Stevie Wonder celebrates, mourns Michael Jackson in concert

I had no idea what was going to happen at Stevie Wonder's concert at Kansas City's Starlight Theatre, the day after the death of his friend Michael Jackson. You can find out what happened in my review. Peace.

A personal note: When Michael Jackson saw me play

Pretty sure it was my senior year at Moore High School in Oklahoma. I played lead guitar in the stage band.

Well, we went to All-State in Tulsa, where we stayed at the Mayo Hotel downtown. I remember a restaurant, by a train station(?), where I ate two breakfasts in one sitting. Sax player Lindell Steffens said we should enter me in a contest. I was a skinny kid.

You know, I always liked the way, say, B.B. King's fingers looked when I saw him play guitar on TV and they did a close-up of his hands. For some reason, my hands didn't look like that.

Early one morning, we went to a Tulsa TV station to record a selection for broadcast. We were invited into the booth to watch the playback. During my solo, the camera zoomed in on my hands. And they looked like B.B.'s did on TV! I really, really got a thrill out of that, like there was something I was doing right because it looked right.

All-State was maybe a two- or three-day event.

Well, one morning, I think it was a Saturday, the Moore High School stage band set up in a ballroom at the Mayo Hotel. Our name was on the sign outside the ballroom as being scheduled to play. Cool.

So we were set up in the middle of the ballroom, facing the big double doors. Seems like maybe we had a 30-minute set to play that morning.

Well, we were a couple of minutes into our set when the big doors opened and in walks this kid, all by himself, with his shirt untucked. He stood to the right of the doors, just listening.

It was Michael Jackson. We had heard the Jackson 5 were staying at the Mayo, and here he was!

So he stood inside the doors for a good 10 minutes or so, just listening, like I said. Then he quietly left.

You know, we weren't really that abuzz about it. I mean, we did talk about it, like, "Did you see? That was Michael Jackson!"

We heard that after he left the ballroom, some female fans recognized him and chased after him, that he barely made it into the elevator in time.

It was cool, though, and I guess he liked what he heard, at least enough to not walk right in and walk right back out.

And, years later, it makes a good story about when Michael Jackson saw me play.

Cool.

JOSH NELSON at Jardine's June 21!

Josh Nelson, one of LA's top jazz pianists, will be in Kansas City for two shows at 6 and 8:30 p.m., Sunday evening, June 21, at Jardine's, 4536 Main. He'll be accompanied by KC's own Gerald Spaits on bass and Tim Cambrone on drums. Besides being an adept at the keys, Nelson is also a talented composer with fresh ideas. Get a taste of his sound at his website, Josh Nelson Music, where you can hear full streams from his debut, Let It Go. And watch for his new album, I Hear a Rhapsody, due July 21. Nelson's KC appearance is part of Jardine's Sunday Concert Series, and cover is $10. It would make a great Father's Day evening!

KARRIN ALLYSON at Jardine's June 17 and 18!

Kansas City favorite Karrin Allyson returns for a two-night engagement with two shows at 7 and 9 p.m., June 17 and 18, at Jardine's, 4536 Main. But if you don't have reservations by now, you'll have to call 816-561-6480 to be put on a waiting list; all four shows are practically sold out! Allyson is on tour in advance of her album By Request: The Best of Karrin Allyson, her 12th album for Concord Records. The 13-song album covers a variety of styles and encompasses her Concord releases, from 1993's I Didn't Know About You to 2007's Imagina: Songs of Brasil. It features one of her top-downloaded tracks, "Cherokee," plus a previously unreleased song, "Next Time Around (Soultrane)." The album is set for a June 30 release, but catch her live in Kansas City if you can!

You say 'ooo-may' …

… you spell it Ume. Either way, Lauren and Eric Larson and Jeff Barrera are a must-see band on tour now with a catchy hard-pop sound you could call kraut-pop. They've got stops scheduled for Toronto's NXNE Fest and ATHFEST in Athens, Ga. Check out the video for "The Conductor" from Ume's Sunshower EP.

Now catch them on tour:
6/12 - Austin, TX @ Emo's
6/13 - Hot Springs, AR @ Maxine's
6/14 - St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird
6/15 - Chicago, IL @ Ronny's Bar
6/16 - WOXY radio early session.
6/16 - Cleveland, OH @ Now That's Class
6/17 - Rochester, NY @ The Bug Jar w/ The Strange Boys
6/18 - Toronto, ON NXNE Festival @ Neutral Lounge
6/19 - Toronto, ON - La Blogotheque early session
6/19 - Jamestown, NY @ Mojo's
6/20 - Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands Gallery (early show 7:30-10:00)
6/21 - Philadelphia, PA @ Danger Danger Gallery
6/22 - Richmond, VA @ The Camel
6/23 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Fuse
6/24 - Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
6/25 - Asheville, NC - Emerald Lounge
6/26 - ATHFEST @ Go Bar, Athens, GA
6/27 - Wilmington, NC @ Soapbox w/ Polvo

'Singer's singer' Kenny Rankin passes away

Kenny Rankin, the renowned singer, songwriter and musician, died from complications of lung cancer at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles on June 7. He was 69.

