So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Alto saxophonist Kendrick Smith was profiled by the St. Louis American's Bridjes O’Neil in a story spotlighting Smith's weekly Saturday matinees at Premiere Lounge.

* This week in Facebook photo albums, you can check out pix of Lionel Loueke at Jazz at the Bistro, Steizuello at Lindbergh High School and New Music Circle's presentation of Trinity Piano Trio at the William Kerr Foundation.

* The NYC brownstone at 312 West 77th St that formerly belonged to Miles Davis was named an official cultural landmark this week by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn Jr., his former saxophonist George Coleman, and trumpeter Wallace Roney were among those present at a ceremony on Thursday unveiling a medallion placed on the building to commemorate the honor. Davis (pictured) bought the townhouse in 1958 and lived and worked there for the next 25 years.

* Saxophonist and composer John Zorn, who once upon a time studied at our town's Webster University, is celebrating his 60th birthday with "a series of concerts on four continents, including a marathon Sunday, May 19 at the Festival international de musique actuelle in Victoriaville."

* On the jazz radio beat, this Saturday on RAF-STL's "Somethin' Else," host Calvin Wilson will offer up a selection of jazz guitarists "from Montgomery to Metheny." Meanwhile, over at KWMU, Dennis Owsley continues his documentary history of St. Louis jazz on Sunday's "Jazz Unlimited" program with part seven of the series, which covers the 1970s and '80s and will include music from Exiles, David Parker, Asa Harris, Jasmine, Willie Akins and Kelvyn Bell.

* Farshid Soltanshahi of Farshid Etniko is doing the music for Upstream Theater's upcoming production of An Iliad, which will run from May 24 through June 9 at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

* The Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson offers his impression of one of actress/singer Molly Ringwald's sets on Tuesday at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Last but not least, woodwind retailer and repair shop Saxquest has given their website a brand new look, which you can see online now at the familiar URL of saxquest.com.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Tonight's New Music Circle concert featuring Trinity Piano Trio was previewed by Terry Perkins of the St. Louis Beacon and Sarah Bryan Miller of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

* Actress/singer Molly Ringwald, who will be in St. Louis to perform next Tuesday and Wednesday at Jazz at the Bistro, had a few words with the P-D's Kevin Johnson.

* Oliver Lake's recent big band release Wheels was reviewed by Aaron Cohen and made an Editors' Pick in the latest issue of DownBeat, while All Decks, the saxophonist and former St. Louisan's recent collaborative effort with Christian Weber and Dieter Ulrich, was reviewed by John Sharpe for AllAboutJazz.com

* Singer and former St. Louisan Jan Shapiro's latest CD Piano Bar After Hours was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's C. Michael Bailey.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn is profiled in the latest issue of the American Federation of Musicians' publication International Musician. Sanborn and keyboardist Bob James are about to launch a tour in support of their new collaborative album Quartette Humaine, and to promote it, they've also released a "making of" video and are offering a free download of a sample track, "Deep In The Weeds," from the recording.

* Speaking of Sanborns, longtime local DJ and impresario Rick Sanborn (no relation to David) will be a guest on this Saturday night's broadcast of "The Jazz Collective" with Jason Church. The program airs at 9:00 p.m. as part of the Saturday night jazz block on Radio Arts Foundation-St. Louis' new classical station, following the syndicated "Jazz at Lincoln Center" at 7:00 p.m. and "Somethin' Else" with Calvin Wilson at 8:00 p.m.. RAF-STL's programming can be heard on 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2, and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

* And while we're on the radio beat, the sixth part of Dennis Owsley's audio documentary on the history of St. Louis jazz, covering the Black Artists Group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, will air during Owsley's "Jazz Unlilmited" program at 9:00 p.m. this Sunday on KWMU (90.7 FM). Also, the Sheldon Art Galleries have announced that they will reprise the companion exhibition for Owsley's book City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973 this summer from June 7 until August 17.

* Saxophonist Fred Walker (pictured) is one of the plaintiffs in a suit filed this week by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the City of St. Louis' new licensing requirements for street performers. The suit alleges that, by forcing performers to audition and charging a $100 fee for a permit, the ordinance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments with vague terms that outlaw “a substantial amount of expressive activity.”

