Al Jarreau to headline Jazz St. Louis fundraiser

Vocalist Al Jarreau (pictured) will headline Jazz St. Louis' 2007 benefit gala on Friday, March 23 at the Hilton at the Ballpark. Ticket prices have not yet been announced, but given that this is one of JSL's major fundraising events of the year, ducats are likely to be quite expensive. No word yet as to whether there will be a "concert-only" ticket offered.

Jarreau has received significant media attention in recent months, thanks to the sales success of Givin' It Up, his duet album with guitarist/singer George Benson. Along with his previous release Accentuate The Positive, the CD offers what many critics and longtime fans consider a welcome return to a musical approach that gives significantly more weight to Jarreau's jazz roots than to the commercial R&B sound he's employed with varying results since the mid-1980s.

(To help refresh your memory of the more improvisational Jarreau, take a look at the video clip at the bottom of this post. It's a performance of "Spain," the Chick Corea song recorded by Jarreau during his early period of national success that became one of his concert staples for many years. This version features a all-star band including guitarist Buzzy Feiten, Philippe Saisse on keyboards, Freddy Washington on bass, Joe Sample on keyboards, Steve Gadd on drums and percussionist Lenny Castro.)

In other JSL news, they've added additional bookings at Jazz at the Bistro for winter/spring 2007, filling in all but one of the weekends that had been listed as "TBA" when the bulk of the Bistro season was announced back in May.

The performers who have been added to the schedule are singer Anita Rosamond (January 12 and 13); drummer Montez Coleman (January 26 and 27); saxophonist (and noted jazz educator) Ron Carter apperaing with OGD, the organ trio led by keyboardist Reggie Thomas (February 23 and 27); and the Bosman Twins (April 6 and 7).

In addition, the Bistro has scheduled yet another weekend of performances by singer Erin Bode - her third during the 2006-07 season, in case you're keeping track - on May 4 and 5, as well as a weekend devoted to the the THF Realty All-Star Student Ensembles (April 20 and 21) and one for the annual Jazz St. Louis open house, which will be held on May 18 and 19. The weekend of February 9 and 10 remains TBA.

To inject a bit of commentary here, while Bode is good at what she does, and presumably a reliable audience draw as well, booking her three times in one season seems like going back to the same well a bit too often. After all, there are other St. Louis jazz artists who are arguably deserving of a weekend gig at the Bistro who haven't been tapped multiple times in recent years.

For example, several of the musician/educators associated with Webster University, such as Carolbeth True, Kim Portnoy and Paul DeMarinis, have played the room years ago but seem to have been shut out recently. A number of other St. Louis players and groups with significant followings, skills, and/or achievements, such as saxophonist Dave Stone, trombonist Lamar Harris, the Downtown Trio, pianist Ptah Williams and multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman have, to my knowledge, never been booked to play the Bistro. (Williams may have performed there backing someone else, but I don't think he's ever been the leader on a Bistro show.)

And given that longtime St. Louis favorite.Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum now has a recording contract with national/international distribution, it 'd be nice for him to be heard at least once in the Bistro's "listening room" atmosphere, too. If JSL really wants to develop new attractions and to encourage and promote a diversity of jazz in St. Louis, getting more and different local musicians into the booking mix at the Bistro would seem to be both appropriate and necessary.

(Edited after posting.)

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: When Hawk met Bird, plus Monk's "Round Midnight"

There's no St. Louis connection in this week's videos, just a couple of clips showcasing seldom-seen performances by some true jazz icons. The first video documents a meeting between saxophone legends Coleman Hawkins on tenor and Charlie Parker on alto, performing a tune called "Ballade" backed by a rhythm section of Hank Jones on piano, Ray Brown on bass and Buddy Rich on drums. It was filmed in 1950, presumably during a "Jazz at the Philharmonic" tour, although there's no location given in the notes. Still, whatever the provenance, given that there's so little film of Parker performing, even a few more minutes of footage is a treat.

The second video features one of my personal favorites, pianist and composer Thelonious Monk, performing one of his most famous compositions, "Round Midnight." It's an excerpt from a Polish television broadcast, shot while Monk was touring Europe in 1966 and the group includes Monk's longtime saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley. This footage supposedly has just resurfaced recently, and though there's a good deal of Monk video material already in circulation, this certainly seems like a worthy addition.

