JAM Magazine: December/January 1998 Issue: Correspondence

Richard Ross
Dear Ms. Barnard,
As you might know, Richard Ross has been in Holland many times during the past five years. I played almost 100 concerts with him. We were all deeply shocked when we heard the news that he had passed away (JAM, October/November '97). On our last concerts in June of this year, he seemed to be so fresh and strong. So I can hardly believe he died only three months later.

To give you an impression of some of what he did here, I am sending you our last CD, recorded in April of 1996.

Best regards,
Wim Wollner
Amsterdam,
The Netherlands

In Defense of Petric
I applaud JAM for going out of its way to reprint John Petric's "Getting Down With The Milquetoast Maestro" (JAM, October/November '97), a wonderfully scathing review of sax player -- and I use that term loosely -- Kenny G.

As someone who at one point enjoyed employment as a music critic, I found it very difficult to write anything negative about anyone. I had grown up believing the old adage, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything." So, whenever I found it necessary to criticize, my comments were always tinged with apologies and excuses.

But that's because I always reviewed people with talent and ability. If I only had the chance to review someone like Kenny G, I'm sure I would have no problem hurling the expletives.

If Kenny G continues to record under the guise of jazz, he deserves to have someone like Petric on his back until he learns how to play with taste, integrity and musicality.

Amy Abern
Chicago, IL

(Abern is a past contributor to Down Beat magazine. -- Ed.)

Keeping Jazz Alive
I am currently working with an organization which is starting a membership organization dedicated to jazz enthusiasts. In addition to the membership, we are also opening a jazz club and museum within the next year. We are currently establishing relationships with others who promote and preserve jazz's past, present and future. In the next month we will be launching our web site. If you could, please forward any information on membership to your organization, advertising possibilities, access to your mailing lists, possible links to your web site, and anything else your organization could contribute to keeping jazz alive down south.

Thank you for your time and access to your wonderful web site.

Sincerely,
Angela Ardolino
Jaco's Jazz Club
P.O. Box 330714
Miami, FL 33233-0714
e-mail: angiea@concentric.net

Thanks from the Liebmans
Hi Brad,
Just wanted to thank you for listing the Dave Liebman and Caris Music Services webpages. Really appreciate it!

Good luck with the KC site. Looks great!

Best,
Caris Liebman
caris@ptd.net

Students of KC Jazz
To the Jazz Ambassadors,
We are writing to request information for a project we are working on in our honors American history class at Mesa High School. Our classmates are involved in year-long research in association with the National History Day competition sponsored by the University of Maryland. NHD is an annual contest which helps students make connections within the local community, as well as the world at large, in order to learn to analyze and interpret historical information surrounding a particular person, group of people, event or time period. In short, it is a learning experience to help increase awareness and knowledge of our past and improve higher thinking skills. This year's year theme is "Migration In History."

We have always been interested in the sound and persona of different kinds of music, and have decided to make this the topic of our research. To directly connect our topic to the theme, we have narrowed our topic to the migration of jazz music.

This topic may be narrowed even more in the future, but for now we are gathering as much information as we can. We have been continually searching the Internet, and have conducted research in our school library here at Mesa High. If you could send us any helpful information, or give us references to any other sources of information, it would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Chris Wise
Angie Middlebrook
J. J. Taylor
Emali Crouse
James Huish
Mesa, AZ
jjt29@hotmail.com.

Hello Jazz Lovers!
My name is Mavis Burks and I am a 17 year old high school senior who loves to learn about jazz. I have recently heard that during the same time as the Harlem Renaissance, there was a jazz boom in Kansas City as well. I was hoping that someone would be able to help me find more information on the subject. I would be very grateful.

Thank you for your time,
Mavis Burks
Erie, PA
bdamper@staff.mercy.edu

VP of Publications Dean Hampton replies:
It is always a pleasure to help students learn more about jazz and Kansas City jazz in particular.

Much of today's jazz evolved from the early jazz scene in Kansas City. One old timer once told me that at one time, there were hundreds of places in Kansas City to hear live jazz. Many of the clubs were open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Many club owners didn't even have keys to their places because they never needed to lock their doors. They never closed.

Unfortunately, KC jazz in those days was also part of another scene that included elements of crime and other activities we might call improper; activities to do with alcohol, drugs and prostitution. But this scene also produced some of the most remembered names in jazz: Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Mary Lou Williams, Ben Webster, Count Basie, Jay McShann, Claude "Fiddler" Williams and many more.

I would like to suggest that you rent the Robert Altman movie, "Kansas City." The musical portion of this film is pretty accurate as far as style and culture and serves as a good example of early KC jazz Another video to check out is "The Last of the Blue Devils."

