JAM Magazine: August/September 1996 Issue: Robert Altman's Kansas City

Robert Altman's
"KANSAS CITY"

© 1996 John Leisenring

The long wait for Kansas City jazz fans is almost over.

On August 16, Robert Altman's much anticipated film about his beloved hometown opens nationally (a gala KC premier was held on July 27). And with this release comes the re-creation of Milton Morris' "Hey-Hey Club" along with the legendary jam sessions that took place therein. A feast it will be, indeed, for jazz buffs everywhere.

Set in 1934, the film's focal points include the famous cutting session said to have been staged by Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster for a multitude of music lovers among the club's hay bales. Judging from the recently released soundtrack CD, and an hour-long promotional video, the renowned confrontation is well represented. The ambiance is perfect, the photography utstanding, and the musicians... well, the musicians achieve the nearly impossible. The young lions assembled by Altman and music producer Hal Willner have done their homework. It will be difficult for even the crustiest and most demanding connoisseur of mid-1930s Kansas City jazz to fault the execution, the colossal improvisations, and the infectious swing that have all found their way onto the big screen.

"It was not our intent to actually portray specific musicians," says singer Kevin Mahogany, Kansas City's sole young lion to make the film. (Mahogany looks for all the world like Big Joe Turner as he shouts the blues from behind the bar.) "We were more after authenticity of sound, and we worked hard to achieve the look of the period. We tried not to recreate precise solos. (Pianist) Geri Allen was certainly aware of the music of Mary Lou Williams, though; and Joshua Redmond, of course, had listened to a great deal of Lester Young. But no attempt was made to actually BE those musical giants."

Still, it will be difficult for observers not to make comparisons with past heroes. The best advice then is to sit back and revel in what has been meticulously created: the sound, the feel and the spirit of the times. To watch these young talents work is to be given a momentary glance at the past along with a brief but full sense of what it was really like to attend a fine, swinging party down at 4th and Cherry. Milton would be proud.

The interiors for "Kansas City" were shot at the old Myron Green cafeteria at 9th and Walnut, and the club's name has been changed to "The Hey Hey Club." There are no bales of hay for customers to sit on, and the bandstand is not fashioned from an old hay wagon (for an informative history of the famed jazz clubs run by Milton Morris, see "Remembering Uncle Milton and All That Jazz" by Chuck Haddix, JAM, October/November 1992). Otherwise, the atmosphere is perfect. The few cigars present on the set were enhanced by artificial smoke to te the blue air that swirls around the band; dark suits, suspenders and fedora hats predominate; and the music is such that extras and stage hands often, according to Mahogany, "broke into spontaneous dancing so frenzied and so good that much of it was left in the final cut of the film."

Research for the film's music began in 1994 when screenwriter Frank Barhydt contacted Chuck Haddix, archivist for UMKC's Marr Sound Archives, to begin exploring mid-'30s Kansas City jazz. 1934 was picked because it was an election year (the Pendergast machine and the wide-open Kansas City depression years are also focal points of Altman's film) and because it was the year of the aforementioned cutting contest. It was initially thought that period instruments would be used, and that the musicians hired would be chosen from those few remaining who had actually performed in the '30s. Both ideas were eventually scrubbed.

The music was filmed as it was being played, so no musician watching this film will have to cringe as actors try to look as if they are playing instruments they don't know how to hold while attempting to lip-sync music they don't feel or understand. Willner, co-producer Matthew Seig and their crew spent hours upon hours at the Marr Sound Archives getting a crash course in Kansas City jazz from Haddix and UMKC music librarian Laura Gayle Green.

"They had originally envisioned lots of accordions," says Haddix with a smile. "We had some straightening out to do."

It was eventually decided to evoke the spirit of the music, not try to recreate it. Since the giants of the era were at the time in their 20s and 30s, the musicians used would have to be that age as well. Some twenty young musicians, most of them band leaders in their own right, were hired and brought to Kansas City for two weeks in early 1995. While in town, they jammed day and night, often at the Mutual Musicians Foundation, and eventually on the set with cameras rolling. Trumpet player Steve Bernstein provided some sketches of charts for a few of the tunes but, for the most part, the intent was to create a session feel, not a polished or rehearsed big band. The blues, the strong rhythm sections, the monumental solos and the riffing horns -- always so much a part of this music -- are all on parade here.

Using live, current day musicians created a few problems with authenticity, and some viewers may get a kick out of watching for small historical anachronisms. All musicians play their own instruments which means, among other things, Selmer Mark VI saxophones in a 1934 film. (The pianos, however, could very well be period pieces. And they sound great!) Plastic neck straps and Velcro fasteners are obviously out of place as well, but the players were allowed to use that with which they were most comfortable. (At one point in the promo video, one of the trumpet players uses a plastic beer pitcher for a plunger mute. It had to be plastic; a glass pitcher would be much too heavy to maneuver in this manner. Watch and see if it makes the film.)

You can probably find other flaws as well, if that's your thing. (Joshua Redman, whose role is pointed in the direction of Lester Young, did not wear Young's trademark pork pie hat, for example, or play his tenor sax at the high angle as Young often did.) But the best advice is to relax and enjoy the ride. Time -- and Siskel and Ebert -- will tell just how good this film is. It may be around for only a few weeks before going to video, or it may be another Altman classic. But the evidence that has leaked out so far seems to indicate that the spirit of the times, and the infectiousness of the music are right on the button.

Those of us who love Kansas City jazz will be thanking Robert Altman for a long time for this film. As it turns out, for a couple of hours at least, you can go home again.

