The show starts at 10:00 pm at the Czar Bar, located at: 1531 Grand Blvd Kansas City, MO 64108

The collaborative tribute with KC rapper Les Izmore will also feature guest singers Lee Langston & Brandy Nicole.

To check out more info on the show, see the Pitch’s preview, Kansas City’s ink interview with Hermon Mehari or The Daily Record’s coverage of this groundbreaking tribute.

Two jazz and hip-hop musicians find a passion in Common

By Kyle Koch

The following article excerpt, published March 16, 2010, can be read in its entirety at this link.

A few months ago, they were strangers. They met in early January at the Czar Bar. Mehari, a trumpet player, and Izmore were participants in an avant-garde evening of jazz and hip-hop improvisation called “Mark Lowrey Versus Hip-Hop.” Izmore’s firebrand flows gave Mehari his introduction to local hip-hop music.

Chatting afterward, the two bonded over a shared adoration of Common’s Like Water for Chocolate. Bring up the album in their presence, and both break out smiles of mutual enthusiasm. On this night, the two huddle over Izmore’s cell phone, where he has downloaded the album, trying to locate their favorite verse. After a minute or two spent sifting through tracks, the two simply start reciting lyrics.

Released nearly 10 years ago, Like Water for Chocolate was Common’s fourth studio record and his first major-label release. To many hip-hop fans and critics, the album is Common’s magnum opus: a striking combination of socially conscious themes, standout beats and Common’s silken delivery.

Friday at the Czar Bar, the new friends, after a few rehearsals, will bring Like Water for Chocolate to life. In doing so, they’ve set out to realize the vision of authentic hip-hop Common once outlined: thought-provoking rap free of corporate manipulation, computerized production and thuggish minstrelsy. Flanked by the other members of Diverse, Mehari and Izmore plan to round out the night with improvisational interludes and perhaps a deep-bellied freestyle or two from Izmore.

“We’re going to be playing for people who have never stepped foot into Jardine’s or the Blue Room,” Mehari says of hip-hop fans in the habit of avoiding two of the city’s jazz hot spots.  “And the people who are there, like us, are going to be exposed to Les and hip-hop.”

It’s easy for Mehari to imagine converting a few jazz souls to rap music on Friday night. A fan and player of jazz from an early age, he credits his high school discovery of Like Water for Chocolate with helping him see beyond the misogyny and glamorized crime he had associated with the music. “I was like, ‘Wow, hip-hop can be so much more,’” he remembers thinking. “It [the album] really elevates hip-hop to an art.”

Mehari and Izmore see a shared history between hip-hop and jazz. Recently, though, Izmore has been frustrated by what he says is an absence of musicality in hip-hop. There are simply no instruments, he says. Like the collective he belongs to — a teeming mosh pit of horns and reeds — Izmore believes in big: the rock and roll of Chuck Berry, the funk and soul of James Brown.

If Mehari looks to invite a broader audience to jazz, Izmore wants to escape the boundaries of hip-hop and break open the mold of sampled boredom and Auto-Tune conformity now dominating the genre.

“Hip-hop has become a hustle all across the board,” he writes in an e-mail. “It’s not black and brown art anymore.”

Their motives for resurrecting Like Water for Chocolate vary, but Mehari and Izmore are about to find common ground in their fusion of live hip-hop and soul-inspired funk.

Hello everyone! So far the Upper Midwest tour has been a great experience. We are in Day 4 and are playing at Nighttown in Cleveland, Ohio tonight.

Our experience in Madison, Wisconsin was a blast. Props to Jonathan Kuuskoski for helping us get around and for the great hospitality (be sure to check out State Street if you’re ever in the area!) We discovered that the legendary bassist Richard Davis teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and we got to meet some of his students. Unfortunately, we realized that he taught there at the last minute, so we weren’t able to find a time that worked to meet him.

After spending a day in Chicago, and checking out the Jazz Record Mart (a stop I have to make every time I’m there), we headed to Ann Arbor, Michigan. We were surprised to find and meet Robert Hurst at the University of Michigan! He is one of Ben Leifer’s favorite bass players, so it was definitely a wild treat for him.

We decided to check out Detroit yesterday and were very glad we did. Our first stop was the Motown Museum where we got to stand in the famous “Studio A” where all the greats like Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, etc. recorded all of their wonderful music.  That night we went to Cliff Bells, a jazz club which has been around since 1935.  Roger Jones and Higher Calling played a high energy set which sounded and felt great; they even let me sit in.  The highlight of the evening was meeting Karriem Riggins, who happened to be in town hanging out.  He is a true inspiration to us, mostly because he keeps the jazz tradition alive, but also creates music in other genres. In fact, he produced and played on the last track of “Like Water for Chocolate”.

We got up this morning and went to “Good girls go to Paris Crepes” and all agreed it was the best meal of the trip so far.  We’re on our way to Cleveland which should take about three hours to get there. After performing at Nighttown this evening, we’re on to Bowling Green to finish up the tour. Make sure to check out our pics from the road taken via iPhone…

- Hermon

Emily’s take on: Another look at jazz

March 10th, 2010. This is only an excerpt! To read the full article click here.

Make plans now to be at Czar Bar on March 19. Local up-and-coming jazz group Diverse is teaming up with Les Izmore of Hearts of Darkness for a tribute to Chicago rap artist Common’s breakthrough album Like Water for Chocolate — a show not to be missed.

