 |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||
       |
|||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||
|
Search our site:           |
|
 Theater The Sinatra Way My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra is playing at the American Heartland Theater , located in Crown Center , until February 22. An ensemble cast pays tribute to Sinatra, featuring nearly 56 of Ol' Blue Eyes' most famous songs. Rather than an impersonation, the tribute plays homage with song, flowing dance numbers, historical commentary and big screen videos and images. For more information, call 816-842-9999.
Last year the George Salisbury Cabaret Concert and the Downbeat/UMKC Jazz Festival joined forces for one spectacular weekend in Kansas City . This year, due to the Super Bowl, they've been split again. The George Salisbury Cabaret Concert has been moved to Sunday, February 8 from 2-5 pm at Pierson Auditorium on the UMKC campus. The line-up includes Joe Cartwright, the Sons of Brasil, Rich Hill, poet Dan Jaffe with David Basse , and many others including Bobby Watson and Hal Melia with the UMKC jazz ensembles. The concert includes cabaret seating and refreshments. Tickets are $19 and go toward the George Salisbury Scholarship Fund for minority students. For information, call (816) 235-6222.
You can't get more New Orleans than the French Quarter Festival —a showcase for hundreds of local musicians on 14 stages throughout the historic Vieux Carré. KCUR radio dj Chuck Haddix is gathering a group to go to the Festival on April 15-19. The trip includes accommodations at a deluxe four-star hotel, a welcoming reception hosted by Chuck Haddix and Nick Spitzer of American Routes, a half-day New Orleans tour and a final evening at the world famous New Orleans School of Cooking. Chuck will also offer daily insights and suggestions on the wide array of music offerings . The deadline to sign up for the group trip is February 8 . To find out more, go to www.kcur.org or contact Sara at cranesj@umkc.edu or 816-235-2884. Make Plans for the Mardi Gras Blues Club Crawl The 13 th Annual Mardi Gras Blues Club Crawl will again be busing beaded revelers around the city on Fat Tuesday evening, February 24 . The club crawl will include 15 nightclubs featuring the area's top blues bands and two national performers. The fun begins at 8:00 p.m. and ends at midnight . Headlining at the Grand Emporium, 3832 Main , will be C.J. Chenier and Red Hot Louisiana Band . Blues guitarist Michael Burks will take the stage at BB's Lawnside Bar-B-Q, 1205 E. 85 th St . Ticket prices for the full night of entertainment are $10 in advance and $15 the night of the event. All proceeds go toward the Kansas City Blues Society and their many programs. For more information, contact Stan Koron at (913) 649-0383. Jazz Nite Out The Jazz Ambassadors regular social gathering, Jazz Nite Out , will be at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum , Friday, February 20 , from 5:30 to 7pm in Rozelle Court . The Rich Hill Trio will perform. Come join the group and share your favorite pastime. Call 913-262-2674 for more information. Ladies Sing the Blues The Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors will put on a very classy affair when they present Ladies Sing the Blues , on Thursday, February 26 , starting at 6 pm , at Plaza III , 4749 Pennsylvania . Featured are vocalists Lisa Henry, Kathleen Holeman , and Geneva Price . They are backed by pianist Bram Wijnands , bassist Lucky Wesley and drummer Tommy Ruskin . The three vocalists bring to the stage their own unique styles, according to Program Chairman Bram Wijnands. “Kathleen is a great improviser. She likes to get rowdy,” he says. “ Geneva makes me think of the Ella Fitzgerald type. And Lisa is a modern-style vocalist who placed second in the Thelonius Monk International Jazz Competition ten years ago. Tickets are $100 and include dinner at 6 pm accompanied by Luqman Hamza . The vocalists begin at 8 pm . Call 913-649-7320 for more information.
The Missouri Repertory Theater will present the Tony Award-winning production, It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues , from February 27 through March 28 at 4949 Cherry Street . With more than three dozen toe-tapping songs, It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues portrays a unique history of one of America 's most revealing styles of music. Show stoppers include “Cross Road Blues,” “Someone Else is Stepping In,” and “Good Night, Irene.” The show garnered the 1999 Tony Award nominations for Best Musical and Best Book for a Musical. For more information, call (816) 235-2700. Come to the Jazz Cabaret Life is a cabaret, as the song goes, so come join the Third Annual Plaza Rotary Jazz Cabaret , Sunday, February 29 , at the American Heartland Theater , 2450 Grand, at Crown Center . Headliners include pianist Tim Whitmer , vocalist Angela Hagenbach and saxophonist Bobby Watson . Joining them are Kim Park, Millie Edwards, Duck Warner, Stan Kessler, Rod Fleeman, Ricky Anderson, Jurgen Welge, Doug Auwarter, Steve Rigazzi and more.
