*Longtime Kansas City jazz favorite Pete Eye has died. Here's his obituary. This newly uploaded video of Eye at a 1986 wedding reception will have viewers smiling through their tears.
*From the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey: (W)e are happy to welcome Jeff Harshbarger as our new double bassist. Residing in Kansas City, Harshbarger is a prolific composer and bandleader in his own right. Plastic Sax interviewed Brian Haas of JFJO ten months ago. (Initial tip via Steve Paul's Twitter feed.)
*Charles Perkins, perhaps the finest living Kansas City jazz artist who's managed to hide his formidable talent from the internet, can finally be seen on video.
*KCUR offers a seven-minute feature on the late Oscar "Lucky" Wesley. (Tip via KCJazzLark.)
*KCJazzLark continues to entertain and enlighten. He offers a review and photos of Junior Mance's gig at the Blue Room. In a separate post he toasts the new release by Mike Metheny and roasts the feeble marketing efforts of a couple jazz venues.
*I've seen it with my own eyes. The Kansas City Strip trolley stops at 18th & Vine on Fridays and Saturdays. A "daily pass" costs $15.
*An obviously delirious critic reviewed Karrin Allyson' appearance at Jardine's last week. KC Confidential also covered Allyson. A blogger chimes in here.
*"I see people that are hungry waiting for their mail/Hoping that their loved one is not in jail!" Sellie Truitt's new video for "Save Our Saturdays" has to be seen and heard to be believed.
*Mark Edelman recommends several jazz gigs.
*Joel Francis caught up with Greg Ginn.
*Here's live footage of Megan Birdsall's MBird project.
*Dean Minderman, the man behind the excellent St. Louis Jazz Notes, is displeased by the 2010-2011 jazz season at Sheldon Hall. Don't be surprised if some of the same acts appear on the Folly Theater's next jazz series.
*From Fanny Dunfee: The American Jazz Museum will pay special tribute to the Jazz legacy and genius of Duke Ellington as well as, honoring Clark Terry and Kansas City based Jazz Legend Alaadeen. Thursday, April 29th (Ellington’s 111th Birthday) is Ellington Education Day at the American Jazz Museum's Blue Room starting with a 10:00 am panel session with Dan Morgenstern (moderator), Barry Hall, Clark Terry and Alaadeen. On Friday, April 30th, the 2:00pm panel session will be “The Genius of Duke Ellington: Goin’ to Graduate School – A Players Perspective”. Panelists include NEA Jazz Master Clark Terry, NEA Jazz Master Dan Morgenstern, Barry Hall, and KC Legend Alaadeen. Moderating is Greg Carroll, American Jazz Museum Chief Executive Officer. The Ellington Alumni All-Stars open rehearsal with Barry Hall, Clark Terry and Alaadeen is set for 4:00pm Friday at the Gem Theater in Kansas City's Jazz District. The culmination of the 2 day celebration will be the presentation of the American Jazz Museum's Lifetime Achievement Award to Clark Terry and Alaadeen at an 8:00pm Ellington Tribute Concert at the Gem Theater. The concert, will feature Clark Terry and Alaadeen with the Ellington All-Star Big Band. Also performing will be the American Jazz Museum Student All-Star Band and selected high school big bands.
*From Brad Cox: On May 1 (International Workers' Day), 2010, The People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City will perform the ensemble's original score to Sergei Eisenstein’s classic 1925 silent film “The Battleship Potemkin.” Along with a complete screening of "Battleship Potemkin," the People's Liberation Big Band will also accompany two short films as a prelude to the performance. Composers and arrangers contributing to the project include P. Alonzo Conway, Brad Cox, Jeff Harshbarger, and Jeffrey Ruckman. The People’s Liberation Big Band’s score, which contains newly composed material, free improvisation, and arrangements of Shostakovich melodies, was premiered last year on May 1st, and was named as one of the best music events of the year by Bill Brownlee, special contributor to the Kansas City Star. The performance will take place at the Paul Mesner Puppet Studio (1006 Linwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64109) at 8:00 p.m. Ticket price is $15, $10 for students.
(Original image of Nathan Granner performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Royals game on April 9 by Plastic Sax.)
2 comments:
Forgive me if you've already linked to this, but I wanted to let your readers know that Orrin Evans was on The Jazz Session recently, and much of the conversation was about KC's Bobby Watson. Orrin's new record is a tribute to Bobby on many levels, and I thought Plastic Sax fans would enjoy the conversation. You can listen here:
http://thejazzsession.com/2010/03/29/the-jazz-session-155-orrin-evans/
All the best,
Jason Crane
The Jazz Session
http://thejazzsession.com
Thanks for the link, Jason. I'll confess to having accidentally overlooked it when it crossed my desk. Nice work.
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