So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Guitarist and St. Louis native Kelvyn Bell has a new recording, Cubed Root Cure, set for release in January, and you can hear a sample now on SoundCloud.

The EP (pictured) will be available from CD Baby and all the major digital music services.

* The Gateway Jazz Festival, a day-long "smooth jazz" event that made its St. Louis debut last summer at the Chesterfield Amphitheater, has a date for 2018 - Saturday, July 21 - and a headliner, saxophonist Boney James.

Last year's event featured a half-dozen acts, including saxophonist Najee, singer Maysa, and Pieces of A Dream; the rest of the 2018 bill currently is TBA.

* "The World of Spectacular Strings" exhibit on view through Saturday, April 21 at the Sheldon Art Galleries was reviewed by Ladue News' Bryan A. Hollerbach.

* The Funky Butt Brass Band has posted to Facebook a photo album of last weekend's  "Holiday  Brasstravaganza" shows. Friday's performance also was reviewed for KDHX.org. by Mike Vachow.

* Saxophonist Greg Osby will join forces with the experimental multimedia duo Mn'JAM for a performance in January at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.

* Drummer and St. Louis native Marcus Baylor and singer Jean Baylor, the husband-and-wife duo behind The Baylor Project, were interviewed Tuesday on the nationally syndicated radio program "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" about their two nominations in this year's Grammy Awards, their careers, and more.

* The Bosman Twins were interviewed for the most recent episode of KDHX's "Collateral Damage" podcast by guest host Hank Thompson.

* And speaking of podcasts, former WSIE DJ E.B. Stevenson has released a Christmas episode of his "The Jazz Mixer" podcast.

* Max and Louie Productions' current staging of Souvenir, the musical comedy starring singer and Webster U faculty member Debby Lennon as tone-deaf diva Florence Foster Jenkins, was reviewed by the Post-Dispatch's Judith Newmark and OnStL.com's Chuck Lavazzi.

* Also in the Post-Dispatch, singer Dom Thomas' show this Saturday at The Stage at KDHX is previewed in a short feature from the paper's Kevin Johnson.

* Voting is now open in Jazz Times magazine's annual readers poll.

Jazz this week: Ellington's "Nutcracker, "A Very Manley Christmas," and more

Although most touring jazz and creative music performers now are off the road until the holiday season is over, there's still some noteworthy music - holiday and otherwise - to be heard this week, thanks to our local St. Louis musicians and singers.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, December 20
The Jazz St. Louis Big Band continues their presentation of Duke Ellington's adapation of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" plus additional Ellingtonia through Thursday night at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Wednesday, singer Joe Mancuso continues at Taha'a Twisted Tiki; singer Feyza Eren returns to Evangeline's; and this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes at The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, December 21
Guitarist Stuart Johnson plays for diners at The Shaved Duck; Cabaret Project St. Louis presents a holiday edition of their "Broadway Open Mic" at the Curtain Call Lounge; and bassist Chano Cruz leads a trio at The Dark Room

Friday, December 22
Trumpeter Jim Manley (pictured) convenes his Mad Brass & Rhythm septet for the first of two nights of "A Very Manley Christmas" at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Friday, the Big Little Big Band with vocalist Steve Shininger will present a "Frank Sinatra Christmas" at The Abbey Espresso Bar & Cafe in Belleville.

Saturday, December 23
If you haven't had your fill of holiday music yet, there's one last chance, as Webster Groves Christian Church presents �A Jazz and Choral Christmas� with Two Times True and the church's Chancel Choir, and the Yule Vibe Trio, with guitarist Tom Byrne, percussionist Joe Pastor, and bassist Bob DeBoo, plays at the KindaBlue Club.

Also on Saturday, multi-intrumentalist Joe Bozzi and his band return to Evangeline's, and drummer Chuck Kennedy has put together a "Christmas Eve Eve Jam Session" at Mike Duffy's in downtown Kirkwood.

Sunday, December 24
Miss Jubilee performs for jazz brunch at Evangeline's, while drummer Montez Coleman and friends play at The Dark Room.

Tuesday, December 26
Saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective play their last gig of the year at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soup. 

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.)

Sunday Session: December 17, 2017

Pharoah Sanders

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Hearing Otis Redding�s 'Try a Little Tenderness' as a Song of Resistance (The Atlantic)
* Review: Chasing Trane (Jazz Journal)
* My Name Is Dave, I Collect Vinyl Records, and I Have a Problem (The Stranger)
* The Loneliness of the Long Distance Rocker (The Baffler)
* The Cosmos Is Still Catching Up to Pharaoh Sanders' Earliest Records (Vice.com)
* Matt Wilson Talks About Making Spirits Bright, On the Eve of a Tour with His Christmas Tree-O (WBGO)
* Frankie Newton: The Forgotten Trumpeter (Jazz History Online)
* NRBQ, Steve Ferguson, and the pursuit of the impossible guitar lick (Oxford American)
* Stream 74 Sun Ra Albums Free Online: Decades of �Space Jazz� and Other Forms of Intergalactic, Afrofuturistic Musical Creativity (OpenCulture.com)
* How to Fix the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Variety)
* MAJOR CHORDS | Can We Really Take Pleasure From Music Born From Suffering? (Ludwig-Van.com
* Stanley Clarke Is the Reason You Love Music (Vice.com)
* Mingus & Joni Mitchell: The Black Saint & the Singer Lady (Jazz Times)
* Irvin Mayfield indicted by federal grand jury on fraud, money laundering charges (NOLA.com)
* The FCC Just Shrunk the Music Industry (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Ben Allison and Think Free Bring 'Layers of the City' into Our Studio, on The Checkout (WBGO)
* Junk Shop Classical On Joyce Hatto: Music Stories Told �1 LP By �1 LP (TheQuietus.com)
* Marc Ribot: �It's good to understand not only how to play guitar, but also why to play guitar� (MusicRadar.com)
* Ikue Mori: Sustenance and Renewal in Downtown Music (NationalSawdust.org)
* Minneapolis jazz band the Bad Plus prepares for final shows with original lineup (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
* Institutions raced to dump James Levine. They should look hard at themselves (Washington Post)
* The neuroscience of jazz (PRI.org)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2018 jazz preview, part 1

