So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Want to help musicians who have been affected by Hurricane Harvey? The Jazz Foundation is providing assistance to Houston-area musicians who have been displaced or suffered losses due to the storm, as they did for more than 1,000 New Orleans musicians after Hurricane Katrina.

You can find out more and contribute, if you like, via their website.

If you're a musician in need of help due to the storm (or know of one), the organization MusiCares, an affiliate of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (best known for the Grammy Awards), also is inviting calls for assistance at 1-877-626-2748.

* On a much happier note, Jazz St. Louis is now enrolling children for the fall session of WeBop, an early-childhood education program first developed by Jazz at Lincoln Center that "invites families to stomp, strut, and swing to the rhythms of jazz." You can find out more and register at https://jazzstl.org/education-outreach/webop/.

* Keyboardist Reggie Thomas and singer Mardra Thomas (pictured) - spouses and former St. Louisans - will be among the performers at this weekend's Chicago Jazz Festival. The Thomases will take the stage Friday afternoon at the Jazz and Heritage Pavilion, accompanied by drummer Montez Coleman, saxophonist Geof Bradfield and bassist Ivan Taylor. Reggie Thomas currently heads the jazz program at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL.

* Speaking of festivals, trumpeter Keyon Harrold is writing a new work for the 15th annual Festival Of New Trumpet Music (aka FONT Music) happening later this month in NYC. The work is part of the festival's Roy Campbell, Jr. Commissioning Project, which began in 2014 to honor the organization's co-founder who died that year. You can find out more, and if you like, contribute to Harrold's commission, via an IndieGoGo page set up by the fest.

On a related note, Harrold this week previewed "Wayfaring Traveler," another track from his forthcoming album The Mugician, on the website OkayPlayer. He'll be back in the St. Louis area next weekend to headline the free Alton Jazz and Wine Festival on Saturday, September 9 at Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton.

Jazz this week: Rebirth Brass Band, Shotgun Jazz Band with Charlie Halloran, and more

With the start of the fall presenting season still a couple of weeks away, the schedule of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis is a bit light this weekend, but it does feature two bands bringing a bit of New Orleans to our town, plus some other noteworthy shows.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, August 30
Pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson will perform at Evangeline's, and this week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" features Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, a jam session with bassist Bob Deboo and friends at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Thursday, August 31
Up for the weekend from New Orleans, the Shotgun Jazz Band - with St. Louis native Charlie Halloran on trombone - will play the first show of their visit at Joe's Cafe & Gallery.

Also on Thursday, Animal Children will perform at The Dark Room, and pianist and singer Jesse Gannon plays solo at The Monocle.

Friday, September 1
Also visiting this weekend from New Orleans, the Rebirth Brass Band (pictured, top left) returns to headline an outdoor show at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion,  with support from fellow New Orleans denizens Dumpstaphunk. You can get a taste of Rebirth's contemporary spin on the traditional brass band sound via video in this post from a couple of weeks ago.

Elsewhere around town, singer-guitarist Tommy Halloran's Guerrilla Swing will play a free show at Eckert's Country Store & Farms in Belleville; singer Meghan Kirk performs her cabaret show "Out of My Head" at The Stage at KDHX; and Cafe Danza, featuring guitarist Farshid Etniko and multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman. will promote their new recording with a concert at Focal Point.

And although it's not a jazz event per se, StLJN readers also may be interested in the Big Muddy Blues Festival, which gets underway on Friday and will feature performances from dozens of local acts throughout the weekend.

Saturday, September 2
Shotgun Jazz Band plays their second show of the weekend, this time at Focal Point; and keyboardist Mo Egeston and friends will keep up the late night grooves at The Dark Room.

Sunday, September 3
The Friends of Scott Joplin present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" matinee at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe; Wright's Project play jazz-fusion and funk at Patois Eatery & Social Lounge (in the space formerly occupied by the Rustic Goat at 2617 Washington Ave downtown), and the Genesis Jazz Project with guest vocalist Joe Mancuso will play straight-ahead and modern jazz at 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.)

