Jazz this week: Javon Jackson, Chris Botti, Pablo Ziegler & Claudia Acuna, BAG honors MLK, and more

After a couple of relatively slow weeks to start the new year, this week's musical offerings include several touring jazz performers playing on St. Louis stages. Let's go to the highlights:

Saxophonist Javon Jackson's Superband, featuring former Miles Davis sideman Jimmy Cobb on drums and Ronnie Matthews on piano, performs at Jazz at the Bistro starting tonight and continuing through Saturday. Jackson's recent recordings have been compared by some critics to the 1970s CTI releases from players such as Stanley Turrentine and Grover Washington Jr., and while Jackson (pictured) definitely can bring the funk when the situation calls for it, he also can play modern, hard bop and straight-ahead swinging jazz very well. This week's engagement likely will include some of all those styles, perhaps with a bit more straight-ahead playing than on some gigs due to the most welcome presence of Cobb, who was the drummer on Miles Davis' landmark Kind of Blue.

On Friday and Saturday, trumpeter Chris Botti plays the Touhill Performing Arts Center. I wrote a Critic's Pick about Botti for this week's Riverfront Times, and you can read it online here.

Also on Friday, the Pablo Ziegler Quintet for New Tango with special guest singer Claudia Acuna performs at the Edison Theatre on the Washington University campus. It's not clear from the publicity just how large a role Acuna has in this production, but from what I can tell, Ziegler, who worked with tango legend Astor Piazzolla, certainly seems worth hearing in his own right.

UPDATE - 11:55 p.m., 1/16/08 - Terry Perkins interviewed Ziegler for an article in Thursday's Post-Dispatch, elucidating the pianist's connection with Piazzolla and answering my question about Acuna: she'll sing seven songs with Ziegler's group. Read the whole article here.

On Sunday, BAG returns to the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site to pay tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a program called "One for King," featuring performances from the BAG Trio, poet Michael Castro, and more. Admission is free, and the concert is billed as being "family friendly."

Some other local gigs of note: Brandt's has the Richard Fuller Quartet on Thursday, Trio Tres Bien on Friday and Mo & Dawn on Saturday, while Cookie's Jazz and More will present Kim Massie on Friday and the Carolbeth True Trio on Saturday. Looking beyond the weekend, the Sessions Big Band performs at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups on Monday night.

For more local jazz-related events, please see 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.)

Coming attractions include Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Michael Buble, Wayne Bergeron

A recent check of the online touring information service Pollstar revealed some shows coming to the St. Louis area that may be of interest to jazz listeners.

On Friday, January 25 and Saturday, January 26, the Argosy Alton Casino will warm up for Mardi Gras with two concerts by New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band (pictured). Touring almost non-stop since Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent failure of the levees devastated their hometown, the PHJB has been to the St. Louis area a couple of times recently. I saw them perform at the St. Louis Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2006, and they put on an entertaining performance, albeit one that included blues, swing and even a rendition of a Thelonious Monk tune in addition to the expected traditional jazz fare.

Also coming to the Gateway City in the near future is singer Michael Buble, who will perform at the Scottrade Center on Wednesday, March 5. While Buble's vocals aren't everyone's cup of tea, I think he deserves at least some credit for introducing a new generation of listeners to some great American songs. That said, the cavernous confines of the Scottrade Center, home to pro hockey, college basketball and other large-scale events, don't exactly provide the sort of intimacy that many of those songs demand. However, Buble's current popularity would seem to preclude him from playing a smaller venue any time soon, so I suppose his fans will have to take what they can get.

Last but not least, Pollstar shows that trumpeter Wayne Bergeron, a veteran of the Maynard Ferguson band who's also a busy session player in Los Angeles, is coming to the area for two engagements this spring. First, he'll be at Mineral Area College in Park Hills on Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15, performing as guest soloist with the college's big band at the community center on campus.

The following month, Bergeron will be in St. Louis on Friday, April 18 and Saturday, April 19, playing at the Touhill Performing Arts Center as one of the guest soloists for the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival. While the GSLJF has yet to make an official announcement about their 2008 lineup, Begeron's personal Web site also lists him as one of the event's guests, so Pollstar's information seems fairly credible.

