Dreaming of Rhythm & Ribs

"You WON'T BELIEVE who's coming!"

I made the mistake of reading those words on the invitation to the next morning's press conference immediately before falling asleep Thursday. The odd capitalization and emphatic exclamation point inspired fanciful dreams about who would be announced as the headliners of the 2010 edition of the American Jazz Museum's Rhythm & Ribs Festival.

Would I hear the revered name of Keith Jarrett, Sonny Rollins or Cecil Taylor called out Friday morning? Or maybe the museum booked a crossover hero like Stanley Clarke, George Duke or Ramsey Lewis. Could they have snagged an undefinable genius like Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny or Wayne Shorter? And wouldn't it be great if they featured fresh faces like Erykah Badu, The Roots or Esperanza Spalding? Such sweet dreams!

Alas, the air went out of the room when Greg Carroll, Chief Executive Officer of the American Jazz Museum, announced the headliners. The journalists and bloggers at the press conference, myself included, weren't exactly overwhelmed. After further consideration, however, I've decided that the lineup is fine. Here's my take:

Nicholas Payton
Nicholas Payton is a robust jazz trumpeter and entertainer. I recall enjoying his Louis Armstrong-themed concert at the Folly Theater several years ago. Payton will also serve as the museum's "artist-in-residence."

Tribute to Donny Hathaway: featuring Kirk Whalum and Lalah Hathaway
Although the soul singer died in 1979, Donny Hathaway currently enjoys cache with a certain type of hipster. I don't listen to him often, but I know a few people who swear by Live. Unfortunately, this concept is inspired by a new Kirk Whalum album. And based on 30-second samples, it sounds as if Whalum focuses on the saccharine side of Hathaway's style.

Hopefully, the presence of Lalah, Hathaway's daughter, will help. She sounds fantastic on a live gospel version of "The Thrill Is Gone" on Whalum's Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter 3 release. Whalum's solo on that piece, however, makes me long for Kenny G. Lalah's most recent solo album, Self Portrait, is very solid.

The Ohio Players
I wore out my copy of "Fire" as a child and I still love '70s-era funk. Still, I'm skeptical about the 2010 version of the band. Its "official website" only sells t-shirts and caps. It refers back to a MySpace account where they have only 602 friends. I'm unable to find a current listing of band members. That leads me to believe that guitarist Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner is the sole original member in the band.

Carroll suggested that the presence of the Ohio Players might boost attendance to 12,000-15,000. I'm not so sure. Funk stars Cameo attracted 4,000 to Parade Park at the American Jazz Museum's tenth anniversary street festival three years ago. (Here's a review and a photo essay.) That excellent event was free, however, and Cameo is probably a bigger draw than the Ohio Players. Advance tickets to this year's event are $18.

Talented blues and jazz acts drawn from the region will undoubtedly provide additional balance and appeal to this year's bill. And most importantly, the festival is back after a year's hiatus. That alone is reason enough for celebrating.

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Here's The Star's report. Here's a television station's interpretation of the press conference. Here's another one. KCJazzLark weighs in here.

(Original image of Michael Pagan at Friday's press conference by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Michael Pagan

Kansas City composer and pianist Michael Pagan plays Lee's Summit native Pat Metheny's wonderful "James" in the embedded clip. Metheny reportedly named the song for James Taylor. The singer-songwriter performed a sold-out concert at Sprint Center in May. Metheny drew an audience of about 900 to The Uptown Theater the same month. This correspondent also saw Metheny thrill a crowd of about 2,800 Italians earlier this year. Although Pagan recently assumed the position of Director of Marketing and Communications at the American Jazz Museum, this performance was filmed at the Mutual Musicians Foundation. Pagan is the featured performer at Saturday's 12th Street Jump. The weekly radio program recently moved from the Foundation to the downtown Marriott. Does your head hurt yet? Mine does.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Jazz Masters concerts at Crown Center featuring George Benson, David Sanborn, Manhattan Transfer and John Pizzarelli have been canceled. Billboards like the one pictured above apparently didn't create enough demand.

*The Mutual Musicians Foundation is hosting the "2010 Charlie Parker Festival and Memorial Tribute to Edward B. 'Eddie' Baker" on August 29.

*Bobby Watson's long-awaited The Gates BBQ Suite will be self-released on September 14, according to a press release.

*The Majestic finally has an online entertainment calendar. It's viewable as a PDF under the "special events" tab. (Tip via KCJazzLark.)

*The Dead Kenny G's played to one of the largest audiences any jazz band has enjoyed in Kansas City all year at The Uptown Theater on Tuesday. Here's a review. The band is at the Czar Bar tonight, August 11.

*Bob Brookmeyer is interviewed by a journalist in Rhode Island.

*Jazz fans will have tough decisions to make on September 11. In addition to the Prairie Village Jazz Festival and the Wynard Harper Sextet's gig at The Blue Room, it's the date of the 2010 edition of the Crossroads Music Fest. Diverse, Hearts of Darkness and Mark Lowrey are among the jazz-related artists scheduled to perform. Here's Wayward Blog's notice.

