StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Previewing the Gateway Jazz Festival

This week, let's take a look at some videos of the musicians who will be performing at the Gateway Jazz Festival, which will take place next Saturday, July 21 at the Chesterfield Amphitheater. Now in its second year, the festival will present a day-long program of contemporary jazz and R&B performers.

Here's a collection of recent clips featuring those artists, starting with the headliner, saxophonist Boney James, who can be seen up above performing "Tick Tock" in November 2017 at The Wave/Honda Soundstage in Los Angeles.

After the jump, you can see R&B vocalist Will Downing in an excerpt from his set in May of this year at the ATL Soul Life festival in Atlanta.

Next up is trumpeter Cindy Bradley, performing "Lifted" in January 2018 at the restaurant and music venue South in Philadelphia.

Then it's singer/guitarist Jonathan Butler, playing "Living My Dream"  in january at the 2018 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show in Anaheim, CA.

That's followed by a clip of keyboardist Alex Bugnon, performing his version of War's 1970s hit "The World Is A Ghetto," also recorded last year at South.

Finally, there are videos of the two St. Louis musicians who will be opening the show, both recorded by the prolific St. Louis videographer James Ross (aka JRoss-TV).

Saxophonist Tim Cunningham is featured in the sixth clip, performing "That's What I Like" in a show earlier this year at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and pianist Mike Silverman is seen in the seventh and final clip, showing off the new Steinway piano acquired earlier this year by his Clayton Studios facility.

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

Jazz this week: "A Soulful Christmas," Jim Manley, a tribute to Louis Armstrong, Erin Bode, and more

Although several of our town's not-for-profit presenters have already gone into holiday or, in the case of the universities, end-of-semester mode, there's still plenty of live jazz on St. Louis stages this weekend. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, the very fine pianist Reggie Thomas leads a group featuring trumpeter Anthony Wiggins in a free concert at the Black Cat Theatre in Maplewood. The show will feature the music of Louis Armstrong, and is part of Jazz St. Louis' Whitaker Community Concerts series.

Also tonight, Sound Unlimited returns to Cookie's Jazz and More to serve as house rhythm section for an open jam session. (They'll do it again next week, the last such jam session before current Cookie's owners Harold and Cookie Whitfield close the doors on December 20 and prepare to hand off to new management in 2009. StLJN will have more on the upcoming changes at Cookie's in a future post.)

On Friday and Saturday, trumpeter Jim Manley takes the stage at Jazz at the Bistro. Manley has been part of the St. Louis music scene for more that 20 years, leading many successful projects including the dance band Fantasy, funk group Horns in the House and the retro-Vegas jazz/pop band Wild, Cool and Swingin'. Regardless of the musical context, Manley always brings impressive chops, high energy and a sense of fun to his work, and I'd expect the same from him as he fronts a small combo at the Bistro this weekend.

Also on Friday and Saturday, singer Erin Bode will perform in concert at the New Town Chapel, 3420 Civic Circle in New Town, St. Charles. Tickets are available only at the Domain Street Wine Bar in New Town, and a portion of the proceeds benefits the New Town Trust. For more information, call 636-940-0457 or visit the New Town Web site.

Other noteworthy performances on Friday include singer, pianist, and saxophonist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum at Brandt's; trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber's holiday show at the Black Cat Theatre; and singer Naomi Stevens and keyboardist Brenda Foster at Cookie's.

On Saturday, singer Anita Rosamond will perform at Black Cat Theatre, doing a mix of holiday material and some of her personal favorites with a band that includes keyboardist Adaron "Pops" Jackson and guitarist Shaun Robinson of Good 4 The Soul, drummer Matt Henry, and saxophonist Mark Christopher. Also on Saturday, singer and perennial St. Louis favorite Jeanne Trevor will be at Brandt's.

On Sunday, the smooth jazz holiday show "A Soulful Christmas" with Gerald Albright (pictured), Will Downing and Lalah Hathaway comes to The Pageant. To see some video clips featuring the "Soulful Christmas" headliners, check out this post.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band returns to BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups, and Tuesday the David Wiatrolik Trio performs at 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.)

