JAM: December 2006 /January 2007 Hear and There

It's been another season for special events....

The best place to be for a week in October was Jardine’s, where for five straight nights the music was outstanding. Starting with the Gary Sivils quintet on Sunday, the week had one of the best
local lineups in recent memory. Bob Bowman’s Bowdog was in on Monday. With Jake Blanton, Wayne Hawkins, and Tim Cambron on board, this still-new Bowman quartet is a super platform for originals from Bob and Jake, plus originals that always seem to start with a statement from the bassist. Laura Chalk was in on Tuesday with Paul Smith, Bowman, and Cambron. Those who have not heard Laura for a while might want to; she continues to add to her repertoire of standards, tosses in a more recent tune (although I guess “Killing Me Softly”
can hardly be called recent), and loves playing with the melody line. Stan Kessler’s new band, Horace Scope, debuted on Wednesday, digging into the world of Horace Silver’s compositions. I have to note that this was a rarity in Kansas City, a band with a trumpet–tenor front line; it’s a great classic mainstream sound. And if that wasn’t enough, Joe Cartwright’s “Best of Kansas City” series was on stage on Thursday evening, with guitarist Charlie Gatschet as the guest of honor. Gatschet’s guitar tends to be soft and melodic, in the Jim Hall/Ed Bickert mold, and Cartwright’s heat worked well in contrast. Joe can build a ton of tension in his solos, and Charlie comes in and releases it all.

McCoy Tyner’s trio, with bassist Charnett Moffett and drummer Eric Gravatt was the opening concert in the “Jammin’ at the Gem” series. Tyner’s music has always been filled with heavy
rhythms—they really strut—and Gravatt gets into these rhythms as well as anyone. The concert took me back to McCoy’s bands in the late 1970s that included Gravatt, Charles Fambrough on bass, and front lines of George Adams, Joe Ford, and others.
McCoy’s music remains exhilarating, even if some of the lightening has left his right hand.

Speaking of Jim Hall, Gatschet and Matt Hopper and a few other KC guitarists were in the Folly Theater audience for the duets between Hall and pianist Geoff Keezer. The duo played a number of Hall originals, and a few standards, with some self
deprecating humor that made it a most enjoyable evening.

Back to Jardine’s, where Kevin Cerovich brought a new quartet for a debut outing in November. Kevin is an alumnus of Shawnee Mission East, Leon Brady’s bands, and UMKC, and fans of
the trombone will want to catch him when you have the opportunity. The band featured Kevin’s originals—he is a fine young writer—mixed in with standards that you don’t hear every day.

It was good to hear drummer Arny Young’s quartet with Charles Perkins, Gerald Spaits, and Jack Lightfoot again at the Blue Room, performing their originals plus compositions by Charles
Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and Ornette Coleman. The piano-less format keeps the music open, and the interplay between the quartet makes for an invigorating listen.

While not a Kansas City event, we went to Las Vegas at the end of October to witness history, the last show at the legendary Stardust Hotel theater. Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme were the headliners for the occasion, doing what they do best—entertain with the best of standard popular music. Backing them was a big band with a full string section. Needless to say, it was a great evening of American Popular Song (with a touch of Brazil thrown in for good measure). There are few
left working in the genre; it seems like the end of a great era of music and entertainment. I’m surely not the only person who left a tad weepy. Opening the show were film clips highlighting the couple’s long career, including a hilarious duet that Steve
did with Johnny Carson, where they did a Steve and Eydie romantic ballad together.

—Roger Atkinson

New Drummers Move to Kansas City
Two great drummers have recently moved to Kansas City and promise to enrich the scene here. The first, Julian Garcia was a Katrina evacuee from New Orleans who spent time in Memphis and teaching in Oneida NY before deciding to reside in Kansas City. He was born in La Ceiba, Honduras, immersed in his native Grinagu culture and moved with his family first to The Bronx NY, then at age ten to New Orleans where he attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Over the years there he
p e r f o r me d w it h Leroy Jones, Mem S h a n n o n , A lv i n
Batiste, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Donald Byrd, Eddie
Harris, Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Sonny Fortune, David Amram and many others. He has recorded with the likes of Charles Neville, flutist, Kent Jordan and Saya Saito as well as his own solo CD, The Garinagu Story. Julian has been seen around town playing at Jardine’s, YJs and The Phoenix.

