Kansas City New Music | Black House Improvisors' Collective

three cheers for the private sector

In our never-ending quest to take over the world, I'm always looking for ways to improve and develop BHIC. The collective frequently gets offers to perform that we can't take advantage of due to the workshop structure of our program. That's why I'm happy to announce the expansion of Black House with a new Black House flagship performing group that features some of the best of Kansas City's young, up-and-coming jazz talent:
 
trumpet - Nick Howell
tenor - Hunter Long
trombone - Ryan Heinlein
bass clarinet - Russell Thorpe
guitar - Jeff Stocks
bass - Ben Leifer
drums - Matt Leifer
 
This septet will function as a working group and play on a more regular basis than the current 3 workshops per year. As with all things BHIC, this group will exclusively perform original music produced either in our workshops or by the members of the group. We have produced a wealth of work over the past two years of Black House that I feel deserves a chance to live on. This will also serve as an incentive for workshop participants to develop their music for a chance to be picked up by the flagship group. 
 
The creation of this new project is due to the support of Take 5 Coffee + Bar. I was contacted by the owner, Lori, about bringing in the Collective, which I had to turn down due to logistical reasons. I told her about the idea for this group and she immediately agreed to give us 3 shows, which enabled me to actually put the band together.
 
For those of you who might be curious about what it's like to put together a band that consists of in-demand jazz players, it's a "chicken or the egg" situation that goes something like this:
 
Wannabe band leader:"Hey I'm thinking about putting together a kick-ass band. Would you be interested?"
 
Musician politely responds:"Let me know when you've got some shows and we can go from there."
 
So you've got to have gigs to get a band together but how do you get gigs before the band exists? 
 
If you're looking for how to support and nurture the local music scene, look no further than Take 5 Coffee + Bar. The premiere performance of this group will be on Friday, January 13 from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., but I encourage you all to head out to Take 5 before then to check out all the great jazz they put on. 
 
If you're interested in booking the new BHIC flagship group, email me at blackhouseimprov@gmail.com   
 

Live at La Esquina 2011

Folded arms is a defensive posture.

Here is the performance of the 8th workshop in its entirety. Enjoy

Download Black House Presents...

Money well spent

Leah

Well it was another great first rehearsal. Russell stepped up in a big way and had four tunes ready to rehearse. It's still early, but this group feels like a really nice change of pace for us. Especially compared to the previous group, which had a more aggressive vibe about it. This group feels a bit quirkier and the music seems more intimate. I'm very excited to see where this is going.

Teri, Mike, Brian, Russell, Eric 

I had the good fortune to attend the Ambrose Akinmusire performance last Friday. I was miffed about the $35 tickets until about halfway through the second song when I realized the quality of the music I was hearing. Ambrose is easiest the best trumpet player I've ever heard that isn't named Wynton. You do not play music at that level without enormous personal sacrifice and I felt priviledged to be there. I attended a similarly billed Miles Davis tribute a few years ago that was led by Herbie Hancock and included John Patitucci, Roy Hargrove, Michael Brecker and Brian Blade. The Herbie concert was much more in-your-face and experimental. I remember most of it going over my head, but it included Michael Brecker's amazing solo performance of "Naima" which was an event unto itself. This past Friday's concert had younger players and was considerably more conservative but felt no less sincere and accomplished. Part of me couldn't help thinking that Miles Davis never had to bill himself as a tribute to someone else.