venture...but it's interesting anyway, and in the absence of any other information, seems at least somewhat plausible. As I said in the original comment thread, there's really no way to tell what sort of music the club will feature until a schedule is announced, so all we can do is wait and see.

In the meantime, there is at least one public indication the project is making some progress, though - the St. Louis Jazz Cafe is now advertising on Craig's List for servers, bartenders, cooks and kitchen help.

More details as we get 'em...

Post story says downtown St. Louis will get new jazz venue in March

According to a story in yesterday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, downtown St. Louis will be getting a new live music venue called the St. Louis Jazz Cafe in the spring of 2009.

Business columnist Joe Whittington's December 25 entry included an item saying that the venue "will occupy the space that once housed the Red Moon restaurant in the Terra Cotta Lofts, 1501 Locust Street. Arnold and Aundra Charleston will be opening it in March. Tim Simms will be putting together the food offerings. Arnold Charleston said the new spot would have live entertainment three or four nights a week, and maybe a Sunday jazz brunch. The rest of the week will consist of local talent and streaming smooth jazz from the Internet. "Once a week we'll get a headliner, and I've been talking with Erin Bode and Tim Cunningham," said Arnold Charleston."

The above is a direct quote from the Post story, and after reading it three times, I'm still a little confused about how many nights a week the club will feature live music, and whether they'll be booking local or touring acts. The story starts out saying "three or four nights a week," which seems clear enough, but in the very next sentence adds that "the rest of the week will consist of local talent." Very confusing, especially when you consider that the two potential headliners mentioned in the story are both from St. Louis.

Still, news of any new jazz venue in town certainly is a welcome development, and StLJN will be following this story with interest. The St. Louis Jazz Cafe doesn't seem to have a Web site yet, but you can get a peek at their logo here, on the blog of the design firm that created it. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.