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.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Jazz St. Louis' Gene Dobbs Bradford is one of the 2018 St. Louis Arts Awards winners featured in an article on the website of the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis. The honorees will receive their awards at a ceremony on January 22 at the Chase Park Plaza.

* Drummer Emanuel Harrold (pictured) has a new promotional video out offering a preview of his forthcoming EP Look Forward.

* St. Louis based Entertainment Cruise Productions is offering special, limited-time two-for-one pricing on their upcoming "Blue Note at Sea" cruise. The cruise takes place January 27 - February 3,  and will feature performances from Charles Lloyd, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Marcus Miller, Robert Glasper, St. Louis' own David Sanborn, Chick Corea, Dr. Lonnie Smith and many others.

* Singer Ken Haller's Gaslight Cabaret Festival show "Happy Haller Days" was reviewed by the Ladue News' Mark Bretz and KDHX's Chuck Lavazzi.

* And speaking of KDHX, the station now has a page on VuHaus.com, "a non-profit, digital music video service that introduces emerging and established artists to new audiences. Through a website and mobile app, VuHaus aggregates performance videos and interviews from leading "Music Discovery" public radio stations from markets across the U.S."

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Jazz St. Louis will be live-streaming video of tonight's 7:30 p.m. set by Yellowjackets at Jazz at the Bistro.

The gig is the first of four this season at the Bistro that will be live-streamed to the public for free, and you can tune in via the Jazz St. Louis website, their Facebook page, or UStream.

* The Playhouse at Westport Plaza has booked the show An Unforgettable Nat "King" Cole Christmas for the 2017 holiday season. The musical, which stars Chicago actor Evan Tyrone Martin (pictured) and features "a festive cocktail of signature songs and yuletide favorites" associated with Cole, will run from Thursday, December 7 through Sunday, December 17.

* To help promote his upcoming release The Mugician - due out next Friday, September 29 via Legacy Recordings/ Mass Appeal Records - trumpeter Keyon Harrold created a playlist of favorite tracks for the music streaming service Tidal.com.

* Improvising trombonist Steve Swell will present a lecture to the Washington University department of music at 4:00 p.m. Friday October 6 in the Music Classroom Building, room 102 on the Wash U campus.

Swell and his quintet, with pianist Dave Burrell, bassist William Parker, saxophonist Jameel Moondoc, and drummer Ches Smith, will perform in a concert sponsored by New Music Circle the next evening, Saturday, October 7, at The Stage at KDHX.

* Registration is open now for Fox Performing Arts Charitable Foundation's 8th annual St. Louis Teen Talent Competition. The competition is open to all high school students in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and offers more than $30,000 in college scholarships, cash awards, and prizes, plus performance opportunities for the participating teens.

The entry deadline for 2018 is December 1, 2017. For more information or to register, go to http://www.foxpacf.org/programs/teen-talent-competition/.

* And speaking of local students, Music for Lifelong Achievement's annual drive gathering musical instruments for school and community music programs serving disadvantaged young people in St. Louis starts next Monday, September 26. For more information about MFLA and how to donate, go here.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Jazz St. Louis announced this week that they'll be live-streaming online video of selected performances this season at Jazz at the Bistro.

According to a news release, "the series will highlight four artists from the 2017-18 performance season through pre-recorded videos hosted by local jazz pianist Peter Martin and live-streaming activities of the programs which will be available on the Jazz St. Louis website, Facebook page and Ustream".

Featured performances to be streamed include Yellowjackets (pictured) on Friday, September 22; Sammy Miller and the Congregation on Friday, October 27; The Bad Plus on Friday, January 19; and Sean Jones Quartet on Friday, March 2.

* The Alton Jazz and Wine Festival, set for tomorrow at the Riverfront Amphitheater in Alton, is the subject of a preview story in St. Louis magazine.

* Former St. Louisan Mark Deutsch, now living in California, has released The Picasso Tunings, a set of four related albums featuring the Bazantar,  the instrument he invented that combines acoustic bass and sitar. You can hear the new recordings, plus a newly remastered version of Deutsch's first solo album Fool, on his BandCamp page.

* The Gaslight Cabaret Festival was previewed by the West End Word.

* Applications for the latest round of Regional Arts Commission's Artist Support Grants are open now through Thursday, October 12. Grants are available from $500 to $3,000 to artists from all disciplines for a variety of purposes. For more info or to apply, go to https://racstl.org/grant/artists-support-grants/.

* Megan Kirk's cabaret show "Out of My Head," performed last week at The Stage at KDHX, was reviewed for the station by Chuck Lavazzi.

* Wide Open, the forthcoming album from singer, keyboardist and St. Louis native Michael McDonald, features guest performances from several well-known jazz musicians including Robben Ford, Marcus Miller and Branford Marsalis.

It's McDonald's first record of original material since 2000's Blue Obsession and is scheduled for release next Friday, September 15, but you can hear the whole thing now via an online stream from NPR Music�s �First Listen.� McDonald will support the release with a fall tour than includes a stop here on Friday, November 3 at Peabody Opera House.

Jazz St. Louis adds shows to Bistro schedule

Jazz St. Louis has announced nine more events for the 2017-18 season at Jazz at the Bistro, filling in some gaps in the previously-announced schedule for the fall and adding one more headliner in the spring.

