Parker - Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors Site

AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2016
Logan Richardson:
Kansas City to Shift
Kim Parker:
An Interview With Bird’s Daughter
Kansas City’s Third Annual
Charlie Parker Celebration
“VINYL ON
THE VINE”
MON./AUG. 01
FRI./AUG. 26
“TO BIRD WITH LOVE”
HERMON MEHARI w/
GEORGE V. JOHNSON
Feat: TIVON PENNICOTT
GROOVY
GRANT
$20
7:30 -9:30PM
FRI./SEPT. 09
FRI./SEPT. 23
B2
SAT./AUG. 06
EXPERIENCE
CD RELEASE PARTY
DAN THOMAS
BOSMAN TWINS
A
U
G
U
S
T
2
0
1
6
SATURDAY
$20
04 LESTER “DUCK” WARNER
05 * DELYNIA JANNELL • DAVID BASSE
– JOE CARTWRIGHT SEPTET $15
06 BOSMAN TWINS $20
BLUE MONDAY 08 The 5th District KC SLAM ON THE VINE
Competition 6PM – 8PM
TYREE JOHNSON 9PM – 11PM
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
THURSDAY 01 STEVE LAMBERT
FRIDAY 02 *SEAN TYLER • THE WILD MEN OF KC
SATURDAY 03 DARRYL WHITE/JEFF JENKINS QUINTET
BLUE MONDAY 04 DWAYNE MITCHELL
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
BLUE MONDAY 15 BRIAN STEVER
THURSDAY 18 XJ - WILL PROD
FRIDAY 19 * THE BAND OASIS • PHIL DEGREG KC QUINTET
SATURDAY 20 IDA MCBETH $15
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
THURSDAY 25 It’s Mambo Time!
MIKE DELEON AND CARTE’ BLANC
FRIDAY 26 * Da Truth • “To Bird With Love” Hermon Mehari
w/GEORGE V. JOHNSON Feat: TIVON PENNICOTT
SATURDAY 27 PETER SCHLAMB w/ special guest TIVON PENNICOTT
THURSDAY 22 TYRONE CLARK & TRUE DIG
FRIDAY 23 *BMW • CD Release Party B2 EXPERIENCE
SATURDAY 24 JAZZ DISCIPLES w/JASON GOUDEAU & LISA HENRY
SUNDAY 25 Back by Popular Demand! THE COUNSELORS
6pm-9pm
BLUE MONDAY 26 LOUIS NEAL BIG BAND
BLUE MONDAY 29 NEW JAZZ ORDER BIG BAND
PALE ALE
A percentage of Blue Room Pale Ale
is donated by North Coast Brewing
to support programming at the
American Jazz Museum.
15 CHARLES PERKINS/ GERALD SPAITS QUARTET
16 *LADY D • DOUG TALLEY W/
KATHLEEN HOLMAN
17 JAMES WARD BAND
BLUE MONDAY 19 EBONI FONDREN
BLUE MONDAY 22 MATT HOPPER
NC
07 SONS OF BRAZIL
08 * THE BAND OASIS • DAN THOMAS
09 IDA MCBETH $15
BLUE MONDAY 12 JAZZ DISCIPLES
11 MAX BERRY BAND
12 *LADY D • MARCUS HAMPTON SEXTET
13 JAMES WARD BAND
BLUE ROOM
DAN
HAERLE QUARTET
Feat: BOB BOWMAN,
TODD STRAIT,
BRAD LEALI
BLUE MONDAY 01 Vinyl on the Vine w/ GROOVY GRANT
DOMINIQUE SANDERS
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
THURS./SEPT. 29
THURSDAY 29 DAN HAERLE QUARTET Featuring: BOB BOWMAN,
TODD STRAIT, BRAD LEALI
FRIDAY 30 *GRAY MATTER • BOOK OF GAIA
*Indicates Indigo Hour Performance
INFO:
816.474.8463
BlueRoomKC.org
1600 East 18th Street • IKansas City, MO 64108
MAGIC 107.3
INDIGO
HOUR:
IN THE
BLUE ROOM
NO COVER
CHARGE
•
•
•
•
•
Blue Room Martinis
Drink Specials
Beer, Wine & Wells
Live Music
Appetizer Buffet
$10 Admission Fridays & Saturdays (unless otherwise noted)
S
E
P
T
2
0
1
6
MON. AUGUST 29
UPTOWN THEATER
WED. SEPTEMBER 7
UPTOWN THEATER
WED. SEPTEMBER 14 • CROSSROADS KC
WED. SEPTEMBER 28
UPTOWN THEATER
FOLLOW
MAMMOTH LIVE:
WED. SEPTEMBER 14
UPTOWN THEATER
THU. SEPTEMBER 15 • UPTOWN THEATER
FRI. OCTOBER 7
YARDLEY HALL (JCCC)
MAMMOTHLIVE.COM
TUSKOUTREACH.COM
SAT. OCTOBER 15
UPTOWN THEATER
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
STEPHEN MATLOCK
Posters and Ambassadors
Last issue, we unveiled the winner of the Kansas City Jazz
Ambassadors Jazz Appreciation Month poster contest. But we
skimped on the background.
This contest was conducted with the support of the Duke
Ellington family. The original poster will become part of the
family’s art collection, with an artists proof delivered to Edward
Ellington, who manages the family’s affair, and to the Smithsonian for inclusion in their Duke Ellington archives. From sales
of this poster and grant opportunities, funds will be raised
by the Jazz Ambassadors and the Ellington family to support
youth opportunities and care for ill musicians. A special thank
you goes out to Tom Alexios, who is both a member of the
Jazz Ambassadors advisory board and the director of outreach
education projects for the Duke Ellington family.
Be sure to visit the Jazz Ambassadors newly updated web
site. You’ll find it at kcjazzabassadors.com. You’ll also find there
the complete translation of this issue’s interview with Kim Parker,
conducted by Chuck Haddix, Yoko Takemura and Teddy Dibble.
Space limitations allow us to only feature highlights of the comprehensive discussion in this issue. But online you’ll find the entire
interview appearing for the first time in English. As Kansas City
prepares for its third annual Charlie Parker celebration, we bring
you a side of Bird few people knew.
2
You can be a part of this.
The Jazz Ambassadors maintain the Musicians Assistance
Fund to assist all musicians. It is a confidential resource for
financial assistance in paying medical bills, housing/living
expenses and funerals.
We also administer the Tommy Ruskin Memorial Scholarship Fund for Jazz Education, named for the beloved Kansas
City jazz master who mentored and inspired countless performers who are continuing his wonderful legacy. The fund enables
aspiring artists to apprentice under jazz masters and perpetuate
the music that has become synonymous with Kansas City and
American history.
The Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors mission is simply this:
To help preserve the rich cultural heritage of jazz in Kansas City,
and to support and promote the musicians, students, businesses
and fans of the Kansas City jazz community. Our financial
support comes primarily from membership fees, tax-deductible
donations, and fundraising events.
We always welcome you to join us. Go to kcjazzambassadors.
com and click on the KCJA Membership link or call 816-8868369.
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2016
VOLUME 20, NO. 4
CONTENTS
2
News & Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Logan Richardson:
Kansas City to Shift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Kim Parker: An Interview with
Charlie Parker's Daughter . . . . . . . 10
Folly Jazz News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Off the Vine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Celebrating Bird 2016 . . . . . . . . . . 18
Bits of the Blues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
For the Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Club Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Coda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Next Jam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
President’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jam is published bi-monthly by the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, a non-profit 501(c)(3)
organization dedicated to the development and promotion of Kansas City jazz. All rights
are reserved. Reproduction of any material is prohibited without consent of the publisher.
To contact the KC Jazz Ambassadors, call (816) 886-8369.
For advertising information, call (816) 591-3378 or email
[email protected]. Letters should be addressed to:
Jam, P.O. Box 36181, Kansas City, MO 64171-6181. To contact the editor, email
[email protected]. “Jam” and “Jazz Lover’s Pub Crawl” are Registered
Trademarks of The Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, Inc. Jam/Jazz Ambassador
Magazine (Online) ISSN: 1533-0745
E D I T O R
Larry Kopitnik
C O N T R I B U T I N G
Roger Atkinson
Tony Bozarth
Carolyn Glenn Brewer
Bill Brownlee
Chris Burnett
W R I T E R S
Joe Dimino
Wayne Goins
Chuck Haddix
Connie Humiston
Larry Kopitnik
Danny Powell
Kevin Rabas
Michael Ragan
Michael Shults
Yoko Takemura
A D V E R T I S I N G
Sharon Valleau (816) 582-3090
Connie Humiston (816) 591-3378
[email protected]
T Y P O G R A P H Y
&
G R A P H I C
D E S I G N
Rodric McBride
C O V E R
P H O T O G R A P H Y
Diallo Javonne French
C O V E R
L A Y O U T
&
D E S I G N
Rodric McBride
P R I N T I N G
Single Source Printing
D I S T R I B U T I O N
( P R I N T )
K.C. Jazz Ambassadors
D I S T R I B U T I O N
( E L E C T R O N I C )
www.kcjazzambassadors.com
I N T E R N E T
W E B M A S T E R
Firefly Marketing Communications
On the Cover:
Photographer Diallo
Javonne French caught
a magnificent photo
of Logan Richardson
during a recent Blue
Room show. Richardson
grew up in Kansas City,
spent time in New York Logan Richardson:
and now lives in Paris. Kansas City to Shift
His new CD, Shift, is
capturing worldwide
acclaim.
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2016
2 0 1 6
B O A R D
E X E C U T I V E
O F
D I R E C T O R S
C O M M I T T E E
P R E S I D E N T Stephen Matlock
S E C R E TA R Y Dr. Tyler Craig
T R E A S U R E R Jennifer Wismeier
D I R E C TO R S AT L A R G E
Kris Siriwangchai | Lynn Abrams | Janice Kinney | Cheryl Anderson
ADVISORY BOARD
Dean Hampton | Tom Alexios | Jim Ramel | Angela Hagenbach
The Board of Directors gratefully thanks Darrell Hoffman and Bob Clark
and the Jam distribution team for their untiring contributions to the KCJA.
