FEBRUARY + MARCH 2016 Milestones in Jazz History Happened Behind This Wall Dominique Sanders Reaching for the Future NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION EVERETTE DEVAN 7:30pm – 9:30pm CHARLES WILLIAMS QUARTET w/ PAULA SAUNDERS & ASA BARNES 10pm – Midnight $1 0 Admission Fridays & Saturdays (unless otherwise noted) TUES 1 WED 2 THURS 3 FRI 4 S A T 5 Indicates Feature Performances for the month BMW DEBORAH Cheri Evans & BROWN DECEMBER CEEJazzSoul* + JAM 7 TUES 8 WED 9 THURS 10 FRI 11 S A T 12 LESTER 3rd Annual BORDER+ NEO SOUL R Y A N Delynia Bailey WARS Showdown! & the Boss Kings LOUNGE w/ THIELMANamericanjazzmuseum.org “DUCK” * KUnlbm.com vs. MU “A friendly Jason Betts WARNER INTERSTRING big band exchange” JAM 14 TUES 15 WED 16 THURS 17 FRI 18 S A T 19 MUSICIAN JAMES & “APPRECIATION DAY!” THE TRUTH IDA Elder Statesmen Sons of * ANGELA WARD of Jazz 5:00pm MCBETH THE MUSEUMS AT Max18TH Berry 7:30pm &BRASIL VINE JAM 21 TUES 22 WED 23 THURS 24 FRI 25 S A T 26 CHARLOTTE DWIGHT CLOSED CLOSED Christmas Christmas FLETCHER & FOSTER A CommunityEve! Partnership.Day! SOIGNE’ JAM 28 TUES 29 WED 30 THURS 31 A percentage of Blue NEW YEAR’S +EVE Room Pale Ale is LOUIS NEAL CELEBRATION donated by North Everette DeVan N Coast brewing to support BIG BAND Charles Williams Quartet C programming at the w/ Paula Saunders American Jazz Museum. & Asa Barnes FRI 1 S A T 2 “MUSICAL HANDSHAKE” KANSAS CITY Happy DIVAS NIGHT OUT!: As part of the “ALL HAIL to HALE” exhibit. New Eboni Fondren Will Matthews Quartet with special guest Charlotte Fletcher JANUARY Year! J Love Wayne Goins and Ensemble Berica with Matt Otto. Amber Underwood JAM 4 TUES 5 WED 6 THURS 7 FRI 8 S A T 9 SAX SHOWCASE GRAY MATTER JAMES KIM WATERSMAXFEBRUARY 13 • 8:00 pm Mike Herrara * WARD Houston Smith BERRY Sons of Ernest Melton PATTI AUSTIN MARCH 26 • 8:00 pmBRASIL+ BAND JAM 11 TUES 12 WED 13THE BADTHURS PLUS JOSHUA14 REDMANFRI 15APRIL 16 •S8:00 A T pm 16 TYREE JOHNSON ENSEMBLE BMW IDA McBETHIBERICA and THE McFADDEN BROTHERS MAYIDA 14 • 8:00 pm & { with + TC & * MCBETH GROOVE 101 SHADES OF JADE True Dig TOUR INFO: JAM 18 TUES 19 WED 20 THURS 21 FRI 22 S A T 23 HAPPY THE TRUTH Martin Luther MATT * JAZZ King DAY! Everette DeVan EDDIE MOORE & OTTO & D I S C I P L E S THE OUTER CIRCLE 816 Eboni Fondren JAM 25TOP TUESJAZZ26CLUB WED 27474-8463THURS 28 FRI 29 SAT 30 MARCUS LADY D DOUG GRUPO LEWIS RECOGNITION ROGER WILDER TALLEY +-Downbeat and Ingrams magazines 1616 E. 18th StreetAZTLAN• Kansas City, MO 64108*• 816-474-VINE (8463) BIG BAND QUINTET QUINTET PRESIDENT’S CORNER STEPHEN MATLOCK The articles in this issue of Jam unite yesterday and to- Now, on to a few Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors matters. morrow. Guests strolling Kansas City’s historic 18th and Vine On Saturday, December 12th, we hosted a Frank Sinatra Cen- district often wonder about the story behind the braced facade tennial Celebration at the Uptown Theater. The date would of a building still standing on Vine Street. Why is it there, just have been Sinatra’s actual hundredth birthday. There was a the front wall? Why was that wall saved? It must have been VIP happy hour followed by dinner. Then the Dave Stephens important, but what was it? Band swung the night with a selection of songs from the Sinatra Events that impacted the course of jazz history happened songbook. behind that wall. At a time when it is threatened with being During the evening we announced that the KC Jazz Am- torn down in a proposed fresh renovation of the 18th and Vine bassadors’ Jazz Studies Scholarship fund has been re-named the district, we tell you the fascinating tale of the Eblon Theater Tommy Ruskin Memorial Scholarship Fund. Tommy’s wife, and the Cherry Blossom night club. singer Julie Turner, was our honored guest. I was privileged But as much as this issue looks back at the beginnings of to present her with a proclamation that renamed the fund in Kansas City jazz, it also looks ahead to the music’s future. Bassist Tommy’s honor. Dominique Sanders is one of an extraordinary group of younger Also in December, the Jazz Ambassadors re-elected the musicians playing jazz in Kansas City today. Dominique can current board of directors to a new term. Please join me in swing with the best. But he’s also absorbing all of the music of congratulating Jen Wismeier as treasurer, Dr. Tyler Craig as his generation and reimagining it – or in some cases, recogniz- secretary, and Kris Siriwangchai and Lynn Abrams as directors ing it – as jazz. CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 KANSAS CITY FOLKFEST SUN. FEB. 21 Carl Sonny Leyland WESTIN CROWN CENTER THURSDAY, MARCH 10th 7:00 PM Californos Restaurant ERIC ANDERSON, ALISON 4124 Pennsylvania, KCMO BROWN, PETER CASE, ROBBIE FULKS, LOS TEXMANIACS, ENSEMBLE IBERICA, AYLLU, BLIND BOY PAXTON, JELLYMANS’ DAUGHTER, AND MANY MORE! Tickets are $20 at the door children w/parents and students with ID admitted free FOLK.ORG/FOLKFEST www.kcragtimerevelry.org 2 FEBRUARY + MARCH 2016 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY + MARCH 2016 FEBRUARY + MARCH 2016 VOLUME 20, NO. 1 CONTENTS ................ Jam is published bi-monthly by the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, a non-profit 501(c)(3) President’s Corner organization dedicated to the development and promotion of Kansas City jazz. All rights 2 are reserved. Reproduction of any material is prohibited without consent of the publisher. To contact the KC Jazz Ambassadors, call (913) 967-6767. News + Notes ...................4 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 Jazz History Happened Here ........8 [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 Dominique Sanders EDITOR Larry Kopitnik Reaching for the Future..........12 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Roger Atkinson Raymond Franson Danny Powell Carolyn Glenn Brewer Wayne Goins Kevin Rabas Off the Vine ..................16 Bill Brownlee Chuck Haddix Michael Ragan Chris Burnett Connie Humiston Michael Shults Joe Dimino Larry Kopitnik Folly Jazz News ................20 ADVERTISING Connie ‘Crash’ Humiston (816) 591-3378 [email protected] Bits of the Blues ...............22 TYPOGRAPHY & GRAPHIC DESIGN Rodric McBride COVER PHOTOGRAPHY Join Today! ...................23 Larry Kopitnik COVER LAYOUT & DESIGN Rodric McBride For the Record ................24 PRINTING Single Source Printing DISTRIBUTION (PRINT) Next Jam ..................... K.C. Jazz Ambassadors 24 DISTRIBUTION (ELECTRONIC) www.kcjazzambassadors.com Club Scene ................... INTERNET WEBMASTER 26 The Digital Agenda Cover photo: Bassist Dominique Sanders 2016 BOARD OF DIRECTORS stands in front of a EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE braced facade at 1822 PRESIDENT Stephen Matlock Vine Street. That facade SECRETARY Dr. Tyler Craig is one of the most historic TREASURER Jennifer Wismeier structures in Kansas City and in jazz, though few DIRECTORS AT LARGE know its story. Sanders Kris Siriwangchai | Lynn Abrams is a young musician ab- ADVISORY BOARD sorbing the music around Dean Hampton | Tom Alexios | Jim Ramel | Angela Hagenbach him and looking ahead. The Board of Directors gratefully thanks Darrell Hoffman and Bob Clark This photo captures and the Jam distribution team for their untiring contributions to the KCJA. where Kansas City jazz began and where it is ©2016 Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, Inc. going. JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY + MARCH 2016 3 NEWS+NOTES Since the last issue of Jam hit the streets, the Kansas City Council in January passed a resolution directing the City Deborah Brown and Kevin Manager to identify resources for funding $18 million in im- Mahogany Go to Poland… provements to Kansas City’s 18th and Vine Historic District. and Poland Comes Here The Kansas City Star reported that “the project lists Kansas City jazz vocal great Deborah Brown and Kevin includes preliminary cost estimates of $820,000 for a new Mahogany (who may not live here anymore but who K.C. will western entrance plaza and fountain; $2.8 million for a new always claim), headline the Szczecin Jazz Festival in Poland headquarters and performing arts space for the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, including preserving the Boone Theater facade; $1.3 million to upgrade the American Jazz Museum and add a cafe; $1 million to complete the Buck O’Neil center, the former Paseo YMCA; $3.9 million for new buildings and parking on the corner of 18th and Vine, with first-floor retail and second-floor apartment and office space; $5.3 million to replace dangerous buildings on Vine Street with mixed-use development; and $1.14 million for a new surface parking lot west of Paseo.” The resolution gives the City Manager sixty days to come back with recommendations for the City Council to consider. Let’s take a look at what else is going on. AT THE BACK ROOM GASLIGHT GRILL . FEB. 9, 2016 | 7:00 P.M Get tickets at www.inticketing.com or www.sheriandtheshoes.com TICKETS: $20 (DINNER NOT INCLUDED) 4 FEBRUARY + MARCH 2016 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY + MARCH 2016 on March 3rd through 5th… as anyone who reads Polish can see in the photo from Poland’s biggest newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza CoJest- Grane. Just in case that photo’s too small to peruse, note that the article dubs this festival “the most im- portant show in Poland for 2016.” Szcezcin is about an hour outside of Berlin.