Here's StLJN's latest wrap-up of assorted links and short news items of local interest:
* Jazz St. Louis has extended the application period for their 2020-21 JazzU program, and the new deadline for middle school and high school students to apply is Friday, May 29. Auditions that had been scheduled for early June now will be held July 20-23. For more information, visit the Jazz St. Louis website.
* The Sheldon this week debuted a new look for their website, and to commemorate the occasion, they got pianist Peter Martin (pictured) to do a special solo performance on video.
* Music venue The Ready Room has permanently closed their space in the Grove neighborhood, but according to the report from the Riverfront Times' Daniel Hill, the club's owners are seeking a new location to reopen once live shows can resume.
* The Kranzberg Arts Foundation, which operates The Dark Room, Kranzberg Arts Center, Grandel Theater and other local venues, has surveyed the public asking what respondents would need to feel safe returning to the Foundation's spaces following the COVID-19 pandemic. Top replies include "A vaccine," "Limited venue capacity," "being able to avoid lines," "outdoor performance opportunities" and "availability of hand sanitizer."
Today it's time for another installment of StLJN's winter/spring 2020 jazz preview, presenting videos of bands and musicians who will be visiting St. Louis over the next few months. This is part three of the series, covering those shows in chronological order; you can see part one here, and part two here.
Picking up where last week's post left off, the first video up above features Kuzu, an improvising trio from Chicago that includes guitarist Tashi Dorji, drummer Tyler Damon, and saxophonist Dave Rempis
They're coming here for a concert presented by New Music Circle on Wednesday, March 11 at Joe's Cafe, and can be seen in the video performing a full set of music in October 2018 at if ART Gallery in Columbia, SC.
This season's edition of the group is commemorating the 50th anniversaries of the release of Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way and Sly & The Family Stone’s Stand!, with a touring show featuring original arrangements of music from both albums. The video is a promotional clip for the tour, outlining the concept with some brief interview quotes and musical excerpts.
Next, it's keyboardist and singer Kandace Springs, who will make her St. Louis debut with shows starting Wednesday, March 18 continuing through Sunday, March 22 at Jazz St. Louis.
She's seen here in the first episode of saxophonist David Sanborn's new online video series "Sanborn Sessions," released earlier this month.
The following week, cabaret singer and pianist Billy Stritch will perform music associated with Mel Torme on Wednesday, March 25 and Thursday, March 26 at Jazz St. Louis. You can get a feel for Stritch's style by checking out the video excerpt from his show "Lucky To Be Me" recorded in 2018 at Birdland in NYC.
Today's fifth video features guitarist Dweezil Zappa, who's returning to St. Louis to perform on Saturday, March 28 at The Ready Room.
While he's currently forbidden from using his father's name and image, Dweezil still is keeping Frank Zappa's music alive for a new generation of listeners, as seen in this performance of the complete Hot Rats album recorded in September, 2019 at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ.
The final video showcases harmonium player Amirtha Kidambi’s group Elder Ones, who will perform in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, March 28 at Xavier Hall on the St. Louis University campus. It shows a complete set recorded on March 25, 2019 at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC,
You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump. Look for part four of StLJN's 2020 winter/spring jazz preview next week in this space...
This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music features jazz played by a variety of ensembles, from intimate duos and trios to a full symphony orchestra and big band teaming up to present the St. Louis premiere of a large-scale work from trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, May 2
Singer Erin Bode returns to Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights of performances, and the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" will feature T.J. Muller at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's quartet at The Dark Room.
Thursday, May 3
Chicago's Joe Policastro Trio, who are out on the road in support of their latest album Screen Sounds, will perform at The Dark Room.
Also on Thursday, singer Cheri Evans and CEEJazzSoul will perform at the Chase Club in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, and singer Joe Mancuso will bring his organ trio plus guitarist Dave Black to Joe's Cafe & Gallery.
"Swing Symphony," which is Marsalis's third symphonic work, debuted in 2010 in Berlin and New York City, and has been performed by a number of other orchestras in the US and Europe in the ensuing years. You can see two different performances of "Swing Symphony," plus some interviews in which Marsalis talks about the work, in this post from last Saturday.
