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Culture & Art
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Jazz in the Valley
Jazz in the Valley, a free music festival on the Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley campus, will be held 6-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29. The public is invited. Penn Valley’s third annual jazz event will feature: • The Jim Lower Jazz Orchestra (6 p.m.) – Lower is a Kansas City-based traditional jazz drummer and bandleader who attended MCC-Penn Valley and played in a big band on campus. Lower enjoys an active performing schedule all over Kansas City, with his 16-piece big band, the same group h
President Mark Edelman, Retiring Jazz Ambassador
As we enter 2024, the Jazz Ambassadors would like to shed light on those who have shepherded this non-profit organization for the good of the community over the past several decades. We begin by honoring retiring president / treasurer, Mark Edelman. Mark has enjoyed a long and successful career in show business. He played bass in some of the top soul bands in the area, while still attending Shawnee Mission High School. After high school, he attended college and continued his show business forays
Paganova
Happy Hour at Upcycle Piano Craft 3945 Main Street, KCMO As I walk in late, to Upcycle Piano Craft’s monthly jazz event, I feel at home immediately. Thirty-some jazz folks sit around casually, on piano benches and chairs, moving their bodies to the irresistible rhythm of Paganova. led by the prolific pianist, composer, and arranger Mike Pagan, Paganova includes Mike’s son Louie on bass, Ray DeMarchi on drums, and saxophonists Brett Jackson (filling in for David Chael) and Mike Herrera. “It’s imp
Joe Cartwright Quartet Live at The Blue Room
The groove is so compelling. As I enter the front door, I automatically move to the beat. It’s jazz pianist Joe Cartwright and the band. Cartwright is known around the city as Jazz Royalty. So’s the drummer, Doug Auwarter, and young bassist, Ben Leifer is well on his way. The curly-gray-haired Mikole Kaar was on tenor sax and flute, just in from California. We’re about to find out how lucky we are to have him. He’s here to stay. There’s excitement and energy in the room. Audience members, bowing
KC Organ Champ Chris Hazelton Leads In The Swing After Dark
In these modern Kansas City jazz times, Chris Hazelton holds a special place on the local music landscape. Hazelton is a bona-fide veteran of the Hammond B-3 Organ, and there’s not a more talented cat at the instrument, anywhere. He was tutored by 2 legends, Dr. Lonnie Smith when Hazelton lived in NYC, and by Everette DeVan in KC. That has made Hazelton a rarified gem at the Hammond, with some serious mileage on his music-biz-odometer to boot. Like many other artists, the pandemic threw Hazelton
Live at the Green Lady Lounge
Kansas Public Radio InvitesYyou to KCs Original Music Jazz Scene Experience the energy and excitement of original Kansas City jazz from some of the area’s best-known musicians at the city’s premier jazz club, Green Lady Lounge, in a new way. With in-house recordings right off the venue’s stage, Kansas Public Radio’s newest program Live at Green Lady Lounge allows listeners to experience KC’s rich jazz tradition and listen to their favorite local artists, such as Danny Embrey, Rod Fleeman, Tyrone
Gabriela Martina: Honoring the Farm Roaming to Career Comfort
Life tends to be a full circle event and for Amsterdam-based jazz vocalist, composer, and bandleader Gabriela Martina, nothing could be truer with the release of her new album “Homage to Grämlis” as she re-assembles the pieces of her music career that were scattered into disarray by COVID-19. “COVID was horrible. I lost my business, gigs, & tour. My existence. That's why I’m partially based in Amsterdam and Boston. Trying to figure things out. It takes a while to heal. It’s a matter of time,” Ga
It’s a Wrap: It’s the 2023 Jam Musician Awards—Your Local Faves
D The third annual JAM Musician Awards kicked on off June 15th, when the nominations opened for the 2023 honors. The nominations and voting are now closed. Your favorite jazz musicians will be collecting their awards on Thursday, December 14th, 2023, at 8pm, in the Uptown Lounge, 34th & Main Street, KCMO. Make plans now to join us for the finale of the JAM Awards third year! The fun begins at 7 pm. On the agenda, this year, is the Jazz Ambassadors annual meeting, our December Jazz Futures concer
Old-School Jazz is Young Again
Kansas City doesn’t often have a chance to see a Grammy-winning “Best New Artist,” especially during their Grammy-winning year. If that artist is an upcoming jazz vocalist, appearing as part of one of the city’s longest-running jazz series, landing that show is practically a miracle. Samara Joy, appearing at the Folly Theater on October 14, is a jazz lover’s dream come true At 23 years old, Samara Joy seamlessly blends the old-school jazz sounds of artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holid
Jay McShann Birthday Celebration!
