Jeter Thompson 1930 - 2017

Pianist Jeter Thompson, whose leadership of the groups Quartette Trés Bien and Trio Trés Bien made him a significant figure on the St. Louis jazz scene from the Gaslight Square era into the 21st century, died on Friday, December 1. He was 87 years old.

Born in St. Louis on March 16, 1930, Thompson (pictured, top left) started playing piano at five years old, and made his first professional appearance at age 16 in 1946, performing with saxophonist Emmett Carter at a downtown club called the Coconut Grove.

He went to Sumner High School, where in 1948 he was senior class president, and subsequently attended Stowe College for two years, earning an associates degree. He then joined the U. S. Air Force, serving in Korea.

Returning home in 1954, Thompson played various local gigs until the formation in 1959 of Quartette Trés Bien, which in its best-known lineup included bassist Richard Simmons, drummer Albert St. James, and percussionist Percy James.

The group (pictured, center left) became a popular attraction in the then-booming Gaslight Square entertainment district, serving as the house band at The Dark Side, where in 1962 they were filmed as part of an episode of the CBS drama Route 66.

In 1963, Thompson and his bandmates became partners in the Trés Bien Club, located on the south side of Olive St. near the Gaslight Club. Around that same time, they were approached by Norman Wienstroer to record for his St. Louis-based label Norman Records.

The group made two albums for Norman, Boss Trés Bien and Kilimanjaro, and in 1965 also backed singer Jeanne Trevor on her debut recording for the label. Wienstroer subsequently helped the Quartette gain the attention of Decca Records, which re-issued their first two albums and would release eight more recordings of them over the next few years.

With an assist from fellow St. Louisan Dick Gregory, whose standup comedy career was peaking at the same time, Quartette Trés Bien also became a touring band. They appeared with Gregory at the Apollo in Harlem; on a bill with Thelonious Monk at the It Club in Los Angeles (where Monk would make a famous live recording for Columbia Records); and as headliners at storied jazz spots of the 1960s including the Plugged Nickel in Chicago, Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit, Crawford's Grill in Pittsburgh, The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, CA, and many others.

Back home in St. Louis, they performed with singer Sarah Vaughan at Powell Hall, and appeared on bills with singer Nancy Wilson and the Count Basie Orchestra.

In 1973, with Gaslight Square a distant memory and jazz clubs closing around the nation, Quartette Tres Bien dissolved. Thompson worked as a cartographer for the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency and as a real estate agent, and went on to form Trio Tres Bien with his brothers, bassist Harold Thompson and drummer Howard Thompson.

Trio Trés Bien (pictured, bottom left) found ample work locally playing clubs, concerts and private events, and in 2004 issued a self-released album, Coming Together. They continued to perform into the 2010s, sometimes with Harold's daughter, vocalist Danita Mumphard.

In 2014, Trio Trés Bien was inducted into the St. Louis Jazz Hall of Fame at Harris-Stowe State University's Wolfe Jazz Institute.

In addition to his brothers and niece, Jeter Thompson is survived by his wife, Louisa; his daughters Donna Patton and Pamela Cobb; his sister, Patricia Whitelocke; and, to quote his obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren."

Arrangements were by Austin Layne Normandy Chapel, and a funeral was held on Friday, December 8 at St. Louis Bible Way Baptist Church.

Information for this story came from City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis 1895-1973 by Dennis Owsley; That St. Louis Thing, Part 2 by Bruce R. Olson; and http://www.tresbienmusic.com/.

Jazz this week: Terence Blanchard, Snarky Puppy, U City Jazz Festival, and more

With the fall presenting season now in full swing, the next few days in St. Louis offer a pleasingly varied selection of gigs for the jazz and creative music fan. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, trumpeter Terence Blanchard (pictured) opens a four-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. Blanchard is a familiar figure to St. Louis audiences from several previous appearances here both at the Bistro and at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Having composed many film scores for director Spike Lee and others, the New Orleans native now also is writing an opera that will receive its world premiere next year at Opera Theatre St. Louis. For this gig at the Bistro, though, Blanchard will be leading a small group and and seems likely to showcase his customary post-bop sound, spiced with a bit of syncopated New Orleans flavor.

Also tonight, The Cabaret Project presents their monthly Cabaret Open Mic night at the Tavern of Fine Arts, with actor/singer Bob Mitchell as host and Carol Schmidt at the keyboard.

Tomorrow night, the Texas-based jazz/funk/world music outfit Snarky Puppy comes to town to perform at The Gramophone. Comprised mostly of former students from the well-known music program of the University of North Texas, Snarky Puppy on record is a sprawling collective that includes a couple dozen members. The live band, though smaller in numbers, emphasizes the same expansive grooves to underpin improvisations from a varied cast of soloists.

On Friday, pianist and singer Jesse Gannon brings a trio to Robbie's House of Jazz; vocalist Zena Bott-Goins leads a group at the Cigar Inn; and the Funky Butt Brass Band returns to the Broadway Oyster Bar

Saturday, it's the second-ever U City Jazz Festival, a free, all-day affair held outdoors in Heman Park, off of Olive St. Rd. This year's lineup features Trio Tres Bien with singer Danita Mumphard and special guest multi-instrumentalist Don Cunningham, plus the St, Louis Metrobones; pianist Ptah Williams leading a reunion of his fusion group Tracer; trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber; Bach to the Future; and a Miles Davis tribute.