Also on Friday, pianist Peter Martin(pictured, center left) will reunite his Inner Circle trio with bassist Chris Thomas and drummer Brian Blade for the first time in more than 20 years for the first of two nights of performances at Jazz at the Bistro; and singer David Giuntoli performs his cabaret show "We've Got A World That Swings" at the Kranzberg Arts Center.
Monday, May 7
Trumpeter Jim Manley returns to his weekly residency at Momo's Greek Restaurant.
Tuesday, May 8
Guitarist Dweezil Zappa(pictured, bottom left), still embroiled in legal wrangling over the rights to perform his father Frank's music, will bring his "Choice Cuts" tour to The Ready Room.
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.)
It's a busy week for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with performances in styles ranging from cabaret to vintage jazz to fusion to experimental intermedia and beyond.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, April 4
Singer, actor and St. Louis native Ken Page, now living back in his hometown after a distinguished career on Broadway and in film, will perform his cabaret show for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro .
Page (pictured, top left), whose resume includes the original casts of Ain't Misbehavin' and Cats, will be making his debut at the Bistro with these shows, and the demand for tickets should be high, so advance reservations are strongly suggested.
Also on Wednesday, the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features saxophonist Austin Cebulski and guitarist Tom Byrne at The Stage at KDHX; the jam session led by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center; and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.
Friday, April 6
DrummerAllison Miller, trumpeter Riley Mulherkar and saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown wrap up a week-long educational residency for Jazz St. Louis with the first of two evenings of performances at Jazz at the Bistro. (As with past occasions when JSL has assembled an ad hoc band from among visiting clinicians, the three NYC-based musicians presumably will be supported by local players on bass and piano or guitar, but as of this writing Jazz St. Louis hasn't shared any information as to who they'll be.)
Tuesday, April 10
Clarinetist Anat Cohen brings her Tentet to McKendree University's Hettenhausen Center for the Arts in Lebanon, IL (which, for those contemplating the drive, is roughly the same distance from the Gateway Arch as Chesterfield.)
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.)
This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features performances from two stellar saxophonists, one of New Orleans' favorite funk bands, and more.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, March 14
Saxophonist Melissa Aldana returns with her quartet for the first of four nights of performances at Jazz at the Bistro.
Aldana, who was born in Chile and educated at Berklee, has enjoyed a fast rise in the jazz world since becoming the first female instrumentalist and the first South American to win the annual Thelonious Monk competition in 2013, thanks to her distinctive tone on tenor sax and a musical approach influenced by players such as Sonny Rollins, Don Byas and Mark Turner.
For more about Aldana, you can see and hear some samples of her playing on video in this post, which dates from her St. Louis debut two years ago, and read an interview with her published a few weeks ago by the Chicago Tribune here.
Aldana's sets also will be simulcast on video to the first-floor lounge opposite the Bistro, where they can be viewed for free as part of the"Grand Center Jazz Crawl," which this week also includes Jacob Alspach and Friends at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's quartet at The Dark Room.
Thursday, March 15
Saxophonist Ben Wendel performs at The Ready Room. Wendel (pictured, top left), best known as a member of the cooperative band Kneebody, currently is touring with music from a project called "The Seasons," which featured 12 original compositions dedicated to musical friends and colleagues that were released as a series of duo performances on video over the course of a year.
You can find out more about Wendel and "The Seasons," and hear some of the compositions that have been expanded to full-band arrangements for the tour, in this post from a week ago Saturday.
Update: 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 14: StLJN has just gotten word from Ben Wendel's publicist that his St. Louis date has been cancelled. If you bought tickets, contact your point of purchase for refund details.
Also on Thursday, New Orleans funk/jazz band Galactic(pictured, bottom left) will be back for another visit to St. Louis, their destination this time being Delmar Hall; Cincinnati "garage jazz" band Animal Mother tops a bill that also includes Animal Children and saxophonist Dave Stone at Foam; and saxophonist Ben Reece's Unity Quartet returns to The Dark Room.
Then on Saturday night, singer Tony Viviano will be doing his thing at Table Three, while keyboardist Mo Egeston offers late night grooves at The Dark Room.
