Plastic Sax’s Favorite Performances of 2023

The death of Eddie Van Halen two years ago was devastating. The celebrated musician’s family, friends and fans continue to mourn the loss. Had the guitar hero lived past 65, he may have joined the venerable list of rockers who turned their attention to jazz in their golden years.

Van Halen’s impact is increasingly pervasive. While he never approached the realm of the “big three” living jazz guitarists- Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny and John Scofield- Van Halen nonetheless made an impact on the sound of scores of jazz guitarists in recent decades.

Brian Baggett is a prime example. The Kansas City guitarist’s new album Groovin’ and Swingin’ at Green Lady Lounge possesses a sharp metallic tinge. Whether the influence is direct or filtered through other guitarists, Baggett’s playing contains strong echoes of Van Halen.

Rather than corrupting the form, Baggett’s perspective enlivens the music. What might otherwise have been a perfectly fine but typical mainstream jazz recording is elevated by jagged edges. Bassist Ben Tervort and drummer Taylor Babb provide a rock-solid foundation for Baggett’s invigorating approach.

Baggett is a central component of the robust calendar at Kansas City’s most popular jazz club. And on the surface, Groovin’ and Swingin’ at Green Lady Lounge is true to its title. The album captures the venue’s jubilant atmosphere. Jazz purists who treasure the classic jazz guitar work by the likes of Grant Green and Wes Montgomery are likely to embrace Baggett.

Yet even the album’s prettiest passages contain a hint of a rock and roll sneer. An appreciation of Van Halen hits like “Runnin’ with the Devil” isn’t necessary to enjoy Groovin’ and Swingin’ at Green Lady Lounge, but the sinfully good album may be appreciated most by guitar fans with expansive ears.

(The Kansas City venue will host the album release show for Groovin’ and Swingin’ at Green Lady Lounge at 6 p.m. Monday, November 6. The $5 cover charge includes a CD version of the album.)

Album Review: Second Nature Ensemble- Second Nature

August 28, 2022 William Brownlee

The notes accompanying Second Nature, the astounding debut album of the Second Nature Ensemble, include text from The Anarchist Library. While the music implies extreme polemics, the cerebral sounds of the recording are a more appropriate soundtrack for analyzing subversive texts than for throwing bricks through windows in a riot.

Michael Eaton (saxophones, flute, and clarinet), Seth Andrew Davis (guitar), Dwight Frizzell (wind controller and alto clarinet), Ben Tervort (bass), Alan Voss (drums) and Tim J Harte (electronics) are seemingly unlikely collaborators. Plastic Sax published an enthusiastic missive about the (mostly) Kansas City musicians’ generational and stylistic clash at a performance at Westport Coffee House last year.

The discordant tone of Second Nature is established on the 19-minute opening track "Alchemy". A work of sublime beauty is forged from a lethal slurry of abrasive analog and digital sounds. Intentionally erratic swing does battle with galactic static on the 16-minute “Large/Large II”. Tervort’s improvisation is among the individual solo features interspersed among the group tracks.

The prolific output of individual members of the collective make it impossible to cite a single release as representative. Yet in sifting through a myriad of styles ranging from swing to industrial noise, the expansive Second Nature is a good place for lawless agitators, scholastic Marxists and even cutthroat capitalists to begin exploring the most astringent sounds emanating from Kansas City’s improvised music scene.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

July 20, 2022 William Brownlee

*Joe Dimino shared video clips from shows by Dave Scott and Charles Williams.

*The Chicago jazz advocacy group Fulton Street Collective streamed a performance by the Kansas City trio of saxophonist Pete Fucinaro, bassist Ben Tervort and drummer Brian Steever.

*Tweet of the Week: Kenneth Barreras- Master Musician Carmell Jones was born on this date in 1936. Here he is playing his own composition on a Nathan Davis recording. Davis himself does not play on this tune. With the legendary Kenny Clarke on drums. Carmell's Black Forest Waltz (link)

Concert Review: Drew Williams, Ben Tervort and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House

April 10, 2022 William Brownlee

Prior to his first set with bassist Ben Tervort and drummer Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House on Sunday, April 3, saxophonist and bandleader Drew Williams told the audience of about 30 that the show marked the first time his child was in attendance at one of his public performances.

As the toddler contentedly played with doting adults, at least one member of the audience was overwhelmed with a correspondingly childlike sense of wonder. The trio’s invigorating 45-minute volley of improvised music simultaneously honored and augmented Kansas City’s jazz legacy.

Williams characterized an original composition consisting of six pages of notated music a “behemoth.” The ambitious undertaking- along with a trace of electronics on the opening selection- makes Williams susceptible to accusations of trafficking in an academic form of jazz.

A muscular version of Charlie Parker’s “Cheryl” refuted any potential priggish denunciations from conservative devotees of mainstream sounds. Williams’ return to a Kansas City stage following an extended residency in New York was a triumph. The big city’s loss is Kansas City’s gain.

Concert Review: Second Nature Ensemble at Westport Coffee House

July 4, 2021 William Brownlee

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.