*The Danny Embrey Trio is featured on the most recent episode of Kansas Public Radio’s Live at Green Lady Lounge.
*Joe Dimino shared footage of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
Now's the Time: The Prairie Village Jazz Festival
Adam Larson headlines The Prairie Village Jazz Festival on Saturday, September 7. Pete Fucinaro, Back Alley Brass Band, Sons of Brasil and an ensemble representing Shawnee Mission East High School round out the bill. The embedded video features the Kansas City based saxophonist in instructional mode.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*A band led by Adam Larson headlines the The Prairie Village Jazz Festival on September 7.
*Green Lady Lounge shared videos featuring Rod Fleeman discussing the third installment of his Saturday Afternoon Live at Green Lady Lounge album series and his role in the Kansas City jazz supergroup Wire Town.
*The Kansas City Star published a feature about the queer brass band Sass-A-Brass.
The Top Stories and Trends of 2023 on Kansas City’s Jazz Scene
Original image of Green Lady Lounge by Plastic Sax.
1. Last Train Home
The Lee’s Summit native Pat Metheny snapped an eleven-year embargo of the Kansas City area with a concert at Muriel Kauffman Theatre in June.
2. Larson vs. Otto: Everybody Wins
The astounding productivity of Adam Larson and Matt Otto, Kansas City based saxophonists in their artistic primes, resembled a friendly cutting contest.
3. Too Marvelous for Words
The Kansas City mainstay Marilyn Maye celebrated her 95th birthday with a concert at Carnegie Hall.
4. Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City
The Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society presented performances by cutting-edge touring musicians including Vinny Golia, Maria Elena Silva, Eli Wallace and Jack Wright.
5. Absinthe Ascendent
Green Lady Lounge tightened its stranglehold as Kansas City’s dominant jazz venue. A program on Kansas Public Radio and an ongoing series of live albums furthered its hegemony.
6. Outside the Lines
Just two of Plastic Sax’s 20 Favorite Performances of 2023 transpired in jazz clubs. Venues including concert halls and art galleries hosted much of the most interesting improvised music performed in Kansas City.
7. Ticketed
Attendance at concerts by Samara Joy, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Pat Metheny and Domi and JD Beck indicates the Kansas City area is home to about 1,500 people who are willing to pay $25 or more to hear instrumental jazz.
8. Turnover
Rashida Phillips resigned her position as Executive Director of the American Jazz Museum.
9. It Takes a Village
The Prairie Village Jazz Festival, a one-day, single-stage event featuring locally based musicians, remains the region’s most notable jazz festival.
10. Con Man
Con Chapman’s Kansas City Jazz A Little Evil Will Do You Good provided new insights into the area’s jazz history.
Last year’s recap is here.
Now’s the Time: OJT
The Prairie Village Jazz Festival provides a rare opportunity to experience OJT outside the dark confines of Green Lady Lounge. The organ jazz trio is likely to thrive in broad daylight at 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 9.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra headlines the 2023 edition of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival on September 9.
*Tia Fuller’s participation in the Spotlight: Charlie Parker initiative is among KCUR's concert recommendations for August.
*Bob Brookmeyer, Samantha Fish, Pat Metheny and Bobby Watson received votes in Downbeat magazine’s 71st Annual Critics Poll.
*St. Louis’ New Music Circle announced its 2023-24 season. Roscoe Mitchell, Elliott Sharp and William Parker are among the bookings.
The Kansas City Jazz Scene's Top Stories and Trends of 2022
Original image of Seth Davis, Josh Sinton and Drew Williams at the Vinyl Underground at 7th Heaven on December 17 by Plastic Sax.
1. Full Swing
It’s almost as if nothing happened. On the surface, Kansas City’s post-pandemic jazz scene now looks just as it did in 2019.
2. Got It Covered
In spite of- or maybe even because of- the $5 cover charge instituted last year, Green Lady Lounge is packed on any given night. It makes sense: Green Lady Lounge is the only place in Kansas City at which jazz is performed every evening.
3. Frequent Freakouts
Fans of free jazz and experimental music no longer need to leave Kansas City to hear those sounds. Thanks to the strenuous initiatives of members of the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society, innovative music made by notable touring musicians and local artists is regularly performed in Kansas City.
4. A Man Called Adam
The dynamic presence of Adam Larson continues to elevate Kansas City. The saxophonist’s two new albums- with a third on the way- requires skeptical outsiders to reassess the vitality of Kansas City’s scene.
5. For the Record
It’s an extraordinarily productive year when a lovely album featuring Bob Bowman can’t squeeze into a list of the top ten Kansas City jazz albums of 2022,
6. Don’t Call It a Comeback
While they never went away, the innovative veterans Dwight Frizzell and Arnold Young reemerged as prominent bandleaders with active performance schedules.
7. Fest or Famine
The one-stage, single-day, storm-plagued Prairie Village Jazz Festival notwithstanding, the Kansas City area hasn’t hosted a true jazz festival since a “stellar but ill-fated” event in 2017.
8. Outside Validation
Jazz at Lincoln Center created a fetching tradition-oriented video portrait of Kansas City.
9. Meanwhile, Back at the Museum
Had it done nothing but present Nduduzo Makhathini at the Blue Room in June, the American Jazz Museum would have provided an invaluable cultural contribution to the city in 2022. Yet its noontime concerts and the resumption of the Jammin’ at the Gem series were similarly encouraging developments.
