Tommy Money Orchestra releases debut CD

Trumpeter and bandleader Tommy Money has released the debut CD from his 17-piece big band, the Tommy Money Orchestra.

Titled Unblued, the disc (pictured) features 15 tracks of mostly familiar material in the straightahead swing style identified with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and bandleader and arranger Nelson Riddle's work for Frank Sinatra, with St. Louisan Debby Lennon and Misty Daniels contributing guest vocals.

Unblued is now on sale at CD Baby, and you can hear samples of the music there, or on Money's own website.

Person, Jordan added to Finale fall schedule

Finale Music and Dining has announced its schedule for most of the remaining dates in 2007, and there are a number of shows of interest to jazz fans.

In addition to the previously announced return of singer and pianist Diane Schuur, the biggest news is that saxophonist and St. Louis native Eric Person and guitarist Stanley Jordan (pictured) both will be performing return engagements at the Clayton club this fall. Person and his band Meta-Four will play Finale on Saturday, October 13, with Jordan coming in the next week for a two-night stand on Thursday, October 18 and Friday, October 19.

Finale will also continue its practice of booking themed evenings of entertainment, with new entries including holiday shows featuring Debby Lennon (Saturday, December 15) and Anita Rosamond (Saturday, December 22) and a tribute to Chet Baker from the band Hard Bop Heritage (Thursday, December 27).

The club also announced return engagements for a number of other local and regional artists, including Rod Tate (Saturday, October 6); Tim Cunningham (Friday, October 12; Saturday, November 10; and Friday, December 7); the Tommy Money Orchestra (Saturday, October 20); Kim Massie (Saturday, October 27; Friday, November 30 and Saturday, December 29); Dean Christopher's Rat Pack and More (Thursday, November 1 and Friday, December 14); Erin Bode (Friday, November 16 and Saturday, November 17); and the Sinatra Songbook (Friday, November 23).

History Museum sets lineup for fall Twilight Tuesdays concerts

The Missouri History Museum has announced the musical lineup for the fall Twilight Tuesdays series, and the first three concerts feature artsts of potential interest to jazz fans. Singer Kim Massie will kick off the fall series this Tuesday, September 4, followed by the Tommy Money Orchestra on September 11 and singer Denise Thimes on September 18.

Non-jazz performances in the series will include disco cover band Dr. Zhivegas (September 25; Steve Davis' Memories of Elvis show (October 2); the Grateful Dead-inspired Jake's Leg (October 9); and variety group Power Play (October 16).

All concerts are free and open to the public, and take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.n. outside the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. Listeners are encouraged to bring their own lawn chair and/or blanket, but the Museum also provides up to 100 chairs free on a first-come, first-served basis. When those are gone, they'll rent you one for $5. They also now are selling seats in a VIP section for $10 per person or $8 for Museum members; to purchase those tickets in advance for individuals or a group, call 314-361-9017.

Jazz this week: Acoustic Alchemy, Jazz at Holmes summer series, Tommy Money Orchestra, and more

Compared to some past years, it's been a relatively busy summer so far for jazz in St. Louis, but the activity level will be dropping a bit in the month of August, as it's the height of vacation season, and most of the not-for-profit presenters, concert series, university affiliated programs, and so on won't resume until the beginning of September.

Still, the cupboard is not entirely bare this weekend - for starters, the British smooth jazz group Acoustic Alchemy (pictured) will be in town tonight to do two sets at Finale Music and Dining, providing fans with the opportunity to see them up close in an intimate club setting.

Also tonight, Washington University's Jazz at Holmes summer series of free concerts continues with pianist Ptah Williams and singer Tony Viviano teaming up for a program focused on the music of Tony Bennett. At first consideration, this seems like an odd pairing - Williams is a hard-driving pianist with a distinctly modern, post-bop style, while Viviano is a genial crooner specializing in classic pop and tunes from the Great American Songbook. Then again, sometimes musicians with contrasting styles can draw each other into new places, and I certainly wouldn't put it past these two to find an interesting middle ground.

On Saturday, trumpeter Tommy Money will squeeze his big band onto the stage at Cookie's Jazz and More, which is reopening this weekend after a brief mid-summer vacation.

Other noteworthy gigs over the next several days include a troika of singers: Jeanne Trevor at Brandt's on Thursday; Debby Lennon doing a Cole Porter tribute at Finale on Saturday; and Mae "Lady Jazz" Wheeler in an early evening show at Brandt's on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, radio host, jazz historian, author and occasional StLJN co-conspirator Dennis Owsley continues his "Jazz Decades" series of broadcasts with a program featuring three house of music recorded in the years 1965-1969 by artists such as Albert Ayler, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, John Handy, Charles Lloyd and Anthony Braxton. To hear it, tune in to KWMU 90.7 FM from 9 p.m. to midnight, or catch the online stream at KWMU's Web site.

For a more extensive listing of local jazz performances, please consult the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

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

Finale sets dates for Smith/Turrentine tribute, guitarist Steve Oliver, and more

Finale Music and Dining has announced a number of additional shows of interest to jazz listeners.

The biggest name is guitarist/vocalist Steve Oliver (pictured), who will play the club on Saturday, June 23. Oliver's music gets categorized as smooth jazz, and he's had radio airplay and sales success in that genre, but he also claims influences from rock to world music. You can hear some sound clips from his CD "Radiant" and an interview with Oliver on a podcast available free from iTunes here. You cal also see Oliver's promotional video in the window embedded at the bottom of this post.

Also, fans of jazz organ may want to check out "Back At The Chicken Shack: A Tribute to Jimmy Smith and Stanley Turrentine," with the David Fatek Quartet on Thursday, June 14. Fatek is a saxophonist who teaches music at McKendree College in Lebanon, IL, and has performed with Grover Washington, Jr, Maynard Ferguson, Roger Humphries, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, and the USAF Band of Mid-America's Shades of Blue Jazz Ensemble.

More to the point of this particular tribute concept, Fatek earned his music degrees in Philadelphia, where they traditionally know their soul-jazz almost as well as their cheese steaks. And, at the risk of perpetuating another positive stereotype - in this case, that of persons of Italian-American ancestry being good at jazz organ - it should be noted that Fatek's organ player is Tony DiPasquale, band director for the Belleville School District who's also played with Reeves and the Vandellas and Shades of Blue, as well as the Shirelles, Marvin Stamm, Jamey Abersold, the Ink Spots and the Four Aces.

Other St. Louis area musicians newly added to Finale's spring/summer schedule include trombonist Brett Stamps (Thursday, May 31); singer Jeanne Trevor (Saturday, June 16); retro big band Tommy Money Orchestra (Thursday, June 21); the Vegas-style jazz of Wild Cool & Swingin' (Friday, June 22); and singers Erin Bode (Fridau, July 6 and Saturday, July 7) and Anita Rosamond (Saturday, July 14).