Friends, family, and artists convene to remember the life and music of legendary pianist and bandleader, Jay “Hootie” McShann. Join us as we celebrate his birthday on Friday January 12, 2024 in the Atrium of the American Jazz Museum. The event runs from 5:30pm until 8:30pm and will include live music, stories and more. McShann was born in Muskogee Oklahoma, and was later nicknamed Hootie, as in “drunker than a hoot owl”. During his youth, Jay taught himself how to play the piano through observi
JAM Awards, Future of Jazz and KCJA Annual Meeting December 14 at the Uptown Lounge
A trifecta of Kansas City Jazz is scheduled for Thursday, December 14th at the Uptown Lounge, located at the corner of 34th and Main Streets. Trombonist and educator Ryan Heinlein brings students from the Johnson County Community College Jazz Program to perform from 7pm to 9pm as part of the Jazz Ambassadors’ Future of Jazz program. Current members of the Jazz Ambassadors are invited to arrive at 6pm for the Annual Meeting of the Association. The Third annual Kansas City JAM Awards will begin at
Copy of Eboni: The International Sounds of Eboni Fondren
The International Sounds of Songstress Eboni Fondren I have watched audiences fall in love with vocalist Eboni Fondren. And, I must admit, I fell for her the first time I met her. For several years, Everette DeVan hosted a sort of annual late-night loft party jam session. If you remember Everette, you may remember a cavalcade of sweet voiced young vocalists that he mentored. Many of those vocalists have become fixtures of the Kansas City music scene, and Eboni was a stand-out from day one. She h
Kansas City Jazz Orchestra: “In the Key of KC” (22 Sept. 2023)
Kansas City Jazz Orchestra (KCJO) has a new album. And on it they swing hard, are hip and precise—and, in the tradition, they’ll make you want to take someone’s hand and dance. Although cut of the same cloth style-wise, “In the Key of KC” includes all new tunes, originals, like “Banana Slug,” “Blue Cheese,” and “Sir Charles,” alongside the KC classic (and album opener) “Moten Swing.” As the album’s liner notes reveal, “KCJO's fourth studio presents, for the first time, an album of arrangements b
Classical Vs. Jazz Conducting Style
Friday evening December 8, 2023 UMKC Jazz Studies Program presented a concert in collaboration with UMKC Orchestra in White Hall on campus. The first two thirds of the program was UMKC Orchestra and the last one third was UMKC Jazz Studies. What interested me was the sharp contrast between the conducting style of the classical versus the jazz. The classical conducting style was constant, detailed, and elaborate movements. The conductors expended continuous energy. Body bobbing, arms animated. Li
Blues That Swing
Review “Basie Swings the Blues” (2023) unites modern living legend and contemporary blues singers with the long-standing Basie Band in a tribute to the blues. You’ll hear Keb’ Mo’ and Shemeka Copeland belting the blues on top a river of Basie Band “tight horn voicings,” as jazz scholar Wayne Winbourne rightly puts it. Beyond the heart-pumping, foot-tapping groove, the words are the thing for many blues listeners, and this album delivers, including Copeland’s brickhouse performance of Koko Taylor
Rick Willoughby: Deep Bass Roots for Jazz Journeyman
It all started four decades ago in the same town that gave birth to Pat Metheny. Veteran Kansas City bassist Rick Willoughby found his calling on the bass in his hometown of Lee’s Summit, Missouri. The violin was his first foray into music at age 3, the string bass at 11, and It all culminated when Rick picked up the electric bass at the age of 13. “I really don’t feel like I’m old enough to do anything for 40 years. I didn’t start reading music until I got into the school system. Ironically, wh
