So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Keep On Keepin' On, the recent documentary about trumpeter and St. Louis native Clark Terry, is one of the films eligible for the Cinema Eye Honors 2015 Audience Choice prize. You can cast your vote online here.

The movie also was mentioned favorably in a year-end article by the New York Times' Nate Chinen, who called it "a stirring portrait of perseverance, positivity and service."

* Saxophonist Greg Osby's recent trip to Mexico was documented in photos by saxophone makers P. Mauriat Music.

* Now that the holidays are over, touring musicians are hitting the road again, including drummer and St. Charles native Dave Weckl, who's headed out on tour starting January 13 with Chris Minh Doky & The Nomads featuring guitarist Dean Brown and keyboardist George Whitty. They'll play the Catalina Jazz Club in LA on January 20, 21, and 22.

* Meanwhile, drummer Marcus Baylor (pictured) and the Baylor Project will be part of NYC's Winter Jazz Fest, performing next Friday, January 9 at the Bitter End.

* The recently issued Miles Davis box set All of You: The Last Tour 1960 was reviewed by C. Michael Bailey of AllAboutJazz.com.

* New Music Circle has posted on Facebook a photo album from last month's concert by Roscoe Mitchell and Craig Taborn.

* Though The Gramophone has closed now for a month-plus to remodel from a concert club to a neighborhood bar and eatery, the venue's sound system will get a new life just down the street on Manchester when it's installed in a new venue, The Bootleg, in the space once occupied by Atomic Cowboy. The Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson has details in this story.

* And just in case to happen to be looking for some general jazz-related reading material over a long weekend, Down Beat magazine apparently has opened to the public their digital archives going back to 2008. (Thanks to StLJN reader and local Renaissance man Tony Renner for the heads-up.)

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's “Somethin’ Else,” program will feature the music of saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter, followed by "The Jazz Collective" with Jason Church counting down the top 22 tracks from 2014. Wilson can be heard at 8:00 p.m., followed by Church at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

The Gramophone switching to new format in 2015

The Gramophone, which nearly seven years ago became one of the first live music venues in the now-burgeoning Grove district, will step back from presenting live music and switch to a new format in 2015.

According to a message posted Friday on the venue's Facebook page, The Gramophone (pictured) will close for remodeling in January, and then reopen in February as "your 6 day week stop in anytime for a bite and a beer spot in The Grove."

"We will have regular hours (11-3 Tues-Sun), more beers, more cocktails, more food, more seating and NO COVER EVER," the message continued. "We will have some live music and some DJs on the weekends but most of the time we will have a great hand picked soundtrack on our new stereo at a level that you can talk at without yelling."

Although the club's live music offerings have been mostly indie rock, Americana, and hip-hop, occasionally touring jazz acts including Rebirth Brass Band and Kermit Ruffins also have been part of the mix, along with a few locals such as Tommy Halloran, Jeff Riley, and the Funky Butt Brass Band. During the first year of its existence, The Gramophone also presented local jazz musicians weekly on Tuesdays, even enlisting Jazz St. Louis as a co-sponsor of some shows, but that venture lasted only a few months.

You can see the complete text of the message after the jump...

Jazz this week: David Sanborn, Rebirth Brass Band, Chick Corea, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Stanley Clarke Band, and more

It's the busiest week for jazz and creative music so far this fall in St. Louis, with a half-dozen touring headliners passing through town in the next seven days. Let's go to the highlights....

Tonight, alto saxophonist and Kirkwood's own David Sanborn returns home to begin a four-night run continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

Sanborn will be accompanied on this visit by an all-St. Louis rhythm section, with Eric Slaughter on guitar, U City's Peter Martin on piano and Chris Thomas on bass, plus East St. Louis' Montez Coleman on drums. As you might guess, advance reservations are a must; at last report, tickets were scarce for the 7:30 p.m. shows but some seats still may be available for the 9:30 p.m. sets.

Also tonight, The 442s will be joined by pianist Peter Henderson for a free concert that's part of Powell Symphony Hall's "On Stage" series, which, as the name implies, puts the musicians and audience together on the hall's ample stage. 

Tomorrow, New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band will be back to perform at The Gramophone. Along with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth are one of the standard-bearers for their hometown's brass band tradition, adding their own contemporary twists and over the the years serving as a launching pad for several solo careers, including that of trumpeter Kermit Ruffins. If you like New Orleans music, they're definitely a must-see.

Also tomorrow, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present "Freedom Summer '64: A Love Supreme," a free concert featuring the music of John Coltrane as performed by a group including saxophonists Freddie Washington and Paul DeMarinis, guitarist William Lenihan, drummers Maurice Carnes and Steve Davis, and pianist Kara Baldus.The concert will be preceded by panel discussion let by Wash U professor Patrick Burke, author of the 2008 book Come In And Hear the Truth: Jazz and Race on 52nd Street.

Other Thursday night possibilities include jazz-fusion group Common Time, who will perform at The Engine Room; and singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne's trio at Venice Cafe.

On Friday, singer Feyza Eren will perform at the Ozark Theatre; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will return to Nathalie's; the St. Louis Big Band will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and saxophonist Kendrick Smith leads a trio at Cigar Inn.

On Saturday, pianist Chick Corea will play a solo piano concert at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Though Corea has performed here in various contexts over the last couple of decades - with his Elektrik Band, the reunited Return to Forever, and most recently in a duo with banjo player Bela Fleck - this will be the first time he's ever played here solo. For some video samples of Corea alone at the piano, check out this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, trombonist Ku-umba Frank Lacy will be in town to perform at the Ozark Theatre. The Houston native, once called "the baddest sideman in jazz" by Down Beat magazine, served as music director for Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, has been a member of the Mingus Big Band, and has a long list of collaborators that includes St. Louis musicians such as Greg Osby, Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill, and Lester Bowie, as well as Henry Threadgill, Carla Bley, Dizzy Gillespie, Abdullah Ibrahim, Bobby Watson, David Murray, McCoy Tyner, and numerous R&B and hip-hop performers.