With 2017 winding down, it's time for StLJN's winter/spring preview, offering a look via video at the jazz and creative musicians who will be coming to perform in St. Louis in the first part of the new year.

Going, as usual, in chronological order, tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman will be the first well-known jazz visitor to St. Louis in 2018, checking in with his quartet for four nights of performances from Wednesday, January 3 through Saturday January 6 at Jazz at the Bistro.

Though his quartet's personnel may be different by the time he gets here, the first video up above, which documents Redman's set at the 2016 Jazz San Javier festival in Spain, should provide a taste of their repertoire and insight into how the saxophonist approaches the format.

After the jump, you can see four videos featuring the visiting musicians who will be part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Group, which is set to play Friday, January 12 and Saturday, January 13 at the Bistro.

This isn't a regular working band, but rather an ad hoc ensemble featuring four musicians associated with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra who are coming here to do an educational residency for Jazz St. Louis. Since this gig is a one-off, there's no video of them all together to show, so instead, let's take a look at clips of the four of them featured with other ensembles.

Trombonist James Burton III can be seen in the first video after the jump, playing his composition "Going Somewhere" with the Black Art Jazz Collective at a gig in June of this year in Athens, Greece.

Next, it's an undated clip of trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt, playing Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance� with the Verve Jazz Ensemble, followed by a full set of drummer Jerome Jennings leading his own group in a show in 2016 at Dizzy's at Lincoln Center.

After that, there's a clip of the fourth member of the group, bassist Ben Wolfe, leading his sextet at a gig in August of this year at Dizzy's.

That same weekend, New Music Circle will present a trio version of the International Contemporary Ensemble led by flute player Claire Chase, along with multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Cory Smythe, performing on Saturday, January 13 at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation.

The program will feature five notated compositions - three by Sorey, and two by the late composer and experimental music pioneer Pauline Oliveros. One of those works will be Sorey's "Bertha's Lair," and in the penultimate clip, you can see Sorey and Chase presenting the piece's world premiere in 2016 at The Kitchen in NYC.

The final video provides another taste of Sorey's writing, and features him and Cory Smythe as part of Sorey's Double Trio in a performance of "The Inner Spectrum of Variables" at this past summer's Ojai Music Festival.

Look for part two of the winter/spring 2018 jazz preview next week in this space. You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Record megalabel Columbia/Legacy last week announced the release of a sixth volume in their "Bootleg Series" of Miles Davis live recordings.

Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Final Tour is a four-CD set (pictured) documenting five shows from Davis' 1960 tour of Europe, and is set for release on Friday, March 23, 2018.

* A story in UMSL Daily details the upcoming travels of the UMSL Big Band directed by Jim Widner, including a trip next week to Chicago for the annual Midwest Clinic and appearances in January at the Jazz Education Network convention in Dallas and the Missouri Music Educators Association conference at the Lake of the Ozarks.

* Singer, actor and Belleville native Lea DeLaria was the subject of a feature story on the website OutInStL.com. DeLaria, who's starred on Broadway and in cabaret, TV, and film, will make her debut at Jazz at the Bistro with shows on Wednesday, December 27 and Thursday, December 28 that also will feature singer Janis Siegel of Manhattan Transfer as a guest performer.

* The STL Free Jazz Collective has posted to YouTube a video of their complete performance with multi-instrumentalist Douglas Ewart earlier this month at the 14th St. Artist Community. 

* Also on YouTube, saxophonist Eric Person has posted a video from his show with fellow saxophonist Houston Person in March of this year at Dizzy's Club in NYC.

* The Sheldon has posted to Facebook a photo album from the Spanish Harlem Orchestra's performance there last week.

* Guitarist Dave Black's upcoming album, a collaboration with blues guitarists Tom Hall and Brian Curran, is previewed in a Riverfront Times story by Thomas Crone.

* Also in the RFT, the Funky Butt Brass Band's "Holiday Brasstravaganza" and their new Christmas album are the subjects of a brief feature story by Christian Schaeffer.

* Right Up On, saxophonist/composer Oliver Lake's recent recording in collaboration with the FLUX Quartet, made the New York Times' recently published list of "The 25 Best Classical Music Recordings of 2017."

* Singer Debby Lennon's latest theatrical role, as tone-deaf diva Florence Foster Jenkins in Max and Louis Productions' upcoming staging of the musical Souvenir, is the subject of a short feature by St. Louis Post-Dispatch theater critic Judith Newmark.

* Percussionist Moacyr Marchini of Samba Bom will lead a series of eight Brazilian percussion workshops for adult students beginning Wednesday, January 10 at Lucha in Grand Center. For more info about the workshops and how to sign up, go here.

* The venerable Edwardsville drinking spot Laurie's Place, which in recent months has featured a jazz jam session on Tuesday nights, will close at the end of this year.

