So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Pianist and St. Louis native Tom McDermott's latest album is the subject of a feature in New Orleans' Offbeat magazine.

* The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra has posted on Facebook a photo set from Tuesday's recent "Notes From Home" performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

* On a related note, the Rt66JO's re-organization after budget cuts forced them to leave their longtime home at St. Louis Community College - Meramec was the subject of a St. Louis Beacon feature story written by Terry Perkins.

* Also in the Beacon, readers wax nostalgic about the Goldenrod Showboat, which served for many years as a live music venue on the St. Louis riverfront but now finally may be headed for the scrap heap.

* Trombonist William Cepeda's concert last Friday at the Sheldon was briefly reviewed (en Espanol) and photographed by the website Diario Digital. (Google translation of the text to English is here.)

* Organizers of the Miles Davis Memorial Project seeking to put up a statue of the trumpeter in downtown Alton have put online a new promotional video for their fund-raising campaign.

* Speaking of videos, Trombone Shorty (pictured), who will play here in St. Louis on November 11 at the Old Rock House, has released a clip of the song "Fire and Brimstone" from his new album Say That To Say This.

* And speaking of new releases, Vintage Vinyl will hold a "listening party" (complete with free pizza and beverages) to check out Black Radio 2, the new album from pianist Robert Glasper, at 7:00 p.m. next Wednesday, October 30.

Jazz this week: Bill Watrous, Wynton Marsalis & Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, William Cepeda, "Jazz Heaven," and more

This week's menu of jazz and creative music in St. Louis features visits from two very different touring trombonists, plus a traveling extravaganza featuring Wynton Marsalis fronting a cast of 85 musicians and singers, and as usual, plenty of homegrown talent, too.

Let's go the highlights...

Tonight, trombonist Bill Watrous will be at Mineral Area College in Park Hills for a concert at the college's Fine Arts Theater, backed by the MAC Kicks Band. Watrous performed early in his career with the likes of Woody Herman, Roy Eldridge and Count Basie, later going on to be a featured guest soloist on recordings by Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Arturo Sandoval and many others. He was voted best trombonist seven times in the DownBeat reader's poll, and his Manhattan Wildlife Refuge big band was a touchstone of the 1970s, showing off Watrous' virtuoso technique in a way analogous to how Maynard Ferguson's band displayed its leader's skills as a high-note specialist.

And speaking of Maynard Ferguson, his friend and fellow trumpeter Jim Manley also is playing tonight, at Joyia Tapas in the Grove neighborhood; while further downtown, Miss Jubilee will play jump blues and swing at the Thaxton Speakeasy.

Tomorrow night, Jazz St. Louis presents the touring production of "Abyssinian: A Gospel Celebration" at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. The extended work by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was created in 2008 for the 200th anniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, and now is getting a touring production (pictured) featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the 70-voice Chorale de Chateau.

For much more about "Abyssinian," including interviews with Marsalis and choir director Damien Sneed and some video footage shot during the current tour, see this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday night, trombonist William Cepeda, who combines Latin jazz with traditional music from his home territory of Puerto Rico, will be in town to play at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Cepeda's colorful show includes folk dancers as well as musicians, so you can bet they'll be using every square inch of the Sheldon's stage, and maybe a bit more besides.

Elsewhere around town on Friday, singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will duet at Chaser's Lounge in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel; singer/pianist Anita Rosamond and her band will be at Robbie's House of Jazz; singer Feyza Eren performs at the the Wine Press; and guitarist Tom Byrne will lead a trio at Thurman Grill.

On Saturday night, pianist Dave Venn will be featured in a one-nighter at Jazz at the Bistro; singer Tony Viviano performs at Talayna's in Chesterfield; and the Dixie Dudes will play traditional New Orleans style and swing at Jazz on Broadway. Also on Saturday, pianist Tim Garcia leads a quartet at Robbie's; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes perform at Venice Cafe.

On Sunday, singer Wendy Gordon will present the latest show in her "Jazz Heaven" series at the Ethical Society, featuring a dozen musicians and singers performing songs made famous by various legends of jazz and blues. Also on Sunday, singer/guitarist Elliott Ranney will support the release of his new CD Bellevue Shuffle with a performance at Kirkwood Station Brewing Company.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the SIUE Concert Jazz Band performs at Dunham Hall on the SIUE campus; and trumpeter Keith Moyer brings his quartet back to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Then on Tuesday, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra will play a "Notes From Home" concert at the Sheldon, while keyboardist Jim Hegarty will lead a trio in some experimental sounds at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

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 Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2013 jazz preview, part 3

Today's, it's part three of StLJN's preview of jazz and creative music concerts coming to St. Louis this fall. Previously in this space, part one and part two covered shows that are happening through the first week of October, which is where today's installment picks up.

