The Top 25 Kansas City Jazz Albums of the Past 25 Years

Despite enduring constant turbulence during the first 25 years of the new millennium, Kansas City’s jazz musicians never ceased creating timeless art. The following list highlights a fraction of the vital recordings released since 2000. The recency bias on display reflects Plastic Sax’s founding in 2007 as well as the uptick in the quantity and quality of releases in recent years. A corresponding non-jazz albums ranking is here.

1. Peter Schlamb- Tinks (2004)
2. Logan Richardson- Shift (2016)
3. Bobby Watson- Back Home in Kansas City (2022)
4. Hermon Mehari- Asmara (2022)
5. Bob Bowman- Songs for Sandra (2014)
6. Pat Metheny- Orchestrion (2010)
7. Ahmad Alaadeen- And the Beauty of It All (ASR 2007)
8. Karrin Allyson- Imagina: Songs of Brasil (2008)
9. Steve Cardenas- Panoramic (2002)
10. Mike Dillon- Inflorescence (2023)

11. Deborah Brown- Songbird (2003)
12. Adam Larson- With Love, From Kansas City (2022)
13. Myra Taylor- My Night to Dream (2001)
14. Matt Otto and Ensemble Ibérica- Ibérica (2017)
15. The People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City- The People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City (2010)
16. Kevin Mahogany- Pride & Joy (2002)
17. Micah Herman- The Ship, Vol. 1: The Studio Sessions (2011)
18. EMAS Quartet- EMS (2022)
19. Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle- Kings & Queens (2016)
20. Rod Fleeman Trio- Saturday Afternoon Live at Green Lady Lounge, Volume 3 (2024)

21. Alaturka- Tamam Abi (2010)
22. Betty Bryant- Lotta Livin' (2024)
23. Everette DeVan- For the Love of You (2014)
24. Gregory Hickman-Williams- Passages (2006)
25. Marcus Lewis Big Band- Brass and Boujee (2018)

Album Review: Pat Metheny- MoonDial

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.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*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.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*ECM’s vinyl reissue of Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life prompted an appreciative essay at UK Vibe.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Footage of the Lee’s Summit Jazz Festival was shared by Joe Dimino and a television news outlet. 

*From a press release: Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Artistic Director Clint Ashlock today announced the 2024-2025 Signature Series: Experiences, alongside the newly appointed Executive Director Alyssa Bell Jackson, who assumed her position earlier this year.  The season: Unforgettable featuring vocalist Sachal Vasandani, October 11, 2024 at 7 p.m. | Helzberg Hall; Bright Size Life featuring guitarist Rod Fleeman, November 16, 2024 at 7 p.m. Folly Theater; A Charlie Brown Christmas, December 10, 2024 at 7 p.m. | Helzberg Hall; Always and Forever featuring Bram and Lucy Wijnands, March 1, 2025 at 7 p.m. | Folly Theater; Level Up! April 5, 2025 at 7 p.m. | Helzberg Hall; Glamour of Old Hollywood featuring Brenna Whitaker May 31, 2025 at 7 p.m. | Folly Theater

*From a press release: Join us for a free community event with the KU Jazz Ensemble I before their European tour! (7:30 p.m. Monday, July 15 at Lied Center Auditorium.) KU Jazz Ensemble I, directed by Dan Gailey, is the flagship ensemble within the Jazz Studies program at the University of Kansas. The program has received 32 DownBeat Student Music Awards, including Jazz Ensemble I’s 2023, 2021, 2019 and 2015 awards in the Graduate Division for Best College Big Band in the United States or Canada, and their Outstanding Performance Awards in the same division in 2024, 2022 and 2017.

*From a press release: ECM releases Pat Metheny's Bright Size Life as part of its Luminessence audiophile vinyl-reissue series… Available August 2, 2024, in Celebration of Metheny's 70th Birthday.

*From a press release: Craft Recordings is pleased to announce Ornithology: The Best of Bird, a brand-new Charlie “Bird” Parker collection that introduces the legendary saxophonist through 11 classic tracks. Spanning 1945–1953, the album compiles material from the influential jazz artist’s most prolific era… Arriving August 23 and available for pre-order today, Ornithology will be available on 1-LP, 1-CD and digital formats, while fans can find the album in two limited-edition pressings, including Canary Yellow vinyl (exclusively via Spotify Fans First) and Ruby (Barnes & Noble).

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Pat Metheny’s new solo guitar album MoonDial will be released July 26.

