Album Review: Guitar Elation- Double Live at Green Lady Lounge

Acquisition of the vinyl version of Double Live at Green Lady Lounge comes with a quandary.  Do listeners restrain themselves to avoid marring the two gorgeous alabaster platters, or do they accede to the mandate of Guitar Elation’s robust twist on organ jazz and let loose while enjoying the new release on their home stereos?

As I recently suggested in The Kansas City Star, "(t)he rousing recording documents the hard-grooving attack of the quartet on original compositions like “Funkshun Junkshun.”  Guitarists Brian Baggett and Danny Embrey trade astounding solos over Ken Lovern’s funky organ riffs and the impeccable grooves laid down by the internationally renowned straight-ahead jazz drummer Todd Strait."

The memorable melodies and aggressive solos are captured in an appropriately brawny sound field.  Full of vim and vigor, there’s nothing polite about the set recorded on August 10, 2017.  The delectable tension experienced by vinyl aficionados is mirrored by intriguing dynamics within the group.  Not only do the guitarists engage in friendly duals, Lovern and Bagget exhibit rock inclinations while Strait and Embrey are more closely rooted to the jazz tradition.  The divergence elevates Double Live at the Green Lady from run-of-the-mill organ jazz. 

The most appropriate response to the album is punching the volume knob to facilitate unhinged dance parties.  A raucous soundtrack to spilled drinks, bad decisions and day-after regrets, Double Live at the Green Lady is the next best thing to spending a carefree Thursday night at Kansas City’s most vital jazz club. 

The album release show for Double Live at Green Lady Lounge is Thursday, February 6.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Plastic Sax’s Favorite Albums and Performances of 2019

Favorite Albums by Kansas City Artists
1. The Sextet- Among Friends (KCUR audio feature.)
2. Matt Villinger- All Day (Plastic Sax review.)
3. Adam Larson- Listen With Your Eyes (Plastic Sax review.)
4. Jay McShann- Live in Tokyo 1990 (KCUR audio feature.)
5. Wing Walker Orchestra- Hazel (Plastic Sax review.)
6. Norman Brown- The Highest Act of Love (Plastic Sax review.)
7. Julian Vaughn- Supreme (Plastic Sax review.)
8. Dave Scott- In Search of Hipness (Plastic Sax review.)
9. Myers Swingset- The State of This City (Plastic Sax review.)
10. Karrin Allyson Sextet- Shoulder to Shoulder: Centennial Tribute to Women’s Suffrage (Plastic Sax review.)

Favorite Albums by Artists From Elsewhere
1. The Art Ensemble of Chicago- We Are On the Edge: A 50th Anniversary Celebration
2. Flying Lotus- Flamagra
3. Kris Davis- Diatom Ribbons
4. Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan- Epistrophy
5. Laura Jurd- Stepping Back, Jumping In
6. G. Calvin Weston- Dust and Ash
7. Matana Roberts- Coin Coin Chapter Four: Memphis
8. Jaimie Branch- Fly or Die II: Bird Dogs of Paradise
9. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah- Ancestral Recall
10. Terri Lyne Carrington- Waiting Game

Favorite Performances by Kansas City Artists
1. Logan Richardson’s Blues People- Capsule (Plastic Sax review).
2. The Sextet- RecordBar (Instagram clip.)
3. Bobby Watson & Horizon- White Recital Hall (Plastic Sax review.)
4. Jerry Hahn and Danny Embrey- Recital Hall at the Carlsen Center
5. Matt Otto Quartet- Black Dolphin (Plastic Sax review.)
6. Ben Tervort’s Classically Trained- Westport Coffee House (Plastic Sax review.)
7. Rod Fleeman and Gerald Spaits- Green Lady Lounge
8. Brian Scarborough Quintet- RecordBar (Plastic Sax review.)
9. Peter Schlamb Trio- Capsule (Plastic Sax review.)
10. Guitar Elation- Green Lady Lounge (Instagram clip.)

