What is the Future of Jazz in Kansas City?

JUNE + JULY 2016

What is the Future

of Jazz inKansas City?

Thoughts fromMayor Sly James • Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner

Angela Hagenbach • Hermon MehariGerald Dunn • John Scott • Dan Thomas • Bill McKemy

30thanniversary issue

JANUARY

DECEMBER

TUES 1 WED 2 THURS 3 FRI 4 SAT 5

BMWCheri Evans &CEEJazzSoul

DEBORAH BROWN


Delynia Bailey & the Boss Kings

INTERSTRING

RYAN THIELMAN

LESTER “DUCK” WARNER


THE TRUTHSons of BRASIL

IDA MCBETH


CLOSEDChristmas

Day!

CLOSEDChristmas

Eve!

CHARLOTTEFLETCHER &

SOIGNE’

NEO SOULLOUNGE w/Jason Betts

MUSICIAN“APPRECIATION DAY!”

Elder Statesmen of Jazz 5:00pm

Max Berry 7:30pm

TUES 29 WED 30 THURS 31

FRI 1 SAT 2Happy New Year!


GRAY MATTER

Sons of BRASIL

KANSAS CITY DIVAS NIGHT OUT!:

Eboni FondrenCharlotte Fletcher

J LoveAmber Underwood

JAMES WARD BAND

MAX BERRY

TUES 12 WED 13 THURS 14 FRI 15 SAT 16BMW

TC & True Dig

TUES 19 WED 20 THURS 21 FRI 22 SAT 23THE TRUTH

Everette DeVan&

Eboni Fondren

MATT OTTO

JAZZ DISCIP LES

HAPPY Martin Luther

King DAY!EDDIE MOORE &

THE OUTER CIRCLE

ENSEMBLE IBERICA

with

SHADES OF JADE


IDAMCBETH

GRUPO AZTLAN

DOUG TALLEY

QUINTET

LADY D

ROGER WILDER QUINTET

NCA percentage of Blue

Room Pale Ale is donated by North

Coast brewing to support programming at the

American Jazz Museum.

JAMES & ANGELA WARD

DWIGHT FOSTER

LOUIS NEALBIG BAND

SAX SHOWCASEMike HerraraHouston SmithErnest Melton

TYREE JOHNSON&

GROOVE101

MARCUS LEWIS

BIG BAND

JAM 7

JAM 14

JAM 21

JAM 28

JAM 4

JAM 11

JAM 18

JAM 25

*Indicates Feature Performances for the month

*

3rd Annual BORDERWARS Showdown!

KU vs. MU“A friendly

big band exchange”

+

+

+ *

*

*

++

+

NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATIONEVERETTE DEVAN 7:30pm – 9:30pm

CHARLES WILLIAMS QUARTET w/ PAULA SAUNDERS& ASA BARNES 10pm – Midnight

“MUSICAL HANDSHAKE”As part of the “ALL HAIL to HALE” exhibit. Will Matthews Quartet with special guest

Wayne Goins and Ensemble Berica with Matt Otto.

*

*

$1 0 Admission Fridays & Saturdays (unless otherwise noted)

NEW YEAR’S EVECELEBRATION

Everette DeVan Charles Williams Quartet

w/ Paula Saunders& Asa Barnes

NC

THURSDAY 02FRIDAY 03

SATURDAY 04SUNDAY 05

Vinyl on the VineBLUE MONDAY 06


SATURDAY 11

BLUE MONDAY 13


SATURDAY 18

BLUE MONDAY 20


SATURDAY 25

BLUE MONDAY 27

THURSDAY 30

KEVIN MAHOGANY*BMW • ROY AYERS 2 Shows 8:30pm & 10pm $20DOUG TALLEY w/ KATHLEEN HOLEMANNEO-SOUL LOUNGE 6pm to 9pm $5

w/ GROOVY GRANTEVERETTE DEVAN

LESTER “DUCK” WARNER*LADY D • IDA MCBETH $15TODD WILKINSON

TYREE JOHNSON AND GROOVE 101

Heat IndexWILD MEN OF KC JAMES WARD BAND

JAZZ DISCIPLES

KANSAS CITY LATIN JAZZ ALL-STARS * THE TRUTH • KC DIVASTYRONE CLARK & TRUE DIG

LOUIS NEAL BIG BAND

ALLISON MILLER’S BOOM TIC BOOM $10

$10 Admission Fridays & Saturdays (unless otherwise noted)1600 East 18th Street • IKansas City, MO 64108

BlueRoomKC.orgA percentage of Blue Room Pale Ale is donated by North Coast Brewing

to support programming at the American Jazz Museum.

FRIDAY 01SATURDAY 02

MONDAY 04


SATURDAY 09SUNDAY 10

BLUE MONDAY 11


SATURDAY 16

BLUE MONDAY 18


SATURDAY 23

BLUE MONDAY 25


SATURDAY 30

*LADY D • ROGER WILDERCHARLES WILLIAMS & GENRE

CLOSED

MATT OTTO JUST A TOUCH A CLASS • BOBBY WATSON’S ”I HAVE A DREAM BAND” $20 MAX BERRY BANDNEO SOUL LOUNGE 6pm TO 9pm; $5

JAZZ DISCIPLES

TJ MARTLEY QUARTET*BMW • WILD MEN OF KCIDA MCBETH $15

SETH LEE

BILL MCKEMY QUARTETGRAY MATTER • BRANDON DRAPER GROUP featuring PAUL DRAPER on Hamond B3Happy Birth Day THOMAS HILL!KYLE TURNER $15

HOUSTON SMITH

PABLO SANHUEZA & KANSAS CITY LATIN JAZZ ALL-STARSTRUTH • CHARLOTTE FLETCHER & SOIGNE’ JAZZ DISCIPLES featuring TRACEY HAMMOND $15

BLUE ROOMPALE ALE

JUNE

2016

JULY

2016

THURS./JUNE 02

KEVINMAHOGANY

TWO SHOWS$20

7:30 -9:30PM

THURS./JUNE 30

MAGIC 107.3

INDIGO HOUR:

IN THE BLUE ROOMNO COVER

CHARGE

• Blue Room Martinis• Drink Specials• Beer, Wine & Wells• Live Music• Appetizer Buffet

FRI./JUNE 03

ROYAYERS

TWO SHOWS$20

8:30 -10:00PM

FRI./JULY 08

BOBBYWATSONI HAVE A DREAM BAND/$20

SAT./JULY 23

KYLETURNER

$15

“The standout jazz vocalist of his generation.” -- Newsweek

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“A significant release on amultitude of levels.”

- Brent Black, Critical Jazz

“'Wrapped Tight' is the fifthrecorded studio album forKyle Turner who continues tobreak barriers and set newgrounds.”

““Allison Miller… She can play! It was groovy; it was funky; She was in the pocket.”- George Duke, Jazz Times

ALLISONMILLER’S

BOOM TIC BOOM $10

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*Indicates Indigo Hour Performance

3RD ANNUAL ARTISTS INDUCTION & CONCERT

SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2016gem theater1615 E. 18th Street | Kansas City, MO 64108

6:30 PmINDUCTION CEREMONY | Free & Open to the public

7:00 PmCONCERT at the GEM THEATER featuring

ELLIS MARSALIS • AL JARREAU • QUEEN BEYConcert tickets: $30 per personAvailable at the Gem Theater Box Office & thru Ticketmaster

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JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • JUNE + JULY 2016JUNE + JULY 2016 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE2

30 Years of Jammin’ It’s been thirty years. Thirty years ago this issue, Jam was born. The magazine's birth is brief ly recounted else-where in this issue. But it’s short on purpose, because both Jam and the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors are looking ahead. This issue asks the question, what is the future of jazz in Kansas City? Mayor Sly James discusses the future of historic 18th and Vine. Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner, the American Jazz Museum’s new Executive Director, talks about the jazz district’s anchor institution. Green Lady Lounge owner John Scott and Blue Room manager Gerald Dunn look at clubs. UMKC Jazz Studies Co-Chair Dan Thomas and the jazz museum’s Director of Education bring a pair of views on jazz educa-tion. Angela Hagenbach, who last year celebrated twenty-five years of singing jazz, and Hermon Mehari, who is still relatively new to the scene, examine the musician’s perspective. At the risk of giving away the ending, the feeling that comes through in all of these discussions is optimism. There’s optimism for the vibrancy of Kansas City’s jazz scene today and optimism for its outlook. Since the 1920s, this city has been a special home to jazz. It still is.

