Funky Butt Brass Band showcases guest singers on new Christmas album

The Funky Butt Brass Band has released a new holiday-themed album, A Funky Butt Family Christmas.

The album (pictured) includes a remix of their original song �Because It�s Christmas� and  covers of seven more holiday songs, featuring some of the guest vocalists who have been part of the band's annual "Holiday Brasstravaganza' concerts at Off Broadway. 

The guest singers include Big Mike Aguirre, Steve Ewing, Dave Grelle, Al Holliday, Roland Johnson, Brian Owens and Emily Wallace. Along with the FBBB's six musicians, the album also features additional instrumental contributions from Grelle and Holliday on keyboards, Aguirre on guitar, Matt Henry on percussion and chimes, Ben Reece and Derick Tramel on saxophones, Matt Brinkmann on sousaphone, Emma Tiemann on violin, and Andy Hainz on cello.

A Funky Butt Family Christmas is on sale now at FBBB's live shows, and will be available within the next few days for order or download from iTunes and CDBaby. The 2018 Holiday Brasstravaganza will take place on Friday, December 15 and Saturday, December 16 at Off Broadway, and for the first time this year, will include a children's matinee on Saturday afternoon.

Trumpeter Jim Manley releases new album Funk Factory 2

Trumpeter Jim Manley has a new album, Funk Factory 2, out this month.

The prolific trumpeter's 15th release as a leader, Funk Factory 2 is, as the title suggests, the sequel to Manley's 2015 recording Funk Factory.

It features 12 original tunes in a upbeat, contemporary jazz style similar to its predecessor, as performed by Manley, guitarist Jeff Snider, and keyboardist Chris Swan. 

Funk Factory 2 is available now on all the major streaming services and online music retailers, and as a physical CD from CD Baby. You can hear the title track in the embedded player below.

Freedonia Music releases two new albums

The St. Louis-based label Freedonia Music, which documents the city's experimental and avant-garde music of the past and present, has two new releases out this month.

New Music for Clarinet and Piano features eight tracks of "spontaneous compositions" from clarinetist Eric Mandat and pianist Greg Mills, recorded "live" last year at Jackson Pianos.

The label's other new release Kuvuka teams Greg Mills with percussionist Glenn "Papa" Wright for "a summit conference for piano and drum set."

Recorded in June at Clayton Studios, it features four tracks of "free improvisation showing postmodern jazz and classical influences by two master musicians at the height of their expressive powers."

Both albums are available as downloads or physical CDs, and you can hear samples from both via the Freedonia website. And speaking of downloads, the entire Freedonia catalog is now available in downloadable form from the label's Bandcamp page for $7 per album.

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.)

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.