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.)
This week, the StLJN video spotlight shines on saxophonist Ben Wendel, who's coming to St. Louis for a performance on Thursday, March 15 at The Ready Room.
Born in Vancouver, CA, raised in Los Angeles, and educated at the Eastman School of Music, Wendel now lives in NYC and probably is best known as a member of the collective Kneebody. who have played here in St. Louis a couple of times at Jazz at the Bistro, most recently in March 2017.
On his own, Wendel has recorded three albums as a bandleader, the most recent being 2016's What We Bring, and has made dozens of recordings as a sideman and collaborator with musicians such as pianists Gerald Clayton and Taylor Eigsti, bassist Linda May Han Oh, percussionist Adam Rudolph, and numerous others.
On his tour this spring, Wendel will be performing music from "The Seasons," a project he launched in 2015 as a tribute to 12 musical collaborators and friends, releasing videos of 12 different duets on a monthly schedule over the course of the year.
The tour, which kicked off this week at NYC's Village Vanguard, will feature full-band arrangements of "The Seasons" material, performed by Wendel, pianist Aaron Parks, guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Matt Brewer, and, depending on the date, either Eric Harland, Henry Cole or Kendrick Scott on drums.
You can see three of the "Seasons" compositions in this post, starting up above with "November," featuring Wendel and Parks, and continuing after the jump with "April," a duet with Eric Harland, and "October," which pairs the composer with Hekselman. (All of "The Seasons" videos still are available on Wendel's YouTube channel.)
After that, you can see Wendel playing with a full band in two clips - first, a song called "Unforeseeable," recorded in June 2017 at Ronnie Scott's in London with pianist Shai Maestro, bassist Harish Raghavan, and drummer Nate Wood, and then "Fall" from the What We Bring album, accompanied by Gerald Clayton, Henry Cole, and bassist Joe Sanders.
Finally, the last clip features Wendel showing off his multi-tracking chops with an arrangement of "Monk's Mood" for four overdubbed bassoons and tenor sax.
Guitarist Dweezil Zappa will be returning to St. Louis next year to perform at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 8 at The Ready Room.
Zappa (pictured), the son of guitarist and composer Frank Zappa, has been touring and playing his father's music for the past decade using the name Zappa Plays Zappa, with his last performance in St. Louis having been in October 2016 at The Ready Room.
Since then, he's become involved in a dispute with the Zappa Family Trust, the legal entity that controls the rights to Frank Zappa's image, music, and other intellectual property and that now is headed by Dweezil's brother Ahmet and sister Diva.
Though a complete recounting of the details is beyond the scope of a short blog post, the gist of the problem is that the ZFT wants Dweezil Zappa to pay to license future live performances of his father's music, as well as a cut of his merchandise sales. Dweezil, understandably, finds this unfair, since in recent years he's dedicated most of his working life to keeping FZ's music before the public via frequent touring, while bearing all the expenses of putting a band together and taking it on the road.
The immediate result of the disagreement was that Dweezil stopped using the name Zappa Plays Zappa for his group, and instead toured in 2017 as "50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F@%K He Wants." This fall, the latest twists in the saga have included a new proposal from Dweezil to resolve the situation, and an announcement from the ZFT sanctioning something called "Frank Zappa – Back On The Road: The Hologram Tour" that supposedly will begin sometime in 2018.
Will the Zappa family's internal dispute be resolved by next May? Only time will tell, but in the meantime, tickets for Dweezil Zappa at The Ready Room are $25 in advance for general admission, $50 for a "VIP Soundcheck Party" that includes a 45-minute event before the doors open and a show poster, and are on sale now via Ticketfly.
This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features three noteworthy touring acts with widely disparate styles, plus a couple of Sunday big band performances, some free jazz, some vintage swing, and more.
The all-star ensemble's featured composer this year is Miles Davis, and they'll be performing a repertoire drawn from their latest album, which features eight new arrangements of music associated with the iconic trumpeter, plus new original music by each of the group's eight members.
You can see and hear the SFJAZZ Collective perform some of that material on video, and find out more about their Miles Davis project in this post from last Saturday.
