Ovation

Two performances at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival won a standing ovation: Bobby Watson and Megan Birdsall.

That brings you current. Now, start four months back.

*****

She looked anguished as we talked, standing outside The Blue Room. Suddenly, her legs buckled and she nearly fell, grabbing the arm of the musician next to her. She scurried to a nearby car for medication. The pain caused all that, she told me later.

This summer, doctors found acute infection on Megan Birdsall’s prosthetic jaw. Surgery was required to take out four plates implanted with the jaw but no longer necessary.

On August 7th, in Dallas, the plates were successfully removed.

Doctors then advised surgery to replace the entire prosthetic jaw, as soon as possible.

No, not again.

*****

I wrote about Megan a year ago (here), this sprite with a spectacular voice. I first heard her with a big band. On stage, I saw a smile that seemed to fill half her face. Then, amazingly, I heard a singer equal to any in jazz. With her uptempo version of Miss Otis Regrets, the packed club exploded in applause.

Afterwards, I discovered her story. Cartilage in Megan’s jaw had deteriorated and a shifting facial structure was crushing her windpipe. An operation replaced her jaw with a prosthetic jaw to save her life. At the time, doctors didn’t know whether she would be able to sing again. Recovery took a year.

She had suffered constant pain during the two years since. Doctors found she was allergic to five of the eight metals in the prosthetic. They attempted having her inject the metals into her stomach to reverse her body’s rejection. That failed. Tumors grew under one cheek.

Then, last Fall, an auto accident – the other driver ran a stop sign and broadsided her car – left her with two bulging discs, a physical therapy regimen, and more pain.

*****

Medications help to control the pain. But nothing helps more than singing.

Last July at Take Five, Megan closed the night with her yearning yet rousing interpretation of Wichita Lineman. The house was filled. Everyone stood to applauded.

If you don’t know her story, you’d never guess. She doesn’t want the audience to know. Occasionally you might catch her wince, but you don’t realize why. And you don’t know why she might sit on a stool rather than stand. On stage, she catches you with that vivacious smile, and her voice. She owns every song. She owns the room.

*****

They want to replace Megan's prosthetic jaw with one built almost entirely of titanium. With this newer, more advanced prosthetic, doctors could work to desensitize her body to just one metal rather than five.

She endured this surgery, this replacing her jaw, before.

Not again.

There was one other possibility. New blood tests were taken, using a different method. These tests could return new results. They could show reduced, or no, allergies. Then, a less radical operation might clear the pain.

Otherwise, she faces a process which starts with desensitizing, injecting concentrated doses of titanium into her stomach every day. Side effects impact the body and mind. Histamine and serotonin normally control the side effects, but Megan is allergic to those, too.

And there’s no guarantee it will work.

But assume it does. Next, her face is cut open to remove the existing prosthetic jaw and replace it with the newer all-titanium prosthetic. The  cost is more than $100,000. This prosthetic is so new it has not yet completed the FDA approval process. So insurance does not cover it.

Afterward, she may not be able to sing for a year.

Not again.

Two weeks into her recovery from removal of the infected plates, results of the blood tests were delivered.

Megan is allergic to five of the eight metals in her prosthetic, including titanium.

Keeping the current prosthetic means risk and continued pain, maybe more incidents like the one outside The Blue Room.

Replacing the prosthetic starts with a trip to Dallas to prepare for daily desensitization injections which may or may not succeed. Then surgery to replace her jaw.

Again.

*****

I booked talent for this year’s Prairie Village Jazz Festival, and I did it with a couple of conditions. One was that Megan perform in the event, so everyone could have the chance to hear.

That was before the infection was discovered. That was before doctors decided she needed surgery a month before the event. They warned her recovery could require up to six weeks.

Before the surgery, Megan emailed me. She promised she would make the festival date. But she might need extra makeup to cover bruising from the operation.

Makeup? Who cares?

