So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Singer Storm Large (pictured) was interviewed Wednesday by St. Louis Public Radio's Alex Heuer in advance of her performance next Wednesday, January 17 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* Singer and St. Louis native Alicia Olatuja is the subject of a short feature story in the current issue of Jazz Times.

* A new article on the website Jazz in Europe looks at the impact of Miles Davis' landmark 1970 album Bitches Brew.

* Speaking of Davis, an article in On Milwaukee magazine recounts the story of the trumpeter's 1959 "legendary show that wasn't" at a club there called the Brass Rail.

* Saxophonist David Sanborn appeared Thursday on the morning news at New York City's WABC, promoting his gigs this weekend at BB King's in NYC.

* Lea DeLaria's performance last month at Jazz at the Bistro was reviewed for CabaretScenes.org by Chuck Lavazzi.

* Keyboardist Michael Silverman of Bach to the Future and Silverman Productions was interviewed by St. Louis County Arts Blog's Valerie Tichacek.

* Gene Dobbs Bradford of Jazz St. Louis was profiled on the website of the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis. Bradford will be one of seven 2018 recipients of the council's St. Louis Arts Awards, which will be presented at an event on Monday, January 22 at the Chase Park Plaza hotel.

* Guitarist Todd Mosby's performance next week in Rolla is previewed on the Three Rivers Publishing website, which compiles news from several small towns in east central Missouri.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Saxophonist Paul DeMarinis (pictured) has been named Webster University's "Outstanding Jazz Instructor of the Year."

* Bassist Bob DeBoo's weekly Wednesday night gig and jam session at the Kranzberg Arts Center was the subject of a short feature on KTVI/Fox 2 news.

* Singer Cyrille Aimée is featured in a photo set shot by Valerie Tichacek and posted to KDHX's website. Aimée continues at Jazz at the Bistro through Saturday night.

* Drummer Emanuel Harrold was profiled in an article by Kevin Johnson of the Post-Dispatch/STLtoday. Harrold and bassist/fellow St. Louisan Jahmal Nichols will perform with singer Gregory Porter on Saturday night at the Touhill.

* St. Louis Public Radio's Dennis Owsley is devoting his "Jazz Unlimited" programs this month to a series called "Jazz Families-Blood Relatives." Owsley, who wrote City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973, researched the subject and found "around 175 jazz musicians who have fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and cousins who are also performing musicians," making up "sort of a genetic map of jazz."

That cohort includes some St. Louis musicians, such as Arville Harris, Leroy Harris Sr. and Jr., Asa Harris, her father Ace Harris, and her uncle Erskine Hawkins; and Lloyd Smith and the Bosman Twins, as well as well-known clans like the Adderley family, the Jones family, the Heath family, and others.

* The proprietors of The Pageant concert club, U City mogul Joe Edwards and Patrick Hagin, announced this week that they'll open a new venue called Delmar Hall this fall.

Using the space next to The Pageant occupied until recently by Big Shark Bicycle Company, the venue is intended to "fill the gap in The Loop’s current concert offerings with a capacity of 800, between Blueberry Hill’s 340-person Duck Room to the 2,000 capacity of The Pageant - and hosting a similarly wide range of music styles, comedy, events and private parties."

* Saxophonist Rev. Cliff Aerie and trumpeter Tim Osiek of the Oikos Ensemble have released the third volume of arrangements in their "Worship in a New Key" series, featuring 12 charts for use in jazz ministry in conjunction with Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter.

* Stringed-instrument repair shop, studio, and manufacturer Tritone Guitars will present their second annual "Tritone Expo" on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3 at the @4240 building on the Cortex campus in the Central West End.

* The late saxophonist, arranger/composer, and St. Louis native Oliver Nelson was one of the composers featured in "Suite History: Jazz Composers And The African-American Odyssey," this week's episode of the "Night Lights" program on WFIU/Indiana Public Media.

* The St. Louis Banjo Club has elected Dave Kempa as its new president. Kempa succeeds Al Lehmann, who served as president of the group for five years.

Jazz this week: Return to Forever IV with Zappa Plays Zappa, Wild Cool & Swingin', and more

While indie rock fans at least have this weekend's LouFest to enliven their late August existence, jazz and creative music listeners in St. Louis have fewer options during the annual interregnum between the end of various summer concert series and the start of the fall presenting season. But rather than complain about what's not happening, instead let's call attention to those intrepid jazz musicians who are treading the proverbial boards to bring us some cool sounds during these dog days.

The marquee event of the weekend happens tonight, when the recently retooled version of the 1970s jazz-fusion group now known as Return to Forever IV (pictured) performs at the Fox Theatre, with Zappa Plays Zappa as opening act. This current edition of RTF includes Jean-Luc Ponty on violin, along with Frank Gambale on guitar in place of Al DiMeola, who played on RTF's 2008 reunion tour but declined to participate this time around.

For more about the new configuration of this venerable band, you can see some videos of RTF IV shot during various tour stops earlier this year in this Saturday Video Showcase post from a couple of weeks ago, and drummer Lenny White talked to Calvin Wilson of the Post-Dispatch for a very brief article here. For more about the opening act, you can read StLJN's review of Zappa Plays Zappa's first St. Louis appearance back in 2006 here, and see some video of them here. As of this writing, it appears there still are some tickets available for tonight's concert; call Metrotix at 314-531-1111 for the latest details.