RETURN TO AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1996 MAIN INDEX

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© Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.






	Search our site:		Robert Altman's "KANSAS CITY" © 1996 John Leisenring The long wait for Kansas City jazz fans is almost over. On August 16, Robert Altman's much anticipated film about his beloved hometown opens nationally (a gala KC premier was held on July 27). And with this release comes the re-creation of Milton Morris' "Hey-Hey Club" along with the legendary jam sessions that took place therein. A feast it will be, indeed, for jazz buffs everywhere. Set in 1934, the film's focal points include the famous cutting session said to have been staged by Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster for a multitude of music lovers among the club's hay bales. Judging from the recently released soundtrack CD, and an hour-long promotional video, the renowned confrontation is well represented. The ambiance is perfect, the photography utstanding, and the musicians... well, the musicians achieve the nearly impossible. The young lions assembled by Altman and music producer Hal Willner have done their homework. It will be difficult for even the crustiest and most demanding connoisseur of mid-1930s Kansas City jazz to fault the execution, the colossal improvisations, and the infectious swing that have all found their way onto the big screen. "It was not our intent to actually portray specific musicians," says singer Kevin Mahogany, Kansas City's sole young lion to make the film. (Mahogany looks for all the world like Big Joe Turner as he shouts the blues from behind the bar.) "We were more after authenticity of sound, and we worked hard to achieve the look of the period. We tried not to recreate precise solos. (Pianist) Geri Allen was certainly aware of the music of Mary Lou Williams, though; and Joshua Redmond, of course, had listened to a great deal of Lester Young. But no attempt was made to actually BE those musical giants." Still, it will be difficult for observers not to make comparisons with past heroes. The best advice then is to sit back and revel in what has been meticulously created: the sound, the feel and the spirit of the times. To watch these young talents work is to be given a momentary glance at the past along with a brief but full sense of what it was really like to attend a fine, swinging party down at 4th and Cherry. Milton would be proud. The interiors for "Kansas City" were shot at the old Myron Green cafeteria at 9th and Walnut, and the club's name has been changed to "The Hey Hey Club." There are no bales of hay for customers to sit on, and the bandstand is not fashioned from an old hay wagon (for an informative history of the famed jazz clubs run by Milton Morris, see "Remembering Uncle Milton and All That Jazz" by Chuck Haddix, JAM, October/November 1992). Otherwise, the atmosphere is perfect. The few cigars present on the set were enhanced by artificial smoke to te the blue air that swirls around the band; dark suits, suspenders and fedora hats predominate; and the music is such that extras and stage hands often, according to Mahogany, "broke into spontaneous dancing so frenzied and so good that much of it was left in the final cut of the film." Research for the film's music began in 1994 when screenwriter Frank Barhydt contacted Chuck Haddix, archivist for UMKC's Marr Sound Archives, to begin exploring mid-'30s Kansas City jazz. 1934 was picked because it was an election year (the Pendergast machine and the wide-open Kansas City depression years are also focal points of Altman's film) and because it was the year of the aforementioned cutting contest. It was initially thought that period instruments would be used, and that the musicians hired would be chosen from those few remaining who had actually performed in the '30s. Both ideas were eventually scrubbed. The music was filmed as it was being played, so no musician watching this film will have to cringe as actors try to look as if they are playing instruments they don't know how to hold while attempting to lip-sync music they don't feel or understand. Willner, co-producer Matthew Seig and their crew spent hours upon hours at the Marr Sound Archives getting a crash course in Kansas City jazz from Haddix and UMKC music librarian Laura Gayle Green. "They had originally envisioned lots of accordions," says Haddix with a smile. "We had some straightening out to do." It was eventually decided to evoke the spirit of the music, not try to recreate it. Since the giants of the era were at the time in their 20s and 30s, the musicians used would have to be that age as well. Some twenty young musicians, most of them band leaders in their own right, were hired and brought to Kansas City for two weeks in early 1995. While in town, they jammed day and night, often at the Mutual Musicians Foundation, and eventually on the set with cameras rolling. Trumpet player Steve Bernstein provided some sketches of charts for a few of the tunes but, for the most part, the intent was to create a session feel, not a polished or rehearsed big band. The blues, the strong rhythm sections, the monumental solos and the riffing horns -- always so much a part of this music -- are all on parade here. Using live, current day musicians created a few problems with authenticity, and some viewers may get a kick out of watching for small historical anachronisms. All musicians play their own instruments which means, among other things, Selmer Mark VI saxophones in a 1934 film. (The pianos, however, could very well be period pieces. And they sound great!) Plastic neck straps and Velcro fasteners are obviously out of place as well, but the players were allowed to use that with which they were most comfortable. (At one point in the promo video, one of the trumpet players uses a plastic beer pitcher for a plunger mute. It had to be plastic; a glass pitcher would be much too heavy to maneuver in this manner. Watch and see if it makes the film.) You can probably find other flaws as well, if that's your thing. (Joshua Redman, whose role is pointed in the direction of Lester Young, did not wear Young's trademark pork pie hat, for example, or play his tenor sax at the high angle as Young often did.) But the best advice is to relax and enjoy the ride. Time -- and Siskel and Ebert -- will tell just how good this film is. It may be around for only a few weeks before going to video, or it may be another Altman classic. But the evidence that has leaked out so far seems to indicate that the spirit of the times, and the infectiousness of the music are right on the button. Those of us who love Kansas City jazz will be thanking Robert Altman for a long time for this film. As it turns out, for a couple of hours at least, you can go home again. RETURN TO AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1996 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.