Jazz this week: Michael Buble, tributes to Oliver Nelson and Thelonious Monk, and more

After a very busy few days of live music in St. Louis last weekend, things are a little slower this week. But if you've checked out parts one and two of StLJN's fall 2013 jazz preview, you know that it's just the calm before the storm, as the last ten days of this month and the first week of October will be filled with touring musicians visiting our town.

And of course, "calm" is a relative term, for as you'll see if you read on, there's still plenty of live jazz and creative music happening right now that is worthy of your attention. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, trumpeter Randy Holmes and his quintet will pay tribute to composer, saxophonist and St. Louis native Oliver Nelson by playing a free concert of his music to kick off this semester's Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Nelson (pictured), who died in 1975 at the age of just 43, was a prolific composer who these days is best known for writing the standard "Stolen Moments" and for Blues and the Abstract Truth, the classic album that introduced it.

But he also has considerable historical importance in American popular culture, because, along with Quincy Jones, he was one of the first African-American composers to get steady work writing for film and television beginning in the 1960s. Nelson's themes for shows like "Ironside" and "The Six Million Dollar Man" put his music into millions of homes - many of which may not have contained a single jazz album - and had he not died so young, there's no telling what else he might have accomplished. At a time when tribute shows proliferate to the point of oversaturation, Nelson is both truly deserving and too often overlooked.

Also tonight, trumpeter Jim Manley plays at Joyia Tapas, 4501 Manchester Ave in the Grove district, and singer Joe Mancuso returns after a one-week break to Cafe Eau at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

Tomorrow night, guitarist Tom Byrne brings his Pat Metheny inspired band Have U Heard to Jazz on Broadway; drummer Montez Coleman plays at Cigar Inn; singer Wendy Gordon performs at DeLeo's Deli & Cafe, 2782 N Lindbergh; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham will be downtown at The Precinct, the restaurant and bar formerly known as Jim Edmonds 15 Steakhouse at 1900 Locust St..

On Saturday afternoon, St. Vincent Greenway, Inc., the City of St. Louis, and Great Rivers Greenway will present "Jazz on the Greenway," a free event that will include live music from Uncensored Band plus a plethora of outdoor and family activities, all taking place at Ruth Porter Park and St. Vincent Greenway in the CWE at Delmar and DeBaliviere.

That evening, singer Michael Buble performs at the Scottrade Center. While his most recent album To Be Loved may reflect more of a pop/rock sensibility than some previous outings, it seems likely that some of the Sinatra-inspired arrangements that previously have been staples for the Canadian crooner will make it into this show as well.

Also on Saturday night, singer Tony Viviano is at Fortel's in Creve Coeur; Miss Jubilee performs at the Schlafly Bottleworks; guitarist Eric Slaughter plays at Robbie's House of Jazz; and guitarist Brian Vaccaro and his trio will working it like real-life cavemen at Crystal City Underground, the subterranean entertainment venue located in a former mine.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the group Four in One: The Thelonious Monk Project, which includes guitarist Steve Schenkel, saxophonist Paul DeMarinis, drummer Alan Schilling and bassist Ric Vice,  will play a concert at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium; and trumpeter Keith Moyer brings his group back to BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(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.)

MFLA's annual musical instrument drive to begin Monday, September 30

It's almost time once again for Music for Lifelong Achievement's annual musical instrument drive, which this year will begin Monday, September 30 and continue through Sunday, October 27.

MFLA is a not-for-profit organization based at the Sheldon Concert Hall that donates used and new musical instruments to school and community music programs serving disadvantaged young people, and also raises funds for instrument repair and musical accessories. Since its inception, the organization has collected and re-distributed more than 500 instruments to music students all over the St. Louis area.

There are two ways to donate: by giving a musical instrument, or giving cash. As has been the case for the past eight years, St. Louis-area Starbucks stores once again will serve as drop-off locations for used and new musical instruments during the drive. The donated instruments then will be repaired and distributed to students who otherwise would not be able to afford an instrument. Donors get a letter documenting the value of the instrument for tax deduction purposes.

