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by Hal Melia
Great Jazz, Great Times
I want to talk about this year's Jazz Lover's Pub Crawl, a great event
coming up on Thursday, June 19. I'll be right up front about it: the
last two years we have fallen short of our financial goals for the
Crawl, and the event was screaming for change. So we decided on a
few things. We were deluged with many opinions about some of the problems
people have experienced with the event in the past, and now we are
making an honest attempt to do something about them. I simply refuse
to be involved with a jazz event unless it's great FUN!
This year we are concentrating the Jazz Lover's Pub Crawl in the Westport
area only. This move may seem a little radical, but it is intended
to serve as a way to solve some of the problems inherent in an event
of this nature. For example:
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If I'm a
patron, I can simply stroll from club to club, without hopping on
a bus or having to drive across town.
-
With street
musicians providing additional atmosphere, I'm going to hear jazz
even on the way to the next spot!
-
With the
4-hour time frame (8:00 p.m.-midnight) I'll be able to catch so
much more music, and enjoy it at my own pace, in my own time.
-
With all
the vendors concentrated in a smaller area, I will be able to document
my memories of this fabulous jazz night out, without worrying about
someone being sold out of my favorite t-shirt, coffee mug, or set
of beads.
-
Staggering
the start times of the bands will virtually assure that patrons
who happen to be in a club when the band takes a break can merely
walk across the street to find live music happening right now.
One thing I want to make clear:
we are not out to ignore the great contributions our clubs all over
Kansas City have made over the years in support of the Jazz Lover's
Pub Crawl. On the contrary, if our new model works, we would like to
think we can move it anywhere we like: the Plaza, the River Market,
anywhere! I think our new, streamlined model will provide opportunities
for thinking about and experiencing this type of jazz event in many
new ways. We all want this event to be jazzy, fun, and successful.
And I hope to see you there!
Hal Melia is a Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of
Missouri/Kansas City.
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