(Edited after posting to add the Erin Bode shows.)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Anticipating "A Soulful Christmas"

This week, we've got some video clips featuring the performers in "A Soulful Christmas," the smooth jazz holiday show that's coming to The Pageant next Sunday, December 14. The show features singers Will Downing and Lalah Hathaway and saxophonist Gerald Albright, and though I couldn't find any videos online of them doing holiday-related material, these clips at least offer samples of their respective sounds, the better to inform those who don't already know them and/or entertain those who do.

First up is Downing, who's seen here performing "Where Is The Love" in duet with singer Mica Paris on the British TV show "Top of the Pops." The song was made famous through the version by Roberta Flack and the late singer/pianist/songwriter Donny Hathaway, a former St. Louisan who was Lalah Hathaway's dad. Ms. Hathaway is seen in the second clip singing "Killing Me Softly," another song that was a hit for Flack. The performance is from the 2002 North Sea Jazz Festival, and the band is led by bassist Marcus Miller.

The third video features Albright at the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia with a group including keyboardist Jeff Lorber and drummer Ricky Lawson. The song they're playing is called "Walker's Theme," a tune that, to the best of my knowledge, has nothing to do with either Roberta Flack or Christmas but seems to stand up pretty well on its own.

(For more about upcoming holiday-themed jazz shows in St. Louis, please see this post.)

A guide to holiday jazz concerts in St. Louis

StLJN has been getting a number of hits lately combining the search terms "Christmas" and "jazz," and so for the benefit of those visitors looking for more information on holiday jazz concerts in St. Louis, here's a quick overview of some noteworthy upcoming events:

Sunday, November 30: Smooth jazz guitarist Peter White's Christmas show, featuring trumpeter Rick Braun and saxophonist Mindi Abair, at The Pageant.

Thursday, December 4: Guitarist Steve Schenkel and singer Ashley Mason perform music from their new Christmas CD A Midnight Clear with pianist Carolbeth True and bassist Ric Vice in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Thursday, December 4: Singer Jeanne Trevor and pianist Dave Venn headline a performance of jazz and holiday music at the Black Cat Theatre.

Sunday, December 7: Singer/pianist Harry Connick, Jr and his big band perform a holiday-themed concert at the Fox Theatre.

Friday, December 12: Trumpet player and singer Dawn Weber of Mo & Dawn does a holiday themed concert at the Black Cat Theatre.

Saturday, December 13: Singer/pianist Anita Rosamond performs her third annual Christmas show "Celebrate The Season" at the Black Cat Theatre.

Sunday, December 14: "A Soulful Christmas" with saxophonist Gerald Albright (pictured) and singers Lalah Hathaway and Will Downing at The Pageant.

Monday, December 15: Steve Schenkel and Ashley Mason with guitarist Dan Rubright and bassist Ric Vice at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium.

Friday, December 19: The singing group Manhattan Transfer brings their annual holiday show to the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

As for local Christmas CD releases, in addition to Schenkel and Mason's A Midnight Clear, singer Erin Bode has a new Christmas-themed CD titled A Cold December Night that's now available for purchase on her Web site.

Other St. Louis musicians with Christmas CDs still in print include Anita Rosamond, whose release This Is Christmas came out in 2006, and saxophonist Rod Tate, who put out an album called Jazzy Melodies of Christmas last year. You can see Tate performing his version of "The Little Drummer Boy," taken from a show last December at the Vaughn Cultural Center, in the embedded video window below.

Do you know of any local jazz shows or CDs with a holiday theme that we've missed? Do you have a favorite holiday jazz CD (or CDs) of all time? Please use the comments to share your thoughts.



(Updated 11/28/08 to add the shows at Black Cat Theatre.)

"A Soulful Christmas" coming to The Pageant on Sunday, December 14

Singers Will Downing and Lalah Hathaway (pictured) and saxophonist Gerald Albright will be the featured performers in "A Soulful Christmas 2008," a holiday-themed show coming to The Pageant on Sunday, December 14.

This will be Albright's second trip to St. Louis this year, as he performed at The Pageant in June as part of this year's "Guitars and Saxes" tour. Hathaway has a family connection to the Gateway City; she is the daughter of the late singer, pianist, songwriter, producer and St. Louis native Donny Hathaway.

Tickets for "A Soulful Christmas" go on sale at 5:00 p.m. Friday, October 10, and can be purchased online here, at The Pageant box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets.