Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Bobby Watson tells J.D. Considine a certain politician is a “jive motherf*cker” in a Downbeat profile.

*Brian Scarborough was interviewed on the Chicago Music Revealed vlog.

*Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s subversive rendering of the 1950 album Charlie Parker with Strings at the 2012 Charlie Parker Festival at Marcus Garvey Park in New York is now available for streaming on YouTube.

*Gary Giddins will lead Joe Lovano, Charles McPherson, Grace Kelly and Antonio Hart in a discussion about Charlie Parker on August 29.

*Tweet of the Week: Howard Reich- Honoring Charlie Parker at his centennial (link)

*From Johnson County Community College: Our Recital Series are online this Fall! Our musicians are on stage right now recording their shows for your entertainment!... Now in their 32nd year, the hour-long recitals feature some of the most respected professional classical and jazz musicians in the Kansas City area… All events for this fall of 2020 will be presented VIRTUALLY with links to the previously recorded broadcast  prior to the events… Sept. 22 Doug Talley Quartet; Sept. 29 Bram Wijnands Duo; Oct. 6 Brian Scarborough Quintet; Oct. 13 Michael McClintock and Jeff Freling, guitars; Oct. 20 Adam Larson Quartet; Oct. 27 Joe Cartwright, piano; Nov. 3 Eclipse

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The New York Times reports on the odd collision of the Mutual Musicians Foundation’s low-wattage radio station and the Russian propaganda programming broadcast on the same frequency via KCXL.

*The local connections of the jazz-adjacent band the Purna Loka Ensemble are explored by Rick Hellman.

*Steve Kraske interviewed Stacey Kent on KCUR’s Up to Date.  The Kansas City Star previewed Kent’s concert at the Folly Theater.

*Charlie Parker’s plastic sax garners a mention in KCUR’s latest arts newsletter.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Johnson County Community College- Featuring some of the most respected local musicians, the Ruel Joyce and Jazz Recital Series kick off on Feb. 17! Happening every Monday and Tuesday at noon, these 1-hour performances are free and open to the public. For more info: (link)

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Eboni Fondren

The tradition-minded vocalist Eboni Fondren will perform in Johnson County Community College’s Winterlude series at Polsky Theatre on Sunday, January 19.  She'll be backed by pianist Joe Cartwright, bassist Seth Lee and drummer John Kizilarmut.

Now's the Time: Benny Golson

It’s astounding that the saxophonist playing alongside Lee Morgan, Bobby Timmons, Jymie Merritt and Art Blakey in the embedded video from 1958 continues to spread his swinging message in appearances around the world.  Benny Golson, 90, was the hippest, smartest and funniest person in the room during a master class session at Johnson County Community College yesterday afternoon.  He performs with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra at Helzberg Hall on Friday, October 11.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The Sextet uploaded a brief recap of its recent album release show and its Star Sessions appearance (here’s one of four segments) to YouTube.

*The Kansas City Star recommended a concert by the Branford Marsalis Quartet.

*“That’s My Jazz”, the 13-minute documentary about Milt Abel Jr. and his father first mentioned at this site in March, now streams online.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Johnson County Community College- We have your Thursday night plans! Brighten your mood with memorable melodies and toe-tapping jazz and blues from the Midnight Express Jazz Band and Faculty Quintet.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Zach Albetta interviewed Sam Wisman for his Working Drummer podcast.

*Bobby McFerrin and Pablo Ziegler and among the bookings in the 2018-19 season of Carlsen Center Presents at Johnson County Community College.

*The owner of a new jazz club in Omaha suggests that “(from) Kansas City all the way down to Tulsa, there's a Midwest run right now.”

*A few days after being lauded at Plastic Sax, Drew Williams’ Wing Walker Orchestra received an enthusiastic notice in The New York Times.

*The KU Jazz Festival is slated for Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Liam Hogan- woke up this morning & checked all the texts i sent out last night, realized i mixed up the name of green lady & black dolphin, & had been telling friends to meet me at “the black ladies lounge” all night

(Original image of a page from a Kansas City-themed puzzle book published in 2002 by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Lisa Henry

Vocalist Lisa Henry will join a quartet led by keyboardist Eddie Moore at Polsky Theatre on Sunday, January 20.  The concert is part of the Winterlude series at Johnson County Community College.  It's one of 17 events on Sunday listed at The Kansas City Jazz Calendar.

Now's the Time: Michael Manring

Todd Mosby will lead a band at Polsky Theatre on Saturday, January 20.  Yet Michael Manring, the bassist in the guitarist’s band, may be the most renowned musician on the stage at Johnson County Community College.  Manring was one of the most stimulating components of the distinctive 1980s sound of the new age powerhouse Windham Hill Records.

