Concert Review: Kyle Hutchins, Aaron Osborne, Seth Davis and Evan Verploegh at Charlotte Street Foundation

Plastic Sax’s rave review of Second Nature Ensemble’s June performance at Westport Coffee House seems subdued compared to another observer’s analysis of the event that references Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre.  As the cliché has it, hold my beer.

A concert including two of the same musicians- Seth Davis (electronics and guitar) and Evan Verploegh (drums)- at Charlotte Street Foundation on July 14 inspires additional purple prose.  Abetted by Kyle Hutchins (saxophones) and Aaron Osborne (bass), Davis and Verploegh played two sets of sinister improvised music for about 20 attentive listeners.

The opening portion of the first set evoked a whale in distress before the liquid atmosphere gave way to deep space.  A glitchy segment sounded as if a denizen of a distant planet was monitoring a decades-old radio broadcast of a Duke Ellington Orchestra concert.  The final salvo could have been the soundtrack for a disaster film about an accident at a gene-editing laboratory.

The second set was a two-part guitar-based freakout. A jam in the vein of Mary Halvorson and Susan Alcorn gradually morphed into (Robert) frippery. The veracity of these flights of fancy can be checked against video documentation of the first and second sets. Cross-referencing texts by Nietzsche and Sartre is optional.

Now's the Time: The James Ward Band

In addition to participating in an auspicious concert last month, the funk, R&B and jazz luminary Bill Summers spent time jamming with locally based musicians while in Kansas City. Summers revisits the Herbie Hancock and Bernie Maupin composition “Butterfly” in a groovy collaboration with The James Ward Band. (Tip via Plastic Sax reader JW.)

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*CBS Sunday Morning checked in with Marilyn Maye.

*Chris Burnett pays tribute to the late Bob Cowan.

*Joe Dimino interviewed musicians affiliated with the late Everette DeVan, shared snippets of a show at Lonnie’s Reno Club, and documented an event memorializing DeVan.

*The Pitch admires the efforts of the Kansas City Jazz Academy.

*The Fisher Center in New York presents a concert titled Genius Mother Mary: A Sonic Retrospective of Mary Lou Williams on July 29.

*Tweet of the Week: Barrio KC- Get ready for a good time because we’ve got the Max Groove Duo from 7-10pm at Red Bridge! #tequilaandtunes

*Announced four months ago, but only recently uncovered by Plastic Sax: The UMKC (Conservatory) is pleased to announce that Carl Allen will join our faculty Fall 2021 as the newly appointed William D. and Mary Grant/Endowed Professor of Jazz Studies. Mr. Allen is one of the most celebrated jazz artists of his generation, having performed and taught all over the world and recorded with legendary jazz greats Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Michael Brecker, Sammy Davis Jr., Branford Marsalis, Lena Horne, Herbie Hancock, Benny Golson, Christian McBride and many others.

Concert Review: Trinity Jazz Ensemble at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church

An unassuming pianist roared with startling ferocity at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church on Thursday, July 1.  The Kansas City mainstay Michael Pagán lit up a recital of sacred-themed jazz.  An iteration of the longstanding Trinity Jazz Ensemble- vocalist (Brother) John Anderson, trumpeter Mike Parkinson, saxophonist Doug Talley, pianist Pagán, bassist Tim Brewer and drummer Sam Platt- performed an inspired array of original material and classic compositions.

Pagán disrupted the otherwise pleasingly polite concert with a memorable outburst.  For three consecutive selections in the middle of the performance, Pagán played like one of the world’s most celebrated pianists. Free of ostentation, the informal showcase began with “Deep In My Soul.”  Pagán’s original is one of the strongest compositions to emerge from Kansas City in recent years.  Parkinson exclaimed “that’s deep!” at the conclusion of the song.

A fiery incarnation of Wynton Kelly seemed to overtake Pagán during a reading of Hank Mobley’s “A Baptist Beat.”  It was followed by Pagán’s solo rendition of Keith Jarrett’s “Silence.” He matched the meditative brilliance of the composer.   While his contributions continued to impress, Pagán assumed a less conspicuous role for the remainder of the concert.  Yet his unexpected salvo served as a valuable reminder that splashy superheroes lurk inside many of the Clark Kents in Kansas City’s jazz community.

