Album Review: Chris Hazelton- In Rotation

The jazz audience can be divided into two camps. A select group of fortunate fans rapturously drink, smoke and dance to the sound of organ jazz. Others- this correspondent included- suffer from allergies to the divisive form. 

Yet even skeptics are likely to make an exception for In Rotation. The addition of vibraphone makes the latest album overseen by Kansas City organist Chris Hazelton an uncommon variant of the organ jazz tradition.

The arrangements focused on Peter Schlamb are particularly intriguing. The vibraphonist is best known for future-forward forms of jazz, but he’s fully conversant in conventional swing settings. Schlamb’s contribution makes the opening of an interpretation of the Billy Strayhorn composition “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing”- In Rotation’s most remarkable track- breathtaking.

Saxophonist Brett Jackson excels in playing the role of George Coleman to Hazelton’s Jimmy Smith. As on Hazelton’s 2023 album After Dark, Jackson’s romantic tone pushes the recording over the top. A master in every setting, drummer John Kizilarmut sets the pace with tasteful precision.

Countless potential listeners have yet to be exposed to organ jazz. Hazelton would almost certainly encourage novices to explore the discographies of his lodestars Everette DeVan and Dr. Lonnie Smith, but In Rotation is a fine place for novices to begin the process of determining if they love or loathe organ jazz.

Now’s the Time: Jason Stein, Damon Smith and Adam Shead

Bass clarinetist Jason Stein, bassist Damon Smith and drummer Adam Shead top an impressive lineup of locally based and touring musicians at miniBar on Thursday, May 21. Stein, Smith and Shead are touring in support of their new album Five Nights in the Midwest.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*A press release provides updates on Kansas City’s recent $3,200,000.00 reinvestment in the American Jazz Museum.

Album Review: Betty Bryant- Nothin’ Better to Do

Born in 1929, raised in Kansas City and mentored by Jay McShann, the Los Angeles based Betty Bryant is an inimitable chanteuse. Naturally, Nothin' Better to Do, the latest album by the vocalist and pianist, is a timeless delight.

Immensely charming selections including the worldly “You Are Not My First Love” and the come-hither blues “I Can’t See for Lookin’” are capable of making listeners a mere quarter of Bryant’s age blush. The Kansas City-style “Mama Sue” and “He May Be Your Man” are similarly insinuating.

The Latin groove of “Time Was” and the cabaret musings of the undeservedly obscure Burt Bacharach and Hal David composition “Winter Warm” are unexpected changes of pace. The 96-year-old remains full of surprises.

Now’s the Time: Henry Scamurra

Manor Fest is the rare multi-genre Kansas City music festival to feature more than a token jazz act in its lineup. Bobby Watson is billed second on the expansive bill of the 2026 edition of the event. Alber, Eddie Moore and Henry Scamurra are among the additional jazz acts booked at Manor Fest. Scamurra’s appearance in the festival’s second week is at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, May 28, at PH Coffee. The saxophonist’s performance will be preceded by a singer-songwriter and followed by a rootsy rock band.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Alber chatted with KCUR’s Steve Kraske.

*Kansas City’s Michael Pronko promoted his book about jazz in Japan at an Italian jazz site. (Tip via PF.)

Album Review: Back Alley Brass Band- Some Bright Morning

Festival bookers, wedding planners and organizers of corporate events in Kansas City must have Back Alley Brass Band on speed dial. The New Orleans-style brass band seems to play at the majority of the area’s high-profile gatherings. The group’s live presentation, work ethic and professionalism please the sorts of people accustomed to writing big checks. Some Bright Morning, Back Alley Brass Band’s latest album, is a bit less dependable. Funky and sophisticated, the opening instrumental “Superhero” is the ensemble’s best recorded track to date. Unfortunately, the remainder of the selections feature vocals. While sing-alongs to familiar material like “Hey Jude,” “Just the Two of Us” and “I’ll Fly Away” are bound to blossom in exuberant live settings, the vocals on Some Bright Morning  are cringey. The good times roll at Back Alley Brass Band’s live shows. The band’s recordings are less of a sure bet.

