Dweezil Zappa to perform Thursday, October 13 at The Ready Room

Guitarist Dweezil Zappa is returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, October 13 at The Ready Room.

His tour this year will feature music from and celebrate the 50th anniversary of Freak Out, the 1966 debut album by his father, the late guitarist and composer Frank Zappa.

However, since Dweezil (pictured), who is Frank's eldest son, has been involved in a legal battle with his three siblings over use of the Zappa name, his band can no longer use the moniker Zappa Plays Zappa, which they've toured under since 2006.

As a result, this year's series of shows is being billed as “50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever The F@%k He Wants — The Cease and Desist Tour.”

Tickets for Dweezil Zappa at the Ready Room are priced from $25 to $50, and will go on sale at noon this Friday, July 15 via ticketfly.com.

Jazz this week: Kurt Elling, Zappa Plays Zappa, SIUE big bands, and more

As Jazz Appreciation Month 2015 reaches the halfway point, St. Louis gets a visit from one of the top male singers in jazz, a tribute to a memorable moment in 1970s jazz/fusion, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, April 15
Tonight, singer Kurt Elling returns to St. Louis to begin a four-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro

A regular visitor here for the past decade-plus, Elling (pictured, top left) has won the DownBeat Critics Poll for male vocalist each year for the last fourteen years; has been named “Male Singer of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association eight times during that same period, and had had every one of his ten albums nominated for a GRAMMY.

Since parting with longtime pianist and music director Laurence Hobgood a couple of years ago, Elling has gigged with several different keyboardists, including the German pianist Mads Baerentzen and Gary Versace, known for his work with Carla Bley, John Scofield and many others. This week, his ensemble will feature the 24-year-old NYC pianist Emmet Cohen, along with longtime guitarist John McLean, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Bryan Carter.

While listeners at the Bistro over the course of the week may hear some selections from Elling's last album, 1916 Broadway: The Brill Building Project, and from his recently developed touring show, "Elling Swings Sinatra," the word from other recent tour stops suggests that there also will be a lot of music from his forthcoming album Passion World, which features "ballads of love and loss from across the globe" and is scheduled for release at the end of May.

Elsewhere around town, trumpeter Keith Moyer brings his group back to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups; Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly open mic night at Tavern of Fine Arts; and keyboardist Bob Werner and singer Ellen Martinez are hosting a new weekly open mic night at Shakers, which took over the former location of Jazz on Broadway at 554 W. Broadway in Alton.

Thursday, April 16
Guitarist Dave Black, singer Feyza Eren (pictured, center left) and friends perform at Nathalie’s, and guitarist Tom Byrne and his Pat Metheny-inspired project Have U Heard will play a concert at Lewis and Clark Community College.

Friday, April 17
The Gateway City Big Band plays for dancers at Casa Loma Ballroom, and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play swing, hot jazz and blues at the Backstreet Jazz & Blues Club in Westport.

Saturday, April 18
Trumpeter Jim Manley leads a band including singer Charlie B, keyboardist Arthur Toney, guitarist Randy Bahr and trumpeter Joe Weber in a gig at Nathalie's, while Wack-A-Doo plays swing and Americana at Evangeline's.

Also on Saturday, singer Joe Mancuso and Dave Black will duet at Element STL; bassist David Certain will celebrate his birthday with an afternoon jam session and an evening gig with his CertainBeat WorldBop, both at Thurman Grill; and Miss Jubilee performs at Casa Loma Ballroom.

Sunday, April 19
Drummers Montez Coleman and Brandon Jones will co-lead a quintet with keyboardist Adam Maness, saxophonist Kendrick Smith and bassist Jahmal Nichols at Troy's Jazz Gallery

Monday, April 20
Repertory band Zappa Plays Zappa, led by Dweezil Zappa, guitarist and son of Frank, will play at The Ready Room, at 4195 Manchester Ave in the Grove district.

For this show, relocated from the now-closed Plush STL, ZPZ will mark the 40th anniversary of Frank Zappa's 1975 album One Size Fits All by performing the entire record, as they did last year with Apostrophe (').

Also on Monday, the Webster University Jazz Collective and student jazz singers will play at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus, and drummer/percussionist Joe Pastor and band will perform at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

Tuesday, April 21
The SIUE Concert Jazz Band and SIUE Alumni Jazz Band will return for another one-show-only evening at  Jazz at the Bistro.

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.)

Zappa Plays Zappa concert moved to The Ready Room

When Plush STL closed earlier this month, it left a number of already-booked shows in need of a place to happen.

Now it appears the last performance still in need of a new venue has found one, as the concert by Zappa Plays Zappa on Monday, April 20 (announced previously in this post) has been moved to The Ready Room.

This spring's ZPZ tour commemorates the 40th anniversary of the release of Frank Zappa's 1975 album One Size Fits All, and will feature performances of all the music from the album. Located at 4195 Manchester Ave in the Grove, The Ready Room is an 8,000 square foot venue that opened last year, featuring a musical menu of mostly rock acts booked by Mike Cracchiolo of the downtown club The Firebird.

