Jazz this week: Brand X, Tony Grey, Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a bit of a British invasion, with two shows featuring headliners with roots in England's homegrown jazz-rock movement, plus several other noteworthy performances.

Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 13
The reunited British fusion band Brand X, touring in support of a live album recorded on tour last year, will perform at the Old Rock House.

Also on Wednesday, the "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" will feature saxophonist Austin Cebulski at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, plus the weekly jam session led by bassist Bob Deboo at the Kranzberg Arts Center, and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor and band at The Dark Room.

Thursday, September 14
Bassist Tony Grey will perform in the first concert of the semester for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Born in England and trained at Berklee School of Music, Grey (pictured) probably is best known as the regular touring bassist for the single-named pianist Hiromi, but he's also released five albums as a leader, written several bass instruction books, and even has recorded a bit with famed guitarist John McLaughlin, who's his uncle.

Friday, September 15
The Brothers Lazaroff will play for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro, promoting the release of their new live album, which was recorded at the Bistro in the summer of 2016.

Also on Friday, pianist Ptah Williams and his trio continue their weekly gig at The Dark Room, and drummer Steve Davis' "Super Band" featuring singer Feyza Eren will play a free show at Webster Groves Concert Hall.

Saturday, September 16
Trumpeter Jim Manley plays for brunch at Evangeline's, and it's also the date of the annual Old Webster Jazz & Blues Festival, which takes place in what's known as the Old Webster Business District, centered at the intersection of Lockwood and Gore in suburban Webster Groves.

Performers at the free, day-long event will include Miss Jubilee, the Webster University faculty jazz band, SpaceShip, Funky Butt Brass Band, Two Times True, and the Webster Groves HS jazz band, plus blues acts including Marquise Knox, Aaron Griffin, Roland Johnson & Soul Endeavor, and the Green McDonough Band.

Monday, September 18
Saxophonist Paul DeMarinis leads his band in a program of original music at Webster University's Winifred Moore Auditorium, and guitarist and St. Louis native Daryl Darden, back from California for a visit, will play 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.)

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...

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.