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

Now's the Time: Maria Elena Silva

Jeff Parker is among the notable improvisors who contributed to Maria Elena Silvas’ 2021 album Eros.  The genre-bending artist performs at Farewell on Saturday, April 1.  Torches Mauve is one of the evening’s two opening acts.

Albums Review: Torches Mauve- Volume One and Volume Two

The recording quality of Volume One and its slightly superior companion Volume Two, albums released by Torches Mauve on February 17, is astounding.  Listeners with good equipment will have the uncanny sensation that they can reach out and touch guitarist Seth Davis and drummer Evan Verploegh.  Whether or not that sonic immediacy is desirable is another matter.  Anyone with an appreciation of noisy jazz-rock guitar innovators like Vernon Reid and Andy Summers will appreciate Davis’ virulent shredding.  Free jazz enthusiasts will find Verploegh’s evocation of drummers such as Ronald Shannon Jackson and Tony Williams similarly invigorating.  Everyone else is likely to be horrified by the sonic proximity to the Kansas City duo’s wild-eyed outbursts.