*From a press release: The Jazz Masters at Crown Center will feature the following artists for a two-day concert series in August, 2010: George Benson and David Sanborn / August 21st... Manhattan Transfer and John Pizzarelli / August 22nd. The evening concerts start at 8 pm.
*The very welcome trend of live jazz at unconventional venues is examined by KCJazzLark.
*Adorable or annoying? Here's Megan Birdsall's latest vlog. (Personal to Megan: neither of your two publicists has ever contacted me...)
*KCUR's KC Currents chats with Angela Hagenbach. (Tip via KCJazzLark.)
*Tony Botello implies that Plastic Sax's lavish praise of Matt Otto in the previous post is meaningless. "(S)o many artists come to Kansas City and experience widespread acclaim simply because this town isn’t accustomed to major league talent," he writes.
*Two students of architecture at the University of Nebraska won a design contest with their ambitious plan to revitalize 18th and Vine. Noting that "the area is in disrepair," the young men suggest that "Modern Bebop," the title of their plan, might "revitalize" the area. Download their proposal here.
*The Minneapolis debut of Marilyn Maye is reviewed.
*An article at NPR's jazz blog describes Bobby Watson as one of several "great older folks who don't make as many headlines as they once did, but who are still making really great music."
*Karrin Allyson racks up another favorable concert review. She returns to Jardine's on April 8 and 9.
*Logan Richardson receives praise from a jazz blogger.
*Excellent! Footage of Randy Weston's recent concert at the American Jazz Museum is posted at YouTube.
*The American Jazz Museum's "Jazz Ambassador" exhibit is the subject of a new promotional video.
*A Junction City, Kansas, gig by the Doug Talley Quartet garners a review.
*Good times were had at the Mutual Musicians Foundation on Fat Tuesday.
*Diverse's debut album is noted by the Examiner.
*A Portland radio station displays affection for a Joe Turner album.
*A blogger describes the fun she had listening to jazz at Harling's.
*Andrew Miller's trashing of Kansas City includes disparaging remarks about the Jazz District. An excerpt: The 18th and Vine district still exists, and there's probably even more money being funneled into it then there was in the Pendergast era, but without the brutal Mafia efficiency. Other than a couple active venues, which occasionally lure decent jazz artists with those mysteriously apportioned city funds but don't actually attract an audience because there's apparently no room in the budget for advertising and promotion, 18th and Vine consists mostly of fake storefronts...
(Original image by Plastic Sax.)
yikes... yellow type on a grey background? the harling's review very tough to read! and the review from the k-state gal of doug talley's show wasn't much of a review. more like an overview. she needs to be reading "back to rockville" more often, or some of your reviews here on plastic sax! (but then, k-state isn't known for their journalism program, is it?) - mike t.
ReplyDeleteWriting is hard.
ReplyDeleteSo is playing chord changes.
ReplyDeleteCareful with those generalizations. Plus, it's a campus newspaper, one that I'll acknowledge isn't top-notch from my own time at KSU. Not every writer at the Collegian is a journalism major or pursuing another degree in the A.Q. Miller School. I graduated from the program with a degree in Advertising and seemed to have turned out alright, and am enjoying a career as a young marketing/communications professional (and an aspiring writer) in the music/arts/entertainment industry.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the quality of the writing, it is refreshing - to this commenter, at least - to see that a jazz gig is worthy of ink in the publication.