(Also listed on Bergeron's site are the other guests already announced by Jazz St. Louis as performers for the festival's small group show Wednesday, April 16 at Jazz at the Bistro - saxophonist Tom Scott, trombonist Paul McKee, and pianist Shelly Berg - as well as clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, who, like Bergeron, apparently won't be part of Wednesday's show but will take part in the weekend's GSLJF concerts.)

Jazz this week: The Kennedy Brothers, Manhattan Transfer, a tribute to Clark Terry, and more

With Christmas just a couple of weeks away, there are several seasonally themed jazz shows happening this week, as well as a pre-holiday homecoming for a couple of St. Louis' favorite sons.

On Wednesday night, the Manhattan Transfer brings their holiday show to the Touhill Performing Arts Center. This will be the popular vocal group's third appearance at the TouPAC since the hall opened in 2003, and their repertoire for this tour includes material from their two Christmas albums as well as a few familiar fan favorites drawn from the rest of their extensive catalog.

Also on Wednesday, the Kennedy Brothers open a four-night stand at Jazz at the Bistro, performing two sets a night through Saturday. Pianist Ray Kennedy probably is best known to jazz fans for his long tenure backing singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli, while bassist Tom Kennedy (pictured) has played with a number of well-known musicians, most notably serving as the regular bassist for fellow St. Louisan Dave Weckl's acclaimed electric jazz ensemble. This week, the brothers, who grew up in Maplewood, will be in the spotlight doing their own music as they get a relatively rare chance to perform together as headliners for their many friends and fans here in their hometown.

Other noteworthy shows this weekend: Singer Jeanne Trevor performs at Brandt's on Thursday night, and trumpeter Randy Holmes will lead Hard Bop Heritage in a tribute to St. Louis trumpet great Clark Terry on Friday night at Cookie's Jazz and More. Meanwhile, Finale Music and Dining will feature two local singers offering jazz-flavored holiday shows this weekend, as Dean Christopher presents "A Swingin' Holiday" on Friday night, and Debby Lennon goes "Home for the Holidays" on Saturday. And on Sunday afternoon, traditional jazz and swing band Cornet Chop Suey will perform in a concert sponsored by the St. Louis Jazz Club at the Moolah Shrine Center, 12545 Fee Fee Rd.

To see a more extensive list of local jazz-related events, please visit 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.)

Jazz this week: Delfeayo Marsalis, Diane Schuur, John Pizzarelli, Frank Sinatra Jr., Marion Meadows, and more

With five very different touring headliners in town for performances between now and Sunday, the St. Louis jazz scene has shows to suit a variety of musical tastes this weekend.

Let's go in chronological order, starting with Delfeayo Marsalis, who's performing at Jazz at the Bistro from Wednesday through Saturday. Delfeayo is the third-youngest Marsalis brother, and is known for his work as a producer of other artists as well as a musician in his own right. What little I've heard of his own stuff seems mostly inclined toward well-executed hard bop and post-1960s modernism, with occasional New Orleans-style trimmings, and, as one might expect from a Marsalis, he's definitely got skills on his chosen instrument. For more about his live show, check out this review of a January 2007 performance at NYC's Blue Note.

Next up is singer and pianist Diane Schuur, who returns to Finale Music and Dining to perform on Thursday and Friday. Schuur's brassy style has always seemed a bit overbearing to me, but there's no questioning her chops. If you're a fan, this seems like a great chance to see her in a very intimate setting.

On Saturday, singer and guiitarist John Pizzarelli (pictured) kicks off the Sheldon Concert Hall's jazz series for 2007-08. By now, Pizzarelli's a familiar figure around these parts, and seems to have built a substantial fan base here thanks to past performances at the Bistro, the Sheldon and elsewhere. He's an able entertainer as well as a fine guitar player, and I'd expect him to draw a big crowd at the Sheldon.

Speaking of entertainers, on Sunday afternoon Frank Sinatra Jr. will play the Touhill Performing Arts Center. His current show pays explicit tribute to his famous father, and, according to his publicity materials, features a 38-piece orchestra to recreate the arrangements used on some of Old Blue Eyes' most famous recordings.

