Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Luqman Hamza has died.  He was 86.  The pianist and vocalist was the subject of Plastic Sax posts in 2007 and 2013.

*Logan Richardson leads a band that includes his fellow Kansas City musicians Ryan Lee, DeAndre Manning and Justus West in a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR.

*Laura Spencer reports on the latest developments regarding the uncertain future of the American Jazz Museum for KCUR.  The editorial board of The Kansas City Star asserts that “yanking all support for the jazz museum immediately would be counterproductive.”

*Joe Dimino’s Neon Jazz show has moved from KCXL to KOJH.

*Tweet o’ the Week: Bill McKemy- One of KC’s master musicians has left us. Thanks for the music Luqman Hamza (link)

*From a press release: On May 11, 2010, The People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City will perform the ensemble's original score to Sergei Eisenstein’s classic 1925 silent film “The Battleship Potemkin.”  Along with a complete screening of "Battleship Potemkin," the People's Liberation Big Band will also accompany two short films as a prelude to the performance... The People’s Liberation Big Band’s score contains a combination of  newly composed material, free improvisation, and arrangements of Shostakovich melodies and traditional Russian songs… The performance will take place at the Musical Theater Heritage at Crown Center (2450 Grand Blvd, Suite 301, Kansas City, MO 64108) at 8:00 p.m.  Ticket price is $20.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Review: Logan Richardson- Blues People

Logan Richardson seems to be spoiling for a fight on his confrontational new album Blues People.  Listeners are forced to choose a side.  While I don’t embrace every element of the divisive project, I’ve had the saxophonist’s back for years.

I pegged Richardson for renown when he began dazzling me with his unconventional vision on Kansas City stages about ten years ago.  He fulfilled much of that promise on the 2016 album Shift.  The critically heralded Blue Note Records title placed him with an all-star band consisting of guitarist Pat Metheny, keyboardist Jason Moran, bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Nasheet Waits.

Blues People will be released by the scrappy indie label Ropeadope on April 13.  Richardson literally doubles down on electric guitar on the album.  Kansas City’s Justus West and the Ukrainian guitarist Igor Osypov supplant Metheny on the instrument.  Along with bassist DeAndre Manning and drummer Ryan Lee, fixtures on the Kansas City scene, the men evoke rock-oriented artists like Jimi Hendrix, James “Blood” Ulmer and Living Colour on abrasive tracks including “Underground,” “Rebels Rise” and “With You.”

Screaming electric guitars are just one of many sounds on the eclectic 66-minute statement.  “80s Kid” is true to its title.  An electrifying Reagan-era throwback, the song could have been used as dramatic entrance music at Prince concerts.  “Country Boy” is a Moby-esque country blues remix.  The muscular “Change” would fit comfortably on a playlist between tracks by Kendrick Lamar and Twenty One Pilots.

The brash “Anthem (To Human Justice),” the album’s pivotal track, suggests that Richardson merits a seat at the same table as contemporary hitmakers.  The track revolves around Richardson’s pleading saxophone, the unifying element that bonds the disparate sounds of Blues People.  Many will ask, “that’s all well and good, but is it jazz?”  Audacious improvisation that synthesizes a vast swathe of American music, Blues People is precisely what culturally relevant  jazz should sound like in 2018.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)