*Joe Johnson, the winner of the 2009 Thelonious Monk Institute’s Composers’ Competition, is interviewed by Andrew Zender. Johnson attended Rockhurst High School.

*Analogue Sounds of Salina, Kansas, is one of the subjects of a New York Times article about jazz reissues on vinyl.

*Kansas City native Frank Wess is honored by Saint Peter's Church in New York City.

*The Star offers a remembrance of Ruth Rhoden.

*KKFI radio personality Barry Jackson has a blog titled Fusion Funk Radio.

*The Star featured the KC Strip trolley service.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Jay McShann's Kansas City

I'm proud of the contributions Plastic Sax has made to the Kansas City jazz scene since its inception in 2007. KCJazzLark, the "other" Kansas City jazz blog, celebrates its first anniversary today.

While the commentary and historic documentation provided by the site's author are invaluable, the videos he's unearthed are international treasures. Long after we're gone, the footage KCJazzLark has brought to light will continue to be viewed by grateful music lovers and scholars.

The forgotten documentary on Jay McShann he uploaded last week is absolutely stunning. With the blessing of KCJazzLark, I'm featuring the second of two clips. (The first segment of the thirty-minute film can be viewed here.)

Although it's ostensibly an intimate portrait of McShann, the film's subtext is the tragic decline of the importance of jazz in Kansas City. Here are a few of my favorite segments: At 0:01 and 4:35 McShann points out shuttered clubs; at 2:04 and 2:46 McShann explains jazz's irresistible siren song; the earthy banter that begins at 5:18 is a joy to behold.

Thanks again, KCJazzLark.

Now's the Time: Fourplay

Smooth jazz supergroup Fourplay is scheduled to perform Saturday at the 40 Acres and a Mule campus as part of the Family Reunion Festival. The band's current members are Bob James, Nathan East, Chuck Loeb and Harvey Mason. Former Kansas Citian Kevin Mahogany and Makuza are also on the bill. The price of a ticket is an astoundingly low ten dollars.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*KCJazzLark makes another invaluable contribution to the jazz world by unearthing an obscure documentary on Jay McShann. It serves as a sequel to The Last of the Blue Devils.

*So, it's come to this- California hip hop artist Planet Asia is featured in the first professional music video shot in Kansas City's Jazz District.

*Many of William Gottlieb's jazz photos have entered the public domain and are posted at Flickr. This famous shot of Charlie Parker is among the images in the collection. (Tip via A Blog Supreme.) Kansas City jazz advocate Lee Ingalls shares his thoughts on the news.

*Steve Penn reports on Alaadeen's health issues.

*"(A) large volume of Kansas City's formative jazz comes from (Vic) Damon's studio, including early music from Charlie Parker, Tommy Douglas, Julia Lee, Sandra Steele, the Scamps, Jay McShann and Marilyn Maye," according to this interesting story.

*Karrin Allyson recently participated in a "Jazz for the Gulf" benefit concert.

*The Star examined the Atlantic Diaspora exhibit at the American Jazz Museum.

*Mary Lou Williams is honored in Chicago this week. (Tip from Rick in PV.)

*Mouth's new album is available as a free download at their revamped site. It contains two-and-a-half hours of live jams. Airhorns aside, I like it.

*The Omaha World-Herald describes Grand Marquis as "a hard-core Kansas City jazz band" in a show preview.

*Doug Ramsey reminds jazz fans of the contributions Mitch Miller made to Charlie Parker's career. Miller died July 31.

*Nora Hulse, an "advocate of female ragtime composers," is profiled by Lawrence's Journal-World.

*Here's a direct link to an MP3 download of a track from Miles Bonny's forthcoming German compilation.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Review: Alatuka's Tamam Abi

As with most acts of artistic consequence, the live performances and the recorded work of Kansas City's Alaturka offer two entirely different experiences.

I happen to wholeheartedly agree with The Star's assessment of the Turkish jazz quartet's July 25 appearance at Jardine's. Sait Arat's darbuka and Jeff Harshbarger's bass became almost tangibly physical presences in the small room. The night's biggest revelation was the playing of Rich Wheeler. He's received little attention at Plastic Sax, but I now realize that he's one Kansas City's premier saxophonists.

While Wheeler's saxophone dominated the sound field at Jardine's, it's Beau Bledsoe's guitar that shines brightest on Tamam Abi, the band's debut recording. His remarkably light-fingered playing sets the tone. Tamam Abi is a tasteful but never benumbing document.

I was alone the first couple times I played the album. I couldn't imagine any broadminded listener not enjoying the immaculate recording. I was later disabused of that notion. Although it contains a wide variety of moods and melodic hooks, Tamam Abi is capable of repelling conservative advocates of mainstream jazz. Conversely, I've found one listener without any allegiance to jazz who adores it.

Alaturka fits in well with the musical space I already inhabit. New recordings of the Ethiopian jazz of Mulatu Astatke and the Afrobeat of Kansas City's Hearts of Darkness are two of my top picks of 2010. Tamam Abi will almost certainly claim another spot on my year-end top ten list.

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Additional insights may be gleaned from my Plastic Sax interview with Bledsoe and this performance footage. Alaturka's next performance is August 19 at Crosstown Station.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)