Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Joe Klopus provides a fine year-in-jazz wrap-up.

*Harold O'Neal's New Year's Eve gig at the Mutual Musicians Foundation is documented by KCJazzLark.

*Wayward Blog gets the scoop on a jazz "reinterpretation" of A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory at The Blue Room.

*NPR is streaming Bird Songs, Joe Lovano's tribute to Charlie Parker. The saxophonist appears at the Folly Theater on April 2.

*Steve Penn explains the American Jazz Museum's "Take Five" program.

*Here's a compelling video for an event that apparently takes place Mondays at the Kansas City Blues & Jazz Juke House. I'd link to the venue if it had a site.

*Geek alert! Eric Singer demonstrates his music robot inventions. Content specific to Pat Metheny's Orchestrion project begins at the 12:20 point.

*Interesting 2007 footage of Bobby Watson, Hermon Mehari, Will Sanders and Ben Leifer at Switzerland's Blues to Bop Festival recently surfaced.

*A couple new items have been posted at the home of the Black House Improvisors' Collective.

*Plastic Sax's Kansas City Jazz Calendar, while far from perfect, remains the area's best compilation of jazz-only events. (As always, musicians and club owners are encouraged to send me gig information. Listings are, of course, free.)

*Tweet o' the Week: kcjazzlark Jan 4 & The Phoenix has yet to update their online calendar. Guess they don't care if those who go out for music go there this month. Sad.

*From a JCCC press release: The country’s most celebrated Gypsy jazz ensemble, The Hot Club of San Francisco, will accompany four silent surrealist films in a night titled Silent Surrealism at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, in Polsky Theatre of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College... The Hot Club accompanies these films with the distinctive music made famous by Stephane Grappelli, Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club de France. Tickets are $30... A free gypsy jazz guitar master class will be offered at 4 p.m. Feb. 4 in Polsky Theatre.

*From the artist's publicist: The internationally acclaimed musician Delfeayo Marsalis comes to Springfield, MO on February 5 with his original theatrical jazz production "Sweet Thunder: Duke & Shak" which melds the work of Duke Ellington with William Shakespeare. Featuring Marsalis, actor Kenneth Brown, Jr. (Treme, Memphis Beat) and a jazz octet - Marsalis on trombone, Lynn Grissett on trumpet, Shaena Ryan on bari sax, Mark Gross on alto sax, Don Byron on tenor sax and clarinet, David Bryant on piano, Dezron Douglas on bass, and Winard Harper on drums-plus full stage set and costuming, the show will tour to 36 American cities and towns from January 19 - May 6, 2011.

*From Brandon Draper: Drummer Brandon Draper brings The Willie Waldman Project to Jardine's! The name might not strike an immediate chord, but Willie Waldman is one you’ll find in the liner notes of artists and groups including: Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Warren G., The Dogg Pound, Tupac Shakur... While the list goes on, there’s much more to this trumpet players credit than simply recording as a sideman... Joining the group on bass will be Eric Gould of the band Particle and Mickey Hart's Hydra and Brandon Draper on drums, percussion and electronics.

(Original image of Prospero's Books by Plastic Sax.)