The Top 25 Kansas City Jazz Albums of the Past 25 Years

Despite enduring constant turbulence during the first 25 years of the new millennium, Kansas City’s jazz musicians never ceased creating timeless art. The following list highlights a fraction of the vital recordings released since 2000. The recency bias on display reflects Plastic Sax’s founding in 2007 as well as the uptick in the quantity and quality of releases in recent years. A corresponding non-jazz albums ranking is here.

1. Peter Schlamb- Tinks (2004)
2. Logan Richardson- Shift (2016)
3. Bobby Watson- Back Home in Kansas City (2022)
4. Hermon Mehari- Asmara (2022)
5. Bob Bowman- Songs for Sandra (2014)
6. Pat Metheny- Orchestrion (2010)
7. Ahmad Alaadeen- And the Beauty of It All (ASR 2007)
8. Karrin Allyson- Imagina: Songs of Brasil (2008)
9. Steve Cardenas- Panoramic (2002)
10. Mike Dillon- Inflorescence (2023)

11. Deborah Brown- Songbird (2003)
12. Adam Larson- With Love, From Kansas City (2022)
13. Myra Taylor- My Night to Dream (2001)
14. Matt Otto and Ensemble Ibérica- Ibérica (2017)
15. The People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City- The People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City (2010)
16. Kevin Mahogany- Pride & Joy (2002)
17. Micah Herman- The Ship, Vol. 1: The Studio Sessions (2011)
18. EMAS Quartet- EMS (2022)
19. Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle- Kings & Queens (2016)
20. Rod Fleeman Trio- Saturday Afternoon Live at Green Lady Lounge, Volume 3 (2024)

21. Alaturka- Tamam Abi (2010)
22. Betty Bryant- Lotta Livin' (2024)
23. Everette DeVan- For the Love of You (2014)
24. Gregory Hickman-Williams- Passages (2006)
25. Marcus Lewis Big Band- Brass and Boujee (2018)

Album Review: Eboni Fondren- The Journey: To Kansas City with Love

Eboni Fondren laments she was “born in the wrong decade” on the opening selection of her new album. Consistent with the nostalgic sentiment, the vocalist basks in a throwback form of jazz on The Journey: To Kansas City with Love. 

Fondren recalls her apprenticeship with the organist Everette DeVan on the autobiographical introductory song. Fondren’s vibrant personality and rich voice have since become widely admired. Kansas City standouts including James Albright, Chris Hazelton and Mark Lowrey help Fondren realize her vision on the live recording made at the Uptown Lounge.

Contemporary accents such as the prominent electric bass on “Angel Eyes” don’t detract from her old-school sensibility. Fondren originals like the Broadway-ready “Hollow” hold their own alongside the standards “Satin Doll,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Angel Eyes.”

The album is an agreeable amalgamation of the bluesy form of jazz associated with Kansas City. Fondren aptly subtitled the album “To Kansas City with Love.” The feeling is mutual in the storied jazz town.

Album Review: Chris Hazelton- After Dark

The beloved Kansas City musician Everette DeVan died two years ago. Chris Hazelton, one of the organist’s most accomplished apprentices, revives the congenial style associated with DeVan on his new album After Dark.

Hazelton’s Hammond B-3 mastery is supplemented by baritone saxophonist Brett Jackson, guitarist Jamie Anderson, percussionist Patrick Conway and drummer John Kizilarmut.

After Dark is immediately familiar and luxuriously comfortable. Hazelton sounds terrific, but it’s Jackson’s rich playing that makes the recording stand out. 

The album is a vibrant affirmation that Charlie Parker- born August 29, 1920- isn’t the only Kansas City jazz icon remembered this month. Everette DeVan lives!

The Kansas City's Jazz Scene's Top Trends and Stories of 2021

1. Mask off

Kansas City never entirely embraced pandemic precautions.  Much of the populace treated official mandates as gratuitous suggestions.  Even so, Kansas City’s live music landscape shifted during the difficulties.  The good news is that new jazz-friendly venues replaced many of the rooms that didn’t survive.

2. Saying the quiet part out loud

Some readers of Plastic Sax are annoyed by this site’s penchant for disclosing disheartening attendance figures.  Pat Metheny acknowledged the town’s limited appetite for jazz in an interview with In Kansas City magazine.

3. Fiver

Many observers insist that the customary absence of cover charges at performances of jazz devalues the music.  Green Lady Lounge, Kansas City’s most popular jazz venue, instituted a five dollar admission fee this year.

4. Underground surge

Thanks largely to the initiatives of the enterprising young musicians Seth Davis and Evan Verploegh, avant-garde jazz and experimental music was much easier to find in 2021.

