Jazz this week: Miguel Zenon, Elizabeth Harnik, Paul Metzger & Tim Kaiser, and more

It should be a good weekend to go out and hear some live music in St. Louis, and fortunately, there's a nice variety of jazz and creative music happening at local venues.

The biggest name in town and the pick show of the week is alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon (pictured), who's performing at Jazz at the Bistro nightly through Saturday, You can read more about Zenon and see some video of his playing in this post from last week.

On Thursday, Austrian pianist Elizabeth Harnik and her trio will do a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. English-languange info on Harnik seems to be somewhat scarce on the Internet, so I can't tell you too much about her music, other than that in addition to performing jazz and improvisational music, she also has classical training, composes music for chamber ensembles and theater, and has even written an opera.

On Friday, improvisational guitarist/banjoist Paul Metzger and multimedia performer Tim Kaiser return to Open Lot. You can read more about the show and them here. Also on Friday, keyboardist, electronic musician and composer James Hegarty will present a concert titled "Antithesis Reflex" at the Three Sinks Gallery, 8715 Big Bend Blvd in Webster Groves.

According to the promotional email sent out by New Music Circle, Hegarty's performance includes two movements; the first, "Space Churn Red," combines improvised piano with interactive computer accompaniment. The piece was inspired by a kinetic sculpture of the same title by George Rickey at the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University (which Hegarty recently visited), and incorporates computer-manipulated recordings of kinetic sculptures, spoken dialogues, synthesis and environments. The second movement, "Antithesis Reflex," is for unaccompanied piano and "explores abstract and flexible formal structures as applied to improvisation."

Also on Saturday, the Ambassadors of Swing perform with ballroom dancers Alex Borodko and Angi Heren in a show at the Lucas School House to benefit the Family Center. And on Sunday afternoon, guitarist Steve Schenkel and singer Ashley Mason give a free in-store performance at Webster Records. They'll be playing music from their new holiday CD A Midnight Clear, which you can learn more about by reading this post.

UPDATE - 2:30 p.m., 11/8/08: Sunday also brings a benefit show for Mae "Lady Jazz" Wheeler at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. Wheeler has been battling cancer, and an impressive lineup of local blues singers will perform to raise money to help with the veteran vocalist's medical and living expenses. The show runs from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and scheduled performers include Kim Massie, Robbie Montgomery, Renee Smith, Uvee Hayes, Marsha Evans and Kari Liston of the Bottoms Up Blues Gang.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the Sessions Big Band is at BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups. On Tuesday, the Brookmeyer/Mulligan-inspired band Utter Chaos is at The Gramophone, and the Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club will have its monthly meeting, spinning John Coltrane's Giant Steps with KSDK reporter/anchor Cordell Whitlock and JSL executive director Gene Dobbs Bradford at the Borders Store in Brentwood, 1519 S. Brentwood Blvd.

Last but not least, next Wednesday Erin Bode will begin a two-night engagement at Jazz at the Bistro to promote the release of her new Christmas CD, while the "free jazz/power electronics" ensemble Squid Choir Orkestra will play the Way Out Club, 2525 S. Jefferson, as the opening act for experimental rock band Skarekrau Radio.

You can find the latest updates and more jazz-related events in St. Louis this weekend and beyond 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. If you have photos, MP3s or other digital files, please send links, not attachments.)

Jazz St. Louis seeks student saxophonist to perform with Greg Osby & Willie Akins

Jazz St. Louis is looking for a young saxophonist who may be "St. Louis’ next rising star of jazz" to perform with saxophonists Greg Osby (pictured) and Willie Akins on April 10 and 11 at Jazz at the Bistro.

The concert is dubbed "St. Louis Shoes," after Osby's CD of the same name; the competition is open to all saxophonists in high school or college in the St. Louis area, including both Missouri and Illinois. Applicants will be asked to download and complete a written application and submit a good quality recording of three musical selections, including “St. Louis Blues” (W.C. Handy), “Shaw’ Nuff" (Brown, Fuller, Gillespie) and a ballad of the applicant's choosing.

The recordings of musicians accepted into the second round will be posted on Jazz St. Louis' Web site and evaluated by a panel of professional musicians from around the country. Five finalists will be invited to Jazz at the Bistro in February, 2009 to record with a professional rhythm section. Those recordings will be sent to Osby, who will make the final decision.

Applications and materials for the first round will be due on Friday, January 2, 2009, with the final decision coming in March. For more details, see the Jazz St. Louis Web site, or you can get in touch with Jazz St. Louis' director of education Phil Dunlap by calling 314-289-4033 or sending an e-mail to phil@jazzstl.org.

Paul Metzger, Tim Kaiser to perform this Friday, November 7 at Open Lot

Improvisational guitarist and banjoist Paul Metzger and multimedia performer Tim Kaiser are returning to St. Louis for another concert at the Open Lot arts collective and performance space at 9:00 p.m. this Friday, November 7.

Both Metzger and Kaiser are known for building their own musical instruments and/or modifying conventional instruments for their own purposes, and both appeared inSt. Louis on a double bill at the same venue back in March of this year. To see some video clips of Metzger and Kaiser in action, check out this previous StLJN post. Admission to this Friday's performance is $6 at the door. Open Lot is located at 1310 South 18th Street, 63104.

