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.)

New Music Circle announces 2017-18 season

New Music Circle has announced their 2017-18 season of concerts.

The venerable presenting organization for experimental and contemporary music will open their 59th season with a concert by trombonist Steve Swell's quintet on Saturday, October 7 at The Stage at KDHX.

Swell's band (pictured) is something of an all-star aggregation of veteran avant-jazz musicians, with William Parker on bass, Dave Burrell on piano, Jemeel Moondoc on saxophones, and Chad Taylor on drums.

Next up is electronic musician, composer, and former St. Louisan John Wiese, who will perform on Saturday, November 11 at the University Theatre in Saint Louis University's Xavier Hall. Wiese will create "a site-specific composition that includes over 20 local musicians, utilizing both traditional and non-traditional instrumentation."

NMC will close out 2017 with a performance by Battle Trance, a quartet featuring tenor saxophonists Travis Laplante, Patrick Breiner, Matthew Nelson, and Jeremy Viner, on Saturday, December 2 at The Luminary.

The new year then will begin with a concert by flute player and composer Claire Chase's International Contemporary Ensemble on Saturday, January 13 at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation.

The performance will feature a trio version of ICE with Chase, drummer Tyshawn Sorey, and pianist Cory Smythe presenting works by Pauline Oliveros and Morton Feldman, plus a new Smythe/Sorey duet and another new composition by Sorey for drums and contrabass flute.

NMC's season will continue with a performance by electronic musician and vocalist Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe on Saturday, February 24 at Urb Arts in the Old North neighborhood.

The final two shows in the series have some details yet to be confirmed, but they will feature saxophonist Mats Gustafsson's free-jazz power trio The Thing sometime in March at Off Broadway and Chicago-based saxophonist Matana Roberts in a solo performance on Saturday, May 19 at a venue TBA.

The season also will include public workshops and other events featuring some of the visiting musicians, the specifics of which will be announced at a later date.

Unless otherwise noted, tickets for all NMC shows are $20 general admission, $10 for students or "struggling music supporters," and can be purchased online or at the door.

A reunited Brand X to perform Wednesday, September 13 at Old Rock House

The reunited British jazz-fusion band Brand X will return to the St. Louis area to perform at 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, September 13 at the Old Rock House.

The current edition of the band features founding members John Goodsall (pictured) on guitar and Percy Jones on bass, plus recent additions Chris Clark (keyboards), Scott Weinberger (percussion), and Kenny Grohowski (drums).

They're touring in support of But Wait, There's More/Live 2017, a two-CD set of live performances that is their first official release since a previous reunion in the 1990s produced two albums, the last being 1997's Manifest Destiny.

Originally active from the mid-1970s into the early '80s, Brand X made six albums and performed with 11 different lineups of musicians (including, for a couple of albums, drummer Phil Collins) in a six-year period. After their mid-90s reunion, they had another hiatus of 20 years before reuniting again in 2016 for a tour that included a show in October at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville.

Tickets for Brand X at the Old Rock House are $30 general admission for all ages, and are on sale now.

Site news: StLJN on vacation

After 12 and a half years of blogging without a real break, yr. humble StLJN editor is taking a brief vacation. Back soon with more...

Sunday Session: August 13, 2017

Rudresh Mahanthappa

Here's the roundup of various music-related items of interest that have appeared in StLJN's inbox over the past week:

* Kamasi Washington: An Opinion of Difference (Jazz Times)
* Neither bills nor advancing age can dim the glow of a drummer's dream (Los Angeles Times)
* Was Elvis a thief? Yes! No! Maybe? Music stars weigh in on Presley's legacy (San Diego Union Tribune)
* Field Notes: Newport 2017, Day One - C�cile McLorin Salvant and more at the fest's first McBride-led edition (Jazz Times)
* Field Notes: Newport 2017, Day Two - A touching tribute to Geri Allen highlights Saturday at Fort Adams (Jazz Times)
* Field Notes: Newport 2017, Day Three - The fest wraps with plenty of sun and groove (Jazz Times)
* The Power of Sound: Using the Shepard Tone In Filmmaking (PremiumBeat.com)
* Suzanne Ciani and the Subliminal Property of Being Human (The Paris Review)
* 'The Green Book' Guided Black Travelers to L.A.'s Central Avenue Jazz Scene (KCET)
* Interim Thoughts on the Life and Career of Chubby Checker (PopMatters.com)
* Grammys boss knuckles under China censors as show readies tour (Japan Times)
* Anything is possible when jazz master Henry Threadgill plays at Newport (Boston Globe)
* AI and music: will we be slaves to the algorithm? (The Guardian)
* Southern Exposure: Searching for clues to the death of a bandleader (Daily Astorian)
* Jimmy Webb, Writer of Glen Campbell Classics, Remembers �My Big Brother, My Co-Culprit� (Variety)
* Creating the world�s largest cat sound effects library � with Yarron Katz (ASoundEffect.com)
* Why do stars like Adele keep losing their voice? (The Guardian)
* Forebears: The Mercurial And Majestic Dinah Washington (NPR)
* Q&A with Rudresh Mahanthappa: Connected Spaces (DownBeat)
* The Internet Doesn�t Matter, You�re Making Music in L.A. (Vulture.com)
* Know your customers: Costa Pilavachi on the classical recording industry (Rhinegold.co.uk)
* Steve Martin Explains His Love of Banjo Music: 'It Rivals Any Specialized Genre' (Billboard)
* The Rich History�and Present�of Latin American Prog (Bandcamp.com)
* SoundCloud Saved By The Bell Of A Big Chunk Of Financing (NPR)
* Eagle Saloon unveils historical plaques, window displays (Offbeat)
* Party Over Here: An Oral History of Kool Herc�s Historic Back-to-School Jam (MassAppeal.com)
* When Mistakes/Studio Glitches Give Famous Songs Their Personality: Pink Floyd, Metallica, The Breeders, Steely Dan & More (OpenCulture.com)

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The return of Rebirth Brass Band

This week, let's take a look at some videos of New Orleans' Rebirth Brass Band, who will be coming back to St. Louis to perform on Friday, September 1 at the Atomic Cowboy Pavilion.

Formed in 1983 by brothers Keith and Phillip Frazier, Rebirth Brass Band is, along with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, one of the longest running of the contemporary groups re-inventing the New Orleans brass band tradition. Their most recent recording is 2014�s Move Your Body on the Basin Street Records label, which was the follow-up to their 2012 Grammy Award-winning album Rebirth of New Orleans, and they were here in St. Louis last in September 2016 for a show at the same venue.

Today, you can see a half-dozen videos featuring some fan favorites from RBB's repertoire, starting up above with a version of one of their signature songs, "Do Whatcha Wanna," recorded in 2014 in New Orleans for the web series Jam in the Van.

After the jump, there's a video of "Move Your Body" recorded at the same session, followed by a full set of music recorded in 2012 at the Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans.

The fourth video shows the RBB doing their version of the New Orleans standard "Big Chief," recorded in 2011 at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans.

Next is a medley of two more of their best-known tunes,  "Rebirth Groove" and "Feel Like Funkin It Up," recorded in February 2014 at The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton, FL.

The final clip is a riff on another New Orleans classic, "I Like It Like That," recorded in 2011 for the radio program "Soundcheck" on WNYC in New York City.

For more about the Rebirth Brass Band, check out Keith Frazier's 2015 interview with HollywoodSoapbox.com and this 2012 feature from Gambit.

You can see the rest of today's videos after the jump...