Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Jazzy Jamdemic concert series continues through July 3.

*Ted Panken catches up with Eldar Djangirov for Downbeat.

*Steve Paul checks in with Bobby Watson for KC Studio.

*Patrick Neas promotes the 2020-21 season of the Folly Jazz Series in The Kansas City Star.

*Joe Dimino interviewed Candace Evans, E.E. Pointer and Dan Thomas.

*Tweet o’ the Week: KC Jazz Orchestra- KCJO's annual four-concert series is back and ready to wow you with a season that celebrates Kansas City's most beloved jazz icons. Subscription renewals under way, new subscriptions available beginning June 15! (link)

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Jeff Harshbarger and Johnny Hamil’s treacherous trip to Paris is documented by KCUR.

*Candace Evans is featured in Johnson County Lifestyle magazine.

*Joe Dimino interviewed A La Mode, B.J. Jansen and Jackie Myers.

*A graphic novel will depict Charlie Parker’s stint in California.  (Via St. Louis Jazz Notes.)

*Tweet o’ the Week: The Folly Theater- We're ecstatic to announce our involvement in Charlie Parker's 100th birthday celebration with Charlie "Bird" Parker 100! with Dan Thomas and the Kansas City All Star Band and almost 20 special guests! Tickets are available Friday!

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Robert Castillo and Forrest Fowler of the Sextet were guests on KTGB’s weekly Eight One Sextet program.

*Bobby Watson’s concert at Legacy Park Amphitheater was documented by Joe Dimino.

*Ralph Caro, the interim director of the American Jazz Museum discusses his background and his goals for the institution in a 23-minute video.

*David Valdez was interviewed by Joe Dimino.

*Dan Thomas performed on a television talk show to promote the Prairie Village Jazz Festival.

*Downbeat reports on Jon Poses’ We Always Swing series in Columbia, Missouri, and reveals the lineup of the 2019-20 season.

*NPR published a lengthy essay about Mary Lou Williams.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Doug Maltby- Pat Metheny and Side Eye live at the Dakota tonight...amazing. The woman front and center came from Costa Rica for the show!

*From a press release: The Italian jazz piano maestro and composer Dino Massa returns to Kansas City to perform and record original music with his long-time friend, saxophonist/composer Christopher Burnett and an all-star ensemble of KC-based jazz musicians.  Burnett and Massa have written original music to perform in concert at Westport Coffeehouse on Wednesday (March 11, 2020) and to record at BRC Audio Productions in sessions on Thursday and Friday (March 12-13, 2020).  The new album will be released on the ARC label.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Kansas City Star reports on the latest developments in the reorganization of the American Jazz Museum.

*Marilyn Maye’s concert at Yardley Hall was documented by Joe Dimino.

*Take Five Music Productions will present Thollem McDonas at YJ’s Snack Bar on Saturday, December 1.  A $10 donation will be requested at the door.  The New Jazz Order Big Band Reunion featuring Ellington's Nutcracker will transpire at the Martin Event Space in Martin City. on Sunday, December 9.  The cover charge for adults is $15.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Frank Boal- I hope I have the energy this international icon and legend has when I'm 90!! The incomparable Marilyn Maye!! What a show tonight at the Carlson Center on JCCC campus. Wow, just wow!! She performed for an hour and a half and brought the house down.

*From a press release: Internationally-recognized jazz leader Dan Thomas has been named Executive Director of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, the group’s Board of Directors has announced.  Thomas, who has called Kansas City his home for nearly 20 years, the last 18 of which he served as a faculty member and administrator leading the Jazz Studies program at UMKC’s Conservatory of Music, is a well-known performer, composer, recording artist, educator and jazz leader in Kansas City and internationally.

*From a press release: The Carlsen Center at Johnson County Community College will present the Angela Hagenbach Quintet on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. in Polsky Theatre.  Hagenbach has been a jazz icon on the Kansas City scene for nearly three decades... Performing with her on Dec. 2 are Roger Wilder, piano; Danny Embrey, guitar; Tyrone Clark, bass; and Michael Warren, drums.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s performance of Mary Lou Williams’ “Zodiac Suite” was previewed by Libby Hanssen for KCUR.

*Joe Dimino interviewed Dan Thomas and two of his UMKC students.

*The Kansas City Star reports that the Grille at Park Place, a Johnson County restaurant that hosted jazz performances every weekend, is closing.

*Julie Denesha examined a Charlie Parker-inspired art installation for KCUR.

*”Jazz is ear poison.”