Elsewhere around town that evening, Miss Jubilee will be swinging the Casa Loma Ballroom, and the Gaslight Cabaret Festival resumes with singer Katie McGrath performing her show "Love in the Desert: Romance in an Age of Scarcity" at the Gaslight Theater.  And still more local vocal talent will be on offer Saturday in the form of  Joe Mancuso at EdgeWild Restaurant & Winery; the Ann Dueren Trio at Il Bel Lago; and Mary Dyson and Diane Vaughn at Troy's Jazz Gallery

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday drummer and St. Charles native Dave Weckl, who first gained wide recognition as part of Corea's Elektrik Band, will be in town to present a clinic sponsored by the Fred Pierce Studio Drum Shop at the Hilton St. Louis Airport

Also on Monday, percussionist Joe Pastor will bring his group to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups; and guitarist John Farrar and the Park Avenue Trio will be at Evangeline's, which now serves as the lone outpost for their weekly sessions after they recently wrapped up a 16-year run (!) of Wednesdays at Hammerstone's.

Then on Tuesday, bassist Stanley Clarke, yet another former compatriot of Corea's, will lead his electric band in a concert at The Pageant. Clarke's latest album Up was released on September 30 by Mack Avenue Records, and features members of his touring group as well as an all-star roster of guest musicians. St. Louis' Bach to the Future will open the show, which is a benefit for the not-for-profit adoption agency Dillon International.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

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

Rebirth Brass Band to perform Thursday, October 9 at The Gramophone

New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band is returning to St. Louis to perform at 9:00 p.m., Thursday, October 9 at The Gramophone.

The group (pictured) played here most recently in October 2011 at the same venue. Since then, their 2011 CD Rebirth of New Orleans on the Basin Street Records label won a 2012 Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album. The NOLA-based indie label also is home to St. Louis native, trumpeter and singer Jeremy Davenport.

Rebirth's most recent album Move Your Body was recorded live at the club Howlin' Wolf in their hometown and released on CD in April of this year. Then in July, it was issued on vinyl along with an LP version of Rebirth of New Orleans.

Their St. Louis gig is part of a busy late-summer and fall touring schedule that will include visits to more than 20 different cities interspersed with gigs back home in New Orleans. To promote the tour, the group last week released a music video of a song from Move Your Body, "Rebirth Groove," which you can see at the end of this post.

They also recently have lent their name to Rebirth Pale Ale, a craft beer introduced last month by the NOLA Brewing Company, which will direct a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the brew to The Roots of Music, a nonprofit music-education program co-founded by Rebirth drummer Derrick Tabb. For now, distribution is local to New Orleans, but the company hopes to sell the beer elsewhere in the near future.

Tickets for Rebirth Brass Band at The Gramophone are $21 for general admission and are on sale now.

Jazz this week: Alan Evans' Playonbrother, Tony Suggs, Dave Dickey Big Band, and more

As is typical for this time of year, the calendar of upcoming jazz performances in and around St. Louis over the next few days is a bit light on touring acts.

Fortunately, our local musicians have plenty going on in a variety of genres, from straight-ahead and swing to funk to cabaret to big band to experimental. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, drummer Alan Evans' trio (pictured), renamed Playonbrother since their last St. Louis appearance, will perform at The Gramophone, with Belagroove opening. With the group's latest recordings seemingly edging them toward a heavier, more guitar-oriented sound, and Evans singing lead on a number of tunes, there have definitely been some changes beyond just the name. So check out some video samples of their recent performances and read more about the two albums they've put out this year in this post from last Saturday. 

Also tonight, singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will perform a free concert for Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series at Tisch Commons in the Danforth University Center; the Funky Butt Brass Band plays a free outdoor concert at Bluebird Park in Ellisville; and up-and-coming cabaret performers Michaela Wolz, Sam Krausz, Tom Fields and Haylee Capstick will be showcased in the "First Stage Cabaret" at Kranzberg Arts Center.

On Friday, pianist Tony Suggs - originally from East St. Louis, veteran of many years with the Count Basie Orchestra, and lately a resident of Tokyo, Japan - is back home for a visit and will team up with drummer Montez Coleman and bassist Chris Thomas for a trio session at Cigar Inn. 

Also on Friday, the Joe Bozzi Band will perform at Evangeline's; the St. Louis Big Band plays for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom; Wack-A-Doo will return to the Tavern of Fine Arts; and Miss Jubilee will be swinging at the Venice Cafe.

Elsewhere around town, singer Tony Viviano returns to Fortel’s in Creve Coeur; singer Erika Johnson, guitarist Tom Byrne and saxophonist Christopher Braig will be at EdgeWild Restaurant and Winery in Chesterfield; and guitarist Brian Vaccaro's trio with bassist Marc Torlina and Kyle Honeycutt will host a jam session, now recurring monthly, at the Wolf Public House. 

On Saturday, saxophonist Jim Stevens and band will be funking it up by the river at The Loading Dock in Grafton; and trumpeter Jim Manley and pianist Arthur Toney will play in the old "Just Jazz" space, now called the Mahogany Grill, at the Omni Majestic Hotel downtown.

Also on Saturday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to action at C.J. Muggs in Webster Groves; and saxophonist Willie Akins will be this week's guest with bassist Bob DeBoo and friends at the Kranzberg Arts Center. 