Rankin's music career spanned 50 years beginning with a handful of singles for Decca Records in the late 1950s. A few years later, he signed with Columbia Records and found himself playing guitar on Bob Dylan's landmark 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. Soon after, The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson became such a fan that Rankin was invited to appear on the show more than 20 times. Carson also contributed liner notes to Rankin's 1967 debut LP, Mind Dusters, which included his much-covered pop standard "Peaceful."

Growing up in the multicultural hotbed of New York's Washington Heights neighborhood, Rankin absorbed a broad array of musical influences from Afro-Cuban to Top 40 to jazz to Brazilian.

Rankin's supple, pristine tenor earned him status as a singer's singer, while his songwriting talents have been widely recognized by his peers. Some of his earlier compositions include Peggy Lee's "In The Name Of Love" as well as versions of "Haven't We Met" performed by Carmen McRae and Mel Tormé.

Rankin's own unique gift for reworking classic songs such as The Beatles' "Blackbird," which he recorded for his Silver Morning album, so impressed Paul McCartney that he asked Rankin to perform his interpretation of the song when McCartney and John Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 1987.

The much-acclaimed The Kenny Rankin Album was recorded in 1976 live with a 60-piece orchestra, arranged and conducted by the legendary Don Costa, creating what many now consider the first contemporary "torch" album.

Throughout the last 20 years, Rankin continued to tour and perform for his steadfast and devoted following.

Rankin was recently signed to the Sly Dog imprint of Mack Avenue Records and was scheduled to record a few weeks ago with famed producer Phil Ramone when the label learned of his illness, which led to the cancellation of those sessions.

Mack Avenue president Denny Stilwell said, "The news on Sunday of Kenny's passing took us all by surprise. That he was still at the top of his game is one of the saddest parts of his passing for me. He performed the new material in our office over the last few months, and his voice was still in its finest form. He sounded absolutely amazing. Our hearts and prayers are with his family."

Rankin is survived by his son, two daughters and granddaughter. Funeral arrangements are pending, and a memorial service in Los Angeles is being planned.

Freddie Hubbard, Without a Song: Live in Europe 1969

Freddie Hubbard
Without a Song: Live in Europe 1969
(Blue Note)
Street date: June 2

Wow. That will be your reaction on hearing the lead-off title track. And that's at first listen to Freddie Hubbard's rich, round tone as he riffs on his hard-bop roots. Then Roland Hanna enters with a glittering piano solo. Hubbard was the leader of a touring quartet, including bassist Ron Carter and drummer Louis Hayes, that, perhaps for its roadworthiness, shows a turn-on-a-dime telepathy. Take note of "A Night in Tunisia." This album shows Hubbard at the height of his powers, crossing a bridge of styles. For instance, Hubbard's "Space Track" starts at breakneck speed, then goes to a seemingly free-floating tempo, yet the quartet knows where it is at all times. If anything, Without a Song highlights Hubbard's career, which floundered during the jazz-lite days of the '70s when many acts were self-consciously seeking success. This album shows why the late trumpeter — he died in December at the age of 70 — has his own niche in the jazz pantheon.

Art Tatum, Ben Webster, The Album

Art Tatum, Ben Webster
The Album
(Essential Jazz Classics)
Street date: June 2

This CD, one of four June 2 releases from the Essential Jazz Classics label, presents what the liner notes call "a true landmark in recorded jazz history … the original Art Tatum-Ben Webster Quartet album in its entirety." Tatum's piano and Webster's tenor sax are backed by Red Callender's bass and Bill Douglass' drums. And, yes, Callender and Douglass complete this evocative portrait, but make no mistake, it is Tatum and Webster who are the luminaries. But at the time of this session, Sept. 11, 1956, Tatum's elegant rhythmic and harmonic stylings were being overtaken by modernists such as Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. Producer Norman Granz saw this and gave Tatum, an inspirational figure for many pianists, the chance to put many sessions to tape. The pairing of Tatum and Webster is the zenith of those recordings. Webster's breathy romancing of the saxophone is such a perfect pairing with Tatum's classicism as to be evocative and wrap around the heart. The last five tracks on this CD are Art Tatum solos.

