Sunday Session: December 24, 2017

Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have shown up in one of StLJN's inboxes over the past week:

* Chicago Jazz Pianist Willie Pickens Is Remembered For Performing And Teaching (NPR)
* Spotify Executives Are Earning Seven-Figure Salaries, Tax Returns Show (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Saxophonist Ralph Carney Dead at 61 (Pitchfork.com)
* Music and technology: Blurred lines (ITProPortal.com)
* After Losing Ground In the Streaming Era, Rock Charts Its Comeback (Billboard)
* Disney, Netflix and the Squeezed Middle: The Real Story Behind Net Neutrality (Music Industry Blog)
* Irvin Mayfield, New Orleans Jazz Pillar, Indicted For Laundering Library Funds (NPR)
* Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee to Head New Jazz Caucus, Presents New Preservation Bill (Billboard)
* Kevin Mahogany, Jazz Singer with a Big Sound and a Soulful Style, Has Died at 59 (WBGO)
* The Power of the People: Kamasi Washington on artistic freedom and intellectual expansion (TheKey.xpn.org)
* Bassist and Singer-Songwriter Thundercat Talks About 'Drunk,' and A Year in the Spotlight (WBGO)
* New instrument composes music based on human body's biorhythms (CBC.ca)
* 50 Out of the Top 50 SoundCloud Artists are Rappers (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Donald Fagen Discusses the Loss of Walter Becker and Steely Dan's Future (Rolling Stone)
* Adam Rogers: Rhythm, Guitar (Jazz Times)
* How British Jazz Won The Underground In 2017 (TrenchTrenchTrench.com)
* Plundering dead artists for Christmas sales is more than creepy (TheConversation.org)
* Mississippi Goddam: Dr. Nina Simone Remembered (FashionUnfiltered.com)
* Sunny Murray 1936–2017: Eye Of The Storm (The Wire)
* A Look Back At 4 Jazz Luminaries Who Died In 2017 (NPR)
* YouTube, Music Labels End Standoff, Move Toward Paid Service (Bloomberg.com)
* Call to rename Williamsburg Bridge after saxophonist Sonny Rollins gains steam (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
* Why hip-hop, once ostracized in clubs, is ruling the festival circuit (Los Angeles Times)
* 'Jazz Night In America' Remembers Artists We Lost In 2017 (NPR)
* Is Secretive Virtual Reality Startup Magic Leap Dreaming Up the Future of Music? (Pitchfork.com)
* How the U.S. Used Jazz as a Cold War Secret Weapon (Time)
* RIP, Roswell Rudd (Ottawa Citizen)
* Roswell Rudd Dies at 82 - Trombonist and composer bridged gap between early jazz and the avant-garde (Jazz Times)
* I’m Dreaming Of A Blue Christmas (London Jazz Collector)
* Analog For The People: Synth Master Tatsuya Takahashi On Engineering Fun (NPR)
* ‘Santa Baby’ composer Phil Springer, 91, still can't figure out why his sexy Christmas song endures (Los Angeles Times)

Jazz this week: Bill Charlap & Houston Person, Alarm Will Sound, Peter Martin, So Percussion, Willie Pickens, and more

This week's menu of jazz and creative music around St. Louis includes performances by three top pianists representing NYC, Chicago and St. Louis, plus local stops for two acclaimed touring new music ensembles, and much more. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, pianist Bill Charlap (pictured) and guest tenor saxophonist Houston Person open an four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

Both men have played at the Bistro separately before, but this will be their first time joining forces here in St. Louis. Though of different generations, Charlap, a 47-year-old New Yorker, and Person, who's 79 and originally from South Carolina, have compatible musical values centered firmly in the jazz mainstream.

Given that, they also should have an extensive repertoire to draw upon, so part of the fun of a gig like this is seeing what tunes they'll end up picking to perform. For more about Person, and some video samples of him performing a half-dozen well-known tunes, check out this video post from last Saturday.

