Review: The 18th & Vine Jazz and Blues Festival

I had low expectations for the 2015 edition of the 18th & Vine Jazz and Blues Festival.  None of the headliners initially excited me and I was disappointed in the reduced number of stages.  Sometimes it feels good to be wrong.  Here’s a recap of three performances.

Conrad Herwig’s Latin Jazz All-Stars
Conrad Herwig represented the nicest surprise.  Until I saw the musicians climb the steps to the main stage I didn’t realize that the trombonist would bring almost his entire New York based band to Kansas City.  Only pianist Bill O’Connell didn’t make the trip.  Jo Ann Daugherty sat in with trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, saxophonist Craig Handy, bassist Luques Curtis, drummer Robby Ameen and percussionist Richie Flores.  The band previewed three selections from its forthcoming “The Latin Side of Horace Silver” album in a 90-minute set that made the $15 I paid at the gate seem like a steal.  Complete setlist: “Cousin Mary,” “Lonnie’s Lament,” “The Cape Verdean Blues,” “Naima,” “Song For My Father,” “Nutville.”

Dennis Winslett with Kahil El'Zabar
The only significant delay of the festival prevented me from seeing much of Kahil El’Zabar in the Blue Room.  I loved the mystical music I heard by the Chicago based percussionist and vocalist. 

Shades of Jade
The R&B crooner Dwele seemed more interested in talking than singing during his appearance on the main stage in front of the festival’s largest audience of more than 1,200.  Shades of Jade was far more compelling in an overlapping set for a few dozen people in the Gem Theater.  The Kansas City group appears to be fully committed to neo-soul, although Josh Williams J-Will played a few intriguing effects-laden trumpet solos.  Derek Cunigan’s vocals on “That One” were exquisite.

(Original image of Robby Ameen, Conrad Herwig, Alex Sipiagin, Craig Handy and Richie Flores by Plastic Sax.)

Concert Review: Shades of Jade at Coda

Many respectable members of Kansas City’s jazz community would insist that the music I heard at Coda on Saturday wasn’t jazz.  Maybe they’re right.  Yet I’d rather hear Shades of Jade’s version of soul than a musty recreation of the music of yesteryear. 

I’m excited by the current output of José James, Bilal and Esperanza Spalding’s Emily’s D+Evolution project.  Most mainstream jazz that reverently hews to tradition seems less than inspiring in 2015.

That’s partly why Shades of Jade’s melodic original compositions and covers of material by the likes of Musiq Soulchild struck me as meaningful on Saturday in spite of the absence of an audience.  I had the band almost completely to myself.  The sextet presumably played to a packed house at Phoenix Fest later that night.

Shades of Jade wasn’t perfect.  When I told bandleader Josh Williams at the break that he and keyboardist Desmond Mason seemed to be pushing toward jazz while the other four members of the group were pulling toward R&B, he agreed that the new lineup hadn’t completely coalesced.

The two vocalists seemed to have Lauryn Hill in mind as they sang while Williams and Mason may have been going for the sound of D’Angelo’s band.  Jazz chops occasionally clashed with a more regimented sensibility. 

I didn’t mind.  I currently prefer a flawed version of jazz-informed R&B to a perfect replication of 1955-era swing.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Review: Dominique Sanders- A True Story Based On...

A True Story Based On…, the bold, imaginative and vital new album by Dominique Sanders, opens with a skit that features an eclectic array of music including a few seconds of ”Invincible”, a song by the locally based pop-punk band the Beautiful Bodies.

Similarly astounding surprises are sprinkled throughout the 75-minute project.

While he may be best known for playing bass in Kansas City jazz clubs, Sanders includes elements of electronic music, funk, hip-hop, soul and rock on A True Story Based On….

Jazz fans needn’t feel left out.  Trumpeter Hermon Mehari, saxophonist Steve Lambert, pianist Andrew Ouellette and drummer Ryan Lee join Sanders on "Visible Galaxies."  The selection eventually transforms into a progressive fusion assault that climaxes with Danny Embrey’s metallic guitar solo.

"Inner Dimensions" boasts stellar contributions from saxophonist Andy McGhie and pianist Harold O'Neal.

Suggesting that the album is a who’s-who of young players on Kansas City’s jazz scene would be an exaggeration, but Matt Hopper, Mark Lowrey, Ernest Melton and Josh Williams are among the additional heavy hitters credited in the liner notes.

The R&B and funk tracks may be even more impressive than the jazz-oriented selections.  The sultry "Dreamin'" features smooth vocals by Anthony Saunders.    Reggie B raps and sings on the funky "Someone Else."  The wavy neo-soul of Awakening is a feature for Miles Bonny.

