Jazz Beat: November show calendar and Ryan J. Lee on his upcoming single

Ryan J. Lee. // Photo by Neriah Lee Stokes

Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Ryan J. Lee has been on KC’s scene for over 15 years now. From his early beginnings, taken under the wing and working alongside legendary saxophonist Ahmad Aladeen as a teenager, to his work on Logan Richardson’s critically-acclaimed Afrofuturism, he’s been an essential collaborator and an artistic force to be reckoned with. But now, Lee is gearing up for a release under his own name. 

We sat down with Lee to discuss the beginnings of his career, his upcoming release and more.

The Pitch: You were born and raised in Kansas City. When did you really start playing on the scene?

Ryan J. Lee: I went down to The Blue Room when I was about 16 or 17 and sat in at a jam session. I didn’t know exactly what the protocol was—I just spent a lot of time with the drums. I remember being accepted rather early. It was beautiful; some of the older musicians accepted my playing, and that felt good.

I’m the kind of person that has never really felt like I have a home musically if I fit in here or there. Then, I got a gig with saxophonist Ahmad Aladeen when I was 17. Ahmad Aladeen never once told me what to do musically—to “do this” or “try that.” Sometimes, he’d give me looks; maybe he wasn’t digging it, but he never told me what to do. He was giving me a chance to try out what I naturally felt like expressing, just to see what that was in this generation.

It gave me a sense of freedom that had to be tamed at some point because it was a little wild, but it did give me the freedom to try without fear of being a failure.

What does it mean to you to be a jazz musician in Kansas City today? 

I don’t know exactly what it means to be a jazz musician. That’s a full pie of information, and the lineage is deep. I have mad respect for what has been done under that label, to the point that I won’t fake that I am that. Even though the word is controversial, some people made that label jazz—all of the legends that we talk about—they made it amazing. 

I feel like I’m just now digging into the depth of what that is. To me, I feel like I’m an open musician that got to everything through the back door. I would grab onto something rather contemporary and try to figure out where it was from and find jazz through that. But I think I’d have to say I’m not yet sure what it means to be a jazz musician. I’ll know when I’m 80, maybe.

It’s deep. It’s deeper than me. I can’t call myself that just because I’ve done some gigs for a decade. Maybe I am a Kansas City jazz musician. Maybe being a jazz musician is repping where you’re from to the fullest. 

You mentioned your mentorship with Ahmad Aladeen. Who else from the KC lineage has mentored you? 

My mentors are always people that control the mechanism that they use to express themselves, which is their instrument. I’m drawn into the instrument first. One person that I was really drawn to was drummer Tommy Ruskin. I felt a direct connection to the way he was playing. I could just go down to the Majestic and see Tommy play. He was always really kind to me, and he often let me sit in with him. He was another person that just always made me feel that what I was doing in this era, from my generation, was perfectly okay.

Another person for me is Bob Bowman. There’s a feeling of freedom on the bandstand with him. We have mutual respect, and I learn so much from just being around him—to hear him say a few words and play a few notes means so much. 

They definitely gave me freedom. I won’t say I always did the right thing with some of the freedom I had. Maybe I explored to my detriment sometimes, but you’ve gotta go to the edge.

You mentioned being drawn to the instrument. While you started your career primarily playing drums, one of the first times we saw you perform, you were playing keys with Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle. As a multi-instrumentalist, have you found yourself gravitating toward a specific instrument lately? 

I have a relationship with three instruments: drums, bass, and keys. Anything past that is not a relationship; it’s just a hobby. They each have their own character. If I need to express a certain feeling, maybe I’ll go to the drums. I find myself, a lot of times, being at the piano, trying to play something beautiful. But once that’s not working, I’ll hop on the drums and play something crazy. And the bass is always third-wheeling.

I’m working on a long-term relationship with the piano. But the drums are my first love, so that’s never going away.

You’re releasing a single, “Live Again,” soon. Can you tell us about it? 

The single is keyboard-driven. But there’s a sound within it that is my own hook; my own voice. That sound is going to be present in every one of my compositions until I die. The single introduces that one nugget of sound that is me to the world. That’s what it’s all about. It’s just saying, “Hey, I’m here.” 

What next after your single?

I have so much music on a hard drive. What’s next is putting it all out. I’ve been in a zone where I was protecting my music a lot, but now I need to release it. I was protecting it partially because it didn’t feel like the right time, but I wasn’t educated on how to protect it properly. But I’m an artist. I’m supposed to be releasing music. Not releasing anything wasn’t doing anything good for me. 

Recording rights are something I’ve become really passionate about, and now it’s on my website. It’s a good start for someone who wants to know what the process is for protecting your music. 

Would you say you’re focusing on your solo career?

No. I’m focusing on being able to sustain a couple of my shows solo until I can add another person, and another, and so on, until I have something big—a symphony. 

You can catch a solo performance of Ryan J. Lee on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. at Westport Coffeehouse located at 4010 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111. There is a $15 cover at the door.

November Jazz Calendar

Pete Fucinaro Group
Thursday, November 3, 7-10 PM
The Hey! Hey! Club at J. Rieger and Co., 2700 Guinotte Ave., KCMO
Step back in time for an evening at this J Rieger and Co. lounge with music from saxophonist Pete Fucinaro. Reservations recommended. 

Kelley Gant Trio
Wednesday, November 16, 8-11 PM
Uptown Lounge, 3400 Main St., KCMO
Vocalist and whistler-extraordinaire Kelley Gant takes the stage at Midtown’s latest jazz club, Uptown Lounge for their Women in Jazz Wednesday series. No cover.

Tyrone Clark Duo
Thursday, November 24, 8:30-11:30 PM
Green Lady Lounge, 1809 Grand Blvd., KCMO
Bassist Tyrone Clark, a scene stalwart, performs original music in the Orion Room. $5 cover.