Update - 12:15 p.m., 2/5/14: Jazz St. Louis has announced that Charlap will play solo on Wednesday night, as bad weather has prevented the rest of the band from flying to St. Louis.

Also tonight, members of The 442s, singer Brian Owens, and others from the St. Louis Symphony will present a free Black History Month concert, "Someday We'll Be Free - Celebrating The Music of Donny Hathaway," at Powell Symphony Hall.

Tomorrow night, drummer Maurice Carnes and his trio, featuring saxophonist Freddie Washington, will play a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. Also on Thursday, the 20-member chamber orchestra Alarm Will Sound* returns to the Sheldon Concert Hall with a program of music from their next album, including compositions by Edgard Varese, the Beatles, Conlon Nancarrow, Charles Wuorinen, and more. 

On Friday, St. Louis' own Peter Martin will be back at Sheldon for the first concert of the year in his ongoing eponymous series there. The pianist's theme this time is "Chamber Jazz," and Martin will showcase some of his new compositions via an ensemble including Bjorn Ranheim on cello and Shawn Weil on violin, plus bassist Chris Thomas and drummer Rob Woodie.

Also on Friday, the much-talked-about new music group So Percussion performs at the Touhill Performing Arts Center as part of their tour this month of University of Missouri campuses; saxophonist Jim Stevens will team with Good 4 the Soul to present "The Music of David Sanborn" at the Wildey Theatre;  Miss Jubilee performs at the Moonshine Blues Bar in St. Charles; the Knights of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; and Lindy Hop St. Louis' monthly  "West End Stomp" dance at the Mahler Ballroom will feature music from The Sidemen. 

On Saturday afternoon,;Saxquest will present another in their series of free performances and workshops, featuring saxophonist Randy Hamm with pianist Kyle Aho, plus a set by the Missouri Saxophone Quartet. 

Then on Saturday evening, trumpeter Randy Holmes' quintet will offer a Black History Month-themed performance at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Sunday afternoon, veteran Chicago pianist Willie Pickens will be in town to play with drummer Jerome "Scrooge" Harris and friends in a jazz brunch performance benefiting Community Women Against Hardship at the Bistro at Grand Center. Later that afternoon, guitarist Steve Schenkel's quartet will play a free concert for the "Inner Jazz" series at Kirkwood United Church of Christ.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday pianist Kim Portnoy and his group will perform original music in a concert at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium; and the Sessions Big Band will play downtown at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups

Then on Tuesday, the St. Louis Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of bassist Jim Widner, will be back at the Touhill for a program of music from "A Night at the Movies"; and guitarist Vincent Varvel will lead a trio 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.)

* Disclaimer: As mentioned here before, for the last three years I've been compensated financially to assist Alarm Will Sound with promotional activities in St. Louis and Columbia. As also mentioned here before, I'd still recommend this concert to StLJN readers even if I weren't working with the band.  

(Edited after posting to correct the date of So Percussion.) 

Willie Pickens to play jazz brunch benefit for CWAH on Sunday, February 9

Willie Pickens, the veteran pianist and mainstay of the Chicago jazz scene, is coming to St. Louis as the featured performer for a jazz brunch benefiting the not-for-profit organization Community Women Against Hardship.

Perhaps best known outside Chicago for his work with the legendary drummer Elvin Jones, Pickens (pictured) will join a group of St. Louis musicians led by drummer Jerome "Scrooge" Harris for CWAH's annual Black History Month event, which will be held at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, February 9 at the Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington Blvd.

In addition to Pickens and Harris, the ensemble will include saxophonist Freddie Washington, singer Anita Jackson and bassist Bob DeBoo. Students from Harris' Institute for the Advancement of Jazz Study & Performance also will perform as part of the event.

Tickets are $60 for reserved seating, which includes a free CD, or $40 for general admission. All tickets include brunch, which will be served at 1:30 p.m., followed by the performance at 2:30 p.m. To purchase tickets, call 314-289-7523 or visit CWAH's website.