This performance was critical to her, and to her recovery. Megan’s group was scheduled just ahead of the headliners. Thousands would fill the festival grounds. A month after one surgery, preparing to raise funds for another, debilitating operation, she needed to prove to herself she could do this, that she could take a major stage and perform the music so important to her, before thousands of people.

And it was important that, outside of family and some friends, the crowd not know about the pain. If she succeeded this night, she would succeed not from sympathy, but because of the music.

A side effect of her surgery was vertigo. She needed to grab someone’s arm to walk the festival grounds, so she wouldn’t fall. Always thin, this day she looked especially frail.

At 7 p.m., a musician wrapped his arm around hers and walked Megan onto the stage. She sat on a stool, surrounded by her pianist, bassist and drummer.

And she sang, to thousands of people, for an hour.

Megan closed her set with Wichita Lineman.

*****

Two performances at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival won a standing ovation: Bobby Watson and Megan Birdsall.

Traditional Jazz Lives

Congratulations to The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra.

Their inaugural show in the Kauffman Center’s Helzbergs Hall could have been a flop.

Not artistically. Not with Kerry Strayer leading an orchestra of some of the finest musicians playing jazz in 2012. Not just in Kansas City. Anywhere.

But – and I say this as someone who managed the orchestra’s business affairs for a few months early last year – it could have been a financial flop, or an audience flop.

Because traditionally, this orchestra has drawn barely more than 600 fans to its fall concert. And they had the audacity to play a 1600 seat hall? Traditionally, this orchestra has lost money, oodles of money, on their performances, and they dared to take on the additional expenses of the Kauffman Center? Traditionally, this orchestra shed fans by the dozens, sometimes by the hundreds, when moving a concert away from The Plaza. Plenty of free, covered parking, a nice dinner and a pleasant stroll to Unity on the Plaza for some outstanding traditional jazz was the experience the orchestra’s aging audience craved.

The cheap seats at the Plaza locale cost just $25 at the door. At the Kauffman Center, $40 is the lowest price (same day student sales excepted). Add on a service charge and fee for that covered parking, and here the cost to walk in the door more than doubled. More than that, when the orchestra did fill Unity’s thousand-plus seats last year, they did it largely with half price social media promotions. Discount success suggested that outside of a 600 body core, the public found this experience overpriced. And they raised the price?

The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra (KCJO) moving into the Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall? From a business perspective, this looked to me like a dive off the high board into KC jazz’s belly flop of the year. Enjoy hobnobbing with the big boys while you can, KCJO. Arts audiences and bank accounts are mighty tough to refill.

I could not have been proven any more mistaken.

The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra drew more than 1000 fans to their inaugural concert at the Kauffman Center. Comp and student tickets aside, the orchestra sold more than 900 seats at $40 or $50 each. To the best of my knowledge, none were filled through social media near-giveaways.

I’m not privy to the orchestra’s financials. But an audience that size, paying that much money for a ticket, should have more than covered any additional cost of performing on Kansas City’s premiere concert stage. In fact, it should have closed a large chunk of the orchestra’s traditional gap between ticket sales income and concert cost.

And how did they do this? Did they draw a substantial crowd by playing modern jazz? Did they merge jazz and hip-hop? Did they hire a rapper?

Nope. They swung the Kauffman.

They played a tribute to Count Basie. They featured Kevin Mahogany singing the songs of little Jimmy Rushing. They expertly performed a night of jazz as traditional as it gets.

And an audience of over a thousand fans loved it.

You can call it an older audience. Fifty-plusers dominate the crowd. You can argue this group proves big band’s dead end, with sparse youth support in sight. You can say enjoy the moment, because this audience isn’t going to live forever. Some may not make it to the next concert, you can snark.

Or you can look at more than 900 people, right here in little ol’ Kansas City, who paid $40 and $50 a ticket, and a service fee, and who probably paid for parking, and say, Here is an audience who will part with good money for jazz. They can afford it. They appreciate a night of traditional sounds. They will pay to hear an outstanding performance of jazz music they enjoy. They exist.

