Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Gerald Dunn of The American Jazz Museum encourages The Kansas City Star to make amends in the wake of the newspaper’s admission of decades of insufficient jazz coverage.

*I included tracks by Flutienastiness and Bobby Watson in a survey of The 10 Best Songs To Come Out of Kansas City in 2020 on a Christmas Eve broadcast on KCUR’s Up To Date program.  In an adjacent segment titled The 10 Best Holiday Songs by Kansas City Artists, I shared selections by Charlie Parker, Oleta Adams, Ida McBeth, Jay McShann and The Count Basie Orchestra.

*Stan Kessler chatted with Joe Dimino.

*Tweet of the Week: Sharon Hoffman- Do you know how many times @KCStarinterviewed hometown jazz legend Charlie Parker? Zero. @eadler writes of a culture ignored, part of our “Truth in Black and white” series. (link)

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The Kansas City Star acknowledges the "short shrift" The Star and The Times gave to Kansas City jazz giants including Charlie Parker during the city’s jazz heyday.

*KCUR’s Gina Kauffman relates the story of the creation of Andrea Lewis’ new Christmas album.

*I shared tracks by Mike Dillon and Flutienastiness on an episode of Eight One Sixty on 90.9 The Bridge.

*Joe Dimino interviewed Chris Burnett and Bill Crain.

*Ça Va, a Kansas City establishment that often hosted live jazz, has closed.

*Tweet of the Week: Mayor Q- While we talk reconciliation here, also note something The Star mentioned as an oversight—not telling the positive stories of the Black experience in Kansas City over a decades. To share and repeat a tale of pain alone is to miss the greatness of our community.

Plastic Sax’s Favorite Albums of 2020

The pandemic failed to forestall a strong slate of new albums by Kansas City’s jazz musicians.  A ranking of the year’s top live performances is missing for sadly obvious reasons.

Favorite Albums by Kansas City Artists

1. Bobby Watson- Keepin' It Real (My review.)

2. Molly Hammer- I'm Feeling Mellow

3. Mike Dillon- Rosewood (My review.)

4. Steve Cardenas- Blue Has a Range (My review.)

5. Pat Metheny- From This Place (My review.)

6. Brian Scarborough- Sunflower Song (My review.)

7. Guitar Elation- Double Live at Green Lady Lounge (My review.)

8. Matt Otto- Alliance (My review.)

9. Flutienastiness- This Is Me (My review.)

10. Purna Loka Ensemble- Metaraga

Favorite Albums by Artists From Elsewhere

1. Jyoti- Mama, You Can Bet!

2. Jennifer Curtis and Tyshawn Sorey- Invisible Ritual

3. Ambrose Akinmusire- On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment

4. Bill Frisell- Valentine

5. Kaja Draksler Octet- Out For Stars

6. Jeremy Pelt- The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 1

7. Angelica Sanchez and Marilyn Crispell- How to Turn the Moon

8. Sara Serpa- Recognition

9. Rudresh Mahanthappa- Hero Trio

10. Brad Mehldau- Suite: April 2020

I conducted the same exercise at Plastic Sax the each of the last ten years. Expanded rankings of my favorite albums of 2020 by Kansas City musicians are published at my nondenominational music site There Stands the Glass.

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.