Now’s the Time: Tyrone Clark

A nifty little video created by an artist reflects the late-night atmosphere at Green Lady Lounge. Tyrone Clark, the bassist featured in the visual, leads a band at the venue twice a week.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The Pitch notes the passing of Everette DeVan.

*Tweet of the Week: Pat Metheny- Pat Metheny Announces Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV); Due Out September 10th; An Exciting New Release Featuring The 20-Time Grammy Winner With New Young Stars. Extensive World Tour Dates Unveiled. Pre-Order Now: (link)

Book Review: Carolyn Glenn Brewer- Beneath Missouri Skies: Pat Metheny in Kansas City 1964-1972

Pat Metheny’s 1976 debut album Bright Size Life is so magical that listeners would be forgiven for thinking the music materialized out of nowhere.  Carolyn Glenn Brewer’s illuminating new study Beneath Missouri Skies: Pat Metheny in Kansas City 1964-1972 provides a detailed accounting of the origins of the Lee’s Summit native’s sound.

Brewer, the author of the excellent Changing the Tune: The Kansas City Women’s Jazz Festival, 1978-1985, exhaustively traces Metheny’s formative musical endeavors.  Her story opens with The Beatles’ appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and closes during the summer following Metheny’s graduation from high school.

Not only is Brewer a contemporary of Metheny, she was a fellow musician and sister of one of Metheny’s primary teen collaborators.  She bolsters her eyewitness impressions of many of the key events of Beneath Missouri Skies with extensive research and interviews.

Beneath Missouri Skies will delight Metheny enthusiasts eager to learn even the most minute details of his musical development, but it’s even more crucial as a history of a previously underdocumented era of jazz in Kansas City.  The scarcity of recordings and videos of the scene Brewer describes makes her work necessary.

The colorful antics of Gary Sivils, the business acumen of Warren Durrett and the influential theories of John Elliott loom large.  Musicians such as Herman Bell, Rod Fleeman, Russ Long, Bettye Miller, Dave Scott and Paul Smith also play key roles in Beneath Missouri Skies.  While she clearly has great personal and professional affection for her subjects, Brewer doesn’t romanticize the setting.

She recounts the demeaning musical compromises musicians were obligated to make at the majority of gigs in Kansas City.  Metheny and his colleagues were regularly compelled to cover shopworn pop hits like “Proud Mary.”  The inference that these artistic constraints would contribute to Metheny’s crossover success is among the multitude of insights provided by the invaluable Beneath Missouri Skies.

Now’s the Time: Arny Young

The intrepid Kansas City drummer Arny Young is featured in an entertaining KCPT video profile that first aired in 2017.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Everette DeVan, Kansas City’s foremost jazz organist for decades, has died.

*Pat Metheny says the quiet part out loud in an interview with In Kansas City magazine.  Asked why Kansas City is no longer included in his tour itineraries (Plastic Sax lamented the issue in 2018), Metheny cites the town’s limited audience for improvised music.  He says the “intense listening… that is found all over Europe, New York, LA, those kinds of places, for this kind of music has always been elusive for Kansas City musicians.”

*Tweet of the Week: Duane A Daughtery- I am heartbroken to learn of the passing of my friend and KC jazz legend, Everette DeVan. A man of serious artistic and personal integrity. Go in grace. You are already missed.

Concert Review: Second Nature Ensemble at Westport Coffee House

Second Nature Ensemble’s revelatory performance at Westport Coffee House on Sunday, June 27, provided a glimpse into a possible future of a viable form of jazz in Kansas City and acted as a reminder of the significance of a couple of long-standing components of the scene.  Four takeaways follow.

1. Plugged in

Second Nature Ensemble is hardly the first band to fuse electronic-generated sounds with analog avant-garde improvisations, but no locally based ensemble executes the concept with more cultivated acumen.  The music created by Michael Eaton (tenor saxophone), Dwight Frizzell (EWI), Seth Davis (electronics and guitar), Ben Tervort (acoustic and electric bass) and Evan Verploegh (drums) was worthy of comparison to the work of innovative stalwarts like Evan Parker.  The distinctive talent of each of the five men prevents the group from being mere copycats.  Here’s a brief sample.

2. The Reverend

A founding member of BCR, Frizzell is the grand doyen of left-of-center improvised music in Kansas City.  Yet I hadn’t heard Frizzell perform in an improvisational context in years.  Wielding an electronic wind instrument with enthusiastic abandon, Frizzell displayed more boyish energy than his younger collaborators.  I almost expected him to achieve levitation at any moment.

3. Beatdown

Verploegh, a recent Kansas City transplant, is an exciting addition to the local scene.  Intense and unpredictable, he often resembled an angry version of the cheerful Kansas City drummer Brian Steever.

4. Caffeinated

The approximately 25 people who passed through the doors during the two-hour performance were silent.  Their reverent appreciation and the superlative amplification resulted in the most pristine sound I’ve encountered at a post-quarantine concert.  The refreshed layout of the theater below Westport Coffee House and adjacent to Green Room Burgers & Beer indicates the space is still the most advantageous small listening room in Kansas City.

Now's the Time: Blair Bryant

The Kansas City bassist and bandleader Blair Bryant performs at an event in the Jazz District presented by the American Jazz Walk of Fame on Saturday, July 3. The organization’s new inductees are the late Al Jarreau and the Mutual Musicians Foundation.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Kansas City magazine includes Black Dolphin, Green Lady Lounge and Mutual Musicians foundation in a clickbait listing of the city’s best bars.

*St. Louis Jazz Notes runs down Jazz St. Louis’ recently announced 2021-22 season.

*The Tulsa World published a lengthy examination of the depressing decline of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, an institution beset with “financial mismanagement and scandal.”

*Tweet of the Week: American Jazz Walk of Fame- We're back! Join us in one week.July 3rd, It's the annual American Jazz Walk of Fame. Music and Walk of Fame induction, Plus, this year it wraps with the big fireworks display! All on 18th & Vine.

Concert Review: Bird Fleming and Bill Summers’ “Voyage of the Drum” at Dunbar Park

At the conclusion of a freewheeling concert at Dunbar Park on Monday, June 21, percussionist, bandleader and emcee Bird Fleming told the audience that “you will never listen to music the same way again.”  The free performance almost substantiated Fleming’s audacious assertion.  The unlikely blend of percussion demonstrations, swing-based jazz and star power in the form of Bill Summers made for a glorious afternoon on Make Music Day.

In addition to earnest attempts to explain what he called the “Africa to jazz tradition,” Fleming repeatedly ushered various configurations of musicians on and off the portable stage.  The percussion ensemble Soundz of Africa, saxophonist Doug Talley, keyboardist Charles Williams, bassist James Ward, percussionist Pat Conway and Summers made frequent use of the stairs on either side of the stage.

Summers was the primary attraction for many attendees.  He amplified Flemings’ educational emphasis by offering insights into the tradition of pouring one out as an homage to ancestors, the commendable culture of the Forest People of Central Africa and the European origin of the ritual of applause.  He also participated in a percussion workout and recreated his hook from Herbie Hancock’s 1973 hit version of “Watermelon Man.”

Talley, Williams and Ward responded intuitively to Summers’ cues while enlivening standards including “Caravan,” “Afro Blue” and the inescapable “Kansas City.”  After one of Fleming’s attempts to engage listeners received a tepid response, he asked the approximately 100 people on hand to “just humor me.”  Fleming deserved far more than polite encouragement.  He and everyone involved in the singular UNESCO Cities of Music event merited a standing ovation.

Now's the Time: Lonnie McFadden

Lonnie McFadden delivers a high-energy, audience-pleasing approach to jazz and popular music at his namesake room Lonnie's Reno Club this weekend.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*A few moments of Bill Summers’ performance at Dunbar Park were captured by Joe Dimino.

*The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s new rendition of Mary Lou Williams’ the “Zodiac Suite” streams on the ensemble’s YouTube channel.

