As a performer and pedagogue, University of Missouri-Kansas City director of jazz studies and alto saxophonist Bobby Watson continues to be an invigorating presence in the Kansas City jazz scene. His latest effort, Horizon Reassembled, reunites his watershed mid-'90s quintet and serves as a reminder that postbop isn't past its prime yet. As an instrumentalist and composer, Watson conveys tonal authority without sacrificing more delicate gestures, and he offers engaging, free-flowing compositions. In the end, it's this sense of communication that is Watson's forte. This show with New York drummer Michael Carvin -- a part of the Blue Room's annual KC-NYC connection series -- is the perfect opportunity to understand why that is.