10. An Awkward Anniversary
Another year passed without an appearance by Pat Metheny. The hometown hero last played in Kansas City in 2012. Although he continues to tour extensively, ten years have passed since a Metheny concert transpired in his old stomping grounds.
Last’s year’s installment of this annual series is here.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*KCUR’s Steve Kraske interviewed Terell Stafford ahead of the trumpeter’s scheduled appearance at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival.
*Libby Hanssen surveyed Kansas City’s experimental music scene for Classical KC.
*Brant Jester and Alex Frank chatted with Joe Dimino. Dimino also captured footage of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival.
*The Kansas City Star published a guide to the Jazz District.
*Tweet of the Week: MarmaDukeNuke'Em3D- I am the youngest person here by a wide margin
Now's the Time: Terell Stafford
Terell Stafford will join a band led by Adam Larson at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival on Saturday, September 10. The New York based trumpeter is best known in the Kansas City area for his affiliation with hometown hero Bobby Watson. Stafford is accompanied by the Chilean star Melissa Aldana and the Prism Quartet- featuring Kansas City’s Zach Shemon- in the embedded video.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*A band led by Adam Larson featuring Terell Stafford will headline The Prairie Village Jazz Festival on September 10.
*The new piano bar Uptown Lounge will showcase performances of “show tunes, jazz standards, classic rock, blues, and songs from famous artists such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, The Beatles, the Eagles, Billy Joel, Elton John and more” according to Joyce Smith’s feature for The Kansas City Star.
*Nina Cherry recalls Tiny Davis for Kansas City magazine.
*Portions of recent performances by Jazzy Jazz and Nduduzo Makhathini were documented by Joe Dimino.
*Soul vocalist Peabo Bryson headlines the American Jazz Walk of Fame’s July 2 concert.
*Tweet of the Week: Coleman Hawkins Jazz- This weekend HawkFest returns to downtown St. Joseph MO. Come out and join us for a great weekend of music and fun!
Confirmation: Weekly New and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*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)
Motoring
Original image of a free Open Spaces performance by Plastic Sax.
Detroit’s reputation as the most economically challenged major city in the United States was validated during my first post-quarantine trip this month. The pervasive blight is horrifying. Even so, Detroit manages to host one of the biggest annual jazz festivals in North America. The 2021 edition of the four-day Detroit Jazz Fest will present icons including Herbie Hancock and Abdullah Ibrahim in September.
On September 12, the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago is headlined by the innovative jazz-informed artists Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus and Thundercat. Even closer to home, the Iowa City Jazz Festival hosts the acclaimed up-and-comers Giveton Gelin and Immanuel Wilkins on July 3. The following weekend, dozens of jazz and jazz-adjacent acts including Lalah Hathaway and Roy Ayers will be featured at the Music at the Intersection festival in St. Louis.
An uninformed observer would think Kansas City- a much-ballyhooed cradle of jazz- is certain to outdo the endeavors of those Midwestern cities in 2021. Not so fast. Unless the yet-to-be-announced lineups of the Spotlight Charlie Parker initiative or the Prairie Village Jazz Festival break from their comparatively modest traditions, Kansas City won’t muster anything remotely similar for the foreseeable future.
The two most ambitious jazz-friendly ventures of recent years- the city-financed Open Spaces (2018) and the American Jazz Museum’s Kansas City Jazz & Heritage Festival (2017)- were artistic triumphs but financial debacles. The correlation between the two elements forced area promoters and attentive musicians around the world to relearn a difficult lesson about Kansas City.
Apologists excuse the failures with allegations of poor promotion, but the unfortunate reality is the local appetite for touring jazz musicians- especially artists with left-of-center inclinations- is extremely limited. Empty seats at Open Spaces’ jazz and jazz-related performances outnumbered patrons. About 75 people bothered to show up for Vijay Iyer’s headlining performance at Open Spaces. Less than 500 hundred people attended a set by Chick Corea at the Kansas City Jazz & Heritage Festival.
I’m reopening this old wound because I’m increasingly agitated by the necessity of leaving Kansas City to experience performances by all but a handful of the most significant artists in improvised music. I’ll save the 200 people in the same predicament a step by providing the cost of the cheapest round trip flights to each festival: Detroit, $140; Chicago, $155; St. Louis, $150; Iowa City, $325. Let me know if you’re interested in splitting the cost of a hotel room or two or three tanks of gasoline.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The 2021 edition of Prairie Village’s jazz festival is scheduled for September 11.
*The Kansas City Star and KCUR share details about the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s 2021-22 season.
*A report in The Kansas City Star suggests live jazz will be featured at the former Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at 1400 Main Street when B&B Theatres takes over operations at the location.
*In an account of a new round of bloodshed in the Jazz District, a man employed on the block of the deadly quadruple shooting tells The Kansas City Star “people can’t come out to have a good time at night without fearing a shooting.”
*Anita Dixon and Jakob Wagner will remind participants in a virtual forum of Kansas City’s status as a UNESCO City of Music.
*Tweet of the Week: Regan Porter TV- UPDATE: One person dead, three others injured following a shooting near 19th and Vine. @kcpolicesaid another person showed up to the hospital with a broken leg, possibly received while running away from the gunfire. @fox4kc