Kansas City Rhythm & Ribs, This Friday and Saturday

[Eric]

http://www.kcrhythmandribs.com/2007/performers.html

I was clueless about this - will definitely want to see Metheny, trio-style (Friday night) and Javon Jackson with Lonnie Smith (late Saturday afternoon)! Looks like some great local talent too!!!

[Hot Ptah]

I saw the Metheny trio and Javon Jackson's group with Dr. Lonnie Smith and Les McCann. What were your impressions, Eric?

[Eric]

I only saw Metheny (although I wanted to see Jackson/Smith!).

First off, I was pretty impressed with the overall set-up. It seemed like a "big time" event, although maybe I just have low expectations.

I really enjoyed the Metheny show. I liked the way he was all over the map, style-wise. I may be in the minority, but I love his guitar/synth sound (or whatever it is). I also thought Christian McBride was excellent - he is definitely a player. I have seen Pat maybe 4-5 times over the last 25 years and I always enjoy his persona - he really seems to be enjoying himself and I find it infectious. The only thing that bugged me was the "bleed over" from the other stage during his quieter songs.

[Hot Ptah]

I also thought that Pat Metheny was excellent with his trio. I thought that few guitarists, if any, could have played so creatively over a long set as he did. To play the quieter material in front of an outdoor festival concert audience and keep their attention was remarkable, I thought.

I also thought that he used the guitar synthesizer sparingly and in good taste, to add some variation to the sound. He did not use it bombastically.

It was a real jazz set, and I agree that McBride was excellent, both with the bow and plucking the bass. I also liked their final funky number.

I have gone to all three Rhythm and Ribs festivals and they have been professionally run--to me, they have been set up better than the old Blues and Jazz festivals, with better food, better security, and better facilites overall. I agree that the bleeding over of the sound from the smaller stage is a problem that they need to fix.

[Eric]

I have gone to all three Rhythm and Ribs festivals and they have been professionally run--to me, they have been set up better than the old Blues and Jazz festivals, with better food, better security, and better facilites overall. I agree that the bleeding over of the sound from the smaller stage is a problem that they need to fix.

I am getting old and out of the loop - I didn't even know this was the third year! Yes, my reference point was also the old Blues/Jazz festivals. I will definitely look for this and talk it up next year.

How was Javon Jackson/Lonnie Smith?

[Hot Ptah]

Javon Jackson appeared with his own quartet, which was an electric jazz/funk band. It was very good, as it included David Gilmore on guitar and Kenny Davis on bass, together with newcomer Rudy Royston on drums. They were tight and energetic. Gilmore played some interesting solos.

I have been underwhelmed by Javon Jackson as a hard bop tenor sax player in an acoustic setting. He seemed to fit in better with the electric funk band. He played with much energy and simpler ideas than he attempts in his acoustic group. So it was a good set of songs by just the four of them to open the set. Jackson seems intent on taking over Dexter Gordon's mantle as master of the quote, often quoting from bits of common songs in the midst of a flight of improvisation. Jackson quoted the entire head of "When the Saints Go Marching In" at one point, which is more than I ever heard Dexter quote at one time.

After some songs by just the four of them, they brought out Dr. Lonnie Smith. He played tastefully with the group, and added some fine solos. He raised the energy level and was an excellent addition.

At the end of the set, they brought out Les McCann. Dr. Lonnie Smith stayed with the group too. Les played acoustic piano on three songs, singing on the last two. He did "Cold Duck Time" and "Compared to What" from the famous album with Eddie Harris, with a simple blues shuffle tune in between. His piano playing was tasteful and tight, but he did not stretch out much for any extended soloing of note.

Les McCann's stage announcements were amazing. After being helped onto the stage, to join a group which had been playing to an enthusiastic reception by the audience for over an hour, he started out by calling Kansas City a "sad ass town". He commented that he had been "on the other side of the river" the night before and that they had "thrown him out" but that he didn't care what they did to him.

What did that even mean? As those who know the Kansas City area would know, any area on the other side of a river from 18th and Vine would be a huge and quite varied geographic area, with more that 200,000 people and hundreds of businesses. So what did it mean that "the other side of the river" treated him badly?

After the first song, Les McCann said that it was hot, and that we out in the audience should all take off all of our clothes and "get buck naked". As Les himself is quite old looking, completely bald and very heavyset at this point in his life, I was hoping that he would not take the lead in this effort. He did not do so.

A middle aged woman sitting in the grass near the stage yelled out to Les at this point, and they exchanged banter for a while. Luckily only some of it could be heard or fully understood. Some of Les' comments were X rated. There were a fair number of families with small children at this outdoor community event, one of the City's major outreach efforts to the black community.

After the next song, Les said that he wanted to see us all dance, get sweaty and wet, and get "wet coochies". He then called out to the woman in the grass, making more suggestive remarks, including "mama, you got enough to feed an entire family." Again, I wondered what the families with elementary age school children in the audience, who had paid $30 a ticket, thought of all of this. As Les is basically a frail old man, almost as fat around as he is tall, these sexual comments came off as creepy and weird to me. Maybe in a small smoky nightclub at 3 a.m. they would be funny.

The set ended at that point, and there was no call for an encore, one of the few times that there wasn't one over the weekend.

Edited June 18, 2007 by Hot Ptah

[Eric]

Wow - that is creepy. I bet Javon thinks twice about bringing him out somewhere else.

[Hot Ptah]

Wow - that is creepy. I bet Javon thinks twice about bringing him out somewhere else.

Javon did not seem particularly distraught.

Another indication of Les' personality. Before he played "Cold Duck Time", his first song, he said to the audience, "well, I used to play with another saxophone player. What was his name....." After a long pause, he said, "oh yeah, it was Eddie Harris. We're going to do a song I recorded with him." This was all said in an edgy, angry voice, not in good natured fun.

As it was inconceivable that he would not remember Eddie Harris, I was thinking that he has a unique sense of humor.

Edited June 18, 2007 by Hot Ptah