* Trombonist Steve Swell will present a free, public "artist's talk" at 4:00 p.m. today (Friday October 6) in Room 102 of Washington University's music classroom building.
Swell (pictured) is in St. Louis to lead his quintet in New Music Circle's season-opening concert on Saturday night at The Stage at KDHX.
* Speaking of Washington University, bassist, educator and author Paul Steinbeck will discuss Message To Our Folks, his book about the history of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, as part of Wash U's library faculty book talk series at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 24 in room 142 of the Olin Library on the Wash U campus. The event is free and open to the public.
* Saxophonist and singer Grace Kelly is the subject of a photo feature on the website Sound of STL, and her performance Wednesday night at Jazz at the Bistro was briefly reviewed on the website of Sophisticated Living magazine. Kelly continues at the Bistro through Saturday night.
* The Wee Trio's upcoming concert on Tuesday, October 17 at SIU Edwardsville was previewed by the Edwardsville Intelligencer.
* KDHX's Magnolia Cafe, which serves as one of the sites on the weekly "Grand Center Jazz Crawl," is getting a new menu, a new operator, and a new name. According to reports published this week by Feast magazine and others, chef Rob Connoley will take over the restaurant, renaming it Squatter's Cafe, on Wednesday, November 1.
* The annual musical instrument drive sponsored by Music for Lifelong Achievement was the subject of a feature story on KTVI-Fox 2's morning news.
* "Wayfaring Traveler," a track from trumpeter Keyon Harrold's new album The Mugician that features guest performances from Jermaine Holmes, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Robert Glasper, this week made it onto Apple Music's jazz playlist "The A List."
* Singer Debby Lennon will star in the upcoming production of the musical comedy Souvenir being staged by Max & Louie Productions from Thursday, December 14 through Sunday, December 31 at The Marcelle in Grand Center.
The show tells the story of the notoriously tone-deaf Florence Foster Jenkins, "a real-life socialite who set elite eardrums in Manhattan a-trembling in a series of notorious private concerts during the 1930s and 1940s...Her flamboyant costumes and uninhibited love of music was as much her trademark as her inability to sing on key." Jenkins' story also was the subject of an eponymous 2016 feature film starring Meryl Streep in the title role.
