Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Joe Klopus interviewed organist Chris Hazelton.

*A weekly jazz jam in Lee’s Summit is recognized by The Pitch.

*Bob James’ concert at the Folly Theater was reviewed by The Kansas City Star.  KC Metropolis also documented the performance.

*Concert of the Century- A Tribute to Charlie Parker, a recording of a 1960 concert by a band led by Dizzy Gillespie, will be reissued on November 11.

*Rashida K. Braggs, the author of Jazz Diasporas: Race, Music and Migration in Post-World War II Paris, will give a free presentation at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, October 20, as part of the American Jazz Museum's Riffing on the Repertoire speaker series.  Braggs asserts "that African American musicians adopted a variety of strategies to cope with the cultural and social assumptions that confronted them throughout their careers in Paris."

*Jessie Riggins attended a performance by Will Matthews’ B-3 Organ Project.

*Terri Gibbs shares stories about Charlie Parker in his interview with Joe Dimino.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Folly Theater- Did you know box seats to see @KarrinAllyson are as low as $45 and tickets start as low as $25?! Get them today for Nov. 18th!

*Comment o’ the Week: Anonymous- Polsky is a great place to hear a show - much better than a noisy club. Let's turn out and support jazz in JOCO. I got my tickets!

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Bob James

The tagline of Bob James' site is "Artist. Musician. Legend."  It's not hyperbole.  James' recordings have sold millions of units.  Scores of people are capable of humming any number of familiar James melodies including "Angela".  The Missouri native will participate in a taping of the radio program 12th Street Jump at Broadway Jazz Club on Thursday, May 15. 

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Norman Brown, the Elders, Vincent Ingala, Mindi Abair, Bobby Watson, Eldar Djangarov, Angela Hagenbach and Lauren Braton are the performers at this year's Jazz In the Woods festival.

*Writing about the ongoing divisiveness in the Kansas City's jazz community, KC Jazz Lark suggests that "(i)t’s time we get along with each other."

*Kansas City's most popular blogger asserts that the city's connection to jazz is "one of the most tiresome and overly exaggerated nonexistent local legacies."

*Bob James will appear in a taping of 12th Street Jump at Broadway Jazz Club on May 15.  Tickets are $15.

*The Pitch notes the reunion of Trio ALL.

*The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will perform at the Lied Center on Wednesday, September 24.

*St. Louis Jazz Notes assesses the Sheldon Concert Hall's
2014-15 season.

*Tweet o' the Week: ABC Jazz- We're celebrating @IntlJazzDay today @ABCJazz @herbiehancock @UNESCO #BirdLives #JazzDay (link)

*The Kansas City Jazz Calendar has been updated for May.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*KCJazzLark provides a then-and-now look at several historic sites in the jazz district.

*Burt Bacharach references Mary Lou Williams, Count Basie and Teddy Wilson in an interview published by The Pitch.  (Via Tony's Kansas City.)

*The 100th show of Joe Dimino's Neon Jazz features a dozen Kansas City artists.

*The Pitch's new jazz scribe previews a gig at the Blue Room featuring the Jazz Disciples and Book of Gaia.

*Nate Chinen interviewed Pat Metheny and John Zorn about Tap: The Book of Angels, Vol. 20.  Tom Moon also analyzed the project.  The album was released yesterday.

*The Marshall Democrat-News recaps last weekend's Bob James Jazz Festival.

*Here's another installment of "Blues In the News" from 12th Street Jump.

*Tweet o' the Week: negroleaguesmusuem- Alex Bugnon just performed a soulful salute to the late Isaac Hayes! #nlbm

*Comment o' the Week: Anonymous- mmm Jazooo, what a F@#$ing joke.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Black House Improvisors' Collective's May 18 collaboration with Gamelan Genta Kasturi is available as a free download.  Hunter Long notates the performance.  Phonologotron provides accompanying footage.

*The Kansas City Memorial Juneteenth Jazz & Arts Festival is Saturday, June 9, at the Kansas City Blues & Jazz Juke House.

*KCJazzLark photographed Thursday's performance by the KC Sound Collective.

*A critic for the Guardian compares Krystle Warren to Nina Simone in a rapturous review of a live performance.

*Actress Janet Carroll has died.  The native of the Kansas City area was also a jazz vocalist.

*Chris Hazelton's recent performance at Take Five Coffee was documented.

*Here's a slide show of Bob James' clinic at the recent festival bearing his name. 

*Pat Metheny has issued an official  preview of his new album.

*Addison Frei, a native of Lawrence, Kansas, won the Jacksonville (Fla.) Jazz Piano Competition.  (Link via KC Stage Blog.)

*The Star offers a review of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band's concert at Crossroads KC.

*The Chevy Music Showcase is featuring eight area acts in an ambitious publicity campaign.  None are jazz bands.

*Tweet o' the Week: kctrumpeter- Diverse goes PUNK this Wednesday at Club Mustache. #diverted

*Comment o' the Week: Darren- Why won't the TJW book something for us, "The Occupy Wall Street crowd of far left zealots"  Note to self: Maybe if I got a job, saved some money and took some personal responsibility I could finance a concert season of my taste and maybe even network with other people who had jobs, saved some money and took personal responsibility who would get on board and underwrite a portion of the series.  Naaaa, I'll hang out at Harlings and the Record Bar for a couple more decades, that makes a lot more cents!