To close out the weekend, on Sunday night the Roberts Orpheum will host a smooth jazz show headlined by saxophonist Marion Meadows and also featuring keyboard players Alex Bugnon and Bob Baldwin.

Other noteworthy jazz performances this weekend include trombonist Brett Stamps, who plays a free concert at Washington University on Thursday night as part of the Jazz at Holmes series, and smooth jazz/R&B saxophonist Rod Tate, who will be at Finale on Saturday.

Looking beyond the weekend, the Sessions Big Band is at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups on Monday night; singer Anita Rosamond will do a couple of 10 a.m. "Coffee Concerts" at the Sheldon on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings; and singer Brian Owens performs in a "Notes From Home" concert at the Sheldon on Tuesday night.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendat

(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.)

TouPAC's 2007-08 season will offer more of the same

The Touhill Performing Arts Center has announced its 2007-08 season of concerts and theatrical presentations, and while there are a few shows that may be of interest to jazz listeners, for the most part they feature artists who already have played the venue in the very recent past.

In addition to the October 8 concert featuring Frank Sinatra, Jr. that previously showed up on Pollstar, the TouPAC's upcoming season will include return appearances by vocal group the Manhattan Transfer (December 12, pictured), trumpeter Chris Botti (January 18 and 19), and the Glenn Miller Orchestra (April 26) as well as another "Explosions" percussion concert featuring members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra on March 29.

There is one new entry on the schedule that ought to stir up some interest in the local jazz community and beyond: an 80th birthday tribute to Maynard Ferguson, scheduled for May 4. No word as to what form the tribute will take, or the musicians involved, but given the loyalty of the late trumpeter's former sidemen and fans, and the probable involvement of Ferguson's manager and friend Steve Schankman, I'm sure no effort will be spared to do it up right.

In addition to these shows, the main hall at the TouPAC will serve as one of the performance venues for the 2008 edition of the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, which will be held April 16-19.

Beyond that, though, it looks like pretty slim pickings for jazz fans, and that's too bad. As a major concert facility at a University that's trying very hard to promote its jazz program, it seems as if the TouPAC ought to be both more active in the genre and less risk-averse in selecting acts.

You can see the entire season schedule and read a bit more about it in Calvin's Wilson's piece from the weekend Post-Dispatch, available online here.

All That Tap festival to feature music from Carolbeth True Trio

Jazz music and tap dancing have been connected throughout the history of both art forms. Of course, jazz's swing and syncopation have made it the preferred musical accompaniment for many a hoofer, but the art of tap dancing also has fascinated many jazz musicians, especially drummers such as Buddy Rich (who started in show business as a child tap dancer), Max Roach and Louis Bellson.

Given that connection, it makes perfect sense that St. Louis tap dance guru Robert L. Reed has selected the Carolbeth True Trio to provide the music for All That Tap XVI, the tap festival that will be held this year at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 28, at the Touhill Performing Arts Center

Featured tap dancers at the event will include Avi Miller and Ofer Ben, Rod Ferrone, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Robert Reed III, Bril Barrett, Karen Callaway Williams, Shelley Oliver, Wizdom & Dee Mac, Logan Miller and Melba Huber. Special guests will include tap legends Prince Spencer (of the Four Step Brothers), Jimmy Slyde, Harold Cromer and special honoree Marion Coles.

(To learn a bit more about the connection between jazz music and tap dancing, check out these three articles.)

Review: Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band at the Touhill Perfoming Arts Center

To many of the high school and college student musicians who came to his concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center last Saturday, April 21, Gordon Goodwin is a bonafide star. The students have played Goodwin’s charts in their school bands, bought his CDs and maybe even a t-shirt or two, and look up to him the way earlier generations of student jazz players regarded the bands of Maynard Ferguson, Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Don Ellis and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis.

Given that level of esteem, Goodwin and his Big Phat Band (pictured) were a logical choice to perform on the final night of the education-oriented Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival. And given that Goodwin and many of his band members initially learned their craft in the same sort of educational setting – a fact the pianist, composer and arranger alluded to several times during the night – they seemed to feel right at home with the crowd and the venue.

