Jazz Saint Louis announces 2012-13 season

By Terry Perkins, special to the Beacon

5:19 pm on Wed, 05.30.12

At a noon luncheon/press conference today, Jazz St. Louis Executive Director Gene Dobbs Bradford and Director of Operations and Artistic Administration Bob Bennett unveiled the Jazz at the Bistro 2012-13 subscription series – plus a number of special events, artist residencies and collaborative events with the Touhill Performing Arts Center at UMSL as well as the annual Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, scheduled for April 2013.

This marks the 18^th season at Jazz at the Bistro at its Grand Center location, and the lineup of performances revealed an interesting mix of familiar artists from past seasons, up-and-coming young talent, and some unusual, one-of-a-kind combinations of musicians that should spark plenty of interest among area jazz fans.

Bistro regulars such as John Pizzarelli, Joey DeFrancesco, Freddie Cole, Marlena Shaw, Kurt Elling, the Bad Plus and Dr. Lonnie Smith are on the schedule. New artists such as vocalists Gregory Porter and Sachal Vasandani and trumpet player Christina Scott will be making their Bistro debuts.

But the real excitement comes from one-off combinations like the Billy Childs Quartet, which features the talented pianist playing with three other bandleaders – sax player Steve Wilson, Drummer Brian Blade and bassist Scott Colley.

“You’re not going to hear that combinations of musicians anywhere except Jazz at the Bistro,” Bennett said. “For the group’s other dates, Brian Blade was unavailable, so this is a Bistro exclusive.”

In addition, the intimate 150-seat Bistro will showcase two musicians who last performed in St. Louis at the 1,600-seat Touhill – bassist Marcus Miller and keyboard giant Joe Sample.

“Marcus Miller was with David Sanborn and George Duke at the Touhill, but this season he’s opening up our Bistro season on Sept. 9 and 10,” Bradford said. “That really speaks to how much musicians enjoy playing in the intimate atmosphere of the Bistro – and also to the relationships we’ve been able to develop and build with musicians over the years. We treat them right, and they enjoy coming back.”

Bradford is especially excited about the appearance of trumpet great Terence Blanchard Sept. 19-22 at the Bistro. Jazz St. Louis and Opera Theatre have jointly commissioned Blanchard to write the music for a new opera, “Champion,” which will debut during the 2013 Opera Theatre season.

Jazz St. Louis will also continue to present concerts at the Touhill for major artists. Sonny Rollins returns on Oct. 12, and the genre-bending combination of legendary pianist Chick Corea and banjo player Bela Fleck takes the Touhill stage on March 23.

Finally, the collaboration between UMSL and Jazz St. Louis continues with major concerts presented as part of the greater St. Louis jazz Festival in 2013. Monterey jazz Festival On Tour – featuring vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist Chris Potter, pianist Benny Green, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and drummer Lewis Nash will play the Touhill on April 19.

“There may be a few more special event bookings announced for the spring,” adds Bennett. “We deliberately leave some weekends open just in case we’re able to line up something that makes sense musically.”

Check out the full Jazz St. Louis lineup below. For more info on Jazz St. Louis, go to www.jazzstl.org.

Wells Fargo Advisors Jazz at the Bistro Subscription Series

Sets at 7:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.

Sept. 19-22 : Terence Blanchard

Oct. 3-6 : Billy Childs Quartet

Oct. 17-20 : Christian Scott

Oct. 31-Nov. 3 : Terell Stafford

Nov. 14-17 : Joey DeFrancesco Trio

Nov. 28-Dec. 1 : John Pizzarelli Quarte

Dec. 12-15 : Chris Potter Trio

Jan. 2-5, 2013 : Gregory Porter

Jan. 16-19 : The Bad Plus