Thousands of jazz fans are rightfully impressed by Miguel Zenón’s Vanguardia Subterrania. The live recording is among the year’s best mainstream jazz albums. Fewer observers have taken notice of the equally phenomenal El Eco de Un Tambor. Zenón composed the seven-part suite for Prism Quartet. The chamber music group with longstanding ties to Kansas City recalls the halcyon days of the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet and the World Saxophone Quartet on the 22-minute recording. Elegant but never dainty, El Eco de un Tambor may be a cross-genre classic.
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.