Plastic Sax

Jardines once dominated Kansas City’s jazz scene. The club just beyond the northeast corner of the Country Club Plaza hosted touring and locally based jazz musicians prior to its messy closure in 2011.

My fondest memories include multiple performances by Karrin Allyson, the Jeff Hamilton Trio, Marilyn Maye and Saturday afternoon jam sessions hosted by Tommy Ruskin. Getting scolded by Sara Gazarek when my flip phone rang during a ballad and challenging an adversary to a fistfight at the venue are among my less pleasant recollections.

The venue regularly hosted shows overseen by Kansas City’s young lions including keyboardist Mark Lowrey and drummer Brandon Draper. The latter musician recently released excerpts of recordings made at Jardines in 2010.

The 78-minute album features Draper with trombonist Kevin Cerovich, saxophonist Rich Wheeler, vibraphonist Peter Schlamb and bassist Craig Akin. Imbued with the giddy energy of young improvisors coming into their own, Live at Jardines is a vital blast from the past.

Alaturka was one of one of Kansas City’s most auspicious bands during the quartet’s most active period in the first half of the previous decade. Beau Bledsoe (guitar, oud and primary musicologist), Rich Wheeler (saxophone), Jeff Harshbarger (bass) and Brandon Draper (percussion) combined the classical music of Turkey with American jazz.

Augmentation from a big band seemed like an unnecessary and excessive proposal. Yet a surprise release reveals that Alaturka’s 2013 collaboration with Dan Gailey’s KU Jazz Ensemble 1 at the Lawrence Arts Center resulted in an entirely tasteful concert.

Each member of Alaturka is in peak form and almost all of the textures the big band adds to selections like “Leyla” on In Concert with KU Jazz Ensemble I are appealing evocations of Gil Evans’ arrangements for Miles Davis’ 1960 album Sketches of Spain. While a bit of momentum is lost on “Dar Hejîrokê/Fig Tree,” the superlative document inspires hope for a resumption of activity in the Alaturka camp.