* Lastly, filmmaker Rod Milam sent a link to a brief video showing artist and fellow U City native Tom Seltzer installing his original limited edition prints of portraits of jazz greats at Dizzy's On 5th in Park Slope in Brooklyn, NYC. The show went up this past Sunday, May 5 and will hang until November 2013. Seltzer's subjects include Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins. The images can be seen online and prints purchased at http://seltzerstudio.com/store.

Jazz this week: Lionel Loueke, Snarky Puppy, Trinity Piano Trio, Denise Thimes, and more

From Africa to outer space to New Orleans, NYC and beyond, this week's jazz and creative music performances in St. Louis cover a lot of ground. Let's go the highlights:

Tonight, guitarist and singer Lionel Loueke opens a four-night gig at Jazz at the Bistro. The Benin-born, Berklee-educated guitarist and singer has played in St. Louis before as a sideman with Herbie Hancock, but this will be his local debut as a leader fronting his own trio. For more about Loueke, and some video samples of him in action, check out this video post from the week before last.

Also tonight, singer Joe Mancuso leads a quartet at Frontenac Grill; and the St. Charles Community College Jazz Band plays a free show at the Shook Fine Arts Building on the SLCC campus. The concert also will feature some music from the faculty sextet, which includes trombonist Dave Dickey, trumpeter Keith Moyer, pianist Carolbeth True, guitarist Randy Bahr, bassist Eric Warren, and drummer Kevin Gianino.

Tomorrow night, the jazz/funk/world-music band Snarky Puppy returns to St. Louis, this time to perform at The Demo. The group's expansive sound defies easy description, but you can get a feel for what they're all about by checking out this video post from last Saturday.

Also on Thursday, Good 4 The Soul plays an early evening set at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups; and Miss Jubilee performs at the Thaxton Speakeasy.

On Friday, New Music Circle presents what's being billed as "a celebration of Sun Ra's 99th birthday" featuring the Trinity Piano Trio (pictured) at the William A. Kerr Foundation, 21 O'Fallon St. on Laclede's Landing.

Violinist Manuela Kaymakanova, cellist Tracy Andreotti and pianist Amanda Kirkpatrick will perform a program of original works from area composers, inspired to varying degrees by the legacy of the visionary pianist, composer and bandleader. The more explicit references include a Fred Tompkins piece based on the melody of Ra's "Space Is The Place", and something from Jim Hegarty incorporating ideas from several of Ra's pieces, but there also will be new compositions by Eric Hall, Robert Wykes, Michael F. Hunt, Adam Maness, Serban Nichifor, and Andreotti herself.

Also Friday, drummer Marty Morrison leads a quartet with saxophonist Jason Swagler, trumpeter Ross McCliff and bassist Bob DeBoo, playing the music of Ornette Coleman at Cigar Inn; singer and pianist Al Oxenhandler joins forces with saxophonist Jay Hutson and his band Da Wolvez for a gig at Robbie's House of Jazz; and the Funky Butt Brass Band plays at the Broadway Oyster Bar.

On Saturday afternoon, saxophonist Joel Vanderheyden and Koplant No will play a free concert at Saxquest. Vanderheyden is assistant professor of music and director of jazz at Jefferson College in Hillsboro; Koplant No, which mixes jazz, electronic music, and prog rock, also includes Brian Lewis Smith on trumpet and laptop, Drew Morton on bass, and Rob Baner on drums and samples.

Then on Saturday evening, trumpeter Randy Holmes will lead a quintet performing music from the Miles Davis groups of the 1950s and 1960s at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Sunday afternoon, singer Denise Thimes will star in her annual Mother's Day show at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The concert will be preceded by an optional buffet dinner; for more about that, see the event page on the Sheldon's website.

Also on Sunday afternoon, the Kirkwood United Church of Church presents another concert in their "Inner Jazz' series, featuring music from the B-V-D Trio with bassist Dave Troncoso, vibraphonist Tom Rickard, drummer Brian May, and the series' host, Rev. Cliff Aerie, on saxophone.

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.)