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.

Now's the Time: The Last of the Blue Devils

It’s time to bring out the biggest gun in the arsenal.  “The Last of the Blue Devils” is an invaluable film about Kansas City jazz.  Its ongoing availability as a free stream on YouTube astounds me.  The first 15 minutes of the documentary in the embedded video capture a reunion of titans at the Mutual Musicians Foundation.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Susan B. Wilson of KCUR's KC Currents interviewed Deborah Brown.

*Shunzo Ohno is interviewed by Joe Klopus.

*KCUR notes the 100th anniversary of the Gem Theater.

*KCJazzLark commends the promotional efforts of the Blue Room, the Majestic and Take Five Coffee + Bar.

*Ed Ward recounts Joe Turner's career for NPR's Fresh Air.  (Tip via KCJazzLark.)

*A reviewer for The Kansas City Star seemed to enjoy Vijay Iyer's concert Friday at the Folly Theater.  Phonologotronic also raves about the show.

*The Joplin Globe provides an update on Ken Rosberg's Jazz For Joplin project.

*"Ballad For an Optimist" is among the new compositions Chris Burnett will perform November 3 at Take Five Coffee + Bar.

*Chuck Haddix received an award from the Johnson County Library Foundation.

*A YouTube user named Leo Grass uploaded a batch of scratchy videos that ostensibly contain footage shot at the Kansas City Women's Jazz Festival in 1979.

*Multi-instrumentalist Mike Stover has assured me that Lauren Krum's debut at Take Five Coffee + Bar on Saturday, October 27, will be a jazz-oriented performance.  Krum is the vocalist for alt-country act The Grisly Hand.

*Plastic Sax received a shout-out from a "veteran celebrity journalist" at the 4:30 mark in a jazz blogging webinar produced by the Jazz Journalists Association.

*Tweet o' the Week: vijayiyer- the show already happened, but this 15-second promo video is fire. Vimeo video.

*Comment o' the Week: Anonymous- Pointless anachronism??? Stop trying to be cute. IMO the world could use more Jim Hall and less rap. I'm all over this one!

*From Stan Kessler: Passport CD Release Party.  Stan Kessler/Beau Bledsoe.  Music From Everywhere.  October 26.  Take Five Coffee Bar.  8-10.  Free.  CDs $15.

*From Jim Mair: Swing jazz at its best is on tap for the second in the “Jazz by the Lake” series at Kansas City Kansas Community College Thursday, Nov. 1.  Featuring the Bram Wijnands Trio, the free concert will be held from noon-1 p.m. in the Conference Center adjacent to the Campus Lake at the State Avenue end of the College campus at 7250 State Avenue...  He will be joined by two other KCKCC adjunct instructors, guitarist Rod Fleeman, a three-time Grammy nominee, and percussionist Jurgen Welge, a native of Germany who came to the U.S. more than 20 years ago…    The “Jazz by the Lake” series is held the first Thursday of each month. The Everette DeVan Quartet featuring Eboni Fondren drew a standing room only crowd in the opening performance. Still ahead in the series is the Joe Cartwright Trio Dec. 6, Diverse Feb. 5, Chris Hazelton and Friends March 7 and Tim Whitmer April 4.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Trumpeter Snooky Young, veteran of the bands of Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie, has died. He was 92.

*Filmmaker Bruce Ricker has died. Here's Steve Paul's personal tribute to the man behind The Last of the Blue Devils.

*Return to Forever and Zappa Plays Zappa will perform at the Midland Theater on August 26. (I'm not gonna lie- I'm all about this.)

*Steve Paul notes the charms of the Folly Theater and encourages patrons not to forget about Kansas City's many fine venues when the Kauffman Center opens later this year.

*The MarchFourth Big Band plays a free show at Crossroads on June 14.

*The fourth installment of KCJazzLark's saga about his experiences as a member of the Kansas City Jazz Commission is now on the record.

*Kevin Collison offers an intriguing proposal for "establishing a world-class jazz festival coupled with a huge barbecue bash."

*Here's raw footage of a performance by BeardKCrazy. The new band sounds like a mash-up of King Sunny Ade's Syncro System and Miles Davis' On the Corner.

*Another Verse uncovers the Kansas City angle on the Library of Congress' new "national jukebox."

*Phonologotron, Plastic Sax's infamously incendiary commenter, explains himself.

*Tweet o' the Week: D.J. Sweeney People talk too much when they should be listening. As for the man that shouted out, "play some rock," F-you! Jazz is cerebral, you moron!

*Big Joe Turner was born 100 years ago today. "Jump for joy."

*The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra has a new business manager. And yes, it's me, the man behind Plastic Sax.

*From Alaadeen Enterprises: Alaadeen Enterprises, Inc. is pleased to announce a collaboration with The Duke Ellington Family on a pilot outreach program to aid the veterans of the United States Military. Scheduled to be implemented this Memorial Day in honor of our Veterans of War, the project will demonstrate the healing power of music by providing drum pads and drum sticks to the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Victoria Dunfee, President of Alaadeen Enterprises states that, "Our partnership with the Duke Ellington Family on this project is a superb fit as our founder Ahmad Alaadeen was a member of the U.S. 4th Army Band, Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. He saw first hand the healing powers of music." Alaadeen is now buried in Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.

*From Sue Vicory: (T)he film will air on PBS June 28th at 9PM.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Roll 'Em Pete: Remembering Pete Johnson

Boogie-woogie, anyone? Kansas City native Pete Johnson was among the form's premier practitioners. His good-time music was a primary building block in the creation of rock and roll. Here's Joe Turner's hit version of "Roll 'Em Pete." The fatalistic lyric- "you're so beautiful but you got to die someday"- always disarms me. The beautiful (and still living!) Lena Horne introduces Johnson and Albert Ammons in this wonderful video.