Jeter Thompson 1930 - 2017

Pianist Jeter Thompson, whose leadership of the groups Quartette Tr�s Bien and Trio Tr�s Bien made him a significant figure on the St. Louis jazz scene from the Gaslight Square era into the 21st century, died on Friday, December 1. He was 87 years old.

Born in St. Louis on March 16, 1930, Thompson (pictured, top left) started playing piano at five years old, and made his first professional appearance at age 16 in 1946, performing with saxophonist Emmett Carter at a downtown club called the Coconut Grove.

He went to Sumner High School, where in 1948 he was senior class president, and subsequently attended Stowe College for two years, earning an associates degree. He then joined the U. S. Air Force, serving in Korea.

Returning home in 1954, Thompson played various local gigs until the formation in 1959 of Quartette Tr�s Bien, which in its best-known lineup included bassist Richard Simmons, drummer Albert St. James, and percussionist Percy James.

The group (pictured, center left) became a popular attraction in the then-booming Gaslight Square entertainment district, serving as the house band at The Dark Side, where in 1962 they were filmed as part of an episode of the CBS drama Route 66.

In 1963, Thompson and his bandmates became partners in the Tr�s Bien Club, located on the south side of Olive St. near the Gaslight Club. Around that same time, they were approached by Norman Wienstroer to record for his St. Louis-based label Norman Records.

The group made two albums for Norman, Boss Tr�s Bien and Kilimanjaro, and in 1965 also backed singer Jeanne Trevor on her debut recording for the label. Wienstroer subsequently helped the Quartette gain the attention of Decca Records, which re-issued their first two albums and would release eight more recordings of them over the next few years.

With an assist from fellow St. Louisan Dick Gregory, whose standup comedy career was peaking at the same time, Quartette Tr�s Bien also became a touring band. They appeared with Gregory at the Apollo in Harlem; on a bill with Thelonious Monk at the It Club in Los Angeles (where Monk would make a famous live recording for Columbia Records); and as headliners at storied jazz spots of the 1960s including the Plugged Nickel in Chicago, Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit, Crawford's Grill in Pittsburgh, The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, CA, and many others.

Back home in St. Louis, they performed with singer Sarah Vaughan at Powell Hall, and appeared on bills with singer Nancy Wilson and the Count Basie Orchestra.

In 1973, with Gaslight Square a distant memory and jazz clubs closing around the nation, Quartette Tres Bien dissolved. Thompson worked as a cartographer for the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency and as a real estate agent, and went on to form Trio Tres Bien with his brothers, bassist Harold Thompson and drummer Howard Thompson.

Trio Tr�s Bien (pictured, bottom left) found ample work locally playing clubs, concerts and private events, and in 2004 issued a self-released album, Coming Together. They continued to perform into the 2010s, sometimes with Harold's daughter, vocalist Danita Mumphard.

In 2014, Trio Tr�s Bien was inducted into the St. Louis Jazz Hall of Fame at Harris-Stowe State University's Wolfe Jazz Institute.

In addition to his brothers and niece, Jeter Thompson is survived by his wife, Louisa; his daughters Donna Patton and Pamela Cobb; his sister, Patricia Whitelocke; and, to quote his obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "a host of grandchildren and great-grandchildren."

Arrangements were by Austin Layne Normandy Chapel, and a funeral was held on Friday, December 8 at St. Louis Bible Way Baptist Church.

Information for this story came from City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis 1895-1973 by Dennis Owsley; That St. Louis Thing, Part 2 by Bruce R. Olson; and http://www.tresbienmusic.com/.

Dweezil Zappa to perform Tuesday, May 8 at The Ready Room

Guitarist Dweezil Zappa will be returning to St. Louis next year to perform at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 8 at The Ready Room.

Zappa (pictured), the son of guitarist and composer Frank Zappa, has been touring and playing his father's music for the past decade using the name Zappa Plays Zappa, with his last performance in St. Louis having been in October 2016 at The Ready Room.

Since then, he's become involved in a dispute with the Zappa Family Trust, the legal entity that controls the rights to Frank Zappa's image, music, and other intellectual property and that now is headed by Dweezil's brother Ahmet and sister Diva.

Though a complete recounting of the details is beyond the scope of a short blog post, the gist of the problem is that the ZFT wants Dweezil Zappa to pay to license future live performances of his father's music, as well as a cut of his merchandise sales. Dweezil, understandably, finds this unfair, since in recent years he's dedicated most of his working life to keeping FZ's music before the public via frequent touring, while bearing all the expenses of putting a band together and taking it on the road.

The immediate result of the disagreement was that Dweezil stopped using the name Zappa Plays Zappa for his group, and instead toured in 2017 as "50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the F@%K He Wants." This fall, the latest twists in the saga have included a new proposal from Dweezil to resolve the situation, and an announcement from the ZFT sanctioning something called "Frank Zappa � Back On The Road: The Hologram Tour" that supposedly will begin sometime in 2018.

Will the Zappa family's internal dispute be resolved by next May? Only time will tell, but in the meantime, tickets for Dweezil Zappa at The Ready Room are $25 in advance for general admission, $50 for a "VIP Soundcheck Party" that includes a 45-minute event before the doors open and a show poster, and are on sale now via Ticketfly.

Jazz this week: Take 6, Tatsuya Nakatani, Bonerama, Xmas jazz around town, and more

It's going to be a busy few days for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, and though a couple of high-profile shows are sold out (or nearly so), there's still going to be plenty of music - holiday and other - available on local stages. Let's go to the highlights.