If you don’t have an instrument to donate, MFLA happily accepts cash contributions, which are used to help pay for necessary repairs of donated instruments and provide accessories such as strings, reeds and sheet music. These donations also are tax deductible. For more information or to make a donation, call The Sheldon at 314-533-9900 or visit www.supportmfla.org.

Trombone Shorty returning to perform Monday, November 11 at Old Rock House

Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews (pictured) and his band Orleans Avenue are returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m., Monday, November 11 at the Old Rock House.

Andrews' new album, Say That To Say This, will be released tomorrow (September 10) on Verve Records. Co-produced by Andrews and Raphael Saadiq, it's his third record for the label, and features a guest appearance by all the original members of New Orleans' legendary Meters on Andrews' cover of their tune "Be My Lady."

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue last appeared in St. Louis in May at the Bluesweek festival. Tickets for their all-ages show on Monday, November 11 at Old Rock House are $27.50 in advance, $30 day of show, and will go on sale at 5:00 p.m. this Wednesday, September 11.

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2013 jazz preview, part 2

Today, it's part two of StLJN's Fall 2013 jazz preview, with videos spotlighting the various jazz and creative music performers who will be coming to town over the next few months. In part one, posted a week ago, we covered most of the month of September; today's segment takes up where that one left off, on Thursday, September 26.

That's when drummer and University City native Ronnie Burrage will return home for the first of three local dates that week, at Robbie's House of Jazz. The next two nights, on Friday, September 27 and Saturday, September 28, Band Burrage - which also includes saxophonist Rick Tate, singer Shenel Johns, bassist Nimrod Speaks, and St. Louis' own Eric Slaughter on guitar - will play at the Kranzberg Arts Center. In the clip up above, you can see an excerpt from a gig of theirs recorded just last month at the University Club in Philadelphia.

Down below, there's a video featuring pianist Antonio Figura, who also will be in St. Louis on Thursday, September 26, playing a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University. Though the clip is a promo for a Figura gig at La Palma Club in Rome, rather than a full performance, it seems to be the best/only footage online of him playing live in a trio setting. For his performance here, Figura will be supported by drummer Steve Davis and William Lenihan, director of Wash U's jazz program, on bass.

Below that, it's singer and pianist Diana Krall, who will be making her first St. Louis appearance since 2007 on Friday, September 27 at the Fox Theatre. In this video, shot at the 2013 Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, you can see Krall and her band tacking a Bix Biederbecke number that she recorded for her most recent album, the 1920s-flavored Glad Rag Doll.

If Krall's carefully modulated cool isn't your sort of thing, there's something dramatically different on tap the following evening, as experimental duo Aluechatistas come to town on Saturday, September 28 to play the five-year anniversary celebration for KDHX's "Wrong Division" at Schlafly St. Louis Brewery & Tap Room. Guitarist Shane Perlowin and Ryan Oslance mix up free jazz, math rock, noise, and plenty of other musical ideas, as you can see in today's fourth video, a full set recorded in May of this year in Tallahassee, FL.

Below that, you can see excerpts from The Bad Plus' "On Sacred Ground: Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring," which the acclaimed trio will perform in a free concert sponsored by Jazz St. Louis on Thursday, October 3 at the Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade College Prep.

In addition to The Bad Plus' take on Stravinsky's most famous composition, the program also will feature a contingent of players from the St. Louis Symphony playing some of the composer's other works. (If you're interested in hearing The Bad Plus' entire performance of The Rite of Spring, you can hear the audio of their 2012 concert at NYC's Lincoln Center here.