Kansas City is also home to some extraordinary visual artists. In the December/January Jam we announced a competition among art students at Penn Valley Com-munity College to design a poster for Jazz Appreciation month to honor a century of jazz. On April 29th, at the Buttonwood Art Space (3103 Main St., where owner Jon McGraw leads KC Jazz ALIVE and is a stellar supporter of jazz in this city), the winner was announced. Samantha Offutt’s design, with a sleek illustration of a trum-pet melting into notes and other musical instruments all against a richly colored background, was the Jazz Ambassador board’s favorite. Samantha started the project with research. The shape of the image was inspired by a Coca-Cola bottle. She graduated from

Penn Valley in May and is moving to Houston, MO with her husband Cory. You can purchase a signed and framed limited edition print of the winning poster at the Jazz Ambassadors web site, kcjazzambassadors.com.

PRESIDENT’S CORNERSTEPHEN MATLOCK

1700 E 18th St. • Kansas City, Missouri(816) 472-0013

WEDNESDAY DJ OLD SCHOOL

THURSDAY New Blues & JazzJam Session 7pm-11pm Calling All Musicians

FRIDAY LIVE BAND 6pm-10pm

SATURDAY LIVE BAND 5pm-9pm

WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY LUNCH 11am-3pm

Event space for partiesLooking for new bands

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • JUNE + JULY 2016 3

CONTENTS


President’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2News & Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4In the Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Mayor Sly James On the Future of 18th and Vine: Have a Plan . . . . . . 8Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner: A Big Festival & Other Big Plans . . . . .12John Scott: A Jazz Club With a Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Gerald Dunn: Blue Room Mentor . .16Dan Thomas: Bringing In the Best . .18Bill McKemy: Growing Musicians and Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Angela Hagenbach: A Renaissance is Coming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Hermon Mehari: Pushing the Scene .23Off the Vine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Bits of the Blues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Club Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Coda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28Next Jam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

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 RLarry Kopitnik

C O N T R I B U T I N G W R I T E R SRoger AtkinsonTony Bozarth

Carolyn Glenn BrewerBill BrownleeChris Burnett

Joe DiminoRaymond Franson

Wayne GoinsChuck Haddix

Connie Humiston

Larry KopitnikDanny PowellKevin Rabas

Michael RaganMichael Shults

A D V E R T I S I N GSharon Valleau (816) 582-3090

Connie ‘Crash’ 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 NRodric McBride

C O V E R P H O T O G R A P H YLarry Kopitnik

C O V E R L A Y O U T & D E S I G NRodric McBrideP R I N T I N G

Single Source PrintingD I S T R I B U T I O N ( P R I N T )

K.C. Jazz AmbassadorsD I S T R I B U T I O N ( E L E C T R O N I C )

www.kcjazzambassadors.comI N T E R N E T W E B M A S T E R

The Digital Agenda

2 0 1 6 B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

E X E C U T I V E C O M M I T T E EPRES IDENT Stephen MatlockSECRETARY Dr. Tyler Craig

TREASURER Jennifer Wismeier

D I RECTORS AT L ARGEKris Siriwangchai | Lynn Abrams | Janice Kinney

ADV ISORY BOARDDean 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.

JUNE + JULY 2016VOLUME 20, NO. 3

On the Cover: Hermon Mehari came to Kansas City a decade ago to study at UMKC. He's one of the young musicians who are making jazz their career and Kansas City their home. This issue asks musicians and key leaders, what is the future of jazz in Kansas City?

JUNE + JULY 2016

What is the Future

of Jazz inKansas City?

Thoughts fromMayor Sly James • Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner

Angela Hagenbach • Hermon MehariGerald Dunn • John Scott • Dan Thomas • Bill McKemy



NEWS & HIGHLIGHTS

$27.6 Million Proposed for 18th and Vine

A proposed investment of $27.6 million into the 18th and Vine historic district in the form of a bond issue was an-nounced on April 21st by Kansas City Manager Troy Shulte and Councilman Jermaine Reed. The mayor discusses it in his interview in this issue. Here’s a few of the jazz-specific details, quoted from a document on the city’s web site: $1,743,194 to the American Jazz Museum for “design and construction of Blue Room expansion and new café, con-struction of exhibit and lobby improvements, and equipment upgrades for the Gem Theater.” $432,109 for an outdoor amphitheater (the site of the Jay McShann Pavillion behind the jazz museum) for “repurposing of the existing structure located at the north side of the Ameri-can Jazz Museum to allow for a new fully equipped stage for summer music events.”

This map illustrates proposed improvements to the 18th and Vine district.

$140,000 for the Mutual Musicians Foundation to “install a wheelchair lift and new masonry walls along the historic building.” Money is included to complete conversion of the Paseo YMCA to the Buck O’Neil Education and Research Center. Historic structures on Vine between 18th and 19th Streets – including the Eblon Theater/Cherry Blossom facade profiled a couple issues ago – would be preserved. The 18th Street streetscape would be improved from the historic district to the Bruce R. Watkins Roadway overpass. A parking lot would be added in a block bounded by 18th and 19th Streets, Lydia and Grove. A new headquarters for Friends of Alvin Ailey would be built next to the Kansas City Call building. New housing is planned. The Boone Theatre building, the Lincoln Building and the Black Archives of Mid-America would all see improve-ments.


Winterlude 2.0

A new program at Johnson County Community College’s Carlsen Center is being touted as the return of Winterlude. Winterlude, you may recall, was the college’s January jazz festival combining two days of local groups with national names in the evenings and student clinics. It returns, starting in October, as a series of monthly concerts in Polsky Theatre and a grand finale in March in Yardley Hall. The grand finale is Jazz 100, a show celebrating the hun-dredth birthdays of Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Mongo Santamaria with Gillespie’s long-time pianist, Danillo Perez, Chris Potter on tenor sax, Avishai Cohen

Winterlude in 2013.

Live at Chaz on the Plaza,Lucky Brewgrille in Mission &The Art Factory at Prairiefire

Available 4 Private Parties, Clinics, Guitar Lessons913.515.0316 • [email protected]

Available 4 Private Parties, Clinics, Guitar Lessons913.515.0316 • [email protected]

RON CARLSON

"Kind Folk" CD now available from CDBaby.com:www.cdbaby.com/cd/roncarlson

Ron Carlson | Bob Bowman | Roger Rosenberg | Rob SchepsAngela Hagenbach | Kathleen Holeman | Shay Estes | Brian Steever

AUGUST 20 • 6:00 P.M.TICKETS ON SALE NOW

THE RICHARD ALLENCULTURAL CENTERPRESENTS

SAVE THE DATELeavenworth High School Performing Arts Center

Social Hour/Reception 5:00 PMTICKETS $20 ADVANCE/$25 AT THE DOOR/STUDENTS $10TICKETS: JAZZBYTHERIVER.COM OR 913-682-8772

on trumpet, Wycliffe Gordon on trombone, Ben Street on bass, Adam Cruz on drums, Roman Diaz on percussion, and Lizz Wright, vocals. That’s quite an ensemble. Shows leading up to that night include the Will Matthews B-3 Organ Trio featuring Bobby Floyd and Marty Morrison on October 16th, the David Basse/Joe Cartwright Septet on December 18th, Sons of Brazil on January 22nd, and Alaturka on February 26th. Tickets can be purchased at 913-469-4445 or online at jccc.edu/TheSeries.


Ken Poston started Jam in June, 1986. Poston was Executive Director of the Kansas City Jazz Commission. “I went to the JazzTimes convention in New York in 1985 or ’86,” he recalls. “I was on a panel representing the Jazz Commission.” While there, he picked up Hot House maga-zine, a guide to jazz in the city. W h e n h e r e -t u r n e d , P o s t o n broached to the Jazz Commission board the idea of starting a

In the Beginning

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2008

Catching Up with James Zollar and Richie Pratt • Alternate Take, Vine, Folly, News, and More

Tommy Ruskin:A JAM Q&A

Jim Mair and the KCJO Look Ahead


The Richard J. SternFoundation for the Arts –Commerce Bank Trustee

Neighborhood TouristDevelopment FundCity of Kansas City, Missouri

12th & Central • Kansas City, MOFOR TICKETS 816-474-4444www.follytheater.org

Z

2016 2017

October 15 Bob JamesDecember 10 Cecile McLoren Salvant

February 18 Robert Glasper Trio*March 4 Aaron Diehl/Warren Wolf

April 7 Donny McCaslin TrioMay 19 Eliane Elias Quartet

ALL SHOWS 8:00 P.M.JAZZ TALK @ 7:00 P.M.

*Pending

similar magazine in Kansas City. The Commission approved funding. Poston edited the first issue, writing most of it with Uni-versity of Kansas jazz expert Dick Wright. A printer on the north side of 18th Street in Kansas City’s jazz district laid out and produced the issue, matching the size and paper stock of Hot House. Saxophonist Gary Foster was on the cover. The Jazz Ambassadors took on magazine distribution from the start. The Ambassadors had grown from a group of volunteers assembled to work the Jazz Commission’s first pub crawl. They wanted to do more. With the second issue, the Ambassadors took over layout, printing and ad sales. Today Poston splits his time between San Diego, where he manages jazz radio station KSDS, and Los Angeles, where he is founder and director of the Los Angeles Jazz Institute. The Jazz Institute maintains one of the world’s premier jazz archives and stages two festivals each year. Today the Jazz Ambassadors own and publish Poston’s creation, Jam. That’s enough looking back. We celebrate 30 years of Jam by looking forward and asking this question: What is the future of jazz in Kansas City?