Also, a good web site to visit for Kansas City jazz history is Club Kaycee at http://www.kcjazz.com/

Good luck!

The JAM Website Continues To Grow
Like the Modern Jazz Quartet before them, the Unified Jazz Ensemble is truly a cooperative jazz organization. After several years of working, touring and recording together this young group serves up a set of original jazz compositions highlighting the ensemble playing of a working group at its prime.

Please consider adding them to your jazz artists links. You'll find their page at http://www.indisonic.com/uje/index.html

Thanks for supporting independently produced jazz!

Bradley J. Borg
IGMOD Records
St. Paul, MN
igmod@igmod.com
http://www.igmod.com

Kudos From the North...
You have a neat site; such great descriptions of upcoming performances make me want to travel south. We have included a link to your site from ours: The Jazz Institute of Chicago at http://www.jazzinstituteofchicago.org. Perhaps you would like to check us out if you haven't already and add us to yours.

Thanks,
Sandy Snyder
Chicago, IL
sandys@pbtweb.com

...And From the East
To the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors
I just wanted to take time out to praise your wonderful organization and all that it does for jazz. As music director of KCMW, I am constantly bombarded by a myriad of promotions and industry propaganda. Your publication is one of the few that truly supports jazz and does not attempt to force it into a commercialized context.

We recently completed our Fall '97 pledge drive, and I am very happy to report that Kansas City, eastern Kansas, west central Missouri and the Lake of the Ozarks have spoken well of our newly revamped jazz programming. We broke our all-time pledge drive record and exceeded our goals by over 30%. I would encourage all JAM readers to check us out! We suffer from "multi-path interference" in some of the urban core of Kansas City, but our signal does reach past St. Joseph. (In fact I have received calls from as far away as Lawrence, Kansas.) I like to feature local and regional artists often. We are also constantly giving away tickets to the best jazz events in the area, as well as lots of great CDs. At 90.9 FM or 104.9 at the Lake of the Ozarks, we have more jazz than anyone!

By the way, I was there (in October) when Kevin Mahogany sat in with Danilo Perez at The Club at Plaza III; now that was a magical moment!

