J. Scheidegger Center arts series to feature Branford Marsalis Quartet, Tower of Power

The J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts at Lindenwood University today announced the 2021-22 season schedule for their touring artists series, and there are at least a couple of shows of potential interest to StLJN readers.

The biggest "get" from a jazz fan's perspective is the Branford Marsalis Quartet, who will close out the series next spring with a concert on Thursday, April 14.

Marsalis and company (pictured) will be immediately preceded on the schedule by legendary funk and soul band Tower of Power, who will perform at Lindenwood on Saturday, March 19.

Single ticket prices for Marsalis and TOP both start at $15 for rear balcony/obstructed view seating and go up to $95 per person for "platinum" seating.

The series also will include a holiday show from swing revivalists Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on Thursday, December 23, as well as six other performances featuring country music, comedy, magic, and more.

Single ticket sales via the Scheidegger Center box office will begin on Tuesday, August 3, and there's also a "Pick-A-Pack" option that offers a discount when purchasing tickets to four shows at the same time. You can see the season brochure for the series online here.

Sunday Session: June 2, 2019

Dr. Lonnie Smith

Here's this week's roundup of various music-related items of interest, drawn from StLJN's inboxes, newsfeeds, and assorted other sources:

* The Dreamers and John Daversa: Message, Intention, Purpose (DownBeat)
* CBS Sued Over 'Andy Griffith Show' Theme Song (Hollywood Reporter)
* Lisa Coleman: “Prince would just use a preset and then brighten the f**k out of it!” (MusicRadar.com)
* Lee Ranaldo Discusses His Return to Improv Music with New Album 'Lee Ranaldo / Jim Jarmusch / Marc Urselli / Balázs Pándi' (Exclaim.ca)
* Kendrick Scott at the ‘Height of Optimism’ (DownBeat)
* Antonio Salieri’s Revenge (The New Yorker)
* Why Do Employers Lowball Creatives? A New Study Has Answers (KQED)
* King Weir (GQ)
* Jazz Currents Surge Along the Rhine (DownBeat)
* After a Scandal, the New Orleans Jazz Market Rises Again (New York Times)
* Carlos Santana on Celebrating 'Supernatural' and Returning to Woodstock: 'We're Better Than the First Time' (Billboard)
* The Lives of John Coltrane & Billie Holiday Are Now Told in Two Graphic Novels (OpenCulture.com)
* Steinway & Sons Has a Secret ‘Vault’ for Its Most Exclusive Pianos. Here’s What’s Inside (RobbReport.com)
* The Egging of Frank Sinatra (Medium.com)
* Tower of Power at 50: What Is Hip? (Jazz Journal)
* 'Two Wings: The Music Of Black America In Migration' Celebrates Journey Millions Took (WBGO)
* Bright Moments: Ron Carter – Looking Back with the Bass Icon (Jazz Times)
* DC's go-go sound becomes anti-gentrification battle cry (Associated Press)
* Metadata is the biggest little problem plaguing the music industry (TheVerge.com)
* Minnesota blues hero Tony Glover, an influence on Dylan and the Stones, dies at 79 (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
* This Is Where I Live: A Q&A With William Bell (SFJAZZ.org)
* Singer Leon Redbone Dies at 69 (Variety)
* "Dead Sound": The Grateful Dead and the evolution of modern concert sound (CBS News)
* Linda May Han Oh Reaches Across the Musical Spectrum (DownBeat)
* The Record Industry Expects a Windfall. Where Will the Money Go? (Pitchfork.com)
* Chops: David Binney on Why Musicians May Not Need a Bite of the Big Apple (Jazz Times)
* The Baltimore Symphony in the Twilight Zone (SongOfTheLarkBlog.com)
* How Bossa Nova Is Infiltrating Rap and R&B (Rolling Stone)
* Dr. Lonnie Smith Meets the Jazz Orchestra of the Concertgebouw at Birdland (DownBeat)
* Apple Is Finally Killing iTunes (Rolling Stone)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Veteran drummer Gary Sykes, who currently plays with pianist Ptah Williams' trio, the STL Free Jazz Collective, and others, continues to face some serious health issues, most recently making a trip this week to St. Mary's Hospital to have two stents installed.

While Sykes said in a Facebook post that he's feeling better post-surgery, the GoFundMe page to raise money to help with expenses while he's unable to work is still active. Find out more and, if you wish, donate here.

* Singer Valerie Kirchhoff and pianist Ethan Leinwand of Miss Jubilee (pictured) were guests on a recent episode of Rock Paper Podcast.

