Jazz this week: A tribute to Art Blakey, TAP Dynamics, Route 66 Jazz Orchestra, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music events in St. Louis features a little cabaret, a little tap-dancing, a tribute to one of the most influential drummers and bandleaders in jazz, and more. Let's go to the highlights...

Wednesday, September 27
Singer and actor Kyle Dean Massey, a Missouri State University graduate who's appeared on Broadway and in ABC-TV's show Nashville, performs a cabaret-style show for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro.

Also on Wednesday, violinist Alex Cunningham performs music from his latest release atop a bill of experimental and improvisational musicians at Foam.

Thursday, September 28
Drummer Montez Coleman and guitarist Eric Slaughter will co-lead a quartet in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University; bassist Willem von Hombracht heads up a trio with guest saxophonist Freddie Washington at The Pat Connolly Tavern; and trumpeter Keith Moyer's quintet returns to The Dark Room.

Friday, September 29
Montez Coleman, saxophonist Ben Reece,  trumpeter Danny Campbell, bassist Bob DeBoo and pianist Adam Maness will join forces at Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights of "The Art of Blakey,"  paying tribute to the hard bop sound of the legendary drummer/bandleader and his Jazz Messengers.

Also on Friday, singer Tony Viviano and guitarist Dave Black will perform at Magpie's in St. Charles; Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to Evangeline's in the Central West End; and guitarist Tom Byrne leads a trio at Cigar Inn in Belleville.

Saturday, September 30
Dance St. Louis kicks off its 2017-18 season with the first of two performances of "TAP Dynamics" at the Grandel Theatre.  The show features dancers Jason Samuels Smith, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, and Derick K. Grant performing with a live jazz trio - music director and drummer Allison Miller (pictured, top left), pianist Carmen Staaf and bassist Noah Garabedian - playing original music and "favorite selections from Miles Davis." The program repeats on Sunday afternoon.

Also on Saturday, pianist Carolbeth True and Two Times True with saxophonist Larry Johnson return to the Parkside Grill, and Tropical Mood plays salsa, Latin jazz, and more at the Webster Groves Concert Hall

Sunday, October 1
Trumpeter Jim Manley and pianist Dave Venn play their monthly brunch gig at Scarlett's Wine Bar; saxophonist Tim Cunningham is back for one more matinee at Mount Pleasant Winery; and the Friends of Scott Joplin will present their monthly "Ragtime Rendezvous" at the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site's Rosebud Cafe.

Monday, October 2 
Singer Debby Lennon performs with the Jeremy Pfeffer Trio in a concert at Webster University's  Winifred Moore Auditorium.

Tuesday, October 3
The Route 66 Jazz Orchestra (pictured, bottom left) plays a show for the "Notes From Home" series 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.)

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.

Jazz at Holmes announces Fall 2017 schedule

The Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University has announced their schedule of free concerts for the Fall 2017 semester.

The series will begin on Thursday, September 14 with British bassist Tony Grey (pictured), who's probably best known as a member of pianist Hiromi's working band.

Grey will be accompanied by Jay Oliver on keyboards; Wash U faculty member and Jazz at Holmes series director William Lenihan on guitar; and Roger Guth on drums.

In addition to Grey and various shows featuring a selection of St. Louis performers, the Fall 2017 series also will include themed programs exploring Italian film music; the intersection of experimental jazz and contemporary classical; and folk and protest songs of the 1960s.

Here's the entire schedule in chronological order:

Thursday, September 14; Tony Grey
Thursday, September 21: Freddie Washington Quartet
Thursday, September 28: Montez Coleman/Eric Slaughter Quartet

Thursday, October 5: Kim Fuller
Thursday, October 19: "From Torino - Music of Italian Film Composers: Morricone, Gaslini, Rota, Umiliani, Giordano" with Filippo Cosentino, William Lenihan, and the Sogni D'Alba String Trio.
Thursday, October 26: "Streams of Extremity II" with Ptah Williams, William Lenihan, Steve Davis, Amy Greenhalgh, and Marcia Mann

Thursday, November 2: "Voices of Freedom, Songs of Social Justice" with R. Scott Bryan, Rick Schuler, and band.
Thursday, November 9: Joe Mancuso Organ Trio
Thursday, November 16: Arc of Light Ensemble with Paul DeMarinis, Randy Holmes, Wayne Coniglio, William Lenihan, and band
Thursday, November 30 - Vincent Varvel Quartet

Thursday, December 7: Holiday concert featuring Wash U singers & musicians TBA.

All concerts are free and open to the public. Concerts begin at 8:00 p.m. and are presented in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, which is located on Washington University�s campus at the west end of the Brookings Quadrangle, near the intersection of Brookings and Hoyt drives.

So What: Local News, Notes & Links

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

* Drummer Montez Coleman (pictured) was interviewed by St. Louis magazine's Erin Williams in advance of his performances tonight and Saturday night at Jazz at the Bistro.

* Saxophonist Karl Denson talked with the Post-Dispatch's Kevin Johnson for a brief feature story. Denson and his band Tiny Universe perform tonight at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion.

