No doubt about it, St. Louis this week definitely is in the grip of World Series fever. And with the first game of the fall baseball classic tonight, StLJN is getting word of some gigs featuring local jazz musicians being canceled or postponed to avoid conflicts with either the televised games tonight and tomorrow or this weekend's home games at Busch Stadium.
Touring acts seem unaffected so far, and any cancellations we get here at StLJN HQ will be noted on the calendar. But if you're planning to go hear a local band this weekend at a time when the Series is happening, you may want to call ahead first. Let's go to the highlights...
Tonight, saxophonist
Donald Harrison brings his "A Night In Treme" tour to
Jazz at the Bistro for the first of four evenings, continuing through Saturday. Harrison, a New Orleans native who's a Big Chief for the Congo Square Nation of Mardi Gras "Indians," made his reputation playing more-or-less straight-up hard bop, first with Art Blakey and then with his own bands.
In recent years, however, he's incorporated a more direct influence from the traditional sounds of his hometown, resulting in his records being used by the HBO series
Treme to represent the old-meets-new music of its fictional trumpeter
Delmond Lambreaux, played by actor Rob Brown. While Harrison likely won't be busting out his Big Chief outfit, which customarily is seen only once a year at Carnival time, it seems a safe bet that he'll be playing some of his original numbers that have been featured on
Treme as well as some traditional sounds.
Tomorrow night, the
Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University presents a tribute to the late St. Louis drummer Joe Charles, featuring saxophonist Freddie Washington, bassist Bob DeBoo and drummer Maurice Carnes. The concert is free and open to the public.
Also on Thursday,
New Music Circle will present two free events featuring multi-instrumentalist
Cooper-Moore. He'll be at
Northside Workshop, 1306 St. Louis Ave, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. to present a free community workshop about instrument-building, and then head south for an hour-long solo performance at
Foam, 3359 S. Jefferson, starting at 7:30 p.m.. Both events are free and open to the public.
On Friday, New Music Circle will present bassist
William Parker's In Order To Survive quintet, featuring Cooper-Moore on piano, at
Mad Art Gallery. For more about Parker
(pictured) and In Order To Survive, and some video samples of the band members in action, see
this post from last Saturday. Also, Parker was interviewed for
a preview story about the concert by the
St. Louis American's Chris King.
Also Friday, singer
Joe Mancuso's quintet, with special guests singer
Sarah Jane and trumpeter
Jim Manley will perform at
The Deco Fortress, 3622 S. Broadway near the Lemp Brewery. Elsewhere around town, pianist
Tony Suggs, back in town briefly after concluding a long stint as pianist with the Count Basie Orchestra, leads a trio at the
Cigar Inn; and
Miss Jubliee plays at the
Wine Press.
On Saturday, singers Mary Dyson and Diane Vaughn return to
Troy's Jazz Gallery; singer
Danita Mumphard performs at
Jazz on Broadway; and
Bob DeBoo continues his new late-night series at the
Kranzberg Arts Center.
Then on Sunday, singer and pianist
Harry Connick Jr. returns to St. Louis for the first time since 2010 to perform at the
Fox Theatre. Connick Jr., who's touring in support of his new album
Every Man Should Know, did talk to the
Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson for a
story, which, unfortunately turns out to be more about his being a judge for the upcoming season of
American Idol than his own music.
Also on Sunday,
BB's Jazz Blues and Soups has jump blues and swing from Minneapolis'
Davina and The Vagabonds; and Troy's Jazz Gallery will present a
combination "grand opening" and birthday celebration for owner Troy Williams. The event will feature music from drummer Montez Coleman, pianist Tony Suggs, guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Darell Mixon, plus guest performers including pianist Ptah Williams, saxophonist Kendrick Smith, trumpeter Delano Redmond and singer Denise Thimes.
Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the jazz department at Webster University will present their annual
TKT Scholarship Benefit Concert, raising money for music scholarships in memory of Terry Jackson, Kirk Cappello and Tony Saputo, three former Webster students who in 1991 were killed in a plane crash while touring with country singer Reba McIntyre.
This year's theme is "Jazz Interpretations of the Music of Irving Berlin,” and the featured performers will include vocalists
Erin Bode,
Debby Lennon, Peter Ayres and the Webster University Jazz Singers; 2013 TKT Scholars Juan Acosta, Dre Concepcion and Jacob Stergos; and a backing band drawn from the Webster jazz faculty.
On Tuesday,
The 442s will perform in a "Notes From Home" concert at the
Sheldon. The concert also will begin the band's Kickstarter campaign to fund production of an album.
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.)
(Edited after posting to correct the information about The 442s' performance on Tuesday.)
