Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Eldar is booked for a five-night run at Jardine's November 16-20. Shows will be at 6:00 and 8:30.

*Steve Paul offers a glass-half-full analyis of Kansas City's jazz scene.

*Present magazine provides live footage of Joe Cartwright, Joe Straws and David Basse.

*Ahmad Alaadeen and Mark Southerland are among the artists awarded grants by an arts organization.

*KCUR conducted a nice interview with Everette DeVan. It's downloadable.

*The New York Times investigates Jazz at Lincoln Center's management structure.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Mike Moreno

If you prefer Pat Metheny when he works in a conventional jazz format, you'll want to catch Mike Moreno at Jardine's tonight. The critically acclaimed guitarist is on a roll. Among his other accomplishments, he's featured on Invisible Cinema, the enormously hyped new Blue Note release by pianist Aaron Parks. Joe Klopus composed a fine preview of tonight's show. Although this video is murky, it provides a decent sonic representation of what promises to be one of this year's better jazz shows in Kansas City.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*A most unusual jazz performance transpired last weekend at the Kansas City Irish Fest. Eric Rigler of Bad Haggis is a piper, alright, but his band offered a chagrined audience a blast of jazz fusion in the vein of Return to Forever and Weather Report.

*Andrew Zender composed a beautiful review of a new Hot Lips Page biography.

*Mazuka was profiled by Joe Klopus.

*Steve Penn visits with musicians about Charlie Parker's legacy.

*The New Low Down outs me in his superior analysis of this year's Charlie Parker memorial. Lee is too gracious to mention that Kansas City's jazz community suffered a terrible blow when he left town.

*How I Came To Love Jazz is the title of a new book by Kansas City poet Phyllis Becker.

*An unissued Charlie Parker recording is scheduled for release.

*Miles Bonny has four gigs in Germany and Austria over the next few days.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

The New Red Onion Jazz Babies

The New Red Onion Jazz Babies have been gigging around Kansas City since before a teenage Plastic Sax had even heard of Bix Beiderbecke. This live footage was captured at Jardine's earlier this week. It reminds me that I don't listen to nearly enough Dixieland. What a joyous sound! Download six free MP3s from the band's site, or better still, catch one of their regular performances.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Will Friedwald covered the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in Harlem. Robert Glasper, Vanessa Rubin, Rashied Ali and other performed. Here's a snippet from Randy Weston's set. And a blogger shares some instructive shots.

*An exhibition titled Charlie Parker, From Birth To Death (no web site) opens Friday, August 29, at Penn Valley Community College. A press release promises "rare photographs depicting his musical life mixed with commentary by jazz greats who offer their views about his greatness." Try contacting the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Center for more information.

*A jazz musician asked me to look into the jazz bookings at Sullivan's Steakhouse in Leawood. The new restaurant's manager offered the following reply to an email request for a performance calendar: "We should have a schedule to post by mid-September."

*Bar Natasha is closing. Although it was more a cabaret than a jazz venue, a number of jazz musicians frequently found work there.

*"Clubs are closing, musicians are changing their work and the surviving clubs are suspending their vision in lieu of the commercial, easy, and boring.. I feel like something new is on the horizon for this city I'm in..." Megan Birdsall confided in a blog post on August 22.

*Joe Klopus wrote an excellent appreciation of Charles Perkins (no web site). Perkins' sultry saxophone is heard on this video of a Fringe Festival performance. Jazz poet Dan Jaffe is also featured.

*Here's great news for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum: A benefit CD featuring many of hip hop's top stars will be released October 21. Any money raised will be great, but the international awareness it will bring to the 18th & Vine institution will be invaluable.

*I intend to dedicate a full post to it later, but the new Jammin At the Gem season has been formally announced. Check it out here.

*Hey! There's now a web page for the Kansas City Blues & Jazz Juke House! There's nothing there, but it's a start anyway...

*Jazz photography by Bevery Rethkop (no web site) will be displayed at St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Prairie Village. Details are on this church bulletin.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Charlie Parker Memorial

I missed you yesterday at the Lincoln Cemetery memorial service for Charlie Parker. I'm not sure why attendance was dramatically lower this year. Don't worry, though- I shot this rough, unedited video for your inspection.

The Jazz Disciples

So many outstanding jazz musicians call Kansas City home that a first-rate ensemble like The Jazz Disciples can fail to garner an appropriate level of acclaim. Part of the charm of this rough fan video is the way it starts in the middle of a tune. As always, the group sounds superb.

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Reminder: The annual Charlie Parker gravesite celebration takes place Sunday, August 24. Details and directions are here.