Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Logan Richardson is the subject of an ingratiating profile at All About Jazz.

*The Kansas City Star expands on Plastic Sax’s 2014 field trip to the gravesite of Julia Lee.

*Joe Dimino documents what some people might characterize as irresponsible behavior.

*Tweet of the Week: André Wahala- What I'm reading. No, I know nothing about Jazz apart from the sounds, the names and occasional visits to Pizza Express Jazz and Ronnie Scott's (privilege of London life). Totes outside my comfort zone but learning. Had no idea Kansas City MO was such a hot spot.

Catalytic Conversion

Spotify, the dominant music streaming service, recently revealed it paid $5 billion to rights holders in 2020.  Even so, many musicians in Kansas City continue to gripe about the remuneration they receive from the company.  Those complaining loudest are usually among the least popular artists.  Yet their frustration isn’t entirely unreasonable.  Kansas City is an inhospitable market for non-commercial sounds.

The latest Nielsen Audio Ratings for the Kansas City radio market reflect the limited local appetite for alternative and refined forms of music.  Every radio station with even a smidgen of jazz programming garnered a market share of less than one percent.  Tellingly, the six-month-old 91.9 Classical KC didn’t even register as a blip.

Meanwhile, fans willing to buy MP3s or vinyl are uncommon exceptions.  Streaming is the preferred medium for the foreseeable future.  I’d rather invest in a jazz-themed NFT than attempt to make room on my hard drive for more digital music or add another slab of vinyl to my neglected LP collection.  What’s the solution for nonconforming artists eager to find a different way to monetize recordings of their music?

Pitchfork’s profile of Catalytic Sound points to a possible way forward. The boutique streaming service specializing in avant-garde music is supported by 141 subscribers who commit $10 a month for exclusive access to a few dozen albums. It’s a blueprint for obstinate members of Kansas City’s jazz community. I’d pay $10 a month for access to otherwise unavailable new music by Kansas City’s finest musicians. How many would join me?

Now's the Time: The Marcus Lewis Big Band

Engaging visuals aside, my favorite moments of the Marcus Lewis Big Band’s newly uploaded virtual performance of “Ghetto Heaven” occur during the back-to-back solos of trombonist Jason Goudeau and saxophonist Stephen Martin.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The American Jazz Museum’s Rashida Phillips was interviewed by Northeast News and KC Studio.

*Ken Lovern remembers the late Joe Miquelon in a conversation with Joe Dimino.

*The New York Times notes the ongoing interest in Mary Lou Williams’ “Zodiac Suite.”

*Tweet of the Week: Pat Metheny- Today @librarycongress @LibnOfCongress Carla Hayden named ‘Bright Size Life’ among 25 selections as audio treasures worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage. #NatRecRegistry

Album Review: The Wild Women of Kansas City- Live at Pilgrim Chapel 9/26/2010

A delightful blast from the past hit the internet without any fanfare last week.  The mystery project with decidedly slapdash album art might be linked to the filmmaker Ben Meade, but background information and recording credits aren't available.

Live at Pilgrim Chapel 9/26/2010, a concert at the 75-capacity Kansas City room best known for weddings, documents a typically lighthearted set by the Wild Women of Kansas City.  The vocal quartet of Myra Taylor (1917-2011), Millie Edwards, Geneva Price and Lori Tucker was a popular attraction at the time.

The Wild Women’s repertoire belied its billing as a jazz group.  The 55-minute recording includes readings of the disco anthem “I Will Survive,” Ray Charles’ earthy hit “Night Time Is the Right Time” and the proto-rock gem “Don’t Let Go.”

Backed by an unidentified organist, bassist and drummer, the crowd-pleasing entertainers also perform familiar warhorses like “Sentimental Journey,” “Stormy Weather” and the inescapable “Kansas City.”  Edwards sings lead on “What a Wonderful World” and Taylor does her playful Louis Armstrong impression during “On the Sunny Side of the Street.”

The women assert their intent on “Let the Good Times Roll”: “Tell everybody: Wild Women are in town/Sometimes we’re serious, sometimes we got to clown/ We don’t let nobody play us cheap/We got heart, soul- ooh, listen to the beat.”  Thanks to the invaluable Live at Pilgrim Chapel 9/26/2010, their vital beat plays on.

Now's the Time: Aryana Nemati

Aryana Nemati, the intrepid Kansas City saxophonist who may be better known for her work in reggae contexts than as a jazz musician, plays a Pepper Adams composition in the embedded video.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Laura Spencer reports on the American Jazz Museum’s current fundraising initiative for KCUR.

*Pat Metheny was interviewed by The Kansas City Star.

