Review: Black Friday at Crosstown Station

It's not uncommon to find a couple hundred fresh-faced music lovers swaying and dancing to a band on a Friday night at Crosstown Station. When the men on the downtown club's stage are jazz musicians, however, it's clear that something extraordinary is happening.

Very rarely do trumpeter Hermon Mehari, vibraphonist Peter Schlamb, keyboardist Mark Lowrey, bassist Dominique Sanders and drummer Ryan Lee find themselves performing for such a large and fully engaged audience of their peers.

Their collaborators for the "Black Friday" concert were vocalist Schelli Tolliver and rappers Les Izmore and Reach. Although the set list may have focused on material like Talib Kweli's "Get By" and there was more rapping than singing, the jazz aesthetic wasn't compromised. As Joel Francis foretold in his preview of the event, Thelonious Monk's "I Mean You" seamlessly led into Common's "Thelonious." It all felt entirely natural, inspired and vital. (Here's The Pitch's review.)

If it continues to be led by courageous and imaginative musicians, Kansas City's legacy of jazz innovation will soon be fully restored.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Crossing Over on a Rising Tide

A prominent Kansas City jazz musician once told me that every ambitious blues and rock musician secretly aspires to play jazz. Only their current lack of skill, he suggested, prevents them from performing the music. I doubt the accuracy of his conceit, but what if he's right?

Max Weinberg, perhaps best known as Bruce Springsteen's longtime drummer, led a swinging big band at Jardine's last night. Both The Star and The Pitch reviewed Weinberg's second set.

Weinberg, of course, is hardly the first rock-oriented musician to cross over to the jazz world, but it's possible that a tidal wave of similar stylistic shifts is on the horizon. Current members of arty indie rock acts like Arcade Fire and Radiohead, improvisation-happy jam bands like String Cheese Incident and Widespread Panic, and roots-oriented hip hop acts like Mos Def and the Roots may very well wind up playing jazz-based music a decade or two from now. Here in Kansas City, it's entirely conceivable that local luminaries including members of the Roman Numerals and Tech N9ne could shift to jazz as they age.

Would this trend be a rising tide that lifts all boats? Or would dedicated jazz musicians who have spent years battling for gigs at the limited number of jazz-friendly venues be squeezed out of work? For the sake of my musician friend, I certainly hope it's not the latter.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Thriving On a Riff: Jazz's Last Chance

I'm constantly fretting about the future of jazz. It's what jazz fans do. What if Esperanza Spalding isn't "the one"? Is Brad Mehldau the answer? Who's going to be left to listen in forty years?

As has been noted elsewhere, there's no shortage of great new jazz music. But there's an increasingly limited number of people willing to consume it.

In the past ten days I've attended performances by hard rock and metal bands, Americana acts, a folk singer, honky tonk legends, a hip hop collective, an R&B group and a set by four of Kansas City's premier jazz musicians. Guess which event had the smallest audience.

Concerts by Pat Metheny and the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra are notable exceptions, but of the 111 individual live performances I've seen so far in 2010, jazz events have been the most pitifully attended. Why?

The answer might lie with my good friend, the appropriately named Concert Chris. He recently traveled to Austin, Chicago and Omaha to see his favorite artists. He's taken in 210 performances in 2010. Yet the otherwise wonderful man has a strong antipathy to jazz.

I'm inclined, consequently, to celebrate this footage. Documenting the second official installment of Mark Lowrey vs. Hip Hop, it was shot and edited by a Concert Chris. Matt Chalk, Brandon Draper, Shay Estes and Hermon Mehari are among the featured jazz musicians. In similar fashion, a gifted photographer normally inclined to shoot popular music also covered the show.

As I've said countless times, jazz's commercial viability won't come from someone reiterating Basie or Ellington. The music of tomorrow sounds less like "Thriving On a Riff" and more like Gang Starr. If jazz has a genuine, audience-supported future, it probably looks and sounds a lot like what went down May 15 at the Record Bar.

Is Jazz Dead? No, It's Dyed

Anyone driving along 12th Street Saturday night might have understandably presumed that a jam-band was performing at the Folly Theater.

Hordes of shaggy fans in tie-dye stood smoking outside the venerable venue. But neither String Cheese Incident nor a Phish side project were on stage. Instead, the bohemians were downtown to hear John Scofield play guitar.

Scofield has successfully collaborated with Medeski Martin & Wood and worked alongside Phil Lesh. Fans of those acts have subsequently latched on to Scofield.

While many members of the jazz community wring their hands about the dwindling audience for jazz, Scofield has gone out of his way to bring new fans into the fold.

The trend has been previously noted at Plastic Sax. While I don't spend much time collecting Grateful Dead bootlegs, I recognize that jazz's great hope, at least among American audiences, is likely in the patchouli-stained hands of Deadheads.

Incidentally, some jerk gave the show a mixed review. What an idiot!

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Greg Patillo

Step back, haters! I love this; I don't care if you think the beatbox flautist is more hip hop than jazz. Greg Patillo is performing in Kansas City this weekend in conjunction with the National Flute Convention. Joe Klopus has the story. I'm going to dust off my Rahsaan Roland Kirk albums.