While the album would be improved by a twenty-minute trim, a bit of extravagance is to be expected from dynamic young musicians.  A True Story Based On… contains an excess of enthusiasm.

Many people objected when Flying Lotus' You're Dead was named the top album of 2014 at Plastic Sax.  Those same jazz purists won't be much happier when they find the similarly adventurous A True Story Based On… near the top of Plastic Sax's year-end album list in 2015.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Review: Shades of Jade- Fingerprinted Memories, Pt. 1

When I encountered Shades of Jade two or three years ago, I was thrilled that a group of Kansas City based musicians shared my passion for the forward-thinking jazz of artists like Christian Scott and Robert Glasper. 

Fingerprinted Memories, Pt. 1, the new album by Shades of Jade, makes good on the band's promise by melding the pleasing R&B groove of smooth jazz with post-bop sophistication.   Anyone who listens to D'Angelo's Voodoo and the 1980s output of Miles Davis will feel right at home with the project.

An energetic pulse is maintained even during the most rambunctious solos of trumpeter Josh Williams and his band mates.  The sinewy rhythm of "I Want My Money Back," the urgent melody of "Dynasty" and the experimental production of "Day Dreaming" are among the album's many highlights.

Fingerprinted Memories, Pt. 1 may not be the best jazz album released by area musicians in 2014, but it's almost certainly the most accessible. 

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*In another discerning editorial, KC Jazz Lark raises questions about the scope of a new locally-based jazz organization.

*The "Jazz Bloggers Tour of KC" featuring an appearance by author Stanley Crouch is scheduled for June 19-20.  A link is not available.

*Josh Williams' jazz mentorship efforts are documented in an article in The Kansas City Star.

*The Pitch touts an appearance by Will Matthews at the Blue Room.

*Clint Ashlock muses about the creative process.

*The Topeka Capital-Journal surveys the town's summer concert offerings.

*Tweet o' the Week: Steven Lambert- Great shot of the 627 Big Band from @GreenLadyLounge. Every Sunday from 9-12 see you there! #kcjazz (photo)

*From Brad Cox: The People's Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City performs Sunday, June 8th at the RecordBar. The band will play new instrumental compositions by Matt Otto and Nick Howell, and will be joined by guest vocalist Shay Estes for new compositions by band leader Brad Cox.

*From a press release: The Summer Sounds of the Caribbean & Kansas City. Scott Prebys, Steel Drummer/Percussionist with Special Guest Rod Fleeman, Guitar featuring the Tim Whitmer & The Consort Band... Spirituality & All That Jazz, Unity on the Plaza, Wednesday, June 4.

*From a press release: Heartland Films, Inc. announces the world premiere of its newest documentary film “One” at the 10th Anniversary of the KC Fringe Festival. Sue (Vicory)’s previous feature documentary film, “Kansas City Jazz & Blues; Past, Present & Future,” will also screen at the festival…

*From a press release: Anyone ever wishing to visit the intriguing country of Cuba, Kansas City Kansas Community College is offering a once in a lifetime opportunity.  The KCKCC Jazz Band will be performing in the 30th Annual Havana Jazz Festival Dec. 16-22 and members of the community are invited to go along… A complete and comprehensive itinerary can be found on-line (here)…  

*The Kansas City Jazz Calendar has been updated for June.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Reaching Out with Shades of Jade and Vijay Iyer

The credulous questions posed by prominent Kansas City-based jazz artists dripped with skepticism last Thursday at the Mutual Musicians Foundation.   Shades of Jade was hosting an event billed as a "Youth Education Program to expose people of ages (15-28) of the relevance of Jazz music in our mainstream society and in their local community." 

A bassist questioned Shades of Jade's decision to stray from the conventional Kansas City sound.   A saxophonist wondered why Shades of Jade favored odd meters.  A vocalist rephrased his question this way- "He wants to know why you don't swing."  I was simply delighted by the opportunity to interact with the members of one of the region's most exciting bands at one of the world's most significant jazz institutions.  About two dozen people attended the event. 

Bandleader and trumpeter Josh Williams professed his admiration for Sean Jones while keyboardist Eddie Moore spoke highly of Robert Glasper.  No surprises there.  But I was thrown by bassist Dominique Sanders' shout-out to Modest Mussorgsky and drummer Julian Goff's reference to Terry Bozzio.  The members of the quartet aren't just exceedingly bright.  Their unorthodox perspectives- free from the limitations that the conservative jazz orthodoxy would impose on them- represent refreshing new artistic and commercial possibilities for the music. 