Wednesday, December 13
Acappella vocal group Take 6 returns for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro. The run of shows was described by Jazz St. Louis on Tuesday as "nearly sold out," so if you want to hear the multiple Grammy winners in the intimate confines of the Bistro, you'll definitely need to call ahead for advance reservations, and perhaps a bit of luck as well.

As an alternative, you can see a live video stream of Wednesday's shows in the first floor lounge on the west side of Jazz St. Louis HQ, available with no cover charge in conjunction with the free, weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl".

This week's crawl also features the Jazz Troubadours at The Stage at KDHX, plus the jam session led by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Also on Wednesday, the musical show "An Unforgettable Nat King Cole Christmas" resumes its run,  continuing with performances through Sunday afternoon at the Playhouse at Westport Plaza.

Thursday, December 14
Singer Dianne Reeves, who had been scheduled to headline "Gospel Christmas: A Soulful Celebration" with the St. Louis Symphony at Powell Hall, announced on Thursday that she would be unable to perform due to an unspecified health issue. Simultaneously, the SLSO announced that the show would go on as scheduled, with St. Louis' own Brian Owens standing in for Reeves.

Also on Thursday, singer Erin Bode will be in Edwardsville for a holiday concert at the Wildey Theatre; guitarist Dave Black will play at The Pat Connolly Tavern; and trumpeter Keith Moyer and his quintet return to The Dark Room

Friday, December 15
Percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani (pictured, top left) will be back for what has become an annual convening here of his Gong Orchestra, in which he teams up with and trains a group of local musicians in specific techniques for each performance.  This year's edition, presented at the William A Kerr Foundation on the riverfront, will feature a solo percussion set by Nakatani, followed by the Gong Orchestra set with him and 14 collaborators from St. Louis.

Also on Friday, the Funky Butt Brass Band kicks off their annual "Holiday Brasstravaganza" weekend at Off Broadway. As of this writing, a few tickets may remain for Friday, but the Saturday night show and a newly added, family friendly Saturday matinee are already sold out.

Elsewhere around town, the Original Knights of Swing play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom; singer Feyza Eren performs at the house concert venue KindaBlue Club; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will play vintage swing, jump blues and more at the Venice Cafe

Saturday, 
December 16
New Orleans' trombone-centric band Bonerama (pictured, bottom left) returns to perform at The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy.

Currently touring in support of their new album Hot Like Fire - their first release as part of a new deal with New Orleans' Basin Street Records - Bonerama have been regular visitors to St. Louis for most of this decade, playing at venues including the Old Rock House, Broadway Oyster Bar and The Sheldon. If you've missed out on their brass/funk/rock sound up until now, you can find our more and see some video samples of recent performances in this post from last Saturday. 

Also on Saturday, Wack-A-Doo returns to Evangeline's; saxophonist Dave Stone's trio will play at Thurman's in Shaw; and Miss Jubilee performs at the Casa Loma Ballroom .

Sunday, December 17
There's more holiday jazz in the offing, as the Oikos Ensemble presents "Jazz Noel: A Child is Born" at the First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, while the Dave Dickey Big Band celebrates a "Big Band Christmas" with singer Anita Jackson and guest intermission performers, the North County HS Jazz Ensemble, at .ZACK in Grand Center.

Monday, December 18
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays his weekly Monday night gig at Momo's Greek Restaurant.

Tuesday, December 19
Still more holiday jazz on tap, as the Jazz St. Louis Big Band will play Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker" Suite (plus additional Ellingtonia) for the first of three nights at Jazz at the Bistro, and The 442s present their "Holiday Spectacular" at 560 Music Center

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.)

Jazz St. Louis adds shows to Bistro's winter/spring schedule, including Keyon Harrold, Ken Page, and more

Jazz St. Louis has announced additions to the winter/spring 2018 schedule for the Ferring Jazz Bistro, filling out the previously announced slate of touring acts with more than a dozen shows featuring St. Louis musicians and singers

Most notably, trumpeter Keyon Harrold (pictured, top left) will return home to perform Wednesday, February 7 and Thursday, February 8, and singer and actor Ken Page will make his debut at the Bistro with performances on Wednesday, April 4 and Thursday, April 5.

Harrold, a native of Ferguson now living in NYC, has gained considerable career momentum in the last two years, thanks to his participation in the soundtrack for Don Cheadle's film Miles Ahead and the recent released of The Mugician, his highly anticipated second album as a leader.

Page (pictured, bottom left) is a St. Louis native famed for his Broadway roles in the original casts of Ain't Misbehavin' and Cats (as well as in many other musicals including The Wiz and Guys and Dolls), and for his voice acting in Tim Burton's animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas.

He's been developing a cabaret show for the last several years, and presented a version of it in 2014 at the Gaslight Theatre as part of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival.

Also of note, the "Whitaker Jazz Speaks" series will continue with a program called "Harlem�s Renaissance" on Wednesday, April 18. The free event will begin with a discussion led by Gerald Early of Washington University, followed a performance of music from the period by Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, Bessie Smith, and Louis Armstrong.

As for the rest of the schedule, keyboardist Nathan Jatcko will make his Bistro debut as a leader with a standalone date on Thursday, April 19, and The Peoples Key and guest multi-instrumentalist Lamar Harris will reprise their "Jazz Memories of Michael Jackson," first staged in 2014 at the Kranzberg Arts Center, on Friday, February 9 and Saturday, February 10.

