StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Three from Pat Martino

This week, we've got three music videos featuring guitarist Pat Martino, who will be in St. Louis from Wednesday, February 18 through Saturday, February 21 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro. A native of Philadelphia, Martino came up in the 1960s playing in the classic organ-trio style and established himself as one of the top young guitarists in jazz. At the turn of the 1970s, he branched out into fusion, making memorable recordings such as Starbright and Joyous Lake that impressed both fusion fans and traditionalists.

Then in 1980, Martino suffered a near-fatal brain aneurysm. Surgery saved his life, but wiped all his memories of how to play the guitar. Martino had to relearn to play music again from scratch, and his illness and subsequent return to excellence in a relatively short time were the subject of a 2007 documentary, Martino Unstrung, that was screened last fall at the St. Louis International Film Festival. Martino's present-day playing has hints of both the old school and the new school, as he uses tonal, harmonic and formal ideas from the fusion years as part of what is essentially a fairly traditional, straight-ahead concept of a guitar-focused jazz group.

In the first video, recorded in 2008, Martino is playing a swinging blues, name unknown to me, with the able assistance of organist Tony Monaco and drummer Harvey Mason. The other two clips are both from a performance in 2001 at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, and feature Martino, Joey DeFrancesco on organ and Byron Landham on drums. The one just below shows them playing a Martino composition called "The Great Stream," and in the embed window at the bottom, they're doing a Cal Massey song, "These Are Soulful Days."

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Hamiet Bluiett with Trifactor, plus Rasul Siddik and the Now! Artet

This week, let's take a look at some clips featuring a couple of the musicians who will be taking part in the upcoming "BAG and Beyond" events to be held September 12 - 14 at the Metropolitan Gallery in St. Louis.

The first video features the well-known baritone saxophonist (and resident of Brooklyn, IL) Hamiet Bluiett performing with violinist Billy Bang and percussionist Kahil El'Zabar under the collective moniker Trifactor. The clip was recorded in November 2005 at Mad Art Gallery in St. Louis.

Down below is an extended excerpt from a performance by trumpeter Rasul Siddik, another St. Louis area native who now lives in Paris. The clip shows Siddik playing a concert at the Berkeley (CA) Public Library with his group the Now! Artet, featuring cellist, bassist and Alton, Illinois native Kash Killion, percussionist "Eyarb" Bob Breye, and Ghasem Batamuntu on "saxxsetra."

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A John Zorn sampler

Saxophonist, composer and musical provocateur John Zorn's connection to St. Louis was relatively short-lived, as he spent a little over a year here in the 1970s attending Webster University (then known as Webster College). Some of Zorn's musical and presentational proclivities were becoming evident even then; one local musician I know recalls playing with him at a local coffeehouse in a free-jazz jam session that Zorn directed with a series of visual cues and gestures. That same musician recalled Zorn sporting some unusual facial hair for a while - specifically, a half-mustache on one side of his face, with a half-goatee on the opposite side, the net effect being a division of the lower half of the face into a sort of quadrant arrangement.

Make of that what you will, and it's hard to say exactly what Zorn may have taken away from his time in St. Louis, though it wasn't long after living here that he moved to New York, arriving as NYC's loft jazz scene of the 1970s was winding down and the downtown new music scene that would become prominent in the 1980s was getting started. Since then Zorn has become an almost absurdly prolific composer, improviser, and record company proprietor, releasing dozens of CDs on his Tzadik label and traveling the world to perform in a seemingly endless stream of varied musical projects.

Today, via the magic of YouTube, we'll take a look at a small sample of Zorn's diverse body of work. The first clip was recorded in November 1994 at Jazzfestival Hamburg (Germany) and features the acoustic version of Zorn's Masada ensemble with Zorn, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums performing the composition is "Sheloshim."

The second clip is from a gig in February 2008 at St. Ann's Warehouse in NYC. It shows a performance of "Makahaa (Reprise)" from the album The Gift, delivered by a group including Zorn, Trevor Dunn (bass), Marc Ribot (guitar), Jamie Soft (organ), Cyro Baptista (percussion), Joey Baron (drums) and Wollesen. The footage is shaky in spots, but the sound is listenable and so, as one of the more recent visual documents of Zorn's work available online, it seemed worth including.