Today's sixth clip features another St. Louis expat, multi-instrumentalist Marty Ehrlich, who's coming home for the first time in several years to play with his Rites Quintet in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Friday, October 4 at the Kranzberg Arts Center. In this video, the group - Ehrlich on reeds, James Zollar on trumpet, Hank Roberts on cello, and Michael Sarin on drums - plays the title song from their 2012 album Frog Leg Logic.

The same evening Ehrlich and company are at the Kranzberg, pianist Laurence Hobgood's trio will be joined by saxophonist Ernie Watts for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro. Hobgood and Watts first played together under the auspices of the pianist's primary employer, singer Kurt Elling, for the 2010 album Dedicated To You - Kurt Elling Sings Music of Coltrane and Hartman and subsequent tour. They then joined forces again for a one-off gig (without Elling) last year at the Bistro, which went well enough that they're coming back to play a full weekend on Friday, October 4 and Saturday, October 5.

Since there's no real video documentation of the Hobgood-Watts combination as such, the clip you'll see in the seventh position is from one of Elling's gigs, and features a medley of "What's New," "Lush Life," and "Autumn Serenade", recorded in 2010 at the Umbria jazz festival.

Today's final video features the Brubeck Brothers band, led by the famed pianist's sons Dan Brubeck, a drummer, and Chris Brubeck, a bassist and trombonist, in a performance recorded last year at the Moscow Conservatory. Joined by guitarist Mike DeMicco and pianist Chuck Lamb (co-founder of the semi-fabled 1970s Midwest fusion band Dry Jack), the Brubecks will be in St. Louis on Saturday, October 5 to perform a tribute to their dad at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Look for part three of StLJN's Fall 2013 jazz preview next week.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Pianist Peter Martin was interviewed by KSDK and Ladue News about this Sunday's 9/11 memorial concert at The Sheldon.

* And speaking of The Sheldon, the entry period in their "STL250 Songwriting Contest" closes on Tuesday, October 1. As part of the celebration next year of the City of St. Louis' 250th anniversary, they're looking for an original song that represents St. Louis history and culture, with special consideration given to works written in styles that reflect the city's music heritage. Prizes include cash awards from $100 to $500, plus free recording studio time. For more information or to enter, visit The Sheldon's website.

* Singer Ron Wilkinson recently led a group of vocalists in a rendition of the national anthem before a Cardinals game, as chronicled by the St. Louis American's Peter Baugh

* The recent renewed interest in recorded music on vinyl has been well documented in the media, but now it seems another another form of audio nostalgia may be afoot: monaural sound. Specifically, nine of Miles Davis’ earliest albums on Columbia Records will be issued together on CD for the first time as Miles Davis: The Original Mono Recordings. The set will include music that Davis recorded for the label in mono from 1956 to 1961 (originally released from 1957 to 1964).

* Drummer Ronnie Burrage (pictured) has launched a Kickstarter campaign raising money to finish production and manufacturing of the next album by his group Band Burrage. The goal is to raise $2,500 by Monday, September 23. Burrage and band will be in St. Louis to perform September 26 - 28, as he returns home to be inducted into the University City High School Hall of Fame.

* Speaking of St. Louis expats, saxophonist Oliver Lake's recent performance at NYC's Jazz Standard with the band Tarbaby (pianist Orrin Evans, drummer Nasheet Watts and bassist Eric Revis) was reviewed by the New York Times' Nate Chinen.

* Bassist Tom Kennedy's new album Just Play was reviewed for AllAboutJazz.com by Dan Bilawsky

* Jazz radio update: This Saturday's edition of Calvin Wilson's "Somethin' Else" on Radio Arts Foundation - St. Louis will feature jazz inspired by Broadway musicals, as recorded by Nellie McKay, Brad Mehldau, Paul Motian with Rebecca Martin, and others.

After that, Jason Church's "The Jazz Collective" will present music from Spyro Gyra, Scott Allman, George Benson, Andy Snitzer, Thelonious Monk, Ramsey Lewis, Maynard Ferguson, Wes Montgomery, Robert Silverman, Dawn Weber, Elliott Ranney, and Jesse James Gannon.