The second good fortune for the Kansas City percussion outlook comes in the form of a phenomenal, young drummer/composer/world percussionist/educator named Brandon Draper, who comes to us from New Mexico. Brandon is
teaching drum corps and world percussion at Shawnee West Mission High School, having previously been Director of Music at East Mountain Charter High School in Sandia Park, Mew Mexico and three other high schools in Albuquerque. He performed there with The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Ottmar Liebert, Donna Summer, Bobby Shew, Frank Mantooth, Mose Allison, Kenny Werner, Robin Eubanks, Eddie Daniels and Kevin Hays. Since arriving in Kansas City, Brandon has shared the stage with Paul Smith, Bob Bowman, Roger
Wilder, Gerald Spaits and was a member of The Loren Pickford Quartet on their recent tour of St Louis, Memphis and New Orleans.

—Loren Pickford

Kevin Mahogany at the Iridium
This is the “Shadow” checking in with a quick update from New York. I had the good fortune to catch KC’s own Kevin Mahogany and company at the Iridium club in New York on the last weekend of July. Mr. Mahogany was in top form accompanied
by Charles Haynes on drums and Melissa Slocum on bass.

Kevin is currently performing a thoughtful show dedicated to the legendary (and in my humble opinion seriously under-appreciated) jazz vocalist Johnny Hartman. The evening was a success and the audience thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
In the final analysis, a good time was had by all including one of the overly-lubricated fans sitting next to me who decided to inadvertently sing a duet with Kevin on Lush Life. To Mr. Mahogany’s credit, as a consummate professional, he didn’t
miss a beat and rendered a wonderful performance of this Strayhorn classic. I applaud Kevin’s efforts to bring more attention to the life and work of the great jazz legend Johnny Hartman.