Down below are a couple of clips related to one of Zorn's signature pieces, the performance/musical game "Cobra." The first video was recorded in January 2008 at the Barbi Club in Tel Aviv, Israel during a festival devoted to Zorn's music, and shows him playing "Cobra" with a a group including Baron, Wollesen, Ribot, Dunn, Baptista, Ikue Mori, Jean Claude Jones and others. The second clip is from a documentary called On the Edge: Improvisation in music, and focuses on Zorn prompting a game of "Cobra," providing a bit of additional insight into how the piece works in practice.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on David Sanborn

A couple of weeks ago, we promised you some David Sanborn performance videos, and here they are - a quartet of clips showcasing several sides of the versatile alto saxophonist and St. Louis native. (Yes, technically, Sanborn was born in Tampa, FL, but since he spent all of his formative years here, we proudly claim him for the Gateway City.)

First up is "Chicago Song," a Hubert Laws composition that Sanborn very effectively has made his own. The studio version has a very 1980s synth-funk vibe to it; this live rendition open up that groove just a bit while still retaining the song's insanely catchy hooks.

Next up is a clip from the TV show Night Music (aka Sunday Night), in which Sanborn, who also hosted the program, teams up with Dizzy Gillespie for a version of the bebop standard "Tin Tin Deo," demonstrating that, yes, he can play bop quite nicely, thank you very much.

(Sanborn got to play with all sorts of famous folk on Night Music, a show uniquely suited to his multi-genre capabilities and one which still hasn't been issued on DVD. Most of the YouTube clips that circulate online seem to be from old VHS cassettes taped off the original broadcasts of the show. Please, won't someone put out a box set of Night Music DVDs?)

Down below, you'll find Sanborn's version of the ballad "Smile," which he first recorded several years ago and played during his set at the 2006 St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival, dedicating it to his mom, who was in the audience.

Last but not least, the final clip showcases Sanborn once again getting funky with a live version of "Slam" recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Sanborn's new CD, Here and Gone, is just out on the revived Decca label, and he'll be in St. Louis on Friday, September 26 to perform at The Pageant.





(Editor's note: "StLJN Saturday Video Showcase" is, as you've probably figured out by now, the new name for the weekly post formerly known as "StLJN Saturday at the Movies." The old name was fine when we first began the weekly video posts a couple of years ago with a series of old cartoons with jazz soundtracks, but given that the content these days consists of short music videos, not full-length films, the new name is a bit more accurate.)

(Edited 8/19/08 to fix a typo.)

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Dave Brubeck, then and now

Continuing with our occasional summer series previewing this fall's jazz concert attractions in St. Louis, this week the spotlight falls on legendary jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, who will return to our city on Saturday, October 4 for a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

The first video clip is from 1961, and shows the classic Dave Brubeck Quartet - Brubeck on piano, Paul Desmond on alto sax, drummer Joe Morello and bassist Gene Wright - performing Desmond's "Take Five," their signature tune and still one of the biggest-selling jazz records of all time.

The second video is from 2007, and shows Brubeck soloing on "Things Ain't What They Used To Be," a song closely associated with his musical idol Duke Ellington. Brubeck celebrate his 88th birthday in December of 2008, and still plays dozens of concerts a year. Single tickets for the Sheldon's 2008-09 concerts, including Brubeck's show, are now on sale.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Dave Koz' "Silver Lining," plus Red Holloway plays "Nica's Dream"

This week's videos offer previews of two saxophonists with very different styles who both will be performing in St. Louis this month. The clip up top spotlights Dave Koz, who will play The Pageant next Friday, August 8 to close out DJ and impresario Rick Sanborn's 2008 "Smooth Summer Party" series. Koz is seen here doing the tune "Silver Lining" at a festival in Maui, Hawaii.

The second video shows Red Holloway, who is scheduled to perform a free concert on Friday, August 29 at Kiener Plaza under the auspices of the new presenting organization St. Louis City Jazz. This clip of Holloway playing the Horace Silver composition "Nica's Dream" was recorded at a concert in Tokyo, Japan.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: A David Sanborn master class

With alto saxophonist David Sanborn coming home to St. Louis in September to play a concert at The Pageant, it seems like a good time to feature him in our Saturday video showcase. There are many clips of Sanborn performances available online, but today we've got something different: a master class that Sanborn gave on June 30, 2008 for the Selmer Company.

