Swingin' into Summer: St. Louis Style

With the coming of summer, the annual U.S. Bank Saint Louis Jazz Festival is looming on the horizon June 25th & 26th. Friday’s headliners include John Pizzarelli, Oleta Adams and the Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and John Scofield, Carla Cook, the Wynton Marsalis Quartet and the Aaron Neville Quintet with Charles Neville on Saturday. Friday’s local acts have not been completely finalized, but guitarist Tom Byrne will be featured in two half-hour sets on Saturday, as will vocalist Erin Bode. Tickets are only $20 per day. For updates and more info, check the Fest website .

By the way, Bode seems to be appearing everywhere around town this month – thanks to the upcoming release of her debut recording on the MAXJAZZ label, Don’t Take Your Time, on June 8. In addition to headlining two nights at Jazz at the Bistro on June 4th & 5th, and appearing at the Jazz Fest on June 26th, Bode and her band are featured at Missouri Botanical Garden on Wednesday, June 16th as part of the Whitaker Music Festival. Other jazz concerts in June at the Garden feature pianist James Matthews on June 9th, guitarist Todd mosby and his group on June 23rd and Quartet Tres Bien on June 30th. All Whitaker concerts are free and the music begins at 7:30 p.m.

A couple of additional jazz concerts on June 18th and 19th are tied to the annual convention of the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors, which will be held at the Viking-Holiday Inn at the intersection of Watson Road and Lindbergh Blvd. in Sunset Hills. Sax legend Frank Morgan is featured in concert on the 18th, and the fine tenor saxophonist Harry Allen appears on the 19th. Both concerts are open to the public as well as to convention attendees and will be held in the intimate Generations nightclub located at the Viking-Holiday Inn. For more info on these concerts and the rest of the convention, check out www.euclidrecords.com. Euclid’s owner, Joe Schwab, is the chairman for the event.

Riffs:

A couple of additional jazz events in June... Pieces of a Dream return to St. Louis for a Father’s Day gig at the Sheldon Concert Hall on June 20th. The concert starts at 7:30, and tickets are $35 (available through Metrotix .

San Francisco-based Guitarist Joyce Cooling brings her eclectic smooth jazz approach to Generations on Monday, June 28th. Tickets are $24.50 in advance and $28 at the door – and also available through MetroTix.