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Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Joyce Smith highlighted Gerald Dunn’s barbecue restaurant for Startland News.
*Joe Dimino interviewed Jeff Shirley.
*A Houston publication’s guide to Kansas City references the Mutual Musicians Foundation and Green Lady Lounge.
Few styles of music are more maligned than jazz fusion. Detractors insist that in merging the least appealing elements of jazz, rock and R&B, the form is devoid of substance. The Kansas City guitarist Jeff Shirley defies these haters with two new albums reviving the halcyon era when bands like Return to Forever, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Brand X roamed the earth.
“Mount Meru,” the opening salvo of Contigo, immediately transports the listener to 1974. The musical chops, complex modulations and, yes, wicked shredding, will please admirers of the jazz-rock associated with Al Di Meola. Carlos Santana, a similarly revered guitarist, is honored on “Time For Fun”.
The elements of progressive rock on "Transients", a standout track on Modes of Nature, allow Shirley’s collaborators- the credits include Dawson Jones, Antonio Reyes, Mark Slimm, Spencer Smith, Brian Steever and Kevin Young- to demonstrate their range.
Big, bold and occasionally garish, Contigo and Modes of Nature exude a palpable sense of joy that mitigates most of the albums’ excesses. Shirley’s artistic playfulness and conspicuous generosity make him a persuasive ambassador for jazz fusion. In the hands of Shirley, the undervalued form is still vital.
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Jeff Shirley was interviewed by The Pitch.
*A homespun history of Kansas City jam sessions of the past four decades was published by Kansas City guitarist Jay EuDaly.
*The Jazz District Renaissance Corporation sponsored a television segment about events in the Jazz District.
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.
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*An article in The Community Voice about Anita Dixon’s current strategies for increasing the publicly funded music infrastructure suggests “(i)f you don’t know somebody who knows somebody, it’s hard to know live jazz in Kansas City still exists.”
*Nina Cherry endorses Marcus Lewis’ Big Band in Kansas City magazine.
*Pat Metheny is the subject of a Downbeat feature related to his win as Guitarist of the Year in the publication’s Readers Poll.
*Tweet of the Week: Tilted Chamber- @jeffshirleyjazz great show tonight at the Green Lady! #jazz #KansasCity #GreenLady
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The theme of this year’s jazz festival in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, is Goin' to Kansas City. A headlining set led by Bobby Watson and Fareed Haque’s tribute to Pat Metheny are among the performances slated for the July 16 event in the Chicago suburb.
*Jeff Shirley talked to Joe Dimino.
*Tweet of the Week: KCDownTown- Jazz enthusiasts prepare to celebrate KC’s status as a UNESCO Creative City (link)
Jeff Shirley holds down a longstanding residency at Green Lady Lounge, but the guitarist ventures well beyond the popular Kansas City club’s venue’s signature sound on his new album Blue Gold. Assisted by an able cast of colleagues, Shirley demonstrates a mastery of a myriad of jazz styles.
The swinging “Crestfallin’” and “Oneology” convey the jaunty atmosphere of the dimly lit Green Lady Lounge. Yet “Terrarium” is a tasty slice of throwback smooth jazz. The meditative “Nila Suvarna Hamsa” evokes Ralph Towner’s work for ECM Records.
Saxophonist Max Levy and trumpeter Bryan Foote help make the funky “Planet 22” a throwback to the heyday of the Brecker Brothers. “Eastborn” is among the tracks filled with Metheny-isms. The greasy fusion “Halothane” is countered by the old-school vocalese of Misha Roberts on "2n+1".
Kansas City’s jazz scene contains different and often uncongenial camps. The members of the smooth jazz, mainstream swing, noisy improvisation, soul jazz, organ jazz and post-bop factions of the town don’t always interact with one another. Shirley easily bridges those divides on the eclectic Blue Gold.
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Jeff Shirley posted a lyric video for a track from his forthcoming album Blue Gold.
*Tweet of the Week: KC Jazz Orchestra- We're stoked to be putting on a FREE big band concert live from Swope Park on June 21! Bring your family, friends and a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy #MakeMusicDay2022 @KCMOParks #kansascity #kcmo
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Deploring the lack of organic enthusiasm for Kansas City’s jazz scene, Nina Cherry asks “(w)here is the interest in the music being created now?” in an essay published by Kansas City magazine.
*Jon Poses decries the absence of a single proper summer jazz festival in the state of Missouri in The Columbia Daily Tribune.
*Snippets of a midday performance at the Blue Room were captured by Joe Dimino.
*The author of Plastic Sax reviewed a jazz-tangential concert by the British musicologist Samantha Ege.
*Tweet of the Week: Jeff Shirley- Tonight, Jeff Shirley Organ Trio is at Green Lady Lounge, 11:30-2:30, joined by Mark Slimm and Brian Steever!! We're playing all originals, here's a short clip from Mark's tune "Lunar Lander." (video)
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Clint Ashlock touted the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s fundraising concert on KCUR’s Up To Date program.
*While many of the artists I nominated for consideration are represented on the final ballot, I voted for only four of the ultimate victors of the Jazz Journalists Association’s 2021 Winners for Jazz Performance and Recordings. Pat Metheny is the sole Kansas City artist listed.
*Tweet of the Week: Jeff Shirley- Tonight at Green Lady Lounge, Jeff Shirley Organ Trio with Ken Lovern on organ and Brian Steever on drums!! 11pm-2am
An imminent appearance by guitarist Jeff Shirley is among the listings on Green Lady Lounge’s reloaded performance calendar. I’m looking forward to returning to the venue in about six weeks.