Wilson's program can be heard at 8:00 p.m. Saturdays, followed by Church's at 9:00 p.m., via 107.3 FM, 96.3 HD-2 and online at http://www.rafstl.org/listen.

Jazz this week: Roseanna Vitro, U City Jazz Festival, a tribute to Cannonball Adderley, and more

While the music news in St. Louis this weekend may be dominated by the annual LouFest in Forest Park, and the tribute to the late singer-songwriter Bob Reuter on Sunday at the Casa Loma Ballroom, there's will be plenty for local fans of jazz and creative music to do over the next few days, too. Let's go to the highlights...

Tonight, trumpeter and singer Dawn Weber plays at Herbie's Vintage 72; fusion band The Freedom performs at the Rustic Goat; and Miss Jubilee is at Thaxton Speakeasy.

Tomorrow night, there are a couple of noteworthy events for swing dancers, as Lindy Hop St. Louis presents their monthly "West End Stomp" dance with music from the Sidemen at Mahler Ballroom, while the Ambassadors of Swing purvey their version of the big-band sound to the terpsichorean habitues of the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Elsewhere around town on Friday, singer Wendy Gordon takes the stage at the Tavern of Fine Arts; singer Joe Mancuso will perform at Robbie's House of Jazz; and trumpeter Anthony Wiggins fronts a trio at Cigar Inn.

On Saturday, the annual St. Louis Art Fair will feature sets from several musicians of interest. Performers will include guitarist Rex Bauer's trio, the Jazz St. Louis All-Stars student ensemble, and the Sheldon Jazz Quintet with pianist Carolbeth True, all on the Forsyth stage at the corner of Forsyth and Central; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes, on the Fair's main stage.

Also on Saturday, the U City Jazz Festival takes place in Heman Park, 1028 Midland Blvd (at Olive). The free all-day event will feature sets from local bands including the Willie Akins/Montez Coleman group, Bach to the Future, Tom Byrne and Have You Heard?, the Joe Mancuso Quintet, and Clave Sol, plus a tribute to Wes Montgomery featuring guitarist Chris Burchett.

On Saturday night, singer Roseanna Vitro comes to town to perform with pianist Kim Portnoy's trio at Robbie's House of Jazz. Vitro, who's originally from Arkansas, broke in to the music business singing with tenor saxophonist Arnett Cobb in Houston. Her career took off after a move to NYC in the late 1970s, as she toured with Lionel Hampton, pianist Kenny Werner and others, and began to establish herself as a solo act. Since then, Vitro has recorded 12 albums as a leader, the most recent of which, 2011's The Music of Randy Newman, was nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award as Best Vocal Jazz Album.

Elsewhere on Saturday night, keyboardist Matt Villinger and his trio will play at Thurman Grill; the Galaxy Jazz Quintet with singer Kim Fuller performs at Bar Italia; and pianist and singer Curt Landes is at the Tavern of Fine Arts.

Sunday's another busy day, as guitarist Brian Vaccaro's trio and Brazilian music group Samba Bom will play at the Art Fair on the Forsyth Stage, and the fall edition of the St. Louis Record Collector and CD Show takes place at the American Czech Hall, 4690 Lansdowne.

Also on Sunday afternoon, relatives and friends of the late DJ Ross Gentile are staging a tribute concert at the Meridian Ballroom in the Morris University Center at SIUE. The free show will feature another performance by Roseanna Vitro, plus music from Denise Thimes, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra, guitarist Rick Haydon, trumpeter/vibraphonist Joe Bozzi, the Gary Dammer Big Band, and more.

Those seeking a more contemplative experience on Sunday may want to check out the latest "Inner Jazz" multi-faith meditation at Kirkwood United Church of Christ, 1603 Dougherty Ferry Rd, with music from the Oikos Ensemble, led by saxophonist Rev. Cliff Aerie.