*Tweet of the Week: Mayor Q- Spring-like weather and my man, Desmond Mason, at the top of the @TheWWImuseumtower playing some jazz. How can you not love Kansas City?!? #MakeMusicKC #HappyMonday

Concert Review: Mike Dillon and Nikki Glaspie at the 1900 Building

The duo of Mike Dillon and Nikki Glaspie operated as a miniature drumline at the 1900 Building on Thursday, June 10. A few dozen people heard the audaciously unconventional percussionists perform uncharacteristically restrained cadences. Dillon is a longtime jazz insurrectionary. Glaspie is best known for her robust work as a member of Beyoncé’s touring band. Material from Dillon’s four outstanding pandemic albums- reviewed enthusiastically at Plastic Sax here and here- dominated the setlist. A brief sample reflects the lighthearted tone of the 80-minute recital. Longtime fans hoping to hear old favorites weren’t entirely neglected. The duo stumbled through a version of the title track of Hairy Apes BMX’s 2000 album Out Demons. Dillon explained he hadn’t played the impertinent contrafact of “Salt Peanuts” in 15 years. Prioritizing the present rather than glorifying the past makes the future seem exceptionally bright for both intrepid musicians.

Now's the Time: Bill Summers

Bill Summers played the haunting hook that opens and closes Herbie Hancock’s 1973 hit version of “Watermelon Man.” He crafted frequently-sampled mid-’70s jams like “God Made Me Funky” with the Headhunters. More recently, Summers made a series of stellar albums with Jason Marsalis and Irvin Mayfield as Los Hombres Calientes. On Monday, June 21, the storied musician performs at Dunbar Park. The concert is presented by the Traditional Music Society of Kansas City and UNESCO’s Creative City of Music initiative. Details about the free event are here.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Eddie Moore chatted with Patrick Sprehe for more than 90 minutes on the Center Cuts podcast.

*Tweet of the Week: Westport KC- @WestportCoffeehouse Sunday Night Jazz Series: June 6th, 6pm: Rich Hill “2Big2Fail”; June 13th, 6pm:Adam Larson Quartet; June 20th, 6pm: Brad Gregory; June 27th, 6pm: Michael Eaton #westportkc #kclivemusic

*From a press release: Kansas City and the UNESCO Cities of Music announce the Voyage of the Drum. 18 UNESCO Creative Cities will participate on 21 June 2021. The videos will be streamed on YouTube courtesy of Music Export Poland and with the support of the Polish Ministry of Culture. The Voyage of the Drum is hosted by UCCN with Kansas City Missouri USA – the only UNESCO Creative City of Music in the United States. The Voyage of the Drum unites the cities of the world through the drum – one of humanity’s earliest instruments. The Voyage of the Drum celebrates the African Diaspora around the world and demonstrates how the influence of African rhythms is felt through many world music cultures… From Kansas City, Missouri USA - the host and instigator of the Voyage of the Drum project, comes a video featuring Bird Ellington Fleming – percussionist, teacher and environmental leader of the Traditional Music Society and the Soundz of Africa.

Concert Review: Irreversible Entanglements at Stephens Lake Park Amphitheatre

I drove four hours to hear 45 minutes of music on Sunday, June 6.  The trip was worth it.  Irreversible Entanglements confirmed its status as one of the most essential ensembles of the past five years at Stephens Lake Park Amphitheatre in Columbia, Missouri.

The perfect night in a gorgeous setting took a bit of the edge off Camae Ayewa’s lacerating poetry and the insistent free jazz played by Keir Neuringer (saxophone and electronics), Luke Stewart (bass) and Tcheser Holmes (drums).  Aquiles Navarro, Irreversible Entanglement’s trumpeter, didn’t make the gig.  The evening’s sole flaw was a 40-minute late start that presumably abbreviated the unticketed show presented by Dismal Niche.

Ayewa, the celebrated artist better known as Moor Mother, summarized the music she makes with her cohorts in a mellifluous statement of purpose: “this is a different vibration... a far-out inner sound… a sound that makes you feel you can survive… free-jazz philosophies for peace.”

I recently whined about the unofficial embargo of Kansas City by improvising musicians with cutting-edge inclinations. Hitting the road felt empowering. The brief immersion in revolutionary sounds with approximately 150 adventurous listeners was as liberating as it was refreshing. If the music’s not going to come to me, I’m going to go to the music.

Now's the Time: Nikki Glaspie

Nikki Glaspie jams with stars including keyboardist Robert Glasper in the embedded video. The powerhouse drummer collaborates with Mike Dillon at the 1900 Building on Thursday, June 9.