Other local performers getting return engagements include the Funky Butt Brass Band "and Friends" (Friday, March 9 & Saturday, March 10), singers Brian Owens (Wednesday, March 21 & Thursday, March 22) and Denise Thimes (Friday, March 23 & Saturday, March 24), drummer Kevin Bowers (Friday, April 20 & Saturday, April 21), the JazzU Big Band student ensemble (Sunday, April 29), the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra (Thursday, May 17) and trumpeter/vocalist Dawn Weber and Friends (Friday, May 18 & Saturday, May 19).

Lastly, there's a new program called "Juice Box Jazz" for kids in pre-K through elementary school. It will be presented on three Sunday afternoons - January 21 with members of the Funky Butt Brass Band, March 4 with keyboardist/guitarist Adam Maness, and April 8 with trumpeter Riley Mulherkar - and will include musical performances, snacks, and jazz-themed activities that "will have the whole family learning and loving what jazz music is all about."

Tickets for all these performances will go on sale at !1:00 a.m. this Friday, December 15 via the Jazz St. Louis website or by phone at 314-571-6000.

Brian Culbertson to perform Saturday, May 12 at The Pageant

Multi-instrumentalist Brian Culbertson is returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, May 12 at The Pageant.

Culbertson (pictured) will be touring in support of his forthcoming album Colors of Love, which is scheduled for release in early February. He last played in St. Louis in October 2016, also at The Pageant.

Tickets for Brian Culbertson are $39.50 for reserved seating, and will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. this Friday, December 15 via Ticketmaster and The Pageant box office.

Sunday Session: December 10, 2017

Sunny Murray

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Who can fill the role of Tom Lehrer today? (The Economist)
* Pete Escovedo: Rhythms of Life (Jazz Times)
* Paul McCartney�s Lost Experimental Christmas Album That He Made For The Beatles Has Surfaced Online (Uproxx.com)
* Spotify Attorney Estimates the Service Infringed 300,000 Songs in Settlement Hearing (SPIN)
* Why Sun Ra Matters (Philadephia Jazz Project)
* The Problem with Muzak - Spotify�s bid to remodel an industry (The Baffler)
* The Chief of Entertainers - Trumpet virtuoso Dizzy Gillespie was a jazz prophet, a musical genius, and a scatterbrained whirlwind (TheAmericanScholar.org)
* Electrifying Photos of Cuba's Thriving Music Scene (Vice.com)
* Louis Armstrong�s home in Queens is now a museum (Curbed.com)
* Historic Austin Music Venue Is Being Sold on eBay (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Lloyd Price's Personality: Long Live The Real King! (JazzWeekly.com)
* David Bowie Sang For Devo, and Mark Mothersbaugh Might Have the Tapes (BedfordAndBowery.com)
* How I Got 10,000 Spotify Plays For a Totally Fake Song (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Last.fm Was the Only Music Social Network That Made Sense (Vice.com)
* Jazz Legend Sonny Rollins on Retiring His Sax, His Legacy, and the Secret to Life (Vulture.com)
* Quincy Jones is about to launch the 'Netflix of jazz' (Mashable.com)
* Next Wave Forever: John Cale at Seventy-Five (The New Yorker)
* New Jimi Hendrix LP Unearths 10 Previously Unheard Recordings (Rolling Stone)
* Inside the Shady World of the Musical Hologram (Vice.com)
* The Legacy of Buddy Rich (Jazz Times)
* This Kenyan drummer is fighting to make more space for women in percussion (TED.com)
* Eric Clapton Talks Addiction, Cream's Brilliance, the Future of the Guitar (Rolling Stone)
* RIP: Sunny Murray, pioneering free jazz drummer (TinyMixTapes.com)
* Drummer Sunny Murray Dies at 81 (Jazz Times)
* Enacting Change in the Performing Arts World Begins with Changing the Conservatory Culture (AmericansForTheArts.org)
* David Sedaris: Songs for My Father - A conversation with the best-selling author and humorist on his lifelong love of jazz (Jazz Times)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Bonerama puts low brass on top

This week, StLJN's video spotlight shines on Bonerama, who will be back in St. Louis to perform on Saturday, December 16 at The Bootleg at Atomic Cowboy.

The New Orleans-based band puts the low brass on top, thanks to a three-trombone front line plus a sousaphone standing in for electric bass. Formed in 1998 by trombonists Mark Mullins and Craig Klein, both veterans of Harry Connick Jr.'s big band, they've forged a distinctive sound that incorporates their hometown musical traditions into funky yet hard-rocking covers of songs by the likes of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, using trombones to deliver the heavy riffs originally played by fuzzed-out guitars.

Bonerama tours frequently outside their hometown, and have been coming to St. Louis at least once a year since the late 2000s, playing several different venues including the Broadway Oyster Bar and the Old Rock House. Most recently, since their last visit here in early 2016, they signed with the New Orleans-based Basin Street Records and in October released Hot Like Fire, their first album for the label.

If you haven't been able to catch one of their previous shows here, you can sample their sound and get an idea of what to expect from their live show via today's collection of videos, starting up above with "Swamped In," recorded in May 2016 at Generations Hall in New Orleans for the local TV program New Orleans Live.

After the jump, you can see a video of "Mr. Okra," Bonerama's tribute to a beloved local New Orleans character/vegetable vendor, that was recorded for the same program.

That's followed by two clips shot in April 2016 at the CrawDebauchery Food & Music Festival in Pompano Beach, FL, namely Bonerama's storied "Led Zeppelin Medley: In My Time Of Dying~Black Dog~Good Times Bad Times" and a cover of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android."

