Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Toriano Porter advocates the efforts of the American Jazz Museum for The Kansas City Star.  KCUR also published a brief feature about the return of the institution’s plastic sax.

*Julie Denesha created an audio feature about Raj Ma Hall for KCUR.

*Tyree Johnson is the subject of a KC Studio profile.

*Carolyn Glenn Brewer discussed her book about Pat Metheny’s formative years on Neon Jazz.

*Tweet of the Week: KCUR's Up To Date- Closing out the show today, the young Kansas City woman who just won the Ella Fitzgerald Vocal Competition: Lucy Wijnands.

Album Review: Steve Million- What I Meant to Say

Musicians have long been required to play with tactful quietude if they intend to find steady work in Kansas City’s jazz venues.  Three outstanding musicians who performed together in Kansas City in the late 1970s and early 1980s subtly subvert the low-key approach on an instructive new album.

Joined by bassist John Sims, pianist Steve Million, guitarist Steve Cardenas and drummer Ron Vincent play straight-ahead jazz with exacting brilliance on What I Meant to Say.  The album’s low simmer is unobtrusive enough to augment the plush ambience of the lounge of an upscale Kansas City hotel.  Yet attentive listeners will appreciate the quartet’s conspiratorial embellishments.

Cardenas flashes a tantalizing glimpse of his wild side on “The Company.”  “Missing Page” contains stirring shades of John Coltrane’s “Naima.”  “Old Earl” is a melodic gem.  Seemingly recalling the strictures of Kansas City gig life, What I Meant to Say is a modestly triumphant exercise in transforming limitation into liberation.

Now's the Time: Lucy Wijnands

Lucy Wijnands performs at the Blue Room on Friday, August 27, as part of the Spotlight 2021: Charlie Parker endeavor. The daughter of pianist Bram Wijnands won the The Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition in Washington D.C. a few months ago.

Confirmation: Weekly New and Notes

*The 2021 edition of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival has been canceled.  The lineup consisted of a band led by Adam Larson with Fabian Almazan and Jaleel Shaw, We the People, Back Alley Brass Band and the Shawnee Mission East Blue Knights.

*Carolyn Glenn Brewer attempted to promote her book Beneath Missouri Skies: Pat Metheny in Kansas City 1964-1972 on The Pitch’s Streetwise podcast.

*Pat Metheny was interviewed by the popular YouTube personality Rick Beato.

*Eboni Fondren chatted with Steve Kraske about Everette DeVan on KCUR’s Up To Date program.

*Joe Dimino added Trent Austin and Desmond Mason to his catalog of interviews.

*The Spotlight 2021: Charlie Parker initiative is featured in a brief television news segment.

*Tweet of the Week: The Twittah Sh*ttah- Green Lady Lounge, Kansas City. Cool jazz club. To be honest, I was pretty drunk at this place. I think the bathroom was a good one. All I got was two blurry photos and a video of this awesome sink that lights up when you turn it on. (video and photos)

Album Review: Alber- Journey

The Kansas City musician Alber characterizes his music as vaporwave. Even so, much of his new album Journey is a logical extension of the smooth jazz made by Max Groove in the 1980s. Gently rippling melodies are rendered with Alber’s fragile analog trumpet and lo-fi synthetic tones. Only the jittery post-Dilla beats prevent portions of Journey from being mistaken for a worn-out cassette of Miles Davis’ 1984 album Decoy or a sun-warped vinyl copy of a mid-’70s Bob James recording. Everything clicks- literally and figuratively- on the exemplary title track while the glitchy "In Absentia" is a small sample of state-of-the art ambient music. Journey may be consummate chill-out music for the cool kids of today, but old-school smooth jazz fans will also take enormous pleasure in Alber’s music.

Now's the Time: Gary Bartz

A recent tweet posted by the American Jazz Museum indicates Bobby Watson will perform with Gary Bartz and Vincent Herring on the lawn behind the institution on Sunday, August 29. The celebrated saxophonists collaborated on the 2019 album Bird at 100. The embedded video documents Bartz performing with his plugged-in band in 1974.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Ronnell Bright, a former Kansas City resident best known for his elegant piano accompaniment with vocalists Sarah Vaughan and Nancy Wilson, has died.  Marc Myers shares ten of his favorite Bright recordings at JazzWax.

*The Kansas City Star featured a few Spotlight 2021: Charlie Parker performances in its entertainment listings.

*Alonzo Weston of The Coleman Hawkins Jazz Festival and The St. Joseph News-Press pays tribute to Everette DeVan.

*Tweet of the Week: Pat Metheny- Pat Metheny Offers Up A Beautiful Reworking Of His Classic Composition, “Better Days Ahead,” The New Single From Side-EYE NYC (V1.IV) - Due Out Sept 10th Hear This Classic Interpreted In A Completely New Way: (link)

Album Review: John Armato- The Drummer Loves Ballads

The most emblematic Kansas City jazz album of 2021 is the work of a drummer who currently lives in Sacramento.  John Armato oversees a bevy of prominent Kansas City musicians on his ambitious concept album The Drummer Loves Ballads.

Armato turns to the contacts he made during the years he spent on Kansas City’s jazz scene to realize his imaginative vision.  Two storied outsiders- saxophonist Houston Person and cornetist Warren Vaché- also get in on the action on the project released in May.

