Now's the Time: Andy Kirk

Was rock and roll invented in Kansas City?  “Roll ‘Em Pete”, the famous 1938 collaboration between Pete Johnson and Joe Turner, sounds a lot like rock and roll to me.  And a few years after moving from Kansas City to New York City in the 1940s, Andy Kirk’s band was captured in the embedded film performing the style of music later popularized by the likes of Bill Haley.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

I encountered my friend KC Jazz Lark shortly after making the suggested $10 donation for entry to the Musicians For Molly benefit concert at Mod Gallery on Sunday, July 14.  He informed me that he’d donated two of his most prized possessions to the fundraiser for Molly Hammer.  Although KC Jazz Lark is otherwise humble and gracious, he’d long boasted about his autographed posters from the sorely-missed Kansas City Jazz Festival.

I knew I was in big trouble.

As one of the organizers of the festival during the 1980s, KC Jazz Lark had every headliner sign corresponding concert posters.  Sure enough, autographs of an audacious clutch of jazz legends are inscribed in silver ink on the 1985 and 1986 posters that were displayed at the silent auction at Mod Gallery.  A partial list: Toshiko Akiyoshi, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Stan Getz, Al Grey, Percy Heath, Major Holley, Milt Jackson, Gus Johnson, Connie Kay, Andy Kirk, John Lewis, Herbie Mann, Jay McShann and Buddy Tate.

I bid slightly over the minimum for each poster, a sum that exceeds my airfare and lodging outlay for an upcoming trip to the Chicago Jazz Festival.  No one topped my opening salvo.  I’m now the proud owner of two unique pieces of jazz history.  My bank account took an unexpected hit, but the money went to a good cause.  And knowing that a miniscule moment in the lives of each jazz giant is in the room with me as I enjoy recordings like “Blue Clarinet Stomp” (1929), “Laura” (1953), “That’s All” (1955), “Fontessa” (1956), “Corcovado” (1964), “Memphis Underground” (1969) and “Trouble in Mind” (1981) enhances my appreciation of each classic.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy

Now's the time to go back in time.  The lively 1930s recordings of Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy are eternally engaging.  While much of the Kansas City band's discography may be purchased through dodgy European labels, a set of 11 tracks including "Dunkin' a Doughnut" is available as a free download at the Internet Archive.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The American Jazz Museum has unveiled the lineup for the 2013-14 season of Jammin' at the Gem.  It includes, Poncho Sanchez, Najee, the Newport 60th Anniversary Tour, Curtis Fuller and Bill Charlap.

*Leon Brady's new Kickstarter campaign is titled The Kansas City Percussion Project: Educating and Creating Musical Collaborations for Children and Seniors.

*Ryan Heinlein was interviewed by Joe Dimino of Neon Jazz.

*The history of The Pla-Mor is recounted by KCJazzLark.

*Nate Chinen provides insights into the interview he conducted with Pat Metheny and John Zorn.

*The one-time Oklahoman Champian Fulton recalls her relationship with Jay McShann in her entertaining blog.

*Ed Shaughnessy, a popular drummer who played with the likes of Count Basie,  has died.

*Tweet o' the Week: Dana A. Coleman- TODAY IN BLACK HISTORY: Andy Kirk was born on this date in 1898. He was an African American musician, composer…

*Comment o' the Week: Toby Tucker- Very well said Hap!
Toby

*From Jim Mair: Dan DeLuca lost his battle with Leukemia on Saturday May 25. Dan had an encyclopedic knowledge of the American Popular Songbook. He new the original changes of all the tunes but at the same time played very logical and inventive substitution chords which always kept things fresh. He could play in any key and transpose in a split second. He could carve any tempo with virtuosity and clarity. His bass lines rivaled the best bass players. In five years of playing with him every weekend I was never able to anticipate how he would end a song. Every tune became a lesson in harmony and melodic lines. He personally increased my repertoire by at at least 150 tunes. We would often segue tunes together for over an hour using hand gestures to signal the key we were moving to. Three fingers down meant three flats or the key Eb. Five fingers up meant five sharps or the key B etc. He loved Bill Evans and one of his most favorite compositions was The Bad and the Beautiful by David Raksin.  He was a quiet giant of the piano.

*From a press release: How many artists can claim praise like "punk rock provocateur," "jazz vibraphone visionary" and "percussion master" in the same sentence? There's only one: Texas-native Mike Dillon. Whether it's through his affiliation with artists like Les Claypool and Ani DiFranco, collaborations like Garage A Trois, The Dead Kenny Gs and Critters Buggin or bands he's fronted, including Billy Goat and Hairy Apes BMX, Mike D (as fans refer to him) has set his own standard going on 25 years now.  His current full-time focus, The Mike Dillon Band, is perhaps the perfect storm of all these past experiences. Dillon's manic creative energy has found a foil in three young New Orleans-based musicians. Carly Meyers on trombone provides melodic and harmonic counterpoint to Dillon's vibes and percussion as she feverishly whirls about the stage driving audiences into a frenzy. The rhythm section of guitarist/bassist Cliff Hines and drummer Adam Gertner turns on a dime from blinding punk rock assaults to deep funk go-go, skanked-out ska grooves to old school hip-hop beats with all points covered in between.  The band performs at the Brick in Kansas City on June 28. 

