The closure of the Gaslight Grill didn’t just disappoint regular diners at the once-bustling restaurant in Leawood, Kansas. It was a devastating setback for fans of traditional jazz. Dick Hawk, the late owner of Gaslight Grill, was an avid Dixieland enthusiast. He installed clarinetist Lynn Zimmer as the longstanding leader of the house band at his establishment. Zimmer returns to Johnson County to perform a matinee show at The Market at Meadowbrook on Friday, May 19.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Jazz Journalists Association’s 2023 Winners for Jazz Performance and Recordings were announced today.
*Tweet of the Week: American Jazz Museum- NEA Jazz Master "Big Chief" Donald Harrison and physicist Stephon Alexander come together for the first time to perform a unique quantum improvisation set with composer and bassist Santi Debriano, alongside special guest Bobby Watson. (link) #KC #jazz
*From a press release: In its 50 years, Mid-America Arts Alliance has awarded more than $51 million in grants to more than 18,000 artists and cultural organizations… M-AAA invites the public to attend the free 50th Anniversary Block Party on June 2, 2023, 5:30–8:00 p.m. in Kansas City, coinciding with Kansas City’s First Friday in the Crossroads… The M-AAA exhibition space, The Culture Lab, will feature the nationally touring ExhibitsUSA exhibition, Shutter and Sound: The Jazz Photography of Bob Willoughby.
Album Review: Rod Fleeman- Saturday Afternoon at Green Lady Lounge, Volume 2
Many people would agree with the proposition that the most delightful hours of the week transpire on Saturday afternoon. Looking back on Friday night’s fun while anticipating the impending evening’s revelry often results in several carefree hours.
An astute group of discerning jazz fans in Kansas City savor Saturday afternoons for an additional reason. Rod Fleeman, the elite Kansas City guitarist named Plastic Sax’s 2021 Person of the Year, leads a trio every Saturday afternoon at Green Lady Lounge.
Partly because Ray DeMarchi replaces drummer Todd Strait, the new Saturday Afternoon at Green Lady Lounge, Volume 2 has a slightly jauntier feel than the first volume. The impeccable bassist Gerald Spaits appears on both sets.
Although all 13 selections are original compositions, much of the fun consists in hearing Fleeman weave in, out and around famous riffs, licks and melodies. His quotes range from Duke Ellington to The Beatles. Yet Fleeman isn’t a mere punster.
While playful, the references are just one element in the pretense-free, good-time music that just incidentally happens to be magnificent art. The effervescent Saturday Afternoon at Green Lady Lounge series makes that undiluted joy accessible anytime and anywhere.
Now’s the Time: Black Crack Revue
The current iteration of Black Crack Revue (also known as BCR), the longstanding Kansas City collective originally inspired by the Sun Ra Arkestra, performs an early show at The Ship on Saturday, May 13.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Vanessa Thomas is featured in The Lawrence Times.
*Joe Dimino interviewed Janice Borla and Kenneth Watson.
*Tweet of the Week: Kate Fuego- Mike Dillon at Jazzfest yesterday: 1. 8pm with the Nolatet. Exploratory avant-garde technical jazz perfection in a seated airy theater space. 2. 2am with the New F**k Yeahs. Rowdy dirty jazz punk with extra booty a sweaty mosh pit could have erupted at any time in the Maple Leaf.
*From a press release: Please join us in congratulating KU School of Music’s Jazz Studies Program for their recent success at the 2023 DownBeat Student Music Awards (SMA). The awards were announced this month, where KU Jazz Ensemble I was named a Large Ensemble co-winner in the Graduate College division. The Spencer Reeve Trio also received the Outstanding Performance award in the Jazz Combo Undergraduate division.
Album Review: Enzo Carniel, Hermon Mehari, Stéphane Adsuar and Damien Varaillon- No(w) Beauty
Hermon Mehari is on a roll. A week after thrilling a rapturous crowd at a homecoming concert at the Folly Theater on February 18, the trumpeter and three of his fellow European collaborators released the extraordinary No(w) Beauty.
The album might be even better than Asmara, the artistic breakthrough Mehari released in 2022. No(w) Beauty is distinguished by a friendly tussle between pianist Enzo Carniel and the tandem of bassist Damien Varaillon and drummer Stéphane Adsuar.
Carniel repeatedly pulls the quartet toward the center as Varaillon and Adsuar tug outward. The competitive interplay opens an accommodating space for Mehari’s slightly unconventional sensibility.
Martial rhythms and Mehari’s feathery tone occasionally evoke Sketches of Spain, Miles Davis’ landmark 1960 collaboration with Gil Evans. Yet with bits of electronica and sonic experimentation, No(w) Beauty’s is entirely in keeping with the European jazz of today.
Yet many of Mehari’s longtime fans in Kansas City will focus on a straightforward reading of "For All We Know". Mehari’s heart-melting statement on the ballad verifies his growing international reputation as an elite musician.
Now’s the Time: Anat Cohen’s Quartetinho
Anat Cohen brings her superlative Quartetinho project to the Folly Theater on Friday, May 5. The group’s album ranked fifth in Plastic Sax’s listings of The Top Jazz Albums of 2022.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Clint Ashlock considers the 2023-24 season of The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra for The Kansas City Star.
*Vanessa Thomas’ album release show at the Lied Center is among KCUR’s May concert recommendations.
*Joe Dimino attended a concert by The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and interviewed Alber.
*KCUR’s Greg Echlin reports on The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s intention to move from its current location adjacent to the American Jazz Museum.
*Tweet of the Week: KCMO Public Library- April 30 is #InternationalJazzDay! Check out books, music, and resources about some of the greatest names in jazz, including many with Kansas City connections: (link)
Album Review: Late Night Basie
A flurry of press releases fail to clarify the concept of Late Night Basie. The new 23-minute collection consists of seven remakes of songs associated with or performed at least once by the Count Basie Orchestra. While entirely welcome, the tribute to the Kansas City legend is extremely odd. Here’s a ranking of the tracks.
"Blue & Sentimental": The roots music duo Larkin Poe gives the Basie original a gorgeous makeover.
“Jumpin’ at the Woodside”: A jump blues take on the classic featuring the Count Basie Orchestra with soloists Ray Angry and Jimmy Vivino.
“M-Squad”: Terence Blanchard joins the Count Basie Orchestra on a straight-ahead New Testament-era number.
"St. Thomas": Cimafunk, Soul Rebels and Nicholas Payton add New Orleans zest to the Sonny Rollins melody.
“One O’Clock Jump”: Jubilant swing revivalists Danny Jonokuchi & The Revisionists play the familiar tune with reverence.
“One O’Clock Jump”: Jazzmeia Horn scats on an unusual arrangement of the big band’s signature song. (Two of the seven tracks are interpretations of “One O’Clock Jump.”)
"Didn't You": The funk band Lettuce and the rapper Talib Kweli have both made loads of exceptional music. This effort is less than exceptional.
Traditionalists dismayed by the unconventional Basie initiative can take consolation in Live at Fabrik, Hamburg 1981. The recently issued live set features a lively group of nine Basie sidemen. Saxophonist Buddy Tate sounds particularly vibrant.
Now's the Time: Thundercat
Thundercat performs in the NFL’s 2023 Draft Concert Series at Union Station on Saturday, April 29. The jazz-adjacent star is slated to “curate a special performance which will pay tribute to the rich music history and the legacy of jazz in Kansas City.” The embedded video documents a fan’s perspective of Thundercat’s concert at Grinders in Kansas City last year.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Five concerts in the 2023-24 season of the Folly Jazz Series have been announced.
*Live jazz performances are greeting visitors at Kansas City’s airport this week.
*Tweet of the Week: Good Morning Football- Headed to the draft and need some local recs? The queen of Kansas City has got you covered @kimmichex (video clip)
*From a press release: The NFL announced Wednesday the headlining acts for the NFL Draft Concert Series, which will take place as part of the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City, April 27-29… As part of Day 3 festivities that highlight Kansas City culture, Grammy-winning iconic bassist and vocalist Thundercat will close out the 2023 Draft Concert Series on Saturday, April 29. He will curate a special performance which will pay tribute to the rich music history and the legacy of jazz in Kansas City.
Album Review: Dave Scott- Song for Alice
Song for Alice is a sleeper. Unheralded and overlooked, the latest release by Dave Scott is worthy of consideration for jazz album of the year. The trumpeter originally from the Kansas City area is joined by saxophonist Rich Perry, pianist Gary Versace, bassist Johannes Weidenmuller and drummer Mark Ferber on the 2022 recording released in January by Steeplechase Records. Contrary to the title of the closing track “Indistinct Chatter,” the quintet’s free explorations are razor sharp and crystal clear. Only improvisers who have completely mastered straight-ahead forms can render outside contexts with such magnificently controlled eloquence.
Now’s the Time: Tia Fuller
Tia Fuller performs at the Folly Theater on Saturday, April 22. The saxophonist will be accompanied by her sister Shamie Royston on piano, bassist Eric Wheeler and drummer Koleby Royston in the Folly Jazz Series concert.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Kansas City Business Journal reports that construction on a six-story apartment complex is underway at 19th and Vine in the Jazz District.
*Joe Dimino visited Green Lady Lounge.
*A blogger reviewed Branches Choke, an album of noisy improvisations recorded in Kansas City.
*Tweet of the Week: Raman Shah- In Kansas City right now for @TransformGov #tlg2020. It's lovely here: chilly, with hills, flowers, red brick, vintage signage, gentle people. Treated myself last night to cheesy corn+burnt ends @ Jack Stack and some jazz @ the Green Lady. Now to meet some #localgov friends
Book Review: Kansas City Jazz: A Little Evil Will Do You Good, by Con Chapman
Original image by Plastic Sax.
