Jazz this week: Jeremy Davenport, Tatsu Aoki, Anna Blair, and more

Though it's a holiday weekend, there still are some notable happenings around St. Louis for fans of jazz and creative music. Here's a short-form summary of the highlights:

On Friday and Saturday, trumpeter, singer and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport (pictured) returns home for what 's become an annual Thanksgiving weekend gig at Jazz at the Bistro.

For a taste of Davenport performing material from his latest CD, check out the videos here; for a biography and background, see this post. Also, late word via the Jazz St. Louis Twitter feed is that the 8:30 sets for both nights are already sold out, so definitely call ahead for reservations if you'd like to see one of the 10:15 sets.

Also on Friday, bassist/multi-instrumentalist Tatsu Aoki, who combines jazz with traditional Japanese music, will perform a free concert at the Saint Louis Art Museum's Grigg Gallery. For more on Aoki, see this post.

Elsewhere this weekend, on Friday the Robert Edwards Big Band plays at Robbie's House of Jazz, and singer and local legend Mae Wheeler returns to Seasons St. Louis in Chesterfield. On Saturday, pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True, which features her son David on drums, will take the stage at Robbie's.

On Sunday, singer and actress Anna Blair is doing a cabaret show of Fran Landesman songs at the Kranzberg Arts Center. Jim Dolan of The Presenters Dolan tells me that Blair was a supporting player in Landesman's own cabaret show in St. Louis last year, which inspired her to develop a show of her own centered around Landesman's lyrics, aided and abetted by pianist Joe Dreyer.

Editor's note: Barring any major breaking news, StLJN will be on a light posting schedule through the rest of the holiday weekend. Look for the Saturday Video Showcase as usual, but otherwise things may be relatively slow here for a few days.

In the meantime, for information on more jazz and creative music events this weekend and beyond, check out the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, available for viewing on the left sidebar, or by clicking here. Also, you can follow St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes and become a "fan" by signing up on the StLJN Facebook page.

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

Tatsu Aoki to play free concert on Friday, November 27 at Saint Louis Art Museum

Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Tatsu Aoki (pictured), who blends traditional Japanese music, jazz and experimental sounds, is coming to St. Louis to play a free concert at 7:00 p.m. Friday, November 27 in the Saint Louis Art Museum's Grigg Gallery.

Aoki, who plays bass, taiko drums, and shamisen (a three-stringed Japanese lute), was born in Tokyo but has lived in Chicago since 1977. He has worked with musicians such as Art Ensemble of Chicago members Malachi Favors, Roscoe Mitchell and Don Moye, pipa player Wu Man, and saxophonist Fred Anderson. Aoki also is a filmmaker who teaches film production and history courses at the Art Institute of Chicago, and a noted advocate for Chicago's Asian-American community. You can see a short interview with Aoki and an excerpt from one of his shamisen performances in the embedded video window below.

Aoki's concert is part of the Museum's free Art After 5 series, and is presented in conjunction with the new fall exhibit "Five Centuries of Japanese Screens: Masterpieces from the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago."