Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*"I like jazz but I didn't really like performing it," Krystle Warren tells the Australian. "That's why I left Kansas City." The full story is here. (Registration required.)

*A Ph.D. candidate at the University of Kansas is doing research on a project titled “Weird Bodily Noises: Race, Gender, and Alternative Jazz History in Kansas City”.

*Pat Metheny won the Grammy award for, ahem, Best New Age Album for What's It All About at Sunday's ceremony.

*KCJazzLark misses Jardine's.

*Whither Jardine's? Hearne Christopher provides another update.

*The Star provides a review of Roy Ayers' concert at the Gem Theater.

*KCTV offers a report on the status of the John Baker film collection at the American Jazz Museum.

*The new incarnation of the Black House Improvisors' Collective will be a full-on big band.

*The Prairie Village Jazz Festival has a new chairman.

*"He's one of the most intense people you will ever meet," George Colligan notes in his appreciation of frequent Kansas City performer Rob Scheps.

*A new three-song EP by funk/jazz/techno/jam act Mouth is streaming at Soundcloud.

*Robert Trussell curates a fine playlist of Kansas City jazz and blues clips at YouTube.

*Libby Hanssen recalls a People's Liberation Big Band's performance of John Cage's "4'33"."

*Jacob Fred Odyssey will issue a series of demos and remixes from Plastic Sax's #1 album of 2011.

*Miles Bonny provides a neo-soul valentine.

*Here's an update on St. Louis' new blues museum.

*Tweet o' the Week: NextOnTCM- The jazz band's leader gets mixed up with gangster in '20s Kansas City. #TCM

*Plastic Sax Comment o' the Week: tjjazzpiano- Listen to any of the Bill Evans' Trio live records (especially the 1960 Birdland Sessions). Those audience members weren't exactly whispering behind the performance of arguably one the greatest piano trios ever. I'm not saying I don't despise the noise too, but it certainly isn't a recent epidemic.

*From the Kauffman Center For the Performing Arts: The GRAMMY Museum's Music Revolution Project, a new education initiative developed by The GRAMMY Museum has been announced by Bob Santelli, Executive Director of The GRAMMY Museum... Scheduled to debut as a pilot program in Kansas City, Mo. in June 2012, The GRAMMY Museum's Music Revolution Project will offer talented youth the opportunity to engage in musical discourse and performance with other peers from across the country, spurring innovative ideas within the realm of American music. Read the entire press release here.

(Original image of the Will Matthews Quartet performing at Jazz Winterlude by Plastic Sax.)

The Ghost of a Jazz Club Past

The specter of Jardine's loomed large Friday at Kansas City Academy.

"When I got the idea for this concept," Brandon Draper explained before Alaturka's performance. "This is what I had in mind."

Draper said that the ensemble's monthly gig at Jardine's had been a staple of Alaturka's schedule. The new Grassoots Concert Series was partly inspired as a response to that loss. The gambit seems to be working. A full house of over 75 paid $10 and $15 each for the performance.

Because I've written extensively about Alaturka at Plastic Sax and elsewhere I'll simply suggest that its performance was no less exceptional than usual. Beau Bledsoe, Draper, Rich Wheeler and 2011 Plastic Sax Person of the Year Jeff Harshbarger are four of Kansas City's premier musicians. Tamam Abi was my fourth favorite "jazz" album of 2010. I also interviewed Alaturka founder Beau Bledsoe a couple years ago.

The performance space at 7933 Main Street features bleacher-style seating, fine acoustics and a family atmosphere. Rather than being nuisances, the children on hand Friday were among the most attentive and enthusiastic members of the audience. The sole distractions were occasional ambient noises from the halls of the school and a piercing light above the venue's main entrance.

A question-and-answer segment- often a dubious proposition- was excellent. Harshbarger and Wheeler are remarkably adept at articulating complex ideas.

Sure, I miss Jardine's. I like Beena, the club's owner. And I enjoy adult beverages. Even so, from an obsessive music fan's perspective, the performance space at Kansas City Academy represents an upgrade.

(Original pre-show image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: The Glenn Miller Orchestra

A few area music lovers may be inclined to drive across Missouri this weekend to catch the Robert Glasper Trio in St. Louis. At the opposite end of the #BAM jazz spectrum, the Glenn Miller Orchestra perform Saturday, February 11, at Shawnee Mission West High School. I doubt that Glasper considered including a rendition of "Chattanooga Choo Choo" on his new Black Radio album, but then again, Glasper regularly confounds my expectations.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*Here are words I never expected to type: Listen to Roy Hargrove's solo on a song by Kansas City hip hop artist Reach. It was recorded last weekend at a jam session at YJ's. Hargrove isn't visible in a video clip of the unlikely event. And here's footage of Hargrove jamming with Hermon Mehari at the Foundation.

*Take Five Coffee + Bar is featured in an article about the arts in Johnson County.

*An awful chapter in Kansas City's history is recounted by Robert Trussell. The story about a 1945 incident was first published in 1988.

*Bob McWilliams reports on Diverse's recent performance at Kansas City Academy.

*The University of Kansas' annual jazz festival takes place March 2-3. It will feature Donny McCaslin and Alex Sipiagin. Follow the links from here.

*Additional images from Jazz Winterlude are posted by KCJazzLark.

*T.J. Martley's YouTube channel is exceptional. Here's a clip of Crosscurrent performing at Jazz Winterlude.

*Gamelans figure in the future of Black House Improvisors' Collective.

*Steve Wilson's new take on Charlie Parker's strings album is streaming at NPR.

*Universal France has issued a 13-disc Charlie Parker set titled: The Complete Masters 1941-54.

*Tweet o' the Week: Alaadeenswife- Marr Sound Archives is now the home of the Alaadeen Collection. It includes open reel live recordings + other items documenting his career

*Comment o' the Week: "Nicholas Payton" or Nicholas Payton (I can't be sure)- #1 Best living trumpeter: Nicholas Payton

*From Dan Gailey: -The University of Kansas School of Music and Hall Center for the Humanities are co-presenting pianist Randy Klein's Two Duos in concert on Saturday, February 11, at 7:30 p.m. in Swarthout Recital Hall. Admission is free. Klein is the 2011-12 Hall Center Simons Public Humanities Fellow and will be in residence at the University of Kansas for most of February. The February 11 concert will also feature trombonist Chris Washburne and saxophonist Ole Mathesin.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)

Review: Grace Kelly and Phil Woods at The Folly Theater

"You even get to see Charlie Parker's plastic saxophone," Grace Kelly ad-libbed as she sang about the attraction at the American Jazz Museum during an appealing rendition of "Bye, Bye, Blackbird" Saturday at the Gem Theater.

The 19-year-old has progressed nicely since her tedious 2009 appearance at The Blue Room. (Here are my notes on that performance.) Kelly only occasionally bored me Saturday. Her best feature was a pop-flavored ditty in the vein of Erin Bode.

Several dozen jazz musicians in Kansas City are capable of playing and singing circles around Kelly. But that's not really the point. I can think of only two or three teenagers in the area with better chops than Kelly. And none possess Kelly's charm. Most in the audience of about 375 seemed smitten by her showmanship.

In any case, I didn't lay down $18 for Kelly. I wanted to see Phil Woods one last time. The legend didn't disappoint. His beautiful solo during "People Time" brought tears to my eyes. Even better were pure throwback renditions of "How High the Moon" and "Webb City." The bop classics were rendered as if the past 65 years never happened. I'm not ordinarily inclined to admire exercises in nostalgia, but Woods, an 80-year-old Parker acolyte (he even married Parker's widow Chan!), has earned the right to revisit his youth.

Thanks for everything, Mr. Woods.

Here's Libby Hanssen's review.

(Stunning original image by Plastic Sax.)

Now's the Time: Roy Hargrove

An exceptionally entertaining parlor game for guys like me is the spontaneous ranking of all things related to music. With that freewheeling barroom mentality in mind, I arbitrarily pronounce Roy Hargrove to be the fourth best living jazz trumpeter. And in the category of "most important living jazz musicians," I'll place Hargrove at #14. He performs Friday, February 3, at UMKC's jazz festival. An imbecile previewed Hargrove's appearance here.

Confirmation: Weekly News & Notes

*The 2012 season of noon jazz concerts at Johnson County Community College has been announced.

*Hearne Christopher files an update on the status of Jardine's. Tony's Kansas City suggests that Jardine's "15 minutes are up."

*The Matt Otto Quintet is admired by KCJazzLark.

*Tim Finn's story about women in Kansas City's music scene contains a bit of jazz content.

*The Star provides a nice feature on ailing pianist Dan DeLuca. (Tip via Jim Mair.)

*Diverse posted an interactive guide to a recent performance.

*UMKC's student newspaper checks in on the jazz program.

*The Los Angeles Times published a profile of Pete O'Neal, the uncle of pianist Harold O'Neal.

*KCTV reports on progress at the Black Archives.

*Tweet o' the Week: Alaadeenswife- I'm listening to Kansas City's Seth Lee and Michael Warren on Najee's new CD, "The Smooth Side of Soul."

*Plastic Sax Comment o' the Week: Anonymous- Looks like you really did your homework on this one. (These words broke Plastic Sax's sarcasm meter.)

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)