There are five parts totaling just under 40 minutes, and during the class Sanborn touches on a lot of topics, including his preferences in saxophones, his sound concept and influences, former teachers, and more. He does some playing, too, with an assist from Gil Goldstein on piano. Look for some of those performance clips in a future installment, but for now, here's hoping you enjoy this opportunity to hear Sanborn talk about the concepts, techniques and processes behind the music.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Spotlight on Tony DeSare

This week, we continue our series of previews of this fall's coming attractions and shine the the Saturday video spotlight on Tony DeSare, a singer and pianist who will perform at Jazz at the Bistro from Wednesday, September 10 through Saturday, September 13. This actually will be DeSare's fourth gig for Jazz St. Louis in the last three years, as he made his debut at the Bistro two seasons ago; returned last September to kick off the 2007-08 season; and provided the entertainment for JSL's benefit gala this past spring.

The first clip is from Desare's appearance a couple of years ago on the CBS Saturday Early Show. The song is "We've Got A World That Swings," and DeSare is accompanied by Mike Lee on bass, Brian Czach on drums, and the great jazz veteran Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar.

In the second video, DeSare demonstrates his pianistic prowess in a performance of "Fly Me To The Moon" at the Jazz Arts Project's 2007 Summer Jazz Cafe in Red Bank, NJ. Given that DeSare is something of a Frank Sinatra aficionado, and even played the title role in the Off-Broadway musical Our Sinatra, one might expect him to offer a version not too different from Ol' Blue Eyes' rendition of the tune.

One would be wrong, as instead he goes in the opposite direction, performing the song as a piano-driven instrumental in a sort of mutant stride/Erroll Garner style. There's certainly room to debate whether or not this is a good and/or tasteful approach for this particular song...but there's no doubt it's different, and an impressive performance from a technical standpoint.



(Edited 7/22/08 to fix a typo.)

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Stanton Moore Trio plus Jeff Coffin

This week's videos feature a couple of musicians who will be performing in St. Louis at Lucas School House in the next couple of months. Up top, there's a clip of the Stanton Moore Trio, featuring Moore on drums along with guitarist Will Bernard and keyboardist Wil Blades. It was recorded in May of this year at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle, and shows the band playing a new tune called "5-7-1," which is taken from Moore's forthcoming CD with Bernard and keyboardist John Medeski. The Stanton Moore Trio will be in St. Louis on Wednesday, September 3.

The video down below depicts a mostly unaccompanied solo from saxophonist Jeff Coffin, who comes to town on Thursday, August 21. It's from a performance at Beavercreek High School in Ohio, and shows Coffin going pretty far outside to deploy some extended techniques, followed by a demonstration of his prowess at playing two saxophones at once. Coffin does a lot of school performances and clinics for young musicians, and assuming this clip is any indication of what he's teaching, it's good to see someone exposing the youth of America to some good old-fashioned free-jazz skronk.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Algernon's "Transmission Received," plus Bennett Wood & friends play "Henry"

This week, let's take a look at a couple of videos featuring musicians who will be playing this month in the Tuesday night jazz series at The Gramophone, for which the club is partnering with Jazz St. Louis. One of the precepts of the Tuesday night series seems to be the presentation of new talent, such as the Chicago-based band Algernon and saxophonist Bennett Wood.

Algernon, led by guitarist Dave Miller, plays instrumental music that draws on a number of influences, including jazz, rock, and contemporary classical. They've been placed by some critics into the "post-rock" category, evoking comparisons to their fellow Chicagoans in the band Tortoise, but since forming four years ago, they have performed in settings ranging from jazz festivals to indie rock clubs.

Algernon have put out two independently released CDs, and they'll be playing at The Gramophone on Tuesday, July 15 with their current lineup, which includes Miller and fellow guitarist Nick Fryer, Katie Wiegman on vibraphone, Cory Healey on drums and Tom Perona on bass. The video clip above was recorded in February 2007 at the House Cafe in DeKalb, IL, and shows the band playing Miller's composition "Transmission Received."

As for Bennett Wood, who will be performing at The Gramophone this Tuesday, July 8, he's a native of Hannibal, MO who was schooled at SIU-Edwardsville and now resides in St. Louis. The video clip below was recorded at SIU-E in April of this year, and it features Wood on alto sax, bassist Nick Jost and drummer Sean Mullins performing an original composition by Jost called "Henry." I have no idea if what's depicted in this video has anything to do with what Wood's going to play on Tuesday, but it sounds good to these ears, and at the very least shows that the young saxophonist has a nice even tone and good facility on his chosen instrument.

