The Top Jazz Albums of 2021

More than two dozen jazz albums by artists associated with the Kansas City area were released in 2021.  A ranking of my ten favorite titles follows.  For context, I’ve added a list of my top ten jazz albums by artists without immediate connections to Kansas City.

The Top Kansas City Jazz Albums of 2021

1. Pat Metheny- Road to the Sun

Plastic Sax review.

2. Pat Metheny- Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV)

Plastic Sax review.

3. Hermon Mehari and Alessandro Lanzoni- Arc Fiction

Plastic Sax review.

4. Verploegh and Baker- Singles

Plastic Sax review.

5. Steve Million- What I Meant to Say

Plastic Sax review.

6. The Count Basie Orchestra- Live at Birdland

Plastic Sax review.

7. Florian Arbenz, Hermon Mehari and Nelson Veras- Conversation #1: Condensed

Plastic Sax review.

8. John Armato- The Drummer Loves Ballads

Plastic Sax review.

9. Lucy Wijnands- Sings the David Heckendorn Song Book

10. Blob Castle- Music for Art Show

Plastic Sax review.

The Top Jazz Albums of 2021 by Artists From Elsewhere

1. Irreversible Entanglements- Open the Gates

2. Mathias Eick- When We Leave

3. Pino Palladino and Blake Mills- Notes With Attachments

4. Nala Sinephro- Space 1.8

5. Sons of Kemet- Black to the Future

6. Evan Parker Quartet- All Knavery & Collusion

7. Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble- Now

8. Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson- Searching for the Disappeared Hour

9. Artifacts- …And Then There’s This

10. Angel Bat Dawid- Hush Harbor Mixtape Vol. 1: Doxology

Links to similar annual surveys of the past 11 years begin here.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Blair Bryant was featured in a brief segment on a local television program.

*The Topeka Capital-Journal announced the 2021-22 season of the Topeka Jazz Workshop.

*Steve Million was interviewed by Joe Dimino.

*Tweet of the Week: Jazz Artistry Now- Listen to Youth Jazz Radio for free at Spotify #followusonspotify @youthjazzkc @Spotify @spotifyartists @ARCMusic #youthjazz #KansasCity

Album Review: Steve Million- What I Meant to Say

Musicians have long been required to play with tactful quietude if they intend to find steady work in Kansas City’s jazz venues.  Three outstanding musicians who performed together in Kansas City in the late 1970s and early 1980s subtly subvert the low-key approach on an instructive new album.

Joined by bassist John Sims, pianist Steve Million, guitarist Steve Cardenas and drummer Ron Vincent play straight-ahead jazz with exacting brilliance on What I Meant to Say.  The album’s low simmer is unobtrusive enough to augment the plush ambience of the lounge of an upscale Kansas City hotel.  Yet attentive listeners will appreciate the quartet’s conspiratorial embellishments.

Cardenas flashes a tantalizing glimpse of his wild side on “The Company.”  “Missing Page” contains stirring shades of John Coltrane’s “Naima.”  “Old Earl” is a melodic gem.  Seemingly recalling the strictures of Kansas City gig life, What I Meant to Say is a modestly triumphant exercise in transforming limitation into liberation.