On Sunday, pianist Ptah Williams' trio will play a free outdoor concert at Ivory Perry Park, 800 N. Belt; and the Dave Dickey Big Band will play their regular fourth-Sunday show at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company, this month featuring singer Tom Heitman performing Frank Sinatra hits, plus an open dance floor.

Also on Sunday evening, Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center will present what's being billed as a night of experimental music featuring improvising saxophonist Curt Oren, Dear Rabbit, Lions Eat Grass, and saxophonist Dave Stone's Free Jazz Unit. 

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday night saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will check back in for their monthly gig downtown at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

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

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Alan Evans' Playonbrother

Today, let's spend a little video time with drummer Alan Evans and his band Playonbrother, who will be in St. Louis next week to perform on Thursday, July 24 at the Gramophone.

Made up of Evans, a co-founder of the funk-jazz trio Soulive, plus Danny Mayer on guitar and Beau Sasser on keyboards, Playonbrother was formed a couple of years ago as the Alan Evans Trio. They've released three albums, debuting in 2012 with Drop Hop and this year putting out two records, Merkaba and the live Woodstock Sessions Vol. 1.

The group also has played St. Louis a couple of times under their old moniker, most recently in September 2012 at the Old Rock House. Since adopting their new name, they're emphasizing Evans' singing more, and seem to have tilted in a more hard-rocking, bluesy direction, though still including plenty of funky backbeats and extended jams.

You can see some of their most recent music in the first video up above, just posted online this past Monday, which is a full set recorded "live in the studio" at Evergroove Studios in Colorado. Then after the jump, there's another full set, recorded live in June 2014 at the Disc Jam Music Festival in Barre, MA.

If you'd rather check out some individual tracks first, below that you'll find live versions of "Nothing To Say" and "Cosmic Hazel Dust" captured in March of this year at Brooklyn Bowl in NY, followed by "Back to Buffalo" and "I'm The Only One," which were recorded live in New Orleans as part of the series "Jam in the Van."

For more about Alan Evans and Playonbrother, check out this interview from 2012 and this one from February of this year.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saturday's Miles Davis Jazz Festival in Alton is the subject of a preview article by the Alton Telegraph's Jill Moon. Trumpeter Russell Gunn headlines, with saxophonist Fred Walker (pictured) and prog-rock band Locrian Manor as opening acts.

* Saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock was interviewed about her current tour by Cleveland Scene. She and her husband, drummer Tom Rainey, will be in St. Louis on Monday and Tuesday to perform in two events presented by New Music Circle.

* A new episode of I Love Jazz, hosted by Don Wolff and featuring footage of Jeremy Davenport from the Sheldon Concert Hall, debuted last night on HEC-TV. Check your TV provider's program guide for times and dates, or watch it on HEC's website.

* Speaking of The Sheldon, they've compiled on Soundcloud an audio sampler of tracks from musicians featured in their various 2014-15 season series.

* The New Orleans-style cuisine of the Broadway Oyster Bar was sampled and enjoyed by the Associated Press' Alan Scherzagier.

* Actor/director Don Cheadle's long-anticipated movie about Miles Davis, which apparently now has had its title changed from Kill The Trumpet Player to Miles Ahead, will film this summer in Cincinnati.

* Bill Brownlee of Plastic Sax grades the recently announced 2014-15 jazz series at Kansas City's Folly Theater. Highlights will include concerts by pianists Fred Hersch and Danilo Perez and guitarist Earl Klugh.

* The Gramophone is partnering with the conservation organization Magnificent Missouri to create Magnificent Missouri Music, "a compilation of original songs about all the amazing things we can do out of doors in our great state." The album will be released on CD and vinyl, and there will be a "usage stipend" paid for any songs selected, which can be brand new or already released. Submissions are open until June 30; for more information, email magmo (at) thegramophonelive.com.

* The trial opened this week for two men accused of killing Patrice Thimes, sister of singer Denise Thimes, during an exchange of gunfire on St. Patrick's Day of 2011. Patrice Thimes was passing by the scene of the gunfight in her car and was hit by a stray bullet; her accused killers face charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, and a third suspect will be tried at a later date.

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis, Calvin Wilson's "Somethin' Else" presents compositions from the songbook of Irving Berlin as performed by musicians including Branford Marsalis, Diana Krall, and Chick Corea.

Next up, Jason Church's "The Jazz Collective" will have tunes from Jonathan Butler, Nathan East, Citrus Sun, Nina Simone, Willie Bobo, Cal Tjader, Donald Byrd, and Bob James, as well as locals such as Tom Byrne, Elliott Ranney, Dreaming In Colour, and Jesse Gannon.

Wilson's program airs at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by Church at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Meanwhile, on Sunday night's edition of KWMU's "Jazz Unlimited", host Dennis Owsley will feature music from the Pacific Jazz record label, with tracks from Art Pepper, Shorty Rogers, Joe Pass, Chico Hamilton, Bud Shank & Laurindo Almeida, Jimmy Rowles, John Lewis, Bill Perkins, the Jazz Crusaders, Gerry Mulligan, Richard "Groove" Holmes, and many more. The program airs from 9:00 p.m. to midnight; you can listen to the broadcast at 90.7 FM or hear it online at http://www.stlpublicradio.org/listen.php.

Edited after posting to add info on this week's "Jazz Unlimited" program.

Coming soon: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Andre Delano, Alan Evans' Playonbrother

From StLJN's various in-boxes, word of three more upcoming shows of interest to St. Louis fans of jazz and creative music:

* Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey will return to St. Louis for their second show here this year at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, June 21 at The Blind Tiger at Sutton Place, 7376 Manchester Rd in Maplewood.