©2016 Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, Inc.
Kim Parker:
An Interview With Bird’s Daughter
Kansas City’s Third Annual
Charlie Parker Celebration
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
3
NEWS & HIGHLIGHTS
$7 Million Approved for 18th & Vine
The Kansas City Council has unanimously approved
an ordinance to spend $7 million for improvements in the
18th & Vine historic district.
This, the first of three anticipated redevelopment phases,
will allow the city to acquire all properties in the district
that it does not already own except the Mutual Musicians
Foundation, the Lincoln Building and the Kansas City Call
building. It provides funds to stabilize historic structures. It
calls for the city to hire an experienced property management company for the district. It also includes $1 million for
renovating and opening the first floor of the Buck O’Neil
Education and Research Center, better known as the Paseo
YMCA.
Future phases II and III could yet bring spending on the
district up to the previously proposed $27.6 million. According to the Northeast News, “while the amended ordinance
still includes many facets of the plan’s initially-proposed first
phase, it also includes triggers for future phases that require
leveraged funds, business plans, receipts of proposals that
meet the city’s goals, and commitments for capital funds
from private entities.”
Launching a New Season
on the Second Sundays of the Month
September 11, 6:00 pm
MILLIE EDWARDS
and Band performing
100 minutes of professional
jazz in a concert setting at
First Baptist Church,
Kansas City, Missouri
kcjazzvespers.com • 816-942-1866
free will offering-no ticket needed!
100 W. Red Bridge Road at Wornall Road
In South KC
Watch for October 9 and Nov. 13 performers!
4
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
Dick Hawk’s
GASLIGHT GRILL
& BACK ROOM
Enjoy scintillating New Orleans jazz and mellow traditional
favorites by Lynn Zimmer and the Jazz Band featuring some of
K.C.’s finest jazz musicians Wednesday through Sunday every week.
Private Event
Facilities
for 10 – 200
Sunday
Brunch
10am – 2pm
Outdoor Patio Seating Now Available
Lynn Zimmer is joined by the New Red Onion Jazz Babies
on the first Monday of each month.
Expansive Happy Hour Menu
No Cover Charge • Kansas Dry Aged Steaks • Seafood • Chef Specialties • Dance Floor
5020 W. 137th St. ( Just south of 135th on Briar Drive) Leawood, KS 66224
913.897.3540
• GaslightGrill.com
JAZZ AMBAS
SADOR MAGAZINE
• AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
“Going
Logan Richardson:
Kansas City to
back to that quote from Charlie Parker,” Logan Richardson
mused, “where he says, music is your life experiences. If
you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. They had
that written in the halls of Paseo [High School]. It was
one of the deepest things and it’s always stuck with me.”
Richardson was speaking from Paris on a gray, rainy
day, lamenting that he could use a stretch of hot weather
from his hometown. He lives in Paris now. But Richardson, born in 1980, grew up off East 55th Street in Kansas
City.
His new CD, Shift, with Pat Metheny, Jason Moran
and Harish Raghaven, is winning acclaim across the jazz
world. The New York Times said in its review, “[Richardson’s] first two records felt a little like sketches, not
fully embodied. Shift, his third and latest, and first on
Blue Note records, is a totally different proposition.” In a
review for KCUR-FM, Bill Brownlee wrote, “Shift realizes
Richardson’s full potential. It’s not only one of the most
important artistic statements made by a jazz musician
from Kansas City in the new millennium, it will almost
certainly be heralded by the international jazz community
as one of the most significant releases of recent years.”
From Paris, Richardson thought back on growing
up in Kansas City. “It’s interesting, because I lived an
extremely sheltered life,” he said. “I knew things were
going on, but I was fairly protected. I grew up in a house
where no one was an artist, but everyone sort of was one.”
Logan was the youngest of four children who went on
to careers in the arts, education and business. Everyone in
that house was a music lover. But his parents never forced
him in a particular direction.
“I was always into music and would make mixed
tapes and get them from my brother,” Richardson recalled.
“Somehow I got the idea to
get a sa xophone and
when I finally got one
at 14, I never really
put it down.”
As first, Richardson wanted to grow
up to be one of his
idols from the 1985
World Series Champion Kansas City Royals.
“I used to play little league in
Parade Park, which is behind where the American Jazz
Museum sits now,” Richardson said. “I played there on
that land before I even played an instrument. That’s the
thing for me that is deep. I have always remained on that
land with the music ever since.”
Shift
PHOTO BY LARRY KOPITNIK
by Joe Dimino
Logan Richardson in 2009 at the
Record Bar with the group Diverse
Richardson took Saturday jazz classes at the American Jazz
Museum and attended Paseo Academy. Among his classmates
was pianist Harold O’Neal.
“I remember the time when Harold came in and he didn’t
play the piano,” Richardson said. “He played kinda and was
getting into jazz. But the way Harold works is that if he wants
to play it, he’ll be at a semi-pro level in six weeks.”
Clarence Smith was one of his teachers, and he educated
Richardson in both music and living.
“Mr. Smith introduced us to the hip things going down,
like Weather Report, and at the same time turning us on to cats
like Count Basie,” Richardson said. “Then they are bringing in
folks like Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Heath and Max Roach to do
clinics with us.
“Man, it almost seems like a dream now, just the amount
of people I got to be around and the instructors I had. Like
with Ahmad Alaadeen and Gerald Dunn. They could just pull
it out of you.”
Richardson was particularly influenced by the music of
Charlie Parker. But more than that, he was surrounded by and
schooled in the legacy of Kansas City jazz. It has taken years
of living away from KC for him to recognize that.
“I never realized there was a special pedigree that was
happening there,” Richardson said, “even when it came down
to the blues. I never took it for granted. Kansas City has a really beautiful beat that only exists in that town. Not even the
Midwest, but specifically in Kansas City.”
Richardson decided he needed to head to New York to
grow his own sound. In Kansas City, he felt like he was largely
on the outside looking in.
“For me, I always knew that I needed to leave Kansas City,”
he said. “I always found a certain level of pessimism that came
from artists who were established in the city. I really needed to
get away from that pessimism of what young guys were doing
versus what they were not doing.”
“I always felt like an outsider when I was in KC. I felt
like someone could move to KC from Iowa and become more
respected and well known more than someone who was born
and bred and brought up in the inner city hood.”
But before landing in New York, he spent time in Boston
at the Berklee College of Music, immersing himself in a big
east coast city feel and giving him the opportunity to learn with
jazz visionaries.
“I met so many of the people I’m working with now. You
know, working with Carl Allen, then studied with George
Garzone, Mark Turner, Greg Osby, Gary Bartz, Steve Wilson,
and Vincent Herring,” Richardson said. “The level of the relationships varied, but we were all very intense and personal.”
In New York, Richardson’s own unique jazz voice developed and grew. But it grew atop the grounding started in Kansas
City.
“I realized it was me that needed to change and to be
able to not see a place or an attitude, but to see my own,” he
Jazz at LincoLn
center orchestra
with
wynton
MarsaLis
BIG BAND HOLIDAYS
7:30 P.M.
thursday, December 1
Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
Kansas City, Missouri
Select seats at hJseries.orG
or call 816-415-5025
co ntinu e d
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
7
LOGAN RICHARDSON
CONTINUED
Mama
Ray’s
Jazz
Meets
30th
Anniversary
Blues
Jam
(Longest
Running
Jam in KC)
Saturday, August 13th
1:00-6:00pm
Hosts: Mama Ray, Jay EuDaly, Allen
Monroe, Keith Mallory & Bree Plaster
+ A Multitude of Guest Performers
30 years of photos on display
(check yourself out 30 years ago)
8
BB's Lawnside Bar-B-Q
1205 E. 85th St. KCMO
www.BBsLawnsideBBQ.com
816-822-7427
PHOTO BY DIALLO JAVONNE FRENCH
explained. “Once I was able to
do that, I could respect Kansas
City more and see all the great
things that I was able to grab in
New York. Had it not been for
the serious preparation I had in
Kansas City, I would not have
been able to step in to Boston
prior to New York.
“My number one mission
is to be proficient and evolving,
to be human in that. I’m always
thinking about the horn. If I’m
out having a beer, I’m thinking
about my breathing and playing. I don’t need to have it with
me to practice.”
By 20 09, R icha rd son
again felt a need for change.
Relationships built in Boston
and New York opened doors
overseas. He was ready to leave
New York and explore living
and performing in Europe.
“The way I was evolving, I thought
New York was cool, but I could see this
spindle out and a cycle I could get into,”
Richardson said. “I was like the heaviest I had ever been, both internally and
externally.”
He was also ready to change record
labels.
“I was leaving the Inner Music label
and wanted a newer label,” Richardson
said. “So, I started talking to Concord and
many things happened, including a move
to Europe in the process. This album was
always there. It stood the test of time, of
waiting.”
“This album” was Shift. While in
Japan, Richardson signed a contract with
the historic Blue Note label. That contract
allowed him to own the master and publishing rights to Shift.
“Stylistically, I have been standing on
the shoulders of the forefathers of what
was laid out before me. It is also necessary
to push the platform forward in regards
of kansas city jazz
Congratulations to KC Jazz ALIVE's
3rd Annual
Charlie Parker Celebration
August 18 – 27
@ Various Locations Citywide
2016 Artist in Residence:
Saxophonist Tivon Pennicott
KCJazzAlive.org
for all Scheduled Events
Tuesday, August 23rd @ 5:00 pm
American Jazz Museum Atrium
1616 E. 18th Street
“We Remember Bird”
Moderator: Steve Penn
Co-Sponsors:
City of KCMO, KCMO NTDF,
American Jazz Museum &
Church's Chicken Corporation
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
PHOTO BY DIALLO JAVONNE FRENCH
to how this music is being put out,” Richardson
explained. “Really, my whole career has always
felt like there is this tornado in front of me, but
it always gave me this premonition of knowing
that I’m making some waves in pushing forward.”
Richardson is making waves and remembering those forefathers.
“You know, I’d rather talk about the tradition of Charlie Parker or Cannonball Adderley
all day long instead of how my work is different,”
he said. “That’s something that is subjective and
people are going to make up their own mind
about all of that anyway.”
Richardson will still join Kansas City musicians on projects. Earlier this year, he recorded a
yet-to-be-released CD with trumpeter Hermon
Mehari.
“Oh man, that was a great experience,” Richardson said. “I was so pleased to be able to be a
part of the inner workings of Hermon’s machine
in regards of how he runs the full engine. I found
that what Hermon does is similar to what I do.
He gives everyone their space and hires the people
he wants because he knows they’re going to do their thing, but
he still gives structure in wanting this and that.”
For Mehari, the recording session was an opportunity to
work with someone he admires.
Logan Richardson in the Blue Room in 2016
“Logan is and has been a big inspiration for me musically
for a very long time,” Mehari explained. “To really understand
that, I have never thought about giving up at all. I just believe
co ntinu e d o n p a g e 24
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
9
Kim Parker
Sunday dinner
in 1953. Right
to left: Pree on
Charlie Parker’s
lap, Aunt Rae,
Chan, Baird, Kim,
Uncle Jimmy,
Aunt Janet. Photo
taken by Kim’s
grandmother,
Mildred
Lankton Berg.
An Interview With Charlie Parker’s Daughter
Kim Parker, step-daughter of jazz
legend Charlie “Bird” Parker, was a guest
at last summer’s Kansas City Charlie Parker
celebration (she’s scheduled to return this year).
While here, Parker was interviewed by Chuck
Haddix, jazz writer Yoko Takemura, and Teddy
Dibble. These are memories of Charlie Parker
the father and family man, a side of him we
rarely hear recounted, and that nobody else
alive today personally knew.
Until now, this interview has only appeared
in Japanese, published on Jazz Tokyo.
Following are some of the highlights. The
complete interview, including Yoko’s full
introduction and postscript, can be read on the
Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors web site.
10
Kim, born in New York on August 22, 1946, is the daughter
of actress and dancer Chan Richardson (1925-1999). Kim became Bird’s step-daughter in 1950 and lived with her mother and
step-father until Bird died in March of 1955. She was half-sister
to Pree and Baird, the two children born to Chan and Charlie
Parker.
Life With Bird
Q: You literally grew up on 52nd Street, in New York City. What
was your life like on 52nd Street?
KIM: 52nd Street was my domain. I just ran around, up and
down the block, and everyone knew me so all eyes were on me. I
was completely safe. I hung out with the doorman and the strippers and musicians, and there my mother discovered jazz. When
grandma worked coat checking at the Cotton Club, Cab Calloway and people like that, all these musicians would come over.
And then my mother discovered jazz and that was it. That
was all she cared about. And everybody wanted her because she
was very pretty and hip. She was probably the hippest jazz wife
the world has ever known. That’s the truth. My mother fell in
By Yoko Takemura
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
Chan, Kim and their dogs (Dum Dum,
Pooli and Tucki), 1953, in their apartment
at 151 Avenue B in New York.
love with Bird. I have one of her diaries, which is from just after
he died. It’s heartbreaking how much she loved him, because
he was “the true love” of her life.
Q: Do you remember when Bird and your mother first got
together?
KIM: No, I was too young. We went to live with him when I
was about four-and-a-half.
I remember we lived on 11th Street before the final place
we lived in New York. I don’t remember the 11th Street place
at all. But 151st Avenue B, which is now a landmark, it has
historical value.
I remember my fifth birthday there. Bird bought the
Cadillac car because he could not get taxis to pick him up late
at night, because of his color. I remember riding up town with
him and my mom. He was driving and I was sitting on his lap,
and he’d let me pretend to steer the car.
After the gig – he worked at Birdland a lot – we would
go on 9th Avenue and stop at a delicatessen. He would buy a
turkey club sandwich that was big and tall. That was always a
highlight, getting that sandwich.
It was really wonderful to walk with Bird. He was really
dignified. We often went to a coffee house at West 4th and
Washington Square. A pigeon got on it on his head. Bird said
“Hi! You, Bird?!” [Laughs.]
We were walking up 6th Avenue once – I love this story
– and Bird saw Gabby Hayes, who was Roy Rogers’ sidekick.
Roy Rogers was a famous TV cowboy and Gabby Hayes was
his pal. Bird loved cowboys and indians. Those were his shows.
So Bird saw Gabby Hayes coming down the street toward him
and he said, “Gabby Hayes! Gabby Hayes!” And Gabby Hayes
looked at him and said, “Hi, Bird!” And Bird was so knocked
out that Gabby Hayes knew him. He was so thrilled! And he
got his autograph. It was so, so cute.
We would go to a place that sold magic tricks. He had one
that was a mummy in a coffin and, if you did something just
right, the mummy would rise up out of the coffin. He got me a
can of peanut brittle and when you opened it, snakes flew out.
And he loved buzzers. You know, you hold a buzzer in your hand
and you go to shake someone’s hand and it goes, “Bzzzzzzz.”
He delighted in very childlike things.
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
11
KIM PARKER
12
CONTINUED
He really loved Sunday dinners. That was a big thing with
the whole family. My grandmother and my uncle and two of
my grandmother’s friends would come over, and Bird would be
so happy. I have a picture of all of us: Pree was sitting on Bird’s
lap, Baird was in back in a high chair, and my mom, Auntie
Rae, and Aunt Janet, and my uncle.
Bird loved that because that was middle class, and this was
what white middle class did. He would just beam. He was just
in his element. I think this contributed to Bird’s death. When
he would eat, he would take the salt and pour it all over his
food, until there was a white coating of salt over everything.
We didn’t have Sunday dinner every week, but it was really fun.
Q: Did he want to keep the family life separate or were there
musicians around?
KIM: Good point. We never had a musician in the house. Never.
Pree was out in front in this little area in her carriage. Joe Albany
came by and Bird flew out the door and told him to get away
from here. He said, “I don’t want that in here, that’s dirty.” It
was pretty much across the board, everybody, no musicians ever
came to the house. He didn’t bring heroin home. My mother
wrote about it. [Smiles.]
Q: His professional career, like his recording sessions or gigs,
he didn’t bring those home at all? Were you aware of where he
was playing and what was going on in his professional career?
KIM: No, I didn’t understand. My mother would say, “Daddy’s
in Chicago,” or something like that. I remember when he went
to Sweden. He was bringing me home some giant stuffed animals, a rabbit or something, from the road. From Sweden he
brought me back little wooden horses. I still have them. We
each had an ocarina, you know, a little pipe. I still have that. I
have his opera glasses. Bird had opera glasses, if you can imagine.
Mother of pearl opera glasses from Paris.
Q: Did you go to the nightclub when he was playing?
KIM: I went to Birdland quite a bit. And we would sit off stage
left, sort of back a little bit.
We had a corner bar on Avenue B and Bird would go in
there. He’d sit there and they’d call him Charlie. They didn’t
know who he was, he was just this guy. At that time it was a
very multicultural neighborhood. There were Poles and Czechs,
and it was just New York. Bird would hang out with the guys
at the corner bar. They were just regular people, not musicians.
And my mother would send me down to the bar to bring daddy
home. I would go to the bar and I’d walk in and I’d say sweetly,
“Daddy, we have to go home now.” He would say, “Okay, Puddin’.” He also called me Princess Pee Pee because I wet the bed.
Q: You touched on something a little while ago about how he
yearned for normalcy. He was a real square at home.
KIM: He was a square, yes!
Bird wore a suit of short pants well. He put on short pants
like Bermuda pants and was going around. He often went from
New York to Trenton in New Jersey. We sometimes went to
welcome him with a car. He often caught a newspaper in an
armpit and appeared. Would it be strange! He was performing
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
the “ordinary businessman” who puts on
a suit, picks up a newspaper in an arm
and gets off a train.
Pree And Baird
KIM: I was often shipped uptown
to my grandmother’s, so I knew
something was afoot. I remember
my mother coming home from the
hospital after Pree died. Pree died
five times. Her heart stopped in the
taxi, and in the hospital, and then
she finally succumbed. Bird was in
California. My mother probably
called my grandmother to come and
stay with me and Baird while she took
Pree to the hospital. But I remember
my mother, just remember her sobbing, sobbing.
Q: What do you remember about Baird
and Pree?
KIM: I don’t really remember Pree
coming home from the hospital. I do
remember Baird because, for some
reason – I probably needed attention –
Baird was six years younger than me. So
Chan holding Pree and Kim
at six years old they were going to bring
holding her dog, circa 1951.
Baird home from the hospital, and I got
in Pree’s playpen with a baby bottle filled with orange juice, and
I sat in the playpen and waited for them to come home and
Last Days of Bird
see their big baby, their original baby! I loved them, of course.
and His Death
Pree was so sweet. She didn’t really talk but was very ethereal,
Q: Bird drank iodine and tried to do himself in after that
almost to the point of being mystical. She was a very special
night at Birdland. It seems like that was a turning point in
person. She had a persona that was just magical. And she did
the relationship.
it because she didn’t
KIM: I think it was an accumulation of things.
talk. You know, she’d
My mother just felt powerless to change him,
say “bah” or stuff like
to help him because he was self-destructive.
that. She just emanated
My mother always felt that if he’d just stayed
this aura. Baird was just
with heroin he might have lived. But when he
like a little steamroller.
switched to booze, he just hurt his body too
A fter Bird died, my
badly. I think that and the salt in his diet. His
mother spoiled him
appetites were voracious – for sex and food and
and let people call him
drink and drugs.
