Webster U faculty, alums to perform Monday, June 21 in support of jazz academy in Poland

St. Louis musicians associated with jazz studies at Webster University will perform in support of an international jazz education program in "Bebop, Blues, Ballads and Bossas," a concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 21 at the First Congregational Church, 10 W. Lockwood Ave. in Webster Groves.

The participating musicians all are current and former faculty members and alumni from Webster U, including trumpeter and former department of music chair Mike Parkinson; pianists Kim Portnoy, Carol Schmidt, and Carolbeth True; bassists Willem von Hombracht and Ben Wheeler; drummers Kevin Gianino and Joe Meyer; violinist Abbie Steiling; and saxophonists Paul DeMarinis, Hugh Jones, Mike Karpowicz, Chris Hubbard and Zac Minor.

They'll be playing in support of the International Summer Jazz Academy (ISJA) in Krakow, Poland, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. ISJA serves high school and college students from Poland and other countries, offering a curriculum that includes small combos, vocal jazz ensemble, music theory, history and improvisation, master classes, and nightly jam sessions for students and faculty. More than 100 students are expected at this year's session.

Parkinson was the ISJA's artistic director from 1995 to 2004, and von Hombracht served in the same capacity from 2008 to 2014. In addition, a number of Webster U faculty members and gradate students over the years have served as guest instructors or teaching assistants for the program.

Now, as the organization celebrates its 25th anniversary, both Parkinson and von Hombracht (pictured) have been invited to return for the anniversary festivities, which will be held July 25 through August 1 at the Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow. Proceeds from the June 21 concert will help to underwrite their travel expenses to and from Krakow.

General admission to "Bebop, Blues, Ballads and Bossas" is $10 per person, and tickets will be available only at the door.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold (pictured) was the featured guest on a recent episode of "Folded Space with Tony Minvielle" on the UK's JazzFM network.

* Keyboardist Michael Silverman and keyboardist/producer Jeff Lorber appeared last week on Jazziz magazine's "Last Call" video series to promote Silverman's latest album Human Spirit, which is out this week on his Autumn Hill label.

* Silverman and Lorber also were guests this week on BlogTalkRadio's "Hybrid Jazz" program with host Trish Hennessey.

* Willem von Hombracht, a longtime mainstay of the St. Louis music scene, has been ailing (though not with COVID-19), and earlier this week was discharged and sent home after a week and a half at St. Mary's Hospital. To raise money to help with von Hombracht's medical bills and other expenses, friends of the bassist have set up a GoFundMe page.

* New Music Circle has put together a collection of music video performances by some of the organization's board members, and after an online premiere this past Monday, has posted it to YouTube. The collection includes music from NNN Cook & Nestor, Michael Williams, Tracy Andreotti, Aaron E. Johnson, Fred Tompkins with Greg Mills, Alex Cunningham, and 18andCounting.

* Multi-instrumentalist and singer Tonina was profiled by the St. Louis American's Ashley Jones.

Jazz this week: Lea DeLaria,"Music for Piano, Percussion & Drums," and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features visits from a couple of local natives turned expats - one quite famous, the other up-and-coming - plus an assortment of performances in a variety of jazz styles from hometown performers. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, January 23
Singer Emily Wallace presents a one-night-only performance at Jazz St. Louis, backed by pianist Adam Maness' trio.

Also on Wednesday, the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features guitarist Jacob Weisman and friends at The Stage at KDHX, the weekly jam session hosted by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, January 24
Saxophonist Stephen Martin is back home from Kansas City to lead a quartet at The Dark Room, and singer Joe Mancuso will welcome singer Jan Shapiro and pianist Dave Venn as the guests for his gig this week at 50/Fifty Kitchen.

Friday, January 25
Belleville native Lea DeLaria (pictured, top left) may be best known as an actor and one of the stars of the Netflix series Orange Is The New Black, but she also has extensive credits in cabaret, musical theater and stand-up comedy. All those skills likely will be on display when DeLaria takes the stage for the first of two nights at Jazz St. Louis as part of the series JSL is co-presenting this year with Cabaret Project of St. Louis.

Also on Friday, singer Tony Viviano presents a tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin for the first of two nights at Table Three; soul/jazz quintet Hip Grease returns to The Dark Room; trumpeter Jim Manley performs at One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar; and Miss Jubilee plays for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, January 26
Pianist Greg Mills and percussionist Glen "Papa" Wright will present a free concert of "Music for Piano, Percussion & Drums" at St. Louis University's Xavier Hall; and The Gaslight Squares play vintage jazz at The Frisco Barroom, a recently opened spot in the Old Orchard neighborhood of Webster Groves.