There's no cover charge for the Tuesday night jazz shows at The Gramophone, and the music starts at 9:00 p.m. For more information or directions, see their Web site.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Spotlight on Cedar Walton

From time to time throughout the summer, our Saturday video showcase will offer previews of some of the musicians who are coming to St. Louis this fall and/or next year. Today, we turn the spotlight on Cedar Walton, a veteran pianist who, in addition to leading his own groups, has worked with musicians such as Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Abbey Lincoln, J.J. Johnson and Lee Morgan. Walton will be in the Gateway City from September 24 through September 27 to play with his trio at Jazz at the Bistro.

The two clips above show Walton leading a quartet in a performance of John Coltrane's composition "Naima" at the 1976 Umbria Jazz Festival. In addition to the leader on piano, the band includes George Coleman on tenor sax, Sam Jones on bass and the great Billy Higgins on drums. Down below, you'll see Walton in a trio performance of his own composition "Bremond's Blues," backed by Higgins and David Williams on bass. The fourth embedded video window has an interview with Walton from 1997.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Russell Gunn plays "Walkin'" and "Stablemates"

This week's videos showcase trumpeter Russell Gunn, who grew up in East St. Louis and has made a name for himself as one of the top jazz trumpet players of his generation. The first clip shows Gunn performing "Walkin'," a hard bop standard frequently played back in the day by Miles Davis. It's taken from a performance on January 24 of this year at Churchill Grounds in Atlanta, where Gunn now lives. The second clip shows Gunn playing "Stablemates" during a jam session with drummer Bernard Linnette's band on March 3, 2008 at Star Jazz and Blues in Atlanta.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Spotlight on Terreon Gully

This week's videos showcase the very talented drummer Terreon Gully. Since moving to NYC a decade ago, the East St. Louis native has worked with a variety of musicians and groups in jazz, hip-hop and reggae, including David Sanborn, Stefon Harris, Russell Gunn, Burning Spear, Lauren Hill, Roy Ayers, Common, Christian McBride and many others.

Up top, you can see and hear Gully playing and soloing on Weather Report's "Boogie Woogie Waltz" with McBride's group, which includes the leader on bass, Geoff Keezer on keyboards, and Ron Blake on saxophones. Down below is a clip of a brief interview with Gully, who now makes his home in Atlanta.



(Edited 6/18/08 to fix a problem with the tags.)

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Saxophones, St. Louis style, as playedby Greg Osby and Eric Person

This week's videos showcase two versatile saxophonists originally from St. Louis who have established successful careers as touring artists, composers and bandleaders. Up top, we've got two clips featuring Greg Osby, who usually concentrates on alto sax, but also has performed on soprano sax, clarinet and flute. In addition to leading his own bands, Osby has worked with Andrew Hill, the World Saxophone Quartet, Jim Hall, Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition and many others, and even did a tour with Grateful Dead successors The Dead a few years back.

The first video up above shows Osby fronting his own group in a performance of "The End Of A Love Affair," with a little bit of interview footage as a bonus. In the second clip he's seen in a less formal setting, jamming alongside guitarist John Abercrombie on a variation of the tune "Solar" that here is called "Improvisation #3."

Down below, we've got two videos featuring Eric Person, who divides his time between soprano, alto, and tenor saxes and flute. Like Osby, Person has done some gigs with the WSQ and has toured with a rock band, performing with Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals. Person also has played and recorded with Chico Hamilton, Dave Holland, Ronald Shannon Jackson and lots more, but these days he puts the bulk of his efforts into his own band, Meta-Four.

The first clip shows Person playing soprano sax on his own composition "Undercurrents." It's short but sweet, shot in artsy black-and-white with a Super-8 camera by Todd Boebel, with video editing by April Smith. In contrast, the second clip is about as informal as it gets - camcorder footage of Person jamming at a small club, this time playing alto sax. The tune is John Coltrane's "Impressions," and the other musicians are drummer Marvin "Bugalu" Smith, pianist John Esposito and bassist Andy McCloud, whose contributions are, alas, almost inaudible. While the audio is rough, you can hear Person pretty well, and the interaction between him and Smith suggests that they've both spent some time listening to those classic 1960s 'Trane recordings with Elvin Jones on drums.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Erin Bode's "Graceland," plus Jeanne Trevor sings "At Last"

This week's videos showcase two singers from different generations who are both popular attractions on the St. Louis music scene. First up is Erin Bode, who's got a new CD coming out next month, singing her interpretation of Paul Simon's "Graceland." The clip was recorded recently when Bode and her band performed at the Nighttown jazz club in Cleveland, and although the video is bit dark, the audio quality is good.