*Joe Dimino captured portions of the DelMurrow Trio’s performance with Roman Gonzales at Johnson County Community College.

*Jazz will be represented at the Boulevardia beer festival in June by Thundercat and Back Alley Brass Band.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Pat Metheny’s new 29-city American tour doesn’t stop in Kansas City.

*KCUR’s February concert recommendations include Delfeayo Marsalis’s forthcoming appearance at Winterlude Jazz Festival at Johnson County Community College.

*The Kansas City Star and KCUR published items about potential and certain business displacements should plans for the Kansas City Royals’ new stadium move forward.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The Kansas City musician and jazz devotee George Boje has died.

*WBGO hosts the second installment of Pat Metheny’s conversation with David Sanborn.

*A Kansas City music blogger includes a host of jazz items in his January synopsis.

*From Chris Burnett: “The Kansas Historical Society is going to preserve the KC metro based ARC record label. An acquisitions team of archivists is coming to pick up physical copies of recordings, posters, and documents related to the record label on Wednesday February 7, 2024. Other items like digital audio files of recordings that were not issued in physical product formats, and periodic updates to the label catalog will be delivered as applicable on an ongoing basis going forward.”

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The lineup of the spring recital series at Johnson County Community College has been announced.

*Nina Cherry checked in with Bram Wijnands for Kansas City magazine.

*The American Jazz Museum created a brief video tribute to Jay McShann.

*David Sanborn chatted with Pat Metheny.

Jazz Caucus

The crucial Iowa caucus takes place on January 15. For improvised music obsessives, equally vital electoral returns arrived earlier this month. The 18th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Poll is the most comprehensive and meaningful of the yearly jazz surveys.

More than 500 titles released in 2023 received at least one vote from the poll’s 159 participants in the foremost new album category. In separate groupings, 57 debut albums, 51 vocal albums and 40 Latin jazz albums were acknowledged. (My ballot is here.)

Pouring over the results to glean meaning is akin to reading tea leaves, or for those who dislike innovative jazz, more like the ancient practice of divining the future by examining the entrails of animal sacrifices. 

The expansiveness of this year’s poll indicates there’s little consensus even within the secluded jazz community. The staggering deluge of vital jazz exacerbates the form’s esoteric image. 

Kansas City is represented by Pat Metheny’s Dream Box (#78 with four votes) and Matt Otto’s Umbra (tied at #473 with a single vote). In the Rara Avis category, the reissue of the Massey Hall concert featuring Charlie Parker (#26 with three votes) and the Basie All Stars’ Live at Fabrik Vol. 1: Hamburg 1981 (tied at #101 with one vote) were also recognized.

In a corresponding essay, Tom Hull, the man overseeing the complex tabulations for the poll, ponders the electorate’s consumption of the form. As a courtesy to Hull and on the off chance any Plastic Sax readers are curious, I’ve responded to his queries.

How many promos do you get and listen to?
I received less than a dozen CDs and vinyl albums last year. I have access to innumerable complimentary digital downloads.

How much streaming (do) you do?
A minimum of ten hours a day.

How much radio (do) you listen to? 
I rarely listen to terrestrial radio. I stream loads of archived radio features and programs.

What (is) the split… between jazz and other music?
Approximately a third of the music I consume is jazz.

What other kinds of music do you like or hate? 
I love all types of music.

(Are you) giving up some amount of (professional) opportunity cost to (cover jazz)?
Yes. It’s especially nice when an occasional endeavor unexpectedly pays off.

The Top Stories and Trends of 2023 on Kansas City’s Jazz Scene

1. Last Train Home
The Lee’s Summit native Pat Metheny snapped an eleven-year embargo of the Kansas City area with a concert at Muriel Kauffman Theatre in June. 

2. Larson vs. Otto: Everybody Wins
The astounding productivity of Adam Larson and Matt Otto, Kansas City based saxophonists in their artistic primes, resembled a friendly cutting contest.

3. Too Marvelous for Words
The Kansas City mainstay Marilyn Maye celebrated her 95th birthday with a concert at Carnegie Hall.

4. Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City
The Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society presented performances by cutting-edge touring musicians including Vinny Golia, Maria Elena Silva, Eli Wallace and Jack Wright. 

5. Absinthe Ascendent
Green Lady Lounge tightened its stranglehold as Kansas City’s dominant jazz venue. A program on Kansas Public Radio and an ongoing series of live albums furthered its hegemony.

