April 24 gallery talk at the Sheldon will look at Collective Improvisation

The documentary film Collective Improvisation: A History of Jazz in St. Louis will be the subject of an upcoming gallery talk at the Sheldon Art Galleries, to be presented at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 24.

Dennis Riggs of the Higher Education Channel (HEC-TV) will introduce and play clips from the film, which was directed by Christian Cudnik and illustrates St. Louis jazz history with archival footage and new interviews with local historians, broadcasters, musicians and jazz educators.

The presentation is designed to complement the Galleries' current exhibit "City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis 1895–1973", which is also tied to Dennis Owsley's book of the same name and will be on view through August. Riggs' talk replaces one originally scheduled for KMOX radio personality Don Wolff, who bowed out "due to family illness". The event is free and open to the public.

(Edited after posting to add tags.)

Owsley to discuss St. Louis jazz history at Sheldon on March 27

Local jazz historian and radio personality Dennis Owsley will give a gallery talk on the history of St. Louis jazz at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 27 at the Sheldon Art Galleries. Owsley, who serves as host of KWMU's Sunday night Jazz Unlimited program, is the author of City of Gabriels, a book about St. Lous jazz history released last year by Reedy Press.

His talk is presented in conjunction with the Galleries' current exhibition on local jazz history, which runs through August 25, and will focus on St. Louis' Black Artists Group, the organization that helped launch the careers of musicians such as Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett and many others. The event is free and open to the publc.