A survey of a few highlights reflects the album’s breadth.  Brett Jackson pays tribute to the late baritone saxophonist Kerry Strayer on “Night Lights.”  Lucy Wijnands, the daughter of the Kansas City mainstay Bram Wijnands, croons the dreamy chanson “The Shadows of Paris.”

A duet by vocalists Ron Gutierrez and Molly Hammer is ravishing.  Veteran pianist Wayne Hawkins and clarinetist Lynn Zimmer make sentimental contributions.  An interpretation of “Lonely Woman” features characteristically stunning work from guitarist Rod Fleeman and bassist Gerald Spaits.

The inclusion of so many scene stalwarts on the stylistically conservative, musically impeccable and deliberately hushed The Drummer Loves Ballads makes the album an invaluable document of the mainstream sound that continues to dominate Kansas City’s jazz clubs.

Now’s the Time: RSS Trio

RSS Trio consists of three young Kansas City musicians who add a fresh twist to old-school sounds. The group is a staple of the late-night shift at Green Lady Lounge.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Jon McGraw promoted the Spotlight 2021: Charlie Parker initiative on Joe Dimino’s YouTube channel.

*The Kansas City Star made a ​​belated acknowledgement of the passing of Everette DeVan.

* The American Jazz Museum marks the return of Charlie Parker’s plastic sax with a parade in the Jazz District on Sunday, August 29.

*Tweet of the Week: Mike Mahoney- The Ship, a Kansas City live music venue and bar, joins the list of places in KC requiring proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test to enter. May be others soon. @kmbc #MoVaccine

Jon Irabagon, Bohuslän Big Band and Kevin Sun Revamp Bird’s Nest

Three new albums reflect the manifold breadth of Charlie Parker’s legacy.

Bird with Streams by the New York based Jon Irabagon is a spectacularly irregular solo saxophone album.  Irabagon self-recorded Bird with Streams outdoors in South Dakota at the peak of last year’s quarantine. The New York based artist tears into “Now’s the Time” and “Mohawk” with the recklessness of an impassioned beatnik writer.  Recommended if you like: Jack Kerouac, Bird, Mostly Other People Do the Killing.

Bohuslän Big Band is a hard-charging Swedish ensemble.  Chasin’ the Bird, the storied band’s latest release, consists of foot-tapping arrangements of Parker favorites such as “My Little Suede Shoes” and “Yardbird Suite.”  Recommended if you like: The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, Bird, Benny Carter.

Kevin Sun, a New York based saxophonist, takes a different tack on <3 Bird. Joined by celebrated young cohorts including Adam O’Farrill on a dozen original compositions inspired by a quarantine-era Parker binge and three selections associated with Parker, Sun refreshes the Kansas City icon’s artistic endowment. Recommended if you like: Chris Potter, Bird, Sonny Rollins.

Now's the Time: Ronald McFadden

Ronnie McFadden, best known in Kansas City as half of the dynamic McFadden Brothers, once made an appearance with David Dahoud Williams and Eddie Baker in an advertisement for a bygone cable television company.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Tim Finn checked in with Mark Lowrey for In Kansas City magazine.

*Kansas City magazine paid tribute to the late Everette DeVan.

*Tweet of the Week: Keith Chrostowski- Kansas City businessmen transforming historic Public Works buildings in Jazz District (link)

*From a press release: Spotlight 2021: Charlie Parker celebrates the jazz icon’s 101st birthday with jam sessions and musical tributes, tours, lectures, exhibits, panel discussions, workshops and concerts. The month-long series was developed to honor Parker (also known as “Bird”) and his legacy and impact to jazz in Kansas City and worldwide. The event serves as an opportunity to promote the music of local Kansas City jazz artists who will perform at select events/venues. Spotlight 2021: Charlie Parker is recognized as the largest celebration of its kind in the world. Select events are open to the public. Tickets or reservation are required for other events… For additional information about all events, visit (the) event schedule.

Concert Review: Eddie Moore, Ryan J. Lee and Zach Morrow at Charlotte Street Foundation

A thrilling performance by a band led by Eddie Moore at the Tank Room five years ago was a factor in his selection as the 2016 Plastic Sax Person of the Year. The keyboardist’s appearance with Ryan J. Lee (keyboards/electronics) and Zach Morrow (drums) at Charlotte Street Foundation on Thursday, July 22, was no less triumphant. Bolstered by excellent sound, captivating video projections and a capacity audience of about 100 spirited admirers, Moore’s trio offered a vital fusion of jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop. Renderings of “Misunderstood” and “Single Double”, the new songs that opened and closed the hour-long set, were bigger and bolder than the recorded versions. Time will tell if the memorable concert was merely a satisfying summation of Moore’s career to date or the cornerstone of a new era for Kansas City’s music scene.

Now's the Time: Alex Bugnon

The Swiss keyboardist Alex Bugnon is the most prominent jazz component of the Missouri Wine & Jazz Festival at Penn Valley Park on Saturday, July 31. Samantha Fish, an incendiary blues-rock artist originally from Kansas City, headlines the event.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*A review in UK Vibe suggests Florian Arbenz’s Conversation #1, an album featuring Kansas City’s Hermon Mehari, is “exciting and interesting.”

*Tweet of the Week: Quinton Lucas- I have stuck with CDC guidance throughout the pandemic and today is no different. I will return Kansas City to a mask mandate indoors based upon national and regional health guidance and discussion with other Kansas City leaders. I will provide further details in the morning.

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.