Also on Saturday, guitarist Todd Mosby and Farshid Etniko will be among the performers at a benefit for Mitrata-Nepal Foundation for Children at Logan College of Chiropractic's Purser Center; experimental violinist Joey Molinaro will play at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center; and saxophonist Jerry Greene leads a quartet at Robbie's.

Then on Sunday, the Dave Dickey Big Band will play their monthly gig at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company. This month's performance will feature the music of Count Basie, and the venue is clearing some floor space for swing dancers who wish to strut their stuff.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday guitarist Tom Byrne and his Pat Metheny-inspired ensemble Have You Heard? will play at Webster University's Moore Auditorium.

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 Audio Archive: Quartette Tres Bien - Stepping Out

For this week's Audio Archive post, we revisit Stepping Out!, a 1966 release by the popular St. Louis group Quartette Trés Bien.

A groove-oriented piano-trio-plus-percussionist, the QTB rose to fame during the Gaslight Square era, right around the same time that Ramsey Lewis and Young-Holt Unlimited were successfully purveying similar sounds up in Chicago.

The band's fifth album to get national distribution as part of their deal with Decca Records, Stepping Out! has been out of print for decades and apparently never has been reissued on CD.

The personnel is the familiar QTB lineup of Jeter Thompson on piano, Richard Simmons on bass, Albert St. James on drums and Percy James on bongos & congas. The album's tracks include "Watusi Warrior," "Summertime," "Stay, My Love," "A Taste Of Honey," "More (Theme from "Mondo Cane")," "Sheryl Likes Bananas" and "Brazil (Aquarela Do Brazil)"

From the original liner notes by Stanley Dance:

"'Emotion' is a word that Jeter Thompson returns to in conversation, for it is a quality he and the others seek to project on original compositions as well as in their playing, and this determines the playing of their most characteristic effects. The astonishing 'Watusi Warrior', for instance, is another example of Thompson's gift for descriptive writing with an African motif, its predecessors including 'Kilimanjaro' and 'Rhodesian Chant' on Decca DL 4548 and DL 4547 respectively.

He insists that this evocative piece, which seems so wild, exciting, barbaric and abandoned, was 'all worked out' beforehand. Such a performance is made possible by the Quartette's élan, and by the intuitive understanding each musician has - after playing together for seven years - of the others' ways of thought and expression."

The 320K .mp3 rip of Stepping Out! comes from the now-inactive music sharing blog Arkadin's Ark, and you can download a copy of it for free here. You can see the Quartette's successor Trio Tres Bien, which features Jeter Thompason along with his brothers Harold and Howard on bass and drums, perform live at this year's U City Jazz Festival on Saturday, September 22 in Heman Park.

Second annual U City Jazz Festival to be held Saturday, September 22

The second annual U City Jazz Festival will take place from 12:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 22 in Heman Park in University City. Festival organizer Michael Silverman announced the date in a Facebook post yesterday, and also revealed the list of musicians who will play the event this year.

The musical lineup for 2012 will include the STL Metrobones; trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber; a reunion concert featuring pianist Ptah Williams and his 1980s jazz-fusion group Tracer; Bach to the Future; a tribute to Miles Davis with drummer Maurice Carnes' Hipjaz Quintet; and Trio Tres Bien (pictured).

The event is free and open to the public.

(Edited 6/6/12 to fix a broken link and add tags.)

StLJN Audio Archive: Quartette Trés Bien - Kilimanjaro

Our first Audio Archive post of 2012 comes courtesy of the music-sharing blog Soundological Investimagations, and features Quartette Trés Bien's Kilimanjaro, originally issued on LP by Decca in 1965 as a follow-up to their major label debut Boss Trés Bien.

Kilimanjaro features the classic QTB lineup of Jeter Thompson on piano, Richard Simmons on bass, Albert St. James on drums and Percy James on percussion, performing the title track, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco," "Secretly," "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," "My Favorite Things," "My One And Only Love," "Ramblin' Rose" and, fittingly enough, "You Came A Long Way From St. Louis."

To download a copy, go to the original post here, scroll down and look for the sentence "You can climb Kilimanjaro's snow-capped peak with your Soundological sherpa HERE or HERE," which includes links to the file on both Megaupload and Sharebee.

The StLJN Audio Archive links only to recordings that are out-of-print or that never have been commercially available. The purpose of the Audio Archive is to encourage discussion, appreciation and knowledge of St. Louis jazz artists, and we urge you to support them (or their estates) by purchasing authorized recordings and merchandise and, whenever possible, attending live performances.

StLJN Audio Archive: Quartette Tres Bien - Boss Tres Bien

Today's Audio Archive post features the Quartette Tres Bien's debut recording for a national label, and comes to us via the blog Soundological Investimigations.

QTB were one of the better known groups of St. Louis' Gaslight Square era, and were sometimes compared with Ramsey Lewis, the Three Sounds, and other piano-based groups playing groove-oriented music.

The members of the group as heard on Boss Tres Bien were Jeter Thompson (piano), Richard Simmons (bass), Albert St. James (drums) and Percy James (percussion). (Thompson continues to perform with his brothers Howard and Harold in a successor group, Trio Tres Bien.)

Boss Tres Bien (pictured, upper left) was recorded for and originally issued in 1964 by the St. Louis-based Norman label, for which QTB recorded several sides. When the group signed with Decca later that same year, the LP was given new cover art (pictured, lower left) and reissued as their first effort for the label. Here's what Dusty Groove had to say about it:

"A landmark blend of soul jazz and bossa nova – cut by the legendary Quartette Tres Bien back in the 60s! The group are kind of a "piano trio plus" – an outfit with piano, bass, and drums in the lead – but also plenty of conga and added percussion – a style used here to really underscore the bossa inspiration of the set – often in ways that are more driving and more complicated than original 60s bossa recordings themselves! The feel is really unique – almost equally inspired by African rhythms in parts – and even when the group are playing familiar numbers, then manage to transform the tracks completely with their inventive approach to rhythms and super-searing work on piano!"

The tracks on the album are "Boss Tres Bien,""Rhodesian Chant", "Always on Saturday", "The Sweetest Sounds", "I Love Paris", "Lover Come Back To Me", and "Days Of Wine & Roses"

To download a free copy of Boss Tres Bien, go here, select one of the download sites from the menu displayed, click on it, and follow the instructions from there.

The StLJN Audio Archive links only to recordings that are out-of-print or that never have been commercially available. The purpose of the Audio Archive is encourage discussion, appreciation and knowledge of St. Louis jazz artists, and we encourage you to support them (or their estates) by purchasing authorized recordings and merchandise or, whenever possible, attending live performances.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Gaslight Square Remembered

More often than not, this weekly feature is dedicated to previewing upcoming concerts of jazz and creative music in St. Louis. However, talking this past week with people about the late Mae Wheeler and her long career got me thinking about both the history of jazz in St. Louis and the need to occasionally to remember and celebrate the musicians and singers who made it happen.

With that in mind, this week we're taking a look at St. Louis' Gaslight Square district and some of the people who played and sang there, where Wheeler launched her music career. Lets start at the beginning, as many younger readers and those not from St. Louis may have heard the name Gaslight Square, but may not know much about it.

Briefly, Gaslight Square was a small entertainment district, just a few blocks long really, that flourished in the city of St. Louis during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The area began to decline in the mid-1960s, as crime rose, the city's population dropped, and shady operators tried to cash in on its previous popularity. By the end of the 1960s, it was pretty much all over. Gaslight Square became a collection of mostly vacant buildings, and the area remained in ruins for more than 30 years.

The 2005 documentary Gaslight Square: The Legend Lives On, which you can watch in the embedded video window up above, tells the whole story, at a length of more than 2 hours. The film has lots of archival footage, still photos, and interviews, and remains the most extensive audio/visual presentation of Gaslight Square's history. The producers also created an accompanying website that has still photos and some other material.

At the time The Legend Lives On documentary was made, redevelopment plans for Gaslight Square were stalled for the umpteenth time and the area was still blighted. Since then, some small progress has been made, with a few new homes built and some older buildings rehabbed. That brings us to the video down below, which was produced in 2008 by the staff of KETC's Living St. Louis. Over 25 minutes, producer/host Margie Newman recounts the history of Gaslight Square and looks at the still-ongoing efforts to renew the neighborhood for the 21st century.

Of course, the buildings weren't really what made Gaslight Square memorable - it was the people. One performer from the era who remains active is singer Jeanne Trevor, who no longer gigs every week but still plays out with some regularity. In the second window below, you can see Trevor with pianist Curt Landes singing "God Bless The Child" during a show last year at the alternative performance space Joe's Cafe.

Another Gaslight Square veteran still working is pianist Jeter Thompson, who played back in the day with Quartette Tres Bien and now performs with his brothers Harold, a bassist, and Howard, a drummer, as Trio Tres Bien. They can be seen in the third window below backing Harold's daughter, singer Danita Mumphard, in a version of the Burt Bacharach song "A House Is Not A Home." (Jeter Thompson's piano solo starts about at 3 minutes, 50 seconds into the tune.)

In the window below that, you can hear Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, yet another mainstay of the Gaslight Square district, playing "I Close My Eyes" at a 2006 gig in Santa Monica, CA. The band includes St. Louisan Jeff Anderson on bass and former St. Louis resident Rob Block on guitar, and that's Peanuts' nephew, the well-known contemporary jazz saxophonist Kirk Whalum, sporting the fedora. Now 82 years old, Peanuts Whalum has not been seen playing out in a while, and, sadly, I've heard talk that he's had health problems, but no specific information has been made public.

For today's final video, there a Mae Wheeler clip that went unposted the other day, a feature story about a tribute to her filmed back in 2007 for KETC's Living St. Louis.

If you'd like to learn more about the history of Gaslight Square, there have been two books written on the subject in recent years. The first, Gaslight Square: An Oral History by Thomas Crone, came out in 2004 and chronicles "the rise and fall of Gaslight Square" in the words of people who worked, played and/or lived there.

The second, Gaslight Square Illuminated: The Rise & Fall of St. Louis' Premier 'Hot Spot'" by Richard Fuegner and David Roth, was released earlier this year and purports to offer a more comprehensive historical look at the district. (Note that if you use the links above to buy a copy of either book from Amazon.com, a few pennies in commission will eventually find their way back to StLJN, thereby supporting the continued operation of this website.)

Last but not least, for those who want to wear their nostalgia and/or local pride on their chests, stlstyle.com offers for sale a Gaslight Square t-shirt. (No commission for StLJN on this, just thought maybe you'd dig the shirt.)

Jazz this week: Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet, Victor Goines, Trio Tres Bien, and more

It's another busy weekend for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with a variety of styles, from traditional to experimental, on offer from both touring and local performers. Let's go to the highlights:

Cabaret St. Louis continues their fall season this week with singer Valerie Lemon, who will perform her show spotlighting the music of Marvin Hamlisch nightly through Saturday at the Kranzberg Arts Center.