Sonny Rollins, Saxophone Colossus

Sonny Rollins
Saxophone Colossus
(Essential Jazz Classics)
Street date: June 2

What can you say? Saxophone Colossus is an undisputed masterpiece. For one thing, it leads off with a classic all its own: the infectious calypso melody of the tenor man's "St. Thomas." Those who are new to this album will appreciate Rollins' brilliant consistency through uptempos and ballads and will brighten upon hearing "Moritat," also known as "Mack the Knife." With jazz poet Tommy Flanagan on piano, Doug Watkins on bass and Max Roach on drums, this session was recorded on June 22, 1956, four days before the end of the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet, of which Rollins had been a member for half a year. Brown and the quintet's pianist, Richie Powell, would die in the same car accident, changing a lot of things. But what doesn't change is the colossal nature of this album.
As with other current Essential Jazz Classics releases, this one has a bonus album, Work Time, an earlier album Rollins recorded with pianist Ray Bryant, bassist George Morrow and Roach. It shows the promise of things to come.

Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach Quintet, Complete Studio Recordings

Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach Quintet
Complete Studio Recordings
(Essential Jazz Classics)
Street date: June 2

Besides the three jazz greats named above, this quintet is completed by Richie Powell on drums and George Morrow on bass. And, as with Essential Jazz Classics' Red Garland CD, the sessions on Complete Studio Recordings are from 1956. Before rock had its short-lived supergroups, jazz had this one. Tenor saxman Sonny Rollins was the last personnel change to complete this lineup for trumpeter Brown and drummer Roach's five-piece. Fortunately, this lineup had the chance to record three studio sessions between January and March of '56. The result: Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street (a studio recording, despite its title) and Sonny Rollins Plus Four, the master takes of both dynamic albums being heard here. You can hear and feel a delicious tension throughout, the tension of musicians who know they're creating change.

Red Garland, The 1956 Trio

Red Garland
The 1956 Trio
(Essential Jazz Classics)
Street date: June 2

This release compiles all of the trio studio recordings made by pianist Red Garland in 1956 with Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. The complete A Garland of Red album is here, as well as tracks from the Dec. 14 session that yielded two more albums, Groovy and Red Garland’s Piano, represented here by two tracks each. Garland’s gracefulness is certainly a hallmark of these sessions, and, as time has shown, Chambers’ stand-up foundations and Taylor’s stick- and brushwork are the perfect complement to the pianist’s every tempo. After 12 tracks with Taylor on drums, there’s a lucky 13th: "Ahmad’s Blues" features drummer Philly Joe Jones, recorded during Miles Davis’ final sessions for Prestige.

The Oracle rates The Taking of Pelham 123

The Oracle here at Robert Folsom Writes knows you don't have to see a movie to rate it. All you have to do is watch the trailer.

3 out of 5 subway cars for The Taking of Pelham 123, coming out June 12. Denzel Washington is the ordinary-guy dispatcher taking on John Travolta as the mastermind subway hijacker.
Director Tony Scott's slick remake — usually called an "updating" these days — will not improve on the 1974 version, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, which had Walter Matthau's ordinary-guy dispatcher matching wits with Robert Shaw as the mastermind behind the hijacking of Pelham 123. The gritty '74 version has tension with a humorous ending. Slick 2009 loses out to gritty 1974. Oh well.

Kat Edmondson makes NYC debut June 2

You could meet rising star Kat Edmondson at the rainbow's end, a reference to her song "Lucky" that was featured on Spielberg's Showtime series The United States of Tara, or you can catch her two shows at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., June 2, at New York City's Jazz Standard, 117 E. 27th St. Special guest: Toronto singer-songwriter Kate Schutt. For more information call 212-576-2232.

Spain Colored Orange gets sneaky

Spain Colored Orange
Sneaky Like a Villain
(Shout It Out Loud Music)

From the reedy psychedlic intro, "The Radio's On Again," to the brassy retro-pollinated pop of the closer, "Birds and the Bees," Spain Colored Orange's album does live up to its title. It is sneaky. And it works its way into your ears with catchy vocal melodies and layers of instruments that are played so guilelessly, you're not aware that you're hearing some sophisticated arrangements that must have been as fun to work out as they are to play. And hear.

Jermaine Landsberger starts a fire

Jermaine Landsberger
Gettin' Blazed
(Resonance Records)

German-born Hammond B-3 keyboardist Jermaine Landsberger starts the jazz fire warmly on his stateside debut. "Sno' Peas" starts the catalytic action in waltz time and shows the chemistry of Landsberger, respected drummer Harvey Mason, bassist James Genus, saxophonist Gary Meek and renowned guitarist Pat Martino. Swedish guitarist Andreas Öberg gets his turn to burn with Martino on Django Reinhardt's "Babik," by which time the chemical reaction is shining brightly. A "St. Thomas" quote here, a "Days of Wine and Roses" quote there, make this jazz lover’s album complete.