JFJO, now a three-piece with keyboardist and founder Brian Haas, lap steel guitarist Chris Combs, and drummer Josh Raymer, last played here in January at The Demo.

The Blind Tiger, which opened in December, is a bar and restaurant featuring artisanal pizza and small-batch whiskies. The music offerings shown on their Facebook page seem so far to be mostly alt-rock and Americana bands and DJs, so this show looks to be something a little different for them.

Opening acts will be Bum and Possum Combination, described as "a project whose influences span all genres of art, from the free jazz improvisation of Peter Brötzmann to the surreal worlds in the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet"; and the New Orleans band Yojimbo, which includes Mike Dillon Band members Carly Meyers (trombone), Patrick McDevitt (bass), and Adam Gertner (drums), plus keyboardist Doc Sharp. Tickets are $13 each and are on sale now.

* Saxophonist and former East St. Louisan Andre Delano will be back in town to perform at 9:00 p.m., Friday, June 27 at the Rustic Goat, 2617 Washington Ave downtown. Delano (pictured) was here most recently in March to play a gig at the Bistro at Grand Center. Tickets are $20 for general admission, and are on sale now.

* Drummer Alan Evans' band Playonbrother, formerly the Alan Evans Trio, will revisit St. Louis to play at 9:00 p.m. Thursday, July 24 at The Gramophone. The St. Louis-based instrumental quartet Belagroove  opens. Evans, best known as drummer and co-founder of Soulive, played here with his own trio most recently in 2012 at the Old Rock House. Tickets are $7 in advance, $10 day of show and are on sale now.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Yesterday, the New York Times' City Room blog ran a short feature on saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett, who's recovering from two strokes in the last two months, but nevertheless is planning to perform this Saturday.

Bluiett is living in NYC again after spending several years back home in southern Illinois, but according to the NYT article, continues to have financial as well as health difficulties and is getting help from the Jazz Foundation of America.

* The news is considerably better for fellow saxophonist, St. Louis expat, and World Saxophone Quartet co-founder Oliver Lake, who this week was named one of 20 winners of a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award. The prize is worth a minimum of $225,000 over a three to five year period, with possible additional funding of another $50,000 if certain conditions are met.

* Enjoy The View, saxophonist David Sanborn's new album with Joey DeFrancesco, Bobby Hutcherson, and Billy Hart (pictured above with Sanborn), is now available for pre-order from iTunes, with immediate digital delivery of the preview track "Delia."

Meanwhile, Sanborn is wasting no time getting to work on his next recording, this week launching a PledgeMusic campaign to finance the costs. The album will reunite him with bassist Marcus Miller in the studio for the first time in nearly 15 years.

In addition to the usual premiums like downloads of the album, signed CDs, and VIP concert tickets, Sanborn is offering plenty of high-end options, too, including private concerts (which, for locations in the USA, start at $25K plus expenses) and the chance to have him play a solo on your recording ($7,500 when done from Sanborn's home studio).

* Trumpeter Clark Terry was the subject of a feature story in the New York Observer.

* Pianist and former St. Louisan Tom McDermott's collaboration with producer, songwriter and musician Van Dyke Parks was featured on New Orleans community radio station WWNO's "American Routes" program.

* Saxophonist Eric Person will take part in a tribute to the late drummer Chico Hamilton next Tuesday, April 29 at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in NYC. Person worked with Hamilton for eight years and made several albums with him.

* The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra has posted on Facebook an album of photos from their recent performance at the Kirkwood Station Brewing Company.

* Speaking of photo albums on Facebook, The Gramophone has posted one with shots from Davina and the Vagabonds' performance there last weekend.

* Singer Joe Mancuso is profiled in the new issue of Uptown magazine.

* The late St. Louis pianist and ragtime historian Trebor Tichenor is the subject of a tribute on the website West Coast Ragtime (incorporating StLJN's item on Tichenor's passing, with our permission according to Creative Commons licensing.)

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday's episode of Calvin Wilson's program "Somethin' Else" on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis will put the bass in the place with performances from Ron Carter, Gary Peacock, Esperanza Spalding, and more.

Then on "The Jazz Collective," Jason Church is offering tunes from Richard Smith, Les Sabler, Jeff Lorber Fusion, Stan Sargeant, John Klemmer, Fourplay, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Richard Elliot, and Tommy Halloran's Guerrilla Swing.

Wilson's program airs at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by Church at 9:00 p.m., on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Drummer Kimberly Thompson is keeping busy with her duties with the house band for NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers, even participating in some on-camera comedy bits, like the one pictured here with Michelle Wolf and Alison Agosti of the Late Night writing staff. However, Thompson did manage to find time this week to post on SoundCloud an excerpt from her band's performance last month at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

* Jazz students from Webster Groves High School are in New York City this week, and band director Kevin Cole has a full schedule planned for his young charges. The trip will include visits to NYC venues to hear Ambrose Akinmusire, Maria Schneider, Ulysses Owens, Charles Turner, Walter Smith III, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra; and a clinic at Queens College with Michael Philip Mossman, Antonio Hart, Paul Bollenbeck, and Luis Bonilla.

In addition, the WGHS Jazz 1 group will perform Sunday at St. Peters Jazz Vespers with pianist Kenny Werner, and then serve as the opening act that evening at Birdland for Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra.

* Also on the education front, Jazz St. Louis has announced a $35,000 gift from the Arthur & Helen Baer Foundation in support of the 2014-15 season of their JazzU program. Applications to audition for next year's JazzU are due by Friday, May 2, with auditions beginning on Monday, June 2. For more details, see the Jazz St. Louis website.

* Writing for the website NextStL, Kevin Belford has an update on recent wind damage to the historic Palladium Building in Grand Center and the possible effects on efforts to save the structure.

