Courtesy of Cirque Du Soliel

Michael Jackson: Still filling arenas.

​Trumpeter Keyon Harrold has spent much of his professional life in the relatively laid-back atmosphere of jazz clubs and recording studios. But when the St. Louis native performs in his hometown this week, he'll be in the middle of a circus - literally. That's because Harrold is part of the live band for "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour," the tribute to the late singer produced by Cirque du Soleil that's playing the Scottrade Center (1401 Clark Avenue, 314-241-1888) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Sure, Harrold has been part of major tours before, as a musician-for-hire backing up prominent R&B and hip-hop stars such as Maxwell, Jay-Z, and Erykah Badu. But with a cast of 65 performers, including twelve musicians, and 38 semi-trucks filled with lighting and sound gear, video projection and special effects equipment, staging and scenery, the "Immortal" tour is another level of "big" entirely. "It's just massive," says Harrold. "It's one of those incredibly big productions that Cirque is known for."

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​Earlier this month, Spin announced that it is moving most of its album reviews to Twitter. Music writing is getting shorter, not longer, and yet the 33 1/3 Series, which has the gall to publish entire books on albums that aren't even current, soldiers on. There are 85 installments in print now with another 7 on the way. And number 93 could have your name on it. 33 1/3 is accepting submissions.

Last summer, the books' publisher Continum was acquired by Bloomsbury. Given how little the company seems to be interfering with the proceedings, this is good news -- Bloomsbury's deeper pockets give the series a safety net. Read the submission guidelines on the 33 1/3 blog. The bullet points, plus a complete list of the books (and therefore albums) already accounted for, is below.

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Rockwell Knuckles on stage at the Gramophone during his last St. Louis performance, from the Tef Poe "Coming Outta Missouri" video.

​When St. Louis rapper Rockwell Knuckles got on a one way plane to New York last week, it wasn't exactly a surprise to those who are close to him. He'd been hinting at the move for some time through his prolific social media vehicles. But Rocky, whose tidal stage presence and uncompromising verses earned him a reputation as one of the best MCs in St. Louis, still left with relatively little fanfare. His final show, never billed as such, was the video shoot for frequent collaborator Tef Poe's "Coming Outta Missouri." If you think that was in any way coincidence, you don't know Rockwell Knuckles (or Tef Poe, for that matter).

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​Alice Jacobs, who owned and operated Cicero's (6691 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-862-0009) with her husband Shawn, passed away this past Sunday, our sister blog Gut Check reports. She was 65.

Two of her children, Chad and Trisha, work at the restaurant. A third, Derek, lives in Kansas City. A service will be held tomorrow -- the restaurant will be closed. Cicero's will reopen on Thursday at 11 a.m.

Gut Check: Cicero's Mourns Owner Alice Jacobs

Calvin Cox

The Control Room at Ex'treme Institute.

​Contrary to what you might think, local legend Nelly's latest collaboration isn't with some up-and-coming rapper or hot-shot producer; it's with St. Louis-based Vatterott College. Located on Laclede's Landing, Ex'treme Institute (800 North Third Street, 888-669-0633) by Nelly opened its doors last November to students looking to break in to 'the biz' through music recording, music production, or graphic design.

"EI by Nelly" hosted a reception last night following the premiere episode of their live streaming webcast, Seviin @ Seven. The webcast itself featured the lovely and vibrant Seviin Li as host, with emcee Murphy Lee and singer/songwriter/Atlanta Housewife Kandi Burress as guests. With a clear focus on making it in the music industry, the show offered some insight on the do's and don'ts, although nerves seemed to be a factor during the interviews, and some of the "Seviin Questions" were outright goofy. Example: Kandi was asked what she does when she "gets the bubblies" during a live interview. Without missing a beat, she replied "Just let it slide slowly."

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Kiernan Maletsky

A small damp trail is all that remains from the water that stood a quarter inch thick across the record store's floor.

​After a vicious late night thunderstorm and 3 a.m. tornado siren wake-up call, many people are moving a bit slowly in St. Louis today. Vintage Vinyl (6610 Delmar Boulevard, 314-721-4096) employees, though, had more than lack of sleep to contend with this morning: The storm water broke a coupling in one of the store's drainage pipes, causing the rainwater to stream onto the record store's floor. Store Director Leon Reed says about a quarter inch of water was standing on the floor this morning. They closed the store and have spent the day getting rid of the water, and they'll be open for business around 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. If you're headed there soon, it's a good idea to call and make sure the store's back in business.

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​The first annual SLUM Fest awards were held over the weekend at Atomic Cowboy. The event featured performances from over a dozen of the best hip-hop groups and solo artists in St. Louis -- standouts included OOOPS and Tef Poe, who also won for best male artist and best mixtape. Awards were announced in fourteen categories total. The complete list of nominees is below, with winners marked in bold.

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Feature: St. Louis' biggest hip-hop showcase turns two
Highlights From the Second Annual SLUM Fest

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Courtesy of the St. Louis Symphony

Richard Holmes plays with the SLSO

​Richard Holmes was the St. Louis Symphony's Principal Timpanist for 41 years. He died last June after several years of dealing with cancer. "When you think about classical music, it is a reflection of all aspects of living, of a culture," says SLSO Percussionist John Kasica, who worked with Holmes when they were both students at Julliard and played with him for nearly his entire tenure with the SLSO. "[Holmes] taught people how to be excellent through classical music and also just in their lives. It was an honor and privilege to play with him."

In addition to his work as a timpanist, Holmes conducted youth symphonies; rode horses; painted; spoke German, Italian and French; and made his own drum sticks. "He was a great innovator," says Kasica. "His life reflected a way of living that I try to emulate."

The SLSO will pay tribute to Holmes tomorrow night at Powell Symphony Hall with its performance of Dvorak's Symphony No. 7, Crumb's A Haunted Landscape and Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs. St. Louis native Christine Brewer will sing the soprano roles on the latter.

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Wikimedia Commons

David Lee Roth

​Van Halen fans disappointed the band's spring 2012 tour did not include a St. Louis stop saw a glimmer of hope this morning when Ticketmaster posted information about an April 29th date at the Scottrade Center and the Post-Dispatch reported the show.

But there was cause for skepticism -- no mention of the show in anywhere through the band or the venue. We contacted the Scottrade Center, and a representative has verified that there is currently no Van Halen shows confirmed at the venue for this year.

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​Old Rock House (1200 S. 7th Street, 314-588-0505) is introducing a new series pairing the release of St. Louis microbrews with local musicians. The kickoff is Wednesday with Schlafly releasing its Scotch Ale. The entertainment will come from Joe Stickley & Sean Canan. Doors open at 7 p.m., the show's at 9 and admission is free.

The series will make an effort to match the beer with the band (Celtic music fits nicely with a Scotch ale). The pairings won't always be so easy, of course -- we wonder, if, say, a Pumpkin beer has its debut here, what it will get for accompaniment.

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