Editor's Corner

by Roger Atkinson

Happy New Year!

There is a little bit of breaking of traditions in this first issue of 2008. First, JAM rarely wanders away from its Kansas City home; we stick to musicians with roots in the area, and events that you can drive to. And frankly, although I love the idea of festivals, I am typically not a fan of them. Like the musician who responded to the question “why did you become a jazz musician?” by saying “I don't like crowds”, well, neither do I. I prefer a club to a theater or a city park, I don't like fighting for seats or waiting in line for a restroom or a beer. But we went to a festival and we are covering it in JAM, and despite the narrowest of Kansas City connections we are sharing the event with you in this issue.

Last fall I went to my 30 year college homecoming ( Wofford College in Spartanburg , South Carolina , since you asked), and left with the idea to start a “homecoming” series in JAM. The list of musicians who used to be a part of the scene here but moved on is lengthy, from Bob Brookmeyer and Chris Connor (they left over fifty years ago!) to more recent KC “ex-pats” like Logan Richardson and Kim Park. We start the series with Ron Vincent, Steve Cardenas, and David Brandom, who were part of Stan Kessler's Flat Five and now are quite players on the New York scene. The homecoming won't be in person, but we'll give you a chance to catch up on paper, nevertheless. We hope you enjoy the series, and with the list as long as it is it promises to run for quite some time.

Thanks to everyone for supporting the music!

RETURN TO FEBRUARY/MARCH 2008 MAIN INDEX