On Thursday, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents a tribute to Kind of Blue by a band fronted by trumpeter Danny Campbell and saxophonists Jeff Anderson and Jason Swagler. (Presumably, they'll have a rhythm section there, too, but the announcement from the Jazz at Holmes email listserv didn't say who else would be involved.)

On Friday, Trio Tres Bien open a two-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro. Featuring pianist Jeter Thompson and his brothers Harold on bass and Howard on drums, the group's straight-ahead, swinging sound (with occasional touches of Latin and soul) has made them a popular and enduring attraction for local jazz fans.

Also on Friday, guitarist Matthew Von Doran is back at Broadway Bean Coffee on the south side for a free performance backed by bassist Bob Deboo and drummer Kyle Honeycutt; and singer Cherise Rise Laday takes the stage at Robbie's House of Jazz with a band including guitarist Chris Burchett, pianist Adaron "Pops" Jackson, bassist Jahmal Nichols and drummer Irvin Neal.

On Saturday night, trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet performs at the 560 Music Center in a concert sponsored by New Music Circle. This is the St. Louis debut for the Golden Quartet, which also includes bassist John Lindberg, drummer Pheeroan akLaff and pianist Vijay Iyer, and the performance promises to be one of this fall's creative music highlights. You can read my Riverfront Times Critic's Pick on the concert here, and to see some video of Smith and the Golden Quartet in action, check out this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

UPDATE, 11:00 p.m. 11/11/10: Smith was interviewed by Terry Perkins for an informative article on the concert published today by the St. Louis Beacon.

UPDATE, 1:00 a.m. 11/12/10: Smith also talked with Calvin Wilson of the Post-Dispatch for a story that's just come online here.

That same evening, saxophonist Victor Goines will make it a "Sonny" evening at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Goines, who's known to many jazz fans for collaborating with Wynton Marsalis in both the trumpeter's small group and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, will play music associated with Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt.

The Sheldon and Metrotix are offering a two-for-one discount on tickets for the concert; for details on that, go here. Goines also is a noted jazz educator who currently directs the jazz studies program and Northwestern University, and while he's in town he also will present a free master class on Saturday morning at Saxquest.

Also on Saturday, the Tom Byrne Trio will be at Robbie's House of Jazz, featuring Byrne on guitar & guitar synth, Willem von Hombracht on bass and Philip Graves on drums.

Then on Sunday, Robbie's will celebrate a holiday event in the surrounding Old Webster business district with a jazz brunch/concert at 3:00 p.m. featuring singer Jeanne Trevor, pianist John Pyatt, and friends.

Also on Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Jazz Club will present keyboardist Bob Row's group, featuring clarinetist Scott Alberici, at Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center in Chesterfield. Also, Tom Byrne is back in action Sunday night with his Pat Metheny tribute Have You Heard? at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday pianist Phil Gomez and Clave Sol will play Latin jazz at BB's, and on Tuesday morning, Elsie Parker & the Poor People of Paris will perform a Coffee Concert of their jazz-inflected, French cabaret-style music at the Sheldon. (As is customary with the Coffee Concerts series, they'll return to repeat the same program on Wednesday morning.)

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Trio Trés Bien to begin St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers 2010-11 season on Sunday, October 17

The St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers series will begin its 2010-11 season with a free concert featuring Trio Trés Bien (pictured) at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 17 at Second Baptist Church, 9030 Clayton Rd. (at McKnight).

Featuring pianist Jeter Thompson and his brothers Harold Thompson on bass and Howard Thompson on drums, Trio Trés Bien have been St. Louis favorites for more than 40 years, dating back to the Gaslight Square era. This is the third season for the St. Louis Jazz and Blues Vespers series, and here's the complete schedule for 2010-11:

Sunday, October 17: Trio Trés Bien
Sunday, November 21: Sandy Weltman and Hot Club Caravan
Sunday, January 16: Eric Slaughter Trio
Sunday, February 20: Darrell Mixon Project
Sunday, March 20: Funky Butt Brass Band
Sunday, April 17: Paul DeMarinis and the Webster University Jazz Faculty Quintet, with Steve Schenkel, Kim Portnoy, Willem von Hombracht and Kevin Gianino.

All concerts begin at 6:00 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Free parking is available on the lighted lot adjacent to the church. For more information, visit the Vespers' Web site or call 314-991-3424.

Jazz St. Louis confirms additional Bistro bookings for fall 2010

Jazz St. Louis has confirmed the schedule of local and regional talent that will perform this fall at Jazz at the Bistro, filling the alternate weeks still open after the Bistro's 2010-11 schedule of touring artists was announced back in May.

Guitarist Eric Slaughter will make his Bistro debut as a leader on Friday, September 10 and Saturday, September 11, with the Funky Butt Brass Band set to return on October 1 and 2.

Two weeks later, percussionist Craig Russo (pictured) and his Latin Jazz Project venture down the road from their home in Champaign/Urbana to perform on October 15 and 16 at the Bistro. Multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris will play on October 29 and 30, with Trio Trés Bien scheduled for November 12 and 13, and Good 4 The Soul wrapping things up on December 10 and 11.

Single tickets for all of these performance go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, August 17 via Metrotix and the Jazz St. Louis box office.

Jazz this week: Peter Martin Trio, Brian Owens, Mardra Thomas and more

Though it may not officially be summer until the solstice on June 21, summer weather already seems to moving into St. Louis, and local jazz presenters and venues are putting their summer schedules into effect, for the most part either curtailing their offerings until fall or emphasizing homegrown talent.