*Evan Verploegh chatted with Joe Dimino.

*Hermon Mehari promotes his new weekly program on KCUR’s Up To Date show.

*Tweet of the Week: The Kansas City Star- Historic House of Hits building in Kansas City’s 18th & Vine Jazz District collapses. (link)

Album Review: Cowboys & Frenchmen- Our Highway

Our Highway, the latest album by the New York based quintet Cowboys & Frenchmen, could be Exhibit A in a trial assessing the impact of jazz education.  The frequent target of disparaging essays, institutional jazz academia is said to produce precise but bloodless musicians who more often than not, resemble the five bespectacled men in Cowboys & Frenchmen.

The topic should also be of interest to anyone with a stake in area jazz programs such as the UMKC Conservatory.  Cowboys & Frenchman’s place in the debate is of particular interest to area observers because Addison Frei, the ensemble’s pianist, was raised in Lawrence, Kansas.  Frei’s bandmates are saxophonist and flautist Ethan Helm, saxophonist Owen Broder, bassist Ethan O'Reilly and drummer Matt Honor.

In making a case against jazz education, the prosecution might insist Our Highway exemplifies the stilted rigidity drilled into students in high school and collegiate programs.  The cerebral album is neither freewheeling nor funky.  Our Highway is better suited to formal concert halls than neon-lit music venues.

The defense might reply that Our Highway is deeply melodic, immaculately performed and unflaggingly interesting.  The band has completely absorbed the compositional structures of Oliver Nelson and Charles Mingus and displays the technical rigor demanded by Duke Ellington.  My vote?  Not guilty.

Now's the Time: Brian Scarborough

Brian Scarborough’s debut album Sunflower Song took sixth place in Plastic Sax’s ranking of the Top Kansas City Jazz Albums of 2020. The trombonist and his band perform the present-day Kansas City jazz standard “The Owl” in the embedded video.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Logan Richardson recommends “six albums of endless transformative influence” at the conclusion of an interview with Chris May.

*Gambit checks in with Mike Dillon.

*Tweet of the Week: American Jazz Museum- We've experienced a deep loss in the jazz community, and this one breaks our heart. On Friday, March 6th, Kansas City keyboardist/saxophonist Joe Miquelon passed away. He was in many music ensembles in addition to being an instructor in our Kansas City Jazz Academy program.

*The man behind Plastic Sax has a new podcast.  The first episode of In My Headache includes a discussion of the latest album by the Robert Glasper-led band R+R=Now.

*From KCUR: We're so excited to let you know about our new show! Hermon Mehari, world-renowned jazz musician from the Kansas City area, is bringing his voice and record collection to KCUR's airwaves. The Session with Hermon Mehari is an hour long show that will feature jazz, hip-hop, soul, R&B and beyond. In each episode, Hermon will explore the musical roots of the African diaspora with a curated playlist of songs that influence and inspire him. Jazz fans will feel at home, and the "jazz curious" feel invited. The Session will premiere this Saturday, March 13, at 7 p.m. on KCUR 89.3 We hope you'll tune in!

Album Review: Pat Metheny- Road to the Sun

I recently revisited and ranked 46 Pat Metheny albums.  The rewarding process acted as a reminder of the Lee’s Summit native’s steadfast commitment to change.  Even for discerning Metheny fans who know to expect the unexpected, Road to the Sun may come as a shock.  The classical orientation of the new album is unlike anything else in his catalog.

The first of Road to the Sun’s three distinct segments is guitarist Jason Vieaux’s rendering of Metheny’s suite “Four Paths of Light.”  Vieaux’s assured mastery of the technically imposing composition evokes the brilliant legacy of the esteemed guitarist Julian Bream.

Metheny’s six-part title track is performed by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.  The album’s most conventionally Metheny-esque moments transpire in the second passage.  The gonzo conclusion to the fourth segment will appeal to fans of the bold Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Road to the Sun closes with Metheny playing his arrangement of Arvo Pärt’s “Für Alina” on a 42-string guitar.  The ruminative quality of the piece is enhanced by ECM-esque reverb.  All 57 minutes of Road to the Sun are extraordinary, but Metheny’s stunning version of “Für Alina” places the typically atypical album among his most significant works.

Now's the Time: Deborah Brown

A seasick-green filter hardly detracts from the divine version of “Save Your Love for Me” performed by the impeccable Kansas City vocalist Deborah Brown and the New York City based pianist Bruce Barth in the embedded video.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*A television station created a brief video feature about the colorful history of the building that houses The Majestic.

*A virtual version of Johnson County Community College’s annual jazz series is underway.  (Tip via PF.)

*The Beacon reports on the economic hardships faced by Kansas City’s jazz musicians during the pandemic.  (Tip via Tony’s Kansas City.)

*Tweet of the Week: American Jazz Museum- For the #jazz community, it's the start to #WomenInJazz month! We've got two in-person, socially distant shows by saxophonist @tiafullerand vocalist Denise Thimes. (link)

Album Review: Carol Duboc- Restless

The brutal cold snaps that made much of January and February unbearable caused many Midwesterns to wonder why they live in such an inhospitable place.  Carol Duboc wised up decades ago with a move from Kansas City to California.

Her good judgment extends to a talent for networking.  The singer-songwriter maintains rewarding relationships with smooth jazz and adult R&B standouts.  Restless, her latest and most appealing album, was produced by longtime associate Jeff Lorber and features guest appearances by friends including flautist Hubert Laws.

Restless recalls the breezy, commercially-minded artists like Basia and Gino Vannelli who dominated a now-defunct network of smooth jazz terrestrial radio stations.  Warm weather will soon return to Kansas City.  Until then, Restless provides listeners in Duboc’s hometown with a shimmering burst of California sunshine.

Now's the Time: Hermon Mehari

The embedded video is among my favorite visual efforts by a musician associated with Kansas City in recent years. Hermon Mehari’s merger of “A Conversation with My Uncle” and “Eritrea,” tracks from his 2020 EP A Change for the Dreamlike, is a stirring testament to familial bonds.

Museum Piece

The National Museum of African American Music opened in Nashville last month.  Billed as “the only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the many music genres created, influenced, and inspired by African Americans,” the institution is bolstered by corporate support including a million dollar donation from Amazon and gifts totalling $1,650,000 from HCA Healthcare.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony in Music City included performances by country artists Kane Brown and Willie Jones. A feature in The New York Times explains the new museum contains “six interactive sections covering 50 genres of music with a focus on gospel, blues, jazz, R&B and hip-hop.”  Meanwhile, The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame filed for bankruptcy last month.

What impact, if any, will these divergent events have on jazz-based institutions including Kansas City’s American Jazz Museum, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem and The New Orleans Jazz Museum.  Are other music museums including Clarksdale’s Delta Blues Museum, Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Detroit’s Motown Museum, Memphis’ Stax Museum and Tulsa’s Woody Guthrie Center at risk?

How will genre-specific entities respond to this changing environment?  And is the cultural marketplace oversaturated or will public interest and financial support for the National Museum for African American Music revive enthusiasm in established entities?  There are more questions than answers in a moment that may prove to be a decisive inflection point, but it’s certain that adapting to the evolving landscape is essential to the future success of institutions like the American Jazz Museum.

Now’s the Time: City Light Orchestra

The scarcity of footage of the late Kansas City jazz musicians Ahmad Alaadeen and Laverne Barker makes City Light Orchestra’s appearance on a wacky 1986 television program invaluable. The band appears at the 2:00, 16:16 and 20:26 marks in the embedded video. David Basse and Tim Whitmer remain among Kansas City’s most prominent musicians.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*A blogger recalls the late Chick Corea’s final appearance in Kansas City.

*Tweet of the Week: Rep. Emanuel Cleaver- This one will have to be filed among Kansas City’s most persistent urban legends! No question that Clint Eastwood loves all things jazz, especially the Yardbird, but the second place bidder was actually a businessman from Japan. The whole world wanted that saxophone!

Marooned Five

A handful of Kansas City-affiliated jazz-oriented albums released in recent months received little or no previous attention at Plastic Sax.  This post partly remedies the omissions.

1. Joanna Berkebile- Love Me or Leave Me

What: The vocalist interprets standards.

Recommended if you like: Diana Krall

2. Bill Crain- Bill Crain

What: The veteran saxophonist documents his ongoing vitality. 

Recommended if you like: The Brecker Brothers

3. Sylwester Ostrowski- Jammin' with KC

What: The Polish saxophonist collaborates with area standouts including Bobby Watson.

Recommended if you like: freewheeling jam sessions

4. E.E. Pointer- Dialogues

What: River Cow Orchestra’s leader howls at the moon. 

Recommended if you like: Moondog

5. Rob Scheps- Live at the Churchill School

What: The hard-charging multi-instrumentalist regularly hangs his hat in Kansas City.

Recommended if you like: Phil Woods

Now's the Time: Norman Brown

Norman Brown is one of the most prominent musicians to emerge from the Kansas City area in the past three decades. The guitarist’s velvety rendition of the Earth, Wind & Fire hit “After the Love Has Gone” was released in 1996.