I caught several dozen jazz performances in an unsettling year characterized by starts and stops. With a literal sense of danger in the air, each outing felt vital. The listing my favorite jazz-based performances in the Kansas City area includes a jaunt to Columbia for an essential bout of free jazz and a trek to Detroit to catch a Lee’s Summit native who no longer performs in his old stomping grounds.
1. J.D. Allen, Eric Revis and Nasheet Waits- Blue Room
2. Pat Metheny, James Francies and Joe Dyson- Orchestra Hall (Detroit)
3. Irreversible Entanglements- Stephens Lake Park Amphitheatre (Columbia)
4. Bird Fleming and Bill Summers’ “Voyage of the Drum”- Dunbar Park
5. Rod Fleeman- Green Lady Lounge
6. Eddie Moore, Ryan J. Lee and Zach Morrow- Charlotte Street Foundation
7. Thollem McDonas- 9th and State
8. Jeff Kaiser, Kevin Cheli and Seth Davis- Charlotte Street Foundation
9. Mike Dillon and Nikki Glaspie- 1900 Building
10. Second Nature Ensemble- Westport Coffee House
Lists of the top albums of 2021 are here. Links to similar annual top-show surveys for the past 11 years begin here.