The Big Phat Band’s music has some similarities to the bands cited above, as well as to the "Tonight Show" orchestra under Doc Severinsen and the work of composer-arrangers such as Oliver Nelson, Henry Mancini and Neal Hefti who moved, as Goodwin does, in the worlds of both jazz and film scoring. On Saturday night, they emphasized extroverted, uptempo pieces – there wasn’t a ballad played all night – and showed off some very crisp and precise ensemble work, their exemplary execution providing a fine example for the school band directors also in attendance to share with their students.

Comprised mostly of little-known but highly capable West Coast studio musicians – ex-Chuck Mangione guitarist Grant Geissman was the most recognizable name – the Big Phat Band delivered Goodwin’s charts with unflagging energy and an appropriately professional polish. Trombonist Andy Martin and tenor saxophonist Brian Scanlon stood out among the soloists; trumpeter Rick Sorenson skillfully supplied the high note work; and drummer Bernie Dresel proved adept at powering the 18-member ensemble through a variety of grooves.

As for Goodwin, his piano playing was mostly setup and punctuation, though he did show off some nice chops during one brief solo on “Swinging For The Fences” (an extended reimagining of “Sweet Georgia Brown”), and even picked up a tenor sax for a swinging chorus on “Count Bubba’s Revenge”. As a composer/arranger, he seems still in the process of assimilating his various influences, but nevertheless is capable of some inventive and colorful writing - one standout example being the sax section feature that opened “Hunting Wabbits,” a tribute to the Warner Brothers cartoon scores that featured the music of composer Carl Stalling. "High Maintenance" was an effective concert opener, the sort of chart that used to be called a "flag waver," and "El Macho Muchacho" was a piquant cross-border blend of salsa, samba and country guitar licks from Geissman.

Goodwin also did a nice job expanding his slight theme for the film Attack of The Killer Tomatoes into a full-length big band piece, morphing it into an evocative minor-key blues. Less successful was a superfluous cover version of “Play That Funky Music,” which seemed to exist mostly to give alto saxophonist Sal Lozano a chance to show off a frantic pastiche of Dave Sanborn and Maceo Parker licks.

Overall, the Big Phat Band is a slick outfit that puts on an entertaining show, and other jazz groups might even learn a bit from their presentational style. Goodwin is an engaging MC, informal without getting smarmy, and the band’s entrance in particular was a lot of fun: the rhythm section set up a vamp, over which Goodwin introduced the rest of musicians as they ran on stage one by one, almost like announcing the starting lineup at a sporting event.

This little bit of business, along with others throughout the concert, showed that Goodwin has a good sense of what will appeal to his young audience. However, the Big Phat Band “trivia contest,” while providing a chance for Goodwin to tout some of his musicians’ accomplishments and give away some merch to a few fans, was a real momentum killer during the second half of the show.

Occasional lapses into show biz silliness and/or musical superficiality notwithstanding, Goodwin’s got the style down, and he’s clearly got a fine craftsman’s enthusiasm for his work. He's only been making big band records since 2002; with the opportunity to continue practicing his craft, even greater musical substance ought to follow.

Pollstar: Allyson, Sinatra Jr. coming to St. Louis in 2007-08

According to information just posted on Pollstar, singers Frank Sinatra Jr. and Karrin Allyson (pictured) are the latest two acts to book appearances at St. Louis venues for next season.

The online tour information service shows Sinatra Jr., who served as his father's conductor and now continues in his musical footsteps, booked at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on Sunday, October 7 of this year. It also says that Allyson, a former Kansas City resident who has gained significant national and international attention in recent years, is booked to play Jazz at the Bistro on May 7-10, 2008.

As always, information from Pollstar is subject to change, and these dates should not be considered confirmed until they are officially announced by the venues.

Jazz this week: Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, San Gabriel Seven, THF Realty All-Stars, BAG II & the Poets Collective, and more

This week's biggest jazz event is the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, which features daytime clinics and workshops for area student musicians as well as three major evening performances open to the public.

The first of those performances happens tonight at Jazz at the Bistro, where festival guest artists Bobby Watson (pictured, alto sax), Mike Metheny (trumpet) and Steve Wiest (trombone) will play two sets with a rhythm section featuring UMSL jazz program director Jim Widner on bass, Ken Kehner on piano, Miles Vandiver on drums and Bob Borgestede on guitar.