Three of the shows are co-productions with Cabaret Project of St. Louis, as the two organizations will team up to present singer and actor Kyle Dean Massey on Wednesday, September 27 and Thursday, September 28; actor, singer and Bellevile native Lea DeLaria (pictured), who will make her debut at the Bistro with shows on Wednesday, December 27 and Thursday, December 28; and Marilyn Maye, the 89-year-old known as the "grand dame of cabaret," on Wednesday, March 7 and Thursday, March 8.

Three other newly-scheduled events will pay tribute to jazz greats.

Drummer Montez Coleman will helm "The Art of Blakey," a celebration of the iconic drummer and his Jazz Messengers, on Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10, joined by saxophonist Ben Reece, trumpeter Danny Campbell, bassist Bob DeBoo, and pianist Adam Maness.

Coleman, DeBoo and Maness then will return the following month for a "Thelonious Monk Centennial" tribute on Friday, October 25 and Saturday, October 26.

Then on Wednesday, November 5, a free event titled "Duke Ellington and Film" will examine Ellington's music for film and his onscreen appearances via a talk by John Edward Hasse, curator of American music at the Smithsonian Institute, and a performance from the Jazz St. Louis Big Band.

Also added to the fall schedule are a performance by the JazzU Big Band student ensemble on Sunday, October 29, and return dates for the 1970s jazz-fusion tribute Weather Forever on Friday, November 10 and Saturday, November 11, and trumpeter Jim Manley's holiday show "A Very Manley Christmas" on Friday, December 22 and Saturday, December 23 .

Tickets for all these shows are available now via the Jazz St. Louis website.

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.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Trumpeter Russell Gunn (pictured) has launched a crowd-funding campaign to finance the debut recording of his Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, which he describes as an "ultra modern contemporary Jazz Big Band from the U.S.A." featuring vocalist Dionne Farris.

You can find out more about the project and pledge your support here.

* The latest album from Trio 3, featuring saxophonist and former St. Louisan Oliver Lake, was reviewed by the Free Jazz Blog.

* A 100th birthday tribute to Buddy Rich at Ronnie Scott's in London, featuring drummer and St. Charles native Dave Weckl driving a group of alumni of Rich's big band for half the show, was reviewed by Jazz Journal.

* Jazziz magazine has published a download-only article detailing "what they think are the five ??absolute?? essential Miles Davis albums that any jazz lover must have in their collection." (Spoiler: Their picks are Kind of Blue, Miles Ahead, 'Round About Midnight, Nefertiti, and In A Silent Way.) The download is available (in exchange for an email address) here.

* Speaking of Miles, the SFJAZZ Collective's latest album featuring their new arrangements of Davis' compositions was reviewed by AllAboutJazz.com's John Kelman.

* The website Best of American Towns has included St. Louis' Vintage Vinyl on their list of "15 of the Best Record Stores in America."

* After a hiatus of several months, pianist Peter Martin has a new blog post up at Medium.com, offering his thoughts on the ballad comping style of pianist Wynton Kelly.

* Gene Dobbs Bradford of Jazz St. Louis is one of seven winners of the Arts and Education Council's St. Louis Arts Awards for 2018. Bradford will receive his award, which is for "Excellence in the Arts," at A&E's gala event on January 22 at the Chase Park Plaza hotel.

* Keyboardist James Hegarty, cellist Tracy Andreotti, and flute player Fred Tompkins have released more new improvised music under Hegarty's "Secret Sessions" imprint, now available as a free download from Bandcamp.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Fans of adventurous music and/or craft beer can support New Music Circle at a fundraiser scheduled from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. next Tuesday, June 13 at Urban Chestnut brewery's Midtown location, 3229 Washington Ave. A portion of beverage purchases made during those hours will be donated to NMC.

* The Boston Creme donut from Old Town Donuts in Florissant is the winner of Jazz St. Louis' "Best Donut" award for 2017, as determined last Friday during JSL's annual "National Donut Day" celebration. You can see photos from the event in a Facebook album here.

* Saxophonist and St. Louis native Greg Osby, who's been spending a lot of time in Europe recently, last month conducted two workshops for young musicians in Spain, working under the auspices of the US Embassy with students at the Teresa Berganza music conservatory in Madrid and the Padre Antonio Soler music school in San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

* Singer-songwriter Norah Jones' performance on Tuesday at the Scottrade Ceneter was reviewed for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Dan Durchholz.

* Singer Dee Daniels (pictured), who will perform this Sunday with the St. Louis Symphony as part of their "Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and the Ladies of Swing," was interviewed by St. Louis magazine.

* The newly renamed Webster Groves Concert Hall, formerly the Ozark Theatre, is the subject of a St. Louis County Arts blog feature by Valerie Tichacek.

* As one of 77 local bands that will perform in the Riverfront Times' upcoming ShowcaseSTL, the  Funky Butt Brass Band were profiled this week by the RFT's Roy Kasten.

* Singer Tony Bennett's show Wednesday night at the Fox Theatre was reviewed by the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson, and the Post also published an "IParty" album of photos from the evening.

* This weekend's U City Jazz Festival and Fair U City are previewed in the Post's "Hot List" section.

* Mozingo Music is presenting a free workshop on audio recording at 7:00 p.m. Monday, June 26 at their store at 4689 Hwy. K in O'Fallon, MO. The 90-minute workshop will feature manufacturer's rep Michael Canning demonstrating the use of PreSonus software and hardware and Audio Technica microphones in a live recording session. Admission is free, but since space is limited, advance reservations are required.