* The Dark Room has begun live-streaming video of performances on their Facebook page, and archiving the streamed videos on a new YouTube channel.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold was interviewed about his musical influences by Jamie Cullum for BBC Radio Two's "Take Five."

* Get It How You Live, the new album by trumpeter Russell Gunn's Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, was reviewed by DownBeat magazine.

* Guitarist Nels Cline was interviewed about his show tonight at Delmar Hall by the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson. (Link is to Google cache.)

* Also in the Post, Tower of Power saxophonist and bandleader Emilio Castillo was interviewed by P-D freelancer Daniel Durchholz. (Link is to Google cache.) TOP performs this Saturday, August 11 at River City Casino.

* Grant Green Jr. talks about his dad, St. Louis-born guitarist Grant Green, on the latest episode of the web series The Pace Report.

* Trumpeter and philanthropist Herb Alpert was interviewed by St. Louis Public Radio. While Alpert's concert with his wife, singer Lani Hall, on Sunday, August 19 at the Grandel Theatre already is sold out, some of his visual art will be on display at the Grandel from Friday, August 17 through Sunday, August 19.

An opening reception will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Friday, August 17. The public also can view Alpert's abstract mixed-media paintings and large and small-scale bronze sculptures from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 18, and from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 19 before the concert and for 30 minutes after the show.

Jazz this week: Nels Cline 4, Tower of Power, free outdoor concerts, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis is somewhat busier than usual for late summer, with a couple of significant touring acts in town as well as a number of noteworthy shows from the hometown contingent.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, August 8
This week's free "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" will feature bassist Guy Cantonwine and Willem von Hombracht doing duets 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.

Thursday, August 9
Miss Jubilee and The Gaslight Squares will play traditional jazz and swing on a double-bill at Joe's Cafe, and Dean Christopher will bring his "Rat Pack and More" show to 50/Fifty Kitchen.

Also on Thursday, saxophonist Dave Stone's plays at Element Restaurant and Lounge, and trumpeter Keith Moyer's quartet returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, August 10
The Nels Cline 4, featuring Cline (pictured, top left) and fellow guitarist Julian Lage, performs at Delmar Hall. Touring in support of their recent Blue Note album Currents, Constellations, they're getting good notices both for the recording and for their live shows, which feature plenty of interplay between the two star guitarists. You can see some samples of recent performances on video in this post from two Saturdays ago.

Also on Friday, drummer Montez Coleman will celebrate his birthday with the first of two nights of performances at Jazz St. Louis, and you can take in one of three free outdoor concerts, as the Funky Butt Brass Band plays for the "Ferguson CityWalk" at Plaza At 501; The Bosman Twins perform at the Dellwood Recreation Center, and Miss Jubilee will provide the music for the St. Louis Zoo's "Jungle Boogie".

Saturday, August 11
Celebrating 50 years of the "Oakland Stroke" and supporting a new album release with a summer tour, the singular funk band Tower of Power (pictured, bottom left) stops in St. Louis for a show at the River City Casino Event Center. 

You can see some previous performances from the 50th anniversary tour and more in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, keyboardist Marvin Cockrell and Focus play smooth jazz, R&B and more at the Grandel Theatre, and the Joe Bozzi Band returns to Evangeline's.

Elsewhere around town, The Wire Pilots wll play original jazz, fusion and world music at the Ozark Theatre, and percussionist Herman Semidey and his Orquestra son Montuno will make their debut at Club Diamonds.

Sunday, August 12
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents Red Lehr & the St. Louis Rivermen playing traditional jazz at the  DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel St. Louis - Westport.

Monday, August 13
Dizzy Atmosphere performs Gypsy jazz and swing for diners at The Shaved Duck.

Tuesday, August 14
Multi-instrumentalist and singer Tonina Saputo and her band host "The Tuesday Night Hit" 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: 50 years of Tower of Power

This week, our video spotlight is focused on Tower of Power, who will be coming to St. Louis to perform next Saturday, August 11 at River City Casino.

Touring this summer to celebrate 50 years as a band and to support a newly released album called Soul Side of Town, TOP under the direction of co-founder and tenor saxophonist Emilio Castillo has maintained its signature sound through dozens of personnel changes and shows no sign of slowing down.

You can see the current edition of the band in today's collection of videos, all but one of which come from the 50th anniversary tour. The first clip up above features a performance of the title track from Soul Side of Town, recorded in May for the BBC Two program Later… with Jools Holland.

