Diverse gets its passport stamped on Our Journey

Since the release of its lauded 2009 debut album, Diverse has become one of Kansas City’s big-deal jazz ensembles. It could hardly have failed to be. Trumpeter Hermon Mehari, drummer Ryan Lee and bassist Ben Leifer are industrious, skilled musicians, all of whom frequently work with other local jazz groups.

In the years since Diverse formed, the trio has toured Europe, enjoyed residencies in Paris and cultivated an international following. Now, the trio has assembled another batch of fluid, imaginative compositions. Its new album, Our Journey, also includes guest spots from acclaimed Parisian jazz pianist Tony Tixier and alto saxophonist Logan Richardson.

Ahead of the Friday, May 9, release party for Our Journey, at the Blue Room, we dialed up Mehari and Lee to discuss the evolution of their group and how collaborations influence their music.

The Pitch: How did you come to collaborate with Tony Tixier?

Mehari: We went to Paris in 2010 as a unit — me, Ben and Ryan — and our deal was to spend a month there as a residency, and to network and gauge the Paris scene and grow our musician base and our fanbase. We spent a month there, and that’s exactly what happened.

I’ve returned to Paris five or six times since 2010, and on my second trip there, I ended up playing a gig with Tony. And the next time Diverse went to Paris, we played with Tony. The chemistry was great, and we brought him over here once to play for about a week. It seemed obvious that we should record with him. And we also got to record with Logan Richardson, who is originally from KC. He was in New York for 10 years, and now he lives in Paris. He’s a really well-known alto-sax player, and one of our favorite artists.

What was the recording process like?

Mehari: In Diverse, we’ve always all contributed music. Ryan, me, Ben — we’ll each bring music. Basically, the songs on this album are the songs that we were doing in between the time from our first album to the recording of this album. By the time our first album came out, in 2009, we were already doing new songs. Most of these songs have grown and matured over the years.

Lee: We felt the need to document ourselves as we went along doing all this stuff. It just made sense to join forces with Logan and Tony. A lot of the new stuff that we were writing had their vibe and their style written all over it, and we wanted them to bring it alive.

Why is it called Our Journey?

Mehari: A couple reasons, the most obvious is that the song called “Our Journey” — it took us forever to come up with our name, and the reason I wrote that song was to reflect kind of the growing experiences that Ryan and I had had together throughout these travels and these tours. The song itself covered some of our relationship, and as we were coming up with an album name, the album was kind of a product of these experiences and these journeys and fights and good times — the stuff that made us what we are at this point. So we went with that.

Tell me about the Paris jazz scene. What is it like, and how does it compare with the Kansas City jazz scene?

Lee: It’s very cool. Paris is more like New York to me, actually — not as big, but it works in a similar way. The difference is that Kansas City is more community-based — we know more of the people in our audience. We have a regular crowd. Our fanbase is more like family to us. There’s not a draw between the audience and the artist. In Europe, it’s a little cutthroat. There’s so much talent in Europe, it’s ridiculous. There are a lot of killer artists and not that many places to play, but there’s also such a huge opportunity to be creative. And in Kansas City, there’s a support system — it’s a really unique place to be.

A lot has changed for Diverse since you all came together in 2008 and since the release of the debut. What are some of the highlights?

Mehari: One of the first major things that is different now — and that we’ve always had to deal with, really — is personnel changes. While Ben, Ryan and I are the core of the band, we started with a sax player who stopped playing music and a key player who left to do his own thing.

Lee: We went through a lot of ups and downs as a band. When we started that group, everybody was in school, and now we’re not, so we’ve got a whole new perspective. It’s changed a lot.

Mehari: Over the years, we’ve had to become really malleable. We’ve done pop shows. We’ve covered Michael Jackson and Prince. Diverse has worked with all these different styles, and that’s influenced how we approach our own music.

What is the most important part of this album for you? Was there anything that surprised you in making it?

Mehari: It’s just kind of surreal. It’s called Our Journey, and this chapter of Diverse kind of started in 2010 when we went to Paris. And when we were recording this album and putting it together, it felt kind of crazy. Who knew that Diverse would be here, recording with a Parisian piano player and Logan Richardson, one of our favorite artists? This is actually what we’re doing now. Absolutely surreal.