Kansas City Jazz: A Little Evil Will Do You Good looks, feels and scans like a textbook. Not only is the cover drab, the heavy stock of the 370 pages gives the book the heft of a brick. Its exhaustive chronology of recording sessions and personnel changes of bands often seems like grist for a pop quiz nightmare.
Portions of Con Chapman’s new study of the heyday of Kansas City jazz are a bit of a slog, but the very elements that make the text dense- an attention to detail and a panoramic lens- make it an essential addition to the library of every person with a serious interest in the history of Kansas City.
The work draws heavily on Count Basie’s autobiography and previously published studies by historians including Stanley Crouch, Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix. Consequently, much of the material will already be familiar to enthusiasts. As an amalgamation of these established works, however, Kansas City Jazz can be viewed as a one-stop compendium.
Chapman also has a few ideas of his own. In addition to synthesizing the work of previous scholars, he fills in gaps with investigations of overlooked nooks and crannies. These insights begin with a survey of traveling minstrel shows and circuses in the Midwest and Chapman’s insistence that ragtime’s connection to central Missouri is an integral part of the musical foundation of Kansas City.
He attempts to link regional and national musicians to Kansas City. Several pages are dedicated to Texas trombonist Jack Teagarden. Chapman also suspects the New Orleans legend Jelly Roll Morton spent time in Kansas City influencing locally based artists. Furthermore, a case is made for the impact of the innovative style of the Texas born and Oklahoma raised guitarist Charlie Christian on the sound of Kansas City jazz.
Chapman’s championing of the relatively unheralded Missouri native Wilbur Sweatman as a forebear of the likes of Bennie Moten may be the book’s biggest revelation. The familiar swing of Sweatman’s overlooked recordings suggest Chapman is right.
Impatient readers will be heartened to learn that Chapman successfully deploys the mountain of facts he accumulates in a wholly effective summation. The strong conclusion makes the textbook-like list price of $55 seem like a bargain.
Now’s the Time: Bob Bowman
Bob Bowman is back in town. Westport Coffee House hosts a show billed as the bassist’s seventieth birthday celebration on Monday, April 17.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Kansas City Star caught up with Marilyn Maye.
*Lucy Wijnands was interviewed by Joe Dimino.
*Tweet of the Week: MCC Kansas City- The 18th & Vine Jazz Festival is a non-competitive event that gives middle school, high school and college students with musical experience the opportunity to gain an appreciation for Kansas City's rich jazz heritage. Info: (link)
*From a press release: Legendary American jazz guitarist, composer and improviser Pat Metheny announces his newest album, Dream Box, on the BMG Modern Recordings label on June 16... Comprising nine “found tracks” for “quiet electric guitar,” Metheny describes it as "a unique recording for me; it is essentially a compilation of solo tracks recorded across a few years that I only discovered while listening on tour.”
Album Review: Adam Larson- With Love, From New York City
Have you ever incurred the wrath of New Yorkers by pausing on a busy sidewalk to gawk at a spectacular view of the Brooklyn Bridge or the Chrysler Building? With Love, From New York City, the latest album by the Kansas City based saxophonist Adam Larson, is filled with sonic vistas certain to stop listeners in their tracks.
The final component of a trilogy of trio albums including With Love, From Kansas City and With Love, From Chicago, With Love, From New York City is as awe-inspiring as the bustling metropolis for which it’s named. The album strikes a balance between the edgy explorations heard at New York City hubs for new music such as Roulette and the mainstream elegance favored at Manhattan venues like Smoke.
The rough and tumble assault of the opening track “Aerial Landmass” features grungy work from bassist Matt Clohesy and the merciless drumming of Obed Calvaire. Larson takes a staggeringly inventive solo on “64 Squares (searching for fish).” His shift to a tangy, slightly sour tone for “Soar” is among the additional highlights.
As with the first two installments of the With Love cycle, the uncompromising New York is absolutely arresting. Start spreading the news. Following residencies in Chicago and New York, Larson is truly is “number one, top of the list and king of the hill” in Kansas City.
Now’s the Time: Michael Pagán
Michael Pagán recently shared the embedded video featuring clips of his band Paganova performing at Westport Coffee House. The Kansas City pianist’s busy schedule includes a trio performance at Black Dolphin on Saturday, April 8.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The New York Times honored the art of Mary Lou Williams.
*Alan Voss chatted with Joe Dimino.
*Tweet of the Week: New Music Circle: Our 64th season concludes with a first-time visit by NYC avant-jazz saxophonist/composer, Anna Webber. Anna is on tour with her new quintet, Shimmer Wince. They perform this Saturday (April 8) at @pulitzerarts. Don’t miss it! Info: (link to St. Louis presenters)