I’m considering forgoing future trips to New York City. I periodically visit the jazz capital partly to hear music that isn’t performed in Kansas City. I was thrilled, consequently, when Ben Trevort’s Classically Trained filled a crucial component of that void at Westport Coffee House last Tuesday.
Bassist Tervort, saxophonist Matt Otto and drummer Brian Steever played an hour of impressionistic, European-style jazz. The rhythmically unconstrained trio shifted between joyous swing and unhurried avant-garde musings on original material and standards.
Trevort judiciously gave his bandmates free reign. Listening to Otto delineate the melody of a ballad is akin to watching a masterful Japanese artist paint a wondrous landscape. And every time I see Steever perform I’m certain that he’s my favorite drummer in town.
Unlike in New York City, attending Tuesday’s show didn’t require navigating a subway system, paying a drink minimum or battling a crowd. In fact, all of the people who paid the $10 cover to catch the first set could have fit inside a taxicab. It’s too late to cancel my forthcoming trip to New York, but Tervort’s adventurous endeavors in Kansas City may play a decisive role in my subsequent travel plans.
(Original image by Plastic Sax.)
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