Thursday, April 27
Singer Brian Owens headlines "Evening of Hope," an event at the Sheldon Concert Hall benefiting the Hope Center at Washington University; and around the corner, pianist Ptah Williams, guitarist Eric Slaughter and company will be performing at The Dark Room.
Friday, April 28
Guitarist Bill Frisell(pictured, top left) will lead a trio with his frequent collaborators, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen, in a performance at The Ready Room.
Frisell's next project, a series of duets with bassist Thomas Morgan called Small Town, is due out in May, but given his long history with Scherr and Wollesen, he could be pulling material from deep in his catalog for Friday's show, his first St. Louis performance since 2013.
Fujiwara and guitarist Mary Halvorson played a concert for NMC in 2014 as part of the trio Thumbscrew, and in some ways, The Hook Up seems a bit like a superset of that band, with Adam Hopkins in for Formanek on bass and the addition of saxophonist Brian Settles and trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson.
Starting in 2010, The Hook Up has released three recordings so far, the most recent being 2015's After All Is Said, which New York City Jazz Record described as “layered and cohesive, rhythmically diverse, with a lean but muscular sound that defines Fujiwara’s distinctive approach to melody and harmony,” and AllAboutJazz.com called “one of the most accessible, challenging and inventive recordings of recent vintage.”
Also on Saturday, trumpeter Randy Holmes' quintet will celebrate the birth of Duke Ellington with a free concert of his music at the Ozark Theatre; and Evangeline's has a day-night double-header of live jazz, with The Sidemen performing at brunch and Wack-A-Doo during the evening.
A little later in the day, the student performers of the North County Big Band will team up with the pros in the Gateway City Big Band for a joint concert at the The Sheldon. Meanwhile, out in St. Charles County, the Dave Dickey Big Band will play an early evening show at Brewskeez in O'Fallon, with the Pattonville High School Jazz Ensemble performing at intermission.
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.)
Guitarist Bill Frisell and his trio are coming to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m. Friday, April 28 at The Ready Room.
Frisell (pictured) played here last in April 2013 with his band Beautiful Dreamers at the Old Rock House. This time around, he'll be accompanied by frequent collaborators Tony Scherr on bass and Kenny Wollesen on drums.
Tickets for the all-ages show are $28 and $32, with a $2 surcharge at the door for minors, and will go on sale at 10:00 this Friday, February 3 via Ticketfly.
This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes one grande dame of cabaret; a couple of danceable funk/jazz acts; two pianists sharing one stage at the city's most prestigious jazz club; and not one, but two tributes to the music of the eclectic guitarist and composer Frank Zappa, plus more.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, October 12
Promoting their latest recording, Within You, The People's Key begin a two-night stand that marks their debut at Jazz at the Bistro.
Although he's still more-than-capably performing music from his father Frank Zappa's vast catalog of compositions, and using the same musicians formerly known as Zappa Plays Zappa, Dweezil can no longer use his dad's name or likeness, due to what's become a rather ugly legal battle with his mother and two of his siblings. As the name suggests, this year's tour offers a broad retrospective of FZ music going back to his first album Freak Out, which was released 50 years ago.
With a career stretching back more than 60 years, Maye (pictured, bottom left) remains a compelling performer, even at 88 years old. Although she was here this summer for the St. Louis Cabaret Conference, both shows are likely to sell out, if they haven't already, so advance reservations are suggested.
Also on Friday, pianists Adaron “Pops” Jackson and Phil Dunlap will team up on two grand pianos for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, supported by bassist Nick Jost and drummer Kaleb Kirby.
Elsewhere around town, singer Feyza Eren will present an evening of Brazilian music at The Chapel, and The BonBon Plot, a new trio that describes their sound as "bossa nova and modern French jazz with an indie twist" will play for the first of two nights at the Ozark Theatre.
Also on Saturday, trumpeter Jim Manley and guitarist Randy Bahr's All-Star Band returns to Nathalie's; and the Funky Butt Brass Band's monthly gig at the Broadway Oyster Bar will feature a second-set tribute to the music of Huey Lewis and the News. (Don't say we didn't warn you!)