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Andy Kirk's Clouds of Joy

Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy were no longer based in Kansas City when this film was made in 1948. Although the likes of Claude "Fiddler" Williams had been gone for years, a Midwestern sensibility stuck to the band's sound like sticky red clay. Elements of Western swing, boogie and jump blues are easily discernible. Even so, it's startling to hear how dramatically Kirk's band had transformed itself. The seminal rock'n'roll number that starts at the 3:30 mark bears almost no resemblance to the Kansas City-based band of 1930 heard on this 78.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Did you know that Count Basie and John Coltrane once met? Here's proof. (Discovered via Jazz Wax.) And I don't know why this footage of Count Basie has received an astounding 10,000 views in five days, but it's a real treasure.

*Robert Trussell spoke with Mark O'Connor. The fiddler performs January 23 at The Folly Theater.

*KCJazzLark tells a charming story about meeting Andy Kirk.

*The American Jazz Museum will feature a day of Mary Lou Williams-related activities on January 23. The authors of a new children's book about Williams are among the participants.

*Joel Francis hangs out with Mouth.

*Pat Metheny's Orchestrion is currently ranked at #51 on Amazon's list of best-selling music titles.

*The University Daily Kansan touts Kansas City's jazz clubs.

*Suburban Prairie Village, Kansas, has seemingly caught the jazz bug. Air Force ensemble The Noteables perform at Asbury Methodist Church on January 31. And I spotted the following notice in the Village Voice (ha!): The 1st Annual Prairie Village Jazz Festival, on September 10th and 11th, 2010, is looking for volunteers to help plan and implement this premier event for our City, as members of the “Friends of PV Jazz Festival” ensemble. Please join us on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 6:30 pm to sign up as a member and learn more about how you can help make this fabulous opportunity a big success enhancing our City’s appreciation of the rich and plentiful jazz culture shared by many in our community.

*A new round of 12 O'Clock Jump has been announced. (Tip via a friend of Plastic Sax.) From a Theater League press release:
January 23- Featured Artist Django Reinhardt; Special Guests Rod Fleeman and Dan Bliss
January 30- Featured Artist Stan Getz; Special Guests Kim Park and Doug Talley
February 6- Featured Artist Walter Page; Special Guests Bobby Watson and Sean Jones
February 13- Featured Artist, Harold Arlen; Special Guests Harry Allen and Grant Stewart
February 20- Featured Artist David “Fathead” Newman; Special Guest Horace Washington
February 27- Featured Artist Richie Cole; Special Guests Jim Mair and Kerry Strayer
March 6- Featured Artist Bix Biederbecke; Special Guest Barry Springer
March 13- Featured Artist Quincy Jones; Special Guest TBA
March 20- Featured Artist George Benson; Special Guest Danny Embrey
March 27- Featured Artist, Red Norvo; Special Guest Kent Means

*The twenty comments in response to last week's Confirmation post set a Plastic Sax record. Thanks, one and all, for reading and participating.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Social Media Killed the Jazz Film Archive

I've previously expressed skepticism regarding the John Baker Film Collection. The stuff has been moldering in storage for decades. Next month, however, some of the material will finally go on display at the American Jazz Museum.

It would have been a really big deal twenty years ago. Today? Not so much.

Since the acquisition of the collection by the government of Kansas City, Missouri, a virtual revolution has entirely upended the old way of preserving and disseminating media. YouTube is one example. Another, of course, is Plastic Sax, an ad-free blog created by a passionate Kansas City jazz fan.

It's not as if the art documented in the John Baker Film Collection has lost any of its value. Quite the contrary. In 2009, however, people don't need to visit a museum to access similar material. Gems like the clip featured here are available to anyone with an internet connection.

On a related note, a friend of Plastic Sax just forwarded me an email about an intriguing event scheduled for this Saturday, August 22 August 29. The "1st Annual Yardbird Jazz & Film Festival" will take place in the jazz district.

Who knew?

Because the festival doesn't have a site and there's literally no information online, I've uploaded the festival's flyer myself. Grab it here.

Andy Kirk- Blue Clarinet Stomp

This is the sound of Kansas City eighty years ago. The Andy Kirk session was recorded at WDAF's studios at the Kansas City Star. According to Frank Driggs' and Charles Haddix's Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop- a History, that's Claude "Fiddler" Williams on fiddle, John Harrington on clarinet, John Williams on baritone saxophone, Bill Dirvin on guitar, Kirk on tuba and Ed "Crackshot" McNeil on drums. Harry "Big Jim" Lawson scats.