*Tweet o’ the Week: SummerStage- @Thebadplus are sounding extra good here this afternoon at the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival!  – at Tompkins Square Park (video)

(Original image of Nevin Aladağ's "Resonator" by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Tony’s Kansas City shares a document that indicates that Anita Dixon, the face of the Mutual Musicians Foundation for the last several years, is no longer associated with the institution.

*The Candido Camero concert on Friday, September 16, has been moved from the Gem Theater to the atrium of the American Jazz Museum and is "now free and open to the public."  Joe Klopus focuses on Candido Camera’s concert at the Gem Theater in his column for The Kansas City Star.

*A handful of jazz-related acts are reviewed in The Kansas City Star’s coverage of the Crossroads Music Fest.

*The Shawnee Mission Post documented the Prairie Village Jazz Festival.

*KCUR featured a track by Dan Thomas’s Voyage in advance of his band’s appearance at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival.

*The Pitch takes note of Matt Otto’s new weekly jam session.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Julie Doane- Enjoying the jazz band @ Gaslight Grill. This chick is 79 and feeling fine!

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Todd Strait was interviewed by Zack Albetta for Working Drumming.

*Joe Klopus surveyed the week’s jazz bookings for The Kansas City Star.

*Two prominent area jazz boosters- Dr. Leslie E. Becker, Jr. and Chuck Berg- have died.

*An interview with Beau Bledsoe includes commentary on the behavior of audiences at Kansas City jazz clubs.

*A three-song OJT set was documented by KJHK.

*The Kansas City Business Journal reports on a criminal trial involving the owner of a Jazz District restaurant.

*The Curtis Project, the new album by the Prism Quartet, was released in April.  Zachary Shemon, a professor at UMKC’s Conservatory of Music and Dance, is a member of the saxophone quartet.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Ted Gioia- Yes, I am coming to Kansas City on November 17 to give a talk on "The Future of Jazz" at the American Jazz Museum.

*Comment o’ the Week: Anonymous- I'm looking forward to hearing Dan Thomas play at the PVJF. We don't get to hear him often enough!

*From a press release: The 3rd Annual Kansas City Charlie Parker Celebration (CPC) will again explore and recognize the legacy of one the most influential saxophonists and jazz icons to ever perform.  The Celebration, a comprehensive Charlie Parker tribute, continues to grow locally and gain recognition through the U.S…  The 2016 Charlie Parker Celebration includes some new elements while maintaining the popular events from the first two Parker Celebration events, including the Charlie Parker Historical Tour and Graveside Musical Salute in conjunction with his birthday (Aug. 29, would be age 96). 

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

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*KC Jazz Lark lambasts the flippant rejection of jazz in the press release that announces the end of the Jazz in the Woods festival and the debut of SoJo Summerfest.

*Matt Otto’s new album Soliloquy is reviewed by a critic for KCUR.

*Joe Klopus previewed Ernie Krivda’s performance at the Blue Room for The Kansas City Star.  The Pitch also touts the gig.

*Bobby Watson surveys Kansas City’s music scene in a trailer for a new documentary.

*An Associated Press feature promotes the Blue Room.

*Matt Hopper is part of a crowdfunding campaign to finance a trip to Brazil.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Graveley Lab-  Favorite new jazz album…Logan Richardson’s “Shift”. wicked good!

*Comment o’ the Week: Anonymous- I presume the eight musicians split the door to make a whopping fifty bucks each. "Pro Musicians" should stop working for less than $100 per performance. Musicians accepting this INSULT for the last twenty years has lowered the bar for every player to come from now on.

*From a press release: Congregation Beth Torah proudly announces a performance by Dan Thomas and some of KC’s finest jazz musicians featuring the music of Fiddler on the Roof. June 18th, 2016 at 7:30 pm… The performance will be held at Congregation Beth Torah, as a fundraiser for the Congregation… Tickets are available for patrons at $100/ticket, and general admission is $50/ticket.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Concert Review: The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra at Muriel Kauffman Theatre

An admirable idea was exquisitely realized at Muriel Kauffman Theatre on Thursday, September 4.  Eight locally-based musicians were showcased in The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra's "Kansas City is Jazz" concert. 

Hermon Mehari, Allison Burik, Steve Lambert, Megan Birdsall, Dan Thomas, Matt Otto, Al Pearson and Bobby Watson demonstrated their talents for an audience of over 1,000.  Their efforts ranged from pleasing to spectacular. 

