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Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Joe Dimino interviewed Stan Kessler and Matt Otto.
*The man behind Plastic Sax shared music by Betty Bryant, Pat Metheny and Peter Schlamb on KKFI’s Wednesday MidDay Medley program last week.
Two's Company may be the most valuable release of the year to emerge from Kansas City’s jazz community. While the elite mastery of trumpet and flugelhorn Stan Kessler displays on the album is hardly news, his decision to showcase three generations of Kansas City pianists provides a crucial service.
Pianists Joe Cartwright, Brant Jester, Andrew Ouellette, Brian Ward, Roger Wilder and Charles Williams don’t possess the relatively higher profile of the garrulous Kessler, a fixture on Kansas City’s jazz scene. Two’s Company is a welcome corrective.
As the title suggests, Two’s Company consists solely of duets. Jester’s lively melodicism makes “Blue Silver” an ideal opening track. Cartwright’s sensitivity highlights a heartbreaking rendering of “Chelsea Bridge.” Williams’ sprightly elegance propels “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans.”
“Berlin November” spotlights Wilder’s mainstream mastery. Ouellette’s contribution to “New Moon” shows why he’s among Kansas City’s most sought after accompanists. Ward’s maturity balances Kessler’s childlike glee on “Cosmic Latte.”
Kessler’s distinctive tone and improvisational dexterity sparkle on Two’s Company. Yet it’s his eagerness to share the spotlight with six of Kansas City’s under-documented pianists that makes Kessler’s album essential.
Original image of Ernest Melton at In the Lowest Ferns by Plastic Sax.
Attending performances by locally based jazz musicians is what I miss most about Kansas City while traveling. While I regularly take advantage of high-profile concerts by cutting-edge improvisers who rarely appear in Kansas City in my destinations, few locales match the depth of artistry showcased nightly in the Kansas City area.
Following a trip to the tropics, I caught up with a portion of the embarrassment of riches on Thursday, November 15. My outing began at the Music House School of Music in Prairie Village. The storied trumpeter Stan Kessler joined the house band of guitarist Aaron Sizemore, bassist Forest Stewart and drummer Michael Warren.
Sizemore tends to incorporate European innovations of recent decades into his sound, a disposition that differentiates him from his peers in Kansas City. The singularity didn’t make an impression on harried music students on strict schedules at the busy facility. The small audience at Thursday’s no-cover event consisted of the usual suspects. A video of the concert streams here.
In the Lowest Ferns couldn’t be more different. The West Bottoms club specializing in electronic dance music occasionally hosts jazz musicians. About 25 fashion-conscious people paid a $15 cover charge to take in the first set by saxophonist Ernest Melton, keyboardist Parker Woolworth, bassist Jordan Faught and drummer Jaylen Ward. The quartet’s spiritual soul-jazz was enhanced by a fog machine.
Two blocks away, Peter Schlamb unveiled an instrument he described as his “new toy” in a free show at The Ship. The slippery tones of the MalletKAT added another weapon to the vibraphonist’s formidable arsenal. The high-energy improvisations of Schlamb, saxophonist Matt Otto, keyboardist Matt Villinger, bassist Sebastian Arias and drummer Zach Morrow were stunning.
In an act that felt like a cultural misdemeanor, the two eldest people among the audience of 20 left at the conclusion of the first set at 10:15 p.m. I nodded in agreement when a savvy old head suggested “that’s the best band in Kansas City” as we shuffled to the door. For me, Shlamb’s electric band sounds like home.
Stan Kessler, Plastic Sax’s 2013 Person of the Year, was recently inducted in the Kansas Music Hall of Fame. Sons of Brasil, Kessler’s long-lived Brazilian jazz group, appears at Sail Away Wine on Tuesday, January 11.
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Coal and Diamonds, an album by Kansas City Kansas Community College’s The Standard Vocal Jazz Ensemble, was released last week.
*Stan Kessler and Bennie Moten were recently inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame
*The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a feature about Robert Boone, the current drummer of The Count Basie Orchestra.
*Tweet of the Week: Tom Jackman- Also in KC, the Green Lady Lounge is an all time great jazz joint. #opentil230
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Gary Sivils, a trumpeter and bandleader whose integral role in Kansas City’s jazz scene included a mentorship of the teenage Pat Metheny, has died.
*Stan Kessler is teaching a virtual class in jazz appreciation through the auspices of Village Presbyterian Church.
*Tweet of the Week: Marc Myers- Friday at JazzWax, a little-known 3.5-hour documentary on Charlie Parker produced in Norway in 1989 with amazing interviews. Go here