Album Review: Ernest Melton- The Time of the Slave Is Over

Ernest Melton has arrived.  After years of raving about the young Kansas City saxophonist without much tangible corroboration of my enthusiasm, I was beginning to think my advocacy was misplaced. 

The Time of the Slave Is Over- Melton’s second release of 2018- indicates that his potential has been realized.  Filled with righteous fury, the album acts as a dangerously disruptive undercurrent in the tranquil sea of civility that dominates Kansas City’s jazz scene.

Much like Blues People, the most recent statement by the divisive Kansas City saxophonist Logan Richardson, the unpolished The Time of the Slave Is Over is loud and abrasive.  There’s nothing polite or accommodating about the confrontational album.  Even the ballads possess lacerating edges.

The aggressive funk accents provided by bassist DeAndre Manning and drummer Brad Williams cause The Time of the Slave Is Over to resemble the brash work of the London based innovator Shabaka Hutchings more than the calibrated bop of the hometown hero Bobby Watson.  Melton has thrown down the gauntlet.  Will his peers in Kansas City accept the challenge?

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Review: Steven Lambert- Seven Stories

A Plastic Sax review of a 2011 performance by Steve Lambert suggested that the young Kansas City saxophonist evoked past masters like Johnny Griffin, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and John Coltrane.  Lambert’s new album Seven Stories confirms that early assessment.

Lambert’s aggressive attack, muscular tone and defiantly old-school approach have become more pronounced in the intervening years. Aside from the electric bass on “Mente de Corazon,” few elements of Seven Stories would have sounded out of place on the 1959 recording Bags & Trane.  As with the classic release by Milt Jackson and John Coltrane, the selections on Seven Stories consist of rounds of solos following the statement of a theme.

The energetic playing of Lambert, vibraphonist Peter Schlamb, pianist Andrew Ouellette, bassists Ben Leifer and Dominique Sanders and drummer Brad Williams counteracts the somewhat stodgy format. Lambert’s thrilling soloing on the rousing “Bells of War” would be capable of bringing audiences to their feet at the Green Lady Lounge or the Mutual Musicians Foundation, forums in which the stirring music of Lambert and his cohorts is best experienced.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Review: Matt Otto and Andy Ehling- Reunion

The reticent Kansas City musician Matt Otto continues to verify his rarefied talent.  Reunion, the new album he co-leads with the Bay Area saxophonist Andy Ehling, is sublime. 

As on their 2008 album Returning, the duo successfully updates the deceptively transgressive West Coast sound associated with Jimmy Giuffre. 

Thorny tracks including “Twain” and “Lenigh” intimate dissonance, but the insistence of a stalwart rhythm section prevents the saxophonists from venturing too far afield. 

The grooves laid down by bassist Ben Leifer and drummer Brad Williams could be mistaken for the work of internationally acclaimed tandems like Harish Raghavan and Nasheet Waits.  Playing a Fender Rhodes, the New York based keyboardist Leonard Thompson adds complementary splashes of impressionistic colors.

Subtly luminous, Reunion may be even more remarkable than Soliloquy, the excellent album Otto released in 2016.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Sepian Bounce

A minor milestone in the evolution of Kansas City's jazz scene transpired on February 1.

Diverse played a hip-hop show at the RecordBar.  Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle performed jazz inspired by hip-hop during its record release party at the Blue Room.  Forward-thinking pianist Mark Lowrey and drummer Brad Williams entertained at the Green Lady Lounge.  The Jorge Arana Trio participated in a rock-oriented show at the Czar Bar.

Audiences were just as likely to hear covers of songs by J Dilla, Michael Jackson and Radiohead as material by Count Basie and Charlie Parker.  The younger musicians who participated in these shows aren't necessarily superior to their elder counterparts.  They merely have a different perspective than the jazz artists who worked elsewhere Friday night. 

These four events signal an unofficial changing of the guard.  I expect that The Kansas City Jazz Calendar will increasingly resemble nights like February 1.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Steve Lambert and the KC Sound Collective

Take Five Coffee + Bar was so crowded for the KC Sound Collective's performance on January 4 that I had to stand in the back hallway near the bathrooms.  The young group- saxophonist Steve Lambert, pianist Andrew Ouellette, bassist Dominique Sanders and drummer Brad Williams in the incarnation featured in the embedded video- play hard bop with fresh energy.  They're heard to good effect in the murky video shot the next night at the Mutual Musicians Foundation.  The members of the collective regularly perform together and separately.  Facebook provides the most effective way to track their gigs.

Review: The 2012 Prairie Village Jazz Festival

After captivating an audience of about 3,000 at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival with a wondrous version of "In a Sentimental Mood," Bobby Watson asked a rhetorical question.

"Who said ballads don't work at festivals?"

Almost everything worked Saturday at the suburban event. The weather was gorgeous. The food vendor's offerings were delicious. The set changes were efficient. And most importantly, the music was incredible. I caught all eight hours of Saturday's festival. My impressions of each act follow.

Diverse opened shortly after 3 p.m. Working as a trio and concentrating on standards, Hermon Mehari, Ben Leifer and Brad Williams played with subtle authority. With Williams replacing drummer Ryan Lee, the band has an entirely new feel. It's not better or worse- just different.

