Confirmation: Weekly New and Notes

*The 2021 edition of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival has been canceled.  The lineup consisted of a band led by Adam Larson with Fabian Almazan and Jaleel Shaw, We the People, Back Alley Brass Band and the Shawnee Mission East Blue Knights.

*Carolyn Glenn Brewer attempted to promote her book Beneath Missouri Skies: Pat Metheny in Kansas City 1964-1972 on The Pitch’s Streetwise podcast.

*Pat Metheny was interviewed by the popular YouTube personality Rick Beato.

*Eboni Fondren chatted with Steve Kraske about Everette DeVan on KCUR’s Up To Date program.

*Joe Dimino added Trent Austin and Desmond Mason to his catalog of interviews.

*The Spotlight 2021: Charlie Parker initiative is featured in a brief television news segment.

*Tweet of the Week: The Twittah Sh*ttah- Green Lady Lounge, Kansas City. Cool jazz club. To be honest, I was pretty drunk at this place. I think the bathroom was a good one. All I got was two blurry photos and a video of this awesome sink that lights up when you turn it on. (video and photos)

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*A few moments of Bill Summers’ performance at Dunbar Park were captured by Joe Dimino.

*The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s new rendition of Mary Lou Williams’ the “Zodiac Suite” streams on the ensemble’s YouTube channel.

*Tweet of the Week: Mayor Q- Spring-like weather and my man, Desmond Mason, at the top of the @TheWWImuseumtower playing some jazz. How can you not love Kansas City?!? #MakeMusicKC #HappyMonday

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.