Sunday, October 16
The area gets a second helping of Zappa music for the week as the long-running FZ tribute act Project/Object plays at 2720 Cherokee, joined by two of Zappa's former sidemen, singer, guitarist and St. Louis native Ike Willis and keyboardist Don Preston.
Although Dweezil Zappa has been, until recently anyway, the most "official" and best-known keeper of his dad's musical legacy, Project/Object are worthy and experienced interpreters, too. Yr. StLJN editor saw them play a few years back at Cicero's here in St. Louis, with Willis and former FZ saxophonist Napoleon Murphy Brock as guest performers, and they performed Zappa's music with skill and enthusiasm to spare.
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.)
As yr. StLJN editor is still recovering from a hand injury, this post is both a bit late and necessarily on the terse side. The good news is that, barring any unforeseen complications, I should be sufficiently recovered that things will be back to more-or-less normal around here in a week or two.
For now, better late than never, let's go to this week's live jazz and creative music highlights in and around St. Louis...
Friday, September 9
The St. Louis Art Fair begins its annual three-day run, with one of the entertainment stages devoted to local jazz acts booked with help from Jazz St. Louis; see the website fora complete schedule.
Also tonight, the Denver-based funk-jazz band The Motet(pictured, top left) returns for a performance at The Ready Room; the Coleman Hughes Project begins a two-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro; trumpeter Randy Holmes and his quintet offer a tribute to the music of Horace Silver at the Ozark Theatre; and guitarist Tom Byrne plays at Thurman's in Shaw, the new name for the recently renovated South Side spot formerly known as Thurman Grill and Provisions. Saturday, September 10 LouFest, the two-day rock festival held this weekend in Forest Park, will feature the Preservation Hall Jazz Band as its token jazz act, performing on Saturday afternoon. (Also of potential interest: blues guitarist Buddy Guy's set on Sunday afternoon.)
Elsewhere on Saturday afternoon, the Twin Cities-based jump blues and swing band Davina and the Vagabonds will be in town for a matinee at the Blues City Deli.
Tuesday, September 13
The St. Louis Legacy Ensemble, percussionist Joe Pastor's project that puts student jazz musicians and professionals side-by-side on stage, will perform as part of the "Notes From Home" series at the Sheldon Concert Hall.
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.)
This week, it's part one of StLJN's Fall 2016 jazz preview, in which we present videos featuring various touring jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting St. Louis in the next several months.
Going in chronological order, the first clip showcases Chicago-based singer Tammy McCann, who will be presenting her cabaret show "Ella Loves Gershwin" on Saturday, September 15 at The Emerald Room at The Monocle under the auspices of the Presenters Dolan. McCann can be seen in the first video up above, which shows an excerpt from a set she did at Birdland in NYC in January of this year.
After the jump, you can see a video of organist Dr. Lonnie Smith’s Evolution, who will be in town from Wednesday, September 21 through Saturday, September 24 to kick off the fall season at Jazz at the Bistro.
Named after Smith's most recent album, which features a horn section and second drummer added to the organist's usual trio, Evolution is seen here playing "Straight No Chaser" in October 2015 at BRIC JazzFest in Brooklyn. (Alas, the touring version of the band is a five-piece that only includes one drummer, so St. Louis audiences won't get a chance to hear the sort of interplay between the percussionists that's featured here.)
Right after Smith concludes his run at the Bistro, guitarist Pat Metheny will return to St. Louis with a brand new quartet featuring drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Linda Oh, and pianist Gwilym Simcock for a performance on Sunday, September 25 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Metheny is seen here with his Unity Group (Sanchez, bassist Ben Williams and saxophonist Chris Potter) performing the song "Kin" in 2014 at the the Five Angels Theater in New York.
Next up is pianist Bill Charlap, who will perform with his trio on Wednesday, September 28 and Thursday, September 29 at Jazz at the Bistro. The third clip after the jump shows Charlap's entire set from the 2015 Jazz San Javier festival in Spain.
That same week, the Bistro features one of their major "gets" of the season, as singer Al Jarreau checks in for two evenings of intimate duo performances on Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1. In today's video, you can see Jarreau singing "Take Five" with an all-star band at the 2016 International Jazz Day concert, held in April at the White House in Washington DC.