Sunday Session: August 27, 2017

DeeDee Bridgewater

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

* How Did Pop Music Get So Slow? (Rolling Stone)
* Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, and One Night in New York City (The New Yorker)
* Where Have All the V Chords Gone? The Decline of �Functional� Harmony in Pop (Soundfly.com)
* Sing Your Heart Out (Tedium.co)
* Monk and Coltrane Return to Vinyl - A Conversation with Producer Nick Phillips (PopMatters.com)
* PODCAST INTERVIEW: Martin Pearson (sound engineer for Swiss Radio and for Keith Jarrett) (London Jazz News)
* The Man-Machine: How bio-hacking can change the future of music (FactMag.com)
* Opinionated and Unpredictable: Louis Armstrong as music critic (Offbeat)
* YouTube Says It Pays $3 for Every 1,000 Views. A Musician Says He�s Making 1/50th of That. (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* As Jazz Fest Looks At 50, What Keeps It Alive? (NPR)
* Jack DeJohnette Recalls Stint in Bill Evans� Trio (DownBeat)
* Q&A with Dee Dee Bridgewater: Memories of Memphis (DownBeat)
* John Abercrombie, Wry And Exploratory Jazz Guitarist, Dies At 72 (NPR)
* John Abercrombie, Guitarist and Composer, Dies - Inventive guitarist recorded over 60 albums as a leader or co-leader (Jazz Times)
* Forebears: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, The Godmother Of Rock 'N' Roll (NPR)
* The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s (Pitchfork.com)
* Inside One Montreal Music Festival's (Unfortunately Rare) Dedication To Sound (NPR)
* C�cile McLorin Salvant looks for the contradictions in jazz (Los Angeles Times)
* Sounds Great! But It Sounds Very Familiar . . . Where to Draw the Line on Digital Sampling of Sound Recordings? (NOVA.edu)
* Alice Coltrane�s Songs of Bliss (New York Review of Books)
* Herbie Hancock and Kamasi Washington cross the generational divide at the Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles Times)
* Why Are So Many Bands Surprising Fans With Snail Mail This Year? (Stereogum.com)
* Did Technology Kill Your Local Music Scene? (HypeBot.com)
* Kenny Barron revels in the never-ending jazz journey (San Jose Mercury-News)
* Former Village Voice Editors And Writers Remember Its Outsized Impact On Music (NPR)
* The 50 Greatest Jazz Drummers Of All Time (UDiscoverMusic.com)
* Vijay Iyer On Jazz's 'History Of Defiance,' His Influences And Playing In A Sextet (NPR)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2017 jazz preview

As the end of August approaches, it's time once again for StLJN's fall jazz preview, offering some video samples of the most noteworthy jazz and creative music performers who will be visiting St. Louis in the next few months.

Since Rebirth Brass Band's Labor Day weekend show at Atomic Cowboy got a post of its own a couple of weeks ago, let's get started with a video from trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold, who will be coming home on Saturday, September 9 to headline the first-ever Alton Jazz and Wine Festival at the Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton.

You can see Harrold up above in a full set recorded in June 2016 for Revive Music's 10th anniversary "Blue After Dark" event at the Boiler Room in NYC.

After the jump, you can check out the current lineup of the British jazz-fusion band Brand X, who will be back in St. Louis to perform on Wednesday, September 13 at the Old Rock House. The clip - recorded by an audience member, so it's not quite what you'd call "broadcast quality" - shows them performing "And So to F" in June of this year at the Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA.

Next, it's Yellowjackets, who will return to St. Louis to perform Wednesday, September 20 through Saturday, September 23 at Jazz at the Bistro. The third video shows their set from Java Jazz Festival 2016 in Jakarta, Indonesia, and features their current/latest bassist Dane Alderson, who had just joined the band before their last St. Louis gig in 2015, also at the Bistro.

The fourth clip features saxophonist and vocalist Grace Kelly, who will make her St. Louis debut performing Wednesday, October 4 through Saturday, October 7 at Jazz at the Bistro. Kelly is seen here doing the title track from her latest album, "Trying To Figure It Out," in April of this year at KNKX Public Radio in Tacoma, WA.

Today's penultimate video features trombonist Steve Swell, who will lead an all-star quintet with bassist William Parker, saxophonist Jameel Moondoc, pianist Dave Burrell and drummer Chad Taylor in a concert presented by New Music Circle on Saturday, October 7 at The Stage at KDHX.

While this quintet set from the 2012 Vision Festival in NYC features a completely different band from the one Swell will have in St. Louis (which seems to be unrepresented in online videos), it's the same instrumentation, and so at least should provide some idea of Swell's trombone sound, compositions, and approach as a bandleader.

Last but not least, it's Moon Hooch, who will return to perform Friday, October 13 at Old Rock House. The saxophones-and-drums trio is seen here in a full set recorded February 4, 2017 at Otus Supply in Ferndale, MI.

