The New Orleans born saxophonist Donald Harrison will “explore the theory of quantum improvisation” with theoretical physicist Stephon Alexander at the Folly Theater on Thursday, June 22. Science deniers needn’t fear: the evening’s agenda includes a sixty-minute concert.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*KCUR’s free music recommendations include jazz performances at the Blue Room and Nighthawk.
*Reed Jackson reviewed a new music concert at Farewell.
*Joe Dimino interviewed David Cunningham.
Album Review: The DJ Quartet- Vision External
Vision External seems destined to be remembered as the unofficial debut showcase of Isaiah Petrie. The young vibraphonist is a rising star in Kansas City’s music community. Petrie, saxophonist Dougan Smith, bassist Nsikoh Bebe Lala and drummer Jaylen Ward comprise the un-Googleable ensemble The DJ Quartet on Vision External. Petrie stands out, but each member of the group contributes to the vigorous post-bop of tracks including "The Call". Even as it maintains convention, the DJ Quartet brings refreshing vitality to Kansas City’s mainstream jazz scene.
Now’s the Time: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Rather than descending from different bloodlines, jazz and bluegrass are country cousins. Béla Fleck and the Flecktones have validated the assertion since the band’s formation in 1988. The ensemble appears at Muriel Kauffman Theatre on Monday, June 12.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Kansas Public Radio will begin airing a weekly program titled Live at Green Lady Lounge in July.
*The Kansas City Star reports on a lawsuit regarding the February death of Ronald McFadden.
Grading the 2023-24 Season of the Folly Jazz Series
Original image by Plastic Sax.
Tickets for individual concerts in the 2023-24 season of the Folly Jazz Series go on sale June 6. The following commentary might be used as a consumer guide. While it’s unfair to grade individual bookings against more appealing hypotheticals, the penchant of Kansas City’s jazz presenters to return to familiar standbys is an ongoing source of frustration. More than 500 of the more than 4,000 jazz albums released last year received votes in the 2022 edition of the 17th annual Francis Davis Jazz Poll. With such a vast pool from which to draw, it’s unfortunate that the same fifty acts are repeatedly engaged.
Samara Joy: October 14, 2023
Grade: A+
Samara Joy is the Folly Jazz Series’ most opportune booking in years. The charming vocalist won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in February.
Alexa Tarantino Quartet: November 11, 2023
Grade: B
Alexa Tarantino appeared in the American Jazz Museum’s Jammin’ at the Gem series in March as a member of Artemis. (Plastic Sax review.) The young saxophonist acquitted herself well.
The Hot Sardines: January 27, 2024
Grade: B
The hot jazz band The Hot Sardines is making its third or fourth appearance in the Folly Jazz Series.
Diane Schuur: February 24, 2024
Grade: B
Vocalist and pianist Diane Schuur was one of the most popular jazz artists of the 1980s and 1990s.
Norman Brown: March 9, 2024
Grade: B
Norman Brown is a smooth jazz guitarist from Kansas City. His 2022 album Let’s Get Away was favorably reviewed at Plastic Sax.
Matthew Whitaker Quintet: April 6, 2024
Grade: B-
The agreeable music of pianist Matthew Whitaker seems designed to appeal to fans of Jon Batiste and Emmet Cohen.
Now’s the Time: Marilyn Maye
Ninety-five has never looked better. The embedded video captures Marilyn Maye celebrating her 95th birthday at 54 Below in New York City last week. Marvelous!
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*KCUR aired an audio feature about Mike Dillon.
*Pat Metheny’s appearance at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is among KCUR’s June concert recommendations.
*Ian Bennett suggests Kansas City jazz is a cultural ghost in an essay for The Pitch.
*Tweet of the Week: Jeff Shirley- Terrarium (Official Video Teaser) Listen to Jeff Shirley’s album “Blue Gold” now: Spotify: (link) Amazon Music Streaming: (link) iTunes: (link) (video clip)
*From a press release: On Monday, June 19, the Sunflower Music Festival at White Concert Hall on the Washburn University campus (in) Topeka, will welcome Kansas City’s popular City Light Jazz Orchestra back for Jazz Night. The orchestra, under the direction of Angela Ward, will present A Tribute to Black Female Composers.
Concert Review: Drew Williams Quartet at Westport Coffee House
Original image by Plastic Sax.
A superstitious, jazz-loving bride would have had plenty to work with at Westport Coffee House on Thursday, May 25. The first set by a quartet led by saxophonist Drew Williams included something old (a reading of Thelonious Monk’s “We See”), something new (the electronics-enhanced Williams original “Radiance”), something borrowed (drummer Brian Steever utilization of Prince’s yellow tamboracca) and something blue (a bluesy reading of “Skylark”). With the addition of guitarist Alex Frank, Williams’ band expanded on the wedding of tradition and innovation it displayed at the same venue in 2022.
Now’s the Time: Glass Cactus
Glass Cactus, a band led by the Nebraska based trombonist Shawn Bell, performs at the Blue Room on Friday, May 26.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Logan Richardson chatted with Steve Kraske on KCUR’s Up To Date program.
*An award-winning high school band from Washington that fared well at the Kansas City Jazz Summit is the subject of a news feature.
*Tweet of the Week: Lina- Sistrunk’s phone was the only one amongst us that could get a halfway decent selfie in the dark that is the Green Lady Lounge. (photo)
Album Review: Logan Richardson- Holy Water
Logan Richardson is the most significant musician to emerge from the Kansas City area in the past 25 years. As with most brilliant artists, the saxophonist isn’t afraid to take risks.
The partially unconsecrated Holy Water is a flawed gamble. The fundamental fault of Richardson’s new album isn’t the swampy sound or the liberal incorporation of R&B and rock.
In fact, those qualities are among the most compelling elements of Holy Water. Dishearteningly, the recording fails to capture the vitality of Richardson’s recent live performances.
While not without considerable merit, Holy Water is a recapitulation of concepts Richardson has previously expressed. Even so, it’s more than likely Richardson’s next artistic breakthrough is just around the corner.
Now’s the Time: Lynn Zimmer
The closure of the Gaslight Grill didn’t just disappoint regular diners at the once-bustling restaurant in Leawood, Kansas. It was a devastating setback for fans of traditional jazz. Dick Hawk, the late owner of Gaslight Grill, was an avid Dixieland enthusiast. He installed clarinetist Lynn Zimmer as the longstanding leader of the house band at his establishment. Zimmer returns to Johnson County to perform a matinee show at The Market at Meadowbrook on Friday, May 19.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Jazz Journalists Association’s 2023 Winners for Jazz Performance and Recordings were announced today.
*Tweet of the Week: American Jazz Museum- NEA Jazz Master "Big Chief" Donald Harrison and physicist Stephon Alexander come together for the first time to perform a unique quantum improvisation set with composer and bassist Santi Debriano, alongside special guest Bobby Watson. (link) #KC #jazz
*From a press release: In its 50 years, Mid-America Arts Alliance has awarded more than $51 million in grants to more than 18,000 artists and cultural organizations… M-AAA invites the public to attend the free 50th Anniversary Block Party on June 2, 2023, 5:30–8:00 p.m. in Kansas City, coinciding with Kansas City’s First Friday in the Crossroads… The M-AAA exhibition space, The Culture Lab, will feature the nationally touring ExhibitsUSA exhibition, Shutter and Sound: The Jazz Photography of Bob Willoughby.
Album Review: Rod Fleeman- Saturday Afternoon at Green Lady Lounge, Volume 2
Many people would agree with the proposition that the most delightful hours of the week transpire on Saturday afternoon. Looking back on Friday night’s fun while anticipating the impending evening’s revelry often results in several carefree hours.
