JAM: February/March 2007 Issue: For the Record

Kerry Strayer Quartet with Special Guest Gary Foster
Play It Where It Lays
Personnel: Kerry Strayer, baritone sax; Gary Foster, alto and tenor sax; Paul Smith, piano; Bob Bowman, bass; Todd Strait , drums; Frank Mantooth, piano.

Tracks: 3625 Central; Blues O'Mighty; Perfectly Frank; Jammin' at the Kirk; Funk in Deep Freeze; Mentor; All Too Soon; Friends Again; Play It Where It Lays; Bertha the Dragoness.

Recorded at Soundtrek Studios, Kansas City , MO. Engineers: Grant Schainost, Jeff Schiller, and Rob Ubel. Producers: Keith Cox, Kerry Strayer, and Kim Park.

In some ways, this is an album about teachers and students, since Kerry Strayer, once a student of Gary Foster's at UMKC, has brought his mentor and tunes created under his instruction to the album. Years ago, Strayer composed “3625 Central” under Foster's direction, a tune whose melodic line is written to the changes of “Out of Nowhere.” And “ Mentor ,” written to the changes of “What is This Thing Called Love,” is also part of an earlier Strayer/Foster collaboration.

Refreshingly, almost half of the songs on the CD are Strayer originals: “3625 Central,” “Perfectly Frank,” “Jammin' at the Kirk,” and “ Mentor .” Also, Foster contributes a tune, the album's title song, “Play It Where It Lays.”

Backed by the PBT Trio rhythm section (Paul Smith, Bob Bowman, and Todd Strait ), Strayer and Foster swing and groove hard and are allowed to soar melodically. Together, Foster and Strayer sound like a much larger horn section. Their sounds combine and strengthen in the melody of “Blues O'Mighty,” and wshen the big sound of these two saxophonists separates into two distinct horn solos, we are not surprised by their individual strengths.

Strayer's tune “Jammin' at the Kirk,” written to the changes of “Pennies from Heaven,” easily demonstrates how a musical reference may not always go unnoticed. Strayer remarks in his liner notes that he's delighted that several congregation members noticed and asked the band about this musical reference at John Knox Presbyterian, when the quartet played there for services. Obviously, Strayer's listeners were in tune to what he was up to musically. Plus, it's not every day that one hears (or receives) “Pennies from Heaven” in church. Foster's solo on this track makes especially good use of the tune's “Pennies from Heaven” foundation, as do Smith and Bowman. You can hear catches of the popular tune in their phrasings. It is as if in the musical monologues that are their solos they interrupt to tell a little joke or two, jokes that are references to this well-known tune.

Frank Mantooth's personality and style is captured and memorialized well on the CD's first track, “3625 Central.” This track, brought forward after the pianist and jazz educator's death, might be reason enough for fans to buy this album. Mantooth contributes the fourth solo on this tune, providing some sweetness from the beyond for listeners. This track is brought forward from an earlier collaboration on the album Mentor , where Mantooth was the pianist. The disc soon filled with songs, Strayer notes, and “3625 Central” remained for use at a later date, as it happens on this album.

Overall, this is a very clean, professional, swinging album. It demonstrates the strength of Kansas City musicians, both past and present.

—Kevin Rabas

Lonnie McFadden
Going in Circles
G-4ORCE Productions – 2007

Personnel: Allen Monroe, keyboards; Chris Clark, keyboards; Mark Lowery, keyboards; Kenny Hudson, bass (Tracks 1, 2, 4-7, and 9-11); Marcus Wright, bass; Allen Monroe, keyboard bass (Track 9); Go-Go Ray, drums (Tracks 1-7 and 10-11); Bobby Adams, drums (Track 8); Mark Gilmore, guitar; Lonnie McFadden, lead horns; The G-4ORCE Horns, background horns; Gina McFadden, background vocals (Track 9); George O. Robinson, background vocals (Track 9).

Tracks: Get Ready, Chameleon, People Make the World…, Memphis Underground, Superstition, Wonderful World, Come Together, Summertime, Going in Circles, Use Me, All Blues.

Tracks recorded by Andy Oxman at Sound Works Teaching & Recording Studio in Blue Springs, MO, and by T. C. Griddine at TGP Production Studio in Kansas City, MO.