Favorite Performances by Artists From Elsewhere
1. Aaron Parks’ Little Big- Blue Room (Plastic Sax review.)
2. Ehud Ettun and Henrique Eisenmann- 1900 Building (Plastic Sax review.)
3. Tatsuya Nakatani and Assif Tsahar- 1900 Building (Plastic Sax review.)
4. Snarky Puppy- Muriel Kauffman Theatre (Plastic Sax review.)
5. Stefon Harris & Blackout- Folly Theater (Plastic Sax review.)
6. Ryan Keberle & Catharsis- Mod Gallery (Plastic Sax review.)
7. Der Lange Schatten- Blue Room (Plastic Sax review.)
8. The Chicago Plan- Blue Room (Plastic Sax review.)
9. Tatsuya Nakatani- The Ship (Plastic Sax review.)
10. Joshua Redman Quartet- Folly Theater (Plastic Sax review.)

Plastic Sax conducted similar exercises in 2018, 2017, 2016 (albums and performances), 2015, 2014 (albums and performances), 2013 (albums and performances), 2012, 2011 and 2010.

(Original image of the Peter Schlamb Trio at Capsule by Plastic Sax.)

Matt Otto, Danny Embrey, Sam Copeland and Brian Steever at Black Dolphin

The ticket I buy at the box office of the Folly Theater on Thursday for a concert by the Joshua Redman Quartet will almost surely be money well spent.  The saxophonist deserves his status as one of the biggest stars in mainstream jazz.

I wasn’t required to open my wallet to catch a similarly refined quartet on Wednesday.  Performances at Black Dolphin are always free.  Saxophonist Matt Otto,  guitarist Danny Embrey, bassist Sam Copeland and drummer Brian Steever were staggeringly good. 

Otto immediately became one of Kansas City’s finest musicians upon moving to the area in 2009.  Embrey has a chameleon-like tendency to play at the level of his collaborators, a trait that resulted in a magnificent effort on Wednesday. 

A $40 seat in the center of the second row is currently available for Redman’s concert.  I hope to snag it Thursday.  While I know that Redman’s showmanship will be enormously entertaining, I’m less confident that the star will equal the musical standard set by Otto last week.

Otto’s quartet returns to on Black Dolphin on Wednesday, April 10, Wednesday, April 17, and Wednesday, April 24.  I shared a portion of an Otto solo at Instagram.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Review: The Myers Swingset- The Instrumental One

Ahmad Jamal’s 1968 album Tranquility is loaded with nebulous soul-jazz grooves.  The Myers Swingset’s congruent The Instrumental One could be have been titled Wooziness.  The subdued set recorded at Green Lady Lounge resembles the soundtrack of an alcohol-abetted dream about an unhinged evening of bar-hopping at area jazz clubs.  The playing of Jackie Myers, the keyboardist who leads the hazy session that features guitarist Danny Embrey, bassist Eddie Criswell and drummer Daniel Hogans, often sounds as if Jamal had been consigned to a permanent residency in an opium den.  The Instrumental One isn’t the year’s best Kansas City jazz album, but it’s likely to be the strangest.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Concert Review: Sons of Brasil at First Baptist Church

A pool of water had formed at my feet by the time the sermon began during the intermission of a Sons of Brasil concert at First Baptist Church on Sunday, January, 14.  The clinging ice and snow that I tracked in to the free Jazz Vespers event melted during a radiant set that included arrangements of classic compositions by the likes of Johnny Alf, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Gilberto Gil.  The sunny music of the pared-down quartet of trumpeter Stan Kessler, guitarist Danny Embrey, bassist Greg Whitfield and drummer Doug Auwarter neutralized the chill for about 75 hardy spectators on the frigid evening.  Having attended many performances by the Kansas City institution, I know that the spellbinding sound of Sons of Brasil is just as capable of transporting a sweltering audience at an outdoor concert in July to a temperate tropical beach.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Review: Danny Embrey- Dues Blues

Bob Bowman’s solo on a ballad on Danny Embrey’s Dues Blues is as life-affirming as a poem by Maya Angelou.  The bassist’s concise statement on “November” is one of many standout moments on the welcome reissue of the guitarist’s 1988 recording with Bowman, keyboardists John Beasley and Dave Loeb and drummer Steve Houghton.