Doors will open for the Zappa Plays Zappa show at 7:00 p.m., and the concert will start at 8:00 p.m.. General admission tickets for the all-ages concert are $25 in advance, $30 day of show, with a $2 surcharge for minors, and are on sale now via TicketFly.

There's also a VIP ticket offering early entrance and soundcheck access for $50 in advance. And in addition to the band's concert that evening, ZPZ's leader and guitarist Dweezil Zappa (pictured) apparently also will be doing a master class for guitarists at 3:00 p.m. that afternoon. Tickets for that cost $75 and do not include admission to the concert.

Zappa Plays Zappa to perform One Size Fits All on Monday, April 20 at Plush STL

The Frank Zappa repertory band Zappa Plays Zappa, led by FZ's son, guitarist Dweezil Zappa, will be returning to St. Louis next year to perform on Monday, April 20 at Plush STL.

The gig will be part of a 33-date US tour commemorating the 40th anniversary of the release of One Size Fits All, the 1975 album that introduced several Zappa compositions that would become convert staples, including "Inca Roads," the dual vocal and instrumental versions of "Sofa," and "Florentine Pogen."

ZPZ will play the album in its entirety, much as they did with Apostrophe in their 2010 tour that included a stop here at The Pageant. The group's most recent visit to St. Louis was in 2012, also at the Pageant, and featured a setlist drawn from throughout Frank Zappa's career.

The 2015 tour also will mark the tenth anniversary of Zappa Plays Zappa. In addition to Dweezil Zappa on lead guitar and occasional vocals, the group's current lineup includes Ben Thomas (lead vocals, trumpet, trombone, rhythm guitar), Scheila Gonzalez (saxophone, flute, keyboards, vocals), Chris Norton (keyboards, violin, vocals), Kurt Morgan (bass), and Ryan Brown (drums), along with Pete Jones, who serves as tour/production manager and designated "stunt vocalist." Although some of their previous tours have included former FZ sidemen as special guests, they've mostly worked as a self-contained unit for several years now.

Tickets for Zappa Plays Zappa at Plush will be priced from $25 to $75 - the high end presumably being some sort of VIP package - and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Friday, November 21 via TicketFly.

Jazz this week: Zappa Plays Zappa, Chris Potter Trio, Peter Martin & Romero Lubambo, George Lewis & Marina Rosenfeld, and more

It's another busy weekend for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, and with two of the week's headliners in town for performances this evening, there's no time to waste. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, the Frank Zappa repertory group Zappa Plays Zappa, led by FZ's younger, guitar-playing son Dweezil Zappa, returns to St. Louis play at The Pageant. In case you're keeping track, this will be ZPZ's fourth stop at that particular venue since the band was formed in 2006. Along with Dweezil, only drummer Joe Travers and saxophonist/keyboardist Scheila Gonzalez remain from that first tour, and the band has become a bit more focused on DZ's guitar playing, for the most part now eschewing the guest appearances by former FZ sidemen that marked their first outings.

According to Dweezil's website, on this tour they're "playing a selection of material from 3 different decades, 60s, 70s, 80s" as well as "premiering some more new material we have never performed before including an orchestral piece that I have wanted to play I started this project."

At around the same time this evening and just a few miles to the east, saxophonist Chris Potter (pictured) will be back in town to open a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.

Potter, who continues to be one of the most in-demand and critically acclaimed saxophonists in jazz, played last year at the Bistro with his electric group Underground. This time, he'll be fronting a trio with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Adam Cruz, which should provide ample opportunity for the players to stretch out and for the audience to hear every detail of Potter's playing. For more about what Potter's been up to since his last visit here, and some recent video clips of him in action, check out this Saturday video post from a couple of weeks ago.

Also tonight, the Webster Groves HS Jazz I ensemble will play Stan Kenton's A Merry Christmas in its entirety in a free concert (donations accepted) at Webster Groves Presbyterian Church; and the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra (formerly the Meramec Jazz Band) will perform at Sky Music Lounge in Ballwin.

On Thursday, pianist Peter Martin resumes his eponymous music series by teaming up with guitarist Romero Lubambo for a show at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The two men have worked together behind singer Dianne Reeves, and also teamed up to play at the Sheldon a couple of years ago. The theme of this concert is "New Orleans meets Brazil," which alluded to the city where Martin made his professional breakthrough and to Lubambo's place of birth, and also should give them plenty of potential musical territory to explore.

Also on Thursday, funk/jazz/R&B ensemble Good 4 The Soul will do their monthly early evening show at BB's Jazz Blues & Soup,

On Friday, guitarist Dave Black leads a trio at Cigar Inn, and there four different female vocalists in action at various spots around town. Debbie Lennon will team with pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True for a holiday themed show at Robbie's House of Jazz; Feyza Eren, backed by guitarist Tom Byrne and drummer Steve Davis, will be at the south side house-concert venue KindaBlue; Erin Bode and her group, with guest violinist David Halen of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, will play at the Foundry Arts Centre; and Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers will perform in the Sheldon's upstairs ballroom.