That particular weekend is shaping up to be a busy one, as percussionist Jason Marsalis' Vibes Quintet also will be performing here on Saturday, October 1 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Marsalis, who recently moved from his native New Orleans to France, is seen here playing "Offbeat Personality" in 2015 at the Blue Note in Milano, Italy.
And as if those two shows weren't enough for one evening, New Music Circle also will begin their season on Saturday, October 1 with a concert featuring duo performances by pianists Craig Taborn and Kris Davis at the 560 Music Center.
Since the Taborn/Davis tour hasn't even started yet, there's no video of the two of them playing together. So instead, in the next two clips you can see Taborn with his trio in 2015, playing "All True Night" and "Future Perfect" at the Salle Poirel in Nancy, France; and Davis and her trio playing in January 2015 at Klaviersalon MERTA in Linz, Austria.
Today's penultimate video features drummer, singer and songwriter Jamison Ross, who will be making his St. Louis debut as a leader with shows from Wednesday, October 5 through Saturday, October 8 at Jazz at the Bistro. The clip features Ross and his band performing "These Things You Are to Me" in February of this year at the studios of KPLU in Tacoma, WA.
The final video features guitarist Dweezil Zappa, who will return with his band to perform on Thursday, October 13 at The Ready Room. Though currently fighting a legal battle with his family over the rights to perform his father Frank Zappa's music, Dweezil is using the current tour to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of FZ's debut album Freak Out. You can hear what that sounds like in the video, an entire show show as shot by an audience member on July 8, 2016 at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY.
Part two of the Fall 2016 jazz preview will appear next week in this space. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...
Guitarist Dweezil Zappa is returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, October 13 at The Ready Room.
His tour this year will feature music from and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Freak Out, the 1966 debut album by his father, the late guitarist and composer Frank Zappa.
As a result, this year's series of shows is being billed as “50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever The F@%k He Wants — The Cease and Desist Tour.”
Tickets for Dweezil Zappa at the Ready Room are priced from $25 to $50, and will go on sale at noon this Friday, July 15 via ticketfly.com.
As mid-summer weekends go, this isn't an especially busy one for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, but there still are a number of noteworthy performances worth seeking out over the next few days, including the return of a popular free summer concert series and a rare visit from one of the best-known Afrobeat musicians in the world. Let's go the highlights...
Thursday, July 7
The Liberation Organ Trio will open this year's Jazz at Holmes series of free "Jazz in July" concerts at Washington University. (Note that the summer series will be presented in a different location, the Tisch Commons in Danforth University Center, with an earlier start time than the Jazz at Holmes shows presented during the school year.)
Friday, July 8
Singer Eve Seltzer returns to Evangeline's; the Original Knights of Swing will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and roots-rock/Americana band the Brothers Lazaroff will make their debut at Jazz at the Bistro in the first of two nights of performances at that venue. They'll be offering new arrangements of their material that have been expanded to accommodate a roster of guest soloists including saxophonist Ben Reece and trumpeter Adam Hucke.
Saturday, July 9
On Saturday afternoon, singer Wendy Gordon and friends will return for another matinee performance at J&C BBQ & Blues, and saxophonists Jeffrey Collins and Jessica Knopf, aka the Atlas Saxophone Duo, will present a free performance and workshop at Saxquest.
Saturday night, singer and actor Ben Watts, who's moving to NYC, will give his final cabaret performance locally before departing at The Emerald Room at The Monocle; and multi-instrumentalist Femi Kuti(pictured), the son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, and his band Positive Force will be in town for a performance at The Ready Room. For some video samples of Kuti and Positive Force in action, see this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.
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.)
After a slight delay due to some technical issues here at StLJN HQ, today's video spotlight shines on Femi Kuti, the Nigerian singer and multi-instrumentalist who's coming to St. Louis with his band Positive Force to perform on Saturday, July 9 at The Ready Room.
The eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, Kuti was born in London in 1962 and grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, raised mostly by his mother. He moved in with his father as a teenager, and eventually began playing saxophone and keyboards with Fela Kuti's band Egypt 80.