The virtuosic work of Lambert, Otto and Thomas thrilled unsuspecting listeners.  Mehari soared over a lush rendition of Frank Foster's "Simone."  I was brought to the verge of tears by Al Pearson's feature on a rapturously beautiful version of Pat Metheny's "Always and Forever."  The flamboyant brilliance of Watson, not surprisingly, stole the show.

Sound issues sullied the efforts of Birdsall and Burik.  Their vocals were distorted and blurry in the back of the venue where I was one of a couple dozen people who had purchased the least expensive tickets for $31.  Artistic Director Clint Ashlock also sounded as if he was speaking through a walkie talkie.  The glitches were an exception in an otherwise flawless concert. 

The big band has assumed a slightly different tone under Ashlock.  Renditions of "One O'Clock Jump" and "Swingmatism" possessed a newly acquired sense of informality.

Lest club owners hire additional staff to accommodate fledgling fans of the featured musicians, they should know that a significant portion of the audience was in town for a Rotarian convention.  Mayor Sly James read a portion of a proclamation prior to the concert designating the date as Rotary Day in Kansas City. 

The good news?  Hundreds of people from around the world were exposed to the ongoing artistic vitality of Kansas City's jazz scene.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*KCPT uploaded an undated video profile of the Mutual Musicians Foundation to YouTube. 

*T.J. Martley and Gerald Spaits were interviewed by Joe Dimino for Neon Jazz.

*KC Jazz Lark shares illuminating source material as he reexamines the origins of the American Jazz Museum.

*The Kansas City Star reviewed Harry Connick's concert at the Midland theater.

*Chris Burnett reaffirms his commitment to the American Jazz Museum.

*Images of a graveside tribute of Bennie Moten are part of a slideshow of shots taken by photographers for The Kansas City Star.

*The physical edition of Bobby Watson's Check Cashing Day has a new street date of November 26.

*Tweet o' the Week: Ron Gutierrez- I am so, so pleased to announce this Friday's concert! After a few years of planning, the time has come!. (link)

*From Dan Thomas: Dan Thomas and Voyage will be presenting original music and some brand new music in remembrance of JFK at the Blue Room, 18th and Vine, on Nov 22nd from 8:30pm-12:30am.  The evening will mark the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination and we will provide some musical commentary on what he and his legacy has/can inspire us to do. Wayne Hawkins – Piano, Forest Stewart – Bass, Mike Warren – Drums.

*From a press release: Spirituality & All That Jazz.  Magical Musical Moments with vocalist Bukeka Shoals performing with Tim Whitmer & the Consort Band. Wednesday, December 4, 2013. 7 p.m. Unity on the Plaza. $7.

*From the American Jazz Museum: Join us on Thursday, December 19th, 2013 at the American Jazz Museum in the Blue Room for "KC MAD - Kansas City Musician's Appreciation Day!" It's free! Food and drink.  Truman Medical Centers to provide free assessment screening.  Artist career resources.  Live music by Elderstatesmen of KC Jazz from 5pm - 7pm.  Live music by Carl McComas Reichl from 7:30pm - 11pm.  More activities and items to be announced.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Mike Shanin interviewed Tommy Ruskin and Julie Turner for KCPT.

*A television station aired a two-minute feature about Vine Street Rumble.

*Denyce Graves' visit to the Mutual Musicians Foundation is documented by KCJazzLark.

*KCPT, Kansas City's public television station, is acquiring radio station KTBG.  The report in The Kansas City Star indicates that KCPT intends to retain the current AAA format.  Even so, a bit of speciality jazz programming doesn't seem unlikely.

*A remastered version of Chris Burnett's 1999 album Time Flies is now available.

*The Telegraph recalls Kansas City's jazz heyday in a preview of the Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

*Tweet o' the Week: St. Louis Jazz Notes- Dan Thomas and Voyage playing Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4 at Robbie's House of Jazz (link)

*Comment o' the Week: Anonyomous- I share your enthusiasm for Jerry Dodgion. It was a very good show! I hope he makes it back to KC soon.

*From Jim Mair: The 3rd annual Kansas City Jazz Summit takes place April 24,25,26 on the campus of Kansas City Kansas Community College.  34 bands from 5 colleges and 29 middle and high schools from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.  Performances begin daily at 8:30am and conclude at 5:00pm.  Highlights include Wednesday night with a  Big Band extravaganza featuring  the KCKCC Jazz Ensemble and the New Vintage Big Band 7:00pm (donations accepted) in the KCKCC PAC.  Thursday includes the Kansas City Jazz Heritage "Basically Basie" competition.  The competing bands choose three Count Basie tunes and try to replicate the sound, style and the joy of the Basie band.  The top two bands will have a playoff at 5:00pm. Audience members will be able to influence the outcome of the finals by texting their vote for the  winning band...