Then on Saturday, trombonist/composer/electronic musician George Lewis and "sound artist" Marina Rosenfeld will perform their duet piece "Sour Mash" in a concert presented by New Music Circle at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Lewis, who grew up in Chicago and gained early experience with that city's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, recently spoke with the Post-Dispatch's Calvin Wilson about "Sour Mash" for an article published online here, and you can see and hear a previous, relatively short version of the work here.

Also on Saturday, the Funky Butt Brass Band will present their annual "Holiday Brasstravaganza" at Off Broadway; and guitarists Teddy Presberg and Brian Vaccaro will share a bill at Broadway Oyster Bar, leading their respective organ trios in tributes to the music of Led Zeppelin and the Beatles.

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.)

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Singer and St. Louis native Lynne Fiddmont has just released a new holiday CD, Spirit of Christmas, featuring guest performances from singer Kevin Whalum, Yellowjackets' pianist Russell Ferrante, saxophonist Everette Harp and more. Fiddmont will celebrate with two CD release events this month in Los Angeles. The album (pictured) can be purchased online from iTunes and CDBaby.com.

* Jazz St. Louis has uploaded to their Facebook page a photo set from singer-guitarist John Pizzarelli's performance at Francis Howell North HS. While in town last week to play at Jazz at the Bistro, Pizzarelli also did an interview with KWMU's "Cityscape."

* St. Louis native Ronnie Burrage's show next Thursday, December 13 at NYC's Shapeshifter Labs will be viewable via an online stream for just $3. The gig by the drummer's ensemble Band Burrage will feature his regular collaborators Rick Tate on saxophone and Michael Stark on guitar, as well as special guests Wallace Roney (trumpet), Frank "Kuumba" Lacy (trombone), Essiet Essiet (bass), Benito Gonzalez (keyboards), and Curtis Stewart (violin).

* The London Jazz blog has a review of the recent re-issue of five late-career albums that Miles Davis recorded for Warner Brothers.

* The new band Sound Prints, fronted by saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Dave Douglas and including up-and-coming Berklee grad and St. Louis native Lawrence Fields on piano, made their debut last week at NYC's Village Vanguard. NPR recorded the gig for broadcast, and it also was reviewed by the New York Times' Nate Chinen.

* The Sheldon Concert Hall now has limited edition t-shirts celebrating the Hall's 100th anniversary for sale online.

* The new CWE venue Troy's Jazz Gallery, written about previously on StLJN here and here, apparently now is up and running, as documented by this photo from last night's performance by guitarists Eric Slaughter and Tom Byrne.

* Josh Weinstein, host of the Sunday night program All Soul, No Borders, is profiled on the KDHX website.

* HEC-TV is readying for telecast a new episode of I Love Jazz, featuring excerpts from saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett's performance last summer at the Missouri Botanical Garden's Whitaker Music Festival. The December episode also includes a feature on the south side woodwind retailer/museum Saxquest. Check your TV provider's program guide for a schedule, or watch online at hectv.org/programs/series/i-love-jazz.

The cable network also has put together a new special, St. Louis on Stage: Music for the Holidays, compiling past performances from various local musicians including some jazz performers. In addition to playing on cable and online, the program will get a broadcast airing at 6:00 p.m. this Sunday, December 9 on Fox channel 2.2 (aka Antenna TV).

* While he's in town next week to play at The Pageant, guitarist Dweezil Zappa will present a master class at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 12 at Blueberry Hill's Elvis Room. Sponsored by Fazio's Frets & Friends, the event has a very limited seating capacity; to reserve a spot, contact Fazio's Jim Holt at 636-227-3573 or jholt @ faziosmusic.com.

Zappa Plays Zappa returning on Wednesday, December 12 to The Pageant

Zappa Plays Zappa (pictured) is returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 12 at The Pageant. The band, led by Frank Zappa's son Dweezil, last brought its repertory of the elder Zappa's tunes here in August, 2011 as the opening act for Return to Forever at the Fox Theatre. The band previously had played The Pageant several times.

Earlier this year, Dweezil Zappa released F.O.H., a double CD on the UK label Fantom Records featuring ZPZ performances of Zappa's material taken from front-of-house mixes, including some songs that only were part of the band's touring repertoire for a short time.

Tickets for Zappa Plays Zappa's December 12 show at the Pageant are $25 general admission, $50 for VIP seating, and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Friday via Ticketmaster. (The show is all-ages, but there will be a $2 surcharge at the door for minors.)