Femi Kuti put out his first solo album in 1995, and has enjoyed considerable subsequent success as an artist in his own right, even getting nominated for Grammy awards in 2003, 2010 and 2012 in the world music category (though he's never won). While his music clearly is in the tradition popularized by his father, the younger Kuti has endeavored to bring his own personality to it as well, even learning to play trumpet a few years ago as a way of broadening his instrumental pallette.
You can see and hear some examples of Femi Kuti's music starting with the first video up above, which offers excerpts from his performance at the 2015 edition of "Felabration," an annual event held in Nigeria to honor his father.
After the jump, you can see a full performances by Kuti and his band from 2013 at the SummerStage Concert Series in Milwaukee, WI, followed by a version of his song "Dem Bobo" that was recorded live in 2004 in Lagos.
Below that, there's another full set, from the 2011 Roskilde Festival in Denmark, followed by two videos that incorporate interviews and backstage footage along with performance excerpts, from 2012 in London and 2013 at Webster Hall in New York City.
This week's notable jazz and creative music shows in St. Louis include return appearances from a top guitarist and one of the hottest young bands in jazz, plus a rare visit from some prog-rock veterans and a tribute to a fondly remembered local vocalist and mentor. Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, May 11
Guitarist Pat Martino(pictured, top left) returns to St. Louis for the first of four nights continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.
Martino's guitar/organ/drums trio continues to capture the classic sound and feel associated with that instrumentation, but the leader's harmonically adventurous playing also adds another dimension beyond the blues-based fare that's often a staple of the format. For some recent samples on video of Martino in action, see this post from last Saturday.
Friday, May 13
Pianist Carolbeth True's trio will team up with singer Kim Fuller to interpret material associated with Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson, and more in "Songs from the Ladies," the first of two shows featuring True this weekend at the Ozark Theatre.
Now touring in support of the albums Family Dinner, Vol. II, which was released in February, and Culcha Vulcha, which came out a couple of weeks ago, Snarky Puppy (pictured, bottom left) has been moving up to larger venues in many cities they've played before, so this chance to see them here in a relatively small space may be the last for a while if their star continues to rise. In any event, even though the show is on a Monday, advance purchase of tickets is highly recommended.
Also on Monday, saxophonist Jerry Greene's Greene Jazz Project will play at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.
Tuesday, May 17
Singer Wendy Gordon has recruited an eclectic lineup of St. Louis vocalists including longtime local favorite Jeanne Trevor for "A Tribute to Mae Wheeler" at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Also joining Gordon and Trevor for the "Unforgettable Legends" show will be singers Linda Kennedy, Diane Vaughan, Mary Dyson, Marty Adbullah, Jeff Hardin, and more.
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.)
This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis features sounds ranging from straight-ahead jazz to "post-rock," with plenty of other styles in the mix, too. Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, May 4
Drummer Montez Coleman plays the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, with a bit of help from pianist Adam Maness, bassist Bob DeBoo and singer Anita Jackson.
Friday, May 6
Singer Brian Owens performs for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro; the Midwest Jazz-tette brings the sound of West Coast cool jazz to Evangeline's; and Tom Byrne switches to bass for a night, ceding the guitar duties to Eric Slaughter for a show by what Byrne's calling the Bassic Instinct Trio at Cigar Inn.
Monday, May 9
The "post-rock" band Tortoise, who mix up a half-dozen genres or more in their mostly instrumental music, will play at the The Ready Room. The Chicago-based group (pictured, bottom left) is touring in support of their first new album in seven years, The Catastrophist, that was released in January.
Also on Monday, saxophonist Doug Webb, a veteran of many movie and TV soundtrack sessions in Los Angeles studios who's also enjoyed a long association with trumpeter Doc Severinsen, will present a free performance and workshop at Saxquest.
Tuesday, May 10 Doug Webb will perform again with Saxquest's Little Big Band at the Tavern of Fine Arts, and pianist "Ragtime" Jack Radcliffe, a Massachusetts-based performer specializing in stride, pre-WWII blues, and yes, ragtime, will play at a one-nighter at Evangeline's.
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.)