The program was particularly interesting in light of the dustup surrounding a controversial essay in the Seattle Weekly titled "Vijay Iyer and the Outreachification of Jazz."  Chris Kornelis suggests that Iyer's frequent outreach programs are futile inasmuch as "jazz lacks broad appreciation outside academia because of artists like Iyer and albums like Accelerando.  The album is fascinating, richly textured, adventurous, and full of ideas.  But it's completely inaccessible to listeners not predisposed to appreciate jazz." 

Kornelis has a point.  I witnessed the Vijay Iyer Trio's mind-bending performance at the Folly Theater on October 19.  Given the enormous (and entirely deserved) acclaim accorded the artist, all 1,050 seats should have been filled for Iyer's Kansas City debut.  Yet only 300 people attended.  A few disgruntled patrons left at intermission. 

What the hell is going on?  I think I know.

The jazz being made in 2012 can be placed in one of three categories.  The mainstream, swing-based jazz exemplified by Wynton Marsalis at the international level and in Kansas City by the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra is becoming incrementally less popular.  Once everyone born before 1960 dies, the ongoing attrition of support for the sound will finally cease.  Swing-based jazz will never die, but I expect it to take a permanent seat next to Dixieland on the cultural sidelines by 2042.

The progressive art-jazz played by Iyer, Matthew Shipp, Dave Douglas and The People's Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City will continue apace.  It seems incapable of attracting large crowds in the United States, but the creative explorations of adventurous musicians will never be silenced.

The final category is the groove-based jazz that incorporates funk, R&B and hip hop.  Glasper, Shades of Jade and even the entirety of the smooth jazz realm represent this grouping. The strain is jazz's best hope to regain a sizable audience.  Anyone who can get their head around the idea of Erykah Badu as a jazz vocalist and J Dilla as the Max Roach of his generation will agree.  The Next Collective, featuring the likes of Christian Scott and Kansas City's Logan Richardson, just issued a cover of "No Church in the Wild."  That's change I can believe in.

Of course, most artists can't be neatly pigeonholed.  Esperanza Spalding and Kansas City's Diverse, for instance, freely jump between my somewhat arbitrary classifications. 

I hope Iyer, Shades of Jade and jazz artists at every level continue to engage in "outreachification."  Perhaps such efforts will disprove my bleak prognosis.   In the meantime, I'll forward this missive to a person with skin in the game who asked me why Iyer failed to attract a larger audience in Kansas City.  Plastic Sax, after all, is yet another form of "outreachification." 

(Original image captured at an institution of higher learning by Plastic Sax.)

Review: Shades of Jade at The Brick

Recent releases by Robert Glasper, Christian Scott and Esperanza Spalding are among the albums I've listened to most in 2012.  When I attend performances by jazz musicians, however, I rarely hear anything that remotely resembles the sounds made by the trendsetting musicians of today.  Most Kansas City-based artists work in styles that are steadfastly rooted in the '40s, '50s and '60s.  I love that stuff, but I often pine for live performances of current jazz.

That's why I flipped my lid when bandleader Josh Williams introduced the second selection I heard Shades of Jade play at The Brick on August 11.

"According to Eddie (Moore), if you don't know who Robert Glasper is, you're living under a rock," Williams said.

As the quartet wound through a creative arrangement of Glasper's new song "Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.)," I knew that everything was truly up to date in Kansas City.  I also began kicking myself for not previously catching Shades of Jade. I'd heard three members of the quartet in other contexts plenty of times.  Williams, trumpet and flugelhorn, works a lot.  Bassist Dominique Sanders is one of the scene's young stars.  Keyboardist Eddie Moore is often seen in conventional jazz bands and he plays an integral role in plenty of hip hop shows.  Only drummer Julian Goff has flown under my radar. 

Energetic and fearless, Shades of Jade reminds me of Diverse in 2009.  There's no reason to believe that the members of Shades of Jade won't achieve a similar level of renown.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Kansas City's Jazz Rebels

Exactly when did jazz become polite?  The music would benefit from a hint of hooliganism.  That's why a rough video capturing a brash display by a Kansas City rhythm section at the 2012 Jazz Education Network conference in Kentucky delighted me.  "They wouldn't let us play," the clip's introduction suggests.  "So we waited 'til they finished breaking down the stage and went at it 'til 5 a.m."  Pianist Andrew Ouellette, bassist Dominique Sanders and drummer Ryan Lee are captured tearing through John Coltrane's "Impressions."  I'm pretty sure that's Brian Steever fronting on Lee and Josh Williams stepping up after Floridian Rane Roatta's solo at 3:53.  The person holding the camera talks about the facility's displeased staff.  Sure enough, the musicians are forced to cease as the clip closes.