Jazz Beat: Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle, the Phantastics, and Adam & Kizzie, at the Blue Room

Saturday, the Blue Room lineup is bent heavily toward progressive, young groups — a far cry from the normal fare found at the usually staid venue. Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle is well-known to Kansas City jazz fans for original compositions marked by intelligence and wit. The Phantastics — helmed by singer Leigh Gibbs and rapper Kemet Coleman, who performs as thePhantom* — may be best described as the wild party child of funk and hip-hop. And Oklahoma’s Adam & Kizzie bring a contemporary groove to the beautiful, melodic vocals of gospel-laced soul. This may not be the sort of music generally associated with the historic 18th & Vine, but at the heart of each of these groups is improvisation — the lifeblood of jazz.