Lastly, Sunday also is the date for the Sheldon Concert Hall's September 11th Interfaith Memorial in Music: An Appreciation of Religious Diversity with performances by pianist Peter Martin, classical soprano Christine Brewer and more.

Looking beyond the weekend, on Monday the jazz faculty at Webster University kicks off their fall concert series with "A Tribute to Cannonball Adderley" featuring saxophonist Paul DeMarinis, trumpeter Keith Moyer, guitarist Steve Schenkel, pianist Kim Portnoy, bassist Willem von Hombracht, drummer Kevin Gianino and singer Debby Lennon at Winifred Moore Auditorium.

For more jazz-related events in and around St. Louis, please visit the St. Louis Jazz Notes Calendar, which can be found on the left sidebar of the site or by clicking here. You also can keep up with all the latest news by following St. Louis Jazz Notes on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StLJazzNotes or clicking the "Like" icon on the StLJN Facebook page.

(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.)

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

It's been a while since we've checked in on the latest doings over at StLJN's sibling site, Heliocentric Worlds, and you know what? There's a still a different online music video posted there every day, drawing from genres including jazz, blues, soul, funk, classic rock, prog rock and experimental.

Why, just over the last month, you could have seen live performance videos from Clark Terry & Red Mitchell, Fats Domino, Jack DeJohnette Special Project, Pharoah Sanders, Stan Getz, Wayne Shorter, Elvis Presley, Chicago, Dizzy Gillespie, Marty Ehrlich's Rites Quartet, Champion Jack Dupree & King Curtis, Ben Webster & Oscar Peterson, Hank Jones, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Miles Davis, Lambert Hendricks & Ross, Kenny Burrell, Sun Ra Arkestra, Kool & the Gang, Mongo Santamaria, Al Green, Joe Lovano Nonet, Herbie Hancock and Mwandishi, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tom Waits, Paul Motian and the Electric Bebop Band, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Little Milton, Dr. Lonnie Smith, David Sanborn, and The Kinks.

Fortunately for those who have not not been riveted to each day's post the minute it goes live, all of these videos - plus thousands more carefully curated clips - still are available for your listening and viewing enjoyment, just by going to http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/. Check it out!

Jazz at Holmes series announces Fall 2013 schedule

The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University has announced their schedule of free concerts for Fall 2013.

The series begins on Thursday, September 12 with trumpeter Randy Holmes performing the music of saxophonist, composer and St. Louis native Oliver Nelson.

Other highlights of the semester will include an appearance by Italian pianist Antonio Figura (September 12); a tribute to St. Louis drummer Joe Charles (October 24); and a collaborative event involving choreographer Ashley Tate and company (November 14), which was rescheduled after a postponement this past spring.

Though born in Sicily, Figura (pictured) actually is something of a Wash U veteran, presenting seminars there from 2003 to 2007 and performing in 2005 on the Jazz at Holmes series with the band Cyclo.

Here's the complete lineup of concerts:

Thursday, September 12:  Randy Holmes plays the music of Oliver Nelson
Thursday, September 19:  Chad Evans Quartet
Thursday, September 26:  Antonio Figura Trio with William Lenihan and Steve Davis

Thursday, October 3:  Eric Slaughter/Tom Byrne Quartet
Thursday, October 10:  Three Tenors of St. Louis: Freddie Washington, Willie Akins & Paul DeMarinis
Thursday, October 24: A Tribute to Joe Charles

Thursday, November 7:  Jeff Anderson Quartet
Thursday, November 14:  Freedom Jazz Dance - Ashley Tate Dance Company
Thursday, November 21:  Carolbeth True Trio

Thursday, December 5: Washington University Jazz Students Performance

Presented most Thursday evenings when school is in session, the Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public. Concerts begin at 8:00 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, located on Washington University’s campus at the west end of the Brookings Quadrangle, near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.