The Pageant and the show's co-sponsors KSHE 95 also are doing a pre-sale for Facebook users only. To take advantage of the presale, you must go to this page and first sign up for Ticketmaster's Facebook app. Once you've done that, use the password "dweezil" to access the pre-sale. The Pageant also will hold a drawing to give two free tickets to one person who joins the event page created on Facebook for the concert.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* A new episode of HEC-TV's I Love Jazz began airing September 1 on the local cable network. The episode features performances by guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and singer/pianist Tony DeSare from their concert earlier this year at the Sheldon, as well as stories about young musician Michael Ferrante of the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars and the East St. Louis High School Jazz Band's trip to New York City for the Essentially Ellington competition at Jazz at Lincoln Center. You can watch the whole episode online here.

* The Funky Butt Brass Band's new CD You Can Trust The Funky Butt Brass Band was reviewed by the RFT's Christian Schaefer.

* In his latest blog post for St. Louis magazine, Dennis Owsley writes about multi-instrumentalist and former St. Louisan Don Cunningham, who came back home last month for a show at the Sheldon.

* From an online publication called The Trades, here's a review of the recent concert by Return to Forever and Zappa Plays Zappa at St. Louis' Fox Theatre.

* Jazz St. Louis still needs volunteers to help staff an information booth this weekend at the 2011 Saint Louis Art Fair in Clayton. Specificaly, JSL needs help from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. If you're interested, email JSL's Devin Rodino at devin @ jazzstl.org or call him at 314-289-4144.

* Single tickets for the 2011-12 We Always Swing series in Columbia are on sale now via the organization's box office and Ticketmaster. Although this year's series includes a number of musicians who also will be playing St. Louis, there are several who, so far, do not have a stop scheduled here, including Nilson Matta's Brazilian Voyage with Anne Drummond and Vic Juris, singer Rene Marie, pianist Benny Green and guitarist Russell Malone.

Jazz this week: Return to Forever IV with Zappa Plays Zappa, Wild Cool & Swingin', and more

While indie rock fans at least have this weekend's LouFest to enliven their late August existence, jazz and creative music listeners in St. Louis have fewer options during the annual interregnum between the end of various summer concert series and the start of the fall presenting season. But rather than complain about what's not happening, instead let's call attention to those intrepid jazz musicians who are treading the proverbial boards to bring us some cool sounds during these dog days.

The marquee event of the weekend happens tonight, when the recently retooled version of the 1970s jazz-fusion group now known as Return to Forever IV (pictured) performs at the Fox Theatre, with Zappa Plays Zappa as opening act. This current edition of RTF includes Jean-Luc Ponty on violin, along with Frank Gambale on guitar in place of Al DiMeola, who played on RTF's 2008 reunion tour but declined to participate this time around.

For more about the new configuration of this venerable band, you can see some videos of RTF IV shot during various tour stops earlier this year in this Saturday Video Showcase post from a couple of weeks ago, and drummer Lenny White talked to Calvin Wilson of the Post-Dispatch for a very brief article here. For more about the opening act, you can read StLJN's review of Zappa Plays Zappa's first St. Louis appearance back in 2006 here, and see some video of them here. As of this writing, it appears there still are some tickets available for tonight's concert; call Metrotix at 314-531-1111 for the latest details.

Also tonight, multi-instrumentalist Jeff Anderson picks up his tenor sax to lead a quintet at Robbie's House of Jazz, joined by Danny Campbell (trumpet), Matt Villinger (piano), Irvin Neal (drums), and bassist Kent Miller, who's in town from Washington, DC for a brief visit.

On Friday evening, trumpeter Jim Manley and Wild Cool & Swingin' will be joined by singers Dean Christopher and Valerie Tichacek for a concert at the Parkway United Church of Christ, 2841 N. Ballas Rd. Proceeds from the performance will benefit the children of Lisa O'Brien, a police dispatcher in Town and Country who died suddenly last month at age 31 of complications from a respiratory illness.

Also on Friday evening, saxophonist Jeff Riley will be at Robbie's; the Yard Dawgs Jazz Quartet, with Brady Page (bass), Dusty Page drums), Bryce Kohn (saxophone) and Sam Brush (guitar), plays at the Cigar Inn in Belleville; and the Ambassadors of Swing perform for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

On Saturday afternoon, the Bluesweek festival, now in its second year, is presenting a set from an ad hoc jazz ensemble billed as the Jazz Masters and featuring Willie Akins (tenor and soprano sax), Erika Johnson (vocals), Dave Black (guitar), Peter Schlamb (vibes), Keith Moyer (trumpet), Marc Torlina (bass) and Joe Pastore (drums). Bluesweek's free outdoor shows are being held this year on a stage at Washington Avenue and 6th Street downtown, near the location of the proposed National Blues Museum. For a complete schedule of Bluesweek activities, see the event website.

On Saturday night, the eclectic string band Swing DeVille performs at Robbie's, offering a multi-genre blend of Gypsy jazz, western swing, old pop and jazz standards, and more. That same evening, singer Christy Simmons will present a cabaret show paying tribute to Rosemary Clooney at The Chapel, with accompaniment from clarinetist Scott Alberici, drummer Clancy Newell and pianist Mike Sissin.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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.)

