Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra created a social isolation rendition of the Clint Ashlock composition “Solitary Confinement.”

*2019 Fellows, an album recorded under the auspices of Kansas City Area Youth Jazz, is available on Bandcamp.

*The 2020-21 season at The Lied Center includes concerts by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Sherman Irby and Charenée Wade.

*Joe Dimino interviewed Ryan Anselmi, Brett Jackson and Eddie Moore.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Clint Ashlock- I play Black American Music. I wouldn’t have the career and life I have if it weren’t for great black Americans. To say I condemn racism doesn’t seem significant, but I do, and I’m trying to educate myself, figure out how best to make things better from my small part of the world

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Review: The Project H- Everyday, Forever

Everyday, Forever, the fourth album by The Project H, comes with strings attached.  The signature components of the Kansas City instrumental band’s sound- bold horns, sturdy melodies and unwavering grooves- are supplemented by a string quartet on half of the album’s ten tracks.

The strings add subtle shadings to “Black Swan,” provide a rhapsodic introduction to “The Company You Keep” and help make “Ripple Effect” one of the most animated tracks in the Project H’s catalog.

Jazz enthusiasts will be thrilled by Everyday Forever’s soaring solos.  A few highlights: bandleader and trombonist Ryan Heinlein’s engaging statement on “Black Swan,” saxophonist Brett Jackson’s aggressive attack on “Don’t Call It That,” vibraphonist Peter Schlamb’s fiery guest appearance on “Planet Smasher” and bassist Andrew Stinson’s thorough domination of “Table Scraps.”

Yet the Project H’s emblematic good-time vibes are the most appealing aspect of Everyday, Forever.  Accessible but smart, the ensemble remains an elite party band for bacchanalian revelers as well as for members of Kansas City’s intellectual elite.

The Project H’s second and third albums were reviewed at Plastic Sax in 2012 and 2014.  Everyday, Forever will be released on March 23.  The band will celebrate the project at the Westport Coffee House on Wednesday, April 4.  A trio led by Mark Lettieri of Snarky Puppy will also perform.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Kansas City Star reviewed a concert by the Bad Plus with Joshua Redman at the Gem Theater.

*Hermon Mehari promoted a gig at the Blue Room with an appearance on a morning television program.

*Nonesuch Records shared another track from the Pat Metheny Unity Group’s forthcoming The Unity Sessions album.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Brett Jackson- Got to hear one of my idols tonight. Didn't let me down... Awesome picture borrowed from Herschel McWilliams

*The lineup for the 2016 edition of the Detroit Jazz Festival includes Ron Carter, Stanley Cowell, Brad Mehldau, Roy Hargrove, Chris Potter, Jason Moran and Randy Weston.

*Comment o’ the Week: Anonymous- Hope you're all better now. You could do a lot worse than pre-war Basie that's for sure. Love Plastic Sax but got to admit that reading your occasional reviews of Thrash Metal concerts makes MY ears ring!

*From a press release: “My Kansas City”: David Basse-Joe Cartwright Septet. The great Kansas City jazz tradition will be celebrated on Saturday, May 7th at 8 PM at the MTH Theater at Crown Center, with songs made famous by Count Basie, Jay McShann, Mary Lou Williams, Charlie Parker, Pat Metheny, Mike Melvoin, Kevin Mahogany and Cab Calloway… David Basse – vocal, Joe Cartwright – piano, Seth Lee – bass, Taylor Babb – drums, Jason Goudeau – trombone, Stephen Martin – saxophone, Nate Nall – trumpet...  Find out more about a subject that is often mentioned and seldom explained: Kansas City and its music!… $20.

(Original image of 19th & Vine by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Gale Tallis, the executive director of the concert hall, recently announced that the next season of the Folly Theater's jazz series will include concerts by Cecile McLorin-Savant and the Donny McCaslin Quartet.

*The Pitch touts Saturday’s Patti Austin concert.

*Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle and the Project H are playing at a day party hosted by Nextbop in Austin this week.

*Chris Burnett filmed a conversation with Marcus Hampton.

*Brett Jackson was interviewed by Joe Dimino.

*Chris Burnett reports that the Italian pianist Dino Massa will perform in the area next month.

*Tweet o’ the Week: John Levenstein- @realDonaldTrump You should also consider bringing up Kansas City jazz legend Count Basie. Something about jazz now being made in China?
 
