Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Chris Burnett’s performance at the Roots Festival in Paola garnered a favorable review.

*A drone captured overhead images of a pair of outdoor events at the annual Charlie Parker Celebration.

*Micah Herman was featured on KCUR’s weekly band of the week segment.

*Arthur C. Brooks pondered the dichotomies of Charlie Parker's life and art.

*Tweet o’ the Week: C.J. Janovy- Annual 21 sax salute at #CharlieParker gravesite is only 4 saxes. What's up #KansasCity #jazz-ers? Sad.

*From a press release: Candace Evans is a jewel in the Midwest Music Scene who performs a wide variety of styles including Jazz, Classical, Pop, Latin & Broadway. She began studying classical piano and voice at the age of eight and received top honors in both while attending Shawnee Mission East High School... She received a classical piano scholarship from Kansas University and graduated from Avila College...  With Spirituality & All That Jazz, 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 6, at Unity Temple on the Plaza. $7.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Review: Micah Herman- The Ship

It must be terribly frustrating to be a Kansas City-area jazz bassist not named Bob Bowman, Jeff Harshbarger or Gerald Spaits. The three men invariably secure a disproportionate number of the area's high profile gigs. Each member of the triumvirate deserves his elite standing, but that doesn't mean that the talent pool ends with them. James Albright, Ben Leifer, Bill McKemy and Dominique Sanders are wildly different but uniformly excellent bassists.

And then there's the often overlooked Micah Herman. He's no less impressive than the aforementioned bassists, but to my knowledge he hasn't had a regular widely-touted public gig since he teamed up with Loren Pickford at the Golden Ox for a three-year run that ended in 2009. His new album The Ship, Vol. 1: The Studio Sessions makes a strong case for Herman as a top-tier talent.

While The Ship contains a breadth of styles, Herman generally works from a post-Coltrane perspective. "My Ship", a duet with saxophonist Matt Carrillo, is gorgeous. The contributions of saxophonist Matt Chalk also impress.

Yet it's the presence of Logan Richardson that makes the album essential for listeners not already heavily invested in Kansas City's scene. The brilliant saxophonist appears on five of The Ship's nine tracks. Richardson's innovative soloing on "Ease Back" is the sort of next-level stuff that fans of adventurous jazz dream about. Rather than merely admiring Richardson's improvisations, Herman acts as an electric Charlie Haden to Richardson's stunning Ornette Coleman.

The Ship's quiet issuance in December didn't do it any favors. In spite of its unfortunate timing and complete absence of hype, The Ship is the best album released by a Kansas City jazz artist in 2011.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*"These aren’t just some of the best musicians in Kansas City," KCJazzLark writes in a review of a performance by Matt Otto, Jeff Harshbarger and Mike Warren. "These are among the best musicians playing jazz in 2011, anywhere."

*Mark Edelman raves about Karrin Allyson's appearance at Jardine's. He also is thankful for Kansas City's jazz scene.

*Steve Paul assesses the Kauffman Center's first few months of operation.

*Roger Wilder's new site offers a small update.

*There's quite a dust-up happening in the comment section of Plastic Sax's November 23 post. See the following related item.

*Tweet o' the Week: paynic- @KCTrumpeter @HappyInBag These Anonymous assholes do that because most artists are afraid to confront them. I. Don't. Give-a-f(*)ck! #mfcomn

*Here's notification of a last-minute schedule change from Take Five Coffee + Bar: Matt Hopper, Ben Leifer and Philip Wakefield will perform at the Leawood venue this Friday, December 2.

*From Micah Herman: Jazz Bassist and Kansas City Native Micah Herman is pleased to announce the upcoming release of his latest album “The Ship - Volume 1: The Studio Sessions.” The official album release date is December 11th, 2011... “The Ship: Volume 1” features Micah playing in both duo and trio settings performing a mix of original and popular music, as well as some jazz standards. The full list of musicians on the album follows: Micah Herman… Logan Richardson… Tommy Crane… Patrick Flynn… Matt Carrillo… Matt Chalk… There will be an album release party and performance on December 11th, 2011, 8 p.m. at The Record Bar… The performers are: Micah Herman… Patrick Flynn… Matt Otto… Logan Richardson...

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Why Jazz? YJ's

I don't really fit in at YJ's Snack Bar. It isn't my age; it's my attitude. I realize that this might come as a bit of a shock to Plastic Sax readers, but I'm kind of a high-strung control freak. That doesn't fly in the laidback Crossroads establishment.

Still, there's no better place for a Kansas City jazz fan to pass a Sunday night than at YJ's. I heard a set of sublime Charlie Byrd-inspired bossa nova on a recent Sunday evening.

It's my understanding that fine bassist Micah Herman leads the session every week, but he hasn't updated his gig listings recently. And I'd link to YJ's, but their MySpace account is down and they don't seem to have their own site.

Slackers.

(Photo by Plastic Sax.)

The Loren Pickford Trio At the Golden Ox

The staff of Plastic Sax is ashamed that they neglected to catch Loren Pickford's trio at the Golden Ox until last weekend.

The saxophonist, Micah Herman and Charles Gatschet serve up some of the most imaginative jazz in Kansas City inside the profoundly masculine steak house lounge.

Pickford has seemingly done it all and played with everyone. Although he's ostensibly working in a cocktail setting, Pickford can't restrain himself from occasionally wailing like this. He also covers Tom Waits' skid row saga "The One That Got Away" with weary authority.