Released in 2000, Like Water for Chocolate mixes elements of jazz, funk, hip hop and spoken word, and features guest spots by D’Angelo, Mos Def, MC Lyte and others.

Diverse’s Hermon Mehari, 22, a trumpeter in his senior year at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, took time to chat about the show, Common’s music and how Diverse is working to change our perception of jazz music.

Emily: How did you come up with the idea for the show?

Hermon: Our group members come from all different backgrounds, all different genres — gospel, jazz, hip hop — and they really complement each other. I think I met Les during a show at Record Bar. He liked our stuff and we thought, “let’s do a collaboration.”

E: What made you choose Like Water for Chocolate?

H: It’s one of my favorite hip-hop albums. I love every track. Common’s words are almost poetry. There are some really deep moments in that album, not the normal radio brand of hip hop. The musicians on the album are awesome, which helps us out.

E: Who are you trying to reach with this collaboration?

H: One of our ideas is that people who have never seen jazz will be more open to checking it out and, at the same time, people who haven’t seen hip hop can be in that scene. I think a lot of people are interested to see a real band play behind a hip hop artist. The audience can feel the difference in the energy when there’s a live band and people are feeding off each other’s talent.

E: If a person has never been to a jazz show before, why should they see Diverse?

H: After a lot of our shows people will come up and say, “I don’t really listen to jazz, but I really like you guys.” Our presentation is different than most traditional groups. We engage the audience. We’re a young group, so it’s energetic and accessible. When we played our last show at Czar Bar, people hadn’t really heard us before. At the beginning everyone was talking and doing their own thing, but by the end, their eyes were on us.

What: A tribute to Common’s Like Water for Chocolate by Les Izmore and Diverse When/where: 9 p.m. March 19 at Czar Bar, 1531 Grand Blvd. Cost: $7

Read more: http://www.inkkc.com/content/emilys-take-another-look-jazz#ixzz0htj6TpdV

Diverse is excited to announce tomorrow marks the first day of the Arts Enterprise-Sponsored University Clinic Tour.

The circuit includes clinics and concerts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and Bowling Green State University. The tour dates are March 10, 13, and 15, respectively. In addition, Diverse will perform at Nighttown, one of the most respected jazz clubs in Cleveland.

Jane Higgins, the the band’s publicist, took some time to offer comments on the tour:

“The fact that three of the members of Diverse are still undergraduate students speaks volumes to the significance of this tour.” Higgins, touted “publicist extraordinaire” by Saint Louis’River Front Times, has represented artists such as hip-hop icon Nelly and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Johnnie Johnson.

“Undergraduate students providing educational jazz clinics and performances to arts students at other institutions is virtually unheard of”, she continues. “Diverse is truly a special group with immensely talented up-and-coming musicians.”

Arts Enterprise is a progressive association whose motto is “The Art of Business, The Business of Art.” According to its website, Arts Enterprise is “a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary club that caters to the needs of students” and seeks to link the growing and often neglected relationship between business and the arts.

Founded at the University of Michigan in 2006, Arts Enterprise is one of the most innovative whose mission includes developing entrepreneurial/business skills of students and student leadership skills through arts-based learning.

If you haven’t already, make sure to check out Diverse’s new video page. All of the videos posted on our official YouTube channel can also be found here for your convenience.

Video credits: Laura Brewer, on behalf of Origin Records.

To read the original article, click here.

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:

The Kansas City Star’s Music Blog, Back to Rockville, mentioned our upcoming collaboration with rapper Les Izmore. Check it out here!

-Hermon

Jazz quintet Diverse wins Gene Harris Jazz Festival, Origin Records Competition, truly delivers

By Skaught Patterson. To view the original article click here.

Diverse, the eponymous album by Kansas City Jazz group Diverse, is a true success story, the rarest kind of success story, the kind that almost never develops to such a fruitful outcome. Most of the elements of it are fairly commonplace—all of the right pieces come together, a group of talented musicians meet at college, they begin working on their own original music, they enter a contest, grand prize is a recording contract—these things happen. But what doesn’t usually happen is full delivery on the part of the band and of the contest sponsors to create a top notch album worthy of national air play. This is that one in a million story where it all came together.

The group formed in 2008, and within six months, leapt into competition in Boise, Idaho at the Gene Harris Jazz Competition, sponsored by Boise State University. First prize was a recording contract with Origin Records and, hopefully, world wide fame. The 2009 release of Diverse is the ticket to earn the quintet just that. 

Diverse features five top notch, young musicians from the UMKC Conservatory of Music. Trumpet player Hermon Mehari has laid down a recording that displays the precision of a classically trained musician, with almost none of the squawks that most trumpet players let slide, even in heavily produces recordings, as acceptable quirks of in-the-moment soloing. Mehari’s playing is precise. He is also the composer of one of the best songs on the album, “Lost in Darkness” (track eleven).

(Article Continues, click here to view the complete review)

Diverse is expertly produced and even features a track of Kansas City saxophone great Bobby Watson (track seven, “Where it Lives”), a mentor who provides insightful liner notes about the quintet’s formation and growing experience.

For those who love modern and avant-garde jazz, this album is truly a winner.

We will be performing a dinner show at the Czar Bar this Friday, which will make the first time they have had a jazz group featured there. Expect some new arrangements of the songs we’ve had, as well as new originals, some new sounds and additions, as well as a special guest. Don’t miss it!

-Hermon M