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.
* 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.
This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features the return of one of the most important living jazz musicians for one night only, a two-night tribute to the first superstar soloist in jazz, and more.
Let's go to the highlights...
Thursday, August 10 Keyboardist Herbie Hancock will perform in a concert presented by Jazz St. Louis at Powell Hall.
With a new album reportedly in the works, Hancock (pictured) also has a new addition to his live band, with saxophonist/keyboardist Terrace Martin joining guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist James Genus and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta in the group.
Some tickets for the concert still remained on sale as of end of business on Wednesday, but if you haven't gotten seats yet and want to go, you'll probably want to call ahead rather than just walk up to the box office.
Friday, August 11 The second annual "Louis Armstrong Festival of St. Louis" will be presented for the first of two nights at the Webster Groves Concert Hall, featuring music associated with Armstrong performed by a band featuring trumpeters Randy Holmes and Robert Souza, trombonist Brett Stamps, clarinetist Scott Alberici, pianist Mary Ann Schulte, drummer Kevin Gianino, bassist Bob Lowe and guitarist/banjoist Dan Stevens.
You can see StLJN's video tribute to the 116th anniversary of Armstrong's birth in this post from last Saturday.
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.)
This week, StLJN is celebrating the legacy of the iconic trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong with some vintage videos, for a couple of reasons.
First, yesterday (Friday, August 4) was the 116th anniversary of Armstrong's birth. During his lifetime, he claimed to have been born on July 4, 1900, but years after after his death, researchers uncovered information showing that Armstrong's true date of birth was in fact August 4, 1901. As a result, fans now celebrate on both days.
Second, there's an Armstrong-related event coming up next week in St. Louis, as a band led by trumpeter Randy Holmes will be presenting the second annual "Louis Armstrong Festival of St. Louis" next Friday, August 11 and Saturday, August 12 at the Webster Groves Concert Hall.
Holmes will be joined by fellow trumpeter Robert Souza, Brett Stamps (trombone), Scott Alberici (clarinet), Mary Ann Schulte (piano), Kevin Gianino (drums), Bob Lowe (bass) and Dan Stevens (banjo, guitar) for two nights of performances of music associated with Armstrong.
To commemorate both occasions, here's a selection of Armstrong videos, starting up above with a 1964 show from Australia that recently surfaced online.
Continuing after the jump with some "editor's picks" of personal favorites, the second video represents one of Armstrong's earliest filmed appearances, as he performed "I Cover The Waterfront", "Dinah" and "Tiger Rag" in 1933 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
That's followed by performances of "Up A Lazy River," "Old Rockin' Chair," and "When The Saints Go Marching In" from the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, as filmed for the popular documentary Jazz on A Summer's Day.
Below that, there's a clip from 1959 that may be the only footage of Armstrong in the recording studio, re-discovered and made available last year by the Louis Armstrong House Museum, the official repository of the trumpeter's archives and keepers of his legacy. It was shot while Armstrong was recording the album Satchmo Plays King Oliver, and shows him and the band recording the master take of "I Ain't Got Nobody," plus silent footage of them listening to the playback.
The penultimate video is from 1962, and was made as an episode of "Goodyear Jazz Concert," a series of short films for television produced by the Goodyear tire company. Since it originally was shot on 35mm film and recorded in stereo, it offers a more high fidelity look and sound than a lot of the available video of Armstrong.
The final clip features Armstrong and Mahalia Jackson teaming up to perform "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" at the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival.
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.
* 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.
The series will begin with jazz singer Paula West on Friday, October 13 and Saturday, October 14.
West (pictured), who's known for her ability to interpret a wide range of material, from the Great American Songbook to contemporary pop and rock, will be accompanied by pianist and music director Bruce Barth, bassist Ben Wheeler, and drummer Montez Coleman.
Next up is Alice Ripley, who won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Next to Normal, and was in the original Broadway casts of Les Mis�rables, Sunset Boulevard, Side Show, The Rocky Horror Show, and American Psycho. She'll take the stage of the Gaslight Theater on Friday, October 20 and Saturday, October 21.
The following weekend, singer/pianist Eric Comstock and singer Barbara Fasano will present a show called "Downton Abbey Road: The Best of Britain" on Friday, October 27. As the name suggests, the show is built on songs from an eclectic selection of British songwriters, from Noel Coward and Anthony Newley to the Beatles and Sting.
After that, Ken Haller, one of two St. Louis performers in the series, will present a new holiday-themed show, "Happy Haller Days!" on Thursday, November 2 and Thursday November 9.
Singers Farah Alvin and William Michals will be the next to take the festival stage, bringing their show "Broadway's Greatest Hits of All Time" from Feinstein's in New York City to St. Louis on Friday, November 3 and Saturday, November 4.
For the series' final weekend, former St. Louisan Katie McGrath, who moved to NYC last year, will return on Friday, November 10 with her show "Significant Others," and Emily Skinner, who's been nominated for Tony Awards for her work in Broadway shows including Side Show, Billy Elliot and The Full Monty, will wrap things up with a performance called "Broadway Her Way" on Saturday, November 11.
Single ticket prices for the Gateway Cabaret Festival range from $30 to $45, depending on the show, and there's a 10% discount for a subscription of five shows or more. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the Gaslight Cabaret Festival website.
This week's calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis features a couple of multi-artist performances of experimental music, an up-and-coming new contemporary jazz quintet from Chicago, plus some local favorites. Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, August 2 This week's "Grand Center Jazz Crawl" has trumpeter T.J M�ller at KDHX's Magnolia Cafe; the jam session with bassist Bob Deboo and friends at Kranzberg Arts Center; and trumpeter Kasimu Taylor at The Dark Room.
Friday, August 4 The "sleeper" show of the week involves Chicago-based saxophonist, flutist and composer Shawn Maxwell's quintet New Tomorrow (pictured, top left), who will be in town Friday to perform at the Webster Groves Concert Hall.
In a review last year, the Chicago Tribune's Howard Reich praised Maxwell's "intricately detailed scores bristling with surprises" and called him "a composer not content to settle into predictable musical patterns," and based on a sampling of the group's performances on YouTube, they're definitely worth checking out.
Elsewhere around town, The People's Key(pictured, bottom left) will bring their contemporary spin on the jazz organ combo sound to Jazz at the Bistro for the first of two nights; and the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra pays tribute to the big band era with a program called "Swing, Swing, Swing" at Queeny Park.
Saturday, August 5 If you're looking for some live jazz during the day on Saturday, the Liberation Organ Trio is playing for brunch at Evangeline's.
Sunday, August 6 Jazz brunch opportunities proliferate on Sunday, as the Jazz Troubadours play at The Dark Room, Miss Jubilee performs at Evangeline's, and trumpeter Jim Manley and pianist Dave Venn return to Scarlett's Wine Bar.
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.)