*From Ron Carlson: After a hiatus from Live Jazz Fridays at the Lucky Brewgrille at 5401 Johnson Drive in Mission KS, we are now ready to schedule Live Jazz Thursdays there in April from 6 - 8 pm.  I am looking forward to this chance to play there with great players on a quieter night.  In the meantime, I am spending a good bit of time scheduling and periodically performing at The Art Factory near 135th and Nall Ave in Overland Park KS. This is the best new venue in that part of town since Take Five. Upcoming players schedule there include Bob Bowman, Stan Kessler, Matt Otto, Todd Strait, Laura Caviani and many others. We are even working on scheduling big bands for the room.

*From Michael Shults: Really happy to be bringing pianist Phil DeGreg back to KC next week. Phil was one of my teachers in graduate school at Cincinnati Conservatory and is really one of the best I've ever heard. He has an amazing story - studied psychology at Yale but caught the music bug while in college, moved to KC in the 80's and got it together in a hurry. Essentially went from a novice to touring with Woody Herman in a few short years. I wrote about him for allaboutjazz.com in 2011. We are playing two shows next week - Tuesday (March 22) at the Majestic, and Wednesday (March 23) at Green Lady with New Jazz Order.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Come Sunday

Steve Lambert made a flute solo sound as tough as nails last night.  The outstanding multi-instrumentalist leads the 627 Big Band at the Green Lady Lounge every Sunday.  Contributions from notable musicians including saxophonist Brett Jackson, trumpeter Stan Kessler and organist Paul Roberts also shone.  Lambert’s formidable ensemble is one of several active big bands that continue to infuse Kansas City’s jazz scene with vitality.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Chuck Haddix and Gerald Spaits discussed Jay McShann’s legacy on KCUR’s Up To Date.  KCUR’s weekly Local Listen segment featured McShann.  Champian Fulton paid tribute to the Kansas City icon.

*The Pitch touts a series of Brett Jackson performances at the Green Lady Lounge.

*John Hilderbrand acknowledges the twentieth anniversary of his Contemporary Jazz site.

*The Kansas City Star listed  Charlie Parker as one of the ten greatest Kansas Citians.

*Marilyn Maye plays Coachella (Valley).

*Tweet o’ the Week: Ça Va- Make reservations for Valentine's weekend! @KCTrumpeter will be setting the mood Thursday-Saturday. Email caitlin@cavakc.com for details xo

*From Ron Carlson: Announcing a new organization to promote jazz music - the Kansas City Jazz Workshop.  The mission of the Kansas City Jazz Workshop is to offer jazz music concerts and clinics in order to promote, document and record expressions of this creative art form.  A concert series in March honoring Women in Jazz and several recording projects are underway.  For more information about the Kansas City Jazz Workshop, LLC, contact Ron Carlson at ronaldwcarlson(at)att.net.  The Kansas City Jazz Workshop presents a 2016 Women in Jazz Series at The Art Factory: March 4th, Alyssa Murray Trio; March 11th, Diana Herold Quartet; March 18th, Laura Caviani Duo.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Eddie Moore is the subject of a lengthy profile in The Pitch.

*KC Jazz Lark touts the new issue of JAM magazine.

*The Kansas City Star reviewed Diana Krall’s return to the Midland theater.

*Libby Hanssen reviewed Julian Lage’s concert at the Folly Theater.

*The Pitch recommends New Jazz Order’s weekly gig at the Green Lady Lounge.

*Joe Dimino’s recent interview subjects include Michael Carvin.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Brett Jackson- Recording today at the immaculate @strangelandhq for @krizzkaliko. Keep your ears and eyes peeled…(image)

*Comment o’ the Week: Anonymous- My favorite part of her last KC appearance was getting to see Anthony Wilson join Matt Otto for a killer show at the Westport Coffee House. It would be nice to hear that again.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Pitch reports on the shuttering of Broadway Kansas City.  KC Jazz Lark ponders the closing.

*Natalie Gallagher documents a memorable night at the Mutual Musicians Foundation.

*Joe Klopus decodes the “JazzAlice” project.

*KCUR featured a track from Ron Carlson’s new album in a Local Listen segment.

*The New York townhouse that was once Charlie Parker’s home is on the market for $9,250,000.  I wrote about visiting the site earlier this year.

*Hmph was interviewed on KCUR’s Up to Date program.