* Via Miles Davis Online, here's a video interview from IRockJazz with Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn, Jr., who helps administer his uncle's estate, in which Wilburn discusses the forthcoming movie about the trumpeter and various other Miles-related topics. MDO blogmaster Jeffrey Hyatt also has created a new site, Kill The Trumpet Player, to track news of the Davis film.

* Singer Connie Fairchild's show last Saturday for the Gaslight Cabaret Festival was reviewed for KDHX by Chuck Lavazzi.

* The late ragtime pianist and historian Trebor Tichenor was the subject of a tribute episode of KWMU's "CityScape" program.

* Galactic's performance last week at The Pageant was reviewed by KDHX's Amy Burger.

* A set from the Funky Butt Brass Band's gig last month at The Gramophone has been posted to archive.org.

* And speaking of The Gramophone, they're celebrating the venue's sixth anniversary this week with the announcement that their Sandwich and Bottle Shop will be open for regular daytime business offering food, drink and free wi-fi to the growing Grove neighborhood starting April 1.

* Also on the culinary tip, the Post-Dispatch's Ian Froeb is the latest to review the Louisiana-style menu at the new Central West End spot Evangeline's.

* HEC-TV last night debuted a new episode of I Love Jazz, featuring previously unseen archived performances by singer Marlena Shaw, trumpeter Dawn Weber, singer Marilyn Maye and pianist Billy Stritch, saxophonist Willie Akins and drummer Montez Coleman, and jazz faculty and students from Webster University. Check your TV provider's program guide for channels, dates and times, or watch online at http://www.hectv.org.

* Jazz radio update: On this Saturday's episode of Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis' "Somethin' Else," host Calvin Wilson spotlights New Orleans trumpeters including Louis Armstrong, Derrick Shezbie, Joe Newman, Terence Blanchard and Wynton Marsalis. You can listen at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays via 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

(Edited after posting to add the KWMU "CityScape" link.)

Jeff Coffin & the Mu’tet to perform at The Gramophone on Friday, September 20

Saxophonist Jeff Coffin is returning to St. Louis for a performance with his band, the Mu'tet, at 9:00 p.m. Friday, September 20 at The Gramophone.

Coffin (pictured), who lives in Nashville, currently is the saxophonist for the Dave Matthews Band and formerly played with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.

He and the Mu'tet have performed frequently here in St. Louis, mostly recently in a free concert and workshop last August at Saxquest while touring in support of their 2012 album Into The Air.

Tickets for Jeff Coffin and the Mu'Tet at The Gramophone are $15 and are on sale now.

Jazz this week: Red Baraat, Gateway Jazz Festival, Tom McDermott, and more

This Labor Day weekend in St. Louis offers fans of jazz and creative music an eclectic mix of sounds from traditional to experimental, with numerous gradations in between. Let's go to the highlights...

On Thursday, "bhangra funk" band Red Baraat (pictured) returns to St. Louis to take the stage at The Gramophone. Led by drummer Sunny Jain, the group's instrumentation resembles a New Orleans brass band, but their music blends in a variety of other sounds, including funk, go-go, and elements from Indian popular music. You can see some videos of them in action in this post from last Saturday.

Also Thursday, the Tavern of Fine Arts presents their monthly "Avant-Garde Arts Night" with live improvised music; and pianist and St. Louis native Tom McDermott, who now lives in New Orleans, will be back home to do a show at the house concert venue Joe's Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury in the Central West End. McDermott is wrapping up a 22-city tour, and for more about that and his latest album, check out the preview story from Terry Perkins in the St. Louis Beacon.

On Friday night,  the available choices include three different male vocalists, as singer Nicholas Brooks offers a "Rat Pack"-themed performance at Robbie's House of Jazz; Joe Mancuso is at Chasers Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel; and Charlie B and his trio with trumpeter Jim Manley are at Thurman Grill.

Meanwhile, over on the east side, saxophonist Kendrick Smith will lead a trio at Cigar Inn in Belleville, while Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will perform at the Granite City Elks Lodge, 4801 Maryville Rd.

On Saturday, steel guitar players from around the country will be gathering for the annual International Steel Guitar Convention at the Millennium Hotel, where the "Maurice Anderson Jazz Room" will feature free public performances from a half-dozen steel guitarists playing jazz, backed by guitarist Dave Black, bassist Bob DeBoo and drummer Kyle Honeycutt.

Also on Saturday, the annual Big Muddy Blues Festival begins on Laclede's Landing. The event continues on Sunday, with local bands playing on two free stages, plus headliners including Anthony Gomes, Walter Trout, the Rev. Horton Heat, and David Clayton-Thomas on the main stage, which requires a ticket purchase.

On Sunday, in lieu of the end-of-summer picnic they've done in recent years, this Labor Day weekend the St. Louis Jazz Club is presenting the Gateway Jazz Festival at the DoubleTree Hotel - Westport. The event will feature two sessions on Sunday and a daytime session on Monday, with music from Cornet Chop Suey, St. Louis Stompers, Funky Butt Brass Band, St. Louis Ragtimers, Utter Chaos, St. Louis Rivermen, Miss Jubilee, Pat Joyce, and Banjos & Brass.

Also on Sunday, the Friends of Scott Joplin present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at Dressel's, 419 N Euclid Ave; and the St. Charles Big (Jazz) Band plays a free concert in Frontier Park on the riverfront in St. Charles.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday, in addition to the second day of the Gateway Jazz Festival, guitarists Eric Slaughter and Tom Byrne will lead a quartet at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

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

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Red Baraat

This week, let's turn our video spotlight on Red Baraat, who are returning to St. Louis to play this coming Thursday, August 29 at The Gramophone. Based in Brooklyn and led by drummer Sunny Jain, Red Baraat is a nine-piece group with an instrumentation similar to a New Orleans brass band (two reeds, three percussion, four brass). Having already played The Gramophone back in May, this will be their second St. Louis gig this year.