Lastly, if you're ready for more after that, you can see videos of two complete Bonerama shows, recorded in February of this year at Ardmore Music Hall in Ardmore, PA (near Philadelphia) and in September at the Blues, Views and BBQ Festival in Westport, CT.

For more about Bonerama and Hot Like Fire, check out the two short interview features about them published in October by Offbeat magazine and CEGPresents.com.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Drummer Emanuel Harrold's new EP Look Forward is the subject of a brief feature on the website Sounds So Beautiful. In other news, Harrold also recently signed an endorsement deal with BAY Custom Drums.

* Guitarist/singer Tim Halpin and drummer Ron Sikes of the Funky Butt Brass Band were guests on the latest episode of Rock Paper Podcast.

* St. Louis native Josephine Baker (pictured) was profiled in an article on OpenCulture.com tracing her path "from homeless street performer to international superstar, French resistance fighter & civil rights hero."

* The Barnes and Noble bookstore in Ladue will host a fundraiser for New Music Circle on Saturday, December 16, with a percent of any in-store purchases made on that date, including books, magazines, coffee and food, going to support NMC.

The event also will include a pop-up concert at 4:00 p.m. in the art section of the shop. Online shoppers can contribute to NMC by using code #12272563 for any purchases made on B&N's website from December 16 through December 21.

* Guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran has posted to YouTube a music video of the song "She Loves Me, Too!" from his forthcoming album.

* Trumpeter and St. Louis native Ally Hany has completed her basic training for the US Air Force, earning the rank of Airman First Class and taking a chair in the trumpet section in the Air Force's Band of the Golden West, which is based at Travis AFB in California.

* Singer Sarah Ulrich of Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes was in the news the past week, but unfortunately, it wasn't for her music. Ulrich was interviewed Monday by local NBC affiliate KSDK's news department about an incident in which a gunshot shattered a historic glass door at her south St. Louis home, a renovated former drug store and medical office known as "The Deco Fortress."

Jazz this week: Freddy Cole & Harry Allen, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Kirk Whalum, Chris Corsano & Darin Gray, and more

This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis features lots more holiday-themed programming, with Christmas shows from two touring headliners and several local performers, plus at least a few shows that may not contain any seasonal music. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, December 6
Singer and pianist Freddy Cole and his frequent collaborator/guest star, tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, (pictured, top left) make their return for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

The brother of the late Nat "King" Cole, Freddy Cole shares his famous sibling's suave demeanor, relaxed vocal delivery, and appreciation for the Great American Songbook, yet has managed to carve out his own niche as an entertainer and interpreter of classic material. With Allen alongside in recent years, Cole has developed a good following here in multiple appearances over time - most recently in May 2016 at the Bistro - so advance reservations are strongly suggested.

Elsewhere around town, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra will present what they're calling "1/2 a Holiday Concert" at the Webster Groves Concert Hall, and singer Erin Bode returns to Cyrano's.

Also on Wednesday, the students in the Washington University Jazz Band will play a free concert at 560 Music Center; and this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features multi-instrumentalist T.J M�ller at Squatters Cafe, the jam session with bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, December 7
Speaking of Nat "King" Cole, the musical theater production "An Unforgettable Nat King Cole Christmas," starring Chicago-based actor and singer Evan Tyrone Martin as Cole, opens a ten-day run at the Playhouse at Westport Plaza.

Also on Thursday, the Funky Butt Brass Band plays an early evening show at Blues City Deli; the Jazz at Holmes series presents a holiday concert featuring performances from Wash U students and faculty; and the Liberation Organ Trio plays at The Dark Room

Friday, December 8
NYC's Spanish Harlem Orchestra (pictured, center left) makes their St. Louis debut with their holiday show �Salsa Navidad� at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Formed 17 years ago and led by pianist Oscar Hern�ndez, the SOH has taken the sound of New York salsa and Latin jazz to audiences all around the world, earning acclaim as accomplished, energetic and authentic representatives of those genres. You can find out more and see some video samples of them performing in this post from last Saturday.

Also on Friday, singer Anita Jackson will perform for the late-night set at The Dark Room.

Saturday, December 9
Keyboardist, educator and East St. Louis native Reggie Thomas will be back in town to direct a "Reunion Concert" of the SIU-Edwardsville Vocal Jazz Ensemble, presented as a matinee in Monsanto Hall of the Missouri Botanical Garden's Ridgeway Visitor Center.

Then on Saturday night, The Wire Pilots with multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman and singer Lydia Ruffin will perform at The Chapel.

Sunday, 
December 10
Saxophonist Kirk Whalum (pictured, bottom left) brings this year's edition of "A Gospel According to Jazz Christmas," with special guests Jonathan Butler, Shel�a, John Stoddart, and Kevin Whalum, to the Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church.

And for those in the mood for something completely different, improvising percussionist Chris Corsano and bassist Darin Gray will be teaming up to headline a show of improvised and/or experimental music at El Le�ador Bar & Grill with Larva & Ghost Ice and Complainer opening.

Monday, December 11
Dizzy Atmosphere plays swing and Gypsy jazz for diners at The Shaved Duck, and the Webster University Jazz Singers present their "Holiday Concert" at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.

Tuesday, December 12
Guitarist Vincent Varvel leads a trio at Evangeline's.

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.)