Win free tickets to see Return to Forever, Zappa Plays Zappa on Thursday, August 25 at the Fox Theatre

The Fox Theatre is conducting an online promotion to give away free tickets to the concert by Return to Forever IV (pictured) and Zappa Plays Zappa on Thursday, August 25. The winner gets a pair of tickets and also will receive "an autographed Return to Forever set list."

To enter, go here, read the rules and complete the online form, which asks for contact info and the name of your favorite RTF album. The contest ends at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, August 8, and the winner will be chosen at random and notified by email on Tuesday, August 9. (Various other conditions apply, see the rules for details.)

Metrotix, Fox Theatre offering online pre-sale of tickets for RTF/ZPZ show

The Fox Theatre and Metrotix will offer an online pre-sale of tickets for the Return to Forever/Zappa Plays Zappa concert scheduled for Thursday, August 25 at the Fox.

Tickets are priced from $30 to $60 and go on sale to the general public at 10:00 a.m. this Friday, May 20. However, the pre-sale will run from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 19. To access the offer, visit Metrotix.com during the pre-sale hours and when prompted, use the promo code CLARKE.

Return to Forever, Zappa Plays Zappa to perform Thursday, August 25 at the Fox Theatre

This just in: A new lineup of the seminal fusion band Return to Forever (pictured) will hit the road for 32 dates in the USA this summer, including a performance on Thursday, August 25 at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis.

Zappa Plays Zappa, the Frank Zappa repertory ensemble headed by the late guitarist and composer's son Dweezil, will serve as the support act for the entire tour.

The new RTF lineup includes Chick Corea on keyboards, Stanley Clarke on bass and Lenny White on drums, along with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, who's played with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Frank Zappa, and guitarist Frank Gambale, who's previously worked with Corea, Clarke and Ponty on various projects of theirs.

This version of the band already has toured Australia, performing "an amalgam of Return To Forever classics, highlights from each member’s solo repertoire, and brand-new compositions written for the RTF IV lineup." You can see setlists and photos from those shows here and read some selected reviews here. To hear the new RTF lineup playing "Senor Mouse," click on the embedded audio player below.

Return to Forever last played in St. Louis in 2008 at the Fox, while Zappa Plays Zappa has performed here at The Pageant several times in the past five years, most recently in December 2010.

Tickets for the 2011 Return to Forever/Zappa Plays Zappa tour will go on sale this Saturday, May 21 Friday, May 20. Ticketing for the Fox Theatre usually is handled locally by Metrotix, but there also will be VIP packages presold through the Return to Forever website beginning Thursday, May 19.

UPDATE, 5:30 p.m., 5/18/11: Tickets for the concert are priced from $30 to $60. The Fox and Metrotix will offer an online pre-sale of tickets for the Return to Forever/Zappa Plays Zappa show beginning from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 19. To access the offer, use promo code CLARKE.

Jazz this week: Zappa Plays Zappa, Good 4 The Soul, Sinatra Songbook, Montez Coleman, St. Louis Rivermen, and more

This week's post may be somewhat minimal, thanks to a bad head cold that's knocking yr. humble StLN editor for a loop, but the jazz and creative music offerings in St. Louis over the next few days are plentiful. Let's go to the highlights:

Tonight, Zappa Plays Zappa performs at The Pageant. This year's show features the band playing Frank Zappa's 1974 album Apostrophe(') in its entirety. I wrote a short preview of the concert for last week's Riverfront Times, which you can read online here. Also, you can read my review of ZPZ's first St. Louis show back in 2006 here. And to see some video of ZPZ playing various songs from Apostrophe(') earlier this year, see this post from last Saturday.

Tomorrow night, the University of Missouri-St. Louis big band, under the direction of Jim Widner, will play at Robbie's House of Jazz,

On Friday and Saturday, Good 4 the Soul (pictured) returns to Jazz at the Bistro with their crowd-pleasing mix of jazz, funk and more.

Also on Friday, the Steve Schankman Orchestra and singer Tom Heitman will reprise their "Sinatra Songbook" show at the Mirowitz Performing Arts Center at the JCC; singer Erin Bode performs at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles; and bassist Daryl Mixon's trio plays at Robbie's House of Jazz.

On Saturday afternoon, singer Carmen Emborski and pianist Heather Bosshardt, aka Les Filles des Jazz, and Emborski's quintet will be the featured entertainment at an event called "Jazz For Change" to be held at The Annex at Cafe Ventana, 3919 West Pine Blvd. Proceeds benefit the Christian Foundation for Education.

That evening, drummer Montez Coleman is the nominal leader of a trio gig at Robbie's that also will feature Peter Martin on piano and Chris Thomas on bass. Though all three both are originally from St. Louis, they've all established themselves on the national scene as well, making this gig, with a cover of just $10, the likely "sleeper" show of the week.

UPDATE, 6:25 p.m., 12/8/10: Just got an email from Dan Martin of Peter Martin Music, who says that the pianist is NOT part of Saturday's gig at Robbie's; the erroneous info came from the club's website. The gig may indeed still be a worthy one, but Martin won't be there, so please consider our editorial expectation to be adjusted accordingly.