Mayor Sly James On the Future of 18th and Vine:

Have a Plan


The 18th and Vine district is Kansas City jazz’s soul. It’s a district at the cusp of major changes. In April, ground was broken on construction of the nation’s seventh Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in Parade Park, directly behind the jazz and Negro Leagues museums. The next week, the city unveiled details of proposed district improvements totaling $27.6 million. And a new executive director is leading the district’s anchor, the American Jazz Museum, into its twenti-eth year. Jam sat down with Kansas City Mayor Sly James to discuss the future of 18th and Vine, starting with the MLB Urban Youth Academy. What is it? MAYOR SLY JAMES: It is first and foremost going to be an opportunity to engage 600 to 1000 kids a year in baseball as a vehicle for a lot of different things. It will teach kids the skills needed to play baseball, and some who have talent will move higher than others. But all who are there will be in contact with people who know the game, know how to teach the game, and follow a basic philosophy that’s been promulgated by [Kansas City Royals General Manager] Dayton Moore and the way that he built the team. You’re looking for certain things and you’re teaching certain things, like team before self. Character is important. Leadership is important. But also it’s going to be an opportunity for kids who might ordinarily just be hanging around to do something that’s con-ducted in a safe environment under the watchful eyes of adults and have fun doing it. It will also provide some academic support. They’ll calcu-late the flight of a baseball over the wall and use baseball and statistics as a way of teaching math. There will be opportunities for kids to learn what it means to be a groundskeeper, what it means to be a concessionaire. You want to be a broadcaster? Go up and broadcast this game. But the main thing is that it is going to use baseball to improve the lives of urban kids in a way that hasn’t been done. The physical layout will consist of two large fields, one a championship field – the fences, I think, will be 400 feet to center, some big alleys – a little league field and a softball field. And then a building where instruction can take place during twelve months of the year with an infield, batting cages, pitch-ing cages, and classrooms. The whole operation will be operated by the Royals as a low level minor league type of a deal. They’ll pay for it for twenty years and run it like they run their team. I’m really excited about this for a number of reasons. What it does for kids in this community is huge. We know from our summer programming that when kids are engaged, juvenile crime and victimization goes down 18 per cent. We also know that kids, when given an opportunity to do something positive, will take it. What we’re doing is putting a bunch of kids in the area of 18th and Vine, which means they’re going to be there with their parents. There will be people from different parts of the city and the region coming in to play games at 18th and Vine. 18th and Vine should have more foot traffic. Hopefully, retail will spring up organically in order to satisfy some of the foot traffic. There will be people who are in the Negro Leagues museum and in the jazz museum, expanding the reach of those two places. Bringing people to the area means there’s going to be more exposure of the assets in the area.

The next phase is more assets need to be in the area. We need more rooftops. We need more retail. We need more eater-ies. If I could, I’d probably go down there and try to get me a space and get a little ice cream stand that’s open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in the summer and sell tons of ice cream to kids who are out there playing ball and waiting for games to be played. That’s the type of stuff that may come about. There are also other things that are going on, and this is in conjunction with a different plan [the proposed $27.6 million in improvements]. There will be lots of discussion about what that should look like in the coming weeks, how do we make 18th and Vine more viable and live up to the history and tradition. Last but not least, I think there is something in the works to stop having the Gem Theater be dark for three-fourths of the year. It’s a great venue and we don’t have enough activity there. There’s been conversations about a contract with some entertainers who would fill that on an ongoing basis. That’s not finished yet, but it’s something that I hope gets finished soon. JAM: With the baseball academy attracting more people, proposed improvements in the area, and the Crossroads area growing towards the east, are we starting to see more of an alignment of the district with the rest of the city? MAYOR JAMES: That’s the goal. That’s the articulated and tangible goal of connecting east Crossroads to 18th and Vine in a seamless way. The problem that we have is that along 18th Street it gets kind of quasi-industrial, not very inviting. Lots of concrete, the overpass, things that don’t necessarily say, hey, we’re pretty, come see us. So we’re looking at some options to make changes there. Early on I did a Mayor’s Institute of City Design with Charelston Mayor Joe Riley. When you do that, you select an area of the city that you’d like to examine and talk about and have some input on in terms of changing what it is. The area I selected was 18th and Vine. The biggest thing that came out of that was to get more people down there as frequently as possible, for a couple of dif-ferent reasons. Number one, the more people you have down there, the more activity that will be generated and the more incentive there will be for people, even on a pop-up basis or a food truck basis, to create economic activity. Then you will have incentive to increase that economic activity by connecting to the east Crossroads. You also generate more buzz. Getting the urban youth baseball academy there brings more people down. The next step is working with the Down-town Council to get more people down on First Fridays and those types of things, so we can start that constant flow. If you have that constant and you’re a resident down there and you see every week there’s an additional 2000 people walking on the streets of 18th and Vine, and you’ve got an idea for shakes and ice cream or hamburgers and hot dogs, or bandaids and cigarettes, whatever it is you want to sell, now all of a sudden you’re saying, this might be viable. How about a coffee shop? Anything. Just get some retail activity down there so that you’re always generating activity on the street. But that also requires that we continue to build out housing. We have to have the rooftops in order to be sustainable for those


S L Y J A M E S CONTINUED

times when people aren’t there. If I live in the area and there’s not a coffee shop on the street, then I’m going someplace else for my coffee. If there is a coffee shop, then me and the other people who live in the same area might bump into each other there, have a conversation. Now we’re talking neighborhood. Now we’re talking cohesiveness. When you have people come together as neighbors in a cohesive way, good things happen. That’s what we’re shooting for. That’s the plan and the target. JAM: When the improvements proposal was first discussed last year, you expressed concerns, perhaps about what kind of private funding it would leverage. MAYOR JAMES: My concern was simply this, and it remains a concern regardless of what project it is: having money is not a plan. Have a plan and then figure out how to finance it. What we had was money but no real plan. It doesn’t make any sense to have money out there and say, we’re going to use this to help 18th and Vine, or we’re going to use it to help Brookside, or anything else. What are you going to do with it? Is this the best idea? Who’s vetting this? What are you going to need? Is this sustainable on its own down the road, or is this something that’s going to be a one-shot wonder? All of those things need to be answered and that planning is still in the process. I want to separate two things. Number one, I want to separate my desire to see 18th and Vine completed in a way that is responsible, that creates jobs and activity, and brings it back to something approaching its original glory. I want to see that happen. But I am going to always be critical of the way we get there in order to make sure that we’re being efficient and that we’re actually using money to accomplish the goals that we need as opposed to shooting at a false target. When we get the planning done, and it becomes clear what the money is going to be used for, how it needs to be allocated, then I’m for it. But until there is a complete plan and it’s been vetted and everybody is on board, I’m going to reserve some judgement on it, which is totally different than the overall goal of seeing the improvements. That’s not going to change. This is something that Councilman Reed has been championing and, although I agree with the ultimate goal, I want to see more meat on the bones before I join. JAM: Do you have a reaction to the specific projects that were announced? MAYOR JAMES: I don’t have a reaction to specific proj-ects. My reaction to any project of this type and scope is, is it catalytic and is it sustainable? I don’t want to do something where in five years it’s going to be, hey, we need another ten million dollars or, hey, we need to do something different here because it’s not working. I want to see all of that taken care of on the front end. Sustainability is huge and being catalytic is huge. We want things that cause other things to happen. We want things that say to people outside, look what’s happening here, maybe I ought to join. Then you’re having the influx of private money that’s going to supplement it and make it a much more vibrant area. I look at the money coming from the city as a point of leverage. We need to leverage those dollars into other things


that bring in private investment because that’s how you’re go-ing to build wealth in the community. That’s how you’re going to build minority businesses and minority pride in a minority neighborhood that does the things that it used to do. Those are my goals. JAM: Is it appropriate for the jazz museum to continue to receive substantial funding from the city? MAYOR JAMES: Depends on what you mean by substan-tial. I do think it’s appropriate for us to ask the jazz museum, when are you going to be able to live without it? The jazz mu-seum is in the same building as the Negro Leagues museum. They’ve been heading in different directions financially. Why? There’s new leadership at the jazz museum in Cheptoo. I have a heck of a lot of faith in that lady. I think she is going to turn things around. So my position basically would be, let’s not hamper her ability to turn it around by making her budgetary problems so severe that’s all she’s able to concentrate on. However, there has to be an understanding that, hey, we expect you to be able to be self-sustaining at some point, so what are you doing to work in that direction? I think that’s a fair thing to do. It’s a fair thing to do with Negro Leagues and I think they’ve done it. So if one can do it, the other can. That’s especially true now that I think there’s going to be more people in that area. There will be a lot more foot traffic in that building when the the urban youth baseball academy starts. It’ll be a lot of kids going to the Negro Leagues museum, but it’ll be a lot of adults there with those kids who will want to see both museums. It’s an opportunity to do some cross-marketing. It’s an opportunity to make some sales that may not have been made. It’s an opportunity to do programming. When you know there’s going to be big crowds, you draw people in. There’s all sorts of opportunities there. I have every belief that Cheptoo will recognize those opportunities and seize on them. I know she’s planning a jazz festival for next year. That’s marvelous and a good thing to do. JAM: Do you like to get out and hear jazz? MAYOR JAMES: Oh yeah, I do. JAM: Who do you like to hear? MAYOR JAMES: Bobby Watson. I’ve asked Bobby Wat-son to play at two states of the city. I love going to 12th Street Jump. I like Hermon Mehari. I love Joe Cartwright. I think he’s a fabulous pianist. One of my favorite all-time musicians, period, is Pat Metheny. I love Pat Metheny. There’s a lot of good musicians. I also like blues, so I listen to a lot of blues. JAM: Is there anything you’d like to add in conclusion? MAYOR JAMES: I think we’re looking at the beginning of a renaissance at 18th and Vine, which is why I want to make sure it’s done right. I want to make sure that as we’re rolling this out, it’s being done in such a way that it will excite people and engage them and cause them to come down, and keep that spirit growing. It’s all at our fingertips. When it happens, it’s going to explode and it’s going to be a vibrant area. I’m also keen on the economic activity phase because it should be an economic center in the community. It’s not functioning quite at that level yet but we have an opportunity to shape it in a way that it will.


Next year, Kansas City is getting a major new free admis-sion jazz festival. Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner, the still-new Executive Direc-tor of the American Jazz Museum explains: “We are launching the Kansas City Jazz Festival. It will start on Memorial Day weekend, 2017. It will be a collaborative effort with various organizations to launch something huge. We will bring artists from out of town but we also want to elevate Kansas City jazz and Kansas City music and made in Kansas City. The festival is about celebrating our own brand. I want it to be a legacy for generations to come. I want it to be something that families prepare to go to every year. “There are a lot of jazz festivals that happen all over the world in major cities. People who love jazz go to these festivals,

a lot of them. I want our festival to be one where people say, I must be in Kansas City for the Kansas City Jazz Festival.” Those are mighty lofty goals for someone who has been on the job just a few months. But nobody who has met Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner doubts that she will pull it off, including the mayor (as you can read in his interview in this issue). She inspires that confidence. The Mutual Musicians Foundation is the most historic and revered building in Kansas City jazz. But the American Jazz Museum is the elephant in the jazz room. It’s where the most programs, education initiatives, a major club, a major festival

– and, oh yeah, a museum – begin. For starters, out of the $27.6 million bond issue proposed for the 18th and Vine district, over $2 million is targeted for the museum.

Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner:

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Some of those funds will go towards reimagining the Blue Room including, Kositany-Buckner says, “the furniture, the look and feel, the ambiance and the food issue. That has really been a challenge for us, not having food in the Blue Room. Audiences sometimes leave to go seek food somewhere else. “Our sound equipment is old. I tell people that we are an organization that deals with sound. We need to have state of the art technology to stream music, to allow people to connect to the live music going on in the Blue Room. The entire experi-ence, I think, will change.” She turned towards the museum atrium. Other plans, Kositany-Buickner says, “will allow us to create a new feel when walking into the jazz museum. Having the ability to experience jazz when you come in there, whether it’s through exhibits or music or performance or different kinds of activities.” “We plan to increase our public programming. We are bringing in artists who have written books about jazz musi-cians. The Gem at 500 seats is sometimes too much for some of the activities we want to do. We use the space now for jazz storytelling. Every First Friday we have over 250 kids in the atrium. “There are people in the community who come into that space to meet. It’s a community room.” Plans are already proceeding for exhibits. “There will be a number of changing exhibits,” Kositany-Buckner explained. “There are going to be major exhibits that will be in place for three months. That will mostly include art with the theme of jazz or African American culture. One of the visions that I have is for the jazz museum at 18th and Vine to be the place where quality art is presented east of Troost. “The other part of the temporary exhibits are going to be mostly historical, looking at what is in our collections and building temporary exhibits out of that. They may be themed exhibits. For example, we have wonderful gowns from jazz musicians. We’d love to do an exhibit of all of those gowns. We have some of the Duke Ellington collection. We’d like to do an exhibit on that. I met with the Marr Sound Archives, with Chuck [Haddix], on a partnership to show some of the collec-tions they have as temporary exhibits. Those could be up for a month. “We’re also thinking about traveling exhibits. The idea is that some of the historical exhibits, we would build and launch them here. After that, we would be sending them out. After all, we are the American Jazz Museum. Our boundaries are not just Kansas City. It’s the world.” Kositany-Buckner is optimistic. But at the same time, she understands the reality of how Kansas City’s jazz district is often seen locally. “Part of the challenge that we have is a perception issue,” she said. “There is a lot going on. Jazz storytelling was in place before I came here. Thousands of kids come through those doors for tours day and night. The Blue Room is jamming four nights each week. The Jammin’ at the Gem series is selling out. There is a perception that nothing is going on but something is

going on. Part of the community has embraced 18th and Vine but the larger community has not. As we infuse the funding into 18th and Vine, we want to start a another conversation on changing that perception. “I’ll give you an example. Two months ago, a couple walks in here. Staff started talking to them. They’re from Norway. Because of the centennial of [the birthday of] Jay McShann, they skipped every city in the United States, everywhere, and landed in Kansas City to find out more about Jay McShann. They were excited about the museum and being in the vicinity where jazz was created. You should have seen them. “We get people from all over the nation and all over the world and they love it. But Kansas City says, nothing is hap-pening there. Something has to change.” The district is starting to work cohesively. They are par-ticipating in First Fridays, the Crossroads street celebration, establishing the area as an eastern anchor. “For First Friday, everybody was at the table. We all came together and said we want to do this. We’re excited. We feel it was successful. All of the businesses and the cultural institutions from the district sat down and planned that First Friday. “So I know we can do it.”


“There’s a lot of things marketing-wise that can make a jazz musician or a jazz band popular. If you go somewhere where they don’t get a lot of jazz, then maybe a jazz band can put butts in seats. But in Kansas City there’s jazz everywhere. It’s so rich. It’s like gold to the Mayans. “So that can’t be the primary draw. You cannot expect amazing, world-class jazz musicians to draw people into a barn. The club has to have a certain aesthetic. It has to have a point of view. “That point of view comes from me. The look, the paint, the color, the accessories, the dark lighting, all of those things to me are pleasing. For a lot of reasons I’ve incorporated them into the bar. Some of them are very pragmatic. The drop ceiling

John Scott:

A Jazz Club Witha Point of View

Stepping into the Green Lady Lounge feels like stepping back into the 1940s. Dim lighting, red walls, red drapes and faux-classic art lining the walls all build a classic ambiance. This must be what a jazz club in Kansas City used to feel like. That’s by design. It’s owner John Scott’s vision or, as he puts it, his point of view. “It’s the club’s responsibility to get the patrons in,” Scott explains. “When I hear club owners say, we want that band to get butts in seats, I don’t think that’s a useful phrase, and I don’t ever want to hear anybody representing Green Lady Lounge to use that phrase. It’s beyond the ability, generally, of a band in the jazz genre to put butts in seats.


is both an aesthetic, useful thing, and it’s practical, relatively inexpensive. It connects the two sides of the building which were cut in half originally. This building has been around since 1889.” That point of view extends equally to the music. “The first year was a sampler platter of a whole variety of kinds of music,” Scott says. “I was listening and trying to figure out the Kansas City sound. What was it in the past? What is it now? What is it going to be in the future? And what do I want to help give a home to? “I learned to really dislike pick-up gigs, where people are just kind of filling time on stage. I wanted bands. I wanted people who play together on a regular basis to bring their best. I don’t want jam sessions. This is not the venue for that. This is a place where people come, experience the ambiance and there’s a band that plays together and is also producing original content.” Often that content includes an organ. You will not find a piano on the club’s main floor, unless a musician has brought his own keyboard. Instead you’ll see a Hammond B-3 organ. A favorite ensemble in the room is OJT. They’re the classic organ trio with Ken Lovern on organ, Brian Baggett on guitar and Kevin Frazee on drums. Scott describes OJT as “a kind of a north star, a point to guide everything else by. It’s a sound that I feel combines a dirt road kind of blues and a real jazz sophistication. OJT is a Kansas City sound to me that combines swing with a lot of sophistication.” Yet Scott also looks beyond classic jazz ensembles. Another favorite is vibraphonist Peter Schlamb’s eclectic group Electric Tinks. “To me, Electric Tinks is not experimenting,” Scott says.