Look for part two of StLJN's fall 2017 jazz preview next week. 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:

* St. Louis was named one of "5 Unexpected Cities Experiencing a Live Music Renaissance" by Eventbrite.com.

* After teasing the audience by putting out a couple of advance tracks earlier this month, trumpeter Keyon Harrold announced that his new album The Mugician will be released on Friday, September 29.

Harrold will promote the release with shows on September 24 & 25 at the Blue Note in NYC, and he'll be back in the St. Louis area next month to headline the inaugural Alton Wine and Jazz Festival on Saturday, September 9 at the Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton.

* Keyboardist David Garfield (pictured) has released a new instrumental version of the Stevie Wonder tune "Go Home" featuring saxophonist Kirk Whalum, guitarist Paul Jackson Jr., and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. You can see a video teaser with in-studio footage here, and listen to the entire track here.

* Trumpeter and Webster Groves native Ally Hany was profiled by the Peninsula Pulse newspaper in Door County, WI. 

* Violinist Alex Cunningham of the Vernacular String Trio was the subject of a brief feature from St. Louis magazine's Joseph Hess.

* Rev. Cliff Aerie and Tim Osiek of Worship Jazz have published a sixth volume in their series of jazz arrangements of sacred music. The book Worship in a New Key, Volume 6 is available only as a download from their website.

* Trumpeter Jim Manley is set to release a new album called Funk Factory 2 at the end of the month, and you can hear a sample track online here.

* Former WSIE disc jockey Eric Bueneman, known professionally as E.B. Stevenson, has a new podcast called The Jazz Mixer.

* Keyboardist Jim Hegarty has released Crossroad, a download-only session of freely improvised music recorded last month in Brooklyn, NYC with famed bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Shane Del Robles.

Jazz this week: The Bridge Trio, Mo Egeston album release party, and more

The end of August usually is an in-between time for live jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with most summer series having wound down and Labor Day and the fall presenting season yet to come.

Even so, there still are some noteworthy events happening this weekend, so let's go to the highlights...

Thursday, 
August 24

The Bridge Trio will perform at the The Dark Room in the penultimate date of a two-week Midwestern tour.

Based in New Orleans, the trio of drummer Joe Dyson, pianist Conun Pappas, and bassist Max Moran (pictured, top left) first worked together as students at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) under the direction of clarinetist Alvin Batiste, and currently perform as members of saxophonist Donald Harrison�s band. They've got two albums out as a group, the most recent being 2015's The Search: Departure.

You can check out their "nouveau swing� style, fusing modern dance beats with more traditional New Orleans influences, via this video of their show last year at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

Friday, August 25
Trumpeter and vibraphonist Joe Bozzi returns to Evangeline's; saxophonist Tim Cunningham plays at Troy's Jazz Gallery; singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will be back at The Wolf in West County; and saxophonist Kendrick Smith will lead a trio at Cigar Inn in Belleville.

Saturday, August 26
The annual Festival of Nations takes place this weekend in Tower Grove Park, and the variety of entertainment offerings at the free, family-friendly event includes some music that may be of interest to StLJN readers, including Saturday afternoon performances by Latin jazz group Clave Sol and the Brazilian-influenced Samba Bom.

Elsewhere around town, the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra will play a free concert at Kirkwood City Park Amphitheater, and the Funky Butt Brass Band returns to the Broadway Oyster Bar.

Sunday, August 27
The Festival of Nations continues at Tower Grove Park with music including sets of swing and Gypsy jazz from Dizzy Atmosphere and French pop and jazz from Elsie Parker and the Poor People of Paris.

Also on Sunday afternoon, the Folk School of KDHX will present their monthly Traditional Jazz Jam Session.

On Sunday evening, keyboardist Mo Egeston (pictured, bottom left) will celebrate the release of his debut album Groove Suites Vol. 1 with a performance at The Dark Room. You can read more about the project in this Riverfront Times story, and hear excerpts from the album here.

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.)

New Music Circle announces 2017-18 season

New Music Circle has announced their 2017-18 season of concerts.

The venerable presenting organization for experimental and contemporary music will open their 59th season with a concert by trombonist Steve Swell's quintet on Saturday, October 7 at The Stage at KDHX.

Swell's band (pictured) is something of an all-star aggregation of veteran avant-jazz musicians, with William Parker on bass, Dave Burrell on piano, Jemeel Moondoc on saxophones, and Chad Taylor on drums.