Sunday Session: December 3, 2017

The Soul Rebels

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* The Grateful Dead Levitate Egypt�s Pyramids Under A Lunar Eclipse (Flashbak.com)
* Rudy Royston on Cymbal Creativity (Jazz Times)
* A War Is Brewing in the Steely Dan Universe (Vulture.com)
* Walter Becker Estate Responds to Donald Fagen's Steely Dan Lawsuit (Paste)
* 'We could build something revolutionary': how tech set underground music free (The Guardian)
* What Thelonious Monk's Most Famous Composition Owes to Dizzy Gillespie (WBGO)
* Tricky Repertoire: The Soul Rebels step out of the box (Offbeat)
* Within The Context Of All Contexts: The Rewiring Of Our Relationship To Music (NPR)
* Antoine �Fats� Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 � October 24, 2017) (Offbeat)
* Have Scientists Found a Secret Chord for Happy Songs? (Scientific American)
* Jon Hendricks obituary (The Guardian)
* Billy Childs, Fred Hersch and Chris Potter Lead the Jazz Nominees for the 60th Grammy Awards (WBGO)
* The Payola Blues: New Technology, Same Old Tune? (Hhhhappy.com)
* 17 of the Greatest Televised Moments in Music History (Soundfly.com)
* John McLaughlin on his final US tour and playing with Miles Davis (Chicago Tribune)
* Mel Martin, Stalwart of the Bay Area Jazz Scene, Dead at 75 (KQED)
* Kurt Elling Channels Divinity, Philosophy, and Poetry into Jazz (San Francisco Classical Voice)
* What the hell�s happening to music�s trade press? (And what does it mean for the rest of us?) (MusicBusinessWorldwide.com)
* A Brief History of Funk (Afropop.org)
* What Music-Playing Plants Can Teach Us About Consciousness (Hyperallergic.com)
* Clarke Peters: from green hair to good times, Louis Jordan brought joy to my world (The Guardian)
* Antonio Sanchez: Immigrant Songs (Jazz Times)
* Deck the Halls with Vince Guaraldi (The New Yorker)
* Hermeto Pascoal's Music Reaches Far Into The Stratosphere (NPR)
* The Tree That Rocked The Music Industry (NPR)
* Mickey Hart On His Experimental New Solo Album And Why It�s Impossible For Him To Leave The Grateful Dead (Uproxx.com)
* Jimmy Iovine Breaks Down What's Wrong With the Music Business, Warns Against Overoptimism in Streaming: 'They're Not Making Money' (Billboard)
* For Women in Jazz, a Year of Reckoning and Recognition (New York Times)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Meet the Spanish Harlem Orchestra

This week, StLJN's video spotlight shines on the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, an NYC-based ensemble that will bring their show "Salsa Navidad" to St. Louis next Friday, December 8 at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

Bandleader Oscar Hern�ndez is well known in New York City Latin music circles, with a long list of credits including performing with salsa greats such as Tito Puente and Celia Cruz during the 1970s, serving as pianist and arranger for singer Rub�n Blades in the 1980s, and being the musical director for Paul Simon's Broadway show "The Capeman."

The Spanish Harlem Orchestra began in the year 2000 when Hern�ndez was approached by producer Aaron Levinson about assembling and recording a Latin jazz orchestra. The band's debut CD Un Gran Dia en el Barrio, was released in 2002, getting a Grammy nomination for Best Salsa Album and a Latin Billboard Award for Salsa Album of the Year.

Since then, they've taken the New York salsa sound on tour around the world and released four more albums, the latest being 2014's eponymous Spanish Harlem Orchestra on the ArtistShare label, with guest appearances from pianist Chick Corea and saxophonist Joe Lovano.

For an idea of what to expect next week at The Sheldon, you can see and hear a full set by the SOH in the first embedded video up above, recorded on July 30, 2016 at the Tempo Latino festival in Vic-Fezensac, France.

After the jump, there's another video with excerpts from the "Salsa Navidad" show as performed in 2016 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in Los Angeles. That's followed by clips of the tunes "Como Baila Mi Mulata," recorded in 2015 in Pittsburgh, and "Ari�a�ara" from the same year, location unlabeled.

The fifth clip is an episode of Salsa En La Calle, which is billed as "New York's Premiere Salsa Cable Television Show," from 2015 that features performances from the SOH and some conversation with Hern�ndez.

The final video is another full set, documenting the Orchestra's performance at the 2011 Jazz in Marciac festival in France.

For more about the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, check Hern�ndez's 2014 interview with Pollstar, and his 2013 interview with the website Latino Music Cafe.

You can see the rest of today's video after the jump...

Recently on Heliocentric Worlds

It's the start of another new month, and so it's time to check in on StLJN's sibling site Heliocentric Worlds, where each day there's posted a new online music video, drawing on genres including jazz, blues, soul funk, prog rock, classic rock, experimental, and more.

The most-viewed posts added to the site last month were:

Ahmad Jamal - Live on Jazz Session
Sun Ra Arkestra - Live at the Pitchfork Music Festival
Ben Webster - "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
Diana Krall - "Fly Me To The Moon"
Bill Frisell - "When You Wish Upon A Star"

Other recent posts have featured performances by the Ed Palermo Big Band, Steppenwolf, Free, Candy Dulfer, Roy Buchanan, Caravan, The Who, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Maynard Ferguson, Ken Vandermark, Dexter Gordon, The Soul Rebels, George Benson, Bonnie Raitt, Fred Wesley and The New JBs, Rod Stewart & Faces, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Marc Ribot's Spiritual Unity, Dave Holland Quintet, Kurt Elling, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, Mary Halvorson Quintet, Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm, and Bill Doggett.