Also tonight, multi-instrumentalist Jeff Anderson picks up his tenor sax to lead a quintet at Robbie's House of Jazz, joined by Danny Campbell (trumpet), Matt Villinger (piano), Irvin Neal (drums), and bassist Kent Miller, who's in town from Washington, DC for a brief visit.

On Friday evening, trumpeter Jim Manley and Wild Cool & Swingin' will be joined by singers Dean Christopher and Valerie Tichacek for a concert at the Parkway United Church of Christ, 2841 N. Ballas Rd. Proceeds from the performance will benefit the children of Lisa O'Brien, a police dispatcher in Town and Country who died suddenly last month at age 31 of complications from a respiratory illness.

Also on Friday evening, saxophonist Jeff Riley will be at Robbie's; the Yard Dawgs Jazz Quartet, with Brady Page (bass), Dusty Page drums), Bryce Kohn (saxophone) and Sam Brush (guitar), plays at the Cigar Inn in Belleville; and the Ambassadors of Swing perform for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

On Saturday afternoon, the Bluesweek festival, now in its second year, is presenting a set from an ad hoc jazz ensemble billed as the Jazz Masters and featuring Willie Akins (tenor and soprano sax), Erika Johnson (vocals), Dave Black (guitar), Peter Schlamb (vibes), Keith Moyer (trumpet), Marc Torlina (bass) and Joe Pastore (drums). Bluesweek's free outdoor shows are being held this year on a stage at Washington Avenue and 6th Street downtown, near the location of the proposed National Blues Museum. For a complete schedule of Bluesweek activities, see the event website.

On Saturday night, the eclectic string band Swing DeVille performs at Robbie's, offering a multi-genre blend of Gypsy jazz, western swing, old pop and jazz standards, and more. That same evening, singer Christy Simmons will present a cabaret show paying tribute to Rosemary Clooney at The Chapel, with accompaniment from clarinetist Scott Alberici, drummer Clancy Newell and pianist Mike Sissin.

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.)

Jazz concert on Friday, August 26 to benefit family of police dispatcher

Trumpeter Jim Manley's Wild, Cool and Swingin' Orchestra (pictured) and singers Dean Christopher and Valerie Tichacek will perform in a benefit concert at 8:00 p.m., Friday, August 26 at the Parkway United Church of Christ, 2841 N. Ballas Rd.

Proceeds from the performance will benefit the children of Lisa O'Brien, a police dispatcher in Town and Country who died suddenly last month at age 31 of complications from a respiratory illness. O'Brien is survived by her husband, a five-year-old son and an eight-month-old daughter.

Tickets for the concert are $15 and will be available at the door.

Dinner/dance on February 4 to benefit O'Fallon Township HS bands

Once again this year, parents and friends of the band program at O'Fallon Township High School in O'Fallon, IL are putting on a jazz-themed event to raise money for music education at OTHS.

The swing group Wack-A-Doo (pictured), featuring vocalist Valerie Tichacek, will provide the entertainment for the second annual "O’ That Jazz" fundraiser, which will take place from 6:00 p.m. to midnight, Friday, February 4 at The Fountains Hotel & Conference Center, 319 Fountains Parkway in Fairview Heights.

Tickets for the event are $40 per person for seating around the dance floor, $35 for all others, and include dinner, dancing, and the chance to bid in oral and silent auctions. The event is open to the community, and tickets can be purchased online at www.Showclix.com/event/othsband. For more information, visit the OTHS band program website.

(Edited after posting to fix some typos.)

Jazz this week: New Year's Eve jazz in St. Louis, and more

While New Year's Eve isn't usually a particularly big night for live jazz in St. Louis, there seem to be slightly more than the usual number of jazz-related options out there this year.

Among the more noteworthy revels occurring this Thursday evening:

* Singer Erin Bode (pictured) and her band will be doing two performances at the Joe Buck Show Room, which is part of the sportscaster's JBuck's restaurant downtown on Clark St.;
* The Robert Edwards Big Band will play at Robbie's House of Jazz;
* Singer Kim Massie will be at Brandt's;
* Singer Cherilyn Evans & CEE JazzSoul are performing at Smoking Joe's Bar-Be-Que downtown on Washington Ave;
* Singer/pianist Anita Rosamond teams up with guitarist Grant Krener at Chandler Hill Wineries in Defiance.

As has been the case for the last few years, the city's premiere jazz room, Jazz at the Bistro, will be dark on New Year's Eve, yielding the streets in the immediate neighborhood to Grand Center's annual First Night event, which usually features a variety of music in addition to dance, theater, visual arts and family oriented activities.

Acts scheduled to perform at this year's First Night include singers Wendy Gordon and Jeannie Trevor; multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman's gypsy-jazz band Hot Club Caravan; singer Brian Owens; Le Jazz Hot (with pianist Ptah Williams, saxophonist Chad Evans, bassist Daryl Mixon and drummer Bensid Thigpen); Wackadoo (with singer Valerie Tichacek); and Jazz St. Louis executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford's blues band, the Blues Inquisition. For a complete schedule of performances, visit the First Night website.

Beyond New Year's Eve, it looks to be a relatively uneventful few days for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, save for some regular weekly standing gigs carrying over into the new year. That's not unusual - the first couple of weeks of the year are usually a slow time for live music, and with many people still on holiday, a lot of January schedule information from musicians and clubs has yet to arrive here at StLJN HQ.

As that info comes in, I'll be updating the the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar - which can be found on the left sidebar, or by clicking here - with the latest information on more jazz and creative music events this weekend and beyond. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or by becoming a "fan" of 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.)