Next up is electronic musician, composer, and former St. Louisan John Wiese, who will perform on Saturday, November 11 at the University Theatre in Saint Louis University's Xavier Hall. Wiese will create "a site-specific composition that includes over 20 local musicians, utilizing both traditional and non-traditional instrumentation."

NMC will close out 2017 with a performance by Battle Trance, a quartet featuring tenor saxophonists Travis Laplante, Patrick Breiner, Matthew Nelson, and Jeremy Viner, on Saturday, December 2 at The Luminary.

The new year then will begin with a concert by flute player and composer Claire Chase's International Contemporary Ensemble on Saturday, January 13 at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation.

The performance will feature a trio version of ICE with Chase, drummer Tyshawn Sorey, and pianist Cory Smythe presenting works by Pauline Oliveros and Morton Feldman, plus a new Smythe/Sorey duet and another new composition by Sorey for drums and contrabass flute.

NMC's season will continue with a performance by electronic musician and vocalist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe on Saturday, February 24 at Urb Arts in the Old North neighborhood.

The final two shows in the series have some details yet to be confirmed, but they will feature saxophonist Mats Gustafsson's free-jazz power trio The Thing sometime in March at Off Broadway and Chicago-based saxophonist Matana Roberts in a solo performance on Saturday, May 19 at a venue TBA.

The season also will include public workshops and other events featuring some of the visiting musicians, the specifics of which will be announced at a later date.

Unless otherwise noted, tickets for all NMC shows are $20 general admission, $10 for students or "struggling music supporters," and can be purchased online or at the door.

A reunited Brand X to perform Wednesday, September 13 at Old Rock House

The reunited British jazz-fusion band Brand X will return to the St. Louis area to perform at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 13 at the Old Rock House.

The current edition of the band features founding members John Goodsall (pictured) on guitar and Percy Jones on bass, plus recent additions Chris Clark (keyboards), Scott Weinberger (percussion), and Kenny Grohowski (drums).

They're touring in support of But Wait, There's More/Live 2017, a two-CD set of live performances that is their first official release since a previous reunion in the 1990s produced two albums, the last being 1997's Manifest Destiny.

Originally active from the mid-1970s into the early '80s, Brand X made six albums and performed with 11 different lineups of musicians (including, for a couple of albums, drummer Phil Collins) in a six-year period. After their mid-90s reunion, they had another hiatus of 20 years before reuniting again in 2016 for a tour that included a show in October at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville.

Tickets for Brand X at the Old Rock House are $30 general admission for all ages, and are on sale now.

Site news: StLJN on vacation

After 12 and a half years of blogging without a real break, yr. humble StLJN editor is taking a brief vacation. Back soon with more...

Sunday Session: August 13, 2017

Rudresh Mahanthappa

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

* Kamasi Washington: An Opinion of Difference (Jazz Times)
* Neither bills nor advancing age can dim the glow of a drummer's dream (Los Angeles Times)
* Was Elvis a thief? Yes! No! Maybe? Music stars weigh in on Presley's legacy (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Field Notes: Newport 2017, Day One - C�cile McLorin Salvant and more at the fest's first McBride-led edition (Jazz Times)
* Field Notes: Newport 2017, Day Two - A touching tribute to Geri Allen highlights Saturday at Fort Adams (Jazz Times)
* Field Notes: Newport 2017, Day Three - The fest wraps with plenty of sun and groove (Jazz Times)
* The Power of Sound: Using the Shepard Tone In Filmmaking (PremiumBeat.com)
* Suzanne Ciani and the Subliminal Property of Being Human (The Paris Review)
* 'The Green Book' Guided Black Travelers to L.A.'s Central Avenue Jazz Scene (KCET)
* Interim Thoughts on the Life and Career of Chubby Checker (PopMatters.com)
* Grammys boss knuckles under China censors as show readies tour (Japan Times)
* Anything is possible when jazz master Henry Threadgill plays at Newport (Boston Globe)
* AI and music: will we be slaves to the algorithm? (The Guardian)
* Southern Exposure: Searching for clues to the death of a bandleader (Daily Astorian)
* Jimmy Webb, Writer of Glen Campbell Classics, Remembers �My Big Brother, My Co-Culprit� (Variety)
* Creating the world�s largest cat sound effects library � with Yarron Katz (ASoundEffect.com)
* Why do stars like Adele keep losing their voice? (The Guardian)
* Forebears: The Mercurial And Majestic Dinah Washington (NPR)
* Q&A with Rudresh Mahanthappa: Connected Spaces (DownBeat)
* The Internet Doesn�t Matter, You�re Making Music in L.A. (Vulture.com)
* Know your customers: Costa Pilavachi on the classical recording industry (Rhinegold.co.uk)
* Steve Martin Explains His Love of Banjo Music: 'It Rivals Any Specialized Genre' (Billboard)
* The Rich History�and Present�of Latin American Prog (Bandcamp.com)
* SoundCloud Saved By The Bell Of A Big Chunk Of Financing (NPR)
* Eagle Saloon unveils historical plaques, window displays (Offbeat)
* Party Over Here: An Oral History of Kool Herc�s Historic Back-to-School Jam (MassAppeal.com)
* When Mistakes/Studio Glitches Give Famous Songs Their Personality: Pink Floyd, Metallica, The Breeders, Steely Dan & More (OpenCulture.com)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The return of Rebirth Brass Band