However, there's still some music to be heard, so let's see what's going on around town over the next few days:

Tonight, singer Denise Thimes performs a free concert to begin this year's Whitaker Music Festival series at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

On Friday, pianist Peter Martin (pictured) leads his trio, featuring bassist Chris Thomas and drummer Ulysses Owens Jr., in a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall. For more about Martin's series at the Sheldon, see these previous posts; for some video of him playing in a trio setting, check out this missive from last Saturday. Also, there's a two-for-the-price-of-one discount available on the remaining seats for Martin's concert; to access the offer, go here and and enter the promo code "PMTRIO" (without the quote marks).

Also Friday, singer Brian Owens begins a two-night stand kicking off the summer season at Jazz at the Bistro. The word is that Owens' sets will be paying tribute to singer Bill Withers, and perhaps he'll also do some material from his forthcoming CD release recently announced on his website.

On Saturday, singer Mardra Thomas reprises her interpretation of the music of Billie Holiday for "An Elegant Evening with Lady Day" at Harris-Stowe State University, and keyboardist Charlie Brown and singer Marlys Brown will celebrate their ten-year wedding anniversary with a show at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Looking beyond the weekend, yr. humble editor has just discovered that Robbie's also is now hosting weekly jam sessions on Tuesday. I'm not sure how long it's been going on, since I only learned of it by visiting the club's website, but apparently it will be a fixture until further notice.

Also on Tuesday, the Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club will have its May meeting at bOrders Books and Music, 1519 S. Brentwood Blvd. This month's featured CD is Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, and the special guest is the aforementioned Peter Martin, with JSL's Gene Dobbs Bradford serving as moderator.

Next Wednesday, the longtime St. Louis favorites Trio Tres Bien will perform a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

(Updated after posting to add the CD Listening Club info.)

Whitaker Music Festival announces 2010 schedule

The Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden has announced the schedule of performers for its 2010 season. The annual summer series of Wednesday night concerts kicks off on June 2 with a performance by singer Denise Thimes, with several other shows that also may be of interest to jazz fans. Here's the complete schedule:

June 2: Denise Thimes
June 9: Trio Trés Bien
June 16: Peter Martin
June 23: Javier Mendoza
June 30: Dawn Weber and the Electro Funk Assembly
July 7: Dogtown Allstars
July 14: FolknBluesGrass
July 21: Beyond Abbey Road (Beatles tribute with Peter Mayer)
July 28: Kevin Lucas Orchestra
August 4: Gene Dobbs Bradford and the Blues Inquisition

The Whitaker Music Festival concerts are held outdoors on the lawn of the Cohen Amphitheater, just west of the Climatron dome. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets, and are welcome to bring their own picnic baskets or coolers or to purchase food and beverages on site. Admission to the Garden is free on Wednesdays after 5:00 p.m., with music beginning at 7:30 p.m.

For more information, visit the Garden's website or call the recorded hotline at 314-577-9400. In the event of inclement weather, you can tune in to WSIE (88.7 FM) for concert updates.

Jazz this week: Support your local jazz musicians

The Independence Day weekend is not usually a busy time for touring jazz acts visiting St. Louis, and that's true again this year. However, if you've got an urge to hear some jazz over the next few days amidst the flurry of backyard cookouts, fireworks displays, and similar seasonal activities, you can check out one or more of these performances featuring some of St. Louis' fine local musicians:

Tonight, Dizzy Atmosphere (pictured) will bring their blend of string-band swing and Gypsy jazz to the Missouri Botanical Garden in a free concert for the Whitaker Music Festival.

Due to the holiday weekend, there's no Jazz at Holmes concert this Thursday, and Jazz at the Bistro is dark this weekend, too. However, it's business as usual at the St. Louis Jazz Cafe, which will present pianist James Matthews' trio on Thursday night, Good 4 The Soul on Friday, Trio Tres Bien on Saturday, and the Dave Becherer Trio for Sunday brunch.

Of course, there are a number of recurring weekly gigs around town that are worth hearing, starting tonight with guitarist John Farrar's Park Avenue Jazz at Hammerstone's and pianist Ptah Williams at Riddle's. On Thursday, you can check out singer Gene Lynn at Sasha's on Shaw, and on Friday saxophonist Dave Stone continues his long running engagement at Mangia Italiano.

Since Saturday is the big holiday, I'm not sure if saxophonist Willie Akins will be doing his regular weekly performance that evening at Spruill's, and the club's infrequently updated Web site is little help; best to call ahead if you're thinking of going. Last but not least, on Sunday you can check out trumpeter Jim Manley and keyboardist Mark Friedrich at Jimmy's Cafe on The Park for brunch, and the St. Louis New Jazz X-Tet will play their usual Sunday night show at Riddle's. Looking beyond the weekend, there's a free show by saxophonist Bennett Wood at The Gramophone on Tuesday.

As always, you can find more listings of jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond by visiting 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.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Linda Presgrave plays "Rome," plus Danita Mumphard and Trio Trés Bien's "A House Is Not A Home"

Since this weekly feature is often used to preview touring artists who will be performing soon in St. Louis, it's been a while since we've presented any videos from musicians with more substantive local connections.