There are many names synonymous with Kansas City music, especially within jazz. The roll call throughout the years is like a Who's Who in Jazz: Bennie Moten, Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Jay McShann, Charlie Parker, Hot Lips Page, Big Joe Turner, Mary Lou Williams, Claude Williams—the list could go on forever, and I still wouldn't be able to do it justice. The name most tied with Kansas City jazz in recent years would have to be the multi-talented McFadden Brothers. Hoofers extraordinaire, Ronald and Lonnie McFadden, are living landmarks in the Kansas City area and are recognizable worldwide. In Going in Circles , younger brother Lonnie breaks away from his brother and shows off his horn skills.

Lonnie McFadden has been an entertainer since he was in grade school and learned the trade with brother Ronald at the early ages of three and four. He and his brother learned tap licks and rhythms from their entertainer father, “Smilin'” Jimmy McFadden, who had danced with numerous top entertainers and orchestras of the ‘30s and ‘40s, including The Count Basie Orchestra. In addition to piano lessons, the elder McFadden had his sons learn comedy routines, tap dances, and songs to sing. By ages six and seven, the boys gave their first recital—and they haven't turned back since. The brothers toured first as Lonnie and The Band and more recently as The McFadden Brothers. Today Ronald and Lonnie still perform at major music venues, and Lonnie teaches the art of tap dancing in Kansas City . The release of Going in Circles showcases Lonnie's masterful skills as lead horn man on the CD.

Kicking off the release is an all too quick, but amazingly performed, tap introduction to “Get Ready.” The tap routine is a great lead-in to the Temptations hit. The horn rendition offered by Lonnie and The G-4ORCE Horns is superb. A 1970s synthesized funky baseline intro is the perfect lead-in to “Chameleon.” Featured on the 1973 Herbie Hancock album Head Hunters , McFadden and his band give the Hancock hit their own twists, but still do the influential song justice.

In another cover of a jazz hit featuring the talent of Herbie Hancock, McFadden sends up his version of the Stylistics' (and previously covered by Milt Jackson) “People Make the World…”. This track's slow jazz will ooze its way into your pores and relax you for the rest of the day. Jamming with a hard but ragged edge, “Memphis Underground” harkens back to the days of the late ‘60s when jazz greats like Herbie Mann were reinventing jazz once again. Stevie Wonder's great “Superstition” follows up. I'm always apprehensive when I see this track on someone's playlist. The artist needs a certain feel and a particular vibe to pull it off. Everything has to fall into just the right places at just the right time to give it that ‘70s funk feel, and McFadden succeeds.

Over the past forty years or so, it seems as though half the recording artists cover Louis Armstrong's deeply moving “Wonderful World.” This is the first time I can recall where the featured artist is a trumpeter—just like Armstrong. McFadden keeps the feel somber and is able to hit those wonderful Armstrong notes on the trumpet like no other. Along with “Memphis Underground,” “Wonderful World” ranks as my favorite track on this release. Taking the listener out of the jazz genre for the first time, McFadden and his band cover the Beatles' hit “Come Together” and are able to successfully hit the distinct Abbey Road funk that the Fab Four created in their final few years.

Next up is the Gershwin great “Summertime,” composed for the jazz opera Porgy and Bess . Quicker than Clara's lullaby that Gershwin intended, the tune has been covered so many times that the song has taken on a life all its own, and here it sounds great. It still retains that South Carolina , sultry-evening-in-the-dead-middle-of-summer feel. Gina McFadden and George O. Robinson lend their background vocal talents to the next track, “Going in Circles,” first introduced by the Friends of Distinction and covered by many since, including Isaac Hayes and Luther Vandross. Their voices are wonderful accompaniments to McFadden's leading horn. Leading the listener into the final song is Bill Withers' “ Use Me. ” Spread the news; if it feels this good then just keep playing this track over and over.

Rounding out Going in Circles is the phenomenal Miles Davis hit “All Blues” from Kind of Blue . McFadden is able to keep the 6/8 waltz feel, but still make the song his own work of art. While McFadden may not be able to use this song to ride him to the top of the charts, Kind of Blue style, and rack up a million sales over forty years later, the uniqueness of this release should keep him on the charts in Kansas City jazz for years to come. Pick up the CD and hear why Lonnie McFadden continues to draw crowds decades after getting his entertaining start. If you can, you should try and catch him live. He appears on a consistent basis throughout Kansas City , and no matter what the venue, you will be amazed, shocked, pleased (pick a superlative adjective) by the performance and leave wanting more, the same way I was after listening to Going in Circles.

—Tristan Smith