Also on Saturday, saxophonist Jason Swagler and guitarist Rick Haydon will duet at the Bossanova Restaurant & Lounge in Alton, IL.

On Sunday afternoon, the St. Louis Jazz Club presents the St. Louis Rivermen at the Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center in Chesterfield. That evening, guitarist Tom Byrne's trio plays at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Tuesday singer Brian Owens will appear in a "Notes From Home" performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and Robbie's House of Jazz will host their weekly Tuesday night jam session.

For more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond, 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: Zappa Plays Zappa play Apostrophe(')

This week, let's take at look at some video clips of Zappa Plays Zappa, who will be in St. Louis next Wednesday, December 8 to play at The Pageant.

This will be ZPZ's third visit to St. Louis in the last four years, and this time around, their show will center around playing Frank Zappa's 1974 album Apostrophe(') in its entirety. I wrote a short preview of the concert for this week's Riverfront Times, which you can read online here. Also, you can read my review of ZPZ's first St. Louis show back in 2006 here.

All four of today's clips were recorded this year and feature performances of songs from Apostrophe(') by the current ZPZ lineup. For the record, that's Dweezil Zappa (guitar, vocals), Scheila Gonzalez (saxophone, flute, keyboards, vocals), Pete Griffin (bass), Billy Hulting (marimba, mallets, percussion), Jamie Kime (guitar), Ben Thomas (vocals), Joe Travers (drums, vocals) and Chris Norton (keyboards, vocals).

First up is a rendition of the title song from Apostrophe('), recorded in July at the Capitol Theatre in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. The tune originally was an impromptu studio jam featuring the elder Zappa, bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Jim Gordon, and here showcases Dweezil and then bassist Pete Griffin.

Down below is a medley of the album's two best-known songs, the novelty Top 40 hit "(Don't You Eat That) Yellow Snow" and the FM radio staple "Cosmic Debris," taken from a show in June at at the Wakarusa Festival in Arkansas. Below that is a version of "Uncle Remus" shot in November at the Roundhouse in London, England.

The fourth video shows ZPZ playing "Stinkfoot" this past September during a free concert in Baltimore's Highlandtown neighborhood as part of the city's "Frank Zappa Day" celebration. FZ, who was born in Baltimore, was honored with a statue outside a local library, and by the renaming of a section of a nearby street as "Frank Zappa Way".

Notes from the Net: The Miles Davis Radio Project reissued; Sanborn plays through pain; plus news, reviews, interviews & more

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:

* Let's start, as we usually do, with news of Miles Davis. Via Miles Davis Online comes word that Davis, who in the 1970s recorded an album called On The Corner, soon may have an actual NYC street corner named after him. Also: the Miles Davis Radio Project, an eight-part, 16-hour audio documentary about the trumpeter first recorded nearly 20 years ago, is now available for purchase as a series of digital downloads; Toronto trumpeter Brownman Ali just completed a five-week series of concerts paying tribute to Davis; and images of Davis and other members of the band that recorded Kind of Blue apparently are sufficiently cool to be featured on some new skateboards and sneakers.

* In news of other former St. Louisans, saxophonist and clarinetist Marty Ehrlich (pictured) has teamed with trombonist Ray Anderson to co-lead a quartet on a new CD called Hear You Say, out now on Challenge Records. Here's a review of the disc from AllAboutJazz.com's Bruce Lindsay, and another perspective from the UK Guardian's John Fordham.

* Singer, actor, comic and Belleville native Lea DeLaria also has a new CD, Be A Santa, out on the Warner Classics & Jazz label. AAJ's Bruce Lindsay reviewed DeLaria's disc, calling it "an album full of festive standards that swings like a sleigh bell on a Christmas tree and entertains in stylish fashion."

* Via Avant Music News: Saxophonist, composer and onetime Webster University student John Zorn will present a performance of his classical works later this month at Bard College in upstate New York.

* Another saxophonist and former St. Louisan, David Sanborn, played the Blue Note in NYC last month with his trio, and got a nice review from the Times' Nate Chinen. Sanborn's performance seems even more remarkable in retrospect, given the recent news that he's been performing for months now while suffering acute pain from a kidney stone.

* In other medical-related news, pianist Dave Brubeck, who had to cancel his October performance here at the Sheldon Concert Hall for health reasons, recently underwent surgery to have a pacemaker installed. There's good news, too, though - after the operation, Brubeck's doctors said he should be able to resume practicing and performing soon. Brubeck also is the subject of a new documentary film, directed by Clint Eastwood and set to premier next month on the BBC.

* Meanwhile, drummer Max Weinberg, who did make it here with his new Big Band to perform last month at the Argosy Alton Casino, recently talked to the website Popeater about his own recent heart surgery, his decision not to join Conan O'Brien's new show on TBS, and more.