A former member of the bands of Sergio Mendes and Karrin Allyson, Embrey is one of a handful of unassuming veteran Kansas City musicians who nonchalantly improve the quality of a handful gigs every week.

Dues Blues acts as a reminder that Embrey shouldn’t be taken for granted.  Not only does his impeccable playing honor the legacy of guitar masters such as Jim Hall and Kenny Burrell, Embrey flashes strong melodic skills on impressive original compositions like “Caraveles” and “Leonard.”

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Dean Hampton, a prominent booster of Kansas City's jazz scene, has died.  Hampton founded the now-defunct Webjazz site and was a crucial advocate of the annual Charlie Parker gravesite memorial.

*The Kansas City Star reports on plans for Open Spaces 2018: A Kansas City Arts Experience, a 2018 festival intended to “show Kansas City ‘as both the cradle of modern jazz and the present day site of unprecedented technological innovation.’”

*Danny Embrey’s 1988 album Dues Blues has been reissued.

*The Count Basie Orchestra is nominated for a Grammy Award for its contribution to a track on Clint Holmes’ latest album.

*Deborah Brown was interviewed by Joe Dimino.

*JazzTimes published a review of Bobby Watson’s Made in America album.

*Matt Otto’s 2016 album Soliloquy was reviewed for All About Jazz.

*Tweet o’ the Week: American Jazz Museum- Each year, we invest in 1,745 musicians, we provide over 40 local businesses opportunities through First Fridays, and have a $1.2million dollar economic impact in the city of @KCMO. Now is YOUR chance to have an impact. Visit https://buff.ly/2n88PwI  today. #GivingTuesday #Jazz

*From a press release: Kansas City’s own Jazz violinist, Marvin Gruenbaum, is known for his diverse musical and technical skills coupled with an electrifying flare for improvisation and captivating musical interaction. A classically trained violinist and violist, he’s been a member of the Kansas City Symphony since 1982. Performing with Tim Whitmer & The Consort Band. 7 p.m. Wednesday, December 6. $7.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

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.

Just Another Night

Inspired after updating The Kansas City Jazz Calendar, I went club-hopping along the 18th Street corridor last Thursday.

The outing began at the Blue Room, where the visiting guitarist Anthony Wilson was sitting in with a group led by saxophonist Matt Otto.  Although there was no cover charge, only about 20 people heard Wilson do things with his instrument that may never have been done before. 

My admiration for Otto’s art is well documented, including a rave review for his latest album a few weeks ago.  Vocalist Shay Estes’ impressive delivery of “Old Devil Moon” evoked Marilyn Maye. 

While it was tempting to stick around for the second set, I was eager to check out the scene at Madrigall, the Oak Street venue that’s weathered various incarnations in recent years.  Kurt Wheeler’s band played for about 15 people in the first half of a double bill topped by Robert Castillo’s group.  Wheeler’s quintet sounded like a hard-bop ensemble that had been binging on dusty albums by fusion groups like Spyro Gyra. 

I took a seat in a low slung chair that might have been described as “mod” in 1973.  The orderly rows of throwback furniture caused Madrigall to resemble the world’s most fashionable bus station.

The doorman was flummoxed by my quick exit.   I’d paid $7 to hear only 20 minutes of Wheeler’s band.  I didn’t tell him that I was headed to the nearby Green Lady Lounge, the upscale jazz emporium that never charges a cover.

Danny Embrey, a guitarist capable of putting a scare into Wilson, was in the midst of fearsome solo as I entered.  Powered by drummer Todd Strait, Embrey, second guitarist Brian Baggett and organist Ken Lovern provided a rambunctious soundtrack to the revelry of a few dozen patrons.

