Moon Hooch is an exceptional party band. Fans who attend Moon Hooch shows to participate in unhinged dance frenzies leave with expanded appreciations of what’s possible when jazz collides with popular music. The New York based band performs at recordBar on Monday, October 9.
Plastic Sax's Favorite Performances of 2022
Original image of Bob Bowman and Peter Schlamb by Plastic Sax.
Top Performances by Kansas City Artists
1. Logan Richardson + Blues People at the Ship
2. Adam Larson, Clark Sommers and Dana Hall at Westport Coffee House
3. Black Crack Revue at Westport Coffee House
4. Steve Cardenas, Forest Stewart and Brian Steever at recordBar
5. Arnold Young and the RoughTet at the Ship
6. Bob Bowman and Peter Schlamb at Second Presbyterian Church
7. Evan Verplough and Ben Baker at World Culture KC
8. Rod Fleeman at Green Lady Lounge
9. Alter Destiny at Charlotte Street Foundation
10. Drew Williams, Ben Tervort and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House
Top Performances by Artists from Elsewhere
1. Nduduzo Makhathini at the Blue Room
2. Ohma at the Midland theater
3. Livia Nestrovski and Henrique Eisenmann at the 1900 Building
4. High Pulp at recordBar
5. Phillip Greenlief at Bushranger Records
6. Terence Blanchard at Atkins Auditorium
7. Keefe Jackson, Jakob Heinemann and Adam Shead at Black Dolphin
8. Esthesis Quartet at the Blue Room
9. Kind Folk at the Black Box
10. Bill Summers and Forward Back at Dunbar Park
Album Review: Steve Cardenas, Ben Allison and Ted Nash- Healing Power: The Music of Carla Bley
Gullible listeners who mistake volume for quality are unlikely to appreciate Healing Power: The Music of Carla Bley. The new album doesn’t contain deafening drum solos or screeching vocals. Instead, the trio of guitarist Steve Cardenas, bassist Ben Allison and saxophonist/clarinetist Ted Nash interpret nine Bley compositions with solemn quietude. Cardenas, a former Kansas City resident who performed at recordBar four months ago, consistently flirts with silence. Nash, best known for his affiliation with Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Allison, one of the leading bassists of the new millennium, match Cardenas’ serenity on their third recording as a trio. Their sublime restraint is, in fact, restorative.
Concert Review: High Pulp at recordBar
Original image by Plastic Sax.
Even if Kansas City isn’t quite ready to embrace the music’s future, jazz is going to be just fine. An invigorating performance by High Pulp at recordBar on Thursday, April 28, belied the fact the room was nearly empty. The giddy Seattle collective’s thrilling effort was an affirmation of jazz’s ongoing adaptability.
Countless pundits continue to wring their hands about the declining popularity of conventional forms of jazz. I’m guilty of occasionally joining the doomsayers. High Pulp’s mind-expanding and deliriously edifying set should inhibit negativity about the commercial prospects of improvised music for the foreseeable future at this site.
Had the same sounds been presented at a festival between sets by the like-minded young duo Domi & JD Beck and the jazz-loving rapper Tyler, The Creator, High Pulp would likely be hailed as the event’s breakout act. The fun-loving jazz-based cosmic grooves freely incorporate elements of hip-hop and electronic music.
The members of High Pulp are among the scores of sonically inclusive musicians working in the wake of Flying Lotus. Far from stooping to the lowest common denominator, High Pulp attempts to elevate listeners to the highest spiritual sphere. While many solos were outstanding, every note was intended to advance an ecstatic sensibility.
The only thing missing at Thursday’s show was an audience. Not counting the venue’s staff or the members of the other three bands on the bill- a power trio led by Jered Mattson of The Mattson 2, the electro-funk duo Kid Pari and the plugged-in singer-songwriter Meyadi- a dozen Kansas Citians heard a tantalizing sample of a flourishing future.
Concert Review: Steve Cardenas at recordBar
Original image by Plastic Sax.
Giovanni Russonello’s "Where Jazz Lives Now" treatise in The New York Times generated a kerfuffle in jazz circles last week. The controversial article asserts that most performances of groundbreaking improvised music no longer transpire in venues dedicated to jazz.
The claim rings true in Kansas City. A significant portion of adventurous jazz programming in the region during the past 15 years has been presented under the auspices of the Jeff Harshbarger Presents series at the rock-oriented venue recordBar.
Members of an attentive audience of about 100 paid $15 to hear a homecoming concert by the New York based guitarist Steve Cardenas at recordBar on Sunday, March 20. Cardenas was joined by bassist Forest Stewart and drummer Brian Steever in the series’ first presentation since the onset of the pandemic.
In spite of its unconventional setting, little of the internecine contention generated by Russonello’s feature applied to the outing. The trio’s elevated musicianship was beyond destructive turf wars. They implied avant-garde wooliness even as they evinced Kansas City-style swing.
Renditions of original compositions by Cardenas and Stewart were as potent as the standards performed by the trio. The strong show of support, superlative sound and exceptional music made debate irrelevant. Kansas City’s jazz scene seemed entirely cohesive, healthy and robust at a rock club last Sunday.
First set: Wail (Bud Powell), Newer Normal (Forest Stewart), Lost and Found (Steve Cardenas), Fleurette Africaine (Duke Ellington), Don Formation (Forest Stewart), untitled (Steve Cardenas), Ladies in Mercedes (Steve Swallow)
Now's the Time: Steve Cardenas
EDIT: THIS PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN POSTPONED
The accomplished guitarist Steve Cardenas performs with pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Ben Allison and drummer Allan Mednard in the embedded video. Cardenas will be joined by bassist Forest Stewart and drummer Brian Steever at recordBar on Tuesday, December 28.