Jazz this week: Tortoise, Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, Anat Cohen, and more

Unpredictable weather is just one reason that a lot of touring acts like to stay home in early January.

But whether St. Louis this weekend ends up with the spring-like temperatures we're enjoying at midweek, or with the ice storm being promised (threatened?) by Friday, the calendar of upcoming live jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis features several shows that definitely are worth leaving the house to hear.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, January 11
Five young local musicians associated with Jazz St. Louis' educational programs will reunite as the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars Alumni Quintet for the first of two nights of performances at Jazz at the Bistro.

The group features saxophonist Carlos Brown, Jr., trumpeter Brady Lewis, drummer Everette Benton, pianist Eliot Courtois, and bassist Nathan Pence, all of whom currently are studying music at various universities around the country.

Also on Wednesday, guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith will be playing duets at Evangeline's.

Thursday, January 12
The eclectic instrumental quintet Tortoise (pictured, top left), who have been enjoying a period of renewed activity since the 2016 release The Catastrophist, their first album since 2009, returns to perform at the Old Rock House.

Elsewhere around town, the Peoria, IL-based band The Perrilles Project will be playing music associated with iconic drummer Max Roach at Evangeline's; and singer and impressionist Dean Christopher brings his "Rat Pack and More" show to Joe's Cafe & Gallery.

Friday, January 13
Four musicians in town this week to do educational residencies for Jazz St. Louis - trumpeter Terell Stafford, trombonist Andre Hayward, bassist Rodney Whitaker, and drummer Steve Fidyk -  will join forces to perform as the "Jazz at Lincoln Center Group" for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Stafford and Whitaker already are familiar to local jazz fans thanks to multiple previous appearances here - in fact, the trumpeter played the Bistro just last month as part of saxophonist Tim Warfield's holiday show - while Fidyk, though not a marquee name, is a well-regarded drummer and teacher known for his work with big bands.

But the sleeper attraction on this gig may very well be Hayward (pictured, center left) a veteran of the SFJAZZ Ensemble who last played here in 2013 at the Bistro as part of a similar setup with Whitaker, Warfield, and pianist and former St. Louisan Reggie Thomas. He's one of the top trombonists working today, with a quick imagination as an improviser, fine technique, and a well-rounded tone.

Also on Friday, vocal group Java Jived will bring their Manhattan Transfer-esque harmonies to the Emerald Room at The Monocle; and Miss Jubilee will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, January 14
Clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen (pictured, bottom left) returns to play at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

While one of Cohen's major projects of the past year was working with arranger Oded Lev-Ari and a new ten-piece band, for this show she'll be fronting her quartet, a versatile and free-wheeling band that can handle music ranging from classic swing numbers associated with Fats Waller and Benny Goodman to Brazilian choro music.

Also on Saturday, singer Erika Johnson and guitarist Tom Byrne will perform at Montrey's Cigar Lounge.

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.)

Tortoise to perform Thursday, January 12 at Old Rock House

The eclectic instrumental band Tortoise is returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, January 12 at the Old Rock House, with indie rock band Hope and Therapy as opening act.

Drawing on rock, jazz, dub, electronica, and minimalism, Tortoise (pictured) has recorded six albums in nearly 25 years together, the most recent being The Catastrophist, which came out in January and is their first studio album in almost seven years. The Chicago-based quintet last played in St. Louis in May of this year at the Ready Room.

Tickets for Tortoise with Hope and Therapy are $18 in advance, $20 day of show, and are on sale now.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Greg Osby was interviewed for a feature story on the website Jazz in Europe.

* Singer Denise Thimes' Mothers Day show last Sunday at the Touhill is the subject of a photo gallery on STLtoday.com.

* A new article by professor Gerald Early in Washington University's Common Reader looks at "Horns On Film - Five notable dramatic films about jazz trumpeters, with 15 grace notes."

* DownBeat magazine reviewed the CD reissue of Esoteric, an album (pictured) by the late drummer and St. Louis native Phillip Wilson with trumpeter Olu Dara that originally was released in 1979 on the hatHut label.

* Also in DownBeat, a review of Revive Music's recent 10th anniversary celebration in NYC, which included a performance by trumpeter Keyon Harrold.

* KDHX has posted to Flickr an album of photos from Tortoise's show Monday night at the Ready Room.

* The St. Louis Stompers are headed to Fox Lake, WI this weekend to play in the 44th annual Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee.