* Pianist Kenny Barron, seen in St. Louis last month in duet with fellow pianist Mulgrew Miller at Jazz at the Bistro, talked with NPR's A Blog Supreme about his recent listening habits here.

* Also recently at the Bistro was guitarist Russell Malone, who did a four-night stand to celebrate the release of his latest CD Triple Play on the St. Louis-based MAXJAZZ label. Now, reviews of the disc are coming in, including favorable mentions from the New York Times, DownBeat and DustyGroove.com.

* Violinist Regina Carter, who was here last week at the Bistro, played the previous week at Regatta Bar in Boston; here's an article about the gig, from the Harvard Crimson.

* Turning to news of coming attractions, pianist Vijay Iyer, who will be in St. Louis this Saturday to perform with Wadada Leo Smith's Golden Quartet at 560 Music Center, recently was a guest on NPR's "Fresh Air".

* Speaking of Wadada Leo Smith, he's got a new disc out, recorded as a duo with drummer Ed Blackwell, called The Blue Mountain’s Sun Drummer. Read a review here, courtesy of Burning Ambulance blogger Phil Freeman.

* Zappa Plays Zappa, set to play The Pageant on December 8, recently celebrated what would have been Frank Zappa's 70th birthday with a concert in London. In related news, keyboardist George Duke, who worked with FZ for several years in the 1970s, will join ZPZ onstage for the first time ever in an upcoming show in Los Angeles.

* Last but not least, Lisette Dennis of Regional Arts Commission kindly emailed with the news that the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City wants to hire a Grants Development Officer. Interested individuals can find out more about the position and how to apply here.

Zappa Plays Zappa returning to The Pageant on Wednesday, December 8

Zappa Plays Zappa, the Frank Zappa repertory band led by the late guitarist and composer's son Dweezil (pictured), is returning to St. Louis to perform on Wednesday, December 8 at The Pageant.

ZPZ previously played at The Pageant in 2006 (reviewed by StLJN here) and again in 2008. This time around, they'll perform Frank Zappa's 1974 album Apostrophe in "its unmitigated entirety." ZPZ have released two albums of their own, a self-titled CD/DVD in 2008 and a live album, Return of the Son Of..., earlier this year.

Tickets for Zappa Plays Zappa at The Pageant are $25.50 for general admission to the main floor (all ages) and $35 and $55 for reserved seating in the balcony (21+ only). There also will be a $2 surcharge for minors at the door. The tix go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday, September 17 via Ticketmaster and The Pageant box office.

Jazz this week: Zappa Plays Zappa; Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival; Erin Bode; Trombone Shorty; Gary Dammer; Linda Presgrave; and more

It's a busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with concerts, a free festival, and club gigs that will offer something for musical tastes ranging from traditional jazz to mainstream to seriously warped.

Speaking of warped, for yr. humble editor, a confirmed Zappaphile since my teens, the highlight of the next few days will be the return of Zappa Plays Zappa to The Pageant on Monday evening. Based on the band's 2006 appearance at the same venue, I can heartily recommend the ZPZ show to anyone who enjoys, or just is curious about, Frank Zappa's music. Along with the core band led by Frank's eldest son Dweezil, the special guest on this year's tour is singer-guitarist Ray White, so expect at least a portion of the show to be devoted to FZ's output from the 1980s, when White was a mainstay of his touring ensemble. However, the 2006 tour successfully incorporated music from just about every period of Zappa's long and diverse career, and I'd look for a similarly varied mix this time around as well.

That said, there are plenty of other noteworthy shows happening this week, starting this evening when singer Erin Bode (pictured) opens the 2008 Whitaker Music Festival series of free concerts at the Missouri Botanical Garden. It's a busy week for Bode, whose new CD The Little Garden will be available for the first time anywhere at tonight's show. She's also appearing at the Cabaret at Savor on Thursday, and will be doing concerts on Friday and Saturday at the Innsbrook Music Institute with her band and members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

If your taste runs more toward straight-ahead swing, veteran St. Louis trumpeter Gary Dammer, best known for his long-running big band, will lead a small combo dubbed the I-70 Jazz Connection in performances on Friday and Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro .

To sample a varied musical menu in a single outing, check out the first-ever Wine, Dine and Jazz Festival, which will take place on Saturday in and around the square in downtown Belleville, IL. The free event starts at 11:00 a.m. and runs until 9:00 p.m., featuring performances by the Craig Russo Latin Jazz Project, Anita Rosamond, Good 4 The Soul, Brian Owens, the Nathan Jatcko Trio, Phil Dunlap's Legacy Jazz Quintet, Mary Dyson, John Farrar & Straight Eight, and the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars student ensemble.

Also on Saturday, New Orleans brass man Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews brings his funk band Orleans Avenue to the Broadway Oyster Bar, and pianist and St. Louis native Linda Presgrave returns home from her current base in NYC to lead her quartet in a performance at Cookie's Jazz and More.

Last but not least, on Sunday the St. Louis Jazz Club will present the traditional jazz sounds of pianist Jean Kittrell's Old St. Louis Levee Band in a show at the Moolah Shrine Center, 12545 Fee Fee Rd.

