Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Norman Brown and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy are among the acts scheduled to perform at this year's Jazz In the Woods festival.

*The Kansas City Jazz Summit will be held at Kansas City Kansas Community College and Unity on the Plaza at the end of April.

*Steve Paul reviewed Benny Golson's performance at the Blue Room. So did Elgin Smith.

*Before Joe Lovano's concert Saturday, a representative of the Folly Theater announced that the following acts have been booked for the venue's 2011-12 jazz series: Nnenna Freelon, John Pizzarelli, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the Yellowjackets.

*Chuck Berg raves about Kim Park.

*Doug Ramsey provides a troubling report on ailing Basie band alumnus Frank Foster.

*Another lesson in Kansas City jazz history is offered by KCJazzLark.

*Lawrence's Blueprint Jazz is featured in the University Daily Kansan.

*The new album by Clint Ashlock's New Jazz Order is now available at iTunes.

*Here's a nice new video feature about Pat Metheny's Orchestrion project.

*Performances by Snuff Jazz and the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey were reviewed by The Star.

*An animated discussion about the merits of KKFI follow a letter from radio station personality Barry Jackson.

*Steve Penn provides an update on the health of Ray Reed.

*Tweet o' the Week: americanjazzkc: Taxes are never fun, but it's only through the E-tax that the AJM is able to stay open and provide the exhibitions and programming we do.

*Don't forget about the Kansas City Jazz Calendar.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Pitch reports that Gi Gi's Jazz Inn, a jazz club on Troost, has opened. Aside from Jason Harper's story, the venue has no web presence.

*All About Jazz published an extensive interview with vocalist Deborah Brown.

*The Star reports that The Majestic is "temporarily closed." The downtown venue featured jazz nightly.

*Subtitled "A Father's account of his history of jazz in Kansas City," Then appears to be a personal jazz-oriented documentary. As Vimeo is buggy for me, I haven't been able to view much of it. (Tip via Tony's Kansas City.)

*The author of The Daily Record bemoans the fact that he can attend a free jazz festival featuring the likes of Dave Brubeck and Dr. John in Jacksonville but not in Kansas City.

*The excellent lineup for the 17th annual Charlie Parker festival has been announced. Alas, it's in New York City.

*Two prominent local scribes, Tony of Tony's Kansas City and John Mark Eberhart rave about Dave Stephens' recent appearance at Jardine's.

*The Star's piece on Alacartoona is a mandatory reading for all area musicians.

*The Star offers an in-depth story about the ongoing drama at KKFI.

*Our friend Lee brought this jazz radio news to our attention.

*Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon is playing The Blue Room on July 11. Stefon Harris returns to Kansas City in January.

*According to this this Pitch piece, The Blue Room attracts quite a crowd for its monthly poetry slams.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Steve Penn takes note of an exhibit at The Smithsonian featuring Claude "Fiddler" Williams. The museum's site doesn't offer much detail.

*While I sincerely hope that community radio station KKFI survives, its struggles don't represent a major crisis for Kansas City. While I don't endorse his tone or choice of words, I generally agree with the sentiment expressed here by Tony's Kansas City.

*Steve Coleman compliments Brandon Draper and The Blue Room in a comment to my review of his show.

*Here's a brief video about The American Jazz Museum. I'm told it's a high school student's project. And here is a new official promotional video.

*Linda Richter Brady of Kanas City Youth Jazz suggests that The Star feature "young local musicians" instead of pop icon Britney Spears.

*There's no Kansas City content in this intriguing essay about the "death of jazz," but it's a very compelling piece.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Radio? Srsly!

Radio?

I can't quite follow the logic behind a recent posting by Star columnist Steve Penn. Both Penn and Gregory Carroll, Executive Director of the American Jazz Museum, seem to be lobbying for a "24-hour jazz radio station" in Kansas City. The item is here.

“I’m putting a call out there right now to potential donors to come to the American Jazz Museum and say what can we do to create a full-jazz radio station?” Carroll is quoted as saying. “We’ll give them the space. We’ll give them the time. We’ll even give them the artist. But we have to get the funding in place. And I believe it’s possible.”

That's just silly.

Sure, I'd love a local jazz station as much as the next Jimmie Lunceford fan. But it's not about us old folks. It's imperative that the needs of the next generation be addressed. And fortunately, it's cheap.

Many people under thirty don't listen to radio, just as they don't read print editions of newspapers. Terrestrial radio is over. New tools, including satellite radio, ubiquitous MP3 players, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Imeem and Last FM have replaced radio.

I even have buddies who listen to the Plastic Sax Muxtape and the Plastic Sax Pandora station on their cell phones.

Nothing's stopping you from "broadcasting" online immediately. Several free internet radio platforms are available.

If you want to continue to think big, why don't you work toward partnering with NPR? They already have a huge assortment of jazz streams and podcasts available. Until you secure that deal, why don't you follow Present Magazine's model. The online Kansas City publication offers a fine weekly podcast titled Sonic Spectrum.

You want a cost estimate? A new Apple Mac mini goes for $599 (less with an educators discount). If the museum doesn't already own microphones, buy a couple for $50 each. I'll bet you could immediately recoup this $700 investment by selling advertising/underwriting spots. It's a money-maker.

I can't wait to tune in.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Earl Robinson, a founding member of the Scamps, died May 19. He was 85. Robinson and his excellent band were probably my favorite roots-oriented act in the 1980s, although they'd already been entertaining Kansas Citians for decades. Here's how fun they were- I'd often opt for a night with the Scamps over local competitors BCR, the Blue Riddim Band, the City Light Orchestra, Little Hatch, Kevin Mahogany, the Morells, Ida McBeth, Horace Washington and Claude "Fiddler" Williams.