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Review: Voyage

Opening an album with a ballad takes gumption.  The unconventional strategy works on Voyage, the self-titled album by a quartet of Kansas City musicians. 

The wistful "The New Moon" begins with a conversation between Forest Stewart's resonant bass, composer Mike Warren's wary drumming and Wayne Hawkins' delicate piano.  The rapturously beautiful tone is further enhanced when saxophonist Dan Thomas gently takes the melodic lead. 

The selection's superb musicianship, sensitive interplay and formidable compositional sensibility showcase the quartet's strengths. Their eminently listenable album is polite but not mild-mannered.

Voyage's mainstream post-bop tone will be familiar to listeners who appreciate classic Bobby Watson albums like Present Tense.  The similarity isn't an accident.  Anyone who's attended a jazz function at the University of Missouri-Kansas City during the past several years likely noticed a slender man standing alongside the famed Watson.  That's Thomas.  Like Watson, Thomas is both a respected UMKC instructor and a powerful saxophonist.  He's the yin to Watson's yang. 

Four of Voyage's nine tracks are Thomas' compositions.  The brash "Shock and Awe"- my favorite selection- is a chaotic maelstrom.  Thomas' virtuosity is also responsible for the album's weakest moment.  His primary solo on Hawkins' "Brazilian Haiku" is a technical triumph. Impressive?  No doubt.  Emotionally resonant?  Afraid not.  It's the only track on which the band resembles inhibited music professors. 

Thomas may be the dominant voice on the album but Voyage is a true band.  Warren is one of Kansas City's most distinctive drummers.  Voyage serves as an excellent document of his playing.  Stewart locks in with Warren throughout.  The soulful groove of his "I'll Miss All of Those Things" makes it one of the album's strongest tracks.  His solos on Hawkins' "Truth and Beauty" and Thomas' "Lamenting" also impress.  Hawkins' nuanced contributions reinforce Voyage's enticing ambiance.

Voyage was released to little fanfare last September.  It deserves to be heard. 

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Joe Klopus previewed Thursday's Pat Metheny concert and Saturday's Prairie Village Jazz Festival.

*The namesake of this site is shown at the 1:52 mark in another Buick-sponsored video featuring Hermon Mehari.

*Hunter Long announced that the Black House Improvisors' Collective has been "renewed for another year of residency" with the Charlotte Street Foundation.

*KCTV5 aired a feature about the charitable efforts of Mike Corrigan's Horn Doctor.

*Bill McKemy's 2002 album Duende is praised by KCJazzLark.

*Joyce Smith reports on renovations at the Drum Room. 

*Tweet o' the Week: brandondraper- My trio this Friday!-!-! @take5coffeehouse in leawood KS. Leifer/draper/brewer. Gonna get very funky on this session 8pm -free

*Comment o' the Week: Sid- Recording engineer Chad Meise did a masterful job makingan otherwise sloppy band sound good and tight with digital editing. He should have run the voices through auto-tune though. The intonation or lack there of really exposes the mediocrity of the players in this group. Technically the sax solo is not fine. Are you deaf dude?  This might be a good party band but so were the Bay City Rollers.

*Information gleaned from the program of last weekend's Kansas City Irish Fest: 2011 Irish Fest attendees: 97,000.  Volunteers: 1,100.  Hotel room nights booked: 2,400.  Admission to the three-day event was $5 on Friday and $15 on Saturday and Sunday.

*From Dan Thomas: On September 20 I'll be releasing an album with my new band Voyage (Me, Wayne Hawkins, Forest Stewart, and Mike Warren) at the Blue Room.

*From Michael  Pagán: Swing into the Beginning of Fall KCYJ Style... “Fall Jam 2012”- A Benefit for Kansas City Youth Jazz at the Hotel Phillips.  Hosted By Millie Edwards, featuring KCYJ Students • Instructors • Alumni. Musicians Welcome!  Cash Bar • Hors d’oeuvres • Dinner Menu Available  • Raffle Prizes • Silent Auction • Suggested Donation $25.  Saturday September 22nd 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM Hotel Phillips Mezzanine.  Info Call (816) 523-9024 or visit http://kcyouthjazz.org.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)