Sunday, January 27
The Folk School of KDHX will host their monthly traditional jazz jam session, and DJ Pockets will present his monthly "1950s/60s Jazz Record Spin" at The Royale.

Monday, January 28
Bassist Willem von Hombracht leads a trio in a concert at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium, and singer/impressionist Dean Christopher brings his "Rat Pack & More" show back to One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar.

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.)

Webster University announces 2013-14 jazz concert schedule

The music department at Webster University has announced their schedule of Monday night jazz concerts for 2013-14.

The series will kick off with a tribute to Cannonball Adderly at 7:00 p.m. Monday, September 9 in Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus, 470 E. Lockwood Ave.

The performance will feature songs associated with Adderly such as “Unit Seven,” “Jive Samba,” “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” and “Sack O’ Woe,” performed by an ensemble including Paul DeMarinis (pictured, saxophones), Keith Moyer (trumpet), Steve Schenkel (guitar), Kim Portnoy (piano), Willem von Hombracht (bass), Kevin Gianino (drums) and Debby Lennon (vocals).

Here's the complete schedule for the year:

Monday, September 9: A Tribute to Cannonball Adderley
Monday, September 16: Four in One: The Thelonious Monk Project
Monday, September 23: Paul DeMarinis & Friends with DeMarinis (saxophones), Dave Black (guitar), Ben Wheeler (bass) and Kyle Honeycutt (drums).
Monday, October 28: TKT Scholarship Benefit Concert
Monday, November 18: Webster Jazz Collective

Monday, January 27: TBA
Monday, February 3: Black History Month Concert
Monday, February 10: Kim Portnoy Ensemble
Monday, February 24: Webster Jazz Collective
Monday, March 17: Shepard/Davis Scholarship Benefit Concert

All Monday night faculty concerts begin at 7:00 p.m. and take place in Moore Auditorium. Tickets for most concerts are $5 for general admission; $3 for seniors; free for students.

Tickets for the TKT concert will be $20 $10 general admission; free for Webster faculty, staff, & students, and for the Shepard/Davis concert, $10 general admission; $5 seniors; free for Webster faculty, staff, and students. The two Webster Jazz Collective concerts are priced at $3 general admission; free for faculty, staff and students. For more information, call 314-647-1415.

In addition to the concert series featuring Webster's faculty members, the University also will present a seminar by famed alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, October 10 in the recital hall on campus. Donaldson will be in town that week to perform with his quartet at Jazz at the Bistro.

Lastly, Webster also has released the schedule of student jazz performances for the year. The student jazz combos will present performances for the fall semester on November 4 and 11, and in the spring on March 31 and April 7. The free concerts start at 7:00 p.m. in Room #10 of Webster's Community Music School, 535 Garden Ave.

The university's student jazz singers will present their fall performance on December 8 and their spring concert on April 21. Both concerts take place at 7:00 p.m. in Moore Auditorium, with admission at $3 for the general public, free for students, faculty and staff.

Edited 10/11/13 to correct the ticket price of the TKT Scholaship concert.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* The New Orleans Times-Picayune says that pianist and former St. Louisan Tom McDermott (pictured) will release an anthology of tracks from his back catalog curated by famed arranger/producer and performer Van Dyke Parks. Keyboard magazine has more on the story here.

* New Music Circle was recognized as best "Cutting Edge Arts Organization" in St. Louis' magazine's annual "A-List" issue, which is out this week.

* Reviews of trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard's opera Champion, which had its world premiere last Saturday at Opera Theatre St. Louis, are in from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Sarah Bryan Miller; former P-D columnist Harper Barnes, now writing for the St. Louis Beacon; and Denver Post classical music critic Ray Mark Rinaldi.

* Speaking of reviews, here's one by AllAboutJazz.com's Dan Bilawsky of Quartette Humaine, the new album from St. Louis native David Sanborn and keyboardist Bob James.

* The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra has posted on Facebook a photo album from their most recent show at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company.

* Two St. Louis music-related businesses have gotten some recent national attention, as Mel Bay Publishing won several 2013 Paul Revere Awards for Graphic Excellence from the Music Publishers Association, while Logic Systems Sound & Lighting was featured in the trade publication Lighting and Sound America.