Peace,
Joe Athon
Jazz Consultant
KCMW-FM
Warrensburg, MO
jathon@kcmw.cmsu.edu

RETURN TO DECEMBER/JANUARY 1998 MAIN INDEX

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






	Search our site:		Richard Ross Dear Ms. Barnard, As you might know, Richard Ross has been in Holland many times during the past five years. I played almost 100 concerts with him. We were all deeply shocked when we heard the news that he had passed away (JAM, October/November '97). On our last concerts in June of this year, he seemed to be so fresh and strong. So I can hardly believe he died only three months later. To give you an impression of some of what he did here, I am sending you our last CD, recorded in April of 1996. Best regards, Wim Wollner Amsterdam, The Netherlands In Defense of Petric I applaud JAM for going out of its way to reprint John Petric's "Getting Down With The Milquetoast Maestro" (JAM, October/November '97), a wonderfully scathing review of sax player -- and I use that term loosely -- Kenny G. As someone who at one point enjoyed employment as a music critic, I found it very difficult to write anything negative about anyone. I had grown up believing the old adage, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything." So, whenever I found it necessary to criticize, my comments were always tinged with apologies and excuses. But that's because I always reviewed people with talent and ability. If I only had the chance to review someone like Kenny G, I'm sure I would have no problem hurling the expletives. If Kenny G continues to record under the guise of jazz, he deserves to have someone like Petric on his back until he learns how to play with taste, integrity and musicality. Amy Abern Chicago, IL (Abern is a past contributor to Down Beat magazine. -- Ed.) Keeping Jazz Alive I am currently working with an organization which is starting a membership organization dedicated to jazz enthusiasts. In addition to the membership, we are also opening a jazz club and museum within the next year. We are currently establishing relationships with others who promote and preserve jazz's past, present and future. In the next month we will be launching our web site. If you could, please forward any information on membership to your organization, advertising possibilities, access to your mailing lists, possible links to your web site, and anything else your organization could contribute to keeping jazz alive down south. Thank you for your time and access to your wonderful web site. Sincerely, Angela Ardolino Jaco's Jazz Club P.O. Box 330714 Miami, FL 33233-0714 e-mail: angiea@concentric.net Thanks from the Liebmans Hi Brad, Just wanted to thank you for listing the Dave Liebman and Caris Music Services webpages. Really appreciate it! Good luck with the KC site. Looks great! Best, Caris Liebman caris@ptd.net Students of KC Jazz To the Jazz Ambassadors, We are writing to request information for a project we are working on in our honors American history class at Mesa High School. Our classmates are involved in year-long research in association with the National History Day competition sponsored by the University of Maryland. NHD is an annual contest which helps students make connections within the local community, as well as the world at large, in order to learn to analyze and interpret historical information surrounding a particular person, group of people, event or time period. In short, it is a learning experience to help increase awareness and knowledge of our past and improve higher thinking skills. This year's year theme is "Migration In History." We have always been interested in the sound and persona of different kinds of music, and have decided to make this the topic of our research. To directly connect our topic to the theme, we have narrowed our topic to the migration of jazz music. This topic may be narrowed even more in the future, but for now we are gathering as much information as we can. We have been continually searching the Internet, and have conducted research in our school library here at Mesa High. If you could send us any helpful information, or give us references to any other sources of information, it would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Chris Wise Angie Middlebrook J. J. Taylor Emali Crouse James Huish Mesa, AZ jjt29@hotmail.com. Hello Jazz Lovers! My name is Mavis Burks and I am a 17 year old high school senior who loves to learn about jazz. I have recently heard that during the same time as the Harlem Renaissance, there was a jazz boom in Kansas City as well. I was hoping that someone would be able to help me find more information on the subject. I would be very grateful. Thank you for your time, Mavis Burks Erie, PA bdamper@staff.mercy.edu VP of Publications Dean Hampton replies: It is always a pleasure to help students learn more about jazz and Kansas City jazz in particular. Much of today's jazz evolved from the early jazz scene in Kansas City. One old timer once told me that at one time, there were hundreds of places in Kansas City to hear live jazz. Many of the clubs were open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Many club owners didn't even have keys to their places because they never needed to lock their doors. They never closed. Unfortunately, KC jazz in those days was also part of another scene that included elements of crime and other activities we might call improper; activities to do with alcohol, drugs and prostitution. But this scene also produced some of the most remembered names in jazz: Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Mary Lou Williams, Ben Webster, Count Basie, Jay McShann, Claude "Fiddler" Williams and many more. I would like to suggest that you rent the Robert Altman movie, "Kansas City." The musical portion of this film is pretty accurate as far as style and culture and serves as a good example of early KC jazz Another video to check out is "The Last of the Blue Devils." Also, a good web site to visit for Kansas City jazz history is Club Kaycee at http://www.kcjazz.com/ Good luck! The JAM Website Continues To Grow Like the Modern Jazz Quartet before them, the Unified Jazz Ensemble is truly a cooperative jazz organization. After several years of working, touring and recording together this young group serves up a set of original jazz compositions highlighting the ensemble playing of a working group at its prime. Please consider adding them to your jazz artists links. You'll find their page at http://www.indisonic.com/uje/index.html Thanks for supporting independently produced jazz! Bradley J. Borg IGMOD Records St. Paul, MN igmod@igmod.com http://www.igmod.com Kudos From the North... You have a neat site; such great descriptions of upcoming performances make me want to travel south. We have included a link to your site from ours: The Jazz Institute of Chicago at http://www.jazzinstituteofchicago.org. Perhaps you would like to check us out if you haven't already and add us to yours. Thanks, Sandy Snyder Chicago, IL sandys@pbtweb.com ...And From the East To the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors I just wanted to take time out to praise your wonderful organization and all that it does for jazz. As music director of KCMW, I am constantly bombarded by a myriad of promotions and industry propaganda. Your publication is one of the few that truly supports jazz and does not attempt to force it into a commercialized context. We recently completed our Fall '97 pledge drive, and I am very happy to report that Kansas City, eastern Kansas, west central Missouri and the Lake of the Ozarks have spoken well of our newly revamped jazz programming. We broke our all-time pledge drive record and exceeded our goals by over 30%. I would encourage all JAM readers to check us out! We suffer from "multi-path interference" in some of the urban core of Kansas City, but our signal does reach past St. Joseph. (In fact I have received calls from as far away as Lawrence, Kansas.) I like to feature local and regional artists often. We are also constantly giving away tickets to the best jazz events in the area, as well as lots of great CDs. At 90.9 FM or 104.9 at the Lake of the Ozarks, we have more jazz than anyone! By the way, I was there (in October) when Kevin Mahogany sat in with Danilo Perez at The Club at Plaza III; now that was a magical moment! Peace, Joe Athon Jazz Consultant KCMW-FM Warrensburg, MO jathon@kcmw.cmsu.edu RETURN TO DECEMBER/JANUARY 1998 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.