It's a busy week for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with an eclectic selection of visiting performers offering something for listeners with tastes ranging from vintage jazz to mainstream to experimental.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, April 12
Harmonica player Grégoire Maret, with singer and St. Louis native Alicia Olatuja as his featured guest, opens a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.
One of a scant handful of headlining jazz performers on his chosen instrument, Maret may be making his St. Louis debut as a bandleader, but he already has quite a thriving career, having played with Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller and many other well-known musicians before releasing his first album as a leader in 2012. You can find out more about him and see and hear some samples of his virtuoso technique in this post from last Saturday.
Thursday, April 13
In a relatively last-minute addition to their previously announced season schedule, New Music Circle will present trumpeter Peter Evans' new electro-acoustic septet at the new performance space and “arts incubator" .ZACK (aka the Cadillac Building, recently the site of the nightclub Plush).
This band is an expanded version of Evans' long-running quintet, described as “a 21st century chamber ensemble dedicated to a broad range of creativity, drawing on dense notated scores, free improvisation, novel combinations of acoustic and electronic sounds, the seamless incorporation of electronic instruments into live improvised textures, and a performance energy channeling both intensity and sincerity."
The event also will feature music from DJ Jeff Michael and a video and art installation created by Elizabeth Moore, Chad Eivins, Kevin Harris, Matthew Kelly Debbaudt, Jeremy Kannapell, and Stan Chisholm
Also on Thursday, singer Steve Tyrell will offer his jazz- and funk-tinged interpretations of standards and pop favorites at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the New Orleans Suspects are back for another visit to the Broadway Oyster Bar.
Friday, April 14
The Oikos Ensemble offers a pre-Easter program called “Good Friday Blues" at the First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, and Nashville-based swing and jump blues band Eight O'Five Jive plays at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.
Also on Friday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will perform at Thurman's in Shaw, and the Funky Butt Brass Band will make their monthly appearance at the Broadway Oyster Bar.
Saturday, April 15
The Liberation Music Collective returns to the Center for Social Empowerment in Ferguson.
Based in Bloomington, IN, Liberation Music Collective is a self-described “socially conscious big band" made up of past and present students at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music who are “dedicated to performing original compositions about contemporary social issues." LMC's visit include an afternoon workshop for young musicians, followed by an early evening “Jazz for Justice" concert.
Sunday, April 16
Miss Jubilee will perform for brunch at Evangeline's.
Monday, April 17
The Webster University Jazz Collective, made up of faculty members from the university's jazz program, will present their last concert of the semester at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.
Tuesday, April 18
The SIUE Concert and Alumni Jazz Bands will take the stage at Jazz at the Bistro, and the Handsome Devils Trio, in from New Orleans for a weeknight show without their lead singer Naomi, will perform for “NOLA Swing Night" at HandleBar in the Grove.
Let's go to the highlights...
Wednesday, April 12
Harmonica player Grégoire Maret, with singer and St. Louis native Alicia Olatuja as his featured guest, opens a four-night engagement continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro.
One of a scant handful of headlining jazz performers on his chosen instrument, Maret may be making his St. Louis debut as a bandleader, but he already has quite a thriving career, having played with Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Marcus Miller and many other well-known musicians before releasing his first album as a leader in 2012. You can find out more about him and see and hear some samples of his virtuoso technique in this post from last Saturday.
Thursday, April 13
In a relatively last-minute addition to their previously announced season schedule, New Music Circle will present trumpeter Peter Evans' new electro-acoustic septet at the new performance space and “arts incubator" .ZACK (aka the Cadillac Building, recently the site of the nightclub Plush).
This band is an expanded version of Evans' long-running quintet, described as “a 21st century chamber ensemble dedicated to a broad range of creativity, drawing on dense notated scores, free improvisation, novel combinations of acoustic and electronic sounds, the seamless incorporation of electronic instruments into live improvised textures, and a performance energy channeling both intensity and sincerity."
The event also will feature music from DJ Jeff Michael and a video and art installation created by Elizabeth Moore, Chad Eivins, Kevin Harris, Matthew Kelly Debbaudt, Jeremy Kannapell, and Stan Chisholm
Also on Thursday, singer Steve Tyrell will offer his jazz- and funk-tinged interpretations of standards and pop favorites at the Sheldon Concert Hall, and the New Orleans Suspects are back for another visit to the Broadway Oyster Bar.
Friday, April 14
The Oikos Ensemble offers a pre-Easter program called “Good Friday Blues" at the First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, and Nashville-based swing and jump blues band Eight O'Five Jive plays at BB's Jazz, Blues & Soups.
Also on Friday, Sarah Jane and the Blue Notes will perform at Thurman's in Shaw, and the Funky Butt Brass Band will make their monthly appearance at the Broadway Oyster Bar.
Saturday, April 15
The Liberation Music Collective returns to the Center for Social Empowerment in Ferguson.
Based in Bloomington, IN, Liberation Music Collective is a self-described “socially conscious big band" made up of past and present students at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music who are “dedicated to performing original compositions about contemporary social issues." LMC's visit include an afternoon workshop for young musicians, followed by an early evening “Jazz for Justice" concert.
Sunday, April 16
Miss Jubilee will perform for brunch at Evangeline's.
Monday, April 17
The Webster University Jazz Collective, made up of faculty members from the university's jazz program, will present their last concert of the semester at Winifred Moore Auditorium on the Webster campus.
Tuesday, April 18
The SIUE Concert and Alumni Jazz Bands will take the stage at Jazz at the Bistro, and the Handsome Devils Trio, in from New Orleans for a weeknight show without their lead singer Naomi, will perform for “NOLA Swing Night" at HandleBar in the Grove.