Let's address that situation today, starting up above with a video from pianist, composer, and St. Louisan-turned New Yorker Linda Presgrave. This performance of her composiion "Rome" was recorded on February 25 of this year at the NYC jazz club Iridium. Presgrave is on piano, with Harvie S on bass, Allison Miller on drums, Stan Chovnick (who's also Presgrave's husband) on soprano sax and Todd Herbert on tenor sax. Although she's now based in NYC, Presgrave gets back to St. Louis a couple of times a year; her most recent performance here was last week for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington Unviersity.

Down below, we have a clip of singer Danita Mumphard and longtime St. Louis favorites Trio Trés Bien with their take on "A House Is Not A Home" from a performance in October 2007 at the Missouri History Museum. The connection between Mumphard and Trio Trés Bien is familial as well as musical; she's the daughter of bassist Harold Thompson, and the niece of drummer Howard Thompson and pianist Jeter Thompson. They can be heard performing at various spots around town, including the St. Louis Jazz Cafe.

Jazz this week: Chris Botti, Legacy Jazz Quintet, Oikos Ensemble, and more

With spring definitely in the air here in St. Louis, it's looking like another good weekend to get out and hear some live sounds. Here's what's going on around town over the next few days with jazz and creative music:

Tonight, the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University will present a free concert from guitarist Chris Burchett and his quartet.

Also tonight, the new St. Louis Jazz Cafe, open for its first full week of operations, features the Usual Suspects, fronted by keyboard player Charles Brown and singer/saxophonist Jessica Butler (daughter of well-known local pop crooner Ralph Butler).

On Friday and Saturday, the Legacy Jazz Quintet performs at Jazz at the Bistro. The group is conceived "in the mold of the classic quintets of Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Horace Silver" and features Jazz St. Louis director of education Phil Dunlap on piano, Anthony Wiggins on trumpet, Jason Swagler on saxophones, Nick Jost on bass and Marty Morrison on drums.

On Saturday, trumpeter Chris Botti (pictured) will be in town to give a special benefit performance for St. Louis Children's Hospital at J. Buck's restaurant downtown. I don't know if there are any of the $175 tickets for the event still available as of this writing, but if you'd like to go, call Children's Hospital at 314-286-0974 to check.

Also on Saturday, longtime local favorites Trio Tres Bien perform at the St. Louis Jazz Cafe, while singer Kim Massie holds forth at Brandt's.

On Sunday morning, the Oikos Ensemble, which mixes jazz and world music with Christian spirituality, will give a free performance at Mount Tabor UCC in south St. Louis. Then on Sunday afternoon, Bud Shultz and the You Can't Beat Experience Jazz Band will present their monthly session of traditional New Orleans style jazz and swing at the VFW hall in Alton.

Of course, this is just a taste of what's happening around St. Louis over the next few days, so to see listings for more jazz-related events this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Is jazz coming back to downtown St. Louis?

Though many jazz clubs have come and gone in downtown St. Louis over the decades, in recent years it's been tough to find live jazz in the figurative shadow of the Gateway Arch.

In the nearly four years I've been writing StLJN, jazz bookings at the Adams Mark Hotel's lounges and restaurants, once a staple there, first dwindled, and then were eliminated when the riverfront property was sold and re-flagged as a Hyatt Regency. Elsewhere downtown, BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups has continued to book the Sessions Big Band on Mondays, as well as occasional gigs on Sundays featuring locals such as Good 4 the Soul, Todd Mosby and Anita Rosamond, but it remains primarily a blues club. Also, a bit farther to the west, George Sams' Nu-Art Series has presented occasional jazz and creative music performances at the Metropolitan Gallery. Beyond that, though, live jazz in downtown St. Louis proper has been relatively scarce here in the 21st century.

(UPDATE: A reader emails to point out that the concerts put on by the now-defunct Black Artists Group revival in 2007 and 2008 at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site ought to be included in any accounting of recent jazz activity downtown, and he's right. Although BAG II didn't succeed in building a large audience, the efforts of the group, and particularly those of bassist and event producer Zimbabwe Nkenya, should not be forgotten.)

The deficit has not gone completely unnoticed. A couple of years ago, Jazz St. Louis made an attempt to establish a downtown beachhead of sorts, co-presenting a handful of free, cocktail-hour shows in conjunction with the Hilton at the Ballpark. Having played one of those gigs myself, backing singer Kim Massie, I can say based on first-hand observation that the hotel - how do I put this nicely? - did not seem strongly committed to making the series a success. As it turned out, the idea was abandoned after a few weeks.

More recently, though, there have been a few signs that jazz may be making something of a comeback in downtown St. Louis. Consider the following data points:

1) The St. Louis Jazz Cafe, located at 1500 St. Charles, and previously written about in this space here, here and here, appears to be on track for its grand opening celebration featuring music from Erin Bode this Saturday, March 21.

Someone associated with the cafe apparently has been reaching out to local food writers, as evidenced by these blog posts from the Riverfront Times and Sauce magazine, and Post-Dispatch pop music critic Kevin Johnson also mentioned the grand opening in a blog post here. (Curiously, any press releases intended for St. Louis Jazz Notes, and/or grand opening invitations for yr. humble editor, seem to have been mysteriously lost in the electronic ether and/or mail.)

The St. Louis Jazz Cafe also has updated parts of its Web site, particularly the music calendar, which now reveals who's booked for the first couple of weeks after the grand opening. 3 Central, a smooth jazz band seen in semi-regular rotation at the now-closed Cookie's Jazz and More, will play for the cafe's soft-opening "Friends and Family" night on Thursday, with the Usual Suspects taking over on subsequent Thursdays. (I'm reasonably certain that would be these Usual Suspects, fronted by keyboardist Charlie Brown and singer/saxophonist Jessica Butler, and not these Usual Suspects, who, save for a few videos on YouTube, seem to have evaporated without a trace in the two years since winning the RFT's "Best Cover Band" award.)

