Peter Schlamb and Matt Villinger St

APRIL + MAY 2017

Peter Schlamb and Matt Villinger St. Louis to KC for Jazz

A New Festival at 18th & Vine Jazz Festival Stories You Didn’t Know Texting For Schedules THE BLUE ROOM AT TheTheB L U

816.474.8463 1600 EAST 18TH STREET NO COVER ROOM AMERICANJAZZMUSEUM.COM KANSAS CITY, MO 64108 (UNLESS NOTED)

xperienc Fuller T 2 E e rry rio B La Bosman Tw in april 2017 s

SAT 1 WILD MEN OF KANSAS CITY STRAIGHT AHEAD

SUN 2 NEO SOUL LOUNGE NEO SOUL

MON 3 TRADITIONAL JAM SESSION: DAVE RIZER 3 1 Fr 7 Th il 6 LESTER ‘DUCK’ WARNER OLD SCHOOL R&B id il u r THURS ay, Apr rsday, Ap Sa 8 R&B, SMOOTH JAZZ t il FRI 7 THE BAND OASIS urday, Apr SMOOTH JAZZ, FUNK B2 EXPERIENCE SAT 8 BOSMAN TWINS STRAIGHT AHEAD may 2017 MON 10 JAM SESSION: GROOVE 101 STRAIGHT AHEAD MON 1 JAM SESSION: TOMMY JOHNSON JR. STRAIGHT AHEAD THURS 13 LARRY FULLER TRIO TRADITIONAL QUARTET THURS 4 LESTER ‘DUCK’ WARNER OLD SCHOOL R&B FRI 14 DA TRUTH NEO SOUL, R&B NEO SOUL, R&B RICH HILL/ CHARLES PERKINS QUINTET STRAIGHT AHEAD FRI 5 DA TRUTH LATIN JAZZ SAT 15 IDA MCBETH BLUES, JAZZ, R&B LATIN JAZZ ALL-STARS

MON 17 JAM SESSION: STEPHEN MARTIN STRAIGHT AHEAD SAT 6 WILD MEN OF KANSAS CITY STRAIGHT AHEAD

THURS 20 ROGER WILDER STRAIGHT AHEAD SUN 7 NEO SOUL LOUNGE NEO SOUL FRI 21 LADY D R&B, SMOOTH JAZZ MON 8 JAM SESSION: EVERETT FREEMAN STRAIGHT AHEAD THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS STRAIGHT AHEAD THURS 11 BRIAN STEEVER QUARTET STRAIGHT AHEAD SAT 22 ECLIPSE W/ LISA HENRY STRAIGHT AHEAD R&B, SMOOTH JAZZ MON 24 JAM SESSION: LOUIS NEAL BIG BAND BLUES, JAZZ, R&B FRI 12 LADY D

THURS 27 LATIN JAZZ ALL-STARS LATIN JAZZ DANNY EMBREY & ENORMOUS GUITAR BRAZILIAN

FRI 28 GRAY MATTER FUNK, R&B SAT 13 CONCORD RECORDING ARTIST STRAIGHT AHEAD GERALD CLAYTON TRIO CHARLES WILLIAMS & GENRE BLUES, SMOOTH JAZZ MON 15 JAM SESSION: ROGER WILDER STRAIGHT AHEAD SAT 29 SONS OF BRAZIL LATIN JAZZ THURS 18 RYAN J. LEE PRESENTS MEZZO STRING STRAIGHT AHEAD yto Cla n Tr reg Tardy FRI 19 GREY MATTER FUNK, R&B ald io G er G TYRONE CLARK & TRUE DIG STRAIGHT AHEAD

SAT 20 IDA MCBETH BLUES, JAZZ, R&B

MON 22 JAM SESSION: LISA HENRY STRAIGHT AHEAD

THURS 25 LATIN JAZZ ALL-STARS LATIN JAZZ

FRI 26 KANSAS CITY JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL S 3 a 1 S 27 tu ay at y SAT 27 KANSAS CITY JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL rday, M urday, Ma SUN 28 KANSAS CITY JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL

blue room PALE ALE blue room hours indigo hour A PERCENTAGE OF BLUE ROOM MONDAY & THURSDAY 5:00-11:00PM FRIDAYS 5:00-7:30PM PALE ALE IS DONATED BY FRIDAY 5:00PM- 1:00AM DRINK SPECIALS NORTH COAST BREWING TO SATURDAY 7:00PM- 1:00AM APPETIZERS SUPPORT PROGRAMMING AT HOSTED BY MAGIC 107.3 (2ND AND 4TH FRIDAYS) THE AMERICAN JAZZ MUSEUM.

COVER CHARGE SIGNATURE EVENT INDIGO HOUR See website for additional information 4TH ANNUAL ARTISTS IINNDUCTIOONN & CONCERT SSAATURRDAY,DAY, JUNNEE 3, 2017 GEM THETHEATERATER 1615 EE.. 18th StStreetreet | Kansas CitCity,y, MO 64108 7:00 PM INDUUCCTION CEREMONY | FFreeree & Open ttoo the public 7:30 PM CCOONCERT at the GEM THETHEATERATER ffeaturingeaturing RAMSEY LEWIS • IDA MMcBETHcBETH Concert tickets: $50 per person Available at the Gem Theater Box Office & thru Ticketmaster

AMERICANJAZZWALKOFFAME.COM

Sponsored by PRESIDENT’S CORNER STEPHEN MATLOCK

We’ve Been Busy Let’s start with this: Text KCJazz to 555888 for KC Jazz For instance, you’ll soon be able to access that schedule Near You. you can now find with a text through a Kansas City-branded Beginning now, if you want to know where to find jazz app. Today, Jazz Near You offers a free app in the Apple app in Kansas City tonight, all you need is your smartphone. Text store and on Google Play. It will show you where to find jazz KCJazz to 555888 and you will receive a link to the schedule in hundreds of cities throughout the world. Soon – we expect compiled and maintained by Jazz Near You of shows in the by June – a special Kansas City version will take you right to KC area. It hasn’t been this easy to find jazz in town since the shows in KC. days when the Kansas City Jazz Commission maintained the We’re transitioning our website to kcjazzambassadors.org recorded Jazz Hotline which you called from your home phone (no longer .com). You’ll find a fresh design with new sections (and maybe only us old timers will remember the Jazz Hotline, on Community Services, Volunteer Profile and the Jazz Com- the Jazz Commission...and home phones). munity Survey (where you can tell us what you think). The Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors have been busy. We’ve You’ll find an application for scholarships to summer music published this magazine for over thirty years. We maintain the camps, awarded by the Jazz Ambassadors, at kcjazzambassadors. Musicians Assistance Fund and the Tommy Ruskin Scholar- org/scholarship-applications. Music students from elementary ship Fund. But the board of directors is staking out a greater school through college can apply. Scholarships up to $500 per presence than that. student will be awarded in April. continued on page 23

2 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 APRIL + MAY 2017 CONTENTS VOLUME 31, NO. 2

