Plastic Sax

Top Ten Performances by Kansas City Artists
1. Mike Dillon, Brian Haas and Nikki Glaspie at the Brick
Plastic Sax review.

2. Hermon Mehari at the Folly Theater
Plastic Sax review.

3. Adam Larson, Matt Clohesy and Jimmy Macbride at Westport Coffee House
Instagram clip.

4. Rod Fleeman at Green Lady Lounge
Instagram clip.

5. Pat Metheny’s Side-Eye at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
Plastic Sax review.

6. Drew Williams, Alex Frank, Ben Tervort and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House
Plastic Sax review.

7. Cynthia van Roden at the Market at Meadowbrook
Instagram snapshot.

8. Chalis O’Neal at the Blue Room
Instagram clip.

9. Alan Voss, Benjamin Baker, Forest Stewart and Evan Verploegh at Swope Park Pavilion
Plastic Sax review.

10. Rich Hill, Arnold Young and Rob Whitsitt in Volker Park
Instagram clip.

Top Ten Performances by Artists from Elsewhere
1. Samara Joy at the Folly Theater
Plastic Sax review.

2. Devin Gray and Maria Elena Silva at the Firehouse Gallery
Plastic Sax review.

3. Bill Frisell, Greg Tardy, Gerald Clayton and Johnathan Blake at the 1900 Building
Plastic Sax review.

4. Artemis at the Gem Theater
Plastic Sax review.

5. CRAG Quartet and Joshua Gerowitz at the Bunker Center for the Arts
Instagram clip.

6. Miguel Zenón Quartet at the Folly Theater
Plastic Sax review.

7. Henrique Eisenmann and Eugene Friesen at the 1900 Building
Plastic Sax review.

8. Robert Stillman at the Midland Theater
There Stands the Glass review.

9. Jack Wright and Ron Stabinsky at Charlotte Street Foundation
Instagram clip.

10. Rob Magill and Marshall Trammell at Farewell
Plastic Sax review.

(Last year’s survey is here.)

A downtown art gallery was transformed into an emporium for vital new music on Wednesday, June 21. Nine musicians represented compelling slices of the vanguard of sound in 2023.

The peripatetic drummer Devin Gray’s new release Most Definitely includes a 20-minute homage to free jazz legend Milford Graves. In keeping with that pursuit, his solo outing demonstrated even further possibilities in percussion.

Segments of his often unhuman attack seemed as if a Jolly Chimp had been infected by an evil strain of artificial intelligence. At other moments his electronically-enhanced performance sounded like an Antifa rally outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The noirish music of vocalist and electric guitarist Maria Elena Silva and drummer Scott Dean Taylor evoked the disquieting moments preceding and following bouts of bloodcurdling violence. The unresolved tension was exquisitely excruciating.

Six affiliates of the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society- Drew Williams (saxophone), Seth Davis (guitar), Brook Knoll (harp), Aaron Osborne (electronics and percussion), Krista Kopper (bass) and Evan Verploegh (drums)- built imposing walls of noise.

Davis summoned the pinging of sonar, an effect that prompted thoughts of the ill-fated submarine in the Atlantic Ocean currently dominating the news cycle. The size of the audience may have been negligible, but the import of the music was monumental.