KC Jazz Lark: An Appreciation

My words surprised me.

"That blog is one of the best things to have happened to Plastic Sax," I told a friend over lunch last week.

I was referring to KC Jazz Lark, the "other" Kansas City jazz blog.  I'd never articulated Plastic Sax's relationship with KC Jazz Lark in those terms.  Plastic Sax had been around for two years when the man behind KC Jazz Lark began publishing his thoughts in 2009.  By creating something for Plastic Sax to push against, KC Jazz Lark provided this site with fresh inspiration. 

While we both champion of few of the same things- Bobby Watson, the People's Liberation Big Band, Take Five Coffee + Bar among them- KC Jazz Lark and I observe the jazz scene from different vantage points.  KC Jazz Lark loves swing.  I'm partial to experimental sounds.  As an optimist, KC Jazz Lark views a few dozen people in a jazz club as proof of the music's viability.  I see the same crowd as Floor Left Row GG at a concert at the Sprint Center.  While I'm prone to hyperbole, KC Jazz Lark is consistently reasonable.

Yet he's hardly a delusional cheerleader.  KC Jazz Lark regularly examines unfortunate realities from his redoubtable perspective as one of the region's most trustworthy banks of institutional memory. 

I'll almost certainly continue to squabble with KC Jazz Lark.  Even so, I'm proud to share a space with the excellent historian, gifted photographer and passionate advocate of Kansas City jazz.  I'm even happier to acknowledge that the man behind KC Jazz Lark is my friend.