They’re not, mostly, our youth. But maybe as our youth ages, and can more easily buy a $50 ticket, and not need that ticket to be something that will bestow more credence Monday morning among their friends, maybe an audience of fifty-plusers will still be here to spend good money on jazz.

Because traditional jazz may be a niche but it’s not going away. It’s a niche being constantly rediscovered and freshly performed.

A goal of The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra is to be recognized as the jazz equivalent of the Kansas City Symphony. A few weeks ago, they took a major step forward. A few weeks ago, The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra proved it belongs on that same stage.

Congratulations.

 

In Lieu of 1000 Words: 2012 Prairie Village Jazz Fest, Part 2

A photographer craves the perfect light, the setting sun hitting the stage at a unique angle to illuminate the musicians perfectly, a fifteen minute period when you can capture a once in a lifetime shot.

At the 2012 Prairie Village Jazz Festival on September 8, the perfect light hit during the stage change between Megan Birdsall’s set and Bobby Watson’s set. Next year’s festival really needs to time that better.

The sun had settled behind the hill at Harmon Park when Bobby Watson took the stage. Backed by bassist Curtis Lundy, in from New York, Richard Johnson from Minneapolis on piano and Kansas City’s Michael Warren on drums, Bobby’s alto captured the crowd. Co-headiner Karrin Allyson followed with a wonderful set, accompanied by Los Angeles sax and woodwind master Bob Sheppard, and a trio of current and former Kansas Citians, jazz masters all: Rod Fleeman on guitar, Gerald Spaits on bass and Todd Strait on drums.

I offered photos of Gerald and Todd last week, from Mike Metheny’s set. Now here’s photos of the rest of the festival headliners. As always, clicking on a shot should open a larger version of it.

Bobby Watson on alto sax

Bassist Curtis Lundy

Pianist Richard Johnson

Drummer Michael Warren

Curtis and Bobby

At night, the audience filled the hill.

 

Karrin Allyson on piano and vocals

Bob Sheppard on sax

Karrin Allyson Quintet. Left to right: Rod Fleeman, Bob Sheppard, Karrin Allyson, Gerald Spaits, Todd Strait

Guitarist Rod Fleeman

Bob Sheppard on flute

For her final number, Karrin invited bassist Bob Bowman, who has performed with her often, and Bobby Watson to join her group on stage. Left to right: Karrin Allyson, Bob Bowman, Bobby Watson, Bob Sheppard, Rod Fleeman.

In Lieu of 1000 Words: 2012 PV Jazz Fest, Part 1

Thousands of fans. They crowded the hill at Harmon Park on September 8th to enjoy the music, the food, the beer and the wine – but mostly the music – at the third annual Prairie Village Jazz Festival.

As one of the organizers of this year’s event, I’ll not feign an unbiased assessment. But I will credit one group above all others for the day’s success: The musicians. Every performance was magnificent.

Opening act Diverse, in their new configuration with drummer Brad Williams, mostly played tunes the arriving audience might recognize, but branded by their own contemporary resolve. Rich Wheeler’s quartet spanned their own compositions to the blues. Everyone who heard Mike Metheny understands why I keep telling him he needs to perform locally more often (and he’s starting to do that). And everyone who heard Megan Birdsall heard a vocalist wrap herself around familiar standards and pop classics to make them entirely hers.

Crowd size reached its height for headliner Bobby Watson. With longtime bassist Curtis Lundy from New York, pianist Richard Johnson from Minneapolis and KC drummer Michael Warren, Bobby owned Prairie Village. Then the night’s second headliner, Karrin Allyson, backed by extraordinary saxophone and flute player Bob Sheppard from Los Angeles, guitarist Rod Fleeman, bassist Gerald Spaits, and drummer Todd Strait, left no doubts about why she has been nominated five times for the jazz vocal Grammy.

I took photos. This week, let’s share shots of the local acts. Next week, we’ll take a look at the headliners’ groups. As always, clicking on a photo should open a larger version of it.