* This week in jazz radio: If you still can't get enough of Terence Blanchard and Champion, Saturday's edition of Calvin Wilson's program "Somethin' Else," airing at 8:00 p.m. on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis, features an interview with the trumpeter, plus music from his new Blue Note album Magnetic.

Right after that at 9:00 p.m., Jason Church's "The Jazz Collective" will have sounds from the great female vocalists of jazz - i.e. "Ella, Sarah, Billie, Nina" - in the first hour, with music in hour two from the Carolbeth True Trio, Commonwealth, Brian Owens, Jason Swagler, Brian Vaccaro Trio, Christopher Braig, Bela Fleck, Fourplay and Richard Boulger. You can hear both programs over the air at 107.3 FM and 96.3 HD-2, or online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Elsewhere on the radio dial, having finally completed the 10-week-long, updated version of his radio history of St. Louis jazz, Dennis Owsley will be back to regular programming on this Sunday's "Jazz Unlimited", airing at 9:00 p.m. on KWMU (90.7 FM). This week will have "new music featuring a duet between Jaki Byard and Tommy Flanagan, Ben Sidran, Joey Calderazzo, Monty Alexander, Keith Jarrett, Jaleel Shaw, the Jim Widner Big Band and a five part Suite called "Hagar’s Song" by Charles Lloyd and Jason Moran."

* Turning to what might be called "Crowd-Funding Corner," bassist Willem von Hombracht is in the final days of a campaign on Indie-A-Go-Go to raise money for the International Jazz Academy, which sends jazz musicians from the USA and elsewhere to work with music students in Eastern Europe; and guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran is using the same service to raise the cash needed to press the next CD from his band Guerilla Swing.

* Finally, here's a new promotional video from Wack-A-Doo for their song "The Black Bear Bounce," featuring, among other things:  the local bakery of the same name; a lot of local outdoor art; and a guy in a bear costume dancing and riding a unicycle. While film buffs might quibble that the shot selection gets a little repetitive after a while, overall it's a fun and imaginative way to promote a piece of instrumental music, setting an example that other local bands might do well to emulate.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A look at outside St. Louis

It's been too hot here for the last week and a half in St. Louis to spend much time outside physically, so today we've got some videos for you that go outside in a musical sense. This sampling of live performance clips from area musicians whose work might be called experimental, free-form, or avant garde includes:

* Electronic musician Eric Hall, seen up above in a solo set recorded at Washington University's Steinberg Auditorium in December 2010;

* Flute player and composer Fred Tompkins and keyboardist/composer Jim Hegarty, seen in the first clip down below joining forces to perform Tompkins' piece "My Changes." The performance, recorded in January 2011 at the St. Charles Coffee House, starts with what Tompkins calls "certain points of reference - tonalities, a general idea of style and overall form" while leaving the exact note choices and length of each section open;

* An excerpt from one of the "Drum Line" concerts presented in 2011 by the Nu-Art Series, featuring drummers Charles "Bobo" Shaw, Gary Sykes, Jerome "Scrooge" Harris and Johnny Johnson;

* Part of an electronic music performance from Joe Raglani and Jeremy Kannapell, recorded last year at the music and art venue Floating Laboratories;

* An improvisation by percussionists Thomas Zirkle and Matt Henry, who sometimes perform together under the name HaZmaT;

* More improv from the Off-Topic Collective, a project that included Hegarty, bassist Willem von Hombracht, percussionist Henry Claude, and saxophonist Dave Stone. The clip was shot in February 2009 at the Kranzberg Arts Center;

* And finally, yet another live improv featuring Stone and friends (the clip is too dark to identify most of the players) recorded last August at El Leñador.

Obligatory disclaimer: Due to the nature of free improvisation, what you see in these clips may or may not resemble what any of these musicians may do on their next live gig. Also, the players seen here certainly aren't the only people in town doing this sort of thing. Think of this post as being merely a representative sample of some names to watch for...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* On June 12, postal services in the United States and France will issue stamps honoring Miles Davis and French singer Édith Piaf. Designed by Greg Breeding, the stamps (pictured) use a photo of Davis with his trumpet in 1970 by David Gahr and a photo of Piaf from the Michael Ochs Archives. The 45-cent stamps will will be available for purchase nationwide.