Now's the Time: Aldo López-Gavilán

The Cuban pianist Aldo López-Gavilán will join the Harlem Quartet when the ensemble returns to Johnson County Community College on Friday, November 10.  (Plastic Sax reviewed the Harlem Quartet’s appearance on the campus in August.)  López-Gavilán gracefully bridges the divide between jazz and classical music in the embedded video.

Now's the Time: Hudson

Kansas City's jazz community is well-versed in the concept of feast or famine.  2017 is a time of plenty.  On Sunday, jazz titans Jack DeJohnette and John Scofield will make their second area appearances of the year.  Along with John Medeski and Larry Grenadier, they’ll perform in the quartet Hudson at the Carlsen Center.  DeJohnette’s trio was featured in a Jazz at the Gem concert in April.  (Plastic Sax reviewed the concert).  Scofield was a headliner at the Kansas City Jazz & Heritage Festival in May.  (The Kansas City Star reviewed the event.)  Let’s eat.

Now's the Time: Danny Embrey and Rod Fleeman

Guitarists Danny Embrey and Rod Fleeman have elevated countless jazz gigs in Kansas City.  Their sublime styles will be featured in a free midday concert at the Recital Hall at Johnson County Community College on Tuesday, September 26.

Concert Review: The Harlem Quartet at Polsky Theater

Chris Burnett, the sublime Kansas City jazz musician and relentless social media irritant, insists that the future of live jazz lies in the sort of formal presentations associated with classical music.  His vision seemed particularly prescient during a performance by the Harlem Quartet at Polsky Theater on Wednesday.  The string quartet’s swinging renditions of the jazz standards “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “A Night In Tunisia” enlivened an audience of about 300 that had fidgeted through a dry 20-minute reading of Mozart’s String Quartet #17.  The Harlem Quartet solidified its credentials among Kansas City jazz aficionados in a 2012 collaboration with Gary Burton and Chick Corea at the Gem Theater.  The enthusiastic response of Wednesday’s audience to works by Billy Strayhorn and Dizzy Gillespie indicated that Burnett’s advocacy of jazz listening rooms is entirely warranted.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Joey Alexander

Kamasi Washington aside, Joey Alexander, 13, has received more mainstream media attention during the past two years than any other jazz instrumentalist.  The Bali native will make his Kansas City area debut at Yardley Hall on Saturday, May 20.  Alexander was accompanied by bassist Dan Chmielinski and drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. at a recent concert.

Concert Review: Jazz 100 at Yardley Hall

I entered Yardley Hall with a chip on my shoulder on Sunday.  The promotional campaign for the "Jazz 100" concert at Yardley Hall exasperated me.  Instead of highlighting the names of the participants, the front of a postcard mailing for the event read "celebrating 100th birthdays of Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Mongo Santamaria and Thelonious Monk.”  Other marketing efforts for the final event of the Jazz Winterlude festival also treated members of the all-star band as irrelevant afterthoughts.

I didn’t buy a $30 ticket to honor the dead.  Instead, I was eager to hear the vivacious work of the all-star band assembled by pianist Danilo Pérez.  Vocalist Lizz Wright, saxophonist Chris Potter, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, bassist Ben Street, percussionist Roman Diaz and drummer Adam Cruz played as if they were eager to prove that vibrant jazz wasn’t exclusive to the previous century. 

The extended duet between Perez and Cohen that opened the concert dispelled my concerns.  Rather than attempting to evoke Gillespie, Cohen played in the meditative style documented on his most recent album for the ECM label.  His bandmates were similarly unburdened by the format.  Wright sounded nothing like Fitzgerald when she applied her gorgeous voice to selections including the obscure civil rights song ”It’s Up To Me and You”.

Perez’s solo rendition of “‘Round Midnight” contained none of Monk’s idiosyncrasies.  Even if Diaz wanted to approach Santamaria faithfully during his turn in the spotlight, there was no way the band would have allowed it.  The only familiar arrangement of the 90-minute concert was assigned to “Well, You Needn’t”, but Potter’s extended solo pushed well beyond John Coltrane's exploration.

With the exceptions of Street and Cruz, each member of the band had at least one such opportunity to display their core strength.  Rather than clashing, consequently, the radically mismatched frontline of Potter, Cohen and Gordon provided engaging variety.  Anyone in the audience of more than 500 who had hoped to revisit the 1950s was almost certainly disappointed.  I walked out of Yardley Hall on cloud nine.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Jazz 100

The good news: an all-star band consisting of vocalist Lizz Wright, saxophonist Chris Potter, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, pianist Danilo Perez, bassist Ben Street, percussionist Roman Diaz  and drummer Adam Cruz will perform at Johnson County Community College on Sunday, March 19.  The bad news: the concert is billed as "Jazz 100," a "celebration of the centennial birthdays of Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Mongo Santamaria and Ella Fitzgerald."  The embedded video indicates that the musicians are capable of transcending the dubious concept.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Joe Klopus interviewed organist Chris Hazelton.

*A weekly jazz jam in Lee’s Summit is recognized by The Pitch.