My energizing 90-minute outing further verified Kansas City’s reputation as a stronghold of immensely talented but woefully under-appreciated jazz musicians.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Concert Review: Brian Scarborough Quintet at Westport CoffeeHouse

I’ve been obsessed with Bob Brookmeyer’s Traditionalism Revisited since I purchased the CD at an estate sale for $1 in September.  The premise- a set of forward-thinking jazz musicians revisit the supposedly passé music of earlier decades- is made even more fascinating by the passage of time.  The music still sparkles 58 years after the 1957 session.

I felt as if I was listening to an updated version of Traditionalism Revisited at the Westport CoffeeHouse on Wednesday as the young trombonist Brian Scarborough led a band consisting of saxophonist Rich Wheeler, guitarist Danny Embrey, bassist Jeff Harshbarger and drummer Brandon Draper.

The willingness of four of the region’s elite musicians to back Scarborough reflects his substantial talent and enormous promise.  Like Brookmeyer, Scarborough is a scholarly trombonist with deep ties to Kansas City.

Just as Brookmeyer’s reverent approach to traditional jazz was invigorated by the work of cutting-edge musicians like Jimmy Giuffre on Traditionalism Revisited, Scarborough was provoked by the progressive playing of his more experienced colleagues on Wednesday.  The delectable tension between old and new impulses made the first half of Wednesday’s concert captivating.  A reading of Duke Ellington’s “The Petal of a Rose” was one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard in 2015, but the entire first set for an audience of two dozen was profound.

In his liner notes for Traditionalism Revisited, Nat Hentoff suggested that Brookmeyer wasn’t just another commonplace “parochial hipster.”  Neither is Scarborough.  The trombonist leads a similar band at Westport CoffeeHouse on Wednesday, January 20.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Concert Review: John Gross at the Westport Coffeehouse

A Lee Konitz performance provided me with a transformative experience in March.  I hoped to bookend that highlight of 2015 with John Gross’ appearance at Westport Coffeehouse last week.

Gross, 71, is another saxophonist who communed with jazz giants as a young man.  The native Californian was once embedded in the West Coast cool jazz scene.  He later toured with several prominent big bands.  Gross is now based in Portland.

I hoped to hear Gross play like this.  Instead, Gross and saxophonist Matt Otto, a trombonist from Stevie Wonder’s touring band, guitarist Danny Embrey, bassist Ben Leifer and drummer Brian Steever played sleek post-bop.

Wednesday's elite lineup was virtually incapable of playing anything less than stellar.  Even so, the uncomfortably low turnout became an oppressive burden for both me and for the band .  I bailed after about 40 minutes of exquisite music.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Taking Stock at Take Five Coffee + Bar

“Coffee is coffee and food is food but this is something different,” Lori Chandler said Friday at Take Five Coffee + Bar.  “It's the community that makes all of this worth it.”

Chandler was speaking from the stage of her venue in Overland Park.  Stan Kessler, the evening’s bandleader, had requested that Chandler and her husband Doug stand with him as he offered his gratitude to the couple for creating the area’s best jazz listening room. 

As previously reported, Take Five will close after a performance on August 15.

Chandler encouraged the members of the audience of about 50 to continue to support the musicians she’s featured at two incarnations of Take Five since 2010. 

“My plea to you guys is to find out where they're playing and go listen,” Chandler said. 

Finding appealing options will be more difficult.  In addition to providing an excellent environment and a superb sound field, Take Five boasted a notably adventurous calendar.  It’s unclear if other spaces will be willing to take chances on left-of-center touring acts like Trio M and Avishai Cohen.

I almost certainly wasn’t the only person present Friday who opted for a performance by a band billed as the Kessler-Embrey Conspiracy at least partially because the show was taking place in a room where conservations wouldn’t overwhelm the music.

