The "ugly jazz" icon Mike Dillon will be joined by like-minded Kansas City musicians at the Brick on Saturday, June 1. Brian Haas and Nikki Glaspie, Dillon’s co-conspirators in Punkadelick, are featured in the embedded video.
Plastic Sax’s Favorite Performances of 2023
Original image of Artemis at the Gem Theater by Plastic Sax.
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.)
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.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*When he wasn’t raving about the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society, the author of Plastic Sax played jazz and jazz-adjacent music including tracks by Matt Villinger’s All Night Trio, Anna Butterss and “Ode to Mary,” Moor Mother’s tribute to Mary Lou Williams on a best-of 2022 radio program.
*Soirée Steak & Oyster House, a restaurant in the Jazz District that occasionally features jazz performances, is the beneficiary of a crowd-funding campaign.
*Mike Dillon chatted with Joe Dimino.
*Tweet of the Week: Mo- My friends and i trying to take pictures at @GreenLadyLounge last night (meme)
*From a press release: CD Release Event at Green Lady Lounge on Saturday, January 14, from 2:30 to 5:30 pm.: After decades of working as a sought-after sideman and invaluable collaborator for the likes of Karrin Allyson, Diane Shuur, Marilyn Maye, and the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, guitarist Rod Fleeman has released his first album as a leader. Saturday Afternoon Live at Green Lady Lounge captures Fleeman, bassist Gerald Spaits, and drummer Todd Strait performing a set of original material at Kansas City’s most popular jazz venue.
*From a press release: Jazz/Punk Raconteur Mike Dillon & Punkadelick are on tour, performing locally for a CD Release Party at The Brick, Wednesday, January 4… Punkadelic is a trio featuring Mike Dillon (Ricki Lee Jones, Ani DiFranco, Les Claypool) on vibraphone, marimba, Prophet 6, congas, and bongos; Brian Haas (Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey) on Fender Rhodes, piano, bass Moog and melodica; and Nikki Glaspie (Beyonce) on drums, cymbals and vocals.