*Kansas Public Radio’s Live at Green Lady Lounge program aired a performance by the Sam Platt Trio last week.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
Faux Fest
Original image of Brian Haas and Mike Dillon at the Brick by Plastic Sax.
I attended a cutting-edge jazz festival in Kansas City on Wednesday, January 4. What’s that? You didn’t know about the event? Well, since Kansas City hasn’t hosted a proper jazz festival in five years, I’ve taken to curating one-night festivals for myself.
On Wednesday I spent five hours at three venues taking in an immensely rewarding blend of touring and locally based artists. The faux festival got off to a rough start at Westport Coffee House ($10 cover). When guitarist Seth Andrew Davis thanked members of the audience for attending, the Bay Area keyboardist Scott R. Looney sneered “three people!”
The other musicians seemed to brush off Looney’s disappointment in the turnout. Looney, Davis and the New York based percussionist Kevin Cheli began by playing what sounded like devilish variations on the cartoon music of Raymond Scott.
Looney, bassist Krista Kopper and drummer Evan Verploegh toyed with extreme dynamics in the second set. In staving off mere anarchy by holding the center, Kopper was the most valuable contributor to a third set featuring all five musicians. The first stage of the festival concluded with an improvisation on what may have been an inverse version of Miles Davis’ “All Blues.”
The second phase of the bespoke festival transpired at Green Lady Lounge ($5 cover). I joined about 75 revelers for a set by OJT, the popular venue’s de facto house band. Seated directly behind drummer Sam Platt, my appreciation of the ways in which guitarist Brian Baggett and organist Ken Lovern apply their roots in rock to update the organ jazz trio tradition was strengthened.
Funkadelick headlined the fake fest at the Brick ($10 cover). Drummer Nikki Glaspie had the night off, so the peripatetic Mike Dillon and Brian Haas, the keyboardist best known for his groundbreaking work with Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, operated as a duo for most of their nearly two-hour set.
Dillon manned his expansive rig like punk-jazz’s answer to Carl Palmer as he and Haas interpreted the entirety of the forthcoming album Inflorescence. The tandem was later joined in musical roughhousing by guest drummer Arnold Young. A violent interpolation of the Stooges’ proto-punk classic “I Wanna Be Your Dog” typified the raucous attack.
Drawn to the pocket-size stage like a moth to a flame, I posted up front and center for most of the riveting performance. The approximately 50 people seated behind me couldn’t have been pleased that I obstructed their sightlines. I didn’t care. After all, it was my festival.
Concert Review: Trinity Jazz Ensemble at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church
Original image of stained glass at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church by Plastic Sax.
An unassuming pianist roared with startling ferocity at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church on Thursday, July 1. The Kansas City mainstay Michael Pagán lit up a recital of sacred-themed jazz. An iteration of the longstanding Trinity Jazz Ensemble- vocalist (Brother) John Anderson, trumpeter Mike Parkinson, saxophonist Doug Talley, pianist Pagán, bassist Tim Brewer and drummer Sam Platt- performed an inspired array of original material and classic compositions.
Pagán disrupted the otherwise pleasingly polite concert with a memorable outburst. For three consecutive selections in the middle of the performance, Pagán played like one of the world’s most celebrated pianists. Free of ostentation, the informal showcase began with “Deep In My Soul.” Pagán’s original is one of the strongest compositions to emerge from Kansas City in recent years. Parkinson exclaimed “that’s deep!” at the conclusion of the song.
A fiery incarnation of Wynton Kelly seemed to overtake Pagán during a reading of Hank Mobley’s “A Baptist Beat.” It was followed by Pagán’s solo rendition of Keith Jarrett’s “Silence.” He matched the meditative brilliance of the composer. While his contributions continued to impress, Pagán assumed a less conspicuous role for the remainder of the concert. Yet his unexpected salvo served as a valuable reminder that splashy superheroes lurk inside many of the Clark Kents in Kansas City’s jazz community.