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.)

Concert Review: Dojo at the Green Lady Lounge

I attended the first set of a performance by Dojo last week partly because I was curious to discover how loud it would get at the Green Lady Lounge.

The decibel level- potent but not painful- was just right.

Brian Baggett shredded.  An appealing combination of Grant Green, Allan Holdsworth and Eddie Van Halen, the guitarist is a technical monster.

I already knew that Baggett was a master musician, but the fluidity of bassist Chris Handley floored me.  Ridiculously accomplished, Handley’s playing was almost as speedy as Baggett’s.  Drummer Luke Stone rounded out the ensemble.

As suggested in Plastic Sax’s review of Dojo’s 2013 album Road Trip, the trio plays propulsive fusion.  Here’s representative footage from a January show at the Green Lady Lounge.

About 25 people attended the set.  That’s not bad for a Tuesday night.  Even so, I know that there are thousands more fusion and metal fans in the area who would lose their minds if exposed to Baggett’s aggressive attack with Dojo.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Dojo

Dojo, a power trio led by guitarist Brian Baggett, makes a rare appearance at the Green Lady Lounge on Tuesday, January 13.  Plastic Sax reviewed the fusion band's impressive Road Trip album a year ago.

Album Review: Dojo- Road Trip

I don't subscribe to the notion of guilty pleasures.  I freely admit my affection for scads of unfashionable music, ranging from the lewd hip-hop of Tech N9ne to the prog-rock of 1970s-era Genesis. 

Perhaps no style of music is more out of favor than jazz fusion.  Jazz purists detest it while most of the rock audience pretends the form doesn't exist.  Road Trip, the new album by Dojo, is destined to be ignored by most mainstream outlets.  It's a shame.  Road Trip deserves an audience beyond the habitués of guitar shops.

The ensemble led by the Lawrence-based guitarist Brian Baggett has crafted an album that's both technically masterful and eminently enjoyable. 

While rooted in the era in which fusion giants like Allan Holdsworth and Billy Cobham ruled the earth, Road Trip isn't defined by nostalgia.  The influence of metal-oriented bands like Dream Theater and a trace of Metallica-style thrash can be detected in several selections while "In Times Like These" contains electronic bleeps and blurts.

Baggett's work is complimented by a pleasing variety of moods and textures.  Rather than sounding like a series of long guitar solos, each track on the album possesses a unique disposition.  Baggett's solos, while unrepentantly ostentatious, rarely impede the forward momentum of the melodies.  Bassists Chris Handley and Jeff Harshbarger and drummer Luke Stone provide a solid foundation for Baggett's explorations.

Let the cool kids have their fun.  If appreciating Dojo's powerful jazz fusion is wrong, I don't want to be right.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Joe Klopus acknowledges the flagging support for Kansas City's jazz scene.

*Steve Paul spotlights ten forthcoming jazz shows. (And don't forget the Plastic Sax Event Calendar.)

*A free MP3 by Dojo is available for download at All About Jazz.

*Jardine's' donor appreciation party for prospective and actual members of the "Society For Charter Members of the New Piano" is scheduled for January 11.

*The Pitch took great pictures of Sunday's gig by the People's Liberation Big Band.

*Pianist Paul Smith, unquestionably one of Kansas City's finest jazz musicians, now has a MySpace page. I won't name names, but it sure would be wonderful if a handful of our town's other notable veterans followed suit.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)