Our first clip features the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound*, who will kick off their second St. Louis season on Wednesday, October 9 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.  They'll be performing a program called "Permanent Collection," which covers 150 years of music written for their instrumentation, the sinfonietta (a small orchestra that has one of every instrument found in a full-sized symphony). The concert will include AWS' version of Aphex Twin's "Cock/Ver 10," first recorded for their 2005 album Acoustica and seen here in a rather rough-quality video shot from the audience in 2009 at NYC's Le Poisson Rouge.

That same week, saxophonist Lou Donaldson will return to St. Louis for a four-night engagement beginning Wednesday, October 9 and continuing through Saturday, October 12 at Jazz at the Bistro. Donaldson, who turns 87 (!) in November, plays blues, bop and ballads in the old-school manner, and by all accounts continues to be an very engaging performer, age notwithstanding. He's seen here with his frequent collaborator, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith - who, alas, will not be on the upcoming St. Louis dates - performing one of his signature songs, "Alligator Boogaloo."

The following week, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will return to St. Louis, this time to perform Marsalis' extended work "Abyssinian" with Chorale Le Chateau in a concert presented by Jazz St. Louis on Friday, October 18 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. Written to celebrate the 200th anniversary of NYC's Abyssinian Baptist Church, the work was premiered in 2008. Today's second video contains some short excerpts from that premiere performance with Dr. Rev. Calvin Butts III and the Abyssinian Church Choir at Rose Hall in NYC.

Also on Friday, October 18, trombonist William Cepeda will perform at the Sheldon. Originally from Puerto Rico, Cepeda is known for mixing jazz and urban Latin sounds with folk elements from Puerto Rican music, and today's fourth video clip shows off some of that in an excerpt from his performance at this year's Heineken Jazz Festival in San Juan.

The following week, New Orleans saxophonist Donald Harrison will bring his "A Night In Treme" tour here to play Wednesday, October 23 through Saturday, October 26 at Jazz at the Bistro. After establishing himself as a skilled hard bop player with Art Blakey and on own recordings, Harrison in recent years has incorporated more direct references to traditional New Orleans music into his sound, which seems fitting for someone who's also the Big Chief of The Congo Square Nation. The fifth video clip shows Harrison and trombonist Glen David Andrews dueting on "When The Saints Go Marching In" and was recorded in 2011 at the studios of KPLU in Tacoma, WA.

The sixth video features bassist William Parker's In Order To Survive Quintet, who will perform here in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Friday, October 25 at Mad Art Gallery. Parker, drummer Hamid Drake, pianist Cooper-Moore, alto saxophonist Rob Brown and trumpeter Lewis Barnes are seen here in an excerpt from their set at the 2012 Vision Festival in NYC.

Wrapping up today's post is a video of pianist and singer Harry Connick Jr., who wil be back in St. Louis for the first time in several years to perform on Sunday, October 27 at the Fox Theatre. Connick is touring in support of his latest album, Every Man Should Know, and is seen here playing the title song on ABC's daytime talk show The View.

Look for the fourth and final part of StLJN Fall 2013 jazz preview next week.

(*Full disclosure: Yr. StLJN editor has worked with Alarm Will Sound for the past four years in conjunction with the Mizzou International Composers Festival in Columbia, where they are the resident ensemble, and I'm still working with the PR firm that assists them with publicity in the region. That said, I'd still be highlighting this show even if I were not associated with them.)

William Cepeda to perform Friday, October 18 at Sheldon Concert Hall

Trombonist William Cepeda is coming to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m. Friday, October 18 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Born in Puerto Rico, Cepeda (pictured) is a protege of the late Dizzy Gillespie and has toured as part of the trumpeter's United Nations Orchestra.

As a leader, Cepeda has released eight albums and toured internationally, performing at major jazz festivals including Montreux and NorthSea. His sound is described as "an innovative blend of world music, progressive jazz and traditional Afro-Puerto Rican roots and folk music and dance."

Tickets for William Cepeda at the Sheldon Concert Hall are $35 orchestra, $30 balcony, and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Saturday, August 10 via Metrotix and the Sheldon box office.