(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 President’s Corner ...... 2 are reserved. Reproduction of any material is prohibited without consent of the publisher. To contact the KC Jazz Ambassadors, call (816) 888-4503. News & Highlights ...... For advertising information, call (816) 591-3378 or email 4 [email protected]. Letters should be addressed to: Jam, P.O. Box 36181, Kansas City, MO 64171-6181. To contact the editor, email Peter Schlamb and Matt Villinger: [email protected]. “Jam” and “Jazz Lover’s Pub Crawl” are Registered Trademarks of The Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, Inc. Jam/Jazz Ambassador From St. Louis to Kansas City Magazine (Online) ISSN: 1533-0745 for Jazz ...... 8 EDITOR Larry Kopitnik CONTRIBUTING WRITERS The Jazz Festival Stories You Roger Atkinson Wayne Goins Kevin Rabas Didn’t Know ...... 12 Tony Bozarth Chuck Haddix Michael Ragan Carolyn Glenn Brewer Connie Humiston Michael Shults Bill Brownlee Larry Kopitnik Yoko Takemura Folly Jazz News ...... 18 Chris Burnett Mike Metheny Joe Dimino Danny Powell ADVERTISING Off the Vine ...... 20 Connie Humiston (816) 591-3378 [email protected] TYPOGRAPHY & GRAPHIC DESIGN Storyville ...... 21 Rodric McBride COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Larry Kopitnik For the Record ...... 26 PRINTING Single Source Printing DISTRIBUTION (PRINT) Club Scene ...... K.C. Jazz Ambassadors 27 DISTRIBUTION (ELECTRONIC) www.kcjazzambassadors.org Coda ...... 28 INTERNET WEBMASTER Firefly Marketing Communications Next Jam ...... 2017 BOARD OF DIRECTORS 28 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE On the Cover: APRIL + MAY 2017 PRESIDENT Stephen Matlock SECRETARY Greg Howard Matt Villinger and TREASURER Jennifer Wismeier Peter Schlamb moved DIRECTORS AT LARGE here from St. Louis for Lynn Abrams | Cheryl Anderson opportunities unique ADVISORY BOARD Dean Hampton | Tom Alexios | Jim Ramel | Angela Hagenbach to Kansas City. Here, Peter Schlamb

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE they perform in the and Matt Villinger St. Louis to KC for Jazz JAM DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Dr. Tyler Craig jazz club at The SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE CHAIR Janice Kinney Majestic, a space A New Festival at 18th & Vine The Board of Directors gratefully thanks Darrell Hoffman and Bob Clark that once was a Jazz Festival Stories You Didn’t Know and the Jam distribution team for their untiring contributions to the KCJA. speakeasy. Texting For Schedules ©2017 Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, Inc.

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 3 NEWS & HIGHLIGHTS

Back On the Jazz Festival Map 2016 was light on jazz festivals in Kansas City. The Ameri- can Jazz Museum took a year off from theirs, Jazz in the Woods tried to morph into something different (didn’t work; Jazz in the Woods returns in June), and the Parkville River Jam may have retired. The Prairie Village Jazz Festival was about all that a community whose image is tightly entwined with jazz could muster. The useumm is preparing to fix that. Over Memorial Day weekend, the American Jazz Mu- seum launches the first Kansas City Jazz and Heritage festival with the goal of putting Kansas City back on the nation’s jazz festival map. R&B and neo-soul acts are part of the lineup to entice a broader range of music fans. But the jazz headliners are solid: legendary guitarist John Scofield, Macarthur “genius grant”-winning violinist Regina Carter, and the Hot Sardines. Among the musicians with Kansas City roots returning to their hometown for the event are Oleta Adams, Logan Richardson John Scofield and Queen Bey.

OLD FRIENDS ARE THE BEST FRIENDS The Letters of John McKee and Mike Metheny

“Even though these letters were written more than 25 years ago, they still prove that two people can disagree sharply about serious social issues yet remain the best of friends. We could use more of that kind of thinking today.” – Mike Metheny “John McKee was a force. And he is one of the major reasons I became the musician I am now. To this day he remains one of the most important and unique personalities I have ever known.” – Pat Metheny (from the “Foreword”) “It’s not a jazz book. It’s a life book, suitable either for browsing or a long, steady read.” – Doug Ramsey (“Rifftides”)

For a synopsis, how to purchase and other information, please go to: www.mikemetheny.com Also available at amazon.com

4 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 THE GREAT FLOOD: GUITARIST BIll FRISEll Regina Carter wITh ENSEMBlE Scofield was an anchor of Miles Davis’ ensemble for over AND A FILM BY three years. He followed Pat Metheny in Gary Burton’s quartet. He has recorded with Charles Mingus and Mavis Staples, to cite BILL MORRISON a couple diverse ends of the jazz-related music spectrum. And he just won two Grammy Awards, for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Improvised Jazz Solo. He’s bringing the band from Saturday, April 22, 5 p.m. the album, Country for Old Men. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art continued Atkins Auditorium

Select seats at hJSERIES.ORG or call 816-415-5025

HKNdesignkc .com

Transforming wooden drum set shells into Rhythmic European Designs.

Westport Coffeehouse Theater Jazz Underground Weekly schedule: WestportCoffeeHouse.com alcohol available in theater The Jazz Underground Series is now on select Wednesdays & Thursdays: check website and FB for lineup.

Event Space for 100!! Videotaping available!

4010 Pennsylvania • Kansas City, MO • 816.756.3222

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 5 NEWS & HIGHLIGHT CONTINUED Carter is widely acclaimed as the best jazz violinist of her generation. Of course, jazz violin finds a special welcome in Kansas City, home to Claude “Fiddler” Williams for most of his life. Meanwhile, the wild brass and stride piano of the Hot Sardines should play particularly well on a large outdoor stage. With the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy going up behind the museums, organizers had to think creatively on where to put the main stage. They did. It will rise in the middle of The Paseo. The street will be closed between Truman Road and 18th Street with the main stage set at 17th Terrace, facing north. The Paseo’s broad, park-like median will serve as the main festival grounds. 18th Street will be closed as well, between The Paseo and Woodland, for an outdoor marketplace. Other outdoor stages may dot the jazz district and acts will perform in the Gem Theater and the Blue Room. Festival dates are Friday, May 26th through Sunday, May 28th. A free meet-and- greet with all of the visiting artists – to entice you back for the next three days – will be held on Thursday night. There will be a jazz brunch on Memorial Day. Tickets to the main stage are $50 per day (with a VIP package for special seating also available). Access to all other stages is free. Funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Missouri Arts Council, and an anonymous $200,000 donation. Museum Executive Director Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner says, “This is not an 18th and Vine festival. This is Kansas City’s jazz festival. It’s the entire community’s festival. The music is taking place at 18th and Vine, but this is about all of Kansas City and our heritage.” More information is at kcjazzfest.com. Dick Hawk Richard Cowen Hawk – Kan- sas City’s jazz community knew him as Dick Hawk – died on March 4th following a heart attack. He was 82 years old. His official obituary described him as “a devoted husband, loving father, beloved brother, tireless entrepreneur, and avid jazz musician.” Hawk spent the early part of his career in higher education at Emporia State University and the University of Chicago. But around In this new book from University of here he’ll be remembered for his North Texas Press, Carolyn Glenn Brewer weekly “Dick Hawk’s Gaslight Jazz chronicles the controversial and inspiring Show” on KXTR and, especially, as history of the Kansas City Women’s Jazz owner and host of the Gaslight Grill Festival, where founders Carol Comer and in Leawood, where Lynn Zimmer Dianne Gregg fought for equality not with and the Jazz Band perform five speeches but with swing, without protest nights a week.. Dick Hawk signs but with bebop. Hawk arranged for Bruce Ol- sen to purchase Gaslight Grill from his estate. Olsen writes, “I will become the new owner shortly and Gaslight Grill will continue to operate much as it has as a home for $29.95 hardcover | $23.96 ebook great live jazz and the best steaks and freshest seafood around.” Orders: tamupress.com or call 1-800-826-8911

6 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 Dick Hawk’s GASLIGHT GRILL & BACK ROOM

e exciting New Red Onion Jazz Babies join Lynn Zimmer for a full evening of entertainment on the rst Monday of every month.

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.