If you've missed out up until now, you can catch all these posts, plus thousands more from the archives, just by going to http://heliocentricworlds.blogspot.com/.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Citing his ongoing treatment for prostate cancer, trumpeter Hugh Masekela has cancelled all of his upcoming appearances, including his scheduled performance in St. Louis on Saturday, April 14 at The Sheldon as part of the Jazz Epistles reunion with pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and Ekaya.

A statement released by The Sheldon said the concert still will go on as scheduled, with a replacement trumpeter to be announced at a later date.

* In advance of their show with Douglas Ewart this Saturday, STL Free Jazz Collective members Jim Hegarty and "Baba" Mike Nelson talked with writer Thomas Crone for a feature story in the Riverfront Times.

* Trumpeter Keyon Harrold's new album The Mugician (pictured) was reviewed favorably by Jazz Times and PopMatters.com.

* Drummer Mark Colenburg has released a new instructional book and video, The Beat Matrix Unlocked, which is described as creating "a new template for the art of hip-hop drumming."

* The subscription service Vinyl Me Please has made an LP reissue of Miles Davis' 1967 album Sorcerer their "record of the month" for December 2017.

The reissue was remastered from the original tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl colored "orchid purple," and includes an eight-page booklet with liner notes by former New York Times scribe Ben Ratliff plus a 12" x 12" original art print by Santiago Carrasquilla.

Jazz this week: Jane Monheit, Douglas Ewart and the STL Free Jazz Collective, Battle Trance, holiday jazz begins, and more

This week's busy calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a return engagement from one of the most popular female vocalists in jazz; a couple of shows featuring adventurous woodwind players; the first few of what will be many holiday-themed concerts for the season; and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, November 29
Singer Jane Monheit returns to St. Louis for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro. Monheit (pictured, top left) last performed here in 2015 with singer and guitarist John Pizzarelli at the Sheldon's annual benefit gala, and before that in 2014 at the Bistro.

She first won wide public attention shortly after the turn of the century, applying a plush vocal tone and a sure sense of swing to mostly standards from the Great American Songbook. Since then, Monheit has released a dozen albums as a leader, and also made guest appearances on record with a wide variety of performers, from fellow singers such as Sara Gazarek and Tony DeSare to instrumentalists including David Benoit, Ray Brown Jr., and many others.

After recording for five different labels, including Sony, Concord, and Decca/EmArcy. Monheit in 2016 started her own record company, Emerald City Records, inaugurating the imprint with the release of The Songbook Sessions, a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. Listeners this week at the Bistro can expect an emphasis on that material, though the multi-night gig also should give Monheit a chance to dig into her back catalog as well.

Also on Wednesday, singer Joe Mancuso continues his weekly gig at Taha'a Twisted Tiki in The Grove; the Cary Colman Jazz Trio plays at Evangeline's; and this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features Jacob Alspach at Squatters Cafe/The Stage at KDHX, the jam session led by bassist Bob DeBoo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor's band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, November 30
Guitarist Vincent Varvel leads a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; the Liberation Organ Trio plays at Evangeline's; singer Feyza Eren and her quartet will perform at Joe's Cafe; and saxophonist Ben Reece's Unity Quartet returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, December 1
Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with guest vocalist Kim Fuller will perform at the Webster Groves Concert Hall; singer/guitarist Tommy Halloran continues his weekly residency at Das Bevo Underground; and saxophonist Tim Cunningham is at Troy's Jazz Gallery.

Saturday, 
December 2
Freddie Washington will be the latest local saxophonist to be featured in Saxquest's series of free Saturday matinee performances, while just down the street at Dead Wax Records, Battle Trance will be promoting their Saturday evening show for New Music Circle with a free in-store performance.

Then, as fate would have it, Saturday evening offers a tough choice for fans of woodwinds and/or creative music, with two shows of interest happening simultaneously.

Battle Trance (pictured, center left), who will be making their St. Louis debut in their Saturday evening concert at The Luminary, is an ensemble of four tenor saxophonists who use extended techniques to play music that's a mix of composition and improvisation, though it can be hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. You can find out more about them, and see videos of some sample live performances, in this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Meanwhile, across town in the Old North neighborhood, multi-instrumentalist Douglas Ewart will be in town to join the STL Free Jazz Collective for a free concert at the 14th St. Artist Community.

Ewart (pictured, bottom left), who plays a whole arsenal of woodwinds, percussion, and self-made instruments, was one of early members of Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and has performed and/or recorded with many of the most important creative musicians of the past half-century. There's more about Ewart, including videos of some of his live performances, in this post from last Saturday.

Sunday, December 3
It's another day for matinees, as the St. Louis Jazz Club presents Cornet Chop Suey playing traditional jazz and swing at the Moolah Shrine Temple, while the Friends of Scott Joplin present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe.

Also on Sunday afternoon, the UMSL Jazz Ensemble directed by Jim Widner, Vocal Point, and University Orchestra will present their annual free concert, "UMSL's Jazz For The Holidays," at the Touhill Performing Arts Center; and trumpeter Randy Holmes, singer and impressionist Dean Christopher, and a mini-big band will pay tribute to Frank Sinatra and Hoagy Carmichael at the Webster Groves Concert Hall.

Monday, December 4
Trumpeter Jim Manley is back at Momo's Greek Restaurant, and Washington University's student jazz combos will show off what they've learned this semester in a free performance at the 560 Music Center.

Tuesday, December 5
Dean Christopher, having a busy week, headlines "A Vegas 'Rat Pack and More' Christmas" at the Sheldon Concert Hall.

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.)