Other musical offerings now on the St. Louis Jazz Cafe calendar include the Neal Connors Trio, for the cafe's first Sunday brunch on March 22; Trio Tres Bien (pictured), who are set to appear on Saturday, March 28 and Friday, April 10; and Lamar Harris, who's booked on Saturday, April 4 and Friday, April 17. That's about as far as the calendar goes right now, though there is an RSS feed for those who'd like direct access to any updates.

2) St. Louis City Jazz, the fledgling not-for-profit organization whose mission statement, as their name suggests, involves "bringing live jazz back to the city of St. Louis," is presenting smooth jazz saxophonist Tim Cunningham at the Schlafly Brewery and Tap Room this Sunday, March 22. Cunningham plays from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and tickets are $20 at the door.

3) Then there's the Jazz Spot, housed in the space at 400 N. Washington Ave. that once contained the Mandarin Bay restaurant, back when the surrounding hotel first opened a few years ago. The Jazz Spot came into being in 2008, when local real estate and media moguls the Roberts Brothers took over the hotel. However, to date, I haven't written anything about the place here on StLJN, because they haven't featured much in the way of actual jazz music.

Instead, the half-dozen groups listed on the club's Web site's "live music" page would seem to fall mostly into what might loosely be termed the "variety band" category, mixing jazz, R&B, pop, blues and other genres. Only one group listed there has its own Web site, the On Call Band, led by drummer Marty Spikener and saxophonist David Spruill. They're an entertaining band, featuring some good musicians, but not a jazz group per se; indeed, their own Web site emphasizes not their jazz chops, but their versatility, pitching them as able to play everything from blues to reggae.

That said, the Jazz Spot did present a show last October featuring singer and East St. Louis native Phil Perry, who works the boundary of smooth jazz and R&B, and the club will serve as the site for the upcoming CD release event for drummer Stan Hale, so perhaps they will yet begin booking live music on a regular basis that lives up to the implications of their name. For now, I'll be adding a link to the Jazz Spot's site, and to the site of the St. Louis Jazz Cafe, over on the StLJN sidebar, and keeping on eye on developments at both places.

Granted, these are but a handful of semi-random data points, there's a major recession happening, and a handful of shows do not a full-fledged resurgence make. But one would think jazz fans in St. Louis will be hoping for these new downtown presenters to meet with some success. It certainly would be good for local listeners, as well as tourists, left for for some time without adequate musical options in the heart of a city supposedly famous for its jazz heritage. And it would, of course, be good for St. Louis' jazz musicians, who can always use more work. For now, all we can do is wait and see what happens next.

Jazz this week: Jacky Terrasson, Manhattan Transfer, the final week for Cookie's, and more

The week before Christmas is a busy one for many people, but if you've got the time, and are willing to brave the colder-than-usual weather, there's definitely some music worth hearing around St. Louis over the next few days, starting with the two well-known touring jazz headliners who will be in town this weekend.

First up, there's pianist Jacky Terrasson (pictured), who opens a four-night stand tonight at Jazz at the Bistro and continues through Saturday. You can find out more about Terrasson and see some video clips of him performing in this post from last Saturday.

Then on Friday, the singing group Manhattan Transfer once again brings their annual holiday show to the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Some jazz critics find the Transfer's slickness a bit off-putting, but I've always enjoyed them for what they are, and in an era when so many singers seem to traffic exclusively in melismatic over-emoting, their overall musicality and general good taste in songs, musicians and arrangements stands out even more.

This also marks the final week for the Webster Groves music venue Cookie's Jazz and More, which is closing after Saturday's show. (There is potential for the space to reopen under new ownership; more about that in an upcoming post.) The club's final three nights will feature a jam session with Sound Unlimited on Thursday; Trio Tres Bien with singer Danita Mumphard on Friday; and a no-cover-charge evening of smooth jazz with Three Central on Saturday.

Elsewhere around town, on Thursday singer Erin Bode returns to the Tenderloin Room (inside the Chase-Park Plaza Hotel). Somehow, Bode's delicate vocals seem like they'd be a mismatch for the Tenderloin's old-school steakhouse atmosphere, but this is, in fact, just the latest in a series of gigs for her there, so obviously it must be working out OK for both band and venue.

On Friday, Louisiana-based steel guitarist Dave Easley will be sitting in with the Dave Stone Trio during their regular Friday gig at Mangia Italiano. Easley's got some nice credits - he's performed and/or recorded with a wide variety of jam bands and jazz artists, including the Brian Blade Fellowship, Dave Liebman, Kenny Garrett, Howard Levy, Charlie Byrd, Seamus Blake, Dr. John, members of the String Cheese Incident, the Greyboy Allstars and Tiny Universe, and more. The slippery sound of steel guitar ought to provide an interesting complement to Stone's somewhat elliptical style on tenor sax, and given Easley's diverse experiences and Stone's willingness to go outside as well as inside, I'm thinking this gig very well could be the hidden gem of the week. In an email telling StLJN about Easley's sit-in, drummer Kyle Honeycutt also notes that Stone's trio plays until 2:30 a.m., which is good news for those in search of late-night sounds.

