Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*KC Jazz Lark reports that prominent jazz scholar Stanley Crouch will appear with Chuck Haddix in June as part of a "Kansas City Jazz Blogger Summit."

*Joe Klopus previews this weekend's Jazz Winterlude festival.  The Pitch also recommends the two-day event.

*Tickets for a "Smooth Grooves at The Gem" series featuring Peter White, Keiko Matsui, Jeff Lorber and Alex Bugnon recently went on sale at Ticketmaster.

*Crosscurrent has posted three interesting notices about its January 23 gig at the Blue Room at its site.

*A critic suggests that Bobby Watson's recent appearance in Nebraska was "pure joy."

*Chuck Berg reviewed a Topeka Jazz Workshop concert by Joe Cartwright.

*Magic 201, a posthumous release by Frank Wess, will be issueed next month.

*Kansas-born Lisa Engelken's latest album received a positive review in Jazz Times.

*Here's another edition of 12th Street Jump's "Blues In the News."

*Comment o' the Week: Dominique- It was just something that we did one night. Special occasion.

*Tweet o' the Week: Shades of Jade- Shout out to everyone that came through at Green Lady last night! Your energy fueled the band tremendously!

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*KC Jazz Lark assesses the prospects of the Broadway Jazz Club.

*The seasonal song Mark Lowrey and Herman Mehari contributed to a Midwestern Music Foundation campaign was documented on video.

*Crosscurrent previews a January 23 date at the Blue Room.

*The Pitch highlights an upcoming performance by Brett Jackson at Take Five Coffee.

*A critic calls a selection on Bobby Watson's Check Cashing Day "endlessly fascinating" in a review of the album.

*Dean Minderman of St. Louis Jazz Notes published a handy "Best Jazz of 2013" compendium of lists.

*A television station reported on an odd incident at Take Five Coffee.

*Tweet o' the Week: Brian Baggett- @theprojecth I'm done calling clubs. I'm just going to practice and wait for them to call me and/or play sideman gigs. Focus on the music.

*The Kansas City Jazz Calendar has been updated.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Review: T.J. Martley- Meditations Vol. 1

Meditations Vol. 1, one of the best albums released by a locally-based jazz musician in 2012, doesn't swing.  Furthermore, it bears little relationship to the Kansas City piano tradition of Pete Johnson, Count Basie and Jay McShann.  Instead, the solo piano project by T.J. Martley evokes the music of Keith Jarrett, Erik Satie, Thelonious Monk and Johann Sebastian Bach.

It's not surprising that Martley's album is challenging.  He's the pianist of choice for many of Kansas City's most musically demanding bandleaders.  He played in ensembles led by Rich Wheeler and Mike Metheny at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival earlier this month.  He's also a member of the fine Lennie Tristano tribute band Crosscurrent.  Martley's popular YouTube channel specializes in insightful piano instruction. 

Although it's a technical tour de force, Meditations Vol. 1 isn't dry.  The decisions made on the ten "short free improvisation piece(s)" expose Martley's thought process and state of mind.   Meditations Vol. 1 may initially seem dense and difficult, but careful listening reveals the album's substantial inner beauty. 

Here's the album's EPK.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Doug Ramsey provides an invaluable wrap up of Bob Brookmeyer's memorial service.  John Scofield pays tribute to Brookmeyer in a post by Marc Myers.

*R Bar, a restaurant that regularly featured live jazz, has closed.

*The latest column from Joe Klopus previews a gig by Crosscurrent and reminds readers of this week's Kansas City Jazz Summit at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

*Hearne Christopher reminds readers that Jardine's is still closed.

*The Pitch interviews the American Jazz Museum's Haleigh Harrold.

*The Star reminds readers that the corner of 12th Street and Vine no longer exists.

*Dick Oatts' recent appearance at the Topeka Jazz Workshop is reviewed by Chuck Berg.  (Tip via KC Stage Blog.)

*KCJazzLark remarks on a tool that provides insights into the history of the Jazz District. He also notes an upcoming benefit concert and an International Worker's Day event.

*The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle details the April 29 JazzBEATS benefit for pancreatic cancer research.

*Matt Chalk posted a track at Soundcloud.

*It's no secret that Plastic Sax is infatuated with Krystle Warren.  Here's why.

