Uniform consistency is also precisely what’s prized at Kansas City’s ballyhooed barbecue restaurants. The State of This City doesn’t contain a single surprise or unexpected turn. Local audiences demand expertly performed straight-ahead jazz. The lackluster response of what seems to be a couple dozen people at the Green Lady Lounge Black Dolphin sounds as if hostages are being forced to applaud at gunpoint. The audience at the live recording is the most troubling aspect of The State of This City. Lower is unleashed on “Modal Logic.” And Myers earns bonus points for the ingenious title of “Ernestly Melting”. Copeland’s heartfelt bowed solo on “Ice Elation” is a thing of beauty. His contribution to the funky “Song for Lydia” is particularly rewarding. Her largess allows Herrera to sound like one of Cannonball Adderley’s worthiest disciples. Myers is the least assertive member of quartet. The album may be unapologetically mainstream, but strong melodies and unfailingly swinging arrangements deter tedium. Myers’ 2018 album The Instrumental One is an uncommonly hazy document, but the Texas transplant and the three stalwarts of Kansas City’s scene offer a buttoned-down form of jazz on The State of This City. Pianist and bandleader Jackie Myers, saxophonist Mike Herrera, bassist Sam Copeland and drummer Jim Lower provide a high-definition aural snapshot of the music most commonly performed in Kansas City jazz clubs. The provocative title of The State of This City, the new album by the Myers Swingset, demands a forthright reckoning. Review from Plastic Sax, by Bill Brownlee Melodic, not too avant-garde, not too old-school Instrumental, piano and saxophone lead jazz. Late night jazz, cool jazz influenced by post bop. The myers swingset - the state of this city (release date November 2019)

Kansas city jazz artists