*Pat Metheny took the honors at the top guitarist in the Downbeat Reader’s Poll.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Brett Jackson- Live recording with the #boogaloo7 at the #greenladylounge tonight. Come lay down your best tracks with us!!

*Comment o’ the Week: Anonymous- Maybe more people would come to these gigs if even the least little attempt was made to promote the show. Your review was the first I'd heard of it.

*From Michael Pagán: I am pleased to announce the residency of Thomas Knific in Kansas City next weekend. Tom is a seasoned  bassist who has performed with a long list of music luminaries. He is Director of Jazz Studies at Western Michigan University (in Kalamazoo)… He is an accomplished composer, performer, and master teacher… Knific will work with students in the jazz program of Ottawa university on Friday October 30 and perform at the Blue Room in Kansas City that night (8:30 PM) in a quartet led by Michael Pagán with clarinetist John Blegen and guitarist Rod Fleeman. On Saturday Oct. 31st, he will present a duo masterclass/concert with fellow bassist Bob Bowman (KC location TBA).

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

 *The Topeka Capital Journal reports that the 2015-16 season of the Topeka Jazz Concert Series (formerly the Topeka Jazz Workshop) includes an appearance by Karrin Allyson.

*A television station produced a glowing feature about the young saxophonist Houston Smith.

*The Pitch touts the final show at the second incarnation of Take Five Coffee + Bar.

*Eddie Moore was interviewed by a representative of KTBG.

*KC Jazz Lark commemorates his blog’s sixth anniversary with a set of photos.

*Paul Roberts lists his favorite albums.

*Marilyn Maye will perform seven shows at the Quality Hill Playhouse in September.

*Harold O’Neal’s new highlight reel includes his work on tracks for artists including Murs, Busta Rhymes and Angelique Kidjo.

*The members of a touring rock band documents their experiences in the Jazz District and at the Green Lady Lounge.  (The relevant portion of their adventure begins at around the 5:30 mark.)

*”Wavelength” is Carol Duboc’s latest music video.

*Mark Guiliana is among Joe Dimino’s recent interview subjects.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Brett Jackson- Thank you, wristband. Your approval means the world to me. #vip @ Green Lady Lounge (photo)

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: The Project H

The Project H, the ensemble responsible for my favorite jazz-oriented performance by Kansas City musicians of the first few months of 2015, returns to the Westport Coffee House on Thursday, May 7.

Concert Review: Lauren Krum and the Project H at Westport Coffee House

Anticipating a rollicking set of hillbilly jazz, I eagerly paid the $10 cover to hear Lauren Krum sing with The Project H at the Westport Coffee House last Thursday.

I didn’t get what I paid for.

Instead, the collaboration between the vocalist from the alternative country band The Grisly Hand and the trombone-led jazz collective was a sophisticated exposition of adult pop. 

Rather than the Bob Wills-style Western swing I expected, Krum and the band played elegant renditions of material by the likes of Beck, Emily King, Michael Kiwanuka and Amy Winehouse.  The result resembled a promising rehearsal for a Shelby Lynne recording session.

Only the last selection, a tender reading of the standard “Why Try to Change Me Now?” that featured a sensitive contribution from saxophonist Brett Jackson, could be comfortably classified as jazz.  

While the show was nothing like what I’d anticipated, it was even better than I’d dared to hope.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Review: The Project H- We Live Among the Lines

Become Light, the effervescent second album by The Project H, was Plastic's Sax's top release by a locally based ensemble in 2012.  The new album We Live Among the Lines is even better.

Without sacrificing its knack for crafting ingenious melodies, the Project H has evolved into a tighter and tougher band.  The solos on We Live Among the Lines are more direct and the rock elements have been been accentuated.  The exhilarating "A Bear's Cage" is among the tracks that prominently features distorted guitar and keyboards.  "Do It Up & Do It Right" finds the sweet spot between the classic R&B of the 1970s and contemporary groove-oriented ensembles.

We Live Among the Lines indicates that the members of the Project H- trumpeter Clint Ashlock, trombonist Ryan Heinlein, saxophonist Brett Jackson, guitarist Jeff Stocks, keyboardist Andrew Ouellette, bassist Dominique Sanders and drummer Matt Leifer- understand that musical daring and fun aren't mutually exclusive concepts. 

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Concert Review: Vine Street Rumble Jazz Orchestra at Celebration at the Station

Several thousand early birds at Sunday's Celebration at the Station heard vintage Kansas City jazz performed in a setting that would have been familiar to a young Charlie Parker. 