*Here's a bit of good news amidst the gloom. The Metheny Music Foundation awarded eleven students cash scholarships for summer band camp. Details are posted at the Foundation's site.

*Ed Fenner's obituary ran in Sunday's Star, What an remarkable life!

*My friend Jason remembers Ed Fenner.

*Discussions about funding the city's museums- the American Jazz Museum included- are quite taxing.

*My friend Richard profiles Shay Estes and Mark Lowrey.

*The Star published an elaborate feature on Brad Cox in its Sunday magazine.

*KCUR offers an insightful interview with Kevin Cerovich.

*Steve Penn follows up on an item Plastic Sax published April 9. His column provides background about D.J. Sweeney's quest to salvage jazz programming on KKFI. More disaffected grumbling is here.

*Anyone want to provide historic context for today's news report about the bandstand pavilion at Swope Park? It's "in danger of collapse."

*Hey! There's a "new" Charlie Parker recording!

*A Los Angeles man submitted an impassioned defense of the American Jazz Museum to the Star.

(Incredible image by this photographer. Plastic Sax tipsters BGO and Lee assisted with this post.)

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*A monumental shift in the Kansas City jazz scene is scheduled to take place this Saturday night. Jardine's, long associated with its solid but conservative booking policy, features Snuff Jazz from 11:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. The collective's leader, Mark Southerland, is the most visible representative of Kansas City's underground experimental jazz scene. An editorial in the club's weekly newsletter addresses the adventurous booking. "Come out and hear something new," they implore. "You may hate it, or you may have a really really good time." The times they are a-changin'. Plastic Sax is very pleased.

*Sunday's Star offered the exciting news that a ballet featuring vintage Kansas City jazz is in the works. Here are the details.

*Steve Penn writes that Friday marks the 100th anniversary of Claude "Fiddler" Williams' birth. A celebration will be held at the Mutual Musicians Foundation. I sure do miss Claude.

*It's official- KKFI now offers only ten hours of dedicated jazz programming a week. Look for the thin strip of pink (of all the nerve!) on the station's color-coded programming guide.

*Plastic Sax's counterpart in St. Louis previews concerts by Michael Wolff and Terrell Stafford, both of whom are also on their way to Kansas City.

*A tourist from Michigan blogs about his impressions of the American Jazz Museum and other Kansas City institutions.

*Wichita's smooth jazz advocate goes nuts over a New York radio station's format change.

*Don't forget to be Plastic Sax's MySpace friend. My shameless marketing campaign at the social networking site, incidentally, has been effective. More than three people now visit this site daily.

(I omitted the Majestic from my virtual jazz tour, but it's a memorable destination in downtown Kansas City. Photo by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The Star reports that $500,000 is being spent to create a "gateway" to the northeast corner of 18th & Paseo. A "monumental, colorful marquee" visible from downtown is in the works. That's a great idea. I'm not sure everyone realizes that the jazz district is just a few blocks from the Sprint Center. But the new landscaping component strikes me as useless. The area is already pretty and inviting. The story also references a "stagelike platform." Yet at least two such areas already exist directly behind the museums.

*I've come to the conclusion that the single best thing that can realistically happen at 18th & Vine in the next few months is that the blues club Steve Penn recently alluded open its doors. Kansas City's active, motivated blues community would love to spend their time and money in the district.

*The rumor reported in this space last week is true. It looks like KKFI's weekday jazz programming is being reduced to two hours a day. And in a related note, it's disappointing that jazz is woefully underrepresented in the station's band auction. I purchased the services of a top-tier rock band last year. It's too bad I can't bid on a local jazz act of similar stature.

*Did you catch Eldar on the Grammys? And isn't it nice that Herbie Hancock won the big award?

*A Tennessee newspaper profiled Kevin Mahogany.

*Road trip! Friends University brings in Cyrus Chestnut for their jazz festival later this month.

*The Sun offered a nice feature about Shawnee Mission Northwest student and jazz musician Sean Giddings.

*Pianist Chris Anderson, who played with Charlie Parker, died February 4. He was 81.

*The BBC is streaming a story related to the "Jazz Baroness".

*YouTube user "VandoJam," a Kansas City-related entity, posted a few new videos.

*An inspiring column by Steve Penn brought readers up to date on Eddie Saunders.

*The Star ran a brilliant review of last week's concert by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra. It's pure poetry!

*I'm delighted to discover that Plastic Sax has a fan. Elsewhere, Patchchord riffs on my notes about jazz education.

(Photo of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra captured Friday at the Folly Theater by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*A Plastic Sax tipster passed on a rumor that community radio station KKFI plans to reduce its jazz programming. I have absolutely no evidence to support this claim.

*Pat Metheny's new trio effort Day Trip was released yesterday. Here's a live sample. And I just discovered that Pat streams his music at his site. Follow the "radio" links.

*Joe Klopus profiled Stan Kessler's new band.

*The Sun offers a piece on Candace Evans.

*Seemingly apropos of nothing- a concept Plastic Sax fully embraces- a local television station put together a story about the Mutual Musicians Foundation.

*The Steve Penn column mentioned here earlier this week also covers the long-awaited official opening of Harper's at 18th & Vine.

*Two musicians who once backed Charlie Parker died recently. Bassist Earl May passed January 4. He was 80. Drummer Francis Clay died January 23. He was 84.

*Fine Minneapolis jazz blog Bebopified reviews a recent Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra concert. Wynton's gang returns to the Folly Theater on February 8.

*Some freak detected a strong jazz undercurrent at the Mars Volta's recent Kansas City concert.

*Download graphic artist Rob Schamberger's take on the Mutual Musicians Foundation here.

(Plastic Sax took this picture of Harper's on August 17, 2007. The room was open that summer night.)