An astute group of discerning jazz fans in Kansas City savor Saturday afternoons for an additional reason. Rod Fleeman, the elite Kansas City guitarist named Plastic Sax’s 2021 Person of the Year, leads a trio every Saturday afternoon at Green Lady Lounge.
Partly because Ray DeMarchi replaces drummer Todd Strait, the new Saturday Afternoon at Green Lady Lounge, Volume 2 has a slightly jauntier feel than the first volume. The impeccable bassist Gerald Spaits appears on both sets.
Although all 13 selections are original compositions, much of the fun consists in hearing Fleeman weave in, out and around famous riffs, licks and melodies. His quotes range from Duke Ellington to The Beatles. Yet Fleeman isn’t a mere punster.
While playful, the references are just one element in the pretense-free, good-time music that just incidentally happens to be magnificent art. The effervescent Saturday Afternoon at Green Lady Lounge series makes that undiluted joy accessible anytime and anywhere.
Now’s the Time: Black Crack Revue
The current iteration of Black Crack Revue (also known as BCR), the longstanding Kansas City collective originally inspired by the Sun Ra Arkestra, performs an early show at The Ship on Saturday, May 13.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Vanessa Thomas is featured in The Lawrence Times.
*Joe Dimino interviewed Janice Borla and Kenneth Watson.
*Tweet of the Week: Kate Fuego- Mike Dillon at Jazzfest yesterday: 1. 8pm with the Nolatet. Exploratory avant-garde technical jazz perfection in a seated airy theater space. 2. 2am with the New F**k Yeahs. Rowdy dirty jazz punk with extra booty a sweaty mosh pit could have erupted at any time in the Maple Leaf.
*From a press release: Please join us in congratulating KU School of Music’s Jazz Studies Program for their recent success at the 2023 DownBeat Student Music Awards (SMA). The awards were announced this month, where KU Jazz Ensemble I was named a Large Ensemble co-winner in the Graduate College division. The Spencer Reeve Trio also received the Outstanding Performance award in the Jazz Combo Undergraduate division.
Album Review: Enzo Carniel, Hermon Mehari, Stéphane Adsuar and Damien Varaillon- No(w) Beauty
Hermon Mehari is on a roll. A week after thrilling a rapturous crowd at a homecoming concert at the Folly Theater on February 18, the trumpeter and three of his fellow European collaborators released the extraordinary No(w) Beauty.
The album might be even better than Asmara, the artistic breakthrough Mehari released in 2022. No(w) Beauty is distinguished by a friendly tussle between pianist Enzo Carniel and the tandem of bassist Damien Varaillon and drummer Stéphane Adsuar.
Carniel repeatedly pulls the quartet toward the center as Varaillon and Adsuar tug outward. The competitive interplay opens an accommodating space for Mehari’s slightly unconventional sensibility.
Martial rhythms and Mehari’s feathery tone occasionally evoke Sketches of Spain, Miles Davis’ landmark 1960 collaboration with Gil Evans. Yet with bits of electronica and sonic experimentation, No(w) Beauty’s is entirely in keeping with the European jazz of today.
Yet many of Mehari’s longtime fans in Kansas City will focus on a straightforward reading of "For All We Know". Mehari’s heart-melting statement on the ballad verifies his growing international reputation as an elite musician.
Now’s the Time: Anat Cohen’s Quartetinho
Anat Cohen brings her superlative Quartetinho project to the Folly Theater on Friday, May 5. The group’s album ranked fifth in Plastic Sax’s listings of The Top Jazz Albums of 2022.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Clint Ashlock considers the 2023-24 season of The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra for The Kansas City Star.
*Vanessa Thomas’ album release show at the Lied Center is among KCUR’s May concert recommendations.
*Joe Dimino attended a concert by The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and interviewed Alber.
*KCUR’s Greg Echlin reports on The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s intention to move from its current location adjacent to the American Jazz Museum.
*Tweet of the Week: KCMO Public Library- April 30 is #InternationalJazzDay! Check out books, music, and resources about some of the greatest names in jazz, including many with Kansas City connections: (link)