6. Outside the Lines
Just two of  Plastic Sax’s 20 Favorite Performances of 2023 transpired in jazz clubs. Venues including concert halls and art galleries hosted much of the most interesting improvised music performed in Kansas City.

7. Ticketed
Attendance at concerts by Samara Joy, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Pat Metheny and Domi and JD Beck indicates the Kansas City area is home to about 1,500 people who are willing to pay $25 or more to hear instrumental jazz.

8. Turnover
Rashida Phillips resigned her position as Executive Director of the American Jazz Museum.

9. It Takes a Village
The Prairie Village Jazz Festival, a one-day, single-stage event featuring locally based musicians, remains the region’s most notable jazz festival.

10. Con Man
Con Chapman’s Kansas City Jazz A Little Evil Will Do You Good provided new insights into the area’s jazz history.

Last year’s recap is here.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Pat Metheny won Guitarist of the Year in DownBeat magazine’s 99th Reader’s Poll. Other Kansas City area artists receiving votes: Charlie Parker and Bobby Watson.

Plastic Sax’s Favorite Albums of 2023

Top Ten Albums by Kansas City Artists
1. Matt Otto- Umbra
Plastic Sax review.

2. Mike Dillon and Punkadelick- Inflorescence
Plastic Sax review.

3. Adam Larson- With Love, From New York City
Plastic Sax review.

4. Enzo Carniel, Hermon Mehari, Stéphane Adsuar and Damien Varaillon- No(w) Beauty
Plastic Sax review.

5. Matt Otto- Kansas City Trio
Plastic Sax review.

6. Pat Metheny- Dream Box
Plastic Sax review.

7. Torches Mauve- Volume Two
Plastic Sax review.

8. Narrative Quartet- Narrative
Plastic Sax review.

9. Count Basie Orchestra- Swings the Blues
Plastic Sax review.

10. Danny Embrey- Orion Room
Plastic Sax review.

Top Ten Albums by Artists From Elsewhere

1. Sebastian Rochford and Kit Downes- A Short Diary

2. Jason Moran- From the Dancehall to the Battlefield

3. Sylvie Courvoisier- Chimaera

4. Kassa Overall- Animals

5. Joe Lovano, Marilyn Crispell and Carmen Castaldi- Our Daily Bread

6. Henry Threadgill- The Other One

7. Aja Monet- When the Poems Do What They Do

8. Laura Schuler Quartet- Sueños Paralelos

9. Cécile McLorin Salvant- Mélusine

10. Irreversible Entanglements- Protect Your Light

Plastic Sax’s Favorite Performances of 2023

Top Ten Performances by Kansas City Artists
1. Mike Dillon, Brian Haas and Nikki Glaspie at the Brick
Plastic Sax review.

2. Hermon Mehari at the Folly Theater
Plastic Sax review.

3. Adam Larson, Matt Clohesy and Jimmy Macbride at Westport Coffee House
Instagram clip.

4. Rod Fleeman at Green Lady Lounge
Instagram clip.

5.  Pat Metheny’s Side-Eye at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
Plastic Sax review.

6. Drew Williams, Alex Frank, Ben Tervort and Brian Steever at Westport Coffee House
Plastic Sax review.

7. Cynthia van Roden at the Market at Meadowbrook
Instagram snapshot.

8. Chalis O’Neal at the Blue Room
Instagram clip.

9. Alan Voss, Benjamin Baker, Forest Stewart and Evan Verploegh at Swope Park Pavilion
Plastic Sax review.

10. Rich Hill, Arnold Young and Rob Whitsitt in Volker Park
Instagram clip.

Top Ten Performances by Artists from Elsewhere
1. Samara Joy at the Folly Theater
Plastic Sax review.

2. Devin Gray and Maria Elena Silva at the Firehouse Gallery
Plastic Sax review.

3. Bill Frisell, Greg Tardy, Gerald Clayton and Johnathan Blake at the 1900 Building
Plastic Sax review.

4. Artemis at the Gem Theater
Plastic Sax review.

5. CRAG Quartet and Joshua Gerowitz at the Bunker Center for the Arts
Instagram clip.

6. Miguel Zenón Quartet at the Folly Theater
Plastic Sax review.

7. Henrique Eisenmann and Eugene Friesen at the 1900 Building
Plastic Sax review.

8. Robert Stillman at the Midland Theater
There Stands the Glass review.

9. Jack Wright and Ron Stabinsky at Charlotte Street Foundation
Instagram clip.

10. Rob Magill and Marshall Trammell at Farewell
Plastic Sax review.

(Last year’s survey is here.)

