So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Jazz St. Louis will raise scholarship money for college-bound local music students with “Swing For The Scholars,” an event at 6:00 p.m. Sunday, May 5 at JSL's HQ, aka the Harold and Dorothy Steward Center for Jazz.

Musical entertainment for the evening will include the Adam Maness Trio, the Route 66 Alumni Band, Good 4 The Soul, singer Anita Jackson, and students from the organization's JazzU program.

* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and STLToday.com this week published their annual "Go List," and the staff picks in the "Music" section included a nod to singer and multi-instrumentalist Tonina Saputo for "Best Shout-Out," referencing the inclusion of her song "Historia De Un Amor" on President Barack Obama's 2018 list of favorite songs.

In the reader's poll section of the "Go List," BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups won both "Favorite place to hear jazz" and "Favorite place to hear the blues."

* Drummer Dave Weckl is offering a free two-and-a-half-hour DVD, "Flies On The Studio Wall," to new subscribers to his Dave Weckl Online School who sign up before May 1.

* Prompted by the 60th anniversary of the original recording sessions for the album, writer Eric Schewe of JStor Daily looks at "Why Miles Davis’s “Kind of Blue” Is So Beloved."

* Pianist Peter Martin's "Ask Me Anything" session that was webcast last Friday via the Open Studios Facebook page has been posted to YouTube.

* Singer and East St. Louis native Phil Perry (pictured) will be inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Saturday, June 23 in Detroit. Perry's fellow inductees this year will include Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Ray Parker, Jr., Stephanie Mills, and more.

* And speaking of halls of fame, public voting for new members of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame is open until 11:59 p.m. this coming Monday, April 29. The 2019 nominees include Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, Kenny Clarke, Roy Haynes, Freddie Hubbard, Arturo “Chico” O’Farrill, Cecil Taylor, Frank Trumbauer, Dinah Washington, Chick Webb, and Teddy Wilson.

* General manager Jason Church's efforts to put radio station WSIE on firmer financial footing are the subject of a story in the SIU Edwardsville campus newspaper The Alestle.

Richard McDonnell Memorial Concert to be held Sunday, May 24 at Jazz at the Bistro

Jazz St. Louis has announced that the second annual Richard McDonnell Memorial Concert will take place starting at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, May 24 at Jazz at the Bistro.

The concert will feature performances by St. Louis musicians including Peter Martin, Funky Butt Brass Band, Adam Maness, Bob DeBoo, Eric Slaughter, Montez Coleman, Jesse Gannon, and more.

McDonnell (pictured), who died suddenly on February 8, 2014, was a long-time board member of Jazz St. Louis; founder and owner of the St. Louis based independent record label MAXJAZZ; and a well-liked and near-ubiquitous presence around the local jazz scene.

Tickets for the 2015 Richard McDonnell Memorial Concert are $25 for general admission, $100 for VIP reserved seats, and are on sale now. All the musicians are donating their time so that all proceeds from the concert can go towards a scholarship fund for student musicians in McDonnell’s name.

Jazz river cruise on October 3 to benefit SIU-E Friends of Music scholarships

The Friends of Music at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville are sponsoring a jazz cruise on the Mississippi on Sunday, October 3 to raise money for music scholarships at SIUE.

Cruisers will board on the riverboat in downtown St. Louis at 5:30 p.m., and cruise from 6:00 p.m. until 8:30, enjoying dinner and live music from SIUE jazz faculty members and students.

Tickets are $75 per person, or $30 for children 12 and under. The ticket price includes a $20 gift to the SIUE Friends of Music Scholarship Fund, which may be considered tax deductible. To reserve a spot, call the SIUE Music Department at 618-650-3900, before reservations close on Friday, September 17.

Alton Museum establishes Miles Davis Scholarship

The Alton Museum of History and Art has established a scholarship named after trumpeter Miles Davis, who was born in the Southern Illinois river town. According to an article by Jill Moon published in Monday's Alton Telegraph, the museum is now accepting applications for the scholarship, which is an award of $250 for a graduating high school senior who wants to pursue any post-secondary degree — not just music or art — from a two- or four-year educational institution.

Applications are available at the museum, 2809 College Ave. in Alton, and must be completed and returned by July 1, marked to the attention of the Miles Davis Jazz Committee. The committee will select a winner to be announced at the fifth annual Miles Davis Festival on Saturday, August 14 at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey. For more about the scholarship and the festival, read Moon's complete article here.