* Bassist Willem von Hombracht today reported on Facebook that the Sunday jazz jam session at Johnny Gitto's restaurant that he's been co-hosting since the beginning of March has been discontinued.

* The St. Louis-based HD radio station Smooth 96.3 HD-3 has changed its name to Hip 96.3 HD-3, and has modified its playlist "to have the freedom to add some stuff that will totally fit, but might not be entirely Jazz." The station has set up a new Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/Hip963.

* The Regional Arts Commission this week announced that they'll award nearly $2.9 million in grants (.pdf file) to St. Louis area arts organizations for 2012-13. That's a 6.7% increase percent over last year's total.

The money is collected from a hotel sales tax in St. Louis and St. Louis County, and will go to fund 186 not-for-profit dance, theater, music and literary organizations in the area. Local presenters of jazz and creative music that received grants for next year include the Sheldon Arts Foundation ($61,523), Jazz St. Louis ($19,656), New Music Circle ($9,000) and the Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center ($1,030).

For some perspective, consider that the two largest grants for 2012-13 went to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra ($533,353) and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis ($182,868). The amount received by these two organizations represents about 25% of the total of $2,863,111 that was allocated by RAC for this granting period.

Three new jams added to local musical menu

The jam session has proved to be a durable institution in jazz for a number of reasons. For musicians, a jam session can be a proving ground, a laboratory and a networking opportunity. For listeners, it's a source of novel, spontaneous entertainment. And for bar, restaurant and club owners, a jam session can be a way to vary their musical offerings and perhaps attract additional patrons at times when business otherwise might be a bit slack.

No surprise then, that even as the rest of the music business has changed drastically, the jam session has remained something of a staple over the years. One current local example of the format is the weekly Tuesday night session at Robbie's House of Jazz, a venue that also hosts a "jam" expressly for vocalists on Wednesday nights. Certain other regular gigs, such as the Voodoo Blues Band's weekly Sunday matinees at Hammerstone's, may not be billed specifically as jam sessions, but have developed a reputation as being open to sit-ins from visiting musicians.

Now, whether it's a sign of impending Spring or just a coincidence, it looks like the local jam session scene is about to enjoy a growth spurt, with three recurring events being added to the musical menu:

* The group Nu-Element, which previously has been involved with jam sessions at a couple of different local venues, now will hold forth from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. every Thursday at Hwy 61 Roadhouse in Webster Groves. Trumpeter/leader Keith Moyer says the band, which also includes Grant Krener (guitar), Charlie Brown (piano), Rich Mendoza (bass) and Ron Carr (drums), will welcome sit-ins on the gig - and with thriving jazz programs nearby at both Webster University and Webster Groves High School, there's already a good-sized pool of potential jammers right in the neighborhood.

* The Tavern of Fine Arts, located in the Central West End at 313 Belt Ave. (near Pershing), now is sponsoring a monthly "Avant-Garde Arts Night" starting at 7:30 p.m. the last Tuesday of every month, with the next one scheduled this coming Tuesday, February 28. While it's not quite an open jam per se, percussionist Thomas Zirkle leads a core group of players - some associated with presenting organization New Music Circle - in a free form improv session, with guest musicians joining in and painters or sculptors creating new works on the spot.

* Starting on Sunday, March 4, bassist Willem von Hombracht, a mainstay of Tuesday nights at Robbie's, will add another session to his portfolio with "Willem's Sunday Jazz Jam," a weekly event at Johnny Gitto's bar and restaurant, 6997 Chippewa (just inside the city limits). Singer Joe Mancuso, who's organizing the sessions with von Hombracht, says the bassist will anchor a three-piece rhythm section for an open jam from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. each week. Gitto's also will be offering specials on food and drink during the weekly sessions, said Mancuso.

Webster University announces jazz concert schedule for 2011-12

The music department at Webster University has announced the schedule of Monday night concerts by the Webster jazz faculty for the 2011-12 school year.

The series kicks off at 7:00 p.m. Monday, September 12, with a theme concert dedicated to jazz music released in 1961, a year that included significant recordings by John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Stan Getz, Max Roach, Sun Ra and many others.

Another particularly noteworthy concert is scheduled for Monday, October 10, when guitarist Steve Schenkel (pictured) will follow up last year's sellout show devoted to the music of John Lennon with a performance of music by Lennon's fellow Beatle George Harrison.