This week, let's take a look at some videos of New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band, who will be coming back to St. Louis to perform on Friday, September 1 at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion.

Formed in 1983 by brothers Keith and Phillip Frazier, Rebirth Brass Band is, along with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, one of the longest running of the contemporary groups re-inventing the New Orleans brass band tradition. Their most recent recording is 2014�s Move Your Body on the Basin Street Records label, which was the follow-up to their 2012 Grammy Award-winning album Rebirth of New Orleans, and they were here in St. Louis last in September 2016 for a show at the same venue.

Today, you can see a half-dozen videos featuring some fan favorites from RBB's repertoire, starting up above with a version of one of their signature songs, "Do Whatcha Wanna," recorded in 2014 in New Orleans for the web series Jam in the Van.

After the jump, there's a video of "Move Your Body" recorded at the same session, followed by a full set of music recorded in 2012 at the Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans.

The fourth video shows the RBB doing their version of the New Orleans standard "Big Chief," recorded in 2011 at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans.

Next is a medley of two more of their best-known tunes,  "Rebirth Groove" and "Feel Like Funkin It Up," recorded in February 2014 at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton, FL.

The final clip is a riff on another New Orleans classic, "I Like It Like That," recorded in 2011 for the radio program "Soundcheck" on WNYC in New York City.

For more about the Rebirth Brass Band, check out Keith Frazier's 2015 interview with HollywoodSoapbox.com and this 2012 feature from Gambit.

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:

* Saxquest will celebrate the grand opening of their new second location in Maryland Heights from noon to 4:00 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, August 12).

The free event will include guided tours of the new facility, free food, giveaways and door prizes, and live music from the Pyle Driver Saxophone Quartet, Renegade Saxophone Quartet, and Al Holliday and The East Side Rhythm Band. The original Saxquest store on Cherokee St. will close for the day so all staff members can help out with the grand opening.

* Trumpeter and Ferguson native Keyon Harrold (pictured) this week released two new songs commemorating the anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown three years ago in his hometown. You can hear �MB Lament� and �When Will It Stop� and see the accompanying videos via this YouTube playlist.

* Thurman's in Shaw was the subject of a short article on the website NearSay.com, highlighting the bar's weekly Thursday night jazz gigs featuring pianist Adam Maness' trio.

* Drummer and St. Louis native Marcus Baylor and his wife, singer Jean Baylor will bring their group The Baylor Project to NYC's Jazz Standard for the first time on Sunday, August 20 in support of their album The Journey. Along with the Baylors, the Project includes trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, tenor saxophonist Keith Loftis, pianist Terry Brewer, and bassist Corcoran Holt.

* Singer and former St. Louisan Marcella Hooks, now living in California, was the subject of a feature story in the Solano Daily Republic newspaper.

Jazz this week: Herbie Hancock, Louis Armstrong Festival, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features the return of one of the most important living jazz musicians for one night only, a two-night tribute to the first superstar soloist in jazz, and more.

Let's go to the highlights...

Thursday, 
August 10
Keyboardist Herbie Hancock will perform in a concert presented by Jazz St. Louis at Powell Hall.

With a new album reportedly in the works, Hancock (pictured) also has a new addition to his live band, with saxophonist/keyboardist Terrace Martin joining guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist James Genus and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta in the group.

Some tickets for the concert still remained on sale as of end of business on Wednesday, but if you haven't gotten seats yet and want to go, you'll probably want to call ahead rather than just walk up to the box office.

To promote his St. Louis show, Hancock did brief interviews with St. Louis magazine's Erin Williams, St. Louis Public Radio's David Cazares, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson. Also, you can see some videos spanning Hancock's 50+ years in the music business in this StLJN post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also on Thursday night, bassist and singer Tonina Saputo leads a quartet at The Dark Room, and guitarist Dave Black and singer Tony Vivano will perform at The Pat Connolly Tavern.