After the jump, you can see three audience-made clips from the band's 50th anniversary shows presented the first weekend of June at the Fox Theater in their hometown of Oakland, CA: a medley of "What is Hip?" and "Soul Power"; the instrumental "Squib Cakes"; and a medley of "Do You Like That?" and "Drop It In The Slot."

That's followed by another medley, including "Soul with a Capital S," "You Ought To Be Having Fun," and "On The Soul Side Of Town," recorded in May in Tucson, AZ.

Last but not least, the final video offer a retrospective look at the band's past, documenting TOP's 40th anniversary show in 2008 in Oakland.

For more about Tower of Power and Soul Side of Town, read Castillo's interview with Billboard from April of this year; his interview published last week in Denver's Westword; and this review of a show in March in Lake Tahoe, NV.

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

Tower of Power returning to perform Saturday, August 11 at River City Casino

Bay Area funk band Tower of Power will return to St. Louis this summer to perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, August 11 at River City Casino's Event Center.

Founded in 1968 in Oakland, CA, TOP (pictured) will celebrate their 50th anniversary this year. Their most recent recording is a box set from their 40th anniversary tour, which was released on CD/DVD in 2011 and on Blu-Ray in 2012. Their last performance in the St. Louis area was in February 2017, also at River City.

Tower of Power also made national news in January of last year when drummer David Garibaldi and substitute bassist Marc van Wageningen were seriously injured in a freak train accident before a gig at Yoshi's in Oakland. Fortunately, both men survived, the band continued to work with substitute drummer Herman Matthews, and Garibaldi was recovered and back playing with TOP again before the year was over.

Tickets for Tower of Power at River City Casino are priced from $40 to $50 and will go on sale starting at 10:00 a.m. today at the casino, by phone at 800-745-3000 and via Ticketmaster.

Sunday Session: September 10, 2017

Art Tatum

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Steely Dan Guitarist Walter Becker Dies at 67 (DownBeat)
* EWS: Walter Becker (1950-2017) R.I.P. (London Jazz News)
* Walter Becker Was A Master Of Musical Understatement (NPR)
* Vijay Iyer On Jazz's 'History Of Defiance,' His Influences And Playing In A Sextet (NPR)
* Gunter Hampel at 80: Still Ahead of Time (JazzDaGama.com)
* Every Night Perfect (Popular Mechanics)
* The Rise And Fall Of Tower Records (Flashbak.com)
* Wadada Leo Smith's Defiant And Fearless Elegy For Emmett Till (In 360˚ VR) (WBGO)
* Roscoe Mitchell, Who Helped Invent New Chicago Jazz Sound, Comes Home (Chicago magazine)
* Chicago Jazz Fest Shines Spotlight on Hometown Talent (DownBeat)
* Holger Czukay, sampling pioneer and co-founder of Can, has died at age 79 (FactMag.com)
* Holger Czukay obituary (The Guardian)
* Tower Of Power Singer Rick Stevens Dies (Pollstar.com)
* BassDrumBone and the New Haven Jazz Renaissance (AllAboutJazz.com)
* In Praise of Art Tatum, Stealth Radical in the Jazz Piano Pantheon (WBGO)
* Looking back at 20 years of neglected promise at 18th and Vine — and forward to 2020 (Pitch Weekly)
* Ella Fitzgerald Sings With London Symphony Orchestra On New Album (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Berklee To Turn A Legendary Recording Studio Into Its New York City Home Base (WBUR)
* Jimmy’s Blues (Los Angeles Review of Books)
* A Nation of Tinkerers: How a Canadian University Shaped Electronic Music in North America (Vice.com)
* The World’s Largest Music Publishers Just Declared War on Spotify — In No Uncertain Terms (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* We Talked to People at the Largest Free Jazz Festival on the Planet (Vice.com)
* Iggy Pop: Croon & Destroy - From his Stooges days to a surprising recent collaboration, the punk pioneer discusses his jazz past (Jazz Times)
* World’s oldest jazz band in Shanghai a rare constant amid China’s breakneck modernisation (South China Morning Post)
* Should Spotify Try to Become the 'Netflix Of Music'? Not So Fast (Billboard)
* 'Germans Love Their CDs': Universal Music Exec on How Germany's Music Market Is Transforming 'Differently' (Billboard)
* Two Years Later, Is New Music Friday Doing Its Job? (Forbes)
* What if you used synthesizers to emulate nature and reality? (CDM.link)
* Why Esperanza Spalding Is the Most Audacious Innovator in Jazz (Time)
* How We Can Support the World’s Rich Musical Diversity (Smithsonian)
* Review: Detroit Jazz Festival 2017 - Artist-in-residence Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and others impress at this outstanding free fest in the Motor City (Jazz Times)

Jazz this week: Mike Stern & Kimberly Thompson, George Sams, Ralph Towner, Ikue Mori & Nate Wooley, Russell Gunn, and more

As you might be able to deduce from looking at the headline for this post, it's very busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis.

