Album Review: Bobby Watson- Back Home in Kansas City

The release of each Bobby Watson album is a significant event in the cultural history of Kansas City.  The saxophonist has long been the dominant locally based practitioner of the art form associated with the town.  When a new recording is not only specifically dedicated to the sound of Kansas City but is also one of the best works of Watson’s career, the entire city should rejoice.

Watson plays with quiet confidence on Back Home in Kansas City, the third Watson solo album released by Smoke Sessions Records in the past five years.  The music is more of the same- and in Watson’s case, that’s more than enough.  Immediately comfortable and immensely satisfying, the mainstream jazz of Back Home in Kansas City possesses a lived-in feel.

Recorded on April 5, 2022, with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Victor Jones, Back Home in Kansas City is an instant classic.  The title track exemplifies Watson’s feel-good, toe-tapping approach.  The quintet pays homage to Count Basie on Lewis’ jumping “Red Bank Heist.”

Guest vocalist Carmen Lundy imbues “Our Love Remains,” a recently minted standard co-written by Watson and Pamela Baskin-Watson, with mature sophistication.  And ballads don’t get much better than the reading of “I’m Glad There Is You.”  The secret of life is embedded in Watson’s knee-buckling solo.  

Two homages to John Coltrane are the only variations from straightforward Kansas City swing.  Watson makes a profound spiritual statement on “Dear Lord” as Chestnut showcases his peerless gospel chops.  “Side Steps” is a strutting modification of Coltrane’s titanic “Giant Steps.”

A ticker-tape parade as part of an official civic holiday is warranted, but there’s nothing stopping grateful fans from celebrating the release of Back Home in Kansas City on a more modest scale. Everyone in the Kansas City area should be glad to be live in a time and place in which Watson is producing art for the ages.

Album Review: Morgan Faw and the Flame- It Takes a Village

A pair of antithetical incidents involving Kansas City’s first family of jazz took place during Morgan Faw and the Flame’s album release show at the Blue Room on Monday, August 22.  A guest appearance by Bobby Watson was- as is invariably the case- absolutely stupendous.

The lowlight of the evening was heartbreaking.  An interpretation of Pamela Baskin-Watson’s composition “The Love We Had Yesterday” was spoiled by a buffoon who drowned out the tender ballad with oblivious yapping.  Baskin-Watson was among the members of the audience of about 100 frustrated by the dullard.

The Watsons were among the many instructors, friends and family amid the festive audience of more than 100 that Faw thanked during an evening characterized by good cheer and reverence for tradition.  (The performance was a central component of this year’s Spotlight: Charlie Parker initiative.)

Faw’s debut album It Takes a Village is filled with conventional hard bop tracks designed to please the saxophonist’s old-school mentors. Faw is joined by trumpeter Will Mallard, pianist Ebba Dankel, bassist Isaac Coyle and drummer Christian Napoleon on the project. It’s a brisk first step toward a promising destination.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Nedra Dixon and Pamela Baskin-Watson were awarded an Opera America grant to assist in the advancement of their “A God- Sib's Tale: A Folk Opera” project.

*Rashida Phillips of the American Jazz Museum chatted with Steve Kraske on KCUR’s Up To Date prgram.

*El Intruso’s 14th Annual International Critics Poll was published this week.  My ballot includes votes for the Kansas City musicians Brett Jackson, Hermon Mehari, Pat Metheny, Brian Scarborough and Bobby Watson.

*Tweet of the Week: The Eldridge- POSTPONED! Look for a new date soon. Susan Hancock is roaring back to the Lawrence, KS music scene for the first time in two years! She is delighted to be joined by two top Kansas City jazz musicians, Roger Wilder, pianist, and Joey Panella, bass. #theeldridge #lawrence #music