PRIVATE ROOMS AVAILABLE FOR PARTIES AND BUSINESS EVENTS

No Cover Charge • Kansas Dry Aged Steaks • Seafood • Chef Specialties • Dance Floor 5020 W. 137th St. (Just south of 135th on Briar Drive) Leawood, KS 66224 913.897.3540 JAZZ AMBASSADOR • GaslightGrill.com MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 Peter Schlamb and Matt Villinger St. Louis to KC for Jazz

redit Hermon Mehari. He described a Kansas City jazz scene Cripe with opportunities. “Having places to play every night is a really important part of having an important and vibrant scene,” vibraphonist Peter Schlamb explains. “Not only to work but to have an environment that cultivates the music and people getting together to play and learn. That’s a great thing for KC now. “The wave of musicians with Hermon, like Steve Lambert, Ben Leifer and Andrew Ouellette, prove there is a great crew in KC. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.” Pianist Matt Villinger adds, “There are a lot more players out in KC that are really trying to set the bar high for the music.” New musicians with exceptional talent and their own unique voices are reimagining jazz in Kansas City. Many come here for Bobby Watson’s and Dan Thomas’ program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, then stay. Some attended Dan Gailey’s and Matt Otto’s classes at the University of Kansas. Then there’s the two guys who moved here from the other side of Missouri and are the core of Electric Tinks. St. Louis to Kansas City Peter Schlamb and Matt Villinger now call Kansas City home. But they started in St. Louis. Both describe an established jazz community there. St. Louis saxophonist Willie Aikens, who died in 2015, and pianist Ptah Williams were key influences. “Gigs happened every week with great local musicians,” Schlamb

Peter Schlamb and Matt Villinger at home. By Joe Dimino Photo by Jason Dailey

8 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 9 PETER SCHLAMB AND MATT VILLINGER CONTINUED says. “I listened to them quite a bit and learned. During my “I’m playing around the nights I’m here in KC,” Schlamb senior year, I was asked to play with Willie’s band and learned said. “I have a couple of residencies. I jam with Steve Lambert’s a lot from him.” quintet on Sundays at the Green Lady Lounge and with my Villinger moved here straight from eastern Missouri. trio at The Majestic on Tuesday nights.” Schlamb first relocated to New York then returned to St. Louis. Villinger performs regularly at Green Lady and The Ma- Three years later, he moved to Kansas City. jestic. “I think the KC scene is great,” he says. “There are a lot Their friendship with Mehari and his stories of a thriving of amazing musicians. It’s good to also have the younger guys jazz culture enticed them. Perhaps the greatest difference they around that are serious about it. They push you as well.” found was the number of places that offered the chance to Schlamb observes, “Obviously, what Bobby Watson has perform live jazz. done at UMKC has helped draw a lot of people to KC. Matt Otto coming here from LA was huge. Now he is over at KU. That is going to help hook up new musicians. Both of these guys are great for attracting a new wave of players.” But while young musicians perpetuate the music, veteran musicians establish the core of Kansas City jazz. “I always feel a bit nervous about playing with Todd Strait and Bob Bowman,” Villinger admits. “You have to be on your best game because they have played with many amazing musicians.” “Bob Bowman is legendary,” Schlamb adds. “Getting to know him and his music has been huge. He has a lot of knowledge and history. I had a few opportunities to play with Bobby Watson and that was amazing as well. “I’m constantly looking to play with musicians. I’m not specifically looking at one. When- ever I meet someone and get the chance to play, I’m grateful for the opportunity to do that. The nice thing is that it’s a small community with plenty of opportunities.” Schlamb, after experiencing an east coast jazz musician’s life, finds other advantages in Kansas City.

PHOTO BY LARRY BY PHOTO KOPITNIK “Having a place that is affordable to live The Peter Schlamb Trio at The Majestic. Left to right: Ben Leifer on bass, in this industry is huge. New York is a cost Peter Schlamb on vibes, Ryan Lee on drums. prohibitive jazz spot,” he explained. “Most of the musicians in New York make their money overseas. It’s not

10 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 a sustaining home base in the sense of just doing gigs in New York. “KC is still kind of hidden in plain sight because there are a lot of people on the coasts who don’t know about it. Until they come and see it with their own eyes, they won’t know about it. Part of that is that folks on the coasts don’t tend to come to the middle of America. “I’m very interested in the world and I want to get my music out around the world and play with others. But KC is a sustainable place to make money as a musician. Personally, being from St. Louis, I like living in Missouri.”

continued on page 22

Summer Jazz Camp • June 12-16 Grades 6-12 • College Students • Adults at Johnson County Community College FACULTY: Marcus Lewis, Artistic Director Peter Schlamb | Matt Otto Nate Nall | Eddie Moore Adam Schlozman | Ben Liefer Ryan Lee Early Bird Special: BRANFORD MARSALIS $50 off by 4/30/17 WITH SPECIAL GUEST QUARTET www.FutureJazzCamp.com • 913-735-4361 +KURT ELLING + Thursday, May 11, 2017 Helzberg Hall | 7:30 p.m. KAUFFMAN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

TICKETS: (816) 994-7222 or kauffmancenter.org

Saturday, May 6 • 7:00 p.m. PREMIER PARTNER Danielle Nicole Band Chubby Carrier & a Bayou Swamp Band Kris Lager Band Ian Moore Amanda Fish Band BUILDING SPONSOR Kirk Brown Band Santiago Brothers Net proceeds benefit heart transplant recipients in KC for more info www.merlejam.com Tickets are $20 advance www.knuckleheadskc.com for more info

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 11 The Jazz Festival Stories You Didn’t Know

Carolyn Glenn Brewer remembers this from the Women’s Jazz Festival: One of the biggest challenges to running a multi- performer festival is staying on time. An impromptu vibe between performer and audience can derail even the best organized schedule. During the 1979 Women’s Jazz Festival this nature-of-the-beast issue became a problem early on in the main concert. Ursula Dudziak and her then-husband, Michal Urbaniak, were second of six on the program, and their unique brand of Polish fusion with overtones of Ella Fitzgerald and Coltrane instantly charmed Claude "Fiddler" Williams and Bobby Watson on the the audience. Ursula’s four- Heritage Stage of the 2000 Blues and Jazz Festival octave range and otherworldly, Gregg and Carol Comer that Ursula was not wordless treatment of tunes prompted The going to give up this audience adoration Wichita Eagle and Beacon reviewer to call willingly. The quintet – Michal Urbaniak, her voice, “exotic, erotic, and eerie.” The violin, Kenny Kirkland, piano, Marcus Miller, Kansas City Star reviewer, Shifra Stein, said bass, and Buddy Williams, drums – passed Ursula had, “abandoned lyrics for vocal their time allowance with no evidence that pyrotechnics.” the frenetic musical whirlwind this group By the group’s last tune it became had created was about to stop. Dianne and apparent to festival organizers Dianne Carol consulted about how to handle the

By Larry Kopitnik

12 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 Stories You Didn’t Know

situation. Finally, feeling they had no choice, they cut the lights. The house fell dead silent. Then, as Carol Comer remembers, “very softly we heard, ‘do-ka- chick-a, chick-a.’ Urszula told the audience she liked the effect. We gave up.” As the evening’s performance schedule fell further and further behind, headliner Carmen McRae paced in the green room. The festival volunteer assigned to Ms. McRae did her best to calm the increasingly impatient star, telling her the audience would be on the edge of their seats waiting to hear their favorite Karrin Allyson with a big band in the Rhythm and Ribs Festival singer. “Besides,” the volunteer concluded, “you know they always save the The American Jazz Museum is launching a new festival over best for last.” Carmen, ever the consummate Memorial Day weekend with the unabashed goal of returning professional, yet time-conscious performer, Kansas City to the world’s jazz festival map. It wouldn’t be gently bookended the volunteer’s face with our first time. The Kansas City Women’s Jazz Festival, which her hands and sweetly cooed, “Bullshit, ran from 1978 through 1985 (with a break in 1984) certainly Baby.” placed us there. Every wonder why March is Women in Jazz (Brewer has just written a wonderful history of the Kansas month in Kansas City? That was the month of the festival. City Women’s Jazz Festival, Changing the Tune, published by The Kansas City Jazz Festival, launched in 1964 in Municipal University of North Texas Press. We’ll review it in the next Auditorium – with Pete Eye, Frank Smith, Marilyn Maye, Bet- issue.) tye Miller, Carmel Jones, Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, and Woody Herman – lasted until 1977, with a break in 1974 for the touring Newport Jazz Festival. A new Kansas City Jazz

continued on page 16

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 13 14 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 15 FESTIVAL STORIES CONTINUED FROM 13 JOEY Festival launched in 1983, moved to Volker Park in 1984, then merged with the Kansas City Blues Festival in 1991 to become ALEXANDER the Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival. It relocated to Penn TRIO JAZZ PIANO 8 P.M. SATURDAY, MAY 20