“It’s progressive. It is pushing the genre. You can see from where he’s pulling but he’s doing a lot of original stuff. His musician-ship is fantastic. And talk about a point of view. They’ve got a great a future and I’m incorporating them into our rotation.” Whether you agree with it or disagree, John Scott’s point of view is working. He pegs half his customers as coming from outside of Kansas City. “Kansas City jazz is something that already exists out there, this brand,” he says. “We just realize the product and give it justice, give it support and help market it. People come to Kansas City and if they hear on Huffington Post or some Facebook feed, or however they heard about Kansas City jazz, and then they hear about Green Lady, associate it with Kansas City jazz, then they seek it out. That’s what’s happening. “Green Lady is an evangelical jazz club because we’re not just preaching to the people who already know they love jazz, but rather I believe in getting people exposed to jazz and I believe they will like it.” That point of view extends to Scott’s vision for growing Kansas City jazz. “If there isn’t a jazz scene, then you take a shotgun approach. But when a scene is vital and rich, clubs can more narrowly

define, deeply and richly, what your take on the Kansas City sound is. Evidence of a rich scene would be that each club books a more focused part of the overall scene. “Other private people need to come along and join the scene in earnest. If they don’t think it’s commercially viable, they’re wrong. If they want some help, I can help them. That doesn’t mean making it just like the Green Lady but it does mean having an aesthetic that is unique to you and consistent in your point of view and care. “We have excellent, amazing musicians in Kansas City who, given the right environment, will really spread the love of Kansas City jazz.”


Gerald Dunn has worked at the American Jazz Museum since the day it opened. But he originally turned them down. “I was living in New York at the time and had just come off touring the south of France for the whole month of June with Illinois Jacquet’s big band,” Dunn recalled. “I started working in Harlem, subbing for different bands, subbing at the Cotton Club. I felt at the time that if I left I would lose those connec-tions.” The museum asked again. He talked the offer over with his parents. “My dad said, ‘Let me help you out. You have no more times to call to borrow money.’”

Gerald Dunn:

Blue Room Mentor Today at the museum Dunn is Director of Entertainment and Blue Room General Manager. The Blue Room, Dunn said, “started out only booking local musicians. We wanted to build a strong relationship with the community.” Dunn remembers discussing jazz with veteran musicians like Jay McShann and Eddie Saunders. “Listening to them talk about why people played the music,” he said, “what music meant to them, what music meant to their friends, that gave me a good foundation of understanding what to look for.


“The older guys set a level of consistency. When you saw the Scamps perform on the stage, they brought an experience to you. The tunes that they sang, you could feel the song, you could feel the lyrics because they lived the lyrics. Those songs excited them. When they were playing from the stage, you were seeing that excitement. When it’s coming out of their horns, it’s exciting, it’s happening. “Sometimes Eddie [Saunders] would be one of the grumpi-est guys on earth, but once he put the horn in his mouth it became happy songs. “I tell some of these stories to the young guys so that they can see there are legacies that they are a part of.” In a city overflowing with young jazz talent, nearly all wanting to play at the fabled corner of 18th and Vine, Dunn is looking “at how people are willing to work with others, how people are willing to respond to the crowd, how they’re willing to present themselves to the crowd. “Make sure you have enough variety in your repertoire to be able to entertain the crowd. You can play original music, and that’s cool. But as people are coming in to understand you as an artist it’s good to be able to accommodate them and give them something that they might be able to grasp. “It’s not always playing the best solo. A lot of times it’s being able to release the audience. Give them a break. Lay something in their lap. Get into their soul. Make them feel like clapping is what they want to be doing.” Dunn has worked to understand who comes to the Blue Room. “It’s people who want to have a Kansas City experience. They read about it and they want to experience it. We’re con-scious of trying to bring in diverse crowds and bringing in the most diversity when it comes to artists. Moving forward, the Blue Room will need to evolve. “We’re changing now,” Dunn responded. “We’re constantly moving. The scene forces you to change. You can’t stay the same. “We’re opening up to other communities. We’re opening up to the neo-soul community. We’re opening up to the Latin jazz community. Those pieces are infusing into the jazz pieces. Some of the younger jazz guys have a lot of those pieces. Fusion is a part of Dominque [Sanders]’s music. Hermon [Mehari] plays with some of the neo-soul acts.” And when a young musician with a non-jazz background approaches Dunn, “I don’t have to say, you can’t play here because you don’t play jazz. Come in, check out what goes on, and see how you can contribute to what’s going on. Let’s see how you can fit in. Let’s find ways to include you. “We pay respect to the traditions of Kansas City jazz. And we pay respect to what kids have access to now.”

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Dan Thomas:

Bringing In the BestThe best musicians are recruited. “And one of the blessings that we get to sell,” says Dan Thomas, “is a vibrant jazz scene that is inclusive, that celebrates one another.” Thomas is Associate Director of Jazz Studies and Co-Chair of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. He’s been at UMKC for 16 years and in his current position about six years. “I do a lot of national recruiting,” Thomas explains. “I go out on the road and I’m performing with universities at their high school jazz festivals. If I perform at a club on the road, I hook up at a clinic somewhere to get in contact with the people who may not know UMKC’s name. There are a lot of institu-tions that have name recognition. We’re getting that now.

“Students are looking for contact. If I sweep through, I identify a few good kids. If I’ve given a good clinic, if I’ve played well, we’re connected now because jazz is a family. Then I can sell, for example, our bass instructor played with Thad Jones. I might invite him to come study at our jazz camp in the summer where you get a week-long workshop with our faculty, and they’re hooked. It takes sweeping moves where you make personal contact with folks. “I spend 10 to 15 hours a week on the telephone and that’s all year long. Some of the studs that have made it onto our scene I’ve known since middle school.” The number of jazz students coming into UMKC each year varies because, Thomas says, “we do enrollment management. If


we have two trumpet players leaving, we’re only going to take two trumpet players. This year we’ve got 12 or 13 guys com-ing in. They’re all specific to what the program needs. They’re coming from all over the country. They’re amazing players. “We carry 50-ish jazz majors, including undergrad and grad. Then we have several students who are jazz aficionados who participate in the program and need to participate in the program because we believe in the value of music education students. They need to have contact with us. If we don’t provide them with the opportunity, we’re just feeding the performance art. We need great music educators, too.” UMKC’s program teaches five pillars of successful jazz musicians: performance, pedagogy, composition, arranging, and business and entrepreneurship. “Duke Ellington traveled around and gave clinics,” Thomas says. “For us to as educators to say that all the money is in per-formance, it’s not. All the money’s in composition, it’s not. All the money’s in arranging, it’s not. All the money’s in teaching, it’s not. It’s all of it. Everybody gets to dial up their percentages and those percentages float. That’s the reality.” The talent UMKC is bringing into Kansas City is some of the best. “The students that are looking at our school are bonafide jazz guys,” Thomas says. “They’re either going to be known relatively quickly amongst our scene or when they leave they’re going to be stars on their home turf. “The depth of the program is significant. Every kid is amazing. They’re really talented kids who ten years ago would have been the star of the program. Now you’re looking at fifty or sixty of them.” Convincing that talent to come to Kansas City can be hard. But, Thomas says, “once they get here, they realize how special it is.” After graduation, “the vast majority of students stay here. That’s a testament to our scene. There’s some doomsday folks who communicate about the lack of what’s going on in our scene. But Kansas City is a pretty phenomenal place that can absorb them.

“What’s unique about what we’re doing is that we’re trying to build unique artists. Because everybody is unique there is an opportunity for each one of them to generate revenue.” Anyone who knows Kansas City’s jazz scene today recog-nizes that it is full of extraordinary young talent. But, Thomas notes, “Young folks have romantic ideas. They’re trying to prove something. That keeps old people young. You’ve got college age kids with seasoned veterans and there’s a healthy collaboration. Kansas City is not cutthroat and competitive. These students are so welcomed into the scene and they still have reverence for the old guard and what they can teach.”