“Little Bird.”
Pree’s death, that was it. That was the
Q: What was Bird’s
downward spiral. There was probably a little
relationship like with
feeling inside him that he did this to Pree. His
Baird and Pree?
drugs and alcohol and all that stuff, that he had
KIM: My mother was
Kim Parker with Dum Dum, Pooli and Tucki, 1953, in
somehow poisoned her. Baird also had a celiac
very upset because Pree
their apartment at 151 Avenue B in New York.
condition when he was born. So he had two
was sickly. They didn’t
defective children.
know what cystic fibrosis was. She died at two-and-a-half. My
We moved to New Hope in Pennsylvania in 1954 from
mother would be upset at Bird because he would pay attention
New York. Bird sometimes came there. Then we moved to
to Baird and me, and he would not pay attention to Pree. I
Lumberville.
think he was afraid of her vulnerability because she was sickly.
That was March, 1955. My mother was working in Trenton
My mother said to him, “Baird has a middle name. You wrote
and my grandmother was with Baird and me. My grandmother
a song for Baird. You wrote a song for Kim. Why didn’t you
took the call and she didn’t want to tell my mother over the
write a song for Pree? Pree doesn’t have a middle name.” Bird
phone because she was afraid my mother would have an accident
died almost a year to the day after Pree died.
coming home. We went to New York. I didn’t go to the funeral.
Q: You had a really cohesive family unit, where you would have
I didn’t go to Pree’s funeral either. They didn’t want to expose
Sunday dinners. It seems to me that phase of the relationship is
me to that.
when Bird and Chan were very tight. When did you first notice
My mother was just pushed aside. She was so bereft. People
they were drifting apart?
just took the funeral, they took over this body, and she had no
co ntinu e d o n p a g e 26
The complete interview in English is on the Jazz Ambassadors web site. Go to
kcjazzambassadors.com/jam-magazine-archive/parker-interview/ or simply scan
this QR code with a QR code reader app (there’s plenty of free ones out there) on
your smartphone or tablet.
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
13
FOLLY JAZZ NEWS
KASEY RILEY
The Folly Jazz Series 2016-2017
The future of jazz in Kansas City is beautiful.
From the acclaimed Robert Glasper – whose new album,
Everything’s Beautiful, features remixes of Miles Davis tracks
from the Columbia/Legacy vault – to the Grammy-winning
Cécile McLorin Salvant, this year’s Folly Jazz Series offers a
season of prodigies. Nearly all of the artists, including Karrin
Allyson (featured on this year’s Folly Kid’s Benefit), started as
youngsters.
Ms. Salvant started classical piano studies at five years of
age and began singing in the Miami Choral Society at eight.
Her piano and vocals are sure to delight.
So will the unique and often surprising piano work of
Robert Glasper. Reared in a household where Motown, R&B
and gospel were constant companions, his mother sang and
played piano in church while indulging in her love for jazz and
blues by performing at local clubs. By age twelve, he started
to follow his mother’s lead by playing piano in church and accompanying her on club dates on the Houston circuit.
Donny McCaslin, whose name may be familiar from
his collaborations with David Bowie, was also playing tenor
saxophone by the age of 12.
The Folly Jazz Series kicks off the season with the smooth
sound of the renowned Bob James and Fourplay.
This season offers a wonderful mix of the new and the
familiar. Season tickets for the Folly Jazz Series are currently
on sale. Single tickets go on sale August 22. All concerts start
at 8 p.m. and, unless otherwise noted, feature “JazzTalk,” a
pre-concert conversation, with the artist(s).
In addition to the Folly Jazz Series, Karrin Allyson will be
the featured artist for the Special Fundraising Concert to benefit
the Folly Kid’s Series on November 18th. Visit follytheater.org
for the sale date for An Evening with Karrin Allyson.
Bob James and Fourplay
October 15, 2016
The career of Bob James is long, varied and continues to
evolve at every turn. From his early days of piano recitals in
Marshall, Missouri to his own trip while at the University of
Michigan to New York City and beyond, the music of Bob
James has captivated audiences throughout the world. The
contemporary jazz quartet Fourplay has continued to explore
the limitless dimensions of jazz while appealing to a broad
mainstream audience.
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Cécile McLorin Salvant
December 10, 2016
Ms. Salvant started classical piano studies at five and began singing in the Miami Choral Society at eight years of age.
Over the years she has developed a curiosity for the history of
American music and the connections between jazz, vaudeville,
blues and folk music. Cécile carefully chooses her repertoire,
often unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong
stories.
She enjoys popularity in Europe and the United States,
performing in clubs, concert halls and festivals. In 2014, her
second album, WomanChild (Mack Avenue Records) was
nominated for a Grammy. (There will not be a JazzTalk before
this performance.)
Robert Glasper
February 18, 2017
Pi a n i s t a nd
producer Robert
Glasper has said
that he first developed his sound in
church, where he
learned his own way
to hear harmony
and was inspired
to mix church and
gospel harmonies
with jazz harmonies. He recently
Robert Glasper
scored Don Cheadle’s film Miles and makes a cameo near the end of the film.
Glasper’s Everything’s Beautiful is a new album that features his
reworking of Miles Davis material from the Sony vaults.
Aaron Diehl and Warren Wolf
March 4, 2017
Pianist Aaron Diehl is one of the most sought after jazz
virtuosos, consistently playing with what The New York Times
describes as “melodic precision, harmonic erudition, and elegant
restraint.” Diehl’s meticulously thought-out performances,
collaborations and compositions are a leading force in today’s
generation of jazz contemporaries, spearheading a distinct
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
Z
6
01
2
union of traditional and fresh artistry. Joining Diehl for this
performance will be vibraphonist Warren Wolf who, like Diehl,
is a classically trained jazz virtuoso. Wolf, from Baltimore, is
a graduate of the Berklee College of Music where, soon after
graduation, he was asked to join the faculty as percussion
instructor. Wolf is now a full-time touring musician. He has
released several recordings as a leader, including Incredible Jazz
Vibes and Black Wolf.
201
7
Donny McCaslin Trio
April, 7 2017
McCaslin grew up in in Santa Cruz, California. Inspired
by his father, a pianist and vibraphonist, he started playing
tenor saxophone at age twelve and began touring Europe
and participating in the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival’s
California All-Star band while in high school. His first album
as a leader, Exile and Discovery, was released in 1998. He has
recorded eleven solo albums. In 2014, McCaslin played tenor
and soprano saxophone on David Bowie’s single “Sue (Or in a
Season of Crime).” Subsequently, he would play saxophone on
Bowie’s 2016 album Blackstar.
Eliane Elias
May 19, 2017
Born in São Paulo, Ms. Elias started studying piano at age
seven and by age twelve was transcribing solos from the great
jazz masters. By the time she was fifteen, she was teaching piano
and improvisation. Her performing career began in Brazil at age
seventeen, working with Brazilian singer/songwriter Toquinho
and touring with the poet Vinicius de Moraes. Her 2013 release,
I Thought About You, reached number one on USA and France
Amazon.com; second on iTunes USA, France and Brazil; and
number four on Billboard Jazz Charts. (The JazzTalk for this
performance will feature Marc Johnson, Bassist for Ms. Elias.)
Special Fundraising Concert
with Karrin Allyson
November 18, 2016
Karrin Allyson studied classical piano in her youth, sang
at her local church and in musical theatre, and also began
songwriting. Among musicians, Allyson is known as a great
bandleader. One of the pleasures of the current scene is listening to her highly developed interplay with her bandmates – it
sounds so effortless but it conceals a deep musical sophistication.
It’s one of Allyson’s great achievements and the result of working over the years with an ensemble of fearless and powerfully
committed jazz virtuosi.
Folly Jazz Series performances feature a “Jazz Talk” (preconcert conversation with the artist and a local celebrity) at
7:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted. All performances begin at
8:00 p.m.
The Folly Box Office is located at 1020 Central, Suite 200
and is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m., and after 6:00 p.m. in the theater on show nights at 300
W. 12th Street. Or call 816-474-4444. For more detail and
performer videos visit follytheater.org.
October 15
Bob James & Fourplay
December 10 Cecile McLorin Salvant*
February 18 Robert Glasper
March 4 Aaron Diehl/Warren Wolf
April 7 Donny McCaslin Trio
May 19 Eliane Elias Quartet
A L L S H OWS 8 : 0 0 P. M .
J A Z Z TA L K @ 7 : 0 0 P. M .
*No Jazz Talk before Cecile McLorin Salvant
12th & Central • Kansas City, MO
FOR TICKETS 816-474-4444
www.follytheater.org
The Richard J. Stern
Foundation for the Arts –
Commerce Bank Trustee
Neighborhood Tourist
Development Fund
City of Kansas City, Missouri
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
15
OFF THE VINE
BILL MCKEMY
An Academy, Authors and More
It’s an exciting time at 18th & Vine! The American Jazz
Museum (AJM) is thrilled to announce two major new initiatives.
Kansas City Jazz Academy
Our Kansas City Jazz Academy will launch on Saturday,
September 10th. We will offer general music classes for families
with kids from toddler through the elementary grades in the
morning. The Academy will also offer hands-on experience in
combo, big band and improvisation class settings for junior
high and high school students from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Our weekly
faculty includes Clarence Smith, Stan Kessler and Marcus
Lewis. Bobby Watson, Dan Thomas, Hermon Mehari, Matt
Otto and other locally and internationally known musicians
and educators will join us on a rotating basis.
The Academy will also host an education-oriented jam
session that will be held in the Blue Room on Saturday afternoons from 3:00-5:00 p.m. Mentors from the Elder Statesmen
of Kansas City Jazz and jazz educator Osmond Fisher will be
on hand to offer encouragement and to make the most of the
teachable moments that occur.