Friday, August 11
The second annual "Louis Armstrong Festival of St. Louis" will be presented for the first of two nights at the Webster Groves Concert Hall, featuring music associated with Armstrong performed by a band featuring trumpeters Randy Holmes and Robert Souza, trombonist Brett Stamps, clarinetist Scott Alberici, pianist Mary Ann Schulte, drummer Kevin Gianino, bassist Bob Lowe and guitarist/banjoist Dan Stevens. 

You can see StLJN's video tribute to the 116th anniversary of Armstrong's birth in this post from last Saturday.  

Also on Friday, guitarist Eric Slaughter and bassist Glen Smith will duet at Parkside Grille in Ballwin, and the Ambassadors of Swing will play for dancers at the Casa Loma Ballroom.

Saturday, August 12 
Guitarist Stuart Johnson will play a matinee show at The Shaved Duck, and then on Saturday evening, Dizzy Atmosphere will perform for the "Garden of Glass" event at Missouri Botanical Garden, singer Joe Mancuso returns to Bartolino's South and trumpeter Jim Manley is back at One 19 North Tapas & Wine Bar.

Sunday, August 13
Miss Jubilee returns for the weekly jazz brunch at Evangeline's, Red Lehr and the Rivermen will play a matinee for the St. Louis Jazz Club at the DoubleTree Hotel in Westport, and saxophonist Tim Cunningham will perform at Mount Pleasant Winery.

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: August 6, 2017

Jason Moran

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

* Concert Review: Umbria Jazz Festival (Jazz Times)
* SZA: �The record company took my hard drive from me� (The Guardian)
* Did Meek Mill and TIDAL Just Scam the Billboard 200? (DigitalMusicNews.com)
* Is Schlager Music The Most Embarrassing Thing Germany Has Ever Produced?
Deutschland �ber us. (TheAwl.com)
* Sax Greats Remember Coltrane on 50 Year Anniversary of His Death (Observer.com)
* July '67 altered the sound, sensibilities of Detroit musicians � and those yet to be born (Detroit Free Press)
* The Inside Story Of SoundCloud's Collapse (Buzzfeed)
* Kamasi Washington: An Opinion of Difference (Jazz Times)
* The Best Band Nobody Can Sign (TheFader.com)
* An Archive of Iconic Photos from the Golden Age of Jazz: William Gottlieb�s Portraits of Dizzy, Thelonious, Billie, Satchmo & More (OpenCulture.com)
* Concert Security's New Frontier (Rolling Stone)
* Seeing Aretha Franklin Sing For The Last Time (NPR)
* Meet The Kenyan Collective Bridging The Gap Between Traditional And Electronic Music (TheFader.com)
* Kamasi Washington Announces New Tour, Reveals 'Harmony of Difference' EP Release Date (OkayPlayer.com)
* BANFF | Q&A: 29 Questions For Vijay Iyer (MusicalToronto.org)
* Sad Songs, Artificial Intelligence and Gracenote�s Quest to Unlock the World�s Music (Variety)
* Who Was Bix? Beiderbecke Museum Has Answers (DownBeat)
* Why Are So Many Heritage Artists on the Road Again? This Explains Everything. (AJournalOfMusicalThings.com)
* Brian Wilson review � frail Beach Boy isn't made for these times (The Guardian)
* This music production tool is the reason why all new music sounds the same (Qz.com)
* Review: Warsaw Summer Jazz (Jazz Journal)
* The Problem with NPR's '150 Greatest Albums Made by Women' List (The Stranger)
* Satellites Are Spinning: Notes on a Sun Ra Poem (The Paris Review)
* Metheny Goes Nordic at Molde Fest (DownBeat)
* Time Machines: The Life and Music of Conlon Nancarrow (RedBullMusicAcademy.com)
* Jazz Pianist Jason Moran on Artistic Self-Determination (Bandcamp.com)
* Inside the Music Publishing World's Epic Struggle to Build a Single Song Database (Billboard)
* The Swampers return to their sweet home thanks to Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine (AlabamaNewsCenter.com)
* The Brief Career and Self-Imposed Exile of Jutta Hipp, Jazz Pianist (Longreads.com)
* This Map Shows The Top-Selling Musician Born In Each State (CraveOnline.com)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Happy birthday, Louis Armstrong!