Now’s the Time: Deborah Brown

Deborah Brown, the doyenne of Kansas City jazz, returns to the Blue Room on Friday, May 8. The embedded video captures the magnificent vocalist at a Slovenian jazz festival.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The new jazz venue Ted's Taproom recently opened at 1829 McGee Street.

*Here’s Kansas City’s video contribution to last week’s UNESCO “jazz day relay.”

Album Review: Nolatet- Somethin’ to Relax With

A subset of Midwestern music aficionados between the ages of 35 and 65 know that much of the most exciting jazz of the 1990s and early 2000s was performed in grimy rock clubs. Removed from the stifling constraints of jazz purists and advocacy organizations, bands like Tulsa’s Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and Kansas City’s Malachy Papers developed new tactics in a vibrant underground scene.

Somethin’ to Relax With, the latest release by Nolatet, is a mature variant of the pivotal movement. The band consists of Jacob Fred Odyssey’s Brian Haas, Malachy Papers’ Mike Dillon and the New Orleans stalwarts James Singleton and Johnny Vidacovich.

Recorded live in Tulsa, the album is an extension of Haas’ work with Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and is a logical progression in Dillon’s adventurous career. Bolstered by the swinging bassist and drummer from the Big Easy, Haas and Dillon balance ornery defiance with deep-seated fluency in jazz traditions.

All six selections are alternately pensive and playful. Nolatet’s highbrow fun brings a disruptive punk sensibility to sounds ordinarily associated with Bobby Hutcherson and Thelonious Monk. Somethin’ to relax with? Sort of. Somethin’ to party with at a safe distance from conventional jazz culture? Definitely.

Now’s the Time: The Count Basie Orchestra and Keyon Harrold

Old school or new school? That’s the decision facing celebrants of International Jazz Day in Kansas City on Thursday, April 30. Traditionalists are likely to favor The Count Basie Orchestra in the big band’s return to the Music Hall. Keyon Harrold, a trumpeter who integrates hip-hop and R&B into his jazz-based music, headlines an event overseen by the Mutual Musicians Foundation. The host promises attendees will join “a curated audience of creatives, professionals, tastemakers, and culture leaders.”

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Marc Myers raves about Triological, the recently released album featuring Kansas City’s Steve Cardenas.

Concert Review: Terri Lyne Carrington at the Folly Theater

Max Roach performed in Kansas City’s Jazz District in 1985. Abbey Lincoln appeared at the Folly Theater in 1994. We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite, the 1961 protest album featuring the drummer and vocalist, remains a towering cultural touchstone.

Terri Lyne Carrington told an audience of several hundred that she and her band intended to conduct a “flip of the script” on We Insist! before the first note was played at the Folly Theater on Saturday, April 18. (I paid $37.50 for a balcony seat.)

Powered by Carrington’s ferocious drumming, the auspicious young trumpet star Milena Casado, guitarist Matthew Stevens and multi-instrumentalist Morgan Guerin were supplemented by poet and vocalist Christie Dashiell.

Given the caliber of the musicians, instrumental segments featuring agitated funk improvisations worked best. At ninety minutes, the concert’s brevity was its primary blemish. The musicians behaved as if they had a plane to catch.

It seemed natural to be in the presence of Roach and Lincoln decades ago. I’m now humbled to have shared moments in time with the icons. In furthering the legacies of Roach and Lincoln, Carrington and her colleagues will one day be fully recognized as similarly auspicious figures in the jazz continuum.

Now’s the Time: Blair Bryant

Blair Bryant headlines the third edition of the Lee's Summit Jazz Festival on Friday, April 24. The bill is rounded out by six student bands and the Lee’s Summit Jazz Orchestra. The bassist joins the smooth jazz star Najee at the 6:15 mark of the embedded video.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The most recent edition of KCUR’s weekly Adventure! newsletter is titled “Where to hear live jazz music in KC.” (The feature had yet to be added to the archive as of the morning of April 22.)

