Jazz Beat: Andy McGhie Ensemble at Take Five Coffee + Bar

Much of the excitement in Kansas City’s jazz scene today is owing to the emergence these last few years of extraordinary young talent. Here’s a representative quintet. Andy McGhie fronts the band, blowing a tenor sax of rich tone and twisting solos all his own. He bounces off and entwines with the sometimes lyrical, sometimes driving trumpet of Hermon Mehari. They merge this interplay with the percussive vibraphone of newcomer Peter Schlamb and back it all up with drummer Ryan Lee and bassist Karl McComas-Reichl, another new-to-KC face. The Andy McGhie Ensemble captures the thrill and playfulness enveloping Kansas City jazz in 2013.