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Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Kansas City Star notes the schedule of a new dueling piano bar includes a weekly jazz matinee.
*Joe Dimino interviewed Cynthia van Roden and filmed portions of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s tribute to Charlie Parker.
Alber’s elaborate presentation at the Charlotte Street Foundation on May 23 is among the most memorable of the more than 100 concerts, recitals, festivals and club performances I’ve attended in 2024. The ambition and imagination displayed by the Italian-born Kansas City resident were astounding. The spectacle raised the bar for all Kansas City musicians. Thankfully, the multi-media event is documented on video and on the new album Born at Sea. Not every segment of the project the trumpeter, composer and bandleader characterizes as an homage to “the immersive landscapes of the Southern Italian coastline” qualifies as jazz, but the entirety of Born at Sea is compatible with the inventive spirit of the form.
The American Jazz Museum closes August with three performances by pianist Harold O'Neal. The pianist with deep Kansas City roots performs at the Jay McShann Pavilion on Thursday, August 29, with Dan Thomas at the Blue Room on Friday, August 30, and with Logan Richardson at the Blue Room on Saturday, August 31.
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The fall jazz recital series at Johnson County Community College was recently announced. Participants include Rod Fleeman, Chris Hazelton and Paganova.
*The Kansas City Star reports that Soirée is closing. The Jazz District restaurant regularly featured live jazz performances.
Eboni Fondren laments she was “born in the wrong decade” on the opening selection of her new album. Consistent with the nostalgic sentiment, the vocalist basks in a throwback form of jazz on The Journey: To Kansas City with Love.
Fondren recalls her apprenticeship with the organist Everette DeVan on the autobiographical introductory song. Fondren’s vibrant personality and rich voice have since become widely admired. Kansas City standouts including James Albright, Chris Hazelton and Mark Lowrey help Fondren realize her vision on the live recording made at the Uptown Lounge.
Contemporary accents such as the prominent electric bass on “Angel Eyes” don’t detract from her old-school sensibility. Fondren originals like the Broadway-ready “Hollow” hold their own alongside the standards “Satin Doll,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Angel Eyes.”
The album is an agreeable amalgamation of the bluesy form of jazz associated with Kansas City. Fondren aptly subtitled the album “To Kansas City with Love.” The feeling is mutual in the storied jazz town.
The experimental Nebraska improvisors Kyle Jessen and Phill Smith perform at Charlotte Street Foundation on Wednesday, August 21. Representatives of the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society will also be on hand. Jessen is featured in the embedded video.
Original image of an artifact displayed at the Disney100: The Exhibition at Union Station by Plastic Sax.
The jazz community in Kansas City is a victim of negligence. Although it was released in February, Plastic Sax only recently stumbled upon Pliable Consciousness, the latest missive from Peter Schlamb. The excellence of the 22-minute recording compounds the oversight.
The vibraphonist, composer and bandleader has perfected the distinctive approach first documented on Tinks in 2014. The production of Pliable Consciousness is crisper and the guest artists- Hermon Mehari, Mike Moreno and Logan Richardson- are even more inspiring.
Schlamb has long been indifferent to self-promotion. Even so, managing to keep the superlative Pliable Consciousness a secret is a feat. The fact that Pliable Consciousness hasn’t received a smidgen of notice elsewhere doesn’t excuse Plastic Sax’s failure to keep tabs on one of Kansas City’s preeminent artists. I apologize.
Tatsuya Nakatani may be the only touring avant-garde improviser who regularly includes Kansas City on his itineraries. The percussionist will be joined by the locally based musicians Shawn Hansen, Jeff Harshbarger and Mike Stover at Grand Avenue Temple on Friday, August 9.
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Kansas City magazine highlights three Spotlight: Charlie Parker events.
*A recent review of his new album Paganova suggests Michael Pagán is “a true magician”.
*From a press release: Jazz St. Louis is thrilled to announce Jazz St. Louis Presents Paquito D'Rivera and Chucho Valdés, Together Again!, a two-night fundraising event featuring Cuban jazz legends Paquito D'Rivera and Chucho Valdés Sept. 18-19, 2024 in St. Louis. Longtime friends and collaborators, the two renowned performers have a combined 29 GRAMMY Awards and Latin GRAMMY Awards between them. D'Rivera and Valdés will each perform both nights, with the first event taking place Sept. 18, 2024, at Steward Center, the home of Jazz St. Louis in Grand Center. The second night will happen Sept. 19, 2024, at The Sheldon, a larger venue to allow more St. Louisans to experience the legendary musicians… Details are available here.
As with 2003’s One Quiet Night and 2011’s What’s It All About, Pat Metheny’s new album features the Lee’s Summit native working unaccompanied on baritone guitar. MoonDial is as rapturously beautiful, unflaggingly elegant and wonderfully restorative as its antecedents.
Metheny characterizes MoonDial as “a dusk-to-sunrise record, hard-core mellow.” Yet MoonDial isn’t altogether sedate. “Shōga” possesses the forward momentum of Metheny’s most popular compositions. And Metheny’s interpretations of Beatles songs- in this instance “Here, There and Everywhere”- are invariably arresting.
Devotees of Pat Metheny greet every release as additions to their extended families. Due to the artist’s admirable unpredictability, a bit of trepidation accompanies the arrival of a new album. The curative MoonDial will be hailed as an immediate favorite that’s likely to remain in the permanent rotations of fans.
The shape-shifting Kansas City saxophonist Ernest Melton performs at the fashionable dance club In the Lowest Ferns on Thursday, August 1, and leads the weekly jam session at the Blue Room on Monday, August 5. Melton tackles Jimi Hendrix in the embedded video.
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*New releases by Betty Bryant, Seth Andrew Davis, Rod Fleeman and Pat Metheny are among the 366 albums receiving votes in the 2024 Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll. Plastic Sax’s ballot is here.
While it’s almost certainly legitimate, Gem Theater Live possesses a few peculiarities associated with bootleg recordings. The sketchy album art and complete absence of publicity are among the traits making the July release of an undated recording by the late Kevin Mahogany seem unauthorized. The music, however, is beyond reproach.
The Kansas City vocalist is joined by an elite band worthy of the late artist’s massive talent. Saxophonist Red Holloway, guitarist Phil Upchurch, pianist Norman Simmons, bassist Tyrone Clark and drummer Grady Tate enhance the blues-steeped set.
The concert probably transpired in the mid-1990s when Mahogany was beginning to be recognized internationally. The excellence of the performance and the emphasis on material not featured on his official releases makes Gem Theater Live an essential addition to Mahogany’s discography. In fact, the album is so intoxicating it should be illegal.
The noteworthy Atlanta band Trap Jazz performs at the Ameri'kana festival on Saturday, July 27. The embedded video is the trailer for a 2023 documentary about the trio.
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*ECM’s vinyl reissue of Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life prompted an appreciative essay at UK Vibe.
Contrary to what the irreverent title of Narrative Quartet’s second album might suggest, Trust Fund Tinder Goblins Howling at the Moon is a set of seriously sober mainstream jazz. The tenor saxophonists Adam Larson and Chris Madsen trade heroic solos with impeccable support from guitarist Scott Hesse, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer John Kizilarmut. The coalition of Kansas City and Chicago musicians are an exemplary example of the burly swing associated with both cities. Listeners of all persuasions will be inclined to howl with delight.
The Kansas City guitarist Alan Voss performs at Greenwood Social Hall on Sunday, July 21. He’ll be joined by saxophonist Rich Wheeler, bassist Ben Tervort and drummer Evan Verploegh.
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Nina Cherry wrote a lengthy feature about Eboni Fondren for The Pitch.
*Portions of a Cynthia Van Roden performance were documented by Joe Dimino.
*Aarik Danielsen surveys the 2024-25 season of We Always Swing for the Columbia Daily Tribune.
“Deep in My Soul”, the second track on Michael Pagán’s latest album Paganova, is magnificent. The melody written by the Kansas City pianist, composer and bandleader is worthy of Bill Evans. The compelling playing of Pagán’s bandmates does the sublime composition justice.
Saxophonists David Chael and Michael Herrera, bassist Louie Pagán and drummer Ray DeMarchi enrich five original Pagán pieces and arrangements of works by Clare Fisher, Steve Swallow and Kenny Wheeler.
The dual saxophones of Chael and Herrera are reminiscent of classic dates of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims. Yet partly because five of the eight tracks feature an electric bass, Paganova contains more surprises than most mainstream jazz sessions.
Fisher’s “Gaviota” is a funky romp. “Guess Whose Blues” evokes the eccentricities of Charles Mingus. The old-world zest of “Napoli” closes the album. Yet the most valuable aspect of Paganova may be allowing the rest of the world to Chael and Herrera. The saxophonists are precisely the type of unheralded players who make Kansas City’s jazz scene vibrant.