The quartet of trumpeter Kessler, guitarist Danny Embrey, bassist Jeff Harshbarger and drummer Todd Strait played surprisingly reserved mainstream jazz during its first set.

Chandler has indicated that she intends to reopen Take Five at a different location.  Until then, Kessler and his band mates may be challenged to find equally attentive audiences in comparably accommodating rooms.

(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.)

Concert Review: Bob Bowman at the Orion Room

The first set of Bob Bowman's album release party at the Orion Room in the basement of the Green Lady Lounge attracted a capacity audience on Thursday, November 20.  Dozens of longtime fans of the bassist and many of his fellow musicians filled the handsome room with a convivial atmosphere.

Bowman was supported by guitarist Danny Embrey, pianist Roger Wilder and drummer Todd Strait.  Vocalist Megan Birdsall joined the quartet for one selection.

Bowman's artistic and physical rejuvenation is one of the happiest recent developments on Kansas City's jazz scene.  The official function for the release of the album Songs for Sandra, consequently, doubled as a celebration of Bowman's vitality.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Brian Scarborough

I first took notice of Brian Scarborough a year or two ago.  After the trombonist took a daring solo during a People's Liberation Big Band performance at the RecordBar, I leaned into someone at an adjoining table.

"Who is that kid?" I asked.

If the measure of a man is the company he keeps, Scarborough is a burgeoning giant. 

He performs with Matt Otto, Danny Embrey, Jeff Harshbarger and Brandon Draper in the embedded video.  On Friday, December 6, at Take Five Coffee + Bar, Scarborough will appear a similar lineup of Kansas City's jazz elite.  His band will include Otto, Harshbarger, Draper and T.J. Martley.

Now's the Time: Jazz for Joplin

As more than one area vocalist has been disappointed to discover, I don't care for straightforward jazz crooning.  It's not surprising, consequently, that I'm not a fan of Ken Rosberg's genteel vocals on Just Follow Your Heart.  I'm setting aside my personal preferences to highlight the new album that benefits the related Jazz for Joplin organization.  Rosberg is backed by saxophonist David Chael, guitarist Danny Embrey, pianist Mark Lowrey, bassist Gerald Spaits and drummer Zack Albetta on the project.  That's heady company for a man known as "Mr. Cedar Creek".  Rosberg's singing may be sampled here.

Review: The Chris Hazelton Trio at JCCC

Many of the most meaningful moments of my jazz initiation occurred while I sipped illicit cocktails at Milton's on Main Street when I was an insubordinate teen. The jazz club's bartender introduced me to the music of Shirley Scott, Big John Patton and Jimmy McGriff by means of a turntable that was prominently positioned alongside the bottles behind the bar.

The experience provided me with invaluable context. The jazz organ is meant to be heard in dark, smoky rooms filled with booze-addled revelers.

I found myself in a setting completely antithetical to Milton's during lunch hour last Tuesday. Under harsh lighting that illuminated neatly arranged rows of chairs, I was one of about 100 people who heard Chris Hazelton's band revive the classic organ trio sound at the Carlsen Center Recital Hall at Johnson County Community College.

Hazelton, guitarist Danny Embrey and drummer Kevin Frazee were on fire. Concentrating on material from the very fine new album Peregrination, the trio burned through an hour of greasy, sin-soaked organ jazz. Hazelton's impeccable work on his Hammond B-3 was thick and fearsome. Frazee played with an innate funkiness. Embrey's presence on the gig and on Peregrination, however, make the project truly memorable. He's a phenomenal musician.

Had it transpired in a late night dive, the performance would almost certainly have been one of my favorite gigs of 2012. Even in the unlikely setting, it was one of the most rewarding lunch hours I've enjoyed in ages.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Album Reviews: Laura Chalk, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and River Cow Orchestra

Laura Chalk- All the Things You Are
I don't care for Laura Chalk's voice. Yet I've discovered I can appreciate her new album All the Things You Are if I think of it as a Danny Embrey project. The guitarist's low-key brilliance is consistently astonishing. The reassuring presence of Kansas City mainstream jazz stalwarts Paul Smith, Bob Bowman, Tim Cambron and Steve Hall also make the session worthwhile. Young saxophonist Matt Chalk, the son of the vocalist, appears on three tracks. Not everyone shares my particular bias. Read a very favorable review of All the Things You Are here.