On Friday at the Touhill Performing Arts Center, Watson, Metheny and Wiest will perform in concert with the UMSL big band, directed by Widner. And on Saturday at the TouPAC, acclaimed composer/arranger Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band will close out the festival with what I think is their debut performance in the St. Louis area and one of their few Midwest dates this year.

Elsewhere in town: Finale Music and Dining features smooth jazz saxophonist Rod Tate on Thursday, and the return of the California based Latin-jazz-fusion group San Gabriel Seven on Friday. Back at Jazz at the Bistro, the THF Realty All-Stars, a group of standout young musicians drawn from Jazz St. Louis' ongoing educational programs, will perform on Friday and Saturday nights. (As an aside, It's too bad these shows had to be scheduled the same nights as the student-friendly festival shows at the TouPAC; here's hoping that perhaps next year festival co-sponsors UMSL and Jazz St. Louis can avoid a similar conflict.)

On Thursday at Washington University, the final Jazz at Holmes concert of the spring 2007 semester will feature drummer Bensid Thigpen, a member of the original Black Artists Group and the brother of drumming great Ed Thigpen. He'll lead a band featuring Chad Evans on sax, Ptah Williams on piano, and Daryl Mixon on bass. As always, the Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public.

On Friday, there's another free Black Arts Guild show at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site, featuring BAG II's "The Group," with Zimbabwe Nkenya, Jerome "J-Dubz" Williams and Glenn "Papa" Wright, and the Poets Collective, which includes Shirley Bradley LeFlore, Michael Castro, K. Curtis Lyle, Blue-Mashibini, Charles Wartts and others.

There are also a couple of noteworthy shows at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center this week. On Thursday, the South Side performance space will present Graham Reynolds and the Golden Arm Trio. Hailing from Austin, TX, Reynolds is best known as the composer responsible for the music used in A Scanner Darkly, the recent screen version of Phillip K. Dick paranoid sci-fi classic directed by fellow Austinite Richard Linklater and starrring rotoscoped, animated versions of Robert Downey Jr. and Keanu Reeves. St. Louis electronic musician Eric Hall will open the show.

Then on Sunday, LNAC presents Megafaun, described as "an unusual group that combines elements of 'old-timey' folk and traditional music with a story-telling performance art production." Also on the bill are LNAC's head honcho Mark Sarich, with "a set of 'at the threshold of audibility' cello work along with some newly composed electronics," and a third performer yet to be confirmed.

There's even more going on this weekend and beyond, so to see a more complete listing of St. Louis jazz and creative music events, please visit 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. No attachments, please.)

Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival will feature Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, Bobby Watson, Mike Metheny and Steve Wiest

The Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, which will take place this year from Wednesday, April 18 through Saturday, April 21, has announced its 2007 lineup of guest artists, including Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, saxophonist Bobby Watson (pictured), trumpeter Mike Metheny and trombonist Steve Wiest.

The festival is presented by the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Jazz St. Louis, and will include clinics and workshops for student musicians, as well as a night of guest artist performances at Jazz at the Bistro and two concerts at the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

It all starts on Wednesday, April 18, when members of the UMSL jazz faculty will appear with Watson, Metheny and Wiest for two shows at Jazz at the Bistro. Then the action shifts to the TouPAC, where on Friday, April 20, Watson, Metheny, and Wiest will perform in concert with the UMSL Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Jim Widner. The festival then wraps up on Saturday, April 21 with a concert by Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band.

For more information about Wednesday’s performance, visit the Jazz St. Louis Web site. For more about Friday and Saturday's concerts, see the TouPAC web site.

Below, you'll find a couple of embedded videos featuring Goodwin and the Big Phat Band. The first shows them backing singer Dianne Reeves on Goodwin's arrangement of "Too Close For Comfort," and the second is a promotional video for the band's recent CD/DVD "The Phat Pack".

Post piece previews percussion presentation

This weekend's Post-Dispatch has a story by classical music critic Sarah Bryan Miller previewing Tuesday's all-percussion concert featuring the Nuclear Percussion Ensemble and members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Read it online here.

(Edited after posting to add tags.)