*From a press release: Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Executive Director Alyssa Bell Jackson today announced the annual fundraising event for the 2025-2026 Season, Shaken, Not Stirred: A 007 Jazz Gala, with an evening of 18th & Vine events starting with the Gala at the Zhou B Art Center at 5 p.m. and concluding with a high-energy big band concert at the nearby Gem Theater… Blending the iconic soundtracks of Bond films with full-bodied Kansas City swing, the concert will feature Barnaby Bright vocalist Becky Bliss. Additional information is available here.

Flying Home with Norman Brown

I take umbrage when members of Kansas City’s jazz community whine about the smooth jazz that’s played in portions of the airport in Kansas City. The malcontents insist that “real” jazz should be used in its place.

The general public prefers smooth jazz to “real” jazz. Besides, Kansas City has produced several prominent smooth jazz artists. Millions of compact discs featuring the Kansas City-raised Norman Brown, for instance, were purchased in the 1990s.

The guitarist opens his latest album Authentically Norman with the frothy "Chillax". The title is bound to infuriate haters, but the soothing tone is precisely what travelers appreciate while conducting their business in airport bathrooms or studying arrival and departure boards in concourses.

Brown doesn’t pretend to challenge listeners on the R&B-infused Authentically Norman. Instead, he succeeds in his unassuming goal of providing a modicum of comfort and a tasteful dose of sexiness to the otherwise harried lives of people yearning for a tranquil moment.

That said, musicians in Kansas City do have a legitimate beef concerning their city’s new airport. Airports in many other cities in the United States- Detroit, Nashville and Portland among them- feature at least ten hours of live entertainment every day.

Musicians often rake in enormous tips during their shifts at these gigs. That the practice isn’t replicated in Kansas City is unfathomable. A campaign aimed at establishing a similar program would be welcome. Otherwise, Kansas City’s musicians would do well to take Brown’s advice to chillax.

Now’s the Time: Cyrus Chestnut

Cyrus Chestnut, one of the foremost mainstream jazz pianists of the last thirty years, performs at the annual UMKC Conservatory Jazz concert at the Folly Theater on Wednesday, April 22. Carl Allen, the William D. and Mary Grant/Missouri Endowed Professor of Jazz Studies at UMKC, played on Chestnut’s first three albums.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Joe Dimino interviewed Betty Bryant and Delynia Jannell.

*World Cup-related chatter is in the air.

Concert Review: Pat Metheny and Side-Eye at Muriel Kauffman Theatre

A conversation with two strangers who sat next to me at Pat Metheny’s concert at Muriel Kauffman Theatre on Saturday, April 4, quickly turned to prog-rock. (Each of us paid $60.50 for seats in the upper balcony.) Although the men were less than half my age, they expressed a passion for bands rooted in the 1970s including Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Rush.

Partly for that reason, I experienced Metheny’s performance as an extension of the extravagant prog-rock and jazz fusion traditions. The five human musicians- Lee’s Summit native Metheny, keyboardist Chris Fishman, bassist Jermaine Paul, percussionist and vocalist Leonard Patton and drummer Joe Dyson- played with explosive vigor. Automatonic vibraphones might be considered a sixth player.

The set list included readings of much-loved proggish anthems including “The First Circle” “Are You Going With Me?” and “Phase Dance.” Interpretations of material from the new album Side-Eye III+ such as “In On It” and “Make a New World” furthered the concept. Patches of greasy organ jazz, pastoral folk, skronky harmolodics and classical guitar were also heard during the 130-minute concert.

Much of the banter among the departing crowd speculated on precisely how the robotic vibraphones were triggered. Artificial intelligence is a reasonable explanation, but I’m partial to a quality I characterize as “Metheny magic.” On Saturday, the most wondrous aspect of that magic was Metheny’s ability to make prog-rock and jazz fusion more vital than ever.

Now’s the Time: Anat Cohen

Anat Cohen will play the role of Benny Goodman during her appearance with The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra at the Folly Theater on Saturday, April 11. The performance is an homage to a famed 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall. The embedded video features Cohen in a very different context.