On Saturday afternoon, you can check out a couple of free in-store performances at Webster Records, which will host sets from singer and pianist Anita Rosamond at 1:00 p.m. and guitarist Art Ruprecht at 3:00 p.m.. On Sunday night, the St. Louis New Jazz Xtet continues their weekly gig at Riddle's, and on Monday, the Sessions Big Band is back at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Due to the Christmas holiday, the next "Jazz this week" post likely will go up late next Monday or early Tuesday. In the meantime, you can find more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond by visiting 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.)

(Edited after posting to delete a sentence fragment.)

Jazz this week: Peter White with Rick Braun and Mindy Abair, Jeremy Davenport, Denise Thimes, and more

The Thanksgiving holiday means a somewhat reduced level of activity on local concert stages (and a holiday posting schedule here at StLJN) but there are still some noteworthy jazz and creative music events happening in St. Louis this weekend:

Let's start with trumpeter, singer and St. Louis native Jeremy Davenport (pictured), who returns home from New Orleans to perform at Jazz at the Bistro on Friday and Saturday, plus a matinee on Sunday to benefit PAN CAN, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. For much more on Davenport, see thhis post.

Also on Friday, pianist Peter Henderson is performing John Cage's "Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano" in a free concert at the Grigg Gallery of the St. Louis Art Museum.

The on Saturday, Trio Tres Bien with singer Danita Mumphard are at Cookie's Jazz and More in Webster Groves, and Clave de Sol, featuring pianist Phil Gomez, plays Latin jazz at Brandt's in University City.

On Sunday afternoon, singer Denise Thimes will perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall in what as being billed as a "women only" benefit for the Mildred Thimes Foundation, which supports pancreatic cancer research and awareness. Thimes will sing during the first half of the show, with the second half given over to spoken word performer Sharon McGhee, who will do a piece called "The Pocketbook Monologues."

Then on Sunday night, guitarist Peter White brings the 2009 edition of his Christmas show to The Pageant. White has been doing a holiday show for several years now using different smooth jazz musicians as co-headliners, and this year's featured guest stars are trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Mindi Abair.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band is back at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups downtown, and Tuesday saxophonist Bennett Wood returns to The Gramophone.

You can find more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond by visiting 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: Notes from the dog days

It's still the dog days of August in St. Louis, and thus still one of the slower times of the year for jazz in our town, but if you're in the mood to hear some music over the next few days, here are a few possibilities you may want to consider:

On Friday, popular singer Erin Bode and her band return to The Gramophone, while Gaslight Square veterans Trio Tres Bien (pictured) with singer Danita Mumphard are at Cookie's Jazz and More, and the Second Generation Swing Band plays for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom. On Saturday, tenor saxophonist Willie Akins performs his weekly early evening gig at Spruill's, and on Sunday, the New St. Louis Jazz Xtet do their regular thing at Riddle's.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band is back at BB's Jazz Blues and Soups. On Tuesday, you can check out singer Jeanne Trevor at Brandt's, or head to The Gramophone for their free Tuesday night jazz series, which this week features a new band called Utter Chaos.

Utter Chaos are not, as the name might suggest, some sort of free-improv group, but rather are, according to The Gramophone's promotional email, "dedicated to recreating the unique sounds of the Gerry Mulligan/Bob Brookmeyer piano-less quartets of the mid 1950s. Baritone saxophonist Andy Ament is joined by Cody Henry on trombone, Chris Turnbaugh on bass and Jerry Mazzuca on drums. All members of the quartet are graduates of the SIUE jazz department."

To get your dose of free improv this week, you'll have to amble on down Wednesday to Apop Records, 2831 Cherokee St, , for the electric free jazz band Squid Choir Orkestra's concert in the store's Camp Concentration performance space. You can hear some samples of the SCO over on bandleader Jay Zelenka's Freedonia Music site.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events this weekend and beyond, 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: Legacy Jazz Quintet, BAG Trio, Erin Bode, and more

With no touring jazz acts in St. Louis this week, it's an opportune time for St. Louis listeners to check out some of our homegrown talent. Fortunately, there's a good bit of activity this weekend, starting tonight with a couple of educational events, namely New Music Circle's analog synthesis workshop at the Carpenter branch of the St. Louis Public Library and Jazz St. Louis' initial "Jazz 101" class at Jazz at the Bistro. Post-Dispatch pop critic Kevin Johnson has a bit more about the latter event in his column today.

Also tonight, the BAG Trio with Zimbabwe Nkenya, Mike Nelson and Gary Sykes will do a free concert as part of Washington University's Jazz at Holmes series, and multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman's new group Hot Club Caravan performs at Brandt's.

Speaking of new bands, this Friday and Saturday also marks the debut of the Legacy Jazz Quintet, led by pianist and Jazz St. Louis education director Phil Dunlap, at Jazz at the Bistro. Described as being "in the mold of the classic quintets of Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Horace Silver from the 1950s and 1960s," the group includes saxophonist Jason Swagler, trumpeter Tony Wiggins, bassist Nick Jost and drummer Marty Morrison.

Also on Friday, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis opens its musical play Ella, based on the life of singer Ella Fitzgerald; Trio Tres Bien performs at Brandt's; and singer Erin Bode (pictured) performs with her group at Revival, the swanky new restaurant in Midtown in the space formerly occupied by King Louie's. Bode is also in action on Saturday night, headlining a show at the Lucas School House concert club.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday Jazz St. Louis will present another of its "Jazz Perspectives" discussions at the Centene Center for Arts and Education, 3547 Olive Blvd, this time featuring the Heath Brothers, who will be in town next week to play the Bistro.

For more 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.)

(Edited after posting to fix typos)