Red Baraat's "dhol & brass" sound is an infectious mix of South Asian bhangra with American styles like funk, hip-hop and go-go. And though they're playing a modest-sized venue here, their appeal is by no means limited to small clubs; they've performed at NYC's Lincoln Center, the Barbican in London, at major jazz festivals in the U.S. and Europe, and on NPR, for which they recorded the first video clip seen up above.

The clip of the group's Tiny Desk Concert for NPR includes three tunes: "Chaal Baby," "Shruggy Ji," and "Dhol 'n' Brass." Down below, you can see them at a Brooklyn venue called Southpaw playing "Private Dancers."

Below that, it's a tune called "Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna," recorded in 2011 at the Mercury Lounge in NYC, and then "Tunak Tunak Tun," from their performance at at Lincoln Center's "Midsummer Night Swing & Bhangra."

The fifth clip, "Baraat To Nowhere," was recorded in April 2012 at the Bomhard Theater in Louisville, KY. The sixth and final video, recorded as the group took to the streets of the French Quarter during Mardi Gras 2013, help make explicit the connection between New Orleans brass bands and what Red Baraat does.











Edited after posting to fix a typo.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* If you missed trumpeter Kermit Ruffins when he was in St. Louis last week to play at The Gramophone, you're in luck.

While Ruffins was here, he made it into the studios of KDHX to do some recording, and you also can see pictures from his Wednesday night gig online at the site of photographer Tim Bottchen.

* From the the "Shows we'd like to see in St. Louis" file, saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille - known collectively as Trio 3 - will team up with pianist Vijay Iyer next Wednesday through Saturday for a gig at Birdland in NYC.

* Snarky Puppy's performance Monday night at the Manchester Jazz Festival in England was reviewed by Adrian Pallan of London Jazz News. The band (pictured) will play here in St. Louis next Friday, August 9 at the Old Rock House.

* A post on St. Louis magazine's Look/Listen blog recounts recent progress towards putting up a statue honoring Miles Davis in his birthplace of Alton, IL.

Meanwhile, the folks behind the statue, the Miles Davis Memorial Project, are looking for volunteers to work information booths on August 17 at the Alton Block Party and August 31 at The Alton Farmers' & Artisans' Market. Prospective volunteers can call 618-467-2375 or contact board member Derrick Richardson via email at derrickdrichardson at gmail dot com.

* Drummer and St. Louis native Mark Colenburg, who's currently playing with the Robert Glasper Experiment among others, has signed an endorsement deal with Remo. Glasper's next album Black Radio Volume 2 will be released on October 29.

* The Ozark Theatre in Webster Groves is booking music acts for the fall. For more information and available dates/times, call owner Dan Stevens at 314-962-7000.

* Saxquest is encouraging St. Louis players to enter Keilwerth's "Saxophone Idol" contest, in which saxophonists will compete before a panel of judges including famed tenor man Ernie Watts. The prize package include a Keilwerth sax; mouthpiece and reeds from Van Doren; subscription to Down Beat; and a chance to perform with Watts at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. The entry deadline is September 30.

* Jazz radio update: This week's episode of Calvin Wilson's "Somethin' Else" will feature blues-influenced music from singer Cassandra Wilson, drummer Joey Baron and saxophonist J.D. Allen. The program can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays via 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2 and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Meanwhile, NPR will be broadcasting live this weekend from the Newport Jazz Festival from noon to 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 3 and Sunday, August 4. This year's Newport fest features performances from Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Chick Corea, Joshua Redman, and more.

Jazz this week: Kermit Ruffins, Nora Germain, Good 4 The Soul, All That Tap XXI, Dave Dickey Big Band, and more

The weekend starts early for fans of jazz and creative music in St. Louis, as Kermit Ruffins - trumpeter, singer, entrepreneur, bon vivant and ambassador of New Orleans music - will be playing at The Gramophone tonight and again on Thursday evening.

While he's in town, Ruffins also will be doing a meet-and-greet and signing copies of his new album We Partyin' Traditional Style on Thursday morning at Vintage Vinyl.

Ruffins (pictured), who helped found the Rebirth Brass Band and has been seen as a recurring character on the HBO series Treme, is known as a winning showman as well as a fine trumpeter. For much more about Ruffins, and footage of him and his band the Barbecue Swingers in action, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also tonight, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden.

Then on Thursday, Los Angeles violinist Nora Germain, a 21-year-old USC student and protege of Cowbop guitarist Bruce Forman, will bring her band to Robbie's House of Jazz as part of a Midwest tour called "Music Licks on 66".

Also on Thursday, drummer Maurice Carnes and his group will play a free concert to wrap up the summer Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; and the Tavern of Fine Arts presents their monthly "Avant Garde Arts Night" featuring live improvised music.

On Friday, Good 4 The Soul, featuring pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson, drummer James Jackson, bassist John King and guitarist Shaun Robinson, will play for the first of two nights to close out the summer season at Jazz at the Bistro.

(Except for a couple of one-off shows related to the upcoming St. Louis Cabaret Festival and American Music Festival, the Bistro is scheduled to be dark for nearly two months, until the week of September 25 - 28 when Yellowjackets come to town to open the 2013-14 Jazz at the Bistro season.)

Also on Friday, guitarist Tom Byrne and Have U Heard play at Jazz on Broadway; saxophonist Kendrick Smith leads a trio with bassist Charles Clements and drummer Micah Walker at Cigar Inn; and saxophonist Jay Hutson and Da Wolvez, featuring singer Tamesha Foote, are at Robbie's.

