So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Stories, the new album from bassist Tom Kennedy (pictured), was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's Jim Worsley.

* Singer Ralph Williams Jr. was the featured guest on a recent episode of podcaster Brenda Moss' "All About That Jazz."

* Saxophonist Rev. Cliff Aerie and trumpeter Tim Osiek of the Oikos Ensemble have made ten of their "Worship Jazz" arrangements available as free downloads for use "in your worship streaming or for personal and group meditation."

The arrangements, along with YouTube links, lyrics (where applicable), and more, are available via individual posts on the "Worship Jazz" blog; go here and scroll down to see all the posts.

* The 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew was the subject of a feature story on the website Get Into This.

* In celebration of that 50th anniversary, the Miles Davis Estate announced a vinyl reissue of Bitches Brew, and shared what seem to be some previously unseen video clips of a show by Davis from 1969 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

* And in related news, Consequence of Sound's podcast The Opus this week continued its season-long, in-depth focus on Bitches Brew with episode two, titled "Bitches Brew: The Indefinable Greatness of Miles Davis."

* Jazz Journal republished their original review from 1970 of Davis' In A Silent Way.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Italian guitarist and composer Filippo Cosentino will present a free, public lecture and discussion at 4:30 p.m. next Wednesday, October 18 in the Grand Room at the Washington University Alumni House (located behind the music department on Forsyth). Cosentino (pictured) will perform the following night (Thursday, October 19) for the Jazz at Holmes series at Wash U.

* Having wrapped up his duties as artistic director of the 2017 Sopot Jazz Festival in Poland, saxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby will be back in the USA for a Thanksgiving week tribute to the electric music of Miles Davis at the NYC club Iridium. Other members of the tribute ensemble include trumpeter Randy Brecker, drummer Steve Smith (of Journey and Vital Information), and bassist Lonnie Plaxico.

* If you've ever wondered whether the arts are a moneymaker for the local economy, a study released this month by Americans for the Arts shows that in 2015, the not-for-profit arts and culture industry in the St. Louis area generated $591 million in annual economic activity, supporting 19,129 full-time equivalent jobs and yielding $57.7 million in local and state government revenue.

(Note that this figure doesn't include for-profit ventures in theater, visual arts, or the music industry - ranging from big arena shows and concert clubs, to one-person gigs at neighborhood venues, to support services like music stores and recording studios - so if anything, it probably understates the total economic impact of arts-related businesses.)

* St. Louis-based publishers Worship Jazz have released two new "jazz nativity" scripts for the holiday season, "What Child is This?" and "Angels from the Realms." Both include full staging instructions and music suggestions from the company's book Jazz Christmas Carols, Volume 2. For details, samples from the scripts, and pricing information, see the Worship Jazz website.

* Missouri student composers in grades K-12 can win awards and cash prizes for their original music in a variety of genres, via the University of Missouri School of Music's Creating Original Music Project (COMP). Entries for the 2018 competition are being accepted now; for more information, visit the COMP website.