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Last Friday, Diverse became the first jazz act to play Czar Bar (web site here). And the club couldn’t have selected a superior inaugural group.

The night started with few there actually listening but ended with a won-over room and wild applause. John Brewer, Ben Leifer, Hermon Mehari and Ryan Lee (left to right in the top photo below) blazed through their first set. I’ve heard Ben provide solid bass to many groups in KC, but this night he owned some of the most dynamic, complex and engaging bass solos jazz fans will hear. I’m not often a fan of drum solos — just my taste — but Ryan’s drew me in with a real beginning, middle and end. The only horn on stage for the first set, Hermon’s solos exploded with an unbridled energy that I never wanted to end. Though John’s electronic vocal manipulations were not my favorite (maybe I’m just too much an old traditionalist), the crowd loved them. I, on the other hand, loved his organ sound solos. Young saxophonist Matt Chalk (he’s the new face in the second shot) joined them for the second set, and the room was theirs.

Czar Bar did the evening right, playing Charlie Parker music between sets (that’s more legit between-set jazz than I often hear at a certain downtownjazz club). If you weren’t there, just look at what you missed: