Now's the Time: Horace Washington

Horace Washington was a fixture on Kansas City’s jazz scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s.  The loyal following of the saxophonist and flautist ensured steady gigs at the town’s top jazz venues.  The embedded video captures a band led by Washington performing at the Blue Room a year before his death in 2014.

Concert Review: Matt Villinger’s All Night Trio at the Blue Room

The frequent appearances of blues, soul, salsa and rock acts at the Blue Room seems inconsistent with the mission of the American Jazz Museum.  While I appreciate each of those forms, I’ve long believed the venue overseen by the institution should stay true to its mandate.

A couple seated near me at the Blue Room on Saturday, February 8, shared that perspective.  They were visibly displeased by Matt Villinger’s All Night Trio.  The plugged-in attack of Villinger (keyboards and vocoder), Peter Schlamb (keyboards and electronics) and Zach Morrow (drums and electronics) bears little resemblance to conventional Kansas City jazz.

Yet the post-Herbie groove-pop of Villinger’s All Night Trio is the sort of consequential music essential to fostering the ongoing viability of jazz.  Rooted in Herbie Hancock’s innovations on Head Hunters and Future Shock, Villinger’s approach compares favorably with the current affiliates of the Brainfeeder collective.

The trio fleshed out the memorable melodies from Villinger’s excellent 2019 album All Day with whimsical improvisations over amplified grooves.  And watching Schlamb produce stupendous bass lines through a keyboard further affirmed my belief that he’s Kansas City’s finest all-around musician.

The vital experience compels me to reconsider my inflexible stance on the Blue Room’s bookings.  The bold performance by Villinger’s innovative trio in the heart of Kansas City’s jazz district points to a bright- and extraordinarily fun- future for jazz.

(Original image of Matt Villinger by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Jason Marsalis

Jason Marsalis, the younger brother of Branford, Wynton and Delfeayo, performs at the Blue Room on Saturday, Nov 16.  The vibraphonist evokes Milt Jackson in the embedded clip.

Now's the Time: Laura Taglialatela

The Italian vocalist Laura Taglialatela will perform with her Ropeadope labelmate Logan Richardson at the Blue Room on Friday, October 25.  The spiritual nature of the song in the embedded video reflects the searching tone of her 2018 debut album.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s appearance on Star Sessions is available for streaming.

*The Kansas City Star recommends Laura Taglialatela’s performance at the Blue Room.

*Pat Metheny was named the guitarist of the year in the 84th Annual Readers Poll.

*Carl Tribble has died.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Dominique Sanders- if your a band leader and you call multiple rehearsals and extra stuff for a 100$ gig that leads to nothing else but that gig........ YOU ARE SUPER WEAK hahahah

*From a press release: Jazz Vocalist and Kansas City jazz icon, David Basse, will make a rare appearance in the Kansas City northland on Friday, November 15, when he brings his trio to the Corbin Theater in Liberty, Missouri. For those Kansas City fans who are used to experiencing David's music in clubs & lounges, this performance will showcase his unique talents in a concert, theater setting. The Corbin is a small, 60 seat venue…  Tickets are $15.00.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: New Jazz Order

Before becoming the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, Clint Ashlock led New Jazz Order.  Ashlock and the less formal big band return to the Blue Room on Monday, August 26.

Concert Review: Aaron Parks' Little Big at the Blue Room

The 2018 release by Aaron Park’s Little Big on the Ropeadope label may or may not be last year’s best album, but it’s almost certainly one of the most brilliantly produced jazz recordings in recent memory.  “Kid” is among the tracks with a sonic immediacy that’s uncommon in the realm of improvised music.  The New York based quartet replicated the album’s massive sound field at the Blue Room on Monday, June 24.  An audience of about 75- about half of whom were musicians- paid the $10 cover to hear keyboardist Parks, guitarist Greg Tuohey, bassist David Ginyard and drummer Tommy Crane play head-bobbing jams that felt just as vital as the latest work of Flying Lotus, Madlib and Thom Yorke.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Aaron Parks' Little Big

Some jazz enthusiasts in Kansas City may know of Aaron Parks only through his association with trumpeter Hermon Mehari.  Yet the 35-year-old keyboardist is one of the most formidable young figures in jazz.  Parks will appear with his electric group Little Big at the Blue Room on Monday, June 24.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Julie Denesha created a feature about ragtime’s legacy in Sedalia for KCUR.