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Pat Metheny was heckled at a concert in San Diego. George Varga of The San Diego Union-Tribune filed a report on the incident.

*An appearance by Terence Blanchard is among KCUR’s November concert recommendations.

*The American Jazz Museum created a video recap of its recent Charlie Parker birthday celebration concert.

*David Hudnall highlights the live music presented at the Gates Bar-B-Q location in the Jazz District for The Kansas City Star.

*Marilyn Maye checked in with Steve Kraske on KCUR’s Up To Date program.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Pat Metheny’s 2013 album Tap: The Book of Angels, Vol. 20 is among the hundreds of albums released by Tzadik Records made available at streaming services last month.

*Performances of jazz at the Folly Theater and the Uptown Theater are among KCUR’s October concert recommendations.

*From a press release: Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Executive Director Lea Petrie today announced the next concert for the Conversations in Jazz 2023-2024 Season, She’s the Talk of the Town, featuring Marilyn Maye, Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. at the Folly Theater. At 7 p.m., Artistic Director Clint Ashlock will lead a pre-concert Jazz Chat.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Pat Metheny explains the impetus of his Dream Box solo tour in a brief video. The concert nearest to Kansas City is in Des Moines, Iowa, on October 3.

*Joe Dimino interviewed Bryan Hicks and documented a set led by Dan Thomas at the Blue Room.

*From a press release: Spotlight: Charlie Parker 2023 celebrates the jazz icon’s 103rd birthday with jam sessions and musical tributes, jazz history tours, lectures, exhibitions, panel discussions, workshops and showcase performances… The event also provides educational opportunities and promotes the music of nearly 20 local Kansas City jazz artists who will perform at select events/venues during the week. Highlighting this year’s Spotlight: Charlie Parker, is Grammy TM nominated alto saxophonist, Tia Fuller, who will serve as the 2023 Spotlight: Charlie Parker Artist-In-Residence. Details are available here.

*From a press release: Candid Records is excited to announce the Sept. 15 release of Basie Swings the Blues, the latest recording by the legendary Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Scotty Barnhart. This extraordinary record fuses the Basie Orchestra’s signature style of sophisticated swing with the raw and soulful talents of a cross section of some of the greatest blues and jazz artists of our times. Featuring a stellar lineup of blues icons and contemporary stars including Buddy Guy, Bobby Rush, Keb’ Mo’, Robert Cray, George Benson, Shemekia Copeland, Ledisi, Mr. Sipp, Lauren Mitchell, Bettye LaVette, and Charlie Musselwhite.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra headlines the 2023 edition of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival on September 9.

*Tia Fuller’s participation in the Spotlight: Charlie Parker initiative is among KCUR's concert recommendations for August.

*Bob Brookmeyer, Samantha Fish, Pat Metheny and Bobby Watson received votes in Downbeat magazine’s 71st Annual Critics Poll.

*St. Louis’ New Music Circle announced its 2023-24 season. Roscoe Mitchell, Elliott Sharp and William Parker are among the bookings.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Matt Otto told The Pitch about his new album.

*Dunn Deal, a restaurant operated by Gerald Dunn of the American Jazz Museum, is slated to open in August.

*Reed Jackson reviewed Pat Metheny’s concert at Muriel Kauffman Theatre.

*Dave Scott chatted with Joe Dimino.

*Julie Denesha interviewed Donald Harrison and Stephon Alexander in advance of an event at the Folly Theater.

*Outings by Peter Schlamb’s Electric Tinks and the Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra are included in a recap of the Boulevardia festival.

Concert Review: Pat Metheny’s Side-Eye at Muriel Kauffman Theatre

Pat Metheny’s first concert in Kansas City, Missouri, since 2012 was sublime.  Joined by keyboardist Chris Fishman and drummer Joe Dyson, the Lee’s Summit native exhibited a satisfying sampling of his vast repertoire at Muriel Kauffman Theatre on Thursday, June 16.

Acoustic contemplation and smooth jazz tranquility were balanced by wailing fusion and contributions from a downscaled version of Metheny’s futuristic Orchestrion.  Greasy organ jazz and straight-ahead swing were countered by a stunning bout of cacophonous skronk.

While chatter amid the audience of more than 1,200 occasionally marred the pristine sound, the significance of Metheny’s overdue return to Kansas City overcame the minor nuisance.  Metheny only spoke to introduce his bandmates, but words weren’t necessary to show Kansas City what it’s been missing.