The Top Performances of 2024

The Top Jazz Performances of 2024 by Kansas City Musicians
1. Peter Schlamb at the Ship
Plastic Sax review.

2. Rev. Dwight Frizzell’s Bridge at Charlotte Street Foundation
Instagram clip.

3. Rev. Dwight Frizzell’s Heliophonie at Charlotte Street Foundation
Plastic Sax review.

4. Steve Cardenas, Forest Stewart and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House
Plastic Sax review.

5. WireTown at Green Lady Lounge
Instagram clip.

6. Seth Davis, Kwan Leung Ling, Aaron Osborne and Evan Verploegh at 7th Heaven
Instagram clip.

7.  Jackie Myers, Matt Otto and Bob Bowman at the Market at Meadowbrook
Instagram snapshot.

8. Alber at Charlotte Street Foundation
Instagram snapshot.

9. Ernest Melton, Parker Woolworth, Jordan Faught and Jalen Ward at In the Lowest Ferns
Plastic Sax review.

10. Rod Fleeman Trio at Green Lady Lounge
Instagram clip.

The Top Performances of 2024 by Touring Musicians
1. Makaya McCraven at Liberty Hall
Plastic Sax review.

2. Trond Kallevåg at the Folk Alliance International Conference
Instagram clip.

3. David Lord at Farewell
Plastic Sax review.

4. Willow at the T-Mobile Center
There Stands the Glass review.

5. Trap Jazz at Concourse Park
Instagram clip.

6. Mike Baggetta and Peter DiStefano at the Ship
There Stands the Glass review.

7. Damon Smith at Westport Coffee House
Instagram clip.

8. Phill Smith and Kyle Jessen at Charlotte Street Foundation
Instagram clip.

9. Síomha at the Kansas City Irish Festival
Instagram clip.

10. David Menestres at the Bunker Center for the Arts
Instagram snapshot.

Last year’s survey is here.

Album Review: Alber- Born at Sea

Alber’s elaborate presentation at the Charlotte Street Foundation on May 23 is among the most memorable of the more than 100 concerts, recitals, festivals and club performances I’ve attended in 2024. The ambition and imagination displayed by the Italian-born Kansas City resident were astounding. The spectacle raised the bar for all Kansas City musicians. Thankfully, the multi-media event is documented on video and on the new album Born at Sea.  Not every segment of the project the trumpeter, composer and bandleader characterizes as an homage to “the immersive landscapes of the Southern Italian coastline” qualifies as jazz, but the entirety of Born at Sea is compatible with the inventive spirit of the form.

Album Review: Alber- Caldo

My favorite vinyl emporium expunges the dregs of its inventory with an ongoing crate sale. I recently scooped up a cache of unloved records by the likes of the Brecker Brothers, John Klemmer and Joe Sample at ten cents a pop. The passe status of jazz fusion, smooth jazz and acid jazz doesn’t phase the Kansas City based musician Alber. His sunny 27-minute release Caldo recalls the commercial heyday of the forms. Yet Alber isn’t stuck in the past. Contemporary production flourishes make the trumpeter and producer’s self-styled “electro-jazz” substantially fresher than my stack of dusty Earl Klugh albums.

Now’s the Time: Alber

The Kansas City based trumpeter Alber performs at Farewell on Saturday, February 10. Plastic Sax suggested in 2021 that Alber creates “consummate chill-out music for the cool kids of today”. Experimental ensembles including representatives of the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society are also on the bill.

Concert Review: Rob Magill and Marshall Trammell at Farewell

Farewell, a scrappy rock club near the Truman Sports Complex, hosted three differing sets of improvised music on Tuesday, July 11. More than fifty people passed in and out of the venue, but it’s unclear how many of them paid the $10 cover charge to hear the varied sounds.

The touring duo of saxophonist Rob Magill and drummer Marshall Trammell were the featured attraction. While the comparison is unfair to the tandem, I experienced their ferocious thirty minute set as an elegy to Peter Brötzmann. The German saxophonist who died last month specialized in the bracing form of free jazz rendered by the duo.

Joined by Alex Mallett on bass, keyboard and electronics, the trumpeter and electronic artist Alber opened the evening with a  groovy update on acid jazz. The best moments evoked the ambience of a trendy cafe in Alber’s native Italy.

Three representatives of the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society performed last. Flanked by bassist Krista Kopper and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Osborne, drummer Evan Verploegh annihilated eardrums one moment and whispered through his fingertips the next.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*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: 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.