Matt Otto: Umbra
Origin Records 2023 It is an album of all originals, nine in total, penned by bandleader and saxophonist Matt Otto, KC staple, but also of LA and NYC. The album opens with “Little Things,” which is understated funk and contemporary—with a heavy, low, electric bass vamp (subtly propelling) beneath. Otto (sax) and Herman Mehari (trumpet) duet at first, calls in the dark. But that’s not all there is to this song (or the other songs) on this album. “Little Things” has a number of styles and movement
Jazz Futures: Future of Jazz Scholarships
Beginning on Thursday, October 12th, 2023, The KC Jazz Ambassadors will present their third annual Future of Jazz Scholarship Program concerts at the Uptown Lounge, 34th and Main Streets, in the midst of Kansas City’s exciting new Main Street Corridor renovation. Dan Thomas, who worked side by side with Bobby Watson at UMKC brings his #1 band from Ottawa University, at 7pm, for the maiden voyage. The Uptown Lounge is rapidly shaping up to be an important place to see and be seen. This richly app
Weston's Third Annual Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee
The Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign of Weston, Missouri, was pleased to announce the third annual Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee on Saturday, June 17, 2023. This event would not have happened without the tenacious attitude of a savvy Kansas City jazz musician. Over the past decade, things have changed for Angela Hagenbach. She started a vocal trio with Pamela Baskin Watson, and Nedra Goodson Dixon, the ensemble known as Book of Gaia. The powerful trio soon several successes to celebrate. Then, t
Upcycle Piano Craft: Steve Wilson, Piano Wizard
As an adult, changing careers and opening a new business is one of the hardest things a person can do. When I first met Steve Wilson and Anne Trinkl, they had both recently done just that to move to midtown Kansas City and open Upcycle Piano Craft. Anne invited me to drop by Upcycle in depths of the pandemic and I instantly fell into a deep dream. What a magical place they had created! I had sung with Anne years ago, when I was the Musical Director of the New Pointe Grille and had hired her and
President Mark Edelman, Retiring Jazz Ambassador
As we enter 2024, the Jazz Ambassadors would like to shed light on those who have shepherded this non-profit organization for the good of the community over the past several decades. We begin by honoring retiring president / treasurer, Mark Edelman. Mark has enjoyed a long and successful career in show business. He played bass in some of the top soul bands in the area, while still attending Shawnee Mission High School. After high school, he attended college and continued his show business forays
Matt Otto: Umbra
Origin Records 2023 It is an album of all originals, nine in total, penned by bandleader and saxophonist Matt Otto, KC staple, but also of LA and NYC. The album opens with “Little Things,” which is understated funk and contemporary—with a heavy, low, electric bass vamp (subtly propelling) beneath. Otto (sax) and Herman Mehari (trumpet) duet at first, calls in the dark. But that’s not all there is to this song (or the other songs) on this album. “Little Things” has a number of styles and movement
Jay McShann Birthday Celebration!