The second clip features Jeanne Trevor, who's been entertaining local audiences since the Gaslight Square era, performing her rendition of "At Last," a song that has become a standard thanks mainly to the familiar version recorded by Etta James. Pianist Kevin Kurth, who, like Trevor, has worked frequently in musical theater as well as in clubs and concerts, provides the accompaniment.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: A Miles Davis birthday tribute

Since Miles Davis' birthday falls on Monday, this week's video post will serve as StLJN's annual tribute to the legendary trumpeter, who was born 82 years ago in Alton, IL.

The first three videos are from 1964, when Miles' famous quintet with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams was just beginning to gather some serious momentum. Clips one and two are taken from a performance on the Steve Allen Show, and depict the band performing "All Blues" and "So What."

The third video shows the same lineup later that year at the Teatro Dell'Arte in Milan, Italy, performing the composition "Joshua." For the fourth clip, we jump ahead to 1967 to see the same ensemble doing a rendition of the Thelonious Monk standard "Round Midnight" at a show in Stockholm, Sweden.

(For more Miles videos, check out last year's birthday tribute.)

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Two by Clark Terry

Reading about Clark Terry's current health difficulties this past week got me thinking that it's been a while since we've featured any videos of him in this space. There's certainly a wealth of material from many periods of his career available online. And who knows, perhaps if enough people see, hear and think of Clark Terry, it will somehow send some healing vibes his way. It certainly can't hurt, and even if you don't believe in such things, well, hey, you still get to watch some Clark Terry videos, and that's never a bad deal.

The first clip features Terry on flugelhorn playing "Once I Had A Secret Love," a song that apparently was once a hit for Doris Day - before my time, kids, before my time - but also was recorded (and presumably transmogrified) by Dexter Gordon, Nat Adderley and a number of others. CT kicks things off with an unaccompanied intro, and then is joined by bassist Mike Richmond (who posted the clip to YouTube), drummer Elliot Zigmund and Don Friedman on piano. In the second video, Terry's on trumpet, and after an introductory chorus from the rhythm section, he and valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer put some stank on Duke Ellington's "Things Ain't What They Used to Be."

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Jeff Lorber's "He Had A Hat" plus Rick Braun & Richard Elliot's "Notorious"

This week's videos feature some of the musicians who will be coming this summer to The Pageant in St. Louis as part of smooth jazz DJ/impresario Rick Sanborn's "Smooth Summer Party" series.

Up top, it's keyboardist Jeff Lorber, who will be here on Sunday, June 22 as part of the "Guitars and Saxes" show, playing his composition "He Had His Hat". The clip is from a performance in April 2007 at a resort in Arizona, and that's bass player Brian Bromberg with Lorber.

Down below, it's trumpeter Rick Braun, aided and abetted by saxophonist Richard Elliot, doing a version of Braun's tune "Notorious" in June 2007 at a festival in Southfield, MI. Longtime musical associates, Braun and Elliot have recorded and now are touring together under the name R&R, and they'll be playing The Pageant on Friday, July 25.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: The Yellowjackets play "Red Sea," plus a Marcus Baylor drum solo

This week's videos feature the Yellowjackets, who will be returning to St. Louis to perform at Jazz at the Bistro from Wednesday, May 21 through Saturday, May 24.

The first clip, which showcases the song "Red Sea," comes from the Yellowjackets' 25th anniversary DVD. The second clip is from a live performance last October at trumpeter Arturo Sandoval's Miami jazz club, and shows St. Louis native Marcus Baylor doing an extended drum solo.

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: Karrin Allyson sings "Moanin'" and "O Barquinho (Little Boat)"

This week's videos feature singer and pianist Karrin Allyson, who's coming to St. Louis to perform at Jazz at the Bistro from Wednesday, May 7 through Saturday, May 10.

In these two clips, recorded in 2003 at the Montreux Jazz Festival, you can see and hear her singing the hard bop standard "Moanin'" (above) and demonstrating her affinity for Brazilian music with "O Barquinho (Little Boat)" (below).