The evening begins with a reception at 6 pm , including a cash bar and complementary hors d'oeures. The all-star line-up starts at 7 pm . Tickets are $50. All proceeds benefit the Bridge Home for Children, founded in 1991 by Jesse and Beverly Watson. For more information, call 816-582-9531.
The 27 th Annual KU Jazz Festival will be held March 5-6 this year with Theo Bleckmann Trio and saxophonist Bob Mintzer headlining the event. The Theo Bleckmann Trio will perform Friday, March 5, 7:30 pm at Swarthout Recital Hall on the KU campus. Bleckmann, a vocalist who has received awards for his performance art and accolades for his vocal acrobats, will perform with drummer John Hollenbeck and pianist Gary Versace. Saxophonist Bob Mintzer is a 10-year veteran with the Yellowjackets. He won a Grammy in 2002 for the Bob Mintzer Big Band recording Homage to Count Basie. He will perform with the KU Jazz Ensemble I. Tickets are $15 for the general public; $10 for senior citizens and students. For more information call 785-864-4388. Recovery Jam at Majestic Vocalist Julie Turner and drummer Tommy Ruskin will host the 2004 “Recovery Jam ” on Sunday, March 7 , at the Majestic Steakhouse , 931 Broadway, from 5 – 9 pm . The open jam benefits the programs and services offered by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of Greater Kansas City. A $40 ticket includes food, music and a silent auction. A $10 fee is charged for anyone coming in to order dinner off the menu. The silent auction will include such items as airline tickets, hotel packages, artwork, dinner/theater gift certificates, wine, sports items and even a membership to the Majestic's cigar club. For more information, call 816-361-5973, ext.107. Doc Severinsen Performs at Yardley Hall Back by popular demand, Doc Severinsen and his Big Band will be performing at the Yardley Hall at Johnson County Community College on Saturday and Sunday, March 13-14, at 8 pm. Known to millions as the flamboyant Music Director of “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson,” Severinsen's achievements began early. Nicknamed “Little Doc” after his father, a dentist, Severinsen wanted to play the trombone, but his father insisted on a violin. Being true to himself, Doc finally ended up with the only horn available in his small hometown, a trumpet. After one week of lessons, Doc joined the high school band at the tender age of seven. At the age of 12, Doc won the Music Educator's National Contest and in high school was touring with the Ted Fito Rio Orchestra. After completing his education and service in the army, Severinsen joined the Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Charlie Barnet bands. He eventually became an NBC staff musician and joined “The Tonight Show” in 1962. Tickets are $32 and $40. For more information, call 913-469-4445. Swope Parkway Reaches Out to Jazz Swope Health Services (formerly Swope Parkway Health Center ) has been reaching out to the homeless and AIDS patients for years. And for the past few years, jazz and blues musicians have been reaching out to help Swope Health Center with a benefit concert.  On Sunday, March 14 , from 4 to 9 pm , an array of Kansas City jazz and blues musicians will perform in Jazz Outreach 2004 held at the Beaumont Club , 4050 Pennsylvania . On tap are Everette DeVan, Millie Edwards, Gerald Dunn, Angela Hagenbach, Kent Means, Julie Turner, Diane “Mama” Ray, Ryan Howard, Tim Whitmer, Horace Washington, “Cotton Candy” Washington, Jim Mair, Don Glaza, Brian Harman, Sharon Thompson, Lester “Duck” Warner, Lisa Henry Bowen, Ann Kelly and more. New this year is the very first Jazz Outreach CD which features the best of the 2001 event and sells for $12. The CD can be purchased at the event and by logging onto www.swopehealth.org. General admission is $25 per person, which includes complementary cocktails. A VIP admission is $65 ($60 in advance) and includes cocktails, buffet and a commemorative poster. The benefit includes a silent auction. For more information, call 816-922-7606. Father/Son Trombonists at KC Jazz Workshop At the age of 13, John Allred performed with his father, Bill, for the first time at a festival. The two trombonists have been performing together—off and on—ever since. On Monday, March 29 , at 7 pm , the Kansas City Jazz Workshop will showcase Bill and John Allred at the Downtown Marriott , 12 th & Central. They will be backed by pianist Frank Mantooth , bassist Bob Bowman , and drummer Tommy Ruskin. Born to a jazz pianist, Bill Allred grew up in Louisiana and quickly grabbed hold of the traditional jazz sounds. He performed with such artists as Jack Teagarden, Doc Cheatum, Peanuts Hucko, Al Hirt, Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme and more. He was part of the Wild Bill Davison Jazz Band and has formed his own Classic Jazz Band. (Check out www.billallred.com .) John knew he would continue the family legacy. After high school, he started his own Dixieland jazz band at Disneyland . Still in his teens he began branching into other music styles. He joined Woody Herman and the Young Thundering Herd, enabling him to perform with Clark Terry, Buddy DeFranco, Stan Getz and Rosemary Clooney. He currently performs with Bill Allred's Classic Jazz Band when not touring with Harry Connick, Jr.'s Big Band. Tickets are $25. Call 913-737-3627 for more information. Avila Womens Concert The Candace Evans Quartet will be performing at the Goppert Theatre on the Avila University campus, 11901 Wornall Rd. , on Thursday, March 25 , at 8 pm . The concert supports the Woman's Studies Council and Music Department of Avila University. For more details, contact 816-501-3651.  World Premiere of Updated Scott Joplin Production An updated version of the music theatre masterpiece Treemonisha will premiere at Yardley Hall on the Johnson County Community College, Friday and Saturday, March 26-27 , at 8 pm. A pre-show lecture is at 7 pm . Set on a plantation in the late 1800's, it tells the story of Treemonisha who teaches the importance of education to the sharecroppers. New York City Opera soprano Indira Mahajan will sing the title role. In this version, the production is staged in the music hall style of the early 1900's, the way Joplin would have created it. Treemonisha is orchestrated by Rick Benjamin of Paragon Ragtime Orchestra. Tickets are available for $28 to $35. For more information, call 913-469-4445. KCK Youth Jazz Bands Perform Tribute to Basie Leon Brady' s highly acclaimed Kansas City Youth Jazz Band will perform a “Tribute to Count Basie ” at Unity Temple on the Plaza , Sunday, April 18, from 4-6 pm. These include the Beginning, Lab and Advanced bands. The event is free to the public. Call 913-371-4157 for more information. Former Local Jazz Musician Travis Jenkins Dies “I took to tenor like a duck to water,” Travis Jenkins once said of his saxophone. One could say he took to life in the same manner, too. (Check out his fascinating letter published in a previous issue of JAM at www.jazzkc.org/issues/2000-02/travisjenkins.html.) Born in Texas in 1939, Jenkins was raised in Kansas City where he turned onto jazz after hearing a Charlie Parker recording. He began performing at the age of 14 with the Jazzbos. By age 20, he had hit the road with his horn, performing throughout the country, always on the brink of fame. In the 60s, when he was in town, he performed with Russ Long, Gary Sivils, Frank Smith, Paul Smith, Tommy Ruskin and more. Nationally, he performed with the likes of Woody Herman, Grover Washington, Larry Coryell, Charles Mingus, Isaac Hayes, Phineas Newborne, and Judy Collins. With his wife, Carole, an anthropologist, he traveled to Belize, New Guinea, and Bangladesh where he studied tribal music but also spread a little of his own. He once performed “Watermelon Man” before 40,000 New Guinea highlanders. He visited Kansas City in 2000 and called his visit a pilgrimage to a “jazz shrine.” He vowed to return for good. Kansas City didn't get that pleasure. “Travis was a free spirit, who played every song as if it were the last time he would ever play it," says Gary Sivils. Jenkins leaves behind his wife and two sons. 24-Hour Jazz Radio It's every jazz aficionado's dream to have access to a 24-hour jazz radio station here in Kansas City. Some members of the community are trying to make that dream a reality. If you would like to join up, particularly if you have grant-writing skills, send an e-mail to Jeffersonervinlewis@hotmail.com
Got News? Got Notes? Please send to: Editor/JAM, P.O. Box 36181, Kansas City, MO 64171-6181. Deadline for all submissions is the 15th of each odd numbered month. RETURN TO FEBRUARY/MARCH 2004 MAIN INDEX © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2004. All rights reserved. |
|
           |
|
|||||
 |
|||||||||||