5. 3333

After relocating to 3333 Wyoming Street, the Charlotte Street Foundation became a welcoming home for left-of-center improvised music.

6. The beat goes on

The storied drummer Carl Allen replaced Bobby Watson as Endowed Chair of Jazz Studies at UMKC.  Much of the jazz scene’s fate rests on Allen’s ability to attract and develop promising talent.

7. Dunn good

Gerald Dunn, the person who has become the institutional memory of the American Jazz Museum and has long served as an essential component of Kansas City’s music scene, was named a Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association.

8. Missouri uncompromised

Carolyn Glenn Brewer’s new study Under Missouri Skies: Pat Metheny in Kansas City 1965-1972 provides essential insights into a previously under-documented era.

9. Next level

Hermon Mehari’s progression as a refined practitioner of European jazz and the ascension of Lucy Wijnands’ career were among the most notable artistic developments by artists associated with Kansas City.

10. Rest in peace

The passing of organ kingpin Everette DeVan was the most prominent of several heartbreaking deaths.

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

*Ronnell Bright, a former Kansas City resident best known for his elegant piano accompaniment with vocalists Sarah Vaughan and Nancy Wilson, has died.  Marc Myers shares ten of his favorite Bright recordings at JazzWax.

*The Kansas City Star featured a few Spotlight 2021: Charlie Parker performances in its entertainment listings.

*Alonzo Weston of The Coleman Hawkins Jazz Festival and The St. Joseph News-Press pays tribute to Everette DeVan.

*Tweet of the Week: Pat Metheny- Pat Metheny Offers Up A Beautiful Reworking Of His Classic Composition, “Better Days Ahead,” The New Single From Side-EYE NYC (V1.IV) - Due Out Sept 10th Hear This Classic Interpreted In A Completely New Way: (link)

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Jon McGraw promoted the Spotlight 2021: Charlie Parker initiative on Joe Dimino’s YouTube channel.

*The Kansas City Star made a ​​belated acknowledgement of the passing of Everette DeVan.

* The American Jazz Museum marks the return of Charlie Parker’s plastic sax with a parade in the Jazz District on Sunday, August 29.

*Tweet of the Week: Mike Mahoney- The Ship, a Kansas City live music venue and bar, joins the list of places in KC requiring proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test to enter. May be others soon. @kmbc #MoVaccine

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*CBS Sunday Morning checked in with Marilyn Maye.

*Chris Burnett pays tribute to the late Bob Cowan.

*Joe Dimino interviewed musicians affiliated with the late Everette DeVan, shared snippets of a show at Lonnie’s Reno Club, and documented an event memorializing DeVan.

*The Pitch admires the efforts of the Kansas City Jazz Academy.

*The Fisher Center in New York presents a concert titled Genius Mother Mary: A Sonic Retrospective of Mary Lou Williams on July 29.

*Tweet of the Week: Barrio KC- Get ready for a good time because we’ve got the Max Groove Duo from 7-10pm at Red Bridge! #tequilaandtunes

*Announced four months ago, but only recently uncovered by Plastic Sax: The UMKC (Conservatory) is pleased to announce that Carl Allen will join our faculty Fall 2021 as the newly appointed William D. and Mary Grant/Endowed Professor of Jazz Studies. Mr. Allen is one of the most celebrated jazz artists of his generation, having performed and taught all over the world and recorded with legendary jazz greats Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean, Michael Brecker, Sammy Davis Jr., Branford Marsalis, Lena Horne, Herbie Hancock, Benny Golson, Christian McBride and many others.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The Pitch notes the passing of Everette DeVan.

*Tweet of the Week: Pat Metheny- Pat Metheny Announces Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV); Due Out September 10th; An Exciting New Release Featuring The 20-Time Grammy Winner With New Young Stars. Extensive World Tour Dates Unveiled. Pre-Order Now: (link)

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Everette DeVan, Kansas City’s foremost jazz organist for decades, has died.

*Pat Metheny says the quiet part out loud in an interview with In Kansas City magazine.  Asked why Kansas City is no longer included in his tour itineraries (Plastic Sax lamented the issue in 2018), Metheny cites the town’s limited audience for improvised music.  He says the “intense listening… that is found all over Europe, New York, LA, those kinds of places, for this kind of music has always been elusive for Kansas City musicians.”

*Tweet of the Week: Duane A Daughtery- I am heartbroken to learn of the passing of my friend and KC jazz legend, Everette DeVan. A man of serious artistic and personal integrity. Go in grace. You are already missed.