Here's the lineup of concerts in chronological order:

Monday, September 12: "It Was A Very Good Year: Great Jazz Recordings of 1961"

Monday, September 19: Willem von Hombracht Quartet

Monday, September 26: Kim Portnoy Sextet plays original jazz compositions

Monday, October 10: Steve Schenkel Trio in "All Things Must Pass: Jazz Interpretations of the Music of George Harrison"

Monday, October 24: TKT Scholarship Fund 20th anniversary benefit concert

Monday, January 30: Dave Black & Friends

Monday, February 6: Willie Akins & Friends

All concerts begin at 7:00 p.m. in Webster's Winifred Moore Auditorium, except for the TKT scholarship benefit on October 24, which will be held at the Loretto-Hilton Theatre and will carry a $10 admission charge. The other concerts are $5 at the door for general admission, and free to Webster students with ID.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Introducing the Off-Topic Collective

This week, we've got some video featuring the Off-Topic Collective, a relatively new group on the St. Louis scene. OTC is a free improv/experimental quartet that includes veteran local musicians Dave Stone (reeds), Jim Hegarty (piano and synth), Willem von Hombracht (bass) and Henry Claude (percussion).

Their most recent performance was in February at a show presented by New Music Circle at the Kranzberg Arts Center in St. Louis. You can see three excerpts from that concert here, starting with the ending of the first half of the concert in the embedded video window above. Down below, you'll see the opening of the second half of the concert, and then a drum solo by Henry Claude. For more about Off Topic Collective, visit Hegarty's Web site or www.noisereductionsociety.com.





(Edited 4/19/09 to remove borders from the video clips, and again on 4/29/09 to fix a typo.)

Jazz this week: Robert Dick, the Last Poets, new bands at the Bistro, and more

Assuming you've dug out of the snow that hit St. Louis earlier this week, and are willing to venture out in the cold over the next few days to hear some jazz and creative music, here's what you'll find:

Tonight, trumpeter Randy Holmes and the Hard Bop Heritage Quintet perform a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. (And no, Jazz at Holmes has still not released a schedule for the entire semester. More on that once the information is available.)

On Friday, the Last Poets at the J.C. Penney Auditorium at the University of Missouri St. Louis. Though this isn't technically a jazz show, it seems worth mentioning as the group has been blending socially conscious poetry with jazz, funk, and Afro-Cuban beats for nearly 40 years now, and has been an important influence on contemporary hip-hop and spoken word performers.

Also on Friday, saxophonist Bennett Wood and his Quartet make their debut at Jazz at the Bistro. Although Jazz St. Louis normally books the Bistro in block of two or four nights at a time, they're trying something a little different this weekend, with two up-and-coming bands led by young musicians booked into the club for one night each.

After Wood plays on Friday, on Saturday night the quartet Utter Chaos (pictured) featuring baritone saxophonist Andy Ament, Cody Henry on trombone, Chris Turnbaugh on bass and Jerry Mazzuca on drums, takes the Bistro stage. Both bands have previously played the Tuesday night series co-sponsored by JSL and The Gramophone, and if their gigs this weekend go well, presumably other new groups might be able to follow the same path. As I've been encouraging the folks at Jazz St. Louis to diversify the Bistro's lineup whenever possible, I think this is a potentially positive development, and I look forward to seeing how it works out.

Also on Saturday, New Music Circle present avant-garde flautist Robert Dick in a performance with dancer Ashley Tate and percussionist Rich O'Donnell at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand. (That's the former Woolworth building just south of the Fox Theatre, also now home to the offices of Big Brothers and Big Sisters.)
Part of the performance will involve Tate dancing in a suit fitted with MIDI sensors connected to a synthesizer, and Dick and O'Donnell no doubt will demonstrate plenty of virtuoso and extended techniques on their respective instruments.

After Saturday, information gets a bit spotty due to the usual difficulties in getting band and venue schedules in anticipation of the beginning of a month. We can tell you, though, that on Monday bassist Willem von Hombracht and the St. Louis New Jazz X-Tet will perform at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium. With the group getting a rare opportunity to play a more expansive venue than its usual Sunday night confines at Riddle's, this could be the sleeper show of the week. Then on Tuesday, The Gramophone will present Davina and the Vagabonds, a blues and jazz band from the Minnesota's Twin Cities who are doing a date here on the way to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.

As the rest of February schedule information comes in from bands and venues, I'll be adding it to the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, so please check there for the latest updates.

(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.)