Performance / Tour News

Michael Feinstein Snarling Sinatra Tribute Boots Santa

Source: Michael Ricci
December 4, 2008

Christmas, Michael Feinstein and Frank Sinatra: three different, tenuously connected worlds collided Tuesday evening at Feinsteins at Loews Regency, where Mr. Feinstein brought a drastically revamped version of his annual holiday extravaganza.

What used to be a campy variety show, featuring witty obscure novelties and backup singers wearing Santa hats, became a testosterone-fueled homage, “The Sinatra Holiday Project," whose title is borrowed from Mr. Feinsteins recent tribute album, The Sinatra Project.

As he did in September in the shows introducing ...

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Miguel Zenon Home in Two Traditions: Jazz and the Sounds of Puerto Rico

Source: Michael Ricci
December 4, 2008

When the jazz saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenon visits his native Puerto Rico to see his mother and other relatives every year around Christmastime, he rarely hears any jazz.

Instead hes surrounded by plena, a century-old Afro-Caribbean musical tradition, a kind of movable street-corner folksong. Plena is made with three different-size panderos (like tambourines without the cymbals) and voices singing about island myths and scandals, cultural identity, political reality, love and plena itself. Its really common, he said in an ...

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Wayne Shorter Birthday Bash with a Harmonious Mix of Guests

Source: Michael Ricci
December 4, 2008

Months ahead of time Wayne Shorters 75th birthday concert at Carnegie Hall was being described as a kind of collaboration with Imani Winds, a classical wind quintet.

This caused minor concern among fans leading up to the show on Tuesday. It isnt that Mr. Shorter, probably jazzs greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser, shouldnt be going outside his territory; the lessons of 20th-century classical music have become inseparable from his composing. Its that his territory ...

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Elmo Hope Tribute at Jazz Standard Featuring Bertha Hope on Piano

Source: All About Jazz
December 4, 2008

Pianist Elmo Hope was one of the greatest composers of this music called Bop, along with Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. Seldom do we get to hear the genius of Elmo Hope's compositions in a live setting. With the gracious help of The Jazz Standard, these ambitious and dedicated musicians join forces with Don Sickler and Elmo's widow, Bertha Hope, on piano, to present two nights of Elmo's extraordinary music. Bertha's mission is to preserve, promote and play this music ...

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Piano for the Queen: Condi Rice Plays the Palace

Source: All About Jazz
December 4, 2008

Live from the palace Condi Rice on piano!

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice performed in a piano quintet Monday night for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

Rice played Brahms' Op. 34 with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's wife, Louise, on violin, and three members of the London Symphony Orchestra. The queen gave Rice an audio recording of the performance as a gift. Rice is a classically trained pianist who had expressed a wish to play at the palace. ...

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Tango Meets Jazz at the Jazz Standard December 5th-7th

Source: All About Jazz
December 4, 2008

Tango Meets Jazz Festival with The Pablo Ziegler Quartet With special guests James Carter (12/5 & 12/6) & Joe Locke (12/7) Produced by Pat Philips & Ettore Stratta: Pablo Ziegler piano, Claudio Ragazzi guitar, Hctor del Curto bandoneon, and Pedro Giraudo bass.

Jazz Standard presents our sixth annual Tango Meets Jazz Festival featuring and directed by Pablo Ziegler. The pianist is an acclaimed master of this unique musical form and the creator (with Quique Sinesi and Walter Castro) ...

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Jazz This Week: Harry Connick Jr, Nnenna Freelon, Steve Schenkel and Ashley Mason, Kim Portnoy Trio, St. Louis Rivermen and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
December 4, 2008

It's a potentially busy week for fans of jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with two major touring headliners in town, a lot of activity from local musicians, and holiday-themed concerts a-plenty, too.Let's go to the highlights, starting with singer Nnenna Freelon, (pictured) who's in town to perform at Jazz at the Bistro tonight through Saturday. For more about Freelon and some video clips of her in action, see this post from last Saturday.The other ...

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Disco Biscuits '09 Dates

Source: JamBase
December 4, 2008

The Disco Biscuits On Tour This Winter Dates Include Stops in New Venues, Old Favorites, and Long-Overdue Regions

The Disco Biscuits The Disco Biscuits will hit the road this winter to bring a four week, five weekend powerhouse tour to stops across the country. Highlights of the tour include the band's first performances at the Congress Theater in Chicago, IL and the Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA, along with the christening of the new House of Blues in Boston. ...

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