*Mike Dillon recalls his time in Kansas City in an extensive intereview at Relix.

*E.E. Pointer of River Cow Orchestra chatted with Joe Dimino.

*The Kansas City Star previewed Saturday’s somewhat incongruous American Jazz Walk of Fame concert.

*The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Squirrel Nut Zippers will perform at Muriel Kauffman Theatre on February 1, 2020.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Magic 107.3- This is #IndigoHour at the @americanjazzmuseum Blue Room (video)

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Concert Review: Der Lange Schatten at the Blue Room

It takes a lot of planning to be spontaneous. That’s the paradoxical takeaway of a performance by Der Lange Schatten at the Blue Room on Monday, May 20.  More than three dozen people heard the German trio’s carefully orchestrated form of experimental chamber jazz at the free show presented by Goethe Pop Up Kansas City.  Der Lange Schatten’s avant-garde explorations were moored by written arrangements.  Even during the wildest moments, reedman Michael Thieke, pianist Håvard Wiik and bassist Antonio Borghini scrutinized sheet music.  I documented a frenetic solo by Thieke and an example of Wiik’s unconventional approach at Instagram.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*KCUR shares a notification from The Kansas City Business Journal that Ralph Caro has been named as the new interim director of the American Jazz Museum.  Elizabeth Orosco interviewed Caro for Northeast News.

*KC Studio reports that a play about the late Myra Taylor will have “a possible late fall premiere” in Kansas City.

*Tweet o’ the Week: AstroGirlBunny- At Blue Room jazz night club in Kansas City Missouri listening to a jazz band they flew in from Berlin Germany. Fantastic! #jazz #music #KansasCity #berlin #Germany

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Christian Swan

Christian Swan will perform at the Blue Room on Friday, May 17, and at Westport Coffeehouse on Sunday, May 19.  The keyboardist recently announced that he’s moving from Kansas City to Chicago.

Now's the Time: Der lange Schatten

Pianist Håvard Wiik, clarinetist Michael Thieke and bassist Antonio Borghini will perform at the Blue Room on Monday, May 20, as Der lange Schatten.  The appearance of the Berlin based trio is sponsored by Goethe Pop Up.  The organization brought the Chicago Plan to the Blue Room last month.  (Plastic Sax review.)  Wiik plays a solo piece in the embedded video.

Concert Review: The Chicago Plan at the Blue Room

The American Jazz Museum described the sound of the Chicago Plan as “loose and cool" in a social media post promoting the avant-garde ensemble’s April 26 appearance at the Blue Room.  Those aren’t the words anyone in the audience of about 100 for the ensemble’s first set would have used.  The pairing of the adjectives “agitated and incendiary” or “chaotic and combustible” better represent the ensemble’s attack.

The extremely rare booking of free jazz stalwarts in Kansas City was made possible by the well-financed Goethe Pop Up.  A billboard in the Crossroads District advertised the concert.  The gambit may not have worked.  Aside from affiliates of the Goethe group and the locally based musicians Bill McKemy, Adam Schlozman, Brian Steever and Rich Wheeler who alternated sets with the Chicago Plan, I may have been the sole enthusiast of Fred Lonberg-Holm, Steve Swell, Gebhard Ullmann and Michael Zerang to pay the $10 cover charge.

