Concert Review: Heliophonie at Charlotte Street Foundation

Adventurous passengers traveled the spaceways at Charlotte Street Foundation on Thursday, October 3. Heliophonie, the second of four performances in the Sonic Art Series overseen by Sun Ra adherent Dwight Frizzell acted as a celestial excursion.

Sound effects virtuoso Tony Brewer and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Alonzo Conway served as the centrifuge of the spaceship. Four additional musicians- saxophonists Frizzell, saxophonists Thomas Aber and Norbert Herber and cellist William Plummer- were positioned outside the concentric seats commandeered by sonic pilgrims.

Each four-minute and 48-second component of the suite opened and closed with the tolling of a gong and was augmented by dramatic lighting and video projections. The Sun Ra-inspired grooves featuring bass clarinet duets, Frizzell’s EWI saxophone and a plethora of Brewer’s noisemakers compelled one fellow traveler to noodle dance.

In his introductory remarks, Frizzell suggested Heliophonie is a religious work. The sacred rite invoking the sun god Ra was convincing. For a transcendent hour in the cosmic spaceship, I worshiped like an ancient Egyptian.

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!

Album Review: Matt Hopper’s Agora- Live at Green Lady Lounge

The formidable reputations of three locally based mainstream jazz guitarists position the distinguished men head-and-shoulders above their peers.  Danny Embrey, Rod Fleeman and Will Matthews deserve the respect and acclaim they’ve garnered.

Matt Hopper is among the younger musicians who are actively demonstrating the future of jazz guitar in Kansas City is in good hands.  Quietly released at the end of 2021, Live at Green Lady Lounge captures the sound of the band featuring Hopper and organist Ken Lovern, percussionist Pat Conway and drummer Todd Strait.  

The recording exemplifies the distinctive sound that’s helped make Green Lady Lounge the most popular jazz venue in Kansas City.  The music performed in the room at 1809 Grand Boulevard is invariably cheerful, sweetly harmonious and assertively propulsive.

While Live at Green Lady Lounge is no exception, the 2018 recording is no ordinary guitar-and-organ album.  The quiet groove of “Marcelo’s Guitar” contains a slight intimation of psychedelic rock.  Hopper’s trippy solo elevates a slinky reading of his “Green Lady Low Down.” 

The dual tandems of Hopper and Lovern and Conway and Strait propel the ecstatic sensibility. Yet the guitarist merits the spotlight. Live at Green Lady Lounge indicates Hopper will eventually join the ranks of Embrey, Freeman and Matthews as a member of Kansas City jazz royalty.

Concert Review: Bird Fleming and Bill Summers’ “Voyage of the Drum” at Dunbar Park

At the conclusion of a freewheeling concert at Dunbar Park on Monday, June 21, percussionist, bandleader and emcee Bird Fleming told the audience that “you will never listen to music the same way again.”  The free performance almost substantiated Fleming’s audacious assertion.  The unlikely blend of percussion demonstrations, swing-based jazz and star power in the form of Bill Summers made for a glorious afternoon on Make Music Day.

In addition to earnest attempts to explain what he called the “Africa to jazz tradition,” Fleming repeatedly ushered various configurations of musicians on and off the portable stage.  The percussion ensemble Soundz of Africa, saxophonist Doug Talley, keyboardist Charles Williams, bassist James Ward, percussionist Pat Conway and Summers made frequent use of the stairs on either side of the stage.

Summers was the primary attraction for many attendees.  He amplified Flemings’ educational emphasis by offering insights into the tradition of pouring one out as an homage to ancestors, the commendable culture of the Forest People of Central Africa and the European origin of the ritual of applause.  He also participated in a percussion workout and recreated his hook from Herbie Hancock’s 1973 hit version of “Watermelon Man.”

Talley, Williams and Ward responded intuitively to Summers’ cues while enlivening standards including “Caravan,” “Afro Blue” and the inescapable “Kansas City.”  After one of Fleming’s attempts to engage listeners received a tepid response, he asked the approximately 100 people on hand to “just humor me.”  Fleming deserved far more than polite encouragement.  He and everyone involved in the singular UNESCO Cities of Music event merited a standing ovation.