Local jazzers Shay Estes and Mark Lowrey band together to give old, new and obscure charts fresh injections

”Where You At” by Shay Estes and the Mark Lowrey Trio

In the jazz world, words such as ensemble and trio are traded far more often than band.

Most jazz players are too damn good to share the spotlight for an extended period. They pick and choose their projects on a whim, seeking the right balance of prestige, money and creativity. Bandleaders keep depth charts rivaling pro football franchises; when one musician can’t do the job, another is waiting in the wings.

But there’s something to be said for playing with people you actually like. Just ask Mark Lowrey.

“If I hate a motherfucker, then every note he plays, I’m gonna be like, Oh, yeah — that’s great,” Lowrey says with sarcasm. The local jazz pianist heads up his own trio in addition to contributing to local acts Tango Lorca, the New Order Big Band and the Barclay Martin Ensemble.

Singer Shay Estes puts it a different way: “You can take a lot more chances when you have that trust built up. It takes the focus off one person and puts the emphasis on the music.”

It’s no surprise that Estes and Lowrey are both Leos. By their own admissions, they’re dramatic and showy sorts. Before teaming up with Lowrey, Estes spent time in a rock band (the Silver Shore), a Western-surf band (the Von Hodads) and a burlesque troupe (the Burly-Q Girly Crew)

“With other bands, I was always playing a character,” Estes says. “I felt like I had more room to be myself in jazz. Jazz musicians have dirty minds, and they’re really snarky and cutting. My sense of humor fit in better.”

United by dirty jokes and a love for all things jazz, the duo began arranging standards by composers such as George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer and doing their own versions of songs from recent decades by the likes of Radiohead, Tom Waits and the Beatles.

“Most of the songs we do, no one else in town does,” Estes says, “or even know about in some cases.”

When Estes and Lowrey secured commitments from bassist Jeff Harshbarger and drummer Zack Albetta, their incubating project hatched into a dedicated band. A slate of gigs at Jardine’s introduced audiences to Estes’ torch-song delivery and the group’s unorthodox arrangements, which often incorporate Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and Latin flavors.

“We’ll do things to put people in that comfort zone so we can get to a place later in the evening where we can be more aggressive,” Estes says. “People who have been going to Jardine’s for 30 years might initially seem a bit perplexed, but eventually they get on board.”

Just as Charlie Parker treated Tin Pan Alley tunes as fertile ground for improvisation, Estes’ group reworks the Church’s “Under the Milky Way,” the Beatles’ “Across the Universe,” Radiohead’s “Talk Show Host” and Tom Waits’ “Little Drop of Poison.” (Harshbarger also coordinates a local Tom Waits tribute band.)

“Kansas City is a singer town,” says Albetta, who also has drummed for local jazz vocalists Angela Hagenbach and Megan Birdsall. “People want to hear songs they know, and they love to hear new versions of old songs.”

Albetta says the Kansas City jazz scene — particularly at Jardine’s — has taken a turn toward younger players and audiences in the past couple of years.

“We’re sneaking in more modern and nonjazz influences,” he says.

The Estes-Lowrey band recently tracked a dozen songs in a one-day session at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. They plan to use the recording mostly as a demo to attract financing for a more ambitious studio project.

“If we’re going to sit down and make a record, I want to spend some time and money on it,” Estes says.

Estes and Lowrey also perform a bimonthly gig at Trezo Mare at Briarcliff Village.

As Harshbarger notes, the Estes-Lowrey project is proof that Kansas City’s jazz scene endures because its movers and shakers put the art before the cheese.

“Finances are the last thing on anyone’s mind,” Harshbarger says. He often pays the dozen-plus members of his People’s Liberation Big Band in Boulevard Pale Ale.

“If anyone has a crazy idea, we all know people we can call,” he adds. “At the end of the day, friends are better than money.”

And bands are the best friends of all.