Talk with Bill McKemy and it quickly becomes clear. Jazz education isn’t just about building musicians. It’s about build-ing jazz audiences. “We tour a 6-piece group,” McKemy begins, “sometimes adding a vocalist to that, to go to schools and do either general assemblies performances or specific hands-on music clinics with bands. We’ve been to Raytown South, Fort Osage, Hickman Mills, the Blue Valley districts. “We’ve played in some gyms and some school auditoriums. On the top end, we've had a little over 400 kids at once. “But we’ll also go in and work with just the music students and work on the songs that they’re working on in jazz band. We’ll also give them instrument clinics and improvisational

clinics while we’re there. We’re able to go hands-on. The teacher in that situation is having their message reinforced. The kids are right there with Hermon Mehari and Rich Wheeler and Ryan Lee and all of the great players on the scene. “The kids are enthusiastic and fired up about jazz, generally with lots of questions and a high level of engagement.” McKemy is the Director of Education and Public Programs at the American Jazz Museum (and an incredible bassist). On September 10th, he launches a new program for stu-dents ages 3 to 18 at the jazz museum. It’s Jazz Academy. “There are three main components,” McKemy explains. “In the mornings we’re going to have general music classes for ages three through sixth grade. Those classes will be a mixture of movement, music and other activities. The system is designed to

Bill McKemy:

Growing Musiciansand Audience


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engage kids at play rather than sit them in rows and teach them. It’s designed to get them having fun with musical instrument-type toys, and eventually building not only their musical skill but the way that they engage something that’s fun and playful. “It also teaches as a key element reliance on their own ear. They learn to hear and to trust what they hear.” Improvisation is incorporated from the start. “The thing we want to accomplish,” McKemy says, “is that improvisation isn’t something they learn after they become an advanced musician. It’s just something that you do with whatever you can play. If you can hit two drumsticks together, you can improvise.” From 1:00 to 3:00, McKemy continues, “we’ll have com-bos, big bands and improv classes. Rotating in with the improv classes, we’ll infuse history about the music, about Kansas City’s role in it and about its cultural significance. “We’re hoping to build the audience as much as we’re building bright young folks to play music.” The staff includes Clarence Smith, Stan Kessler, Marcus Lewis and John Kizilarmut. On a rotating basis, Bobby Wat-son, Dan Thomas, Matt Otto and Hermon Mehari will also participate. The third component, McKemy says, will be “an education-themed jam session in the Blue Room from 3:00 to 5:00 with the kids from the academy and whoever else wants to drop in for it. We’ll have as mentors the Elder Statesmen of Kansas City Jazz and other players to offer encouragement and show the kids the way.”

Three sessions a year are planned to coincide with fall, spring and summer school terms. For the students, the program is free. “It’s free but we also want to instill a sense of ownership of the program and pride in the Kansas City community,” McK-emy adds. “We’re going to ask the students to pay it forward by participating in community outreach performances. We’ll go to assisted living facilities or community events and perform. We want to be able to teach some life skills to the kids and show them the value they’ll get from performing community service. “We won’t turn anyone away. I would be satisfied if for that first term we have 40 or more kids. I’d like to see 100 or more kids. Or 200 or 300. I’d like to have that problem.” McKemy brings an even larger goal. “In Kansas City, in terms of talented musicians, we have an embarrassment of riches,” he says. “But historically, we have done just a so-so job at connecting the actual living resources of jazz with the kids. We can’t afford to let the resources go to waste. We need to have Brian Baggett and Ryan Lee and Clint Ashlock and Charles Perkins and Gerald Spaits sharing what they know. It has to be across generational lines and racial lines and economic lines. “I think it’s correct for our city to have the best jazz educa-tion that exists. We should be on a par with New York, Chicago and New Orleans at a bare minimum.”

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Angela Hagenbach:

A Renaissance is ComingLast year, vocalist Angela Hagenbach marked 25 years on Kansas City’s jazz scene. “My first steady gig was at the Ritz Carlton,” she remem-bers. “It was up in the ballroom. I played with Russ Long and Milt Abel [later, Gerald Spaits] and Ray DeMarchi. That was four nights a week for about four years. That’s where I honed my craft. It was wonderful because it was very glamorous and I was still modeling at the time. I got to wear gowns four nights a week, which was a model’s dream.” At the time, Hagenbach says, “There were lots of festivals and lots of places to play. Someone like me could work seven nights a week if I wanted to, and several gigs a day. Through my work at The Ritz I got tons of country club and private events which were very lucrative, and a lot times they were off nights. It really was great to bolster my income and broaden my fan base.” But a singer today may find the opportunities more sparse. “If they solely want to perform,” Hagenbach muses, “that could be a challenge. There doesn’t appear to be a lot of venues for vocals. It used to be vocal-heavy. But now it seems to be more instrumentally-heavy. “One has to be creative if there’s not enough clubs available by thinking outside the box. Find a void and fill it. We need to have music here and I’m your girl. For example, I once started the luncheon at the Majestic because I wanted to do an earlier

show on Wednesdays. I needed to work while my children were at school. I did that at a couple of places.” And 25 years later, the pay has changed. “It’s gotten worse,” Hagenbach maintains. “It’s homog-enized. This is what everybody gets. If you want to take a leader fee, then everyone else is going to get less. I have a problem with that. It used to be, you would set your rate based on your ability to bring in a fan base and then you pay your guys a decent wage and you take a leader fee. There’s so much that a leader does in addition to perform. You get the gigs, promote the gigs, do the 1099, do the payroll. To me, that’s worth something. In a lot places, I had to even provide the sound system. That shouldn’t be free.” Hagenbach is concerned about opportunities for veteran musicians. “This is a city that has an abundance of talent,” she said.

“It’s startling how much there is. There’s people moving to town and these young people that are coming out of Bobby [Watson]’s program are very high quality players. It’s great that they’re going out and keeping the music alive.” “But on the same hand, the older musicians and the people in the middle have to remain viable. They have to keep the jazz community vibrant. There’s not as many opportunities for the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 25


Hermon Mehari:

Pushing the SceneOn August 28, 2009, the line to get into the Blue Room ran out the door and threatened to circle the block. Inside, Diverse was releasing their CD. The group, comprised mostly of UMKC jazz studies students, had won the Gene Harris Jazz Competition in June, 2008. That night was when many in Kansas City recognized something special was happening in the jazz scene here. Some already knew. But others now understood that these young musicians brought special talent. Hermon Mehari, a member of Diverse, remembers. “It was a catalyst for original music in jazz. We were all pretty much working at that time individually. I feel like ev-eryone from the get-go, all the players at UMKC, were on the scene. Especially by 2009 I was being hired. “During the competition I remember there was a lot of buzz about Diverse. Anything that gives Kansas City notoriety and the national spotlight, people around here get excited about. “There wasn’t really a scene of young musicians with com-mitted groups at the time, and especially committed groups playing original music. Now there’s a lot of that going on.” Today, Mehari stands as a prime example of a young musi-cian building a career in jazz in Kansas City in the 21st century. “There’s a lot of potential to work here,” says Mehari, who moved to Kansas City to attend UMKC in 2006. “I’ve only seen ten years of it, but I feel like the scene here has always worked

out in some way or another. It has its ups and downs but I think it’s on an upward trajectory in general, especially recently. If more players came here, it would be in concert with what I think is a growing younger audience. And I’m sure there’s going to be more venues opening up, and other places that maybe don’t have jazz yet will start having jazz. “There’s enough work here. With the closing of Broadway Jazz Club and Take Five, the only thing that’s become more difficult is when I hear from people from out of town who want to come to Kansas City and play. That’s limited. One thing that has been a little more difficult is to accommodate touring musicians.” Mehari has played a key role in enticing other outstanding jazz talent to move here and make Kansas City their base. He explains, “I kind of ushered in guys like Peter Schlamb, Karl McComas-Reichl and John Kizilarmut, who are incredible players who are not only part of the scene, they’re helping to push the scene. It means a lot that players like that would live here. It’s a testament to our scene. They love it. Those are guys who are also doing stuff outside of Kansas City on a regular basis. And all of that stuff is cool because it reflects on Kansas City. “Peter and I have taken an initiative to start trying to bring people through here. I would never say that at the beginning the

CONTINUED ON PAGE 25


OFF THE VINECHRIS BURNETT

Welcomed Synergies There’s a new energy, a genuinely positive excitement and collegial cooperation throughout the 18th and Vine jazz district. New district initiatives, such as the “First Fridays” that started in May, bring together all of the district’s businesses with ven-dors, musicians and artists. “This initiative was developed and brought to realization by all of the businesses and stakeholders in the community,” states American Jazz Museum Executive Director, Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner. “It demonstrates a won-derfully high level of civic teamwork as well.” Also notable in the district:

• 2016 Jazz Walk of Fame induction ceremony and celebra-tory concerts.

• Luminaries such as Kevin Mahogany, Roy Ayers, Al Jarreau, Ellis Marsalis, Bobby Watson and Queen Bey will be seen and heard during June and July.

• The 2016 “Jammin’ at the Gem” performance series season ended with another sold out show. The Lifetime Achieve-ment Award concert featured three Kansas City icons: Ida McBeth, Ronald McFadden and Lonnie McFadden. Each was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award

by American Jazz Museum Executive Director Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner, with Bobby Watson and Joel Nichols assisting in the ceremony. Nichols brought a positive energy to the entire event while serving as the moderator of the pre-concert VIP reception conversation with the honorees. He also served as emcee of the concert. It was another great night on the Vine.