Friends, family, and artists convene to remember the life and music of legendary pianist and bandleader, Jay “Hootie” McShann. Join us as we celebrate his birthday on Friday January 12, 2024 in the Atrium of the American Jazz Museum. The event runs from 5:30pm until 8:30pm and will include live music, stories and more. McShann was born in Muskogee Oklahoma, and was later nicknamed Hootie, as in “drunker than a hoot owl”. During his youth, Jay taught himself how to play the piano through observi
Classical Vs. Jazz Conducting Style
Friday evening December 8, 2023 UMKC Jazz Studies Program presented a concert in collaboration with UMKC Orchestra in White Hall on campus. The first two thirds of the program was UMKC Orchestra and the last one third was UMKC Jazz Studies. What interested me was the sharp contrast between the conducting style of the classical versus the jazz. The classical conducting style was constant, detailed, and elaborate movements. The conductors expended continuous energy. Body bobbing, arms animated. Li
Rick Willoughby: Deep Bass Roots for Jazz Journeyman
It all started four decades ago in the same town that gave birth to Pat Metheny. Veteran Kansas City bassist Rick Willoughby found his calling on the bass in his hometown of Lee’s Summit, Missouri. The violin was his first foray into music at age 3, the string bass at 11, and It all culminated when Rick picked up the electric bass at the age of 13. “I really don’t feel like I’m old enough to do anything for 40 years. I didn’t start reading music until I got into the school system. Ironically, wh
Gabriela Martina: Honoring the Farm Roaming to Career Comfort
Life tends to be a full circle event and for Amsterdam-based jazz vocalist, composer, and bandleader Gabriela Martina, nothing could be truer with the release of her new album “Homage to Grämlis” as she re-assembles the pieces of her music career that were scattered into disarray by COVID-19. “COVID was horrible. I lost my business, gigs, & tour. My existence. That's why I’m partially based in Amsterdam and Boston. Trying to figure things out. It takes a while to heal. It’s a matter of time,” Ga
Copy of Eboni: The International Sounds of Eboni Fondren
The International Sounds of Songstress Eboni Fondren I have watched audiences fall in love with vocalist Eboni Fondren. And, I must admit, I fell for her the first time I met her. For several years, Everette DeVan hosted a sort of annual late-night loft party jam session. If you remember Everette, you may remember a cavalcade of sweet voiced young vocalists that he mentored. Many of those vocalists have become fixtures of the Kansas City music scene, and Eboni was a stand-out from day one. She h
Kansas City Jazz Orchestra: “In the Key of KC” (22 Sept. 2023)
Kansas City Jazz Orchestra (KCJO) has a new album. And on it they swing hard, are hip and precise—and, in the tradition, they’ll make you want to take someone’s hand and dance. Although cut of the same cloth style-wise, “In the Key of KC” includes all new tunes, originals, like “Banana Slug,” “Blue Cheese,” and “Sir Charles,” alongside the KC classic (and album opener) “Moten Swing.” As the album’s liner notes reveal, “KCJO's fourth studio presents, for the first time, an album of arrangements b
JAM Awards, Future of Jazz and KCJA Annual Meeting December 14 at the Uptown Lounge
A trifecta of Kansas City Jazz is scheduled for Thursday, December 14th at the Uptown Lounge, located at the corner of 34th and Main Streets. Trombonist and educator Ryan Heinlein brings students from the Johnson County Community College Jazz Program to perform from 7pm to 9pm as part of the Jazz Ambassadors’ Future of Jazz program. Current members of the Jazz Ambassadors are invited to arrive at 6pm for the Annual Meeting of the Association. The Third annual Kansas City JAM Awards will begin at
Jazz in the Valley
Jazz in the Valley, a free music festival on the Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley campus, will be held 6-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29. The public is invited. Penn Valley’s third annual jazz event will feature: • The Jim Lower Jazz Orchestra (6 p.m.) – Lower is a Kansas City-based traditional jazz drummer and bandleader who attended MCC-Penn Valley and played in a big band on campus. Lower enjoys an active performing schedule all over Kansas City, with his 16-piece big band, the same group h
Weston's Third Annual Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee
The Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign of Weston, Missouri, was pleased to announce the third annual Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee on Saturday, June 17, 2023. This event would not have happened without the tenacious attitude of a savvy Kansas City jazz musician. Over the past decade, things have changed for Angela Hagenbach. She started a vocal trio with Pamela Baskin Watson, and Nedra Goodson Dixon, the ensemble known as Book of Gaia. The powerful trio soon several successes to celebrate. Then, t
Paganova
Happy Hour at Upcycle Piano Craft 3945 Main Street, KCMO As I walk in late, to Upcycle Piano Craft’s monthly jazz event, I feel at home immediately. Thirty-some jazz folks sit around casually, on piano benches and chairs, moving their bodies to the irresistible rhythm of Paganova. led by the prolific pianist, composer, and arranger Mike Pagan, Paganova includes Mike’s son Louie on bass, Ray DeMarchi on drums, and saxophonists Brett Jackson (filling in for David Chael) and Mike Herrera. “It’s imp
Eboni: The International Sounds of Eboni Fondren
The International Sounds of Songstress Eboni Fondren have watched audiences fall in love with vocalist Eboni Fondren. And, I must admit, I fell for her the first time I met her. For several years, Everette DeVan hosted a sort of annual late-night loft party jam session. If you remember Everette, you may remember a cavalcade of sweet voiced young vocalists that he mentored. Many of those vocalists have become fixtures of the Kansas City music scene, and Eboni was a stand-out from day one. She has
Blues That Swing
Review “Basie Swings the Blues” (2023) unites modern living legend and contemporary blues singers with the long-standing Basie Band in a tribute to the blues. You’ll hear Keb’ Mo’ and Shemeka Copeland belting the blues on top a river of Basie Band “tight horn voicings,” as jazz scholar Wayne Winbourne rightly puts it. Beyond the heart-pumping, foot-tapping groove, the words are the thing for many blues listeners, and this album delivers, including Copeland’s brickhouse performance of Koko Taylor
KC Organ Champ Chris Hazelton Leads In The Swing After Dark
In these modern Kansas City jazz times, Chris Hazelton holds a special place on the local music landscape. Hazelton is a bona-fide veteran of the Hammond B-3 Organ, and there’s not a more talented cat at the instrument, anywhere. He was tutored by 2 legends, Dr. Lonnie Smith when Hazelton lived in NYC, and by Everette DeVan in KC. That has made Hazelton a rarified gem at the Hammond, with some serious mileage on his music-biz-odometer to boot. Like many other artists, the pandemic threw Hazelton
Jazz Futures: Future of Jazz Scholarships
Beginning on Thursday, October 12th, 2023, The KC Jazz Ambassadors will present their third annual Future of Jazz Scholarship Program concerts at the Uptown Lounge, 34th and Main Streets, in the midst of Kansas City’s exciting new Main Street Corridor renovation. Dan Thomas, who worked side by side with Bobby Watson at UMKC brings his #1 band from Ottawa University, at 7pm, for the maiden voyage. The Uptown Lounge is rapidly shaping up to be an important place to see and be seen. This richly app
Old-School Jazz is Young Again
Kansas City doesn’t often have a chance to see a Grammy-winning “Best New Artist,” especially during their Grammy-winning year. If that artist is an upcoming jazz vocalist, appearing as part of one of the city’s longest-running jazz series, landing that show is practically a miracle. Samara Joy, appearing at the Folly Theater on October 14, is a jazz lover’s dream come true At 23 years old, Samara Joy seamlessly blends the old-school jazz sounds of artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holid
Joe Cartwright Quartet Live at The Blue Room
The groove is so compelling. As I enter the front door, I automatically move to the beat. It’s jazz pianist Joe Cartwright and the band. Cartwright is known around the city as Jazz Royalty. So’s the drummer, Doug Auwarter, and young bassist, Ben Leifer is well on his way. The curly-gray-haired Mikole Kaar was on tenor sax and flute, just in from California. We’re about to find out how lucky we are to have him. He’s here to stay. There’s excitement and energy in the room. Audience members, bowing
Live at the Green Lady Lounge
Kansas Public Radio InvitesYyou to KCs Original Music Jazz Scene Experience the energy and excitement of original Kansas City jazz from some of the area’s best-known musicians at the city’s premier jazz club, Green Lady Lounge, in a new way. With in-house recordings right off the venue’s stage, Kansas Public Radio’s newest program Live at Green Lady Lounge allows listeners to experience KC’s rich jazz tradition and listen to their favorite local artists, such as Danny Embrey, Rod Fleeman, Tyrone