Plastic Sax's Top Albums of 2014

Plastic Sax's Favorite Kansas City-Related Jazz Albums of 2014
1. Peter Schlamb- Tinks (Plastic Sax review.)
2. Pat Metheny Unity Group- Kin (Plastic Sax review.)
3. The Project H- We Live Among the Lines (Plastic Sax review.)
4. Diverse- Our Journey (Plastic Sax review.)
5. Jorge Arana Trio- Oso (Plastic Sax review.)
6. Frank Wess- Magic 201
7. Everette DeVan- For the Love of You (Plastic Sax review.)
8. J.E. Chapman- 364 Days (Plastic Sax review.)
9. David Basse- The Hero and the Lover… (Plastic Sax review.)
10. Shades of Jade- Fingerprinted Memories (Plastic Sax review.)

Plastic Sax's Favorite Jazz Albums of 2014 From Elsewhere
1. Flying Lotus- You're Dead!
2. Kris Bowers- Heroes + Misfits
3. Danilo Pérez- Panama 500
4. David Binney- Anacapa
5. Ambrose Akinmusire- The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint
6. Takuya Kuroda- Rising Son
7. Bohren & der Club of Gore- Piano Nights
8. GoGo Penguin- v2.0
9. Regina Carter- Southern Comfort
10. Oliver Lake Organ Quartet- What I Heard

Similar year-end listings were published at Plastic Sax in 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Review: J.E. Chapman- 364 Days

J.E. Chapman's name may not ring a bell with many attentive observers of Kansas City's jazz scene, but the credits of his album 364 Days read like a regional who's-who.  The notable musicians contributing to the project include Clint Ashlock, Chris Burnett, Ryan Heinlein, Steve Lambert, the Leifer brothers, Hermon Mehari, Andrew Ouellette and Brian Steever.  In the tradition of grand-scale compositions by Gil Evans and Bob Brookmeyer, 364 Days is an admirably ambitious and entirely fetching work.  Chapman describes the big band suite as "21st century jazz compositions with reverence, respect, and homage to the past jazz composition masters."  I consider it a worthy sequel to Bobby Watson's swinging The Gates BBQ Suite.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)