JAM: October/November 2004 Hear and There

Charles Gatschet

Duck Warner

Joe Cartwright

I went to hear Seth Lee host the Blue Monday Jam at the Blue Room September 2. Nice set: Charlie Gatschet is just wonderful, I enjoy his soft tone. Seth seems to accentuate the lower end of the bass, much like old favorites of mine like Sam Jones. Arne Young and Roger Wilder were also excellent. Arne's versatility is amazing, moving from freer forms to more straight-ahead fare. The play list was also wonderful: Joe Henderson's "Black Narcissus," "Peace" by Horace Silver, the bass feature "Tricotism" by Oscar Pettiford, etc. They generally played things one does not hear everyday. No standards made for an interesting set. The jam featured some nice vocals (Duck Warner on "My Romance") and an unknown tenor player who called a great tune, Dexter Gordon's "Cheesecake.” She had plenty of Dexter influence in her playing as well, including holding the horn up during the applause.

Also, I got to see Joe Cartwright at the Fairmont Saturday night. The surprise tune was Freddie Hubbard's "Son of Skydive", featuring Stan Kessler's flugelhorn.

The Hubbard tune (and love of Dexter Gordon) came from when I first started listening to jazz (mid-1970s). Those early experiences are never forgotten. One band I remember well was the edition of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers that featured our own Bobby Watson. This band also featured the late James Williams on piano, tenor man Dave Schnitter, Valery Ponomarev on trumpet, and Dennis Irwin on bass. This pre-Marsalis edition of the Messengers will have a reunion at Iridium in NYC from October 5–10, with the surviving front line, Mulgrew Miller and John Hicks on piano and Charles Fambrough on bass, plus a rotating cast filling the drum chair (Ralph Peterson, Louis Hayes, and Ben Riley). I thought this was an excellent Messenger band, and the band seemed to regain its stature at this time through its live performance and many recordings.

--Roger Atkinson

You could feel the excitement spilling out of the Blue Room on August 6. Cheers and laughter greeted us as we quickly paid our $15 dues and entered the dark club. It was the multi-talented McFadden Brothers bringing down the house. Lonnie McFadden's 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, had just finished tap dancing with her dad. We sat down next to a couple from Springfield, Mo. “These guys are great!” they shouted. It is always a pleasure to see the McFaddens tap dance and play their horns (Lonnie on trumpet and Ronnie on saxophone). Their act includes everything from Louis Armstrong to Nat King Cole to James Brown and of course their tribute to their dad, the perfectly synchronized tap dance number to Mr. Bojangles. It's refreshing to see such a unique act anywhere. We're especially lucky to have it here in Kansas City.

I attended the opening night of Joe Cartwright's Best of Kansas City series at the Fairmont on Sunday, September 19. Joe's special guest was vocalist Lester “Duck” Warner. It's been awhile since I've heard Warner without his horn (apparently he's retired it for now due to dental work). Warner sounds very much like Nat King Cole but with more emotion. He sang a mesmerizing “I Want a Little Girl.” But the highlight was Warner's heart-wrenching rendition of the haunting tune “Everything Must Change,” which included Cartwright's spine-tingling solo. Bassist Steve Rigazzi did a fantastic solo on “Nature Boy.” It's good to see the Best of Kansas City series back because the performances are exactly that.

--Kathy Vescovi

Vocalist Wesla Whitfield along with husband/pianist Mike Greensill opened the Kansas City Jazz Workshop series with a program of standards including “Cheek to Cheek,” “September Song,” and “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams.” By singing the bridge to each song, Whitfield painted a word picture that totally enveloped the audience. Bassist Gerald Spaits was outstanding as always and got to stretch out with an up tempo “A Dry Guy.” Greensill stood out in “I Wish I Knew,” while all three had a great time with the fun-filled “Oh Lydia.” While no new ground was broken, the audience left feeling that they had spent a few hours in the company of an old friend.

--Don Merker