The Academy strives to instill a sense of ownership and
connection to the community by asking our students to “pay
it forward” by participating in outreach performances for community organizations and American Jazz Museum events.
There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Click
on the Academy tab at americanjazzmuseum.org to learn more.
Riffing on the Repertoire—
Speaker Series
The AJM is also launching a new series of public programs
that will bring top jazz scholars, authors, documentary films
and other special performances to the museum. The evenings
begin with a reception at 6:00 p.m. and the program at 6:30
p.m.
• August 18 – Ron McCurdy, Professor of Music at USC and
former director of the Thelonious Monk Institute, speaks
on the life and legacy of Charlie Parker to open this year’s
Charlie Parker Celebration.
• September 15 – Frank Hayde, author of Stan Levey: Jazz
Heavyweight. Levey was one of the most recorded drummers in jazz history, yet little has been written about him...
until now!
• October 6 – Krin Gabbard, author of the new interpretive
Mingus biography Better Git it in Your Soul.
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• October 20 – Rashida Braggs, author of Jazz Diasporas: Race,
Music and Migration in Post-World War II Paris. Braggs is
Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at Williams College
in Massachusetts.
• October 27 – There’s a Future in the Past, a documentary
film on Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks. Bandleader
Vince Giordano keeps the golden age of jazz alive with
his 11-member band The Nighthawks, vintage musical
instruments and a collection of more than 60,000 original
arrangements from the 1920s and ’30’s.
• November 3 – Bob Gluck is the author of The Lost Miles
Davis Quintet and Other Revolutionary Ensembles. Gluck
traces the gap between the celebrity Miles Davis and his
less famous but profoundly innovative peers. The result
is a deeply attuned look at a pivotal moment when oncedisparate worlds of American music came together in
explosively creative combinations.
• November 17 – Award-winning music scholar Ted Gioia
has published 10 non-fiction books including, most recently, How to Listen to Jazz. Covering everything from the
music’s structure and history to the basic building blocks
of improvisation, Gioia shows exactly what to listen for in
a jazz performance. It’s a lively, accessible introduction to
the art of listening to jazz.
August 20, 9:00 a.m., Charlie
Parker Workshop: The Art of the Jam
Session with Tivon Pennicott, Free
Using the music of Charlie Parker and the historic social
incubator of the jam session, students of all ages will get the
inside scoop on jam sessions. We’ll discuss the skills needed,
what to expect, and how to be prepared for the experience. The
session will include improvisation instruction with top local
players and an actual jam session where the junior high and high
school students get to sit in with KC’s best. RSVP requested.
September 24, Traditional New
Orleans Jazz Workshop & Teacher
Training Workshop, Free
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Teacher Training
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Student Workshop
David Robinson, creator of the Traditional Jazz Curriculum Kit, will join us to present his approach to teaching
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
and performing traditional New Orleans jazz. His services,
lodging and transportation are underwritten 100% by funding
partners including the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation,
the NEA and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation.
Traditional New Orleans jazz is perfect for teaching beginning
improvisation and perfect for helping teachers learn how to
teach improvisation. Robinson’s method, as well as free lesson
plans and student materials, will continue to be a resource
long after his visit. The morning session is devoted exclusively
to teachers and the afternoon session is for students. RSVP
required. www.americanjazzmuseum.typeform.com/to/xNNEl8
Blue Room Featured Dates
August 6 – the Bosman Twins
August 12 – Marcus Hampton Quintet
August 19 – Phil DeGreg’s KC Quintet
August 26 – “To Bird with Love” with Hermon Mehari,
George V. Johnson and Tivon Pennicott
August 27 – Peter Schlamb with special guest Tivon Pennicott
September 3 – Darryl White/Jeff Jenkins Quintet
September 9 – Dan Thomas and Voyage
September 16 – Doug Talley Quartet with Kathleen Holman
September 23 – B2 Experience CD Release Party
September 29 – Dan Haerle Quartet with Brad Leali, Bob
Bowman and Todd Strait
S P O N S O R S
Carol Blum and Steven
Wilson—Corporate Sponsor
Mark Edelman and 12th Street
Jump—Corporate Sponsor
Robert McCollom, Cast
Stone Consultants—
Corporate Sponsor
Jon and Wendy McGraw,
Buttonwood Financial Group
LLC—Corporate Sponsor
Gale Tallis, Folly Theater—
Corporate Sponsor
Gerry and Judy Bukowski
Marilyn Carpenter
Nelson and Mary Ellen Farney
Mike and Debra Gerken
Dennis Gredell and Lori
Wohlschlaeger
Steven and Patty Hargrave
Jo Lowry
B everly and Ed Mann
B arbara Mathewson
Charles and Marada McClintock
Sid and Carole McKnight
Edward Morris
Jamie and Alan Myers
Loren Myers
John and Linda Nobles
Penny Oathout
William Paprota
John Peterson
Randell Sedlacek and
Mary Ventura
Paul and Sara Smith
Merle Stalder
William Sullivan
Robert Thompson
and Mary Wurtz
Jon Trozzolo and Sara Touchette
Julie Turner Ruskin
Rich Turpin
Tom and Geri
Gregg and Melinda Wenger
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
17
B y Larr y Kopit nik
While other cities staged annual Charlie Parker festivals,
for too many years his hometown turned its back on Kansas
City’s greatest musical icon. Sure, some musicians and fans
came together on Bird’s birthday at his gravesite, just outside
of the city limits, for a Twenty-One Sax Salute. But even that
withered to just a few diehards over the years.
Two years ago, KC Jazz ALIVE came together to stage
Kansas City’s first Charlie Parker Celebration, 18 days honoring Bird in clubs and theaters, culminating with a revitalized
graveside salute. Last year’s second celebration was a more
manageable ten days, added artist in residence trumpeter Clay
Jenkins, and drew hundreds of celebrants to Parker’s grave on
what would have been his 95th birthday.
18
Kansas City’s Charlie Parker Celebration returns for
its third year on August 18th through 27th. Saxophonist
Tivon Pennicott is this year’s artist in residence, an acclaimed,
Grammy-winning (twice) young phenom who will be joining
local ensembles in clubs throughout the ten days. There will be
panel discussions, a couple of historical tours, a one man show
on Parker and a Twenty-One Sax Salute.
Tenor saxophonist Tivon Pennicott joined guitarist
Kenny Burrell’s quintet while still in college. He’s performed
with Wynton Marsalis and Stevie Wonder. He’s toured with
Roy Hargrove and Al Foster. He’s recorded with Esperanza
Spaulding and Gregory Porter. While in KC for the Parker
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
co ntinu e d o n p a g e 21
2016 Charlie P arker Celebrat ion Schedule
This is the schedule as supplied by KC Jazz ALIVE. It is current as of July 15th. Programming is subject
to change. For the latest schedule, see kcjazzalive.org. Artist in residence Tivon Pennicott is scheduled
to sit in for a portion of each of the club and restaurant dates below unless otherwise noted.
DateVenue
Event
Time
Thursday, 8/18
American Jazz Museum
Dr. Ron McCurdy Lecture and Reception
6:00 p.m.
Thursday, 8/18
Blue Room
Shaes of Jade
7:00 p.m.
Friday, 8/19
The Phoenix
Lonnie McFadden
6:00 p.m.
Friday, 8/19
The Majestic
Bram Wijnands
8:00 p.m.
Friday, 8/19
Blue Room
Stan Kessler
10:00 p.m.
Saturday, 8/20 American Jazz Museum
The Art of the Jam Session With Trevon Pennicott 9:00 a.m.
Saturday, 8/20 18th & Vine
Tour de Jazz KC Bike Ride
3:00 p.m.
Saturday, 8/20 The Art Factory
Sons of Brazil
8:30 p.m.
Saturday, 8/20 Green Lady Lounge
OJT
10:30 p.m.
Sunday, 8/21
Green Lady Lounge
Phil DeGreg Quintet
7:00 p.m.
Sunday, 8/21
Green Lady Lounge
Todd Strait Trio
10:00 p.m.
Monday, 8/22
Chaz
Michael Pagán
6:00 p.m.
Monday, 8/22
The Phoenix
Millie Edwards
8:00 p.m.
Monday, 8/22
Green Lady Lounge
Crossroads Quintet
10:00 p.m.
Tuesday, 8/23
Johnson County Community College Gerald Spaits and Charles Perkins
12:00 p.m.
Tuesday, 8/23
American Jazz Museum
We Remember Bird Panel and Reception
5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, 8/23
Green Lady Lounge
Live Bird
7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, 8/23
The Majestic
Hermon Mehari
7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, 8/24 Westport Coffee House
Clint Ashcock
7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, 8/24 Green Lady lounge
OJT
10:00 p.m.
Thursday, 8/25
Café Trio
Tim Whitmer
6:30 p.m.
Thursday, 8/25
The Ship
Micah Herman
10:30 p.m.
Friday, 8/26
Green Lady Lounge
Tim Whitmer with Todd Wilkinson
7:00 p.m.
Friday, 8/26
Green Lady Lounge
Max Groove with Ernest Melton
9:00 p.m.
Friday, 8/26
Green Lady Lounge
Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7
10:30 p.m.
Saturday, 8/27 18th & Vine
Jazz Tour
10:30 a.m.
Saturday, 8/27 Lincoln Cemetery
Twenty-One Sax Salute
12:00 p.m.
Saturday, 8/27 Bruce R. Watkins Center
Charlie Parker Birthday Celebration
1:30 p.m.
Saturday, 8/27 Blue Room
Peter Schlamb with Tivon Pennicott
8:30 p.m.
The Twenty-One Sax Salute in 2014
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
19
BITS OF THE BLUES
DANNY POWELL
Good Golf, Good Music and a Great Cause
Hello, blues fans! August and September are busy months
for the Kansas City Blues Society as the Road to Memphis International Blues Challenge and the Michael Shannon Musician
Fund concert and golf tournament take place.
This year’s Michael Shannon Concert celebration will be
on August 30th at Knucklehead’s Saloon.
The fifth annual Michael Shannon Memorial Golf Tournament will be on September 7th at the Hillcrest Country
Club, 8900 Hillcrest Road, Kansas City, Missouri. Lunch will
be provided by BB’s Lawnside BBQ at noon with a 1:00 p.m.
shotgun start.
In 2012, the Kansas City blues family lost one of its greats
when Michael Shannon passed away unexpectedly. After Michael’s untimely death, his friends and family established the
Mike Shannon Memorial Golf Tournament in his honor. In
its first three years, this tournament raised over $30,000 that
was donated to the HART Fund with the Blues Foundation in
Memphis. In 2015, Michael’s family, Lindsay and Jo Shannon,
and tournament organizer Todd Abrams, met with the Kansas
City Blues Society. It was decided then to establish the Michael
Shannon Musician’s Fund and keep the monies in Kansas City
to assist musicians and music industry professionals in times of
economic need due to health problems.
This is an outstanding tournament for a great cause. Kansas
City is blessed with the some of the most talented musicians
in the world. This fund is designed to give back to those who
give so much. Last year the fund generated over $20,000 which
has served countless area musicians during times of need. this
year’s goal is to raise even more.
In conjunction with the tournament, a celebration of Michael’s life will be held on August 31, 2016, at Knucklehead’s
Live at Chaz on the Plaza,
Lucky Brewgrille in Mission &
The Art Factory at Prairiefire
"Kind Folk" CD now available from CDBaby.com:
www.cdbaby.com/cd/roncarlson
Ron Carlson | Bob Bowman | Roger Rosenberg | Rob Scheps
Angela Hagenbach | Kathleen Holeman | Shay Estes | Brian Steever
RON CARLSON
Available 4 Private Parties, Clinics, Guitar Lessons
913.515.0316 • [email protected]
20
Saloon. This event will include music from Connie Hawkins
& The Blueswreckers, Rick Gibson Band, Jimmie Bratcher
and the Bon Ton Soul Accordion Band. There will be a silent
auction that will include many items from Lindsay Shannon’s
vast blues archives.
The fund is specifically designed to be used within a 50
mile radius of Kansas City, Missouri and is limited to musicians
and music industry professionals of all music genres. The fund
is administered by the Kansas City Blues Society, a 501(c)3
corporation. All donations are tax deductible. A proprietary
bank account has been established specifically for this fund.
The MSMF committee has established the criteria for funding
and will review applications and make recommendations to the
Board Directors of the Kansas City Blues Society. The Board
will then vote final approval on the recommendations made by
the MSMF committee. Once the application is approved, the
Treasurer will be instructed to make disbursements based on
the approval, but not directly to the applicant. Rather, the fund
is designed to make disbursements for rent, utilities, medical
expenses, etc., and monies are disbursed to the specific entity
directly. All applicants remain confidential.
We would love to have any golfers, would-be golfers or cart
riders participate in this tournament. You can sign up online at
www.bluessocietykc.com. The cost is $100 per golfer or $400 for
a team. Tickets to the concert events may be purchased online
at www.knuckleheadshonkytonk.com. Your donation not only
gets you great music and a fun time on the golf course, but
it helps our local musicians and music industry professionals
when they need our additional support.
The Road to Memphis International Blues Challenge
finals will take place on Saturday September 17th at 1 p.m.
at Knucklehead’s Saloon. This year’s competitors are an outstanding representation of the Kansas City blues scene. In the
Solo/Duo division, TJ Erhardt, Brodie Buster and Brandon
Hudspeth and Jaisson Taylor will be competing. In the band
division, My Six Gun Heart, Koolaide and the Exact Change
Band, Rick Gibson Band and the Amanda Fish Band will be
competing to represent Kansas City at the 2017 International
Blues Challenge in Memphis. The winners from each division,
along with a youth band and a self-produced CD, will be entered
into the challenge. It is a great event with the best blues music
in town.
Have a great summer and get out and hear some blues!
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
CELEBRATING BIRD
CONTINUED FROM 18
Celebration, you can hear him sitting in with Stan Kessler or
Hermon Merhari or Lonnie McFadden or Gerald Spaits or
Millie Edwards or Boogaloo 7, for starters.
Charlie Parker’s gravesite last year.
Live Bird is St. Louis native Jeff Robinson’s one man show
set in a bar in Harlem in 1954. In it, Bird talks about his days
in Kansas City to imaginary characters, imitates Lester Young
and plays some of his songs. Parker’s wife Doris caught the show
in New York once and remarked, “I knew Charlie as a man and
not simply as a musical genius. Jeff portrays the Charlie I knew.”
Ron McCurdy, Professor of Music at USC, Distinguished
Alumni of the University of Kansas, consultant to Grammy
Foundation educational programs, opens the celebration on
August 18th with a talk on the life and legacy of Charlie Parker
at the American Jazz Museum. An “Art of the Jam Session”
workshop for students with Tivon Pennicott takes place at the
museum on the morning of August 20th. A “We Remember
Bird” panel with some of Kansas City’s Elder Statesmen of Jazz
is held on the evening of the 23rd.
Tour de Jazz KC is a new event, a bike ride that starts at
18th & Vine on August 20th then explores historic Kansas City
music sites. There’s 10 mile, 30 mile and – for those amazingly
more ambitious than Jam’s editor – 50 mile options. Details
are at tourdejazzkc.com.
The celebration’s final day, August 27th, opens with a
Charlie Parker-specific historical tour for those who would
rather ride a bus than a bike. Chuck Haddix will be the guide
with stops at the sites of Lincoln Hall, the El Capitan Club, Ol’
Kentuck Bar B Q, the Mutual Musicians Foundation, Lucille’s,
Paseo Hall, Bird’s home on Olive Street and his gravesite.
Everyone is welcome at that gravesite for this year’s TwentyOne Sax Salute at noon followed by a free chicken feed (after
all, we’re talking Bird) at the Bruce R. Watkins Center at 1:30
p.m.
Take a look at the complete schedule (as it stood at press
time) on page 19.
TPAC BOX OFFICE 800-745-3000 TICKETMASTER.COM
TOPEKA PERFORMING
ARTS CENTER
214 SE 8TH AVENUE | TOPEKA
OCTOBER 28 - 7:30 PM
WWW.TOPEKAPERFORMINGARTS.ORG/BIG-HEAD-BLUES-CLUB
ticketmaster.com | 800.745.3000 | TPAC Box Office
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
21
FOR THE RECORD
Mark Lollman
All the Above
Personnel: Mark Lollman, soprano and alto saxophones and
percussion; Brian Lollman, tenor saxophone; Stan Kessler, trumpet
and flugelhorn; Danny Reid, keyboards, timbales and percussion;
James Albright (tracks 1,4,6-8) and Jerrod Foutes (tracks 2,3,5),
bass; Walt Chambers, lead guitar; Matt Hopper, rhythm guitar
(tracks 6,9); Clarence Smith (tracks 1,4,7) and Jim Lower Jr.
(tracks 2,3,5,6,8,9), drums; Gary Helms, guica (track 8)
Tracks: My Dog’s the Coolest Cat Around, Blue Moon Memories,
Feelin’ Loose, Never Forgotten, Inspirations, All Funk’d U.P.,You
Don't Know Me, Grasshopper Tracks, Northern Escapade,
Redeemer, Savior, Friend
Recorded at SoundWorks Studio, Blue Springs, Missouri.
Recording and mixing engineer, Andy Oxman.Mastered by Keith
Kaster
22
Mark Lollman is a
Kansas City native who
was a teacher in New
Mexico, Texas and Kansas City for over thirty
years. His new CD, All
the Above, is subtitled
“Jazz-Latin-Funk-RockPop.” All of those boxes
are indeed checked in this
fun recording.
The Lollman band
finds some great grooves here; while all but two of the tracks
are originals, the grooves are familiar. The opener, “My Dog's
the Coolest Cat Around,” is a strong shuffle that could be out
of the Hank Crawford/Jimmy McGriff book. Mark’s strong
alto is the star here, and we also hear some soulful guitar from
Walt Chambers. Mark plays soprano on the easy bossa nova
“Blue Moon Memories,” and Stan Kessler adds a solo perfect
for the cool ocean breezes the tune was made for. They get a
soul-jazz groove right out of Memphis going on “Feelin’ Loose.”
This calls for a wailing sax, and Mark has one. Drummer Lower
provides the steady rock rhythm, and Walt Chambers has his
own wail going on electric guitar. If you weren't dancing before,
you might be now.
“Never Forgotten” slows it down to showcase Mark on a
ballad that opens like it will be “What Are You Doing the Rest
of Your Life?” before it finds its own way. James Albright hints
on that theme in his pretty solo, also.
The band gets into a funky (almost smooth) groove on
“Inspirations.” and it’s another fine setting for Mark’s alto. “All
Funk’d U.P.” is all the title says, and is not the kind of tune to
listen to sitting down. Lower excels in this groove, and there are
exciting solos from Reid (nice wah-wah from the keys), Lollman
(blowing through some electronics, I think), and some more
rocking guitar from Chambers on this long jam. “You Don't
Know Me” is a great slow dance, while you’re still up. And you
will not sit down for the festive Latin party on “Grasshopper
Tracks” with fine additions from Gary Helm and Stan Kessler.
Then grab a cold pilsner as the funk keeps the party going on
“Northern Escapade,” before Mark Lollman and Danny Reid
send us home with the soulful hymn “Redeemer, Savior, Friend.”
All the Above touches a lot of bases, as promised. But
listened to from start to finish, it flows very well, like a wellexecuted concert set, and served as a satisfying and fun introduction to the saxophones and music of Mark Lollman.