On Saturday night, it's the 21st annual "All That Tap' festival at the Touhill Performing Arts Center Edison Theater, featuring a lineup of top tap-dancing talent from across the USA demonstrating their terpsichorean skills with music from pianist Carolbeth True's trio.

Also on Saturday, Miss Jubilee plays a free outdoor concert at Lafayette Park; Tommy Halloran and Guerilla Swing will perform at the Venice Cafe; and singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will duet at Chaser's Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

On Sunday, the Dave Dickey Big Band will be back after a month's hiatus for their usual fourth-Sunday gig at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will play at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; and on Tuesday, saxophonist Dave Cheli's Tribal Chicken and friends, including Ajay Khanna, Dave Stone, Chris Smentkowski and Jeremy Melsha, will present a show of free improv at Foam on S. Jefferson.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

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

Edited 7/25/13 to correct the venue for All That Tap XXI.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Partyin' traditional style with Kermit Ruffins

This week, let's check out some video clips featuring trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, who's coming to St. Louis to play on Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25 at The Gramophone.

The 48-year-old New Orleans native first gained fame for co-founding the Rebirth Brass Band while still a high-school student. He's gone on to establish a career as a solo performer and crowd-pleasing entertainer, playing weekly gigs in his hometown at Vaughan's and his own club, Kermit's Treme Speakeasy, and occasionally venturing out on tour or the festival circuit.

Many locals consider Ruffins an ambassador for New Orleans music, and his national profile also has been raised considerably in recent years by several appearances playing himself in HBO's Treme, often working opposite main cast member Wendell Pierce, who plays trombonist Antoine Baptiste in the series. The trumpeter has released 13 albums as a leader, the latest of which, We Partyin' Traditional Style, came out earlier this year on Basin Street Records.

Today's first two clips were recorded last September in New Orleans as part of an online video series sponsored by the Bonnaroo music festival. Up top, Ruffins and his band the Barbecue Swingers play "Drop Me Off In New Orleans," and down below, it's "If You're A Viper."

Below that, you can see and hear Ruffins play the New Orleans standard "St. James Infirmary" in an undated video recorded at Tipitina's in New Orleans.

That's followed by a version of "Skokiaan," a South African song made famous in this country by Louis Armstrong and performed by Ruffins during one of his appearances on Treme. This clip was recorded by an audience member at Brooklyn Bowl in NYC, and though the video bounces a bit, the audio quality is good.

Then, it's back to New Orleans for a a version of "Exactly Like You" recorded during this year's JazzFest at the Louisiana Music Factory.

Last but not least, there's an extended video of Ruffins' concert last year with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra at LSU, which gave him a chance to show off his trumpet and vocal stylings outside of the small-combo context.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Sixty local students have been chosen by Jazz St. Louis to participate in the 2013-14 JazzU program. Auditions were held last month, with 115 middle and high school musicians from around the metro area trying out.

Meanwhile, the players in the current version of the top JazzU ensemble, the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars, are getting some road experience this weekend, performing Saturday on the Youth Stage at the Iowa City Jazz Festival. The free event this year also features notable touring musicians including Charlie Hunter, Christian Scott, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Pharoah Sanders.

* Here are two more reviews of Opera Theatre of St. Louis' world premiere production of Terence Blanchard opera Champion, from the Chicago Tribune's classical music critic John von Rhein and Andrew Patner of Chicago public radio station WFMT (98.7 FM).

* Pianist and singer Jesse Gannon's CD release event this past Sunday at The Gramophone was reviewed by KDHX's Robin Wheeler.

* The Casa Loma Ballroom (pictured) is the subject of a new episode of the online video series CommunityStL.

* Attendees at the River City Mess Around swing dance event presented this weekend by Lindy Hop St. Louis can get a special pre-registration price on passes for the Nevermore Jazz Ball in November. For the rest of the world, early bird registration begins at 10:01 a.m. next Monday, July 8.

* And speaking of Monday, July 8, for every purchase made that day at The Cup bakery and coffee shop in Edwardsville, local jazz station WSIE (88.7 FM) will get 10 percent of the proceeds.

* Elsewhere on the radio dial,  this weekend's episode of Calvin Wilson's "Somethin Else'" program on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis examines the influence of Miles Davis on contemporary trumpet players including Dave Douglas and Tomasz Stanko. Listen in at 8:00 p.m. Saturday via 107.3 FM and 96.3 HD-2, or online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

* The Regional Arts Commission has announced the first 25 recipients of funding from its new Artists Support Grants program. The grants range from $640 to $3,000, and can be used for a variety of projects and opportunities to enhance artists' careers.

Of the first group of 25, just three grants were for work related to music or sound, while 15 went to visual artists and the rest for theater, dance or literature. The next round of Artists Support Grants opens for applications on September 9 and the deadline is October 15. You can find an application form online here.

Jazz this week: Mike Dillon Band, Erin Bode sings standards, Phil Dunlap Quintet with Nicholas Payton, and more

Though many touring jazz stars are busy playing the festival circuit this month, there's still plenty of live jazz and creative music this weekend in St. Louis. Here's what's coming up over the next few days...

Tonight, the Mike Dillon Band returns to perform at The Demo. Led by percussionist Mike Dillon (pictured), the MDB were here last in February, opening for Umphrey's McGee at The Pageant. They mix up jazz, funk, rock and punk in an energetic and entertaining way, and you can check out some samples of them on video in this post from a couple of weeks ago.

Also tonight, guitarists Eric Slaughter and Tom Byrne play at the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood; the Tavern of Fine Arts features live improvised music for its monthly "Avant Garde Arts Night"; and and saxophonist Tim Cunningham plays a free outdoor concert at Bluebird Park in Ellisville.

On Friday, singer Erin Bode returns to her musical roots as a student in the jazz program at Webster University, opening a two-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro during which she'll revisit material from the "Great American Songbook." Though Bode performs mostly original songs these days, those who remember her early gigs here know that she's a capable interpreter of standards, too.

Elsewhere on Friday, saxophonist Michael Anthony Fitzgerald performs at Jazz on Broadway, Second Generation Swing takes the stage at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and guitarist Brian Vaccaro's trio will play a mini-concert at a rather unusual venue, the Clayton cafe and spa Sip Salon. There's also another free outdoor show of interest on Friday, as trumpeter Jim Manley performs before a screening of The Big Chill for the Old Orchard Gazebo Music and Movie series in Webster Groves. 

Saturday brings a couple of very different grand openings  - one on the Hill, the other on Art Hill - with jazz accompaniment. First up, in the afternoon singer Tony Viviano and band will perform to celebrate the new outdoor cafe at J. Viviano & Sons grocery and deli, located in the heart of South St. Louis' famed Italian neighborhood.

Then a few hours later and just a couple of miles away in Forest Park, pianist and Jazz St. Louis director of education Phil Dunlap will debut a new quintet at the long-awaited grand opening of the new wing of the St. Louis Art Museum. Dunlap's quintet, with drummer Montez Coleman, bassist Jahmal Nichols, saxophonist Ben Reece and trumpeter Danny Campbell, will be augmented for the occasion by special guests including trumpeter Nicholas Payton, saxophonist Willie Akins and singer Brian Owens.

Also on Saturday, guitarist Larry Brown Jr. is back home from Chicago to lead his group at Robbie's House of Jazz; singer Feyza Eren is at Thurman Grill; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes perform at the Wine Press; and singer Jerome Elliott presents his cabaret show "My Favorite Springs" at The Chapel.

On Sunday, trumpeter/singer Dawn Weber and multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris (in his alternate identity as "DJ Nune") will supply the sounds for Sauce Magazine's annual "Saucy Soiree" at the Four Seasons Hotel; and singer and pianist Jesse Gannon will promote the release of his new CD with a show at The Gramophone.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

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

Kermit Ruffins to perform Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25 at The Gramophone

This just in: via the Twitter feed of Basin Street Records, StLJN has learned that New Orleans trumpeter and singer Kermit Ruffins (pictured) will be coming to St. Louis to perform on Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25 at The Gramophone.

Ruffins is a fixture on the New Orleans scene, playing weekly gigs with his band the Barbecue Swingers at various spots, most notably Vaughan's Lounge, where he recorded a live album in 2007. Ruffins also has been a recurring character playing himself in the HBO series Treme. His most recent album, We Partyin' Traditional Style, was released last month on the Basin Street label.

There's nothing yet on The Gramophone's site about the shows, but when ticket prices and an on-sale date are announced, we'll have the information for you right here.

UPDATE, 6/11/13: The Gramophone today officially announced Ruffins' shows. Tickets are priced at $25 and are on sale now for both Wednesday and Thursday.

Jazz this week: Red Baraat, Two Times True, St. Louis Big Band, and more

While it's not a very busy week for touring jazz musicians visiting St. Louis, as usual our local musicians and bands stand ready with a plethora of performances of their own. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, alumni of the music programs at Parkway West High School will present a big band jazz concert in tribute to former band director John Baker at Sky Music Lounge in Ballwin.

Also tonight, singer Joe Mancuso leads a quartet at Cafe Eau in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel; pianist Ptah Williams and his trio are at Troy's Jazz Gallery; and it's the monthly Avant Garde Arts Night featuring live improvised music at Tavern of Fine Arts.

Tomorrow night, the Brooklyn, NY based group Red Baraat will be in town to play at The Gramophone. Led by dhol player Sunny Jain - the dhol is a double-headed drum used with variations throughout the Indian subcontinent - Red Baraat come across as sort of a South Asian-flavored variant on the New Orleans brass band concept, with a sound influenced by jazz, funk, go-go and Latin delivered by drumset, percussion, sousaphone and five horns.  

Shruggy Ji, the group’s second full-length studio record, was released in January, and a follow-up album of remixes and concurrently recorded jams, Big Talk, is set to drop next month.You can see and hear Red Baraat in this video of the Tiny Desk Concert they did recently for NPR.

Also on Friday, Two Times True (pictured) plays the first of two nights kicking off the summer season at Jazz at the Bistro. Taking their name from the versatile pianist Carolbeth True and her son, drummer David True, the band also includes bassist Glen Smith and saxophonist Larry Johnson, and plays a mix of modern jazz, standards and original material.

Other noteworthy gigs on Friday include trumpeter Charlie Rose's Jazz Creations, featuring saxophonist Robb Cunningham, bassist Darrell Mixon and drummer Jerome "Scrooge" Harris, at Robbie's House of Jazz; and guitarist Tom Byrne's trio at Cigar Inn.

On Saturday afternoon, singer Wendy Gordon will perform for a jazz brunch at Ace Bar's and Grill, 9600 Natural Bridge Rd., while trumpeter Joe Bozzi plays a matinee at Frontenac Grill. Then on Saturday evening, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will do an early set at Thurman Grill for the neighborhood's "Loop Festival"; the Ann Dueren Trio is at Il Bel Lago; and singer-guitarist Tommy Halloran plays the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday the St. Louis Big Band will return the Sheldon Concert Hall for a "Tribute to the Greatest Generation," featuring music from Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, plus vocal numbers originally made famous by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

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