This week, StLJN is celebrating the legacy of the iconic trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong with some vintage videos, for a couple of reasons.

First, yesterday (Friday, August 4) was the 116th anniversary of Armstrong's birth. During his lifetime, he claimed to have been born on July 4, 1900, but years after after his death, researchers uncovered information showing that Armstrong's true date of birth was in fact August 4, 1901. As a result, fans now celebrate on both days.

Second, there's an Armstrong-related event coming up next week in St. Louis, as a band led by trumpeter Randy Holmes will be presenting the second annual "Louis Armstrong Festival of St. Louis" next Friday, August 11 and Saturday, August 12 at the Webster Groves Concert Hall.

Holmes will be joined by fellow trumpeter Robert Souza, Brett Stamps (trombone), Scott Alberici (clarinet), Mary Ann Schulte (piano), Kevin Gianino (drums), Bob Lowe (bass) and Dan Stevens (banjo, guitar) for two nights of performances of music associated with Armstrong.

To commemorate both occasions, here's a selection of Armstrong videos, starting up above with a 1964 show from Australia that recently surfaced online.

Continuing after the jump with some "editor's picks" of personal favorites, the second video represents one of Armstrong's earliest filmed appearances, as he performed "I Cover The Waterfront", "Dinah" and "Tiger Rag" in 1933 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

That's followed by performances of "Up A Lazy River," "Old Rockin' Chair," and "When The Saints Go Marching In" from the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, as filmed for the popular documentary Jazz on A Summer's Day.

Below that, there's a clip from 1959 that may be the only footage of Armstrong in the recording studio, re-discovered and made available last year by the Louis Armstrong House Museum, the official repository of the trumpeter's archives and keepers of his legacy. It was shot while Armstrong was recording the album Satchmo Plays King Oliver, and shows him and the band recording the master take of "I Ain't Got Nobody," plus silent footage of them listening to the playback.

The penultimate video is from 1962, and was made as an episode of "Goodyear Jazz Concert," a series of short films for television produced by the Goodyear tire company. Since it originally was shot on 35mm film and recorded in stereo, it offers a more high fidelity look and sound than a lot of the available video of Armstrong.

The final clip features Armstrong and Mahalia Jackson teaming up to perform "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" at the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival.

For more about Louis Armstrong, check out the Louis Armstrong House Museum official site, Armstrong's page at RedHotJazz.com and the tribute site Satchmo.net. For an historic appreciation of his musical and cultural significance, there's also "The Artistry of 'Pops': Louis Armstrong at 100", a presentation put together back in 2000 by the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University that features trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and critic Stanley Crouch.

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:

* New Music Circle will raise money for their upcoming 59th season with "an evening of drinks and DJs" from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 22 at Tick Tock Tavern, 3459 Magnolia Ave in the Tower Grove East neighborhood.

The free event will include raffles for prizes including CDs, LPs, and tickets to upcoming NMC concerts; and a preview of the upcoming season schedule.  Proceeds from drinks purchased during the event will go to support NMC.

* Speaking of season previews, Jazz St. Louis will (re)introduce their upcoming season with a free "preview party" event at 6:00 p.m. next Tuesday, August 8 at Jazz at the Bistro.

JSL's Gene Dobbs Bradford and Bob Bennett will offer their insights into the artist selection and planning process for the year, and complimentary hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar will be available. Space is limited, so they're asking those who want to attend to RSVP by emailing boxoffice@jazzstl.org or calling 314-571-6000 by tomorrow (Friday, August 4).

* Also from Jazz St. Louis, their monthly book club will resume for the 2017-18 season on Tuesday, September 12 with a discussion of Dorothy Baker's novel Young Man with a Horn.

The group, which is facilitated by Washington University professor Gerald Early, meets on the second Tuesday of each month in the first floor lounge at Jazz St. Louis headquarters, 3536 Washington Ave. There's no charge for membership, and meetings are free to attend. For more details, including the list of books that will be discussed this season, go here.

* In advance of his concert next Thursday, August 10 at Powell Hall, keyboardist Herbie Hancock (pictured) answered some questions from the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson.

* Keyboardist/bandleader and writer Kevin Mitchell was profiled by the St. Louis County Arts blog

* Also new from the St. Louis County Arts blog: a brief feature story on the Route 66 Jazz Orchestra.

* Music Record Shop in Grand Center was the subject of a feature story on KSDK-TV's local newscast.

* There's still time to vote in DownBeat magazine's 82nd annual readers poll by casting your online ballot here.  Results of the poll will be published in the mag's December issue.

