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.

Jazz Night in Kansas City (Is Every Night)

Attending performances by locally based jazz musicians is what I miss most about Kansas City while traveling. While I regularly take advantage of high-profile concerts by cutting-edge improvisers who rarely appear in Kansas City in my destinations, few locales match the depth of artistry showcased nightly in the Kansas City area.

Following a trip to the tropics, I caught up with a portion of the embarrassment of riches on Thursday, November 15. My outing began at the Music House School of Music in Prairie Village. The storied trumpeter Stan Kessler joined the house band of guitarist Aaron Sizemore, bassist Forest Stewart and drummer Michael Warren.

Sizemore tends to incorporate European innovations of recent decades into his sound, a disposition that differentiates him from his peers in Kansas City. The singularity didn’t make an impression on harried music students on strict schedules at the busy facility. The small audience at Thursday’s no-cover event consisted of the usual suspects. A video of the concert streams here.

In the Lowest Ferns couldn’t be more different. The West Bottoms club specializing in electronic dance music occasionally hosts jazz musicians. About 25 fashion-conscious people paid a $15 cover charge to take in the first set by saxophonist Ernest Melton, keyboardist Parker Woolworth, bassist Jordan Faught and drummer Jaylen Ward. The quartet’s spiritual soul-jazz was enhanced by a fog machine.

Two blocks away, Peter Schlamb unveiled an instrument he described as his “new toy” in a free show at The Ship.  The slippery tones of the MalletKAT added another weapon to the vibraphonist’s formidable arsenal. The high-energy improvisations of Schlamb, saxophonist Matt Otto, keyboardist Matt Villinger, bassist Sebastian Arias and drummer Zach Morrow were stunning.

In an act that felt like a cultural misdemeanor, the two eldest people among the audience of 20 left at the conclusion of the first set at 10:15 p.m. I nodded in agreement when a savvy old head suggested “that’s the best band in Kansas City” as we shuffled to the door. For me, Shlamb’s electric band sounds like home.

Now’s the Time: Ernest Melton

The shape-shifting Kansas City saxophonist Ernest Melton performs at the fashionable dance club In the Lowest Ferns on Thursday, August 1, and leads the weekly jam session at the Blue Room on Monday, August 5. Melton tackles Jimi Hendrix in the embedded video.

K.C. Blues, Part Four

I didn’t set out to enrage readers with the unintentionally incendiary K.C. Blues series.  The first three installments are a surprisingly controversial reality check.  Problems are best addressed with candid recognition of the challenges.  This, the fourth and final part of the series, lists eight reasons for optimism.

1. Lonnie’s Reno Club isn’t a new jazz venue. The hotel at 1111 Grand Boulevard has long hosted live jazz.  But the newly rebranded club is slated to feature performances by the dynamic Lonnie McFadden three nights a week.  In addition to being an ideal attraction for guests from out of town, the exciting concept breathes new life into Kansas City’s arts scene.

2. Rashida Phillips hasn’t had an adequate opportunity to show her stripes.  The pandemic hit a few months after she was named the Executive Director of the American Jazz Museum.  Here’s hoping Phillips is a creative innovator capable of altering the trajectory of the troubled institution.

3. The stylistic breadth of jazz made in Kansas City continues to expand.  Amber Underwood, Eddie Moore and Logan Richardson are among the musicians capable of growing the audience for improvised sounds by bridging the divide between jazz and popular music.

4. Bobby Watson is irreplaceable.  Yet the addition of Adam Larson to the faculty of the UMKC Conservatory lessens the blow of Watson’s retirement from academia.  Larson possesses substantial artistic imagination and vital industry connections.

5. "Chronicles of Conception", a track Ernest Melton quietly issued earlier this year, suggests the brilliance occasionally flashed by the saxophonist may soon turn into a consistent torrent of inspiration.

6. The improvised music scene will be infused by a manic burst of energy if the peripatetic Mike Dillon continues to hang his hat in Kansas City.  His return to his longtime home coincides with the release of the outstanding Rosewood.

7. The emergence of live streaming as a (semi)viable alternative to conventional performances is constructive.  The high quality of productions at Black Dolphin continues to astound.  There’s no reason the digital presentations shouldn’t be held over following a return to normalcy.

8. I’ll reveal my annual year-end top ten jazz album list by Kansas City artists in several weeks.  Impressive 2020 releases are so plentiful that several strong albums won’t make the cut.  My recognition of the abundant artistic excellence is yet another reminder to readers that my grievances shouldn’t be misconstrued as discontent with the music produced by Kansas City’s jazz musicians.