MAXJAZZ release nominated for Grammy Award

The CD Live at the Jazz Standard with Fred Hersch, recorded by singer Nancy King and pianist Fred Hersch and released earlier this year by the St. Louis-based independent label MAXJAZZ, has been nominated in the "Best Vocal Jazz Album" category of the 49th annual Grammy Awards. King's CD is in some well-known company, as the other nominees in the category include Diana Krall and Nancy Wilson, as well as newcomer Roberta Gambarini and former Kansas Citian Karrin Allyson.

Hersch will be in St. Louis in February to lead his own group in a performance at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and there are some other names among this year's nominees who either have performed in St.Louis recently or will soon, including Allyson, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (nominated for Best Contemporary Jazz Album), and pianist Taylor Eigsti (nominated for Best Instrumental Solo.) Also nominated for "Best Large Ensemble Recording" was saxophonist Joe Lovano's CD Streams of Expression, which features a suite based on Miles Davis' landmark album Birth of the Cool.

You can see a complete list of the 2006 jazz Grammy nominees here, and read more about the rest of the awards here.

(Edited 12/12/06 to fix a typo and correct an error regarding Karrin Allyson's current home.)

Coming attractions for 2007 include Flecktones, Metheny & Mehldau

It's been a while since we've had a "coming attractions" post, and a couple of major concerts for the first part of 2007 have been announced in the interim.

* The Pageant has announced that the singular jazz-bluegrass-world music band Bela Fleck and the Flecktones will be returning to St. Louis for a concert on Monday, February 5. Tickets go on sale at 5 p.m. this Friday, December 8, via Ticketmaster and the Pageant box office.

* Guitarist Pat Metheny (pictured) and pianist Brad Mehldau will do a three-week tour in the spring in support of their recent collaborative CD Metheny/Mehldau, and they're coming to St. Louis on Wednesday, April 4 to perform at the Sheldon Concert Hall. The show isn't on the Sheldon's Web site yet, but it is listed on a number of others, including Metheny's site, various tour-tracking sites including Pollstar, and the site of jazz mega-manager/booking agent Ted Kurland and Associates, so I'd say it looks like a done deal.

* Finally, though I'd guess the information has been out there for a while, I've just noticed that the Arts and Issues series at SIU-Edwardsville has a couple of events coming up that are of interest to jazz listeners. The eclectic woodwind ensemble Imani Winds, part of the Josephine Baker tribute that played the Edison Theater here last Spring, will give a concert of their own music at SIU-E on Wednesday, January 24. The series has also scheduled an appearance by the Glenn Miller Orchestra on Saturday, April 28.

(Edited after posting to fix a link.)

Site news: The StLJN Emporium is now open for business

Those regular readers who are especially observant and/or bandwidth-challenged have undoubtedly noticed that over the past week I've finally added some advertising to the site. Specifically, the sidebar is now displaying some context-sensitive text ads provided by that big Internet company whose name rhymes with the brass instrument used to play "Taps" and "Reveille," as well as affiliate links from some music-related companies like Amazon, Sheet Music Plus, Zzounds and eMusic. I'm still tweaking the number and appearance of the ads so as to achieve the best look possible while also keeping the site's load time reasonable, so if things seem to run a little slowly or look funny for a day or two, that's probably why.

I have also added an Amazon store, dubbed the St. Louis Jazz Notes Emporium, selling CDs and music-related DVDs and books. My hope is that the Emporium will provide yet another way to call attention to the work of St. Louis jazz artists, as well as perhaps generating a few bucks in commission revenues for yr. humble editor. The store has section specfically devoted to items by and/or about St. Louis jazz musicians, as well some general jazz offerings auto-selected by Amazon, and also lets you search for and order pretty much anything else that Amazon sells. I'll also be adding some additional pages and/or special sections to the Emporium over time, but it is up, running and open for business now.

If you find St. Louis Jazz Notes to be useful, informative and/or entertaining, buying something through the Emporium or one of the other affiliate links is an easy way to show your appreciation and help support the continued existence of this site. These are all reputable companies that have been around for a while, and clicking through one of the affiliate links on StLJN to make a purchase you had alrady planned doesn't cost you a penny more than if you went directly to the merchant.

Given that I've been blogging for almost 20 months without earning a dime from this site, I hope it is clear that I'm not doing this just for the money. However, it does take a considerable amount of time and effort to keep fresh news and content coming. Given StLJN's modest (though steady) traffic, I don't expect the store or the ads to produce a lot of revenue, but as someone who gets 100% of his income from freelance work, I'm not really in a position to leave any potential amount of money lying untouched on the table, either.