Joey Alexander plays jazz like a veteran JOHNSON of decades, but he’s COUNTY just 12 years old. COMMUNITY Discovered by Wynton COLLEGE Marsalis, he’ll come to JCCC and share his 2016-2017 astonishing technique PERFORMING and soulful sound! ARTS Koko Taylor in the Rhythm and Ribs Festival SERIES TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Valley Park where it reigned until the tragedy of 9/11 brought fundraising to a halt. The 18th & Vine Jazz and Heritage Fes- jccc.edu/TheSeries tival also started in 1983, in a pre-museum jazz district. The 913-469-4445 city has seen a festival at Crown Center and Rhythm and Ribs NO ONLINE FEES | FREE PARKING in both Parade Park and the streets behind the jazz museum. WINE & BEER AVAILABLE But what the public sees isn’t all that happens when staging a jazz festival. Organizers, like the volunteer who dealt with an impatient Carmen McCrae, and musicians often walk away with tales remembered for a lifetime. Crowds to Storms For instance, in the late 1980s, I assisted with the 18th & Vine festival. Back then, The Kansas City Star published crowd estimates provided by professionals, such as the police. One year, as the event wound down on a Sunday evening, several of us gathered around a concession stand and chatted. We agreed among ourselves that about 5000 people had passed

Al Green in the Rhythm and Ribs Festival

16 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 3700 BROADWAY • KC, MO • UPTOWNTHEATER.COM

MAY 18 George Benson and Al Jarreau in the 2007 Rhythm and Ribs Festival through the event that weekend. A few police officers, assisting with security, walked by. We offered some hot dogs and soft drinks. The hot dogs would just be discarded anyway, we told them, so they took us up on the offer. They thanked us, adding those were a good end to a long day. Then the officer in charge asked, so what do you want the weekend crowd estimate to be? 20,000? Sure, we said, 20,000 sounded good. MAY 23 And that’s how, in the late 1980s, published crowd estimates were derived. continued on page 24

JUNE 11

JUNE 23

SEPT. 14

FOLLOW MAMMOTH LIVE: MAMMOTHLIVE.COM TUSKOUTREACH.COM

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 17 FOLLY JAZZ NEWS GALE TALLIS

A Dynamic McCaslin and a Lively Elias Cap a Stellar Season A season of extraordinary shows – anyone recommended him and Bowie came out to who heard Cécile McLorin Salvant or Robert hear him on a gig in New York. McCaslin, Glasper will not soon forget them – is drawing with his jazz quartet, returned for Bowie’s to a close with two more concerts that perfectly final album, Blackstar. McCaslin’s latest fit this Folly jazz year. album, Beyond Now, reunites that band. McCaslin’s sound is dynamic. His Donny McCaslin music explores the edges of jazz, taking risks. It’s clearly jazz, but jazz that moves Saxophonist Donnie McCaslin has per- the boundaries. The New York Times said, formed with Gary Burton, Maria Schneider “Mr. McCaslin seems to have direct access and Antonio Sánchez. He replaced Michael to emotional expression in his playing, as Brecker in Steps Ahead. His albums have been if it were a valve he could open at will. He’s nominated for three Grammy Awards, including exceptionally sure-footed with his phrasing, Best Instrumental Jazz Solo. almost never caught off balance, but he Then, in 2014, he played tenor and soprano knows how to convey risk or fury through saxophone on a David Bowie single. Schneider Donny McCaslin the compressed force of his tone.” “KANSAS CITY HERE I COME” Check out videos on DeborahBrown.net SPONSORS  Carol Blum and Steven  Greg Howard Listen to Wilson—Corporate Sponsor  Jo Lowry  Mark Edelman and 12th Street  Beverly and Ed Mann DEBORAH BROWN’s Jump—Corporate Sponsor  Barbara Mathewson  Robert McCollom, Cast Stone  Charles and Marada McClintock Consultants—Corporate Sponsor “Kansas City  Jon and Wendy McGraw  DeMasters Insurance— Here I Come” and Corporate Sponsor  Sid and Carole McKnight  Green Lady Lounge—  Edward Morris “All Too Soon” at Corporate Sponsor  Jamie and Alan Myers DeborahBrown.net,  Jon and Wendy McGraw,  Loren and Christine Myers Buttonwood Financial Group  John and Linda Nobles then buy the CDs at LLC—Corporate Sponsor  Penny Oathout  Gale Tallis, Folly Theater—  William Paprota CDbaby.com Corporate Sponsor  John Peterson  John and Alice Blegen  Randell Sedlacek and  Gerry and Judy Bukowski Mary Ventura  Marilyn Carpenter  Paul and Sara Smith  Rebecca Ehrich and  Merle Stalder Robert Kemper  William Sullivan  Nelson and Mary Ellen Farney  Robert Thompson and Mary Wurtz  Mike and Debra Gerken  Jon Trozzolo and Sara Touchette  Dennis Gredell and Lori Wohlschlaeger  Julie Turner Ruskin  Gary and Angela Hagenbach  Tom and Geri  Steven and Patty Hargrave  James and Sarah Weitzel  Gene and Sarah Lowrey  Gregg and Melinda Wenger  Mike T. White

18 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 McCaslin will be bringing his quartet with Jason Linder on keyboards, Mark Guliana on drums and Jonathan Maron on bass. He takes the Folly stage on Friday, April 7th at 8:00 p.m. The show is preceded by a JazzTalk hosted by Steve Kraske at 7:00. Call the Folly ticket office at 816-474-4444. Eliane Elias Pianist, vocalist, composer, arranger, producer – we could go on – Eliane Elias, over three decades, has established herself as an icon of Brazilian jazz and deliciously energetic samba. She was born in São Paulo and by age seventeen her career DONNY McCASLIN began. She moved to New York in 1981 where she (like, coin- QUARTET cidentally, Donny McCalsin) joined the group Steps Ahead. But it’s on her own albums, the first released in 1987, where her Eliane Elias Brazilian roots truly shine. She brings a distinct personality and unique life to Latin jazz – after all, she lived the music. Elias layers lively yet sophisticated piano with vocals evoking a gentle smoothness and a taunting sensuousness. This isn’t languid jazz. This is jazz samba that parties. And it’s jazz that wins awards. Her last album, Made in Brazil, won the 2015 Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album The ewN York Times described her like this: “Ms. Elias is an aggressive hard-charging pianist who transformed almost everything she performed into a variation of samba, from medium cool to hot....Rhythm is what she is really about.” Eliane Elias has recorded with Herbie Hancock and Bob Brookmeyer. As you’d expect, she has covered Jobim, but over the years her albums have also covered the music of Bill Evans and Chet Baker. Still, when discussing Elias we keep returning to Latin jazz. The way she plays it, you just want to sit in an audience and smile. Eliane Elias comes to the Folly on Saturday, May 19th at 8:00 p.m. Before the show, a JazzTalk hosted by Jeff Harshbarger with Elias' husband and bassist, Mark Johnson, starts at 7:00. For tickets, call 816-474-4444.

7:00 pm JazzTalk 8:00 pm Concert

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 19 OFF THE VINE JESSICA THOMPSON

Jon Batiste and the 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award

The American Jazz Museum jazz tradition,” Executive Director is thrilled to welcome nationally Cheptoo Kositany-Buckner states. acclaimed Louisiana pianist, Jon Jon Batiste’s significant strides in Batiste, to accept its 2017 Life- jazz at such a young age place him time Achievement Award. The in historic company with other ac- ceremony will take place in the claimed artists, like Charlie Parker, Gem Theater on Friday, April Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, 7th, at 8:00 p.m. The ceremony and Ella Fitzgerald. Batiste has includes performances by several a captivated audience five nights notable local musicians honoring a week as the house bandleader Batiste. Batiste will also take the on The Late Show with Stephen stage and perform a selection of Colbert, which currently claims songs. the number one spot in late-night The American Jazz Mu- television. Through this platform, seum has presented the Lifetime Jon Batiste he engages new generations and Achievement Award since 2005. It demographics to jazz and this recognizes artists who have made exceptional and innovative amazing art form. Batiste also serves as the Artistic Director- contributions to jazz and the art of live music; created greater at-Large of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, educating accessibility and appreciation for jazz and the art of live music; people about the museum and assisting with programming. He and increased the outreach of jazz education. Jazz tradition has is named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30,” and he is a Movado always been about expression, freedom, improvisation, innova- Future Legend Award recipient and one of the youngest Stein- tion, and creativity. One of the most important aspects of jazz way Performing Artists of all time. is that it is carried out with character, dignity, humility, and Born into a long line of celebrated musicians in Louisiana, courage. Batiste grew up playing percussion in his family’s band before “Jon Batiste is receiving this award because he has bridged mastering the piano when he was 11 years old. He went on to the gap between twentieth century and twenty-first century receive both his undergraduate and master’s degrees at The Juil- jazz. We are very proud of him and all musicians who have liard School. Today, Batiste performs internationally with his brought national and international acclaim to the American band Jon Batiste & Stay Human. Batiste, who now resides in New York City, is known for taking his jaw-dropping music to the streets in his signature “love riots.” His debut 2015 studio album, Social Music reached #1 on Billboard’s Jazz Album Chart. He has collaborated with acclaimed musicians across various genres, including Stevie Wonder and Prince, and is featured on a new album honoring the music of John Lewis, founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet, with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. This is an event not to be missed! Tickets are $45, and available at Ticketmaster or the American Jazz Museum box office, 816-474-6262. To learn more about Jon Batiste, the American [email protected] Jazz Museum Achievement Awards Ceremony, and other featured performers, please visit americanjazzmuseum.org.

20 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 STORYVILLE

New Letters, A Magazine of Writing & Art, Vol. 83 No. 1 Edited by Robert Stewart Published by the University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2016. 176 pages.

New Letters is a quarterly liter- Richard Terrill is a writer and saxo- ary magazine published by UMKC. phonist, and in “Improvisations: John This edition, from winter 2016/2017, Coltrane” he tells how he worked features writings and photographs through this music, gaining an ap- dealing with jazz, in addition to some preciation for Coltrane's tireless quest non-jazz items. Editor Robert Stewart for mastery. Terrill clearly understood added renowned jazz poet Dan Jaffe Coltrane's power and dedication to the as co-editor for the jazz portion of this music, the ultimate mastery. He relates issue. how he saw this search for mastery in a I'll start with the prose, all pieces fellow saxophonist, and heard it in that that I enjoyed. Kim Addonizio con- friend's music as the story closes. The tributed “Blue Guitar”, which tells us last piece, “The Consolation of Jazz, Or about the scene in a typical blues bar My Life with Women” is from Thomas in San Francisco, and late guitarist E. Kennedy, and tells of how the music Johnny Nitro, who played at the club became a part of his life from the time and occasionally lived in the rooming he saw Jazz on a Summer's Day, as he house above the saloon. Addonizio tells of his several loves during his life. also took lessons from Nitro. She Interesting here is how the music and paints a good picture about the man women seemed to be separate, with and the scene, and about the influ- music reliably there for comfort even if ence of the blues on popular music. the relationships were not rewarding. “Hitting the Road, Jack.” by Dennis Thepoetry is as enjoyable, including a Finnell, tells about how Ray Charles piece about Monk and another about a was his musical life as an adolescent; Ray's music was the truth! dream on working with Duke Ellington. I loved Phyllis Becker's Years later he heard Charles again, late in his career, the power “Etta's Body Double”, where she tells about going to see Etta not what it had been, but the music and man were still a part James with her mom, and having people think her mom was of him. Etta. Then there is “Something Else They Say” by Mbembe Milton Smith, who hears Archie Shepp play and wonders how anyone could say that jazz is dead, for at that moment it was nothing but. And there is much more, including a poem from Jaffe. Included is some great artwork, too. There is a section of Janet Kuemmerlein's acrylic painting portraits of Kansas City vocalists that are all fabulous, and a number of photographs by Steve Paul, including Benny Golson on the cover, a couple of Everette DeVan and Matt Hopper from The Phoenix, and some shots from the annual Charlie Parker tribute at Lincoln Cemetery, including a picture of Gerald Dunn, Ahmad Alaa- deen and Bobby Watson that I'd love to have framed. The editors have selected some fine works here, and this jazz fan found much to enjoy and relate to. —Roger Atkinson

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 21 PETER SCHLAMB AND MATT VILLINGER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 Electric Tinks and Compositions Electric Tinks is Schamb’s showcase ensemble. Its music is built around his rich vibraphone and compositions that explore and surprise, sometimes with invigorating audacity. This isn’t Milt Jackson and the Modern Jazz Quartet (though that influence is apparent). This is vibrant contemporary music reflecting the inspirations of a jazz musician in the 21st century. The band’s members, in addition to Schlamb and Villinger, have included Hermon Mehari on trumpet, Matt Otto on sax, DeAndre Manning on bass and Ryan Lee on drums. They play the first Friday of each month at Green Lady Lounge. “The musicians in that band are amazing,” Villinger says. “It’s always great to be playing with better musicians than your- self. Peter writes amazing music and it’s a lot of fun. It’s really challenging, so I’m always working on it and getting better. “I’m just trying to do the best I can. That’s all I can really do. If people seem to like it, that’s great. Then I think I am doing something right.” Schlamb says, “I strive to be myself, just being honest. It’s something that is always evolving. Learning this music is a lifelong pursuit. It’s endlessly intriguing. There is always more

PHOTO BY LARRY BY PHOTO KOPITNIK to learn and to listen to. Those things are going to change and evolve like us as people.” Matt Villinger at The Majestic.

22 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 Schlamb’s first album was Tinks, released in 2014. Vil- linger’s first was All Night, out in 2015. Both plan their second releases for this year. And both find it critical to compose new music for those albums and for their own ensembles. “I need to make it a priority to try and write new music every day,” Villinger explains. “Hopefully I can keep coming with new things. I’m always thinking about it.” Schlamb takes a different route. “My songwriting process tends to not be forced,” he says. “I wait for moments of inspira- tion to write a new composition. I slowly expand my catalog and have the creative liberty to write at my own will.” More Schlamb and Villinger agree that the future of the Kansas City jazz rests with players continuing to move here, recognizing the benefits, and staying. “I do think that people enjoy listening to the music,” Vil- linger says. “I really hope that more great musicians move to this city. When better musicians move here, you just have to make sure your playing is at a high enough level.” “More players will only raise the bar for everyone,” Schlamb adds. “We feed off each other naturally. Every great player adds something special and unique. I just hope that it continues. “We just need Kansas City to keep on building and grow- ing.”

PRESIDENT'S CORNER CONTINUED FROM 2

We’re planning a major fundraiser for the scholarship fund. SupperClub 2017 is coming on September 26th and will feature the performance of a never-recorded Duke Ellington arrangement. Tickets go on sale on August 1st. More details are to come, but for now highlight the date on your calendar. We want your help. We have new membership and spon- sorship levels with fresh benefits. You can find them at kcjazzambassadors.org/membership. Join us! One last item: We have started monthly meetings open to anyone. The next one is on Wednesday, April 12th at the Westport Coffee House, 4010 Pennsylvania. The meeting will run from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Then at 7:00 you can catch the Brad Gregory Sextet with special guest Hermon Mehari. In addition to Brad on sax and Hermon on trumpet, the ensemble includes David Chael on sax, Roger Wilder on piano, Bob Bowman on bass and Todd Strait on drums. April is Jazz Appreciation Month, so decreed by the Smith- sonian Museum of American History to celebrate jazz as both a living and a historic music. There’s no better time for all of us jazz fans to be busy.