Jazz Speaks For Life An exciting new exhibit has opened in the museum’s chang-ing gallery. Executive Director Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner describes it: “‘Jazz Speaks for Life’ is taken from a quote by Martin Luther King when he spoke in 1964 in Berlin during the jazz festival and he talked about jazz being the music of life. This exhibit showcases how jazz and art are intertwined or how jazz and civil rights are intertwined, and also how African American artists have used their art and their talent to interpret the human condition during civil rights. “It’s not just displaying the historical part. It’s beginning to show jazz using different avenues and different angles to bring people in to appreciate it and to understand jazz is more than just performance and music. It impacts our everyday life.”

Award-Winning Jazz Venue Presenting live music and jazz by national and international artists, the Blue Room continues stellar programming four night each week during June and July. See the inside cover of this issue for the complete Blue Room schedule.

Education at the American Jazz Museum The Open Rehearsal Program is an American Jazz Museum Education Department offering that gives community musical organizations and performing arts organizations the opportu-nity to perform rehearsals and concerts in a public space before an audience. An Open Rehearsal is a fascinating opportunity to watch the musical ensembles at work, and see how a piece of music is shaped and polished for public performances by the ensemble leader and musicians. Bring a lunch, get a cold drink from the Swing Shop and listen to the music. Tour the museums after the Open Rehearsal. A new youth jazz education program initiative, the “Ameri-can Jazz Academy” is scheduled to begin this coming fall.

CongratulationsAnd from the American Jazz Museum to Jam magazine: Con-gratulations on thirty terrific years!

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H A G E N B A C H CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22

older ones because it seems as though there’s a large group who will play for less money just to play, which drives down our ability to earn a living.” But beside the challenges, Hagenbach also sees opportuni-ties. “It’s like any movement, the struggle continues. You’ve got it keep it viable and keep it vibrant and relatable. It’s not going to be easy because there’s all this new music coming out. But there’s a renaissance coming. The young people are helping to bring it. I want to branch out to the people who don’t even have jazz on their radar. This is something that we as a city can use as a selling tool. When you arrive at the airport, you should have no doubt that you’re going to get some seriously good jazz here.”

H E R M O N M E H A R I CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23

purpose is, hey, do you want to move here? It’s, let’s play. Then the love comes. I’ve brought Tony Trixier, who’s in Diverse now, maybe four times in the past four or five years. Recently Ben Van Gelder has come through a couple times. Travis Reuter, the guitar player, has partially moved here. Those guys talk about this place and all of a sudden young musicians in other cities are talking about Kansas City.” But is Kansas City an environment that demands a musi-cian plays more traditional jazz? “It does in gigs like the Majestic,” Mehari says. “You’re mostly playing standards and swing. But with the Electric Tinks I play with Peter, we play First Fridays at the Green Lady, and it’s great. All original music and all electric music and it’s all top-notch players. I have liberty when I go to the Blue Room. I can do creatively what I want. And if I want to do the crossover stuff, I’m always open to play at clubs like the Record Bar or the Riot Room. “It’s a balance. You can’t gig exclusively on the local scene playing just creative music. You can’t make a living. It’s impos-sible. If my income was solely based on playing Electric Tinks, and Peter was trying to book it as much as possible, it wouldn’t happen. But that’s the great thing about jazz musicians, we are very versatile. It’s important that we know the tradition anyway. We all love the traditions. We play all of the old stuff and we put our spin on the old stuff, too. It’s not just rehashing it in museum-type ways. It’s bringing life to it. And we have the original, creative stuff, too.” Mehari and his peers find Kansas City to be a good base. “We talk about this a lot with my peers and we feel strongly about this. We feel like it’s a great scene and it’s a growing scene. It’s an affordable city. It’s a city with a lot of culture and unique things. And it’s a great community which makes it very appeal-ing to musicians.” Appealing enough for young musicians to continue joining Kansas City’s jazz scene? “I think it’s going to keep happening.”

Jason Vivone & Billy BatsTim Whitmer & KC Express

Wild Women of KCJ Love Band

Stone Cutters UnionAmanda Fish

Brody Buster Band.

7th

ANNUAL


Summertime Blues (The Good Kind)

BITS OF THE BLUESDANNY POWELL

It’s that time of year again when the weather and the music starts heating up. It has been an active spring for the Kansas City Blues Society and we’re looking forward to a great festival season. On May 7th, KCBS was part of the annual Merle Jam at Knucklehead’s Saloon. Nearly 1800 music fans came out to hear great local and national blues acts with all of the proceeds going to St. Luke’s Hospital-Merle Jam Transplant Fund. On May 15th, KCBS will once again be accepting entries for this year’s “Road to Memphis” International Blues Chal-lenge. Solo/duo acts and bands will compete for the honor to represent Kansas City at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in January, 2016. Preliminary rounds take place throughout the summer with the finals in September. All proceeds go to the winning acts to help defer costs for the trip to Memphis. The cost of entry is $50 for a band and $25 for a solo/duo act. KCBS also sponsors a youth band to make the trip and play in several showcases on the famous Beale Street.

Judges for the preliminaries and finals are selected from radio and music professionals from all around the region. If anyone has an interest in competing or would like to be a sponsor, email us at [email protected]. The Michael Shannon Golf Classic is scheduled for Wednesday, September 7th at Hillcrest Country Club. All proceeds will go to the Michael Shannon Musician’s Fund. This will be the fifth annual tournament for a great cause. Last year’s event raised over $20,000 for local musicians who have economic need due to illness. To date, the fund has paid out nearly $10,000. One week prior, on August 31st, there will be a celebration and music event at Knucklehead’s Saloon to support the fund. The Blues for Kids program has been especially active this year. With the help of a major donation from Lynxspring, Inc, local professional musicians have been presenting programs at area schools and in branches of the Kansas City Public

Library. These programs are introducing young people to blues music and the his-tory of the great Kansas City music scene. The program has been well received and is expanding. The last Thursday of every month, KCBS hosts a membership meeting at Pro-hibition Hall, 1118 McGee. The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. and a music jam starts at 8:00 with the Amanda Fish Band. Each month, KCBS provides a special guest artist. Stop by, say hello, and hear some great blues. Check us out at bluessocietykc.com or on our Facebook page for information. Become a member for a mere $30 by going our web site. All of our funds go directly to promoting this unique American art form and supporting our local musicians. Finally, the Board of Directors and all of the members of the Kansas City Blues Society wants to congratulate Jam as it celebrates 30 years of providing the news of interest in the jazz and blues community. This is one of the greatest music commu-nities in the world and Jam is one of the reasons. Salute!

Thurs - Sun June 9-12

riverfestival.com

Oakdale Park • Salina • KS

Advance-price admission Buttons at Sunflower Bank in Leawood, Overland Park and Lawrence through Mon June 6.

• Four Live Stages• Fine Art Show/ Four Rivers Craft Show• Artyopolis Kid’s Area• Flavorful Festival Food


CLUB SCENELOCAL LIVE JAZZ & BLUES

18TH & VINEJ The Blue Room

18th & Vine ....................... 816-474-2929Mon. — Blue Monday JamThur. - Sat. — Live Jazz

B Danny’s Big Easy1601 E. 18th St. .................816.421.1200Tues. — El Barrio Band, 6:00 p.m.Thurs. — Millage Gilbert’s Big Blues Band 7:00 p.m.Fri. - Sat. — Live BandSat. Blues Jam 2:00 p.m.

J Kansas City Blues & Jazz Juke House1700 E. 18th Street ............ 816-472-0013Thurs. - 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 Foundation1823 Highland .................. 816-471-5212Fri. - Sat. — Late Night Jazz 1:00 a.m.

DOWNTOWNJ American Restaurant

25th & Grand .................... 816-426-1133Tues. - Sat. — Live Jazz, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.

J The Brick1727 McGee ..................... 816-421-1634Live Jazz & Eclectic

J The Chesterfield14th & Main ...................... 816-474-4545Wed. — Western SwingFri. — SwingSat. — Salsa

JB Coda1744 Broadway ................. 816-945-8874Tues. - Sat. — Live Music

J Green Lady Lounge1809 Grand ...................... 816-215-29547 days a week — Live Jazz

JB The Kill Devil Club14th & Main ...................... 816-588-1132Fri. - Sat. 8:00 p.m - 1:00 a.m.

J Majestic Restaurant931 Broadway ................... 816-221-18887 days a week — Live Jazz

JB The Phoenix302 W. 8th Street ................. 816-221-jazzMon. - 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.

JB Prohibition Hall1118 McGee ..................... 816-446-7832Wed. — Live Jazz 7:00 p.m.Thurs. — Blues Jam 7:00 p.m.

J The Ship1217 Union Avenue ........... 816-471-7447Thurs. — Live Jazz 9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.

J Tank Room1813 Grand Blvd ............... 816-214-6403Mon. — Live Music 8:00 - 11:00 p.m.Sat. — Live Music 8:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.