Over the next few days, there will be a plethora of visiting performers on local stages, plus the opening of a play about one of the most famous jazz singers ever, free master classes from two guitar greats, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, February 15
Guitarist Mike Stern performs for the first of four nights continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro, joined by drummer Kimberly Thompson, saxophonist Bob Franceschini, and bassist Teymur Phell.

It's been nearly seven years since Stern (pictured, top left) last headlined a show at the Bistro, and with St. Louis native Thompson on the gig, demand for tickets should be brisk, so advance reservations are strongly recommended.

Also on Wednesday, Cabaret St. Louis presents their monthly "Open Mic Night" at The Emerald Room at The Monocle.

Thursday,
February 16
On Thursday afternoon, Mike Stern will present a free jazz guitar clinic sponsored by Mozingo Music at Lindenwood University's J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts.

Thursday evening, trumpeter George Sams (pictured, center left) will perform for the "Not So Quiet" concert series at the St. Louis Public Library's main location downtown with a group including poet Shirley LeFlore, percussionist Henry Claude, cellist Tracy Andreotti, and violinist Alyssa Avery.

Also on Thursday, singer Erin Bode returns to Cyrano's; and the first preview performance of Max and Louie Productions' staging of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, the Tony Award-winning play-with-music about Billie Holiday, will be presented at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

The show, which features Chicago-based actress and singer Alexis J. Roston reprising her award-winning performance as Holiday, opens officially on Friday night and continues through Saturday, March 4.

Friday, February 17
Friday afternoon, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents a "Symposium on the Music of Ralph Towner" with Towner, William Lenihan and Steve Schenkel at the Goldberg Formal Lounge in the Danforth University Center on the Wash U campus.

That evening, funk legends Tower of Power will perform at River City Casino. Although drummer David Garibaldi and substitute bassist Marc Van Wageningen are still recovering from serious injuries suffered in an accident before a gig last month in Oakland, TOP's current tour is continuing, with original bassist Francis "Rocco" Prestia back on the bandstand and former drummer Herman Matthews, who played with the group for several years in the 1990s, filling in for Garibaldi.

Also on Friday, trumpeter Byron Stripling will be guest soloist with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra as they present their Black History Month program "Lift Every Voice and Sing," at Powell Symphony Hall.

Elsewhere around town, trumpeter Jim Manley returns to Evangeline's; trumpeter Kasimu Taylor and pianist Ptah Williams perform duets at Thurman's in Shaw; and Second Generation Swing plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, 
February 18
New Music Circle presents electronic musician Ikue Mori and trumpeter Nate Wooley at The Luminary.

For more about that, and some videos of Mori and Wooley (pictured, bottom left) in performance, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Saturday, the Jazz at Holmes series presents a solo concert by Ralph Towner at 560 Music Center. Towner has just released a new album of solo guitar performances, and you can read more about that and see and hear some videos of him in this post from a couple of weeks ago.

Sunday, February 19
Trumpeter and East St. Louis native Russell Gunn, now living in Atlanta, will be back home to headline Community Women Against Hardship's "Black History Benefit" at Jazz at the Bistro, accompanied by pianist Adam Maness, singer Anita Jackson, bassist Jeff Anderson and drummer Montez Coleman.

Also on Sunday afternoon, St. Louis Jazz Club presents pianist Bob Row and friends at the Elks Lodge #9 in Creve Coeur.

Monday, February 20
Webster University Jazz Collective will perform at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

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.)

Tower of Power to play Saturday, May 14 at Lumiere Place

The jazz-influenced funk and soul band Tower of Power (pictured) is coming back to St. Louis for shows at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 14 at the Lumiere Place casino's Lumiere Theatre.

TOP last performed in the St. Louis area in September 2006 at the Argosy Alton Casino. Since then, they've released several recordings, including 2008's East Bay Archives, Volume 1, a compilation of 18 TOP tunes from the 1970s; 2009's Great American Soulbook, a covers album with guest singers including Tom Jones, Sam Moore, Joss Stone and Huey Lewis; and a 40th anniversary retrospective DVD/CD box set recorded live and featuring various alumni and guest stars that came out earlier this year.

Tickets for Tower of Power at Lumiere Place are $35 to $50 and are on sale now via Ticketmaster and at the casino.