For more St. Louis jazz-related events this weekend and beyond, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar.

(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 at the Movies: Zappa Plays Zappa plays "Call Any Vegetable," plus some vintage Return to Forever

This week, let's take a look at some videos from a couple of electric bands who 1) are working a certain nostalgic vibe, redolent of the fusion music of the 1960s and 1970s; and 2) will be appearing in St. Louis later this spring. First up is Zappa Plays Zappa, the FZ repertory ensemble led by Frank's son Dweezil, who will be returning to St. Louis on Monday, June 9 to play The Pageant concert club. In this clip from 2007, they're seen and heard performing a faithful version of Frank Zappa's 1966 composition "Call Any Vegetable," which served as a set opener for some of the shows on ZPZ's first tour.

Down below, it's Return to Forever, who are reuniting for the first time in more than 25 years and will be in St. Louis on Tuesday, June 17 to perform at the Fox Theatre. This clip shows them playing "The Magician" in a 1976 appearance on the long-running British TV program The Old Grey Whistle Test. As a little lagniappe, there's also a third embedded window featuring a brief promo video for the RTF reunion tour, with a bit of footage from an early rehearsal.

(Edited 4/25/08 to correct the dates of the shows.)

Zappa Plays Zappa returning to the Pageant on Monday, June 9

The 2008 edition of the "Zappa Plays Zappa" tour is coming to St. Louis to perform at the Pageant on Monday, June 9. Led by Frank Zappa's eldest son, guitarist Dweezil Zappa, the ZPZ ensemble brings together former FZ band members and younger, lesser-known musicians to play faithful arrangements of Zappa compositions from various periods of his career.

The band came to St. Louis on their first tour back in 2006 to play the Pageant and delivered an excellent show, reviewed here. This year's version of ZPZ includes the same core band, with singer/guitarist Ray White (pictured) as the featured guest star. (The 2006 tour featured three former Zappa band members as guests: saxophonist and singer Napoleon Murphy Brock, drummer Terry Bozzio and guitarist Steve Vai.)

Tickets go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Friday via the Pageant box office and Ticketmaster. However, there's also an online presale on the Web site of radio station KSHE (94.7 FM) from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. this Thursday, March 20. (As an aside, it's surprising that KSHE is "welcoming" this concert, given that the last time the station played Zappa music with any regularity was probably at some point during the Carter administration. However, I'm not complaining, just noting the incongruity.)

(Edited 4/25/08 to correct the show date.)

Roy Ayers in St. Louis this Sunday, November 4 (plus some miscellaneous rumor control)

As regular readers know, I try to keep an eye on the visitor logs for this site to get a sense of what brings people here, and sometimes the search terms visitors are using can be my first clue that something's happening.

So, when I saw several searches for "Roy Ayers" and "St. Louis" pop up in the logs over the past couple of days, I did a little searching of my own. The vibraphonist's own site had no tour info at all, and the usually reliable Pollstar showed only dates in the Boston area this Friday and Saturday and a 10-day stint in London at the end of the year.

After a little more digging, I found out that Metrotix is indeed advertising an appearance by Ayers at 8 p.m. this Sunday, November 4 at a venue called Lights On Broadway, located at 8344 N. Broadway in the Baden neighborhood of north St. Louis.

I couldn't find a Web site for Lights On Broadway, but from some other stuff I've found on the Web, it appears to be some sort of conference center/private party facility. Tickets are $35 and $40, plus service charge, and though Metrotix is no longer selling them on the Web, their event page for the show says you can still purchase the ducats in person at Metrotix outlets or at the door.

I've also noticed a number of searches recently for "Zappa Plays Zappa" and "St. Louis." While ZPZ was here in December 2006 to perform at The Pageant, according to the tour info page on their Web site, the closest they're getting to St. Louis in 2007 is Kansas City, where they'll play the Ameristar Casino next Saturday, November 10. Rest assured, Zappa fans, that if ZPZ should announce another St. Louis appearance at some point, the news will be given prominent play in this space.

Finally, this seems like as good a place as any to update a story about which many rumors have flown but little solid information has been made public - namely, the online request made back in August by singer Erin Bode, who asked fans to make contributions to a legal fund. That request, made by email with Bode's monthly gig schedule, and also on her erinbode.com home page, has now disappeared completely from her Web site. Similarly, a blog entry that had been on her MySpace page and made reference to said fundraising appeal also seems to be gone.

So what's going on? Has the singer resolved her potential legal difficulties (which my sources suggested were related to a desire to split with her record label MAXJAZZ)?

I don't know, but if anyone else reading this does, please email me at stljazznotes @ yahoo . com. (Don't forget to remove the extra spaces in the email address.) Also, if any StLJN readers gave money to Bode's legal fund and have received subsequent communications from Bode or another representative, please share your experiences with the rest of us, either publicly in the comments or, if you wish to remain anonymous, via email to the address indicated above.