Vintage Vinyl offering 10% discount to voters

Local music retailer Vintage Vinyl is doing their part to encourage participation in the democratic process (and perhaps stimulate a little economic activity) by offering a 10% discount to any customer who can prove they voted this Tuesday.

According to the store's promotional email, all you have do to is come into either VV store "sportin' your "I Voted" sticker that ya get when you've wrapped up yer civic duty at the polling station. Just show yer sticker at the counter & yer good for 10% off!" Better hurry, though - the offer is good only on Tuesday, November 4 (Election Day) and Wednesday, November 5.

More on Erin Bode's new Christmas CD

As promised, we've got a few more details on Erin Bode's new Christmas-themed CD A Cold December Night, as relayed from Ms. Bode via Jazz St. Louis' Bob Bennett to StLJN.

The CD (cover art at left) is an independent release by Bode and her bandmates, and not a part of any deal with the Native Language label, which put out Bode's CD The Little Garden earlier this year. All the music on A Cold December Night is performed by Bode, keyboardist/guitarist Adam Maness, bassist Syd Rodway and drummer Derek Phillips, except for some background vocals from Chris Hobson and, on one tune, harmony vocals from Patricia Bode. In addition to his usual duties on piano, electric piano and guitar, Maness adds recorder, glockenspiel, harmonica, accordian and melodica to various songs, and Bode plays soprano recorder on one track.

Original songs by Bode and Maness include "Skating," "Cold December Night" and "The Star's Song," Other tracks are "See Amid The Winter's Snow, "A Cradle in Bethlehem," "The Holly and the Ivy," "Holy Night, Peaceful Night," "The Coventry Carol," "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come," "Bethlehem Down" and "In The Bleak Midwinter."

Bode will promote the release of the A Cold December Night with performances on Wednesday, November 12 and Thursday November 13 at Jazz at the Bistro. In a slight change from the Bistro's usual procedure, set times for these two nights only will be at 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

MAXJAZZ releases new CD from Dena DeRose

The St. Louis-based label MAXJAZZ has released a new CD by singer/pianist Dena DeRose. Titled Live at the Jazz Standard, Volume 2, it features DeRose with her longtime accomplices Martin Wind on bass and Matt Wilson on drums, and was recorded at the NYC club at the same time as the critically acclaimed first volume, which came out in October 2007.

To see a short slideshow on DeRose with audio samples from Live at Jazz Standard, Volume 2, go here.

Campaign seeks musicians to play at polling places on Tuesday

Political observers are expecting an extraordinarily large turnout for Tuesday's elections, and as a result, voters at some polling places may have long waits in line before they can cast their ballots. To help make the time spent in line a little more enjoyable, the St. Louis office of the Barack Obama campaign is looking for musicians who can volunteer some time on Tuesday to perform at polling places for those waiting to vote.

Ted Rose, who's coordinating the effort for the Obama campaign, explains in an email: "We're looking for people who can play between 6 and 8:00 pm, before and just after the polls close. The only rule is to entertain everyone and have a good time. The idea is to make waiting at the polls a party! We'll be assigning polling places on Sunday up until that evening. Interested people should contact me at entertainersforchange@yahoo.com."

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Three from Miguel Zenón

This week, we take at look at some video clips featuring alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, who's one of the fastest-rising young jazz stars to emerge this decade. Zenón will be in St. Louis next week to perform Wednesday, November 5 through Saturday, November 8 at Jazz at the Bistro, and to help those who haven't heard him get acquainted, today we've got excerpts from three performances that reveal different aspects of his musical personality.

Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón is a graduate of both Berklee College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. His credits include performances and/or recordings with artists including David Sanchez, Charlie Haden, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Bobby Hutcherson, Bob Moses, The Either Orchestra, Guillermo Klein, the Mingus Big Band, Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band, Ray Barretto and Steve Coleman. St. Louis listeners also may remember Zenon from his appearance here in 2006 at the Bistro with the SF Jazz Collective, which he helped found.

Zenon has put out four recordings as a leader, with the most recent, Awake, released earlier this year. He has received many awards, this year including fellowships from both the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation (sometimes called the “Genius Grant”). That kind of recognition tends to raise expectations to daunting levels, but those who have heard Zenón can attest that he's definitely got the goods to be a significant force in creative music for many years to come.

The embedded video windows up top feature Zenón at the Nuyorican Cafe in NYC, offering a rather quirky deconstruction of the familiar Latin standard "Oye Como Va" with some help from Aldemar Valetin on bass, Tony Escapa on drums and Reynaldo de Jesus on congas. Those listeners who are expecting something akin to the famous versions by Tito Puente and/or Carlos Santana may be taken aback, but hearing a musician offer a fresh take on a well-known tune can provide useful insights into the way their mind works, and I think that's the case here.

Down below, Zenón displays a more romantic side and a lusher sound in a performance of a Latin ballad titled "Qué Te Pedí" recorded at Zinco Jazz Club in México City. The final embedded video showcases a Zenón solo on the tune "Birdlike," recorded in June 2006 at Smalls with Bruce Barth on piano, Doug Weiss on bass and Jason Marsalis on drums. Though the video is dark, it's worth checking out to hear Zenón show off some blazing bop chops.