With collective recording credits that include sessions with Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, El-P, Ken Vandermark, Wilco and John Zorn, the members of the Chicago Plan are all-stars in the new music community.  They validated their reputations as elite noise-makers.  Lonberg-Holm, a self-described “anti-cellist,” provided the biggest surprises.  He contributed ominous electronic enhancements, made his instrument sound like a rusty door hinge and summoned the ghost of the MC5 guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith.

Steve Swell served as a maniacal master of ceremonies.  His snarky attempts to engage the dozens of high school choir students from Iowa who filled the back half of the club fell flat, but nearly everything else he and his colleagues attempted was explosive.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: The Chicago Plan

Trombonist Steve Swell and saxophonist Gebhard Ullmann will perform at the Blue Room on Friday, April 26, under the auspices of The Chicago Plan.  The extremely rare avant-garde booking at the Blue Room is part of the ongoing Goethe Pop Up festival in Kansas City.  Swell and Ullman will be joined by cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Michael Zerang.  Every area gig is listed at The Kansas City Jazz Calendar.

Now's the Time: Logan Richardson

Logan Richardson is one of a handful of musicians from the Kansas City area who have been featured on an episode of NPR’s illustrious Tiny Desk Concert series.  The saxophonist’s 2018 contribution to the showcase is embedded here.  Richardson performs at Blue Room on Thursday, April 18.  The concert is one of the day’s 18 gigs listed on The Kansas City Jazz Calendar.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Logan Richardson’s Blues People is selected as the third best jazz album of 2018 by The New York Times’ Giovanni Russonello.

*Violinist Regina Carter is nominated for a Grammy Award for a solo on Karrin Allyson’s new album.  The Count Basie Orchestra’s All About That Basie is nominated for the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album.  The complete list of nominations is here.

*Molly Hammer appeared on a television morning show.

*David Basse hails the Jazz Studies program at UMKC for the institution’s student newspaper.

*A press release touts Anita Dixon’s efforts as a cultural heritage strategist.

*The Marcus Lewis Big Band, the Project H and Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 are among the best music of 2018 selections made by the staff of radio station 90.9 The Bridge.

*Chris Burnett lists his favorite albums of 2018.

*Marc Myers takes note of World Gardens, the latest album by the Italian pianist Roberto Magris that features Dominique Sanders, Brian Steever and Pablo Sanhueza.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Lee Rice Epstein- Yesterday, I was going to make an ironic joke about how outré a Count Basie album would be in 2018, and today I saw the Grammy noms, so that's a wrap, folks.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: The Joe Locke Trio

The ensemble performing at the Blue Room on Saturday, December 8, may be named the Joe Locke Trio, but a fair number of the people in the club will be most excited to catch Marvin “Smitty” Smith.  The venerable drummer will demonstrate his mastery of his instrument with the noted vibraphonist Locke and organist Pat Bianchi.  The Kansas City Jazz Calendar lists all of December’s gigs.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The most recent round of ugly legal woes hobbling the Mutual Musicians Foundation are detailed by Mark Davis for The Kansas City Star.

*Laura Ziegler of UMKC reports on the installation of a new board of directors at the embattled American Jazz Museum.

*The inaugural edition of the Listening Room Recording Series is slated for 7 p.m. Sunday, November 25, at Black Dolphin.  A performance by Brian Baggett’s Dojo will be recorded for playback on Green Lady Radio (and possibly a release on vinyl).  The three-hour session that’s designed to capture a “live concert feel” is free and open to the public.

*Ernest Melton is featured by the Johnson County Library.

*The Joe Locke Trio featuring Pat Bianchi and Marvin “Smitty” Smith will perform at the Blue Room on Saturday, December 8.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Josh Hurst- I'm a late arriver to this one, but Logan Richardson's Blues People is one of the wildest, woolliest, and gnarliest jazz records of the year-- powerful in how it hauls well-trod conventions into the present day.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Denise Thimes

Denise Thimes was a headlining act at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York earlier this month.  The St. Louis vocalist performs at the Blue Room on Saturday, March 31.  A multitude of additional gigs are listed on the Kansas City Jazz Calendar.