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Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey- Race Riot Suite
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey was formed in Tulsa in 1994 and has issued over twenty albums. The band's extensive history makes the suggestion that Race Riot Suite is an important, career-defining album seem entirely daft. Yet the ambitious project will doubtless inspire lots of breathless hyperbole from advocates of the sprawling sound associated with Charles Mingus and Henry Threadgill when it's released on August 30.

The wildly entertaining suite was written and arranged by pedal steel player Chris Combs, but its most distinctive sonic characteristic is the all-star horn section of Peter Apfelbaum (baritone saxophone), Steven Bernstein (trumpet, slide trumpet), Jeff Coffin (tenor saxophone), Matt Leland (trombone) and Mark Southerland (tenor saxophone, homemade horns). A recent live performance of "Black Wall Street" encapsulates the project's sensibility. Kansas City-based bassist Jeff Harshbarger solos at the 9:10 mark.

Race Riot Suite isn't merely a serious contender for album-of-the-year. It's one of the most compelling jazz-based albums of the new millennium.

(Plastic Sax interviewed JFJO's Brian Haas in 2009.)

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River Cow Orchestra- Go Wake the Rooster
A quick inspection of ReverbNation's "Top Jazz Artists" chart for Kansas City reveals an anomaly. River Cow Orchestra is the number one act, a distinction it's held for a long time. River Cow Orchestra's ability to game the system doesn't faze me. The fact that it markets itself as a jazz act, however, is misleading.

Primarily an instrumental, improvisational-based band, River Cow Orchestra is more inspired by Ummagumma-era Pink Floyd than Charlie Parker. Even though its members have clearly studied the electric work of Miles Davis, River Cow Orchestra doesn't swing.

Its occasional melding of Santana and Lonnie Liston Smith along with its affinity for absurdism makes the new album Go Wake the Rooster ideal music for a hookah bar. Here's one of 537 videos the band has uploaded to YouTube.

I've never agreed with the sentiment behind "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)." River Cow Orchestra is really good at what it does. But what it does isn't jazz.


(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

The Sons of Brasil: An Appreciation

The skies were cloudy and the breeze was chilly as the Sons of Brasil performed Sunday at the Plaza Art Fair. Even so, I managed to acquire a sunburn as I enjoyed the band's ninety-minute set. Such is the power of suggestion. The ensemble momentarily convinced me that I had been transported to a resort in Rio.

I don't know nearly enough about commercial Brazilian jazz to compare the quality of the Sons of Brasil's music to the works of better-known acts like Azymuth. I can state with absolute certainty, however, that there was no other Kansas City-based band I would rather have heard yesterday morning.

The Sons of Brasil can be as pleasant as the breeziest smooth jazz act. But they're not lightweights. The band's members include several of Kansas City's most respected jazz musicians. It's not necessary to appreciate the band, but careful listening is rewarded. Theirs is music that works at every level.

I don't care if it's an indoor gig- the next time I catch the band I'm bringing suntan lotion.

(Original image of the Sons of Brasil by Plastic Sax.)

Danny Embrey on the Mike Douglas Show

I've struck YouTube gold! Guitarist Danny Embrey is a fixture on Kansas City's jazz scene. Until I stumbled across this goofy time machine, however, I didn't realize that the outstanding guitarist was once in Sergio Mendes' band. But the unmistakable evidence in all its Day-Glo glory is at the 2:51 mark of this footage. Everything goes well until Douglas takes over. Embrey performs Friday at the Jazz Winterlude festival at Johnson County Community College.