* Musical instrument distributor St. Louis Music set a quarterly record for sales in the first three months of 2016. The company distributes more than 10,000 music-related products, and owns instrument brands including Alvarez, Austin and Sigma guitars, Knilling stringed instruments, E.K. Blessing brass, and Zonda reeds and woodwinds.

* St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accounts for the Arts will present their Accidental Arts Administrator and Strategic Planning Fundamentals workshops next Monday, May 16 and Tuesday, May 17 at the offices of the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar.

Jazz this week: Cyrus Chestnut, Tortoise, Denise Thimes' Mothers Day show, and more

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.

Elsewhere in Grand Center, saxophonist Dave Stone takes over Bob DeBoo's hosting duties for the weekly jam session at the Kranzberg Arts Center; cornetist TJ Muller of the Gaslight Squares will play at The Stage at KDHX, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor will do his weekly set at The Dark Room.

Thursday, May 5
Latin/jazz band Clave Sol will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo starting in the afternoon and continuing through evening at Rosalita's Cantina downtown; Miss Jubilee plays an early evening show at Blues City Deli; and singer Ralph Williams returns to Troy's Jazz Gallery.

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.

Also on Friday, singer/actor Ben Nordstrom performs for the first of two nights in the cabaret room at The Monocle; and singer Joe Mancuso and bassist Willem von Hombracht will duet at Tavern of Fine Arts.

Saturday, May 7
Pianist Cyrus Chestnut returns with his trio to offer some "African Reflections" at Sheldon Concert Hall. You can read more about Chestnut (pictured, top left) and see some videos of him performing in this post from last Saturday. Note also that The Sheldon is offering a discount on remaining tickets to online buyers, cutting the price to $25.

Also on Saturday, trumpeter Jim Manley and guitarist Randy Bahr lead their All-Star Band at Nathalie's.

Sunday, May 8
Singer Denise Thimes will present her annual Mothers Day extravaganza this year at a new venue, the Touhill Performing Arts Center, with help from guest stars including pianist Tamir Hendelman, saxophonist Tom Braxton, and comedian Monique Marvez.

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.)

Jazz this week: Mulgrew Miller, Rasul Siddik, Tortoise, Dave Black, and more

Though this week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis isn't quite as jam-packed as last week's, there are still a number of notable performances happening over the next few days that are worthy of your attention. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, the very fine pianist Mulgrew Miller opens a four-night run that continues through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Miller was the subject of one of the very first concert reviews on StLJN four and half years ago, and his work since then continues to impress. Miller's gig also is a celebration of the ten-year anniversary of the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label, for which the pianist has recorded his five most recent CDs. For some video samples of Miller in action, see this post.

On Thursday evening, the quartet Utter Chaos, which draws inspiration from the pianoless Gerry Mulligan-Bob Brookmeyer combos of the 1950s, will do a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Then on Friday, acoustic guitarist Jack Rose performs at Open Lot, 1310 South 18th Street. Rose plays "a unique brand of blues, folk, ragtime and raga, all the while experimenting with guitar tunings and frequently reinterpreting and rerecording his earlier compositions." Drummer Danny McClain and saxophonist Dave Stone will open the show with a duo improv set.

On Saturday evening, the Nu-Art Series presents trumpeter and St. Louis expat Rasul Siddik (pictured) and his quartet in a performance at Luna Bar in the Central West End.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday guitarist Dave Black will perform a concert of original music at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

On Tuesday, the Chicago-based instrumental "post-rock" band Tortoise comes to town to perform at the rock club the Firebird, located at 2706 Olive downtown.

For more jazz and creative music events this weekend and beyond, check out the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, available for viewing on the left sidebar or by clicking here.

(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.)

Tortoise to perform at the Firebird on Tuesday, September 29

The Chicago-based instrumental "post-rock" band Tortoise (pictured), whose members are also involved in their hometown's sprawling improvised music scene, is coming to St. Louis* on Tuesday, September 29 to perform at the Firebird, 2706 Olive, just west of Jefferson.

Together since 1990, the members of Tortoise have developed a sound that incorporates influences from jazz and alt-rock to techno and dub, and as a result have attracted an equally diverse fan base, ranging from young people who frequent rock venues like the Firebird to older fans of jazz and electronic music. They're touring to support their latest CD Beacons of Ancestorship, which came out in June.

Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and the show, which includes opening act Prefuse 73, starts at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $18 (plus a $2 service charge) and can be purchased here.