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Rich Wheeler's Quartet is admired by KCJazzLark.

*Logan Richardson is the subject of an  interview in Ink magazine.

*The Black House Improvisors' Collective's gamelan project is featured by KCUR's KC Currents.

*Black House's Russell Hunter Long interviews Teri Ann Quin.

*Ramsey Lewis pitches his May 19 show at the Gem Theater.

*A hometown newspaper previews Marshall, Missouri's Bob James Jazz Festival.

*Michael Pagan digs Bill Evans.

*Marilyn Maye will perform at the Quality Hill Playhouse from October 26 through November 4.

*Glenn North is featured in a public television segment related to the Black Archives. (I can't find a direct link to the piece.)

*A new version of The Quintet: Jazz at Massey Hall  was released yesterday.

*Northeast News features a swing dancing club.  (Via Tony's Kansas City.)

*Unverified report: Bobby Watson, Rod Fleeman, Tommy Ruskin and James Albright will join Bob James at the (internet-free) Gold Star Lounge on May 20.  Joe Klopus provides a phone number for the venue in his weekly column.

*Tweet o' the Week: Chris Hazelton- We release the album tomorrow! I hope to see you all at the Blue Room for the release party tomorrow night! #soexcited #kcjazz

*Comment o' the Week: Happy In Bag- Here's a worthwhile new think piece from NPR about DIY jazz festivals.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*From a flyer provided by a friend: Welcome to the Gold Star Lounge, the "New Home for Metro K.C. Jazz". Our opening night will be May 5, 2012 at 7pm with Sons of Brasil opening our new Jazz Venue.  Please come and join us for our Happy Hour from 5:00pm to 6:30pm and our outstanding food selections on our newly created menu which will be offered from 6:00pm to 7:30pm.  Suggested donation for show is $5.00. We will also be selling ticket at $35.00 per person for our Dinner Shows featuring such performances from the McFadden Brothers, Angela Hagenbach and so many more.  I've added the the shows listed on the flyer- including a Bob James gig on May 20- to The Kansas City Jazz Calendar.  Alas, the venue lacks a web site and Facebook account.  Here we go again.

*Hearts of Darkness has a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds for its second album.

*Ashley Hirt is the subject of an excellent Black House Improvisors' Collective interview.

*The People's Liberation Big Band is admired by KCJazzLark.

*Here's more from the recent I Rock Jazz interview with Bobby Watson.

*Michael Shults is pictured and interviewed in the June edition of Downbeat magazine.

*A California-based publication interviews Deborah Brown.

*T.J. Martley and Bill McKemy go hard at a Barnes & Noble in Leawood.

*Pop star Kenny Loggins and songwriter Arthur Hamilton sat in with David Basse and Mark Pender at a recent gig in California.  Sue Vicory  
filmed the encounter.

*Hearne Christopher reports on activity in the space once occupied by Jardine's.

*Lisa Henry is quoted in a preview of Aretha Franklin's appearance at Helzberg Hall.

*Carmen Bradford discusses her initial encounter with Count Basie.

*Here's a track from the forthcoming Pat Metheny album.

*The Bob James Jazz Festival is Saturday, May 19, in Marshall, Missouri.

*Tweet o' the Week: Django McTunes- It is a little known fact that Chris Getz of the Kansas City Royals is the son of jazz legend Stan Getz. #FakeRoyalsFacts

*Comment o' the Week: Matt Leifer- Uhhh...I'm not one to defend politicians, but I believe that the bridge leads somewhere, specifically, the other side of Brush Creek. Since when is infrastructure a waste of money? Get a grip.

*From Stan Kessler: We are having a joyous celebration of the life of Bill Caldwell, May 20, 2pm at The Blue Room. This is for those of us who knew & loved Bill, but could not make it to the funeral… Here's the format: Short set of tunes recorded by Bill by host band-Me, Kerry Strayer, Everett Devan, Bob Bowman, Mike Warren, (Jerry Hahn?). Remarks & stories by friends & family. Jam session  Tunes from Bill's CD projects played intermittently throughout.  The idea is for this to be fun and light, as Bill would have wanted it. This will last about 2 hours. There will be his CDs for sale, and part of the proceeds go to his wife, Kim, to help defray funeral costs.

*From Michael Pagan: Kansas City Youth Jazz organizers have re-set their annual MASTERS OF JAZZ fundraiser for 6:30 PM on Sunday, June 10, 2012 in Room 19 of the Education Center on the Metropolitan Community College Penn Valley campus… The event will include dinner and music provided by the Abel Ramirez big band and KCYJ groups for listening and dancing. Tickets cost $75 per person. A Patrons’ Party/reception will take place at 6:00 PM for donations of $150 or more. Dance only tickets will be available for $20. All proceeds will benefit Kansas City Youth Jazz.

(Original image of the new Troost Avenue bridge by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Fourplay

Smooth jazz supergroup Fourplay is scheduled to perform Saturday at the 40 Acres and a Mule campus as part of the Family Reunion Festival. The band's current members are Bob James, Nathan East, Chuck Loeb and Harvey Mason. Former Kansas Citian Kevin Mahogany and Makuza are also on the bill. The price of a ticket is an astoundingly low ten dollars.