—Roger Atkinson
Laura Ellis
Broken, Lovely
Personnel: Laura Ellis, vocals; John Rodby, piano and arranger;
Harvey Newmark, bass; Mark Z. Stevens, drums and
percussion; Terry Harrington, tenor sax; Grant Geissman, guitar
and banjo; Phil Feather, woodwinds; David Pittel, trumpet; Jenny
Takmatsu and Marcia Vaj, violin; Margot Aldcroft, viola; Dave
Murray, additional guitar; Chuck McCollum and Laura Ellis,
background vocals
Tracks: He Needs Me, Bring Me To Life, If You Want Me, Fire
and Ice, Guilty, Is It a Crime?, Almost Lover, Not This Time,
What’s New?, The Great Pretender, The Heart Won’t Lie,
Bathwater
Laura Ellis is an
Overland Park native who now lives in
the Los Angeles area.
She has had a couple
of her recordings reviewed in Jam is recent years, including
Femme Fatale, with
a jazzy film noirish
program.
Her ne w pro gram mixes in more modern contemporary pop with her jazz
side. And there is no surprise here that Laura's voice excels in
the variety of settings in Broken, Lovely. The album title captures
the theme of this record, as she calls it, “an album of loves....
lost, found and impossible.”
Ellis' singing almost seems effortless, in that classic style
of a classic singer of standard pop. She can soar and purr, bend
the notes where needed, always with excellent intonation, with
a good rhythmic feel.
While the material sticks to the theme, it is quite varied.
There are a couple of great older ballads, “He Needs Me” and
“What's New?” that are more typical of her previous records.
They are both very nice. And while this version of “What's
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
New” won't make you forget the great Helen Merrill version,
this one has some Shearing-esque unison piano and vibes that
sets it apart. “Guilty” has a “One for My Baby” vibe, with John
Rodby in the Bill Miller piano role. “Is It a Crime” is given a
great “Moondance” groove, and I liked the Grant Geissman
guitar fills. “Not This Time” gets a salsa treatment, with fine
horn work. Laura keeps it clean and simple on the Platters classic
“The Great Pretender,” it could almost be an old Country tune
excepting the flute and viola. This is a fine Rodby arrangement.
“The Heart Won't Lie” is 1970s-styled R&B with more fine string
work. It sounds like a string quartet on the poppy “Almost
Lover.” Laura and her band get another great jazzy groove on
“Fire and Ice,” with its bass and percussion opening.
Laura can really handle the more contemporary pop tunes
as well “Bring Me to Life” has a bit of echo with the vocal that I
found annoying on my initial listen. This is another good Rodby
arrangement with a modern Latin rhythm. She is quieter on “If
You Want Me,” sustaining the longing expressed in the lyric.
The closer “Backwater” is a blast, an old-timey tune with
a 1920s two-beat rhythm, and Laura singing in the style of the
day. I think Rodby had some fun in this arrangement.
So there is a lot of variety here, running from jazz ballad
tracks to the more contemporary material. And as we said up
front, the voice of Laura Ellis, along with the fine arranging on
John Rodby, makes it all very enjoyable record. It is available
from cdbaby.com.
—Roger Atkinson
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
and the City of Leawood
A Musical Thriller
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
September 29-October 1 - 8:00 pm
October 2 - 2:00 pm
The Lodge at Ironwoods Park
14701 Mission Road • Leawood, KS 66224
$5.00 Tickets sold in advance
at the Parks & Recreation Desk at City Hall
For detailed information go to
www.leawoodstageco.org or call 913.663.1957
Sundays in the Park
Concert Series
Presented by the Leawood Arts Council
6:00 pm • Free
Aug 14 Hard@Play
Aug 28 David Basse
Aug 21 Connie Hawkins &
the BluesWreckers
Sept 4 Heat Index
Sept 11 Grand Marquis
Ironwoods Park Amphitheater
147th & Mission • Leawood, KS 66224
Dine from a variety of
local favorite food trucks!
Seating available or bring
chairs for lawn seating.
www.leawood.org
co ntinu e d
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
23
LOGAN RICHARDSON
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9
in the future of this music because of Logan. That makes me
really want to be involved with this music.
“You know, it’s funny, when you talk about improvisation
and soloing, people have their good and bad days, but Logan is
always on. That’s hugely inspiring and it’s great for a recording.
Every time he plays, it’s going to be material worthy of being
heard.”
While in Kansas City, Richardson performed at the Blue
Room. When he returns to his hometown, he sees a jazz renaissance.
“I love the KC scene these days. There are great things
going on. Bobby Watson has created this youth revolution in
KC,” Richardson said. “Though, the one thing I have to say is
that I’m sad that these young cats will never get the chance to
meet Jay McShann or Sonny Kenner.”
But Richardson does not want to see musicians in this
vibrant jazz scene grow lax. He advocates going after gigs as
though there are none. Don’t rest. Continually push jazz forward.
“Based off the way I see Kansas City and this scene expanding, Kansas City is about to become a metropolis,” Richardson
said, the excitement in his voice growing. “It already is a metropolis right now. It’s going to get extremely crazy because New
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24
AUGUST 20 • 6:00 P.M.
Social Hour/Reception 5:00 pm
Leavenworth High School Performing Arts Center
2012 10th Avenue • Leavenworth, Kansas
TICKETS $20 ADVANCE/$25 AT THE DOOR/STUDENTS $10
TICKETS: JAZZBYTHERIVER.COM OR 913-682-8772
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
York is about ready to bust. It’s way too expensive and people
cannot afford to live there anymore.”
Might Richardson come back to this town, one to which
he thought he would never return, except to visit?
“You better watch out because I think Kansas City is
already back. It’s not even coming back. Really hip venues are
opening up. Places in Kansas City where my whole life it was
desolate and now there are all of these little spots opening up.
Makes me want to buy a spot of my own and open something
up.”
2016/2017
A JAM-PACKED
11-CONCERT SCHEDULE!
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
N
SEASO R!
OPENE
Legendary Hammond B-3 Organist/
2017 NEA Jazz Master!
DR. LONNIE SMITH
EVOLUTION QUINTET
Sunday, September 25, 2016
The Blue Note
“Big Band Holidays”
JAZZ AT LINCOLN CTR. ORCH.
with WYNTON MARSALIS &
SPECIAL GUEST, CATHERINE RUSSELL
Sunday, December 4, 2016
The Missouri Theatre
Celebrating the
Ella Fitzgerald Centennial
REGINA CARTER:
“SIMPLY ELLA”
Monday, January 23, 2017
Lela Raney Wood Hall, Kimball Blrm.,
Stephens College
An International Jazz Day Spectacular
SFJAZZ COLLECTIVE
“THE MUSIC OF MILES +
ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS
Miguel Zenon David Sanchez Sean Jones
Robin Eubanks Warren Wolf Edward Simon
Matt Penman Obed Calvaire
Sunday, April 30, 2017
The Blue Note
TICKETS
COMPLETE SCHEDULE
Jazz Series Box Office [M-F, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.]
573/449-3009 wealwaysswing.org
Season Tickets On Sale Now
Multi-Concert Packages & "Marsalis 4-Pack" +
Tickets to Dr. Lonnie Smith On Sale July 27
Tickets to ALL Shows On Sale August 16
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
25
KIM PARKER
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13
legal papers of marriage because he was
already a bigamist. So they didn’t marry,
but she had two children that were his.
She just was pushed aside.
Q: There are a lot of experts on Bird.
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about Bird?
KIM: Bird was a complete chameleon.
He could be what you wanted him to be.
He could look at you and lie and he was
so convincing. He was larger than life,
so he could get away with things. He did
things his way. He was a strange, strange
man. [Laughs.]
He didn’t seek to prolong his life. He
was like a super nova – he just pshooooo
through the sky, and then was gone. That
fast in the time continuum, just a flash,
just a smidge in time.
The mythology of him secured his
fame, all the larger than life aspects of
Bird, Chan and their son Baird, in
Washington Square, New York, after
the death of their daughter Pree.
him. But at heart he was a family man, and he
loved his kids and he loved my mother, and so
that was the side that no one got to see, because
he kept everyone away.
Q: It’s fascinating to me that your recollections
and your experiences are from the family unit
looking outward.
KIM: Yes. My grandmother – she was something else. She was not prejudiced. She was in
show business, so she knew show business life.
And she was very supportive of their relationship.
Bird was crazy about her.
Somebody once was interviewing her and
said, “Tell me about you and Bird and how you
got along.” She said, “Well, he didn’t like my
meatloaf…” [Laughter all around.]
Yes, I’m really the only one now. Everybody
else is gone. It’s just wonderful that my memory
is very long.
jazztokyo.org # 216, “People and Music in Kansas City #48” by Yoko Takemura (March 2016). Yoko gives
special thanks to Verne Christensen and Marty Peters.
WEDNESDAY DJ
OLD SCHOOL
THURSDAY New Blues & Jazz
Jam Session 7pm-11pm Calling All Musicians
FRIDAY LIVE BAND 6pm-10pm
SATURDAY LIVE BAND 5pm-9pm
WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY LUNCH 11am-3pm
1700 E 18th St. • Kansas City, Missouri
(816) 472-0013
26
Event space for parties
Looking for new bands
AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE
CLUB SCENE
LOCAL LIVE JAZZ & BLUES
18TH & VINE
J The Blue Room
18th & Vine........................ 816-474-2929
Mon. — Blue Monday Jam
Thur. - Sat. — Live Jazz
M IDTOWN/WESTPORT
BDaily Limit
4124 Pennsylvania.............. 816-531-1097
BDirty Harry’s
JCalifornos
Live Jazz
J The Drop
409 E. 31st St..................... 816-756-3767
BDanny’s Big Easy
1601 E. 18th St...................816.421.1200
Tues. — El Barrio Band, 6:00 p.m.
Thurs. — Millage Gilbert’s Big Blues Band 7:00 p.m.
Fri. - Sat. — Live Band
Sat. Blues Jam 2:00 p.m.
