Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Paula Saunders, Amber Underwood and Angela Ward anticipate a cultural exchange in Chile in a television news report.

*Hermon Mehari looks forward to his performance in the Folly Jazz Series in a Kansas City magazine feature.

*Following a month-long stoppage, The Blue Room reopens with a jam session led by Matt Villinger on Monday, January 30.

*The Pitch relays an update from Chaz on the Plaza.

*Jakob Baekgaard composed an overview of Mary Lou Williams’ career for All About Jazz.

*Portions of the Miguel Zenón Quartet’s concert at the Folly Theater were captured by Joe Dimino.

*Tweet of the Week: Green Lady Lounge- In 2022, Green Lady Lounge & Black Dolphin musicians earned $942,582.81 in performance pay & credit card tips from fans. By the merit of their performances & demand from fans, these Kansas City jazz musicians showed their success & robust viability in the free market.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Nina Cherry praises Stephen Martin’s new album for Kansas City magazine.

*There Stands the Glass, the sister site of Plastic Sax, reviews Seth Andrew Davis’ new recording Highways Jammed with Broken Heroes.

*Addie Sartino of the Kansas City indie-pop band The Greeting Committee recommends Green Lady Lounge.

*Joe Dimino documented a set by Amber Underwood at the Blue Room.

*Tweet of the Week: In Jesus name No More- Listening to The Session with Hermon Mehari has been the best addition to my Sunday self care. @kcur @KCTrumpeter

Now’s the Time: Bukeka Blakemore, Amber Underwood, Aryana Nemeti and Angela Ward

Vocalist Bukeka Blakemore, flautist Amber Underwood, saxophonist Aryana Nemeti and keyboardist Angela Ward perform jazz and jazz-related music in a four-song set filmed at the Kansas City Museum in the embedded video.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The Kansas City vocalist Molly Hammer has died.

*Pat Metheny and Logan Richarson were recognized with Grammy nominations yesterday.

*Pat Metheny signed a deal with a new record label.

*Amber Underwood chatted with Joe Dimino.

*Tweet of the Week: Mutual Musicians KC- Big things in the works here at MMF. Stay tuned.

Album Review: Flutienastiness- This Is Me

The defining moment of This Is Me is a celebratory shout on the brief skit “FlutieWhooo!”  The new album by Amber Underwood, the Kansas City flautist who works under the alias Flutienastiness, is a feel-good soundtrack for an unforgettable party. This Is Me combines the mainstream inclinations of the flute-playing pop star Lizzo with the R&B-savvy jazz formulated by Bobbi Humphrey in the 1970s. The result is as likely to appeal to fans of the classic hits of Janet Jackson as to admirers of the jazz flautist Hubert Laws. Although producer Desmond Mason is the primary instrumentalist, locally based luminaries including Peter Schlamb and Brian Ward contribute to the mood-shifting release that gracefully glides between the dance floor and the bedroom. Several albums released by Kansas City musicians in 2020 are more artistically daring, but none are more fun than This Is Me.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The Kansas City Business Journal reports on the opening of Lonnie’s Reno Club at the Ambassador Hotel.

*Amber Underwood is interviewed by Nick Spacek for The Pitch.

*The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra added a new video to its jazz history series.

*Emanuel Cleaver lobbies for the Save Our Stages campaign from the Blue Room.

*Tweet o’ the Week: KOJH 104.7- James D. Conqueror- Baptism (Holy Water) Magnum Opus