B Winslow's BBQ20 E 5th ............................ 816-471-7427Fri. — Jam 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. Sat. - Sun. — Blues on the Patio 3:00 - 7:00 p.m.

J Yj’s Snack Bar128 W. 18th Street ............. 816-472-5533Wed., Thurs., and Sun. — Live Jazz

MIDTOWN/WESTPORTJ Californos

4124 Pennsylvania ............. 816-531-1097Live Jazz

J The Drop409 E. 31st St. ................... 816-756-3767Millie Edwards & Tom DeMasters, 2nd Saturdays 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.

JB Jazz - A Louisiana Kitchen39th & State Line ................ 816-531-5556Mon. - Sat. — Live Music, 7:00 p.m.

B The Levee16 W. 43rd St .................... 816-561-5565Wed. - Blues Jam 8:00 p.m.Thurs.- Sat. — Live Music

JB Westport Coffeehouse Theater4010 Pennsylvania ............. 816-756-3222Wed. - Thurs. — Live Music

B Westport Saloon4112 Pennsylvania ............. 816-960-4560Mon., Thurs. — Live Blues 9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.Tues. — Blues Jam 10:00 p.m.

PLAZAJ Café Trio

4558 Main Street ............... 816-756-3227Tues. - Wed. — Live Jazz 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.Thurs. - Sat. — Live Jazz, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.

J Capital Grille4740 Jefferson ................... 816-531-8345Sundays 5:00 - 9 p.m. – Dan Doran Trio

J InterContinental Oak Bar & Lounge121 Ward Parkway ............ 816-756-1500Live Jazz Thurs. - Sun. Sets start at 8:00 p.m.

J Plaza III4749 Pennsylvania ............. 816-753-0000Sat. — Lonnie McFadden 7:00 - 11:00 p.m.

J Raphael Hotel, Chaz Restaurant325 Ward Parkway ........... .816-756-3800Mon. - Sat. — Live JazzSun. — Jazz Brunch 10:00 - 1:00

NORTHJ Cascone’s North

3737 North Oak Trfy. ......... 816-454-7977Sat. — Live Jazz

B Frank James Saloon10919 MO-45, Parkville ..... 816-505-0800Thurs. — Open Mic 7:00 p.m.

B The Hideout6948 N Oak Trafficway Gladstone .......................... 816-468-0550Mon. — Blues Jam 7:00 p.m.

JB Johnny’s Back Yard1825 Buchanan, NKC ........ 816-985-1157Fri. - Sat. — Live Music 9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.Sun. — Blues Jam 7:00 p.m.

EASTB B.B’s Lawnside BBQ

1205 E. 85th Street ............ 816-822-7427Tues. - Sun. — Live BluesSat. 2:00 - 5:30 — Jazz & Blues Jam w/Mama Ray

B Bodee's BBQ & Burgers522 S Main, Grain Valley .... 816-867-5511Fri. — Jam 8:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. Sat. — Live Blues 8:00 p.m.

B Daily Limit523 E Red Bridge Rd .......... 816-942-0400Fri. — Live Blues 8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.

B Dirty Harry’s3100 MO-7, Blue Springs.... 816-224-2779Wed. - Fri. — Live Blues

B Joe’s Standard1204 NW Hwy 7, Blue Springs ....................... 816-228-4878Wed. — Jam 7:30 - 11:30 p.m.

B Knuckleheads2715 Rochester Ave ............ 816-483-1456Wed. - Sun. — Live MusicSat. - Sun. — Blues Jam 1:00 p.m.

B Konrads Kitchen302 SW Main, Lee’s Summit ....................... 816-525-1871Fri. — Live Blues 8:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.

J Louie’s Wine Dive7100 Wornall Rd................ 816-569-5097Fri. - Sat. — Live Jazz

J The Piano Room8410 Wornall Rd................ 816-363-8722Fri. - Sat. 8:00 - 12:00 — Dave McCubbin

SOUTHJ The Art Factory

5621 W 135th St. .............. 913-217-7861Fri., Sat. - Live Jazz

J Bristol Seafood Grill5400 W. 119th St .............. 913-663-5777Sun. 5:00 - 8:00 — Live Music

J Cascone’s6863 W.91st. Street ........... 913-381-6837Sat.— Live Jazz 7:00 -10:00 p.m.

J Gaslight Grill and Back Room5020 W. 137th Street ......... 913-897-3540Wed. - Sun. — 6:30 Lynn Zimmer Jazz Band

J La Bodega Tapas & Lounge4311 West 119th St. .......... 913-428-8272Sun. — Live Music 6:00 - 8 00 p.m.

B Llyewelyn’s6995 W 151st ................... 913-402-0333Tues. — Blues Jam 7:30 p.m.Sat. - Sun. — Live Music

J Sullivan’s Steakhouse4501 W. 119th St. ............. 913-345-08007 days a week — Live Jazz

WESTJB 4220 Rhythm & Blues Lounge

4220 Leavenworth Rd, KCK .................................. 913-232-9827Sun. — Jazz/R&B/Blues Jam 6:00 - 10:00 p.m.

J Jazz at Legends1859 Village W Pkwy, KCK .................................. 913-328-0003Wed. - Sat. — Live Jazz

B Kobi’s Bar and Grill113 Oak, Bonner Springs .... 913-422-5657Sun. — Live Blues 2:00 - 6:00 p.m.

J Lucky Brewgrille5401 Johnson Drive ............ 913-403-8571Thurs. — Live Jazz 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

J Jazz B Blues


Our Culture of Jazz

For the Record returns in the next issue.

CODALARRY KOPITNIK

August brings Kansas City’s third annual Charlie Parker celebration. Grammy-winning saxophonist Tivon Pennicott will be this year’s artist in residence. We’ll take a look at the complete schedule in the next Jam.

NEXT JAM

The young guitarist was ecstatic. Decades ago, on a Saturday afternoon at the Mutual Musicians Foundation, the guitarist – I no longer remember his name – was describing to friends a technique just taught to him by Claude “Fiddler” Williams. Then, he said, “Fiddler” told him, “I also taught that to Barney Kessel.” Kansas City has long been home to a culture of jazz. Vet-eran musicians, often some of the the music’s best, have passed down techniques and tips to aspiring or less experienced players. Today it happens informally (Gerald Dunn advising perform-ers on how to inspire an audience) and formally (UMKC’s five pillars of a successful jazz musician). This culture of jazz is a key reason why in Kansas City jazz has not just survived, but has thrived with an extraordinary level of musicianship. We cannot boast as many clubs in the area as we could just two years ago. All of us wish there were more, including club owners (John Scott of Green Lady Lounge makes that clear). Some venues may pay less than clubs paid a generation ago. Kansas City’s jazz scene has challenges. But jazz musicians are moving here – some recruited by UMKC, some enticed by their peers – and they’re staying. They’re building opportunities. In 2016, exceptional talent is finding this city to be a viable base for playing jazz. Meanwhile, The American Jazz Museum is preparing to introduce children as young as three years to the music. Sure, most of those kids are not going to pursue a career in jazz. But the educators are not just building musicians. They’re building jazz audiences. The MLB Urban Youth Academy is under construction in Parade Park, part of Kansas City’s historic jazz district. Next

Memorial Day weekend, the jazz musuem will lead a coalition of organizations in establishing a celebration intended to put Kansas City on the nation’s jazz festival map. In a year, families who may have never before visited will be coming to 18th and Vine. Then mix in the likelihood of substantial investment, by both the city and private resources, which would fund new housing, renovations and opportunities to better connect the arguably isolated district with a thriving Crossroads area and downtown. This issue of Jam is brimming with enthusiasm for Kansas City’s jazz scene and its future. Honestly, that surprised me. It’s easy to decry the music as dying. You know the arguments: It’s not popular music. Few people listen to it anymore, and those who do are old and don’t go out and don’t spend any money and when they’re gone the music’s gone so you might as well get used to hip-hop and Taylor Swift. Yet, young musicians are coming to Kansas City to play jazz. Crowds are flocking to Green Lady Lounge for a jazz experience. Maybe the Blue Room is mixing in some neo-soul and other music, but jazz is growing and absorbing those in-fluences. This city that raised the Count Basie Orchestra also raised Charlie Parker. Parker’s music is different. It changed jazz. Jazz has always evolved and it always will. Smart venues will understand their audiences and embrace that evolution, while never turning their back on tradition, and they’ll thrive. Today’s jazz scene in Kansas City feels like a jigsaw puzzle with all of the obscure pieces being found and starting to link together. It’s not yet complete and key pieces might yet not fall into place. But the optimism is infectious. Our culture of jazz is ready to grow.

Enjoy scintillating New Orleans jazz and mellow traditional favorites by Lynn Zimmer and the Jazz Band featuring some of

K.C.’s �nest jazz musicians Wednesday through Sunday every week.

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What is the Future of Jazz in Kansas City?

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