Tony Bennett's concert at the Fox Theatre postponed until November

The concert by singer Tony Bennett (pictured) originally scheduled for Saturday, May 7 at the Fox Theatre has been postponed until Wednesday, November 16. The postponement is due to ongoing recording sessions for Bennett's next album.

Tickets for the original date will be honored for the November 16 concert.

Stanley Clarke, Hiromi postpone Wednesday night shows at Jazz at the Bistro

This just in, from Jazz St. Louis director of operations and artistic administration Bob Bennett:

"Due to flights being canceled coming into Lambert Airport on Wednesday, February 2, 2011, Stanley Clarke and Hiromi will not be able to begin their engagement at Jazz at the Bistro until Thursday, February 3, 2011.

We are working on rescheduling Wednesday's performances for a later date and will announce the new date as soon as possible.

Tickets for Wednesday night's shows may be returned to the point of purchase for a refund, or can be used for the new date once announced. All other dates of the engagement will proceed as scheduled."

Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Del McCoury postpone concert at Family Arena

The concert by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Del McCoury Band that had been scheduled for next Saturday, October 23 at the Family Arena in St. Charles has been postponed until April 13, 2011. Here's the statement that went up today on the site of Metrotix, the ticket agency for the show:

"Due to circumstances beyond our control, The Del McCoury Band & Preservation Hall Jazz Band show originally scheduled for October 23 has been postponed. The new date for the show will be April 13, 2011. Tickets for the original date will be honored. If you are unable to attend the new date, ticket holders can receive a face value refund at their original point of purchase. For more information, call MetroTix at 314.534.1111."

Concert to benefit Zimbabwe Nkenya scheduled for Saturday, January 30

This just in: New Music Circle will present a benefit performance for bass player and composer Zimbabwe Nkenya (pictured) at 7:30 p..m. , Saturday, January 30 at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand.

Nkenya has been an active participant in the local improvised music scene since his return to St. Louis from New Mexico in 2007. Over the course of his career, he has played with many well-known creative musicians here and in New Mexico, New York and around the USA. He had had been scheduled to co-headline a concert with Douglas Ewart for NMC on January 30; however, according to today's news release, he had a stroke "earlier this past fall," and has been unable to perform since then.

The release said that NMC plans to reschedule Ewart, with more information available soon. Admission to the January 30 benefit for Nkenya will be by voluntary contribution, with all proceeds going to the bassist and his family.

Scheduled performers include Jim Hegarty, Fred Tompkins, and Deb Summers, who will represent New Music Circle; Dave Cheli's group Tribal Chicken; and percussionist Thomas Zirkle (HaZMaT). All the musicians are volunteering their services, and additional performers will be announced on NMC's website.

UPDATE - 5:20 p.m., 1/12/10: In addition ot the St. Louis event, Nkenya's friends and musical colleagues in New Mexico, including trumpeter Paul Gonzales, are staging a benefit for the bassist at 6:00 p.m., Sunday, January 31 at the Outpost Performance Space, 210 Yale SE in Albuquerque.

Chris Botti concert at Fox Theatre postponed

Via St. Louis Post-Dispatch pop music critic Kevin Johnson's blog The Blender, the news comes that the concert by trumpeter Chris Botti scheduled for Saturday, September 13 at the Fox Theatre has been postponed.

The announcement cites "scheduling complications" as the reason for the postponement. But whose schedule was complicated? As of this writing, the Fox Theatre show is still listed on Botti's Web site. The tour dates page there shows him in Leawood, Kansas the previous night, September 12, with St. Louis on the 13th and then open dates until the September 18, when he's set to do the first of two nights in Boston.

Meanwhile, the Fox's schedule of upcoming shows also still lists Botti's concert, and shows nothing else playing the theater until September 24, when the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss tour makes its St. Louis stop.

Given that there's no obvious conflict on either schedule, it does make one wonder why Botti's concert really was postponed. Regardless, Metrotix is refunding money to ticket buyers at the point of purchase, and the announcement says Botti will be rescheduled for 2009.