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.)

Now's the Time: Jason Jackson

Trombonist Jason Jackson is the featured guest on saxophonist Rob Scheps' latest barnstorming tour of the Kansas City area.  The New York based trombonist and the saxophonist will perform with different combinations of locally based musicians in the noontime Jazz by the Lake series at Kansas City Kansas Community College and at the Majestic on Thursday, April 2, and at Lucky Brewgrille on Friday, April 3. 

Ziggy Played Drums

I found the perfect vantage point for a performance featuring the aggressive saxophonist Rob Scheps. 

As I sat in a low-slung booth shielded by a glass partition at Lucky Brewgrille last Friday, I could only see the band of Scheps, guitarist Ron Carlson, bassist Bill McKemy and drummer Eliot Zigmund if I propped myself up against the back of my seat. 

I felt secure knowing that Scheps couldn't give me the business. 

Hearing the band wasn't a problem.  Their output was so loud that my waitress cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled when she first came to my table. 

The extreme volume was instigated by Zigmund.  I expected the drummer who is featured on several Bill Evans albums to be frail.  Was I ever wrong!  While unflaggingly tasteful, Zigmund is a powerhouse.  Now I know why the likes of Evans, Jim Hall, Gary Peacock and Michel Petrucciani hired Zigmund. 

And for what it's worth, Scheps' stunning work in his frequent visits to Kansas City has made him one of my favorite mainstream saxophonists.  Zigmund and Scheps will perform at Take Five Coffee on Friday, April 18, and at the Blue Room on Saturday, April 19.

Now's the Time: Jerry Dodgion

Kansas Citians have four more chances to catch Jerry Dodgion on the current barnstorming tour put together by Rob Scheps.  Dodgion and Scheps appear Thursday at Take Five Coffee + Bar, Friday at the Blue Room, Saturday at Lucky Brewgrille and Sunday at Murray's Tables & Tap.  Dodgion, 80, played on a host of classic albums including Wes Montgomery's Goin' Out of My Head (1966), Herbie Hancock's Speak Like a Child (1968), Bob James' Three (1976) and Gerald Wilson's New York, New Sound (2003).  He takes a bluesy solo as a member of the Thad Jones Orchestra at the 10:25 mark of the embedded video.  (Dodgion's appearances are among Joe Klopus' top picks of the week.)

We're Just Lucky So and Sos

"I love this place," a friend told me Friday at Lucky Brewgrille.  "They don't have to have jazz- but they do."

It's true.  The popular establishment in Mission, Kansas, is an unlikely venue for live jazz.  Yet the televisions are muted in the suburban bar and grill most every Friday evening as guitarist Ron Carlson leads a jam session.  The superb Rob Scheps was Carlson's featured guest artist on October 12.

Scheps didn't play his signature tenor saxophone while I was at Lucky Brewgrille, but his distinctive sound was evident as he performed with a flute and a soprano sax.   His forceful personality was also in full effect.  Every "suggestion" he made to his band mates led to a marked improvement.

A few people were obvlivious to the exceptional mainstream jazz, but a couple dozen patrons hung on every note.  (Note to managers of other establishments- these jazz fans represent found revenue.)  My tasty nine dollar barbecue chicken salad was so large that I could barely finish it. 

Scheps and Shunzo Ohno will join Carlson's band at Lucky Brewgrille again on Friday, October 19.  Details on Scheps' additional area engagements are listed here.

(Original image of Clint Ashlock and Rob Scheps by Plastic Sax.)

Getting Lucky with Rob Scheps

Although I'm accustomed to crazy talk, I did a double take when a friend told me that Rob Scheps (warning- buggy site) was the best saxophonist she'd ever heard. That this plaudit was shared at the intermission of Joe Lovano's recent concert at the Folly Theater made it all the more incredible. Even so, I took notice when Lovano warmly greeted Scheps from the stage that night.

I headed to Ron Carlson's weekly gig at Lucky Brewgrille in Mission last Friday to catch Scheps sitting in with the band. Although the setting was far from ideal, I was able to hear enough to know that my friend isn't entirely nuts. Scheps' burly tenor saxophone reminded me of the approach employed by Scott Hamilton.

The entire gig, in fact, resembled a refined '80s-era session for Concord Records. It looked and sounded a bit like this Scheps-free footage. I also realize that Scheps isn't limited to mainstream sounds. He plays in an entirely different format here.

About two dozen people paid attention to Carlson's band. The remainder of the popular restaurant's patrons chatted noisily as they watched a Royals game on television. I applaud Lucky Brewgrille for its commitment to live jazz and for having the decency to play recorded jazz during the band's break. Even so, it's a compromised situation for serious musicians.

The Cobb salad at Lucky Brewgrille, incidentally, is quite good and the service is excellent. Carlson features Stan Kessler on Friday, April 22. With any luck, I'll be there.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)