The Top Jazz Performances of 2025

The Top Performances of 2025 by Kansas City Musicians
1. Nick Hmeljak, Henry Scamurra, Isaiah Petrie, Jordan Faught and Jaylen Ward at Westport Coffee House
Plastic Sax review.

2. Drew Williams, Ben Tervort and Brian Steever at the Stray Cat Film Center
Instagram clip.

3. Bram and Lucy Wijnands with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra at the Folly Theater
Plastic Sax review.

4. Vanessa Thomas, Kara Smith, Michael Pagán and Steve Rigazzi at the Blue Room
Instagram clip.

5. Henry Scamurra, Isaiah Petrie, Spencer Reeve and Jade Harvey at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival
Instagram clip.

6. The Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society’s “3 Expressions of Light and Sound” at Charlotte Street Foundation
Instagram clip.

7. Matt Villinger, Peter Schlamb, Sebastian Arias and Matt Robertson at the Blue Room
Instagram clip.

8. Steve Cardenas, Forest Stewart and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House
Plastic Sax review.

9. Deborah Brown and George Colligan at Upcycle Piano Craft
Instagram clip.

10. David Chael, Danny Embrey, Gerald Spaits and Brian Steever at Green Lady Lounge
My Instagram clip.

The Top Performances of 2025 by Touring Musicians
1. Christian McBride and Brad Mehldau at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
Plastic Sax review.

2. Terence Blanchard at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
There Stands the Glass review.

3. Branford Marsalis Quartet at the Folly Theater
Plastic Sax review.

4. Samara Joy at the Folly Theater
There Stands the Glass review.

5. Devin Gray at the Ship
There Stands the Glass review.

6. Alexander Adams, Jeff Goulet (and Seth Davis) with Kristen Kopper and Shanté Clair at Grand Avenue Temple
Instagram clip.

7. Cory Weeds (with Chris Hazelton) at Westport Coffee House
Plastic Sax review.

8. Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sánchez at Helzberg Hall
Plastic Sax review.

9. Helen Sung (with Bach Aria Soloists) at the Folly Theater
Plastic Sax review.

10. Pete Escovedo at the Folly Theater
Plastic Sax review.

Last year’s survey is here.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Alex Abramovitz and His Swingin’ Kansas City Jazz Band was featured on Kansas Public Radio’s Live at Green Lady Lounge program last week.

*Joe Dimino interviewed Sebastian Arias.

Jazz Night in Kansas City (Is Every Night)

Attending performances by locally based jazz musicians is what I miss most about Kansas City while traveling. While I regularly take advantage of high-profile concerts by cutting-edge improvisers who rarely appear in Kansas City in my destinations, few locales match the depth of artistry showcased nightly in the Kansas City area.

Following a trip to the tropics, I caught up with a portion of the embarrassment of riches on Thursday, November 15. My outing began at the Music House School of Music in Prairie Village. The storied trumpeter Stan Kessler joined the house band of guitarist Aaron Sizemore, bassist Forest Stewart and drummer Michael Warren.

Sizemore tends to incorporate European innovations of recent decades into his sound, a disposition that differentiates him from his peers in Kansas City. The singularity didn’t make an impression on harried music students on strict schedules at the busy facility. The small audience at Thursday’s no-cover event consisted of the usual suspects. A video of the concert streams here.

In the Lowest Ferns couldn’t be more different. The West Bottoms club specializing in electronic dance music occasionally hosts jazz musicians. About 25 fashion-conscious people paid a $15 cover charge to take in the first set by saxophonist Ernest Melton, keyboardist Parker Woolworth, bassist Jordan Faught and drummer Jaylen Ward. The quartet’s spiritual soul-jazz was enhanced by a fog machine.

Two blocks away, Peter Schlamb unveiled an instrument he described as his “new toy” in a free show at The Ship.  The slippery tones of the MalletKAT added another weapon to the vibraphonist’s formidable arsenal. The high-energy improvisations of Schlamb, saxophonist Matt Otto, keyboardist Matt Villinger, bassist Sebastian Arias and drummer Zach Morrow were stunning.

In an act that felt like a cultural misdemeanor, the two eldest people among the audience of 20 left at the conclusion of the first set at 10:15 p.m. I nodded in agreement when a savvy old head suggested “that’s the best band in Kansas City” as we shuffled to the door. For me, Shlamb’s electric band sounds like home.