A few people whined on Facebook that the People's Liberation Big Band weren't given the opportunity to perform this year after a storm canceled most of last year's acts. Such complaints were silly. Saxophonist Wheeler and drummer Sam Wisman are members of PLBB. They were joined by the forward-thinking tandem of T.J. Martley and Bill McKemy. Anyone looking for subversiveness would have been satisfied by a set-closing cover of a Tortoise tune. Wheeler's set was my favorite of the day.

Mike Metheny's set, however, was the best received outing of the day. His commitment to swing elicited ecstatic sighs from many people seated near me. It didn't hurt that Metheny employed bassist Gerald Spaits and drummer Todd Strait. Bringing Mehari and Wheeler back to the stage for a burning version of Jimmy Smith's "Back At the Chicken Shack" was another smart move.

Fronting a band of ringers, Megan Birdsall was her usual delightful self.

Supported by keyboardist Richard Johnson, longtime bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Mike Warren, Watson was also predictably excellent. Johnson's funk-infused keyboard work on"Lemoncello" added a new dimension to Watson's sound.

Aside from her relentless chiding of the sound men, Karrin Allyson was a joy in her role as headliner. I was almost moved to tears during her heartbreaking version "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows." Watson and bassist Bob Bowman sat in for a closing rendition of "Well, You Needn't." It was a fine conclusion to a festival that was easily the area's single best large-scale jazz event of the last five years.

(Original images by Plastic Sax.  From left to right in top photo- T.J. Martley, Hermon Mehari, Gerald Spaits, Rich Wheeler, Mike Metheny, Todd Strait.)

Disperse- It's Diverted!

I haven't asked the members of Diverse about the motives behind their recent punk performance at Club Mustache.  The embedded video offers insights into the atmosphere of the unlikely evening.

As someone who developed a love of jazz and punk simultaneously, the concept of successfully merging the two forms has long intrigued me.  I'm not the only one.  I once shared a moment with Black Flag's Greg Ginn when we discovered our mutual love of Sonny Rollins.  Yet as Ginn's efforts have indicated, most attempts to combine punk's aggression with the innate artfulness of jazz are unsatisfying.  A more promising (and potentially lucrative) proposition occurs when hip hop and jazz artists with nihilistic attitudes collaborate.

Traditionalists might wonder why Kansas City's premier young jazz act would opt to play punk.  I'd counter by suggesting that it's precisely that adventurous spirit and willingness to take risks that make Diverse notable. In 2012, jazz can't have too many daring artists like Ambrose Akinmusire, Robert Glasper, Lionel Loueke and Jason Moran.  Diverted offers further confirmation that Ben Leifer, Hermon Mehari, Dominique Sanders and Brad Williams are similarly fearless musicians.

Review: The KC Sound Collective at the RecordBar

 Perhaps the most radical aspect of the KC Sound Collective is the ensemble's conservative approach.  Consisting of five of Kansas City's most notable young jazz musicians, the band carefully hews to the hard bop tradition.  While each member excels at playing in less conventional contexts, the Collective elects stay within the familiar framework codified half a century ago. 

As I noted in my review of the band's debut performance last year, the band's brash sound is in the tradition of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.  Only the electric keyboard played by Andrew Ouellette at the band's album release show Sunday at the RecordBar betrayed the formula.   About twenty people- over half of them prominent musicians- caught the quintet's first set. 

The lion's share of the soloing went to saxophonist Steve Lambert, trumpeter Hermon Mehari and Oulette, but the excellent work of bassist Dominique Sanders and drummer Brad Williams represent much of the Collective's appeal.  Sanders is also the composer of the band's most striking composition.  The freeform opening of one of his pieces reminds me of vintage Pharaoh Sanders. 

I have yet to hear it, but the Collective's new album In the Moment almost certainly documents the compositional talent of Sanders and his bandmates.  It'll be available when the band performs Thursday, May 24, at the Blue Room.  An appearance by the Collective at the venue, incidentally, was my my favorite jazz gig of 2011.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Review: The Kansas City Sound Collective at Jardine's

Although it was billed as the band's debut, Thursday's gig at Jardine's wasn't the first time The Kansas City Sound Collective played together in public. The group of young jazz musicians has met up several times for informal jam sessions at the Mutual Musicians Foundation.

The 45 minutes of the first set I caught Thursday didn't offer many surprises, but everything I heard was smart, sophisticated and expertly played. The band's approach was not unlike a mid-'60s date for Blue Note, with saxophonist Steve Lambert assuming the role of Wayne Shorter and trumpeter Hermon Mehari playing the part of Lee Morgan.

A number of notable jazz musicians were among audience of about 50. I sat near drummer Ryan Lee and couldn't help noticing his intent study of the significantly less rambunctious style of his counterpart Brad Williams. Pianist Andrew Ouellette and bassist Dominique Sanders rounded out the group. The five guys on stage had a cumulative age of not much more than 100.

The Kansas City Sound Collective operates under an awkward moniker and its approach is unapologetically conservative. Everything else about the band, however, is positively sublime.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)