- Roger Atkinson






	Search our site:		It's been another season for special events.... The best place to be for a week in October was Jardine’s, where for five straight nights the music was outstanding. Starting with the Gary Sivils quintet on Sunday, the week had one of the best local lineups in recent memory. Bob Bowman’s Bowdog was in on Monday. With Jake Blanton, Wayne Hawkins, and Tim Cambron on board, this still-new Bowman quartet is a super platform for originals from Bob and Jake, plus originals that always seem to start with a statement from the bassist. Laura Chalk was in on Tuesday with Paul Smith, Bowman, and Cambron. Those who have not heard Laura for a while might want to; she continues to add to her repertoire of standards, tosses in a more recent tune (although I guess “Killing Me Softly” can hardly be called recent), and loves playing with the melody line. Stan Kessler’s new band, Horace Scope, debuted on Wednesday, digging into the world of Horace Silver’s compositions. I have to note that this was a rarity in Kansas City, a band with a trumpet–tenor front line; it’s a great classic mainstream sound. And if that wasn’t enough, Joe Cartwright’s “Best of Kansas City” series was on stage on Thursday evening, with guitarist Charlie Gatschet as the guest of honor. Gatschet’s guitar tends to be soft and melodic, in the Jim Hall/Ed Bickert mold, and Cartwright’s heat worked well in contrast. Joe can build a ton of tension in his solos, and Charlie comes in and releases it all. McCoy Tyner’s trio, with bassist Charnett Moffett and drummer Eric Gravatt was the opening concert in the “Jammin’ at the Gem” series. Tyner’s music has always been filled with heavy rhythms—they really strut—and Gravatt gets into these rhythms as well as anyone. The concert took me back to McCoy’s bands in the late 1970s that included Gravatt, Charles Fambrough on bass, and front lines of George Adams, Joe Ford, and others. McCoy’s music remains exhilarating, even if some of the lightening has left his right hand. Speaking of Jim Hall, Gatschet and Matt Hopper and a few other KC guitarists were in the Folly Theater audience for the duets between Hall and pianist Geoff Keezer. The duo played a number of Hall originals, and a few standards, with some self deprecating humor that made it a most enjoyable evening. Back to Jardine’s, where Kevin Cerovich brought a new quartet for a debut outing in November. Kevin is an alumnus of Shawnee Mission East, Leon Brady’s bands, and UMKC, and fans of the trombone will want to catch him when you have the opportunity. The band featured Kevin’s originals—he is a fine young writer—mixed in with standards that you don’t hear every day. It was good to hear drummer Arny Young’s quartet with Charles Perkins, Gerald Spaits, and Jack Lightfoot again at the Blue Room, performing their originals plus compositions by Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and Ornette Coleman. The piano-less format keeps the music open, and the interplay between the quartet makes for an invigorating listen. While not a Kansas City event, we went to Las Vegas at the end of October to witness history, the last show at the legendary Stardust Hotel theater. Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme were the headliners for the occasion, doing what they do best—entertain with the best of standard popular music. Backing them was a big band with a full string section. Needless to say, it was a great evening of American Popular Song (with a touch of Brazil thrown in for good measure). There are few left working in the genre; it seems like the end of a great era of music and entertainment. I’m surely not the only person who left a tad weepy. Opening the show were film clips highlighting the couple’s long career, including a hilarious duet that Steve did with Johnny Carson, where they did a Steve and Eydie romantic ballad together. —Roger Atkinson New Drummers Move to Kansas City Two great drummers have recently moved to Kansas City and promise to enrich the scene here. The first, Julian Garcia was a Katrina evacuee from New Orleans who spent time in Memphis and teaching in Oneida NY before deciding to reside in Kansas City. He was born in La Ceiba, Honduras, immersed in his native Grinagu culture and moved with his family first to The Bronx NY, then at age ten to New Orleans where he attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Over the years there he p e r f o r me d w it h Leroy Jones, Mem S h a n n o n , A lv i n Batiste, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Donald Byrd, Eddie Harris, Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Sonny Fortune, David Amram and many others. He has recorded with the likes of Charles Neville, flutist, Kent Jordan and Saya Saito as well as his own solo CD, The Garinagu Story. Julian has been seen around town playing at Jardine’s, YJs and The Phoenix. The second good fortune for the Kansas City percussion outlook comes in the form of a phenomenal, young drummer/composer/world percussionist/educator named Brandon Draper, who comes to us from New Mexico. Brandon is teaching drum corps and world percussion at Shawnee West Mission High School, having previously been Director of Music at East Mountain Charter High School in Sandia Park, Mew Mexico and three other high schools in Albuquerque. He performed there with The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, Ottmar Liebert, Donna Summer, Bobby Shew, Frank Mantooth, Mose Allison, Kenny Werner, Robin Eubanks, Eddie Daniels and Kevin Hays. Since arriving in Kansas City, Brandon has shared the stage with Paul Smith, Bob Bowman, Roger Wilder, Gerald Spaits and was a member of The Loren Pickford Quartet on their recent tour of St Louis, Memphis and New Orleans. —Loren Pickford Kevin Mahogany at the Iridium This is the “Shadow” checking in with a quick update from New York. I had the good fortune to catch KC’s own Kevin Mahogany and company at the Iridium club in New York on the last weekend of July. Mr. Mahogany was in top form accompanied by Charles Haynes on drums and Melissa Slocum on bass. Kevin is currently performing a thoughtful show dedicated to the legendary (and in my humble opinion seriously under-appreciated) jazz vocalist Johnny Hartman. The evening was a success and the audience thoroughly enjoyed themselves. In the final analysis, a good time was had by all including one of the overly-lubricated fans sitting next to me who decided to inadvertently sing a duet with Kevin on Lush Life. To Mr. Mahogany’s credit, as a consummate professional, he didn’t miss a beat and rendered a wonderful performance of this Strayhorn classic. I applaud Kevin’s efforts to bring more attention to the life and work of the great jazz legend Johnny Hartman. - Roger Atkinson RETURN TO DECEMBER 2006/JANUARY 2007 MAIN INDEX © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2005. All rights reserved.