Gaslight Cabaret Festival announces fall series

The Presenters Dolan have announced the fall 2017 series of the Gaslight Cabaret Festival, which will include seven different shows over five weekends at the Gaslight Theater in the Central West End.

The series will begin with jazz singer Paula West on Friday, October 13 and Saturday, October 14.

West (pictured), who's known for her ability to interpret a wide range of material, from the Great American Songbook to contemporary pop and rock, will be accompanied by pianist and music director Bruce Barth, bassist Ben Wheeler, and drummer Montez Coleman.

Next up is Alice Ripley, who won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Next to Normal, and was in the original Broadway casts of Les Mis�rables, Sunset Boulevard, Side Show, The Rocky Horror Show, and American Psycho. She'll take the stage of the Gaslight Theater on Friday, October 20 and Saturday, October 21.

The following weekend, singer/pianist Eric Comstock and singer Barbara Fasano will present a show called "Downton Abbey Road: The Best of Britain" on Friday, October 27. As the name suggests, the show is built on songs from an eclectic selection of British songwriters, from Noel Coward and Anthony Newley to the Beatles and Sting.

After that, Ken Haller, one of two St. Louis performers in the series, will present a new holiday-themed show, "Happy Haller Days!" on Thursday, November 2 and Thursday November 9.

Singers Farah Alvin and William Michals will be the next to take the festival stage, bringing their show "Broadway's Greatest Hits of All Time" from Feinstein's in New York City to St. Louis on Friday, November 3 and Saturday, November 4.

For the series' final weekend, former St. Louisan Katie McGrath, who moved to NYC last year, will return on Friday, November 10 with her show "Significant Others," and Emily Skinner, who's been nominated for Tony Awards for her work in Broadway shows including Side Show, Billy Elliot and The Full Monty, will wrap things up with a performance called "Broadway Her Way" on Saturday, November 11.

Single ticket prices for the Gateway Cabaret Festival range from $30 to $45, depending on the show, and there's a 10% discount for a subscription of five shows or more. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the Gaslight Cabaret Festival website.

Jazz this week: Shawn Maxwell's New Tomorrow, The People's Key, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a couple of multi-artist performances of experimental music, an up-and-coming new contemporary jazz quintet from Chicago, plus some local favorites. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, August 2
This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" has trumpeter T.J M�ller at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe; the jam session with bassist Bob Deboo and friends at Kranzberg Arts Center; and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.

Also on Wednesday, The Luminary has a quadruple bill of experimental music, with the sampler/turntable duo Colin Andrew Sheffield & James Eck Rippie; Alex Keller & Sean O�Neill, who combine modified field recordings with vintage electronics; and St. Louis' own electronic musicians Raglani and NNN Cook.

Thursday, August 3
Drummer Marty Morrison leads a trio at The Dark Room, and there's another interesting experimental music bill, this time at the combination live music venue/recording studio Gaslight, featuring the Andrew Weathers Ensemble, Tree branch Twig, Eric Hall, and NNN Cook.

Friday, August 4
The "sleeper" show of the week involves Chicago-based saxophonist, flutist and composer Shawn Maxwell's quintet New Tomorrow (pictured, top left), who will be in town Friday to perform at the Webster Groves Concert Hall.

In a review last year, the Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich praised Maxwell's "intricately detailed scores bristling with surprises" and called him "a composer not content to settle into predictable musical patterns," and based on a sampling of the group's performances on YouTube, they're definitely worth checking out.

Elsewhere around town, The People's Key (pictured, bottom left) will bring their contemporary spin on the jazz organ combo sound to Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights; and the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra pays tribute to the big band era with a program called "Swing, Swing, Swing" at Queeny Park.

Saturday, August 5
If you're looking for some live jazz during the day on Saturday, the Liberation Organ Trio is playing for brunch at Evangeline's.

Then on Saturday evening, keyboardist Marvin Cockrell is promoting a new music video release called St. Louis Bounce with a show at the Grandel Theatre; singer Danita Mumphard will interpret songs associated with the late Whitney Houston at the Jacoby Arts Center; and singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black will head to West County to perform at Benedetto's On Main.

Sunday, August 6
Jazz brunch opportunities proliferate on Sunday, as the Jazz Troubadours play at The Dark Room, Miss Jubilee performs at Evangeline's, and trumpeter Jim Manley and pianist Dave Venn return to Scarlett's Wine Bar.

Later that afternoon, the Friends of Scott Joplin will present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe.

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.)