Opening act Diverse. Left  to right: Ben Leifer on bass, Hermon Mehari on trumpet, Brad Williams on drums.

As Diverse performs, the audience grows.

The Rich Wheeler Quartet. Left to right: T.J. Martley on Rhodes and piano, Bill McKemy on bass, Rich Wheeler on tenor saxophone, Sam Wisman on drums.

Mike Metheny on flugelhorn

Bassist Gerald Spaits

Drummer Todd Strait

T.J. Martley on piano

Mike invited Hermon Mehari and Rich Wheeler to join him on his set. Here, Hermon and Mike enjoy Rich's solo.

Megan Birdsall

Bassist Bob Bowman

Drummer Matt Leifer

Singer Megan Birdsall with pianist Wayne Hawkins

Megan and Wayne. As the sun starts to set, the audience fills the hill.

Next week: Bobby Watson and Karrin Allyson.

The Mutual Musicians Foundation Responds

Over two blog posts, I commented on the new panels at the Mutual Musicians Foundation. This week, it’s not about what I think. Anita Dixon, Vice President of the Foundation, argued that I have a forum the Foundation lacks. She’s right. So this week, I turn this blog over to the Mutual Musicians Foundation. Because they deserve the opportunity to present, without intrusion, the reasons for the changes at Kansas City’s jazz landmark.

*****

The Mutual Musicians Foundation (formerly known as Local 627 or the “colored” musicians union) has been the heartbeat of Kansas City’s jazz history for almost a century.

Recognized as one of the four pillars of the creation of jazz in America, the building in which it has its storied past has survived. Remembering and honoring our past and those genius minds that created Kansas City’s reason for being on the map internationally is a fact we love to tell over and over again; lest others forget how important it really is. Remembering “what was” is a huge part of securing the future.

However, everything must change. Recently, through a generous fund given to the MMF by Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, the board of directors decided we would expand the vision for the future into educational panels and an archival film project that would include the history of the neighborhood that nurtured the music and the minds of Charlie Parker, Mary Lou Williams and all of the names aficionados of jazz like to drop but refuse to acknowledge that had it been another time in history, those same people would have had an address next door, down the street or behind the MMF. 

Being volunteer driven, we do not have docents or people who can be at the MMF during the day to speak on the history and the educational panels tell a complete story for those wishing to know more of the history. The archival film Still Jammin’ takes the history of Local 627 and reminds the viewer of the circumstances and situations that made Kansas City jazz and its artists so great. 

We hear we have taken the “spirit” away by replacing photographs with panels, but if we were to be historically accurate, the pictures (that now are a part of the musical experience upstairs) were photocopied and not the originals. At one time, originally signed photographs were stuck on the cork based walls (that were orange colored!) with push pins and tape! These photocopies were also put into frames and attached to walls that had undergone renovation in 1983 and are not a part of the original work done on the building in the 1930’s renovation from apartment building to union hall. So much for interrupting the “spirit” of Basie and the others. 

This total project has been almost three years coming to fruition. That includes the panels and the film. Now, let one take those years, compound them with much infighting (already so well-known and we will not dignify telling it again), and board personnel changes (over seven positions vacated and replaced in less than one year in 2010!), couple that with costs for film crews, meetings, travel, scripts, equipment, research and a plethora of other things it takes to put out a quality project, and the money gifted to the MMF was stretched to the limit. If this had been Ken Burns producing, this city would have thought nothing of a couple of million dollars just to engage him on the subject!

We were very lucky to get Rodney Thompson and Stinson McClendon, two African American film makers in KC who have chronicled the history of KC jazz through names such as Andy Kirk, Big Joe Turner, Jay McShann, Claude “Fiddler” Williams and others they have captured in their personal film archives that enhanced the story of Still Jammin’ for us. Eisterhold and Associates, who work on major museum and archives projects surrounding cultural history in America, were engaged for far less than they usually charge but still treated the project as a priority and produced exactly what we requested. Anyone who would say that “too much was spent” has no idea the sacrifices and time