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 23 THE JAZZ FESTIVAL STORIES YOU DIDN’T KNOW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 Today, Connie Humiston sells all of the ads you see in Tommy Ruskin was subbing for Doug Jam. But from 1997 through its end, she worked as Assistant Auwarter on drums. It was a windy day, with Director of the Blues and Jazz Festival. She vividly remembers strong gusts out of the west at the back 1998 when Wilson Pickett left the stage perhaps a quarter of of the stage. During one of our tunes the the way into his set. wind blew the plastic backdrop down on He gets off the stage and says to Sista Tommy’s back. It just laid there. Always the Monica, “Are you a singer?” She said, “Yeah.” consummate professional, he just kept on He said, “Get up there!” He got into the limo playing as if nothing was wrong. The rest of and returned to the Westin Crown Center us were laughing so hard we could barely Hotel. He needed a bathroom and didn’t continue. want to use a porta-john, so he returned to the hotel and didn’t come back. She also recalls, in 1999, blues headliner Bobby Womack refusing to ride in a 1998 black stretch limo. He insisted on a 1999 black stretch limo. Later, she told the story to another headliner, Ike Turner. Turner said, “You tell him I said shut up and ride!” The next morning, Womack came down from his hotel room and spotted the driver. “Hey, boy,” Womack called out, “I want my town car to take me to breakfast.” The driver responded, “Mr. Womack, I have kissed your ass all weekend and I suggest if you want breakfast you get your ass in a taxi.” Humiston remembers the year that organizers combed the festival grounds at 1 a.m. looking for Gatemouth Brown. Turns out a volunteer had taken him over to the Mutual Musicians Lonnie Smith in the 2007 Rhythm and Ribs Festival

Mike Metheny has a couple memories of the festival in Volker Park. In 1987, he was a headliner. I was still living in Boston then but was able to put together an all-star KC band with Paul Smith (piano), Gerald Spaits (bass), Tommy Ruskin (drums), and Julie Turner (vocals). The weather was perfect, the crowd was great, and several of my Lee’s Summit High School classmates were sitting close to the stage holding up signs that said, “Where were you at the 20th reunion?!” In 1989, Pat Metheny was scheduled to headline. Just before brother Pat’s set, the skies opened, it rained buckets, and the show had to be cancelled. I had moved back from Boston that same week, still had my Pat Metheny in the 2007 Rhythm and Ribs Festival Massachusetts license plates, and as I was leaving the festival grounds – swerving Foundation for the late night jam. Then there was the year that to avoid puddles, and with windows too at about 1 a.m. police sirens screamed through Penn Valley Park fogged up to see the road – another car in chasing a car. The car stopped on the ledge of the wall at the my blind spot gave me an angry honk. True Liberty Memorial (nobody was hurt). to my Boston sensibilities, I did the logical Stan Kessler recalls the first time Sons of Brazil played the thing and flipped him off. But before I could Blues and Jazz Festival: stop my hand from raising the dreaded

24 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 middle finger, I made eye contact with the wasn’t for the money. They didn’t need our gig. They had more driver – one of KC’s finest – and he promptly leisurely return plans in place before we called. So why do this? pulled me over with red lights spinning. Why put themselves through this sleep-deprived travel hell? Noting from my plates and my “license and Al answered, “It’s a chance to play with Hootie! We’d never registration, please” that I was from the east, turn down a chance to play with Hootie!” the officer said, “You’d better watch your The following January, “Cleanhead” called. He was book- manners in these here parts, young man.” ing his schedule for the coming year and wanted to know if we He sent me on my way with a warning and a were putting together the same group for that year’s festival. If sarcastic “welcome back to the Midwest.” we were, he would leave the date open. He did not want to miss another chance to play with Hootie. I also remember the year that the owner of our largest Hootie to RV in the Park sponsor, a beer distributorship, drove his extraordinarily large I was an organizer of that Volker Park festival through personal RV over the curb, onto the grass, into Volker Park, much of the 1980s. I particularly remember 1986, when Jay and parked it next to the stage. “Hootie” McShann headlined. We asked Jay to choose anyone We organizers looked at each other and asked, “What do with whom he’d like to perform. His selections: Eddie “Lockjaw” we do?” Davis on tenor sax, Buddy Tate also on tenor, Harry “Sweets” So what do you do when the owner of the company which gave you the largest chunk of money to stage the event, whose money you couldn’t have done the festival without, and whose

Shemeika Copeland in the Rhythm and Ribs Festival

Edison on trumpet, Al Grey on trombone, Milt Hinton on bass and Gus Johnson on drums. Milt was in Japan for the summer and unavailable, so Jay chose Major Holley instead. “Lockjaw” was too ill to perform (he would pass away a few months after the festival). We sug- gested Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson on alto sax as a replacement, and Jay agreed. But “Cleanhead” was already booked in San Francisco that night. We settled on a group without the ad- Claude “Fiddler” Williams in the 1995 Blues and Jazz Festival ditional horn. But Buddy, “Sweets”, Al and Gus were already scheduled in contribution you hope to see again next year, drives his extraor- Belgium, in another festival, that same weekend. Nonetheless, dinarily large personal RV into the park and parks it next to they wanted to play Kansas City, too. the stage? Gus left the other festival a day early, deciding he needed You tell him you’re glad he could make it and hope he to rest between shows. The others played the complete overseas enjoys the music. event then traveled for over 30 hours, sleeping on flights, and (He did, and he sponsored the festival again the next landed in KC just 5 hours before climbing the steps to our stage. year.) Al Grey made arrangements for the group. Frankly, we were not paying these jazz icons all that much. One day, we asked Al why he, Buddy and “Sweets,” all in their 60s or 70s at the time, were putting themselves through such tortuous travel. It

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 25 FOR THE RECORD

Dino Massa Kansas mood of Massa's pieces. All of the tracks are fresh and melodic, and are effective vehicles for solo statements. This is music that City Quintet is intelligent and easy to listen to. Everyone here is on the same page, serving the music. Nothing is forced. The tunes move Echoes of Europe effortlessly from theme to solo. If there is a point of reference, it is where the mainstream matured to in the late 1960s and Artists Recording Collective ARC2680 early 1970s: Herbie Hancock circa Maiden Voyage and Speak Personnel: Dino Massa, piano; Christopher Burnett, alto Like a Child, early acoustic Return to Forever (when Joe Far- saxophone and clarinet; Charles Gatschet, guitar; Andrew W. Stinson, bass; Clarence Smith, drums and percussion; Terri rell was in the band), and CTI-era Freddie Hubbard. The RTF Anderson Burnett, flute (tracks 1,3,4,6,7); Freda Proctor, flute reference comes from the opener “Alone” and its strong rhythm (tracks 1,3,4,6,7); Marcus Hampton, flugelhorn (tracks 3,4); – Clarence Smith makes it all strut, carving up the rhythm on Stanton Kessler, trumpet and flugelhorn (tracks 4,5,6) the cymbals early, then building in intensity through the solos. Tracks: Alone, Echoes of Europe, Imagine, Notos, Paris, The use of the flutes here and on the other four tracks gives the Remembering, Tarantella ensembles a great breezy sound. The nod to “Maiden Voyage” Recorded April, 2016 in “Imagine” is not subtle, and I love the counterpoint from the Chris Burnett met Dino flutes and the mid-chorus double-time led by the Smith snare. Massa on his first night in Hampton’s solo is strong on his composition. I hear CTI in Naples while he was in the “Remembering” even before the fine Stan Kessler trumpet solo. NATO Big Band while it was The best use of the flutes is on “Notos”, where they are gor- headquartered in that Ital- geous in ensemble with the two flugelhorns. I like the rhythmic ian city. They played together tension and release to a straight 4/4 here as well. (I just love frequently and established a having the unique sound of the flutes everywhere here. They musical bond. Twenty five years are totally in sync with the colors of Massa’s music, and are a later they reconnected, and major element of the music’s success.) Dino visited KC and played with Chris again on a couple of Massa is a wonderful player, highly lyrical, with a knack well-received dates in town. This led to a subsequent KC visit for building exciting climaxes in his solos. His intro on “Paris” by Massa, when they recorded this CD of original music. is pure magical beauty. David R. Adler’s liners mentions the Five of the tunes were composed by Massa, with one each elegance and energy of his playing, qualities I also hear in from Burnett (“Notos”) and Marcus Hampton (“Imagine”), many other Italian pianists that I have listened to. Burnett’s both of which were written for this date and consistent with the tonal control and melodic strength shine throughout. His bond with Massa’s music is unwavering. Charlie Gatschet may be the most lyrical of Kansas City’s guitarists. I love his solos, effective comping, and the sound he gives to the ensembles, especially where he and Burnett are together during the theme of “Echoes of Europe”. This record was immediately attractive on first listen, and subsequent plays have not dimmed my enthusiasm. Thanks to Chris Burnett for keeping in touch with old friends, and making this music possible, and for introducing us to the music of Dino Massa. —Roger Atkinson

