[Dixielandjazz] 18th and Vine

[lrg4003 at aol.com]

Dave, thanks for KC comments.  The city was, during the 30's, a wide open town which players, particularly from the Southwest and Midwest flocked here for jobs.  Among them, those you mentioned and others including Mary Lou Williams, Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Ben Webster and many more.
KC remains a pretty strong jazz town but the sound is more diverse and the clubs not concentrated in a single area.

At 18th & Vine specifically you can visit the Jazz Museum (which is okay) and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum which is very interesting.
Within the museum is one of the better clubs in town---the Blue Room which has jazz most nights and is the top venue for most players coming through (Branford Marsalis appears there on 11/6).  Up the street is the Mutual Musician's Foundation, the old union hall which was featured in the film
"Last of the Blue Devils" and has late night jams on Saturday.

Also, if you're in town on Oct. 9, the Rhythm & Ribs Jazz and Blues festival will be going on in the area---lots of local performers and headliners
Kirk Whalum and Nicholas Payton.

Probably the best over all club in town---for consistency of jazz programming is Jardine's in midtown.  You can check their schedule on the web but they pretty much have some one every night.

Unfortunately the trad scene is pretty sparse.  The New Red Onion Jazz Babies, an excellent dixieland group plays at Jardine's about once a month
(in October they're playing on 10/10).  And Lynn Zimmer has a small swing group who plays at a place out south called the Gaslight Grill, but that's about it for OKOM.

There's a strong blues scene as well with venues such as BB's Lawnside Barbeque and Knuckleheads who offers a pretty eclectic mix of performers.

But on just about any night in KC you will find some top notch jazz with a little more emphasis on swing or more modern sound.

Hope that helps!

KC Clarinet







Larry Garrett
Writer/Producer and other stuff
Monkjack Productions
816-588-8200



-----Original Message-----
From: Haupt Dave <srdaven at yahoo.com>
To: Larry Garrett <lrg4003 at aol.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Fri, Oct 1, 2010 1:55 pm
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] 18th and Vine


18th and Vine, in Kansas City, seems to be a legendary setting for jazz.  
harlie Parker is known to have done some woodshedding there.  Basie, although 
riginally from New Jersey, came to prominence in Kansas City, as did Jay 
cShann.  Kansas City was not merely a place of origin, but became the name of a 
azz style that was heavily riff and blues influenced.  Kansas City's place in 
he history of jazz is pretty much unquestioned.
My question today is this: Let's say one was headed to Kansas City for business 
urposes.  In the few days available, what are the jazz hot spots?  Visiting the 
amous corner is in order for historical purposes, but where would one find jazz 
layed live today?  Is KC still a hotbed of hot jazz?
In jazz we trust,
Dave Haupt
ortland, OR

     
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