*Bob James’ concert at the Folly Theater was reviewed by The Kansas City Star.  KC Metropolis also documented the performance.

*Concert of the Century- A Tribute to Charlie Parker, a recording of a 1960 concert by a band led by Dizzy Gillespie, will be reissued on November 11.

*Rashida K. Braggs, the author of Jazz Diasporas: Race, Music and Migration in Post-World War II Paris, will give a free presentation at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, October 20, as part of the American Jazz Museum's Riffing on the Repertoire speaker series.  Braggs asserts "that African American musicians adopted a variety of strategies to cope with the cultural and social assumptions that confronted them throughout their careers in Paris."

*Jessie Riggins attended a performance by Will Matthews’ B-3 Organ Project.

*Terri Gibbs shares stories about Charlie Parker in his interview with Joe Dimino.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Folly Theater- Did you know box seats to see @KarrinAllyson are as low as $45 and tickets start as low as $25?! Get them today for Nov. 18th!

*Comment o’ the Week: Anonymous- Polsky is a great place to hear a show - much better than a noisy club. Let's turn out and support jazz in JOCO. I got my tickets!

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Concert Review: Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle at Polsky Theatre

Polsky Theatre momentarily resembled the world’s funkiest nursing home last Tuesday.  As bassist DeAndre Manning channeled Stanley Clarke on a gospel-infused reading of “God Bless the Child” for an appreciative audience of about 75 senior citizens and 25 younger music lovers at Johnson County Community College, the free lunchtime concert by Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle could have been mistaken for an exceptionally soulful enrichment activity.

The reassuring ambience created by the quartet of Moore, Manning, guitarist Adam Schlozman and drummer Zach Morrow was worlds removed from the raucous atmosphere at the album release party for Kings & Queens at the Tank Room ten days earlier. 

The solid display of jazz fundamentals on “God Bless the Child” and a sublime interpretation of “Caravan” prepared the audience for a faithful recreation of the exploratory title track of Kings & Queens.  Only two listeners defected during the 25-minute suite, an achievement that reflects the inclusive appeal of the adventurous band.

Setlist: Caravan, God Bless the Child, Kings & Queens suite

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now’s the Time: Will Matthews with Bobby Floyd

The overhauled version of Jazz Winterlude at Johnson County Community College opens Sunday, October 16, with the Will Matthews B-3 Organ Trio featuring Bobby Floyd and Marty Morrison.  The trio also performs at the Blue Room on Saturday, October 15.  Matthews appears at the Green Lady Lounge on Monday, October 17, in what I'm told is a different configuration.  Matthews and Floyd are featured in the Count Basie Orchestra's rendition of "In a Sentimental Mood" in the embedded video.

Concert Review: The Hermon Mehari Quartet at Polsky Theatre

Your gray-haired correspondent was one of the youngest members of the audience of about 125 at Polsky Theatre last Tuesday for a free lunch hour concert by a quartet led by Hermon Mehari (Plastic Sax’s 2009 Person of the Year).

A friend suggested that the trumpeter and his band mates- pianist Peter Schlamb, bassist Karl McComas-Reichl and drummer John Kizilarmut- deliberately played conservatively to avoid offending their elders.  I’m not so sure.  I think Mehari’s default jazz mode is based on the sound Miles Davis established in the 1950s in his landmark recordings for Prestige Records. 

I understand why my pal was disappointed by the polite bop recital, but I found plenty to appreciate.  Mehari’s feathery tone was in fine form and McComas-Reichl and Kizilarmut were impeccable, but Schlamb’s playing was absolutely mesmerizing.  I was repeatedly floored by Schlamb’s next-level concepts.

Primarily known as a vibraphonist, Schlamb’s ideas may be even better conveyed via piano.  His subtly subversive contributions to otherwise conventional interpretations of “These Foolish Things” and “As Time Goes By” thrilled me.  A rendition of Schlamb's “Tatra”- a composition Mehari said would be included on his forthcoming solo album- was the most dynamic of the eight selections.

Setlist: If I Were a Bell, September in the Rain, Chi Chi, As Time Goes By, The Lamp is Low, Tatra, These Foolish Things, Stomping at the Savoy

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Joe Klopus surveys the week’s jazz calendar for The Kansas City Star.

*The Campus Ledger reports on the first concert of the season in Johnson County Community College's annual jazz series.

*A music blog praised Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle’s Kings & Queens.

*Downbeat catches up with Pat Metheny.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Dominique Sanders- Been a 100% full time musician for 4 years now!!! CRAZY time flys!!

*Comment o’ the Week: Anonymous- I think your first sentence should read, "Jazz musicians and jazz presenters often decry lack of support for live JAZZ performances." I doubt any of them are unaware of how many tickets are sold to the Dixie Chicks, rap concerts, etc. None of this is surprising... jazz is an acquired taste that not many have acquired.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)