26 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 CLUB SCENE LOCAL LIVE JAZZ & BLUES

B Daily Limit 18TH & VINE MIDTOWN/WESTPORT 523 E Red Bridge Rd...... 816-942-0400 J The Blue Room J Californos Fri. — Live Blues 8:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. 18th & Vine...... 816-474-2929 4124 Pennsylvania...... 816-531-1097 B Dirty Harry’s Mon. — Blue Monday Jam Live Jazz 3100 MO-7, Blue Springs.... 816-224-2779 Thur. - Sat. — Live Jazz J The Drop Wed. - Fri. — Live Blues B Danny’s Big Easy 409 E. 31st St...... 816-756-3767 B Joe’s Standard 1601 E. 18th St...... 816.421.1200 Millie Edwards & Tom DeMasters, 2nd Saturdays 1204 NW Hwy 7, Tues. — El Barrio Band, 6:00 p.m. 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Blue Springs...... 816-228-4878 Thurs. — Millage Gilbert’s Big Blues Band 7:00 p.m. JB Jazz - A Louisiana Kitchen Wed. — Jam 7:30 - 11:30 p.m. Fri. - Sat. — Live Band 39th & State Line...... 816-531-5556 B Knuckleheads Sat. Blues Jam 2:00 p.m. Mon. - Sat. — Live Music, 7:00 p.m. 2715 Rochester Ave...... 816-483-1456 J Kansas City Blues & Jazz Juke House B The Levee Wed. - Sun. — Live Music 1700 E. 18th Street...... 816-472-0013 16 W. 43rd St...... 816-561-5565 Sat. - Sun. — Blues Jam 1:00 p.m. Thurs. - Open Jam session 7:30-11:30 p.m. Wed. - Blues Jam 8:00 p.m. B Konrads Kitchen Fri. - Live Band 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. Thurs.- Sat. — Live Music 302 SW Main, Sat.- Live Band 5:00 - 9:00 p.m. JB Westport Coffeehouse Theater Lee’s Summit...... 816-525-1871 J Mutual Musicians Foundation 4010 Pennsylvania...... 816-756-3222 Fri. — Live Blues 8:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. 1823 Highland...... 816-471-5212 Wed. - Thurs. — Live Music J The Piano Room Fri. - Sat. — Late Night Jazz 1:00 a.m. B Westport Saloon 8410 Wornall Rd...... 816-363-8722 4112 Pennsylvania...... 816-960-4560 Fri. - Sat. 8:00 - 12:00 — Dave McCubbin Mon., Thurs. — Live Blues 9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. DOWNTOWN Tues. — Blues Jam 10:00 p.m. J American Restaurant SOUTH 25th & Grand...... 816-426-1133 J Bristol Seafood Grill Tues. - Sat. — Live Jazz, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. PLAZA 5400 W. 119th St...... 913-663-5777 J The Brick J Café Trio Sun. 5:00 - 8:00 — Live Music 1727 McGee...... 816-421-1634 4558 Main Street...... 816-756-3227 J Cascone’s Live Jazz & Eclectic Tues. - Wed. — Live Jazz 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. 6863 W.91st. Street...... 913-381-6837 J The Chesterfield Thurs. - Sat. — Live Jazz, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Sat.— Live Jazz 7:00 -10:00 p.m. 14th & Main...... 816-474-4545 J Eddie V’s J Gaslight Grill and Back Room Wed. — West Coast Swing 700 W. 47th St...... 816-531-2537 5020 W. 137th Street...... 913-897-3540 Fri. — Swing 7 days a week – Live jazz in the lounge Wed. - Sun. — 6:30 Lynn Zimmer Jazz Band Sat. — Salsa J InterContinental Oak Bar & Lounge J La Bodega Tapas & Lounge J Green Lady Lounge 121 Ward Parkway...... 816-756-1500 4311 West 119th St...... 913-428-8272 1809 Grand...... 816-215-2954 Live Jazz Thurs. - Sun. Sets start at 8:00 p.m. Sun. — Live Music 6:00 - 8 00 p.m. 7 days a week — Live Jazz J Plaza III B Llyewelyn’s JB The Kill Devil Club 4749 Pennsylvania...... 816-753-0000 6995 W 151st...... 913-402-0333 14th & Main...... 816-588-1132 Sat. — Lonnie McFadden 7:00 - 11:00 p.m. Tues. — Blues Jam 7:30 p.m. Fri. - Sat. 8:00 p.m - 1:00 a.m. J Raphael Hotel, Chaz Restaurant Sat. - Sun. — Live Music J Majestic Restaurant 325 Ward Parkway...... 816-756-3800 J Sullivan’s Steakhouse 931 Broadway...... 816-221-1888 Mon. - Sat. — Live Jazz 4501 W. 119th St...... 913-345-0800 7 days a week — Live Jazz Sun. — Jazz Brunch 10:00 - 1:00 7 days a week — Live Jazz JB The Phoenix 302 W. 8th Street...... 816-221-jazz Mon. - Thurs. — Live Music 7:00 - 11:00 p.m. NORTH WEST Fri. — Live Music 4:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. J Cascone’s North JB 4220 Rhythm & Blues Lounge Sat. — Live Music 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 3737 North Oak Trfy...... 816-454-7977 4220 Leavenworth Rd, and 4:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. Sat. — Live Jazz KCK...... 913-232-9827 B Prohibition Hall B Frank James Saloon Sun. — Jazz/R&B/Blues Jam 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. 1118 McGee...... 816-446-7832 10919 MO-45, Parkville...... 816-505-0800 J Jazz at Legends Thurs. — Blues Jam 7:00 p.m. Thurs. — Open Mic 7:00 p.m. 1859 Village W Pkwy, J The Ship B The Hideout KCK...... 913-328-0003 1217 Union Avenue ...... 816-471-7447 6948 N Oak Trafficway Wed. - Sat. — Live Jazz Thurs. — Live Jazz 9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. Gladstone...... 816-468-0550 B Kobi’s Bar and Grill J Tank Room Mon. — Blues Jam 7:00 p.m. 113 Oak, Bonner Springs..... 913-422-5657 1813 Grand Blvd...... 816-214-6403 JB Johnny’s Back Yard Sun. — Live Blues 2:00 - 6:00 p.m. Mon. — Live Music 8:00 - 11:00 p.m. 1825 Buchanan, NKC...... 816-985-1157 J Lucky Brewgrille Sat. — Live Music 8:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. Fri. - Sat. — Live Music 9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. 5401 Johnson Drive...... 913-403-8571 B Winslow's BBQ Sun. — Blues Jam 7:00 p.m. Thurs. — Live Jazz 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. 20 E 5th...... 816-471-7427 Fri. — Jam 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. EAST Sat. - Sun. — Blues on the Patio 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. J Jazz B Blues B B.B’s Lawnside BBQ J Yj’s Snack Bar 1205 E. 85th Street...... 816-822-7427 128 W. 18th Street...... 816-472-5533 Tues. - Sun. — Live Blues Wed., Thurs., and Sun. — Live Jazz Sat. 2:00 - 5:30 — Jazz & Blues Jam w/Mama Ray B Bodee's BBQ & Burgers 522 S Main, Grain Valley..... 816-867-5511 Fri. — Jam 8:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m. Sat. — Live Blues 8:00 p.m.

JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 27 CODA LARRY KOPITNIK

The Realities of Jazz Festivals I discovered Kansas City jazz at the festivals in Volker Park moted the festival. They invited us onto their morning show. through much of the 1980s. I helped organize them, serving as Some of their most popular personalities came out on Saturday president the year Mike Metheny’s younger brother was rained afternoon and threw frisbees to the audience. It worked. That out and a cocky Mike almost got himself arrested (as he relates year was one of the most financially successful of the 1980s elsewhere in this issue). Kansas City Jazz Festivals. The next year, all sponsors returned. So I greet the American Jazz Museum’s new festival with The usicm on stage held its integrity. But even then, more special interest. John Scofield and Regina Carter are outstand- than thirty years ago, we were not selling the jazz. ing headliners. But there’s grumbling afoot over the event selling Booking R&B and neo-soul is another path to the same itself with other names attached who are clearly not jazz. goal. Jazz festivals around the country book lineups with a Maybe the bigger question, then, is this: Why, in Kansas couple of different philosophies. City, do jazz festival organizers feel a need to sell something Chicago and Detroit stick tightly to the genre. Last year’s other than jazz to attract an audience large enough to impress Chicago festival featured Charlie Haden, Benny Golson, The sponsors? Bad Plus, Anat Cohen and the John Scofield/Joe Lovano Jazz is a niche music. Thirty years ago we talked about it Quartet. Detroit’s lineup included Scofield, Ron Carter, Brad comprising just 2% of album sales. I’m not sure whether popu- Mehldau, Roy Hargrove, Marcus Roberts, and George Benson. larity is still measured in album sales, but jazz will never rival Other festivals follow New Orleans’ approach. Headliners the marketability of, well, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. later this month for their Jazz and Heritage Festival, probably In Kansas City, that doesn’t matter. Here, jazz is our his- the world’s biggest, include Trombone Shorty, Dr. John, and tory. It’s integral to our identity. John Scott estimates half his George Benson, but also Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, audience at Green Lady Lounge are visitors looking for a Kansas Stevie Wonder and Snoop Dogg. City jazz experience. It’s how visitors know this city. The integrity of the music is important. So is the size of We wear that identity exceptionally well. Our jazz pipeline the audience. If a jazz festival fails to attract a crowd, sponsors is filled with young faces who move here for education and don’t return and neither does the festival. opportunities uncommon elsewhere. In the 1980s, we chose to note the jazz but market the idea But a jazz audience alone isn’t enough to populate a major of a big event. If you miss this festival, we tried to convince festival. The event needs related music complementing genuine you, you’ll miss what everyone in the office will be discussing jazz to draw crowds. That’s the 2017 equivalent of recruiting a on Monday morning. rock radio station. Back then, radio was a twenty-something’s communal It’s important for Kansas City to host a jazz festival. Jazz medium. We recruited KY-102 as a sponsor. They played rock is woven into this city’s soul. music, coming no closer to jazz than Charlie Watt’s drumming Just do me one favor, American Jazz Museum. Promise on a Rolling Stones song. But the party crowd listened to them me you’ll never book Snoop Dogg. in dominating numbers and we craved that crowd. They pro-

NEXT JAM

ARC is a decade old. The Artists Recording Collective is an independent CD label based in the Leavenworth, Kansas where musicians own their work. Among the 60 CDs in its jazz catalog are albums by Roger Wilder, Chris Hazelton, and Marcus Hampton. We look back at 10 years of ARC in the next Jam.

28 APRIL + MAY 2017 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • APRIL + MAY 2017 Jazz by the Lake concert series • FREE KANSAS CITY KANSAS First Thursdays at noon in Flunder Lodge COMMUNITY COLLEGE Light lunch provided “Making life better” Sponsored by Midwest Regional Credit Union

Study music at KCKCC • Affordable • Scholarships available • Real world training

KCKCC jazz band performing Kansas City Jazz Summit • April 25, 26, 27, 28 KCKCC “The Standard” jazz choir at the Havana Jazz Festival in Cuba big bands • combos • vocal jazz • “Basically Basie” competition at the NYC Jazz Festival

Take private lessons with: Recent alumni: Rod Fleeman Touring with Ariana Grande and Josh Groban Bram Wijnands Notable alumni: Audio Engineering: Employed by PIXAR films and the Billboard Charts Jurgen Welge Bobby Watson Dr. Ian Corbett 913.288.7317 Mike Ning Performances at: Michael Warren Instrumental Music: Steve Molloy 2014 Havana, Cuba Jazz Festival Chris Hazelton Jim Mair 913.288.7149 Brett Jackson 2016, 2017 JEN Conventions Nick Rowland Vocal Music: Andrew Stinson 2017 ACDA National Convention Tim Bailey John Stafford 913.288.7137

16TH ANNUAL KANSAS CITY JAZZ ORCHESTRA June 5-9, 2017 KCKCCKANSAS CITY KANSAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE KCJO

Ages 13 to adult, 9:00am to 3:00pm. Tuition $200 (includes lunch and camp shirt). FACULTY TO INCLUDE:

JIM MAIR DOUG TALLEY STEVE MOLLOY BRIAN RAY DEMARCHI ROD FLEEMAN MICHAEL PAGÁN JAMES ALBRIGHT Director Woodwinds Trumpet SCARBOROUGH Drum Set, Guitar Piano Bass Trombone Percussion

RETURNING AGAIN THIS YEAR! Kansas City High School All-Star Jazz Ensemble. By audition only. Scholarships available. Meets 3:00pm to 4:00pm each day after camp. For more information call camp director Jim Mair at 913.288.7503 or visit www.kansascityjazz.org. CELEBRATING 31 YEARS

White Concert Hall • Washburn University Featuring Classical and Jazz Music FREE concerts nightly June 9th-17th

FREE JAZZ NIGHT Monday, June 12th @ 7:30 p.m. featuring 5-time Grammy-nominated Karrin Allyson Karrin Allyson – vocals & piano Rod Fleeman – guitar • Miro Sprague – piano & Rhodes Gerald Spaits – bass • Todd Strait – drums

Chamber Orchestra – Friday, June 9, 7:30 P.M. Chamber Ensembles – Saturday, June 10, 7:30 P.M. Amernet Quartet – Sunday, June 11, 7:30 P.M. Jazz Night w/Karrin Allyson – Monday, June 12, 7:30 P.M. Chamber Ensembles – Tuesday, June 13, 7:30 P.M. Chamber Orchestra – Wednesday, June 14, 7:30 P.M. Blanche Bryden Collegiate String Quartets – Thursday, June 15, 7:30 P.M. Chamber Ensembles – Friday, June 16, 7:30 P.M. Blanche Bryden High School Concert – Saturday, June 17, 3:00 P.M. Chamber Orchestra – Saturday, June 17, 7:30 P.M.

Sponsored by Liz Stratton www.SunflowerMusicFestival.org | 785.670.1620