So, head on over to the St. Louis Jazz Notes Emporium and have a look around, or check out the offerings from Sheet Music Plus, Zzounds and eMusic.You can buy a Christmas present for a fellow jazz lover; compile a few items and links for your own holiday wish list; or even just go ahead and buy something for yourself. It's a win-win situation - you can get some cool stuff, and at the same time help keep StLJN going strong into 2007 and beyond.

Jazz this week: MSMW, Beegie Adair, more holiday music, and more

Time is a bit short today, so my apologies if this post seems kind of terse. There are just a couple of touring attractions in St. Louis this week that are of of interest to jazz fans, the most notable being the collaborative tour involving guitarist John Scofield and the jazz/funk trio Medeski, Martin and Wood. The foursome, billed as Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood, have been on the road for several weeks performing in support of their recent CD, and they'll play Misssissippi Nights this evening. Also in town will be pianist Beegie Adair (pictured at left), a Nashville resident who makes a return visit to Finale Music and Dining for two shows on Saturday.

As for performances by our local contingent, two popular St. Louis singers are delivering holiday-themed sets this week, starting with Anita Rosamond (pictured at right), who's having a release party on Wednesday night at Finale for her new CD This Is Christmas. Drawing on some of the players who performed on the CD, Rosamond's band will include drummer Miles Vandiver, bassist Tom Kennedy, trumpeter Keith Moyer, saxophonist Lew Winer III, pianist Corey Kendrick (an up-and-coming young talent who's studied with Reggie Thomas at SIU-Edwardsville) and various other special guests, including singer Brian Owens. Also in the holiday spirit is singer Erin Bode, who's returning to Jazz at the Bistro to perform Wednesday through Saturday, offering a mix of Christmas music and her regular repertoire.

Other noteworthy local shows this week: On Thursday, Phil Dunlap, another young pianist who matriculated in Edwardsville, will bring his trio to Washington University''s Holmes Lounge for a free concert to close out this semester's Jazz at Holmes series. On Friday, singer Danita Mumphard and Trio Tres Bien will perform at Cookie's Jazz and More, while Swing Set goes to work a block away at Crossings Taverne and Grille. And on Saturday, it's guitarist Todd Mosby at Crossings, and pianist Arthur Toney (who's on the mend from a recent hand injury - get well soon, Arthur) and singer Wendy Gordon at Cookie's.

As always, you can find more local jazz listings by visiting 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. No attachments, please.)

(Edited after posting to correct a spelling error and add a link.)

Scofield, Rosamond and Fiddmont featured in P-D stories

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch/STLtoday this weekend has online three stories of interest to area jazz fans:

* Guitarist John Scofield has a few words with the P-D's Calvin Wilson about the Medeski, Scofield, Martin and Wood show coming up at Mississippi Nights this Tuesday.

* Singer Anita Rosamond talks with pop critic Kevin Johnson about her new CD, This Is Christmas, which gets an official release party on Wednesday at Finale Music and Dining.

* And Johnson also interviews Lynne Fiddmont (pictured), a St. Louis native turned Californian who's sung backup for a bunch of big names and is now devoting more time to her own music, about her recently released soul-jazz-R&B CD, Flow.

(Edited after posting. Edited again on 12/18/06 to fix a spelling error.)

StLJN Saturday at the Movies: The Bad Plus, and some "Dirty Love"

Since last week's video feature showcased some historical footage, it seems appropriate this week to focus once again on some musicians who will actually be coming to St. Louis soon.

Today's first clip features The Bad Plus, who will perform at Jazz at the Bistro for four nights during the first week in January, playing "Physical Cities". These guys have been heavily hyped in the jazz press for the last couple of years, and while I'm not necessarily buying the notion that they've somehow completely reinvented the piano trio, they are certainly skillful musicians who have developed their own approach to playing jazz.

The second video features guitarist Dweezil Zappa, who's currently fronting the "Zappa Plays Zappa" repertory tour performing his dad's music. Here, he engages in a bit of a guitar showdown with former FZ sidemen Steve Vai (who's also part of the ZPZ tour) and Mike Kenneally on the lyrically salacious composition "Dirty Love." The ZPZ tour comes to St. Louis on Thursday, December 14.