* Drummer and St. Louis native Emanuel Harrold, who's been part of singer Gregory Porter's band for the past few years, is set to release his first recording as a leader this fall, and is getting advance promotion from TheUrbanMusicScene.com and Afropunk.com for his song "Luv Hurt" and from SoulTracks.com for "Special Time."

* The website Sound of StL has a review with photos of The People's Key's recent performance at The Stage at KDHX.

* Euclid Records is looking to hire a "tech savvy music fan" who is "familiar with the workings of Excel, web design, E-Commerce as well as eBay, Amazon and Discogs." They're accepting resumes dropped off at the store or by email at store@euclidrecords.com.

* Pianist Peter Martin has a new post up at Medium.com, advising aspiring keyboard players on "The One Scale You Should Be Practicing Every Day."

* Trumpeter and Webster Groves native Ally Hany, who recently completed a master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music, announced in a post on Facebook that she's joining the Air Force Band of the Golden West. After completing basic training, Hany will be stationed at Travis Air Force Base in the San Francisco Bay area.

* The musical instrument and accessories manufacturer D'Addario has announced a free support program for instrumental music teachers called the D�Addario Education Collective, offering discounts on products, access to educational resources, and more. You can get details and sign up here.

Jazz this week: Samora Pinderhughes, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, and more

This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features the local debut of a much-talked-about young pianist and composer, the return of one of the jam-band circuit's funk-jazz favorites, and more.

Let's go to the highlights....

Wednesday, July 19
Drummer Kevin Bowers will reconvene the large cast of his Brazilian-influenced, imaginary-movie-soundtrack project NOVA in a free concert for the Missouri Botanical Garden's Whitaker Music Festival. 

Elsewhere around town, though the Curtain Call Lounge has withdrawn from the "Grand Center Jazz Crawl," - apparently permanently, according to StLJN's source - the event goes on as usual, with live jazz and no cover charge at three locations in the district. 

This week, you can hear guitarist Tom Byrne and keyboardist Nathan Jatcko this week at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe; the jam session with bassist Bob DeBoo and friends at Kranzberg Arts Center; and two separate shows at The Dark Room at the Grandel Theatre, with saxophonist Lew Winer playing from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor from 9:00 p.m. to midnight.

Thursday July 20
Pianist and composer Samora Pinderhughes (pictured, top left) with special guest trumpeter Christian Scott will perform at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation.

NPR devoted an episode of "Jazz Night in America" earlier this year to Pinderhughes' debut recording The Transformations Suite, and this will be his first St. Louis gig as a bandleader, playing music "inspired by" the soundtrack he wrote for the documentary film Whose Streets?. For more about Pinderhughes, and his socially-conscious brand of jazz, plus the complete Transformations Suite and some other performances on video, see this post from last Saturday. 

Also in the Grand Center district, Cabaret Project St. Louis presents their monthly "Broadway Open Mic," temporarily relocated to The Stage at KDHX; and saxophonist Ben Reece�s Unity Quartet will perform at The Dark Room.

Elsewhere around town, the Funky Butt Brass Band will play a free show outside the St. Louis Public Library downtown, and drummer Maurice Carnes leads a group featuring Dallas pianist Myles Tate in a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes series at Washington University.

Friday, July 21
Saxophonist Karl Denson's Tiny Universe returns for an early-evening outdoor show at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion. Though the heat is expected to be stifling, expect a big audience of young fans ready to party with Denson's crowd-friendly grooves.

For a look at what Denson and Tiny Universe (pictured, bottom left) have been up to since they were in St. Louis a year ago, check out this post from a couple of Saturdays ago.

Also on Friday, drummer Montez Coleman celebrates his birthday with the first of two nights of shows at Jazz at the Bistro. He'll be joined by a band including Adaron Pops Jackson (organ), Adam Maness (piano), Eric Slaughter (guitar), Jason Swagler (alto sax), and Ben Wheeler (bass), with Anita Jackson singing on Friday night and Brian Owens on Saturday.

Elsewhere around town, guitarist and singer Tommy Halloran will play a free show at Ritz Park on South Grand; singer Joe Mancuso and guitarist Dave Black return to The Wolf in Ballwin; and Wack-A-Doo will play swing, vintage jazz and Americana at Evangeline's.

Saturday, July 22
Dizzy Atmosphere returns to Missouri Botanical Garden for another "Garden of Glass" event; The WirePilots will have multi-instrumentalist Sandy Weltman as their special guest for a performance at the Webster Groves Concert Hall; and Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes return to the Venice Cafe.

Sunday, July 23
The St. Louis Jazz Club presents the St. Louis Stompers in a matinee performance at the Moolah Shrine Center, and Community Women Against Hardship's summer benefit at Ferring Jazz Bistro will feature Detroit-based saxophonist Yancyy with an ensemble including singer Anita Jackson, pianist Tony Suggs, bassist Jeff Anderson, and drummer Montez Coleman.

Monday, July 24
Trumpeter Jim Manley will play for diners and drinkers at Momo's Greek Restaurant.

Tuesday, July 25
Pianist Pat Joyce returns to Evangeline's, and saxophonist "Blind" Willie Dineen and the Broadway Collective will be back for their monthly gig 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.)