J Kansas City Blues & Jazz Juke House
1700 E. 18th Street............. 816-472-0013
Thurs. - Open Jam session 7:30-11:30 p.m.
Fri. - Live Band 6:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Sat.- Live Band 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.
J Mutual Musicians Foundation
1823 Highland................... 816-471-5212
Fri. - Sat. — Late Night Jazz 1:00 a.m.
Millie Edwards & Tom DeMasters, 2nd Saturdays
1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
JB Jazz - A Louisiana Kitchen
39th & State Line................. 816-531-5556
Mon. - Sat. — Live Music, 7:00 p.m.
BThe Levee
16 W. 43rd St..................... 816-561-5565
Wed. - Blues Jam 8:00 p.m.
Thurs.- Sat. — Live Music
JB
Westport Coffeehouse Theater
4010 Pennsylvania.............. 816-756-3222
Wed. - Thurs. — Live Music
BWestport Saloon
4112 Pennsylvania.............. 816-960-4560
D OWNTOWN
Mon., Thurs. — Live Blues 9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Tues. — Blues Jam 10:00 p.m.
J American Restaurant
25th & Grand..................... 816-426-1133
Tues. - Sat. — Live Jazz, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
J The Brick
1727 McGee...................... 816-421-1634
Live Jazz & Eclectic
J The Chesterfield
14th & Main....................... 816-474-4545
Wed. — West Coast Swing
Fri. — Swing
Sat. — Salsa
Coda
1744 Broadway.................. 816-945-8874
Tues. - Sat. — Live Music
J Green Lady Lounge
1809 Grand....................... 816-215-2954
7 days a week — Live Jazz
JB
The Kill Devil Club
14th & Main....................... 816-588-1132
J Capital Grille
4740 Jefferson.................... 816-531-8345
J InterContinental Oak Bar & Lounge
121 Ward Parkway............. 816-756-1500
Live Jazz Thurs. - Sun. Sets start at 8:00 p.m.
J Plaza III
4749 Pennsylvania.............. 816-753-0000
Sat. — Lonnie McFadden 7:00 - 11:00 p.m.
J Raphael Hotel, Chaz Restaurant
325 Ward Parkway............ .816-756-3800
NORTH
Mon. - Thurs. — Live Music 7:00 - 11:00 p.m.
Fri. — Live Music 4:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Sat. — Live Music 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
and 4:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
BProhibition Hall
1118 McGee...................... 816-446-7832
Thurs. — Blues Jam 7:00 p.m.
1217 Union Avenue ............ 816-471-7447
Thurs. — Live Jazz 9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
J Tank Room
1813 Grand Blvd................ 816-214-6403
Mon. — Live Music 8:00 - 11:00 p.m.
Sat. — Live Music 8:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
20 E 5th............................. 816-471-7427
Fri. — Jam 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Sat. - Sun. — Blues on the Patio 3:00 - 7:00 p.m.
128 W. 18th Street.............. 816-472-5533
Wed., Thurs., and Sun. — Live Jazz
3737 North Oak Trfy........... 816-454-7977
Sat. — Live Jazz
BFrank James Saloon
10919 MO-45, Parkville...... 816-505-0800
Thurs. — Open Mic 7:00 p.m.
BThe Hideout
6948 N Oak Trafficway
Gladstone........................... 816-468-0550
JB
Johnny’s Back Yard
1825 Buchanan, NKC......... 816-985-1157
Fri. - Sat. — Live Music 9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. — Blues Jam 7:00 p.m.
EAST
BWinslow's BBQ
J Yj’s Snack Bar
J Cascone’s North
Mon. — Blues Jam 7:00 p.m.
J The Ship
1204 NW Hwy 7,
Blue Springs........................ 816-228-4878
Wed. — Jam 7:30 - 11:30 p.m.
BKnuckleheads
2715 Rochester Ave............. 816-483-1456
Wed. - Sun. — Live Music
Sat. - Sun. — Blues Jam 1:00 p.m.
BKonrads Kitchen
302 SW Main,
Lee’s Summit........................ 816-525-1871
Fri. — Live Blues 8:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.
J The Piano Room
8410 Wornall Rd................ 816-363-8722
Fri. - Sat. 8:00 - 12:00 — Dave McCubbin
SOUTH
J Bristol Seafood Grill
Tues. - Wed. — Live Jazz 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Thurs. - Sat. — Live Jazz, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.
7 days a week — Live Jazz
The Phoenix
302 W. 8th Street.................. 816-221-jazz
Wed. - Fri. — Live Blues
BJoe’s Standard
4558 Main Street................ 816-756-3227
J Café Trio
Fri. - Sat. 8:00 p.m - 1:00 a.m.
JB
3100 MO-7, Blue Springs.... 816-224-2779
J The Art Factory
Mon. - Sat. — Live Jazz
Sun. — Jazz Brunch 10:00 - 1:00
J Majestic Restaurant
931 Broadway.................... 816-221-1888
Fri. — Live Blues 8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
PL A Z A
Sundays 5:00 - 9 p.m. – Dan Doran Trio
JB
523 E Red Bridge Rd........... 816-942-0400
BB.B’s Lawnside BBQ
5621 W 135th St................ 913-217-7861
Fri., Sat. - Live Jazz
5400 W. 119th St............... 913-663-5777
Sun. 5:00 - 8:00 — Live Music
JCascone’s
6863 W.91st. Street............ 913-381-6837
Sat.— Live Jazz 7:00 -10:00 p.m.
J Gaslight Grill and Back Room
5020 W. 137th Street.......... 913-897-3540
Wed. - Sun. — 6:30 Lynn Zimmer Jazz Band
J La Bodega Tapas & Lounge
4311 West 119th St............ 913-428-8272
Sun. — Live Music 6:00 - 8 00 p.m.
BLlyewelyn’s
6995 W 151st.................... 913-402-0333
Tues. — Blues Jam 7:30 p.m.
Sat. - Sun. — Live Music
J Sullivan’s Steakhouse
4501 W. 119th St............... 913-345-0800
7 days a week — Live Jazz
WEST
JB
4220 Rhythm & Blues Lounge
4220 Leavenworth Rd,
KCK................................... 913-232-9827
Sun. — Jazz/R&B/Blues Jam 6:00 - 10:00 p.m.
J Jazz at Legends
1859 Village W Pkwy,
KCK................................... 913-328-0003
Wed. - Sat. — Live Jazz
BKobi’s Bar and Grill
113 Oak, Bonner Springs..... 913-422-5657
Sun. — Live Blues 2:00 - 6:00 p.m.
J Lucky Brewgrille
5401 Johnson Drive............. 913-403-8571
Thurs. — Live Jazz 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
1205 E. 85th Street............. 816-822-7427
Tues. - Sun. — Live Blues
Sat. 2:00 - 5:30 — Jazz & Blues Jam w/Mama Ray
J Jazz B Blues
BBodee's BBQ & Burgers
522 S Main, Grain Valley..... 816-867-5511
Fri. — Jam 8:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.
Sat. — Live Blues 8:00 p.m.
JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE • AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016
27
CODA
MARK EDELMAN
The Greater Impact of Clubs
Coda was conceived as a place to trade opinions, not
just a column for the editor of Jam to have the issue’s last
word. We don’t just welcome, but encourage your contributions. You can email letters and short essays to editor@
kcjazzambassadors.com.
This issue, Mark Edelman, Executive Producer of 12th
Street Jump, offers his thoughts on a couple of topics in the
last Jam.
Congratulations on your 30th anniversary issue, Jam. I
especially enjoyed the interviews with John Scott and Gerald
Dunn. Club owners/operators don’t get enough credit in our
jazz scene. These guys are the real heroes, keeping rooms lit and
booked as much as possible. Good for you for pointing that out.
I was disappointed to see more talk of a Kansas City Jazz
Festival. Both Mayor James and American Jazz Museum Executive Director Kositany-Buckner seem jazzed (no pun intended)
about the idea of spending a lot of money bringing out of town
talent to KC (and even more on staging, sound and lights) and
NEXT JAM
ending up with a crowd of people drinking beer on the street,
satisfied that they’ve done their jazz thing for the year.
When you put on a festival, you hurt the business for the
bars and clubs that keep KC jazz alive fifty-two weeks a year.
That’s what KC has that doesn’t exist in St Louis, Chicago,
Houston, Dallas, San Francisco and a host of other big cities –
six or seven clubs most any Thursday thru Sunday night of the
week where you can hear great jazz.
We’re not going to “out-festival” these other cities, so why
try? Spend the money promoting and supporting the clubs. If
you have to bring back the KC Jazz Festival, stage it at all of
the clubs in town, rather than outside, where it will cost you
a fortune and can get rained out. Don’t steal the business the
Majestic, Green Lady, the Blue Room, Chaz on the Plaza, the
Art Factory, the Gaslight Grill, Cafe Trio, the Phoenix and the
other clubs are counting on – grow it.
Take that $45k you’ll spend on Diana Krall and pass it
around to our musicians and club operators. I guarantee you, it
will have a much bigger impact on the future of jazz in Kansas
City than another festival.
November marks 80 years since Count Basie’s band left Kansas City for
international renown. Their last show was at Paseo Hall, opening for Duke
Ellington. As the band boarded their bus, Ellington came out, put his hand on
Basie’s shoulder and told Basie, “You can make it.” Bennie Moten played Paseo
Hall. So did a young Charlie Parker. The building still stands. In the next Jam,
the story of Paseo Hall.
Jazz Underground Westport Coffeehouse Theater
Weekly schedule: WestportCoffeeHouse.com
alcohol available in theater
The Jazz Underground Series
is now on select Wednesdays
& Thursdays: check website
and FB for lineup.
Event Space for 100!!
Videotaping available!
4010 Pennsylvania • Kansas City, MO • 816.756.3222
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AUGUST + SEPTEMBER 2 016 • JAZZ AMBAS SADOR MAGAZINE