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Jeff Harshbarger was handed a violin at age four and began learning traditional music, but he knew early on that he wouldn't stop there.

"I wanted to be versatile.  I love variety in my life."

As the curator of the recordBar's Alternative Jazz series, Harshbarger shares this philosophy with Kansas City music fans on Sunday evenings twice a month.

"The guys at the recordBar approached me and said, 'Hey Jeff, you've got a lot of crazy shit.  Why don't you put something together?'"

Offered the opportunity to have free reign over a recurring music showcase, Harshbarger knew he wanted to give a platform to musicians and composers interested in modern improvisation and the creation of new works.  He felt that while Kansas City relished its rich jazz and blues history, it lacked an outlet or appreciation for its current, generative artists.

Harshbarger feels that the Alternative Jazz series provides those artists with a platform.  "Now the town's opening up to a new jazz heritage."

The type of jazz that Harshbarger prefers doesn't follow traditional forms. "Experimental jazz has been around since the '60s.  It's about being in the moment.  Improv.  It doesn't follow chord structures or song structures."

Harshbarger uses Mark Southerland's Wee Snuff group as an example.  "The band plays toy instruments."

"We want to remove old forms and paradigms, to create new thought.  You want to grow and challenge yourself.  As a musician, would you want to play the same five songs?"

The artists who take part in the series aren't all "crazy, freakout jazz," Harshbarger explains, but they must share his passion for new movement and work.  "I like to bring in a variety of music and composers."

Some offerings are local and regional, other acts are influential on a national scale.  New York City musicians Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird, Trey Anastacio) and Allison Miller (Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, Marty Ehrlich, Doctor Lonnie Smith) have played the Alternative Jazz series.  World music virtuosos Eastern Blok have dropped in from Chicago.

Hometown veterans such as Todd Wilkinson and The Goombahles, Mark Southerland's Urban Noise Camp, and freak jazz godfather Arnie Young have all been invited by Harshbarger to the recordBar stage.  The People's Liberation Big Band (with Harshbarger on bass) plays once a month for the series.

Harshbarger thinks that the recordBar is well-suited for educating audiences about new jazz.  "It's a larger room, not a small club that doesn't have the amenities like lights and sound that the recordBar does.  It's like reverse outreach.  We're educating audiences.  We've created an environment of a listening room, not a meat market."

Still, Harshbarger understands that his ultimate goal for the audience is to "have good time, be entertained and engaged."

Fans of the Alternative Jazz series agree.

Twice a month, audiences visit the recordBar to appreciate new compositions or immerse themselves in music being improvised right then and there, in the moment.  They abandon themselves to the twists and turns, drifting along in a musical stream-of-consciousness.  They let the pattering of notes wash over them, perhaps not comprehending the music's hidden meanings but knowing it is sound and fury signifying something nonetheless.

For more information on Jeff Harshbarger or the Alternative Jazz series visit www.jeffharshbarger.com or www.therecordbar.com.

 Photo credits: Paul Andrews

By Vi Tran

theSTEADY and Jazz Contributor (Past writer)

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