*Teddy Charles, the vibraphonist who played with the likes of Charlie Parker and Bob Brookmeyer, has died.  The title track of his 1957 album Word From Bird was reportedly inspired by "Parker's Mood."

*Diverse is included in a nice video survey of last month's Middle of the Map festival.

*The American Jazz Museum has announced the ticket prices for the 2012-13 season of its Jammin' at the Gem concert series.

*The author of St. Louis Jazz Notes lists his city's Jazz at the Bistro summer series.  Charlie Hunter and Tim Warfield are among the highlights.

*Tweet o' the Week: Radiovixen- Flirtini time! Kansas City jazz? Great time! @ Phoenix Jazz Club Instagram photo

*Comment o' the Week: Matt Leifer- I only accept two comparisons, and those are Neil Peart and Travis Barker.

*From Dan Gailey: Two University of Kansas music recently took home top awards from the coveted DownBeat magazine’s annual Student Music Awards. This marks the 35th year for the publication’s notable contest. David von Kampen, a doctoral student studying for a music composition degree, won for his original composition/orchestrated work in the Graduate Division for his work “Sneak Out.” Brian Scarborough, an undergraduate student pursuing a trombone performance degree, received the Outstanding Performance distinction in the Jazz Instrumental Soloist/Undergraduate Division. Both students study with Professor Dan Gailey, Director of Jazz Studies at KU.  Gailey added that the "KU Jazz Studies Program has now been the recipient of 12 of these awards since 1992."

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Review: Crosscurrents at Polsky Theatre

A musician I know suggests that the jazz audience is diminished because Americans have become undereducated and overstimulated. As he bemoans the dumbing down of our citizenry, I don't dare tell my friend that I like "Mr. Carter" as least as much as James Carter.

I may not entirely agree with the musician, but his assertion isn't without merit. In today's often unenlightened environment, no venture may be more quixotic than a collective dedicated to the music of Lennie Tristano. Defiantly counterintuitive, Crosscurrent is one of of Kansas City's most unlikely bands. A free October 19 concert at Polsky Theatre at Johnson Country Community College served as a reminder that Crosscurrent also one of the best groups in the region.

"I call it weird bop," bandleader Sam Wisman explained to an audience of about 150.

I call it cerebral music played to perfection.

Tracking Tristano's time signatures and deciphering a pair of Matt Otto's original compositions taxed my atrophied brain. Concentrating on a Crosscurrent performance is akin to winding one's way through a meditation maze. At the conclusion of Wednesday's labyrinth-like concert, I was almost too exhausted to check my cellphone to get the latest update on Kim Kardashian.

(Original image of T.J. Martley, Ben Leifer, Steve Lambert, Sam Wisman and Matt Otto by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*A very nice interview with Bobby Watson was conducted by NPR's A Blog Supreme. (Initial tip via KCJazzLark.) Watson is also the subject of a fine video interview here. Watson's new album, The Gates BBQ Suite, is available at his Facebook account.

*The Prairie Village Jazz Festival is admired by KCJazzLark. The Prairie Village Post offers a recap.

*Jazz Times reviewed the new album by Dan Gailey, a professor at The University of Kansas.

*The unfortunately-named The Sound offers archived footage of its live video stream from the Mutual Musicians Foundation. The group also held a meeting.

*The Star offers a review of a concert by The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra.

*I've bashed the guys repeatedly for not having their own site, so it's only fair that I note that the excellent all-star band Crosscurrent recently remedied that situation. They're also on Facebook.

*A member of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy participated in a video interview to promote his band's forthcoming concert at the Lied Center. (Tip via KC Stage Blog.)

(Original image of Breezy Peyton by Plastic Sax.)

Against the Crosscurrent

Sam Wisman calls Crosscurrent a "nerdy little jazz band." I beg to differ.

I last raved about Crosscurrent in January. I suggested that they're "fiendishly good" and that they perform "music from a cocktail lounge that specializes in absinthe." And in his preface to a stunning photo essay of Crosscurrent, KCJazzLark called them "one of the best jazz groups in town." He's right.

I caught Crosscurrent last Wednesday at the Power & Light Grill. The establishment's enormous glass windows and concrete floor played cruel tricks on the band's sound. Their interpretation of Lennie Tristano material lost much of its nuance. The sound of saxophonist Matt Otto, one of Kansas City's most significant voices, almost resembled the processed style of David Sanborn. Weird.

Steve Lambert's reeds, T.J. Martley's keyboards, Zach Beeson's bass and Wisman's drums also echoed around the large room. There simply weren't enough bodies to absorb the sound. In the ninety minutes I spent at Power & Light Grill, the audience bottomed at 15 and peaked at 30.

Why were there so few people there? It was like a secret gig. Outside of Otto and Lambert's sites and the members' Facebook accounts, Crosscurrent is invisible on the internet. It's staggering that such brilliant musicians can't bring themselves to provide even a bare minimum of self-promotion. They're heard it from me before- I've addressed the matter privately and publicly with some of the guys. Their music- and Kansas City's jazz audience- deserves much better.

Crosscurrent plays Jardine's on September 24. You'll find the date listed on the Kansas City Jazz Calendar.

















(Original images of Crosscurrent at the Power & Light Grill by Plastic Sax.)

An Art Gallery, a Baptist Church and a Rock Club: Notes From Three Unlikely Jazz Performances

Some of the most intriguing jazz performances take place in the unlikeliest of places. The results, as the following notes indicate, range from heavenly to hellish.

The Sam Wisman Group- The Record Bar, January 10

One of the most encouraging trends of the past 18 months is the increased number of jazz bookings at The Record Bar. The intimate venue offers excellent sound and lighting.

The promotion of shows at the indie rock-oriented club is often the responsibility of the artists. That's where this gig got a little dicey. Even on the day of the show, the venue's site maintained that the People's Liberation Big Band was providing the evening's entertainment. Much to the dismay of many, including one of my colleagues, it wasn't the case. Thankfully, keyboardist T.J. Martley took the trouble to inform me via Facebook that he'd be playing in a group led by drummer Sam Wisman (pictured above). Saxophonist Matt Otto and bassist Seth Lee would also be on hand to pay tribute, Markley indicated, to Lennie Tristano.

They were fiendishly good. The attack on Tristano classics like "317 E. 32nd" and "Crosscurrents" ranged from prickly to lyrical. "Lennie's Pennies" resembled music from a cocktail lounge that specializes in absinthe. So stunning was the playing of Matt Otto that I'm seriously considering going Dean Benedetti on him.

Although the group specializes in difficult music that will never appeal to a massive audience, it was a shame that only about 30 people were on hand to hear their first outing. The majority of the meager crowd were other musicians and the band's family members.

It's no coincidence that links to Wisman and CrossCurrent, the unfortunate name for the ensemble, aren't provided here. They don't exist. As regular readers of Plastic Sax already know, that lack of basic promotional work infuriates me.

















The Black House Improvisors' Collective- Paragraph Gallery, January 15

While I'm deeply annoyed by Wisman's indifference to promotion, I almost lost my mind during a nightmarish outing by Black House Improvisors' Collective at a downtown art gallery. I continue to rave about their exciting debut last October and I had been eagerly anticipating their second gig. This version of the collective included ringers Chris Burnett and the aforementioned Otto (pictured below).

So how was it? Beats me. I couldn't hear a damn thing. The room was packed with hipsters (above). Their shenanigans completely drowned out the band. I'd hoped they'd leave for a space where a DJ was spinning The xx, but the oblivious bohemians stuck around.

Thankfully, the performance was recorded by someone who was able to filter out much of the noise. Download it here. The collective is also booked at The Record Bar on January 31.





















William Sanders- Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, January 19

The senior recital of UMKC jazz student and Diverse saxophonist William Sanders (below) was immensely rewarding. Sanders' playing ranged from the soul-jazz of Gene Ammons to the spirituality of John Coltrane. His sensual work on "B-Day Song" suggested that he forgot he was in a (acoustically perfect) church. Zachary Sanders (presumably William's brother) assisted on drums. Much to the consternation of the wonderfully expressive keyboardist Karren Schiele, Diverse's brash drummer Ryan Lee sat in on one song.

Sanders' presentation didn't end when the music stopped. He noted that it was no accident that the program included hymns like "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" and "Jesus is All the World to Me." He offered stern testimony about his faith. While I don't share Sanders' perspective on salvation, I found his plea refreshing. And the music? Sanders' heartfelt performance might find a spot on my year-end top ten list.
















(Original images by Plastic Sax.)