This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a concert raising funds for music scholarships in honor of a much-loved local jazz supporter; gigs from a popular, groove-oriented saxophonist and a New Orleans-style brass band, and more.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, June 14The third annual
Richard McDonnell Scholarship Concert will take place at
Jazz at the Bistro, featuring drummer
Matt Wilson, members of Good 4 The Soul and the Funky Butt Brass Band, and various other guest musicians.
The event raises money for music scholarships for St. Louis area students in the name of Richard McDonnell, the late founder of MAXJAZZ Records who also was a board member of Jazz St. Louis and an enthusiastic, well-liked supporter of the local jazz scene before his sudden death in 2014.
Also on Wednesday,
The Gaslight Squares will play a free outdoor concert for the
Whitaker Music Festival at Missouri Botanical Garden.
Thursday, June 15The Dark Room is changing up their regular music offerings a bit starting this week. Going forward, they're booking a different band every week on Thursdays, with pianist
Ptah Williams moving to a regular weekly trio show at "happy hour" on Fridays. This week's debut of the "Thursday Night Revue" will feature drummer Kaleb Kirby's band
Animal Children.
Also on Thursday,
Cabaret Project St. Louis will present their monthly
"Broadway Open Mic" at the
Curtain Call Lounge.
Friday, June 16 Saxophonist
Gerald Albright (pictured, top left), will headline a
"Salute to Fathers/Mentors" at the
Sheldon Concert Hall, with support from saxophonist Tim Cunningham, comedian James Stephens III and singer Denise Thimes. For more about what Albright has been up to lately, and some videos of recent live performances, check out
this post from last Saturday.
Also on Friday, guitarist
Farshid Etniko Soltanshahi brings his multi-ethnic "world music" sound to Jazz at the Bistro; drummer
Steve Davis leads a group with singer
Feyza Eren in a free show at the
Webster Groves Concert Hall; and
Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to the
Venice Cafe.
Over on the east side, Gypsy jazz/swing trio
The Bonbon Plot will play a concert at
Jacoby Arts Center; and drummer
Marty Morrison leads a trio at
Cigar Inn.Saturday, June 17The Gaslight Squares will play a matinee at the
Blues City Deli; and keyboardist and singer
Jesse Gannon and his band The Truth will perform at Jazz at the Bistro.
Sunday, June 18The Grand Center district will be the site of not one, but two different Frank Sinatra tributes for Father's Day, as singer/impressionist
Dean Christopher will do his
"Sinatra...and Other Stuff" show for brunch in the relatively intimate confines of The Dark Room, while singer
Steve Lippia will be featured with the St. Louis Symphony for a matinee of
"Sinatra: 100 Years and Beyond" at the spacious
Powell Symphony Hall.Sunday night, the
No BS! Brass Band (pictured, bottom left), a Virginia-based group offering their own contemporary take on the traditional New Orleans ensemble sound, will play at the
Old Rock House.
Monday, June 19A triple bill of free-improvising musicians featuring guitarist
Shane Parish, the duo of Christopher E. Trull and Mabel Suen, and the Vernacular String Trio will play at
Foam.
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.)