Vine Street Rumble Jazz Orchestra's delightful "pre-show" performance in front of Union Station resurrected 80-year-old ghosts that were visible to at least two patrons.

As saxophonist Brett Jackson soloed on Count Basie's "Blue and Sentimental," a seemingly unstable vagrant seated next to me shouted "this is the sound!"  I shared his phantasmal enthusiasm for the band's stated mission of "celebrating the legacy of Kansas City jazz in the 30's and 40's." 

The set began with a couple of Jay McShann numbers and included at least one Bennie Moten composition.  The ensemble features notable players such as saxophonist Steve Lambert, trumpeters Al Pearson and Jay Sollenberger, trombonist Jason Goudeau, guitarist Rod Fleeman and pianist Joe Cartwright. 

Vine Street Rumble's 45-minute excursion seemed far too short.  Organizers would be foolhardy not to make the ensemble a permanent attraction at the large-scale annual event.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Concert Review: Society Red at Take Five Coffee + Bar

If the goal of Society Red is to generate renewed interest in the music of Dexter Gordon, the band has already achieved a modicum of success.   I've listened to more Gordon in recent days than I have during all of the past decade. 

I caught Society Red's first set at Take Five Coffee + Bar on Friday, January 3. In addition to serving as a sort of coming out party for the band, the evening also marked the fourth anniversary of the Leawood venue.  A standing-room-only crowd was treated to a champagne toast and cake at the break.

True to the name of the ensemble, saxophonist Brett Jackson, trumpeter Ryan Thielman, keyboardist Chris Clarke, bassist Dominique Sanders and drummer John Kizilarmut focused on Gordon's music.

The format could have served as an excuse for a tedious blowing session, but Society Red paid tribute to Gordon with contagious enthusiasm.  The band plays feel-good music in the best sense of the phrase.

Jackson's impressive work on a ballad sounded remarkably like this.  Chris Clarke, one of the older guys in the band, serves as Society Red's wild card.  He seems less hung up on adhering to tradition than on infusing the group with bluesy sense of joy.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*KC Jazz Lark assesses the prospects of the Broadway Jazz Club.

*The seasonal song Mark Lowrey and Herman Mehari contributed to a Midwestern Music Foundation campaign was documented on video.

*Crosscurrent previews a January 23 date at the Blue Room.

*The Pitch highlights an upcoming performance by Brett Jackson at Take Five Coffee.

*A critic calls a selection on Bobby Watson's Check Cashing Day "endlessly fascinating" in a review of the album.

*Dean Minderman of St. Louis Jazz Notes published a handy "Best Jazz of 2013" compendium of lists.

*A television station reported on an odd incident at Take Five Coffee.

*Tweet o' the Week: Brian Baggett- @theprojecth I'm done calling clubs. I'm just going to practice and wait for them to call me and/or play sideman gigs. Focus on the music.

*The Kansas City Jazz Calendar has been updated.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Concert Review: The New Vintage Big Band at the Brooksider Bar & Grill

I began to detect the invigorating sound of The New Vintage Big Band from over half a block away as I walked toward the Brooksider Bar & Grill last Wednesday.  The sound of a big band thrills me so much that it took all of my willpower to avoid the urge to accost passerby on the sidewalk who were ignoring the music.

"Where are you going?" I wanted to ask.  "How can you possibly discount that sound?"

Once seated inside the Brooksider, I spotted about 30 people who shared my enthusiasm.  Even with multiple large-screen televisions airing a Royals game and an NHL playoff match, these dedicated listeners remained mesmerized by the band.  A few of the sports bar's other patrons managed to ignore the band in spite of its volume.

The current edition of New Vintage is a nice mix of established veterans (including Jeff Hamer and Rob Whitsitt), young up-and-comers (including Brett Jackson and Dominique Sanders) and several guys unfamiliar to me.   A powerful solo by saxophonist David Freeland on "A Night In Tunisia" was very impressive. 

The band used to play on the first Wednesday of each month at BB's Lawnside BBQ.  I assume that it occupies the same slot at the Brookside establishment.  I'm counting on someone from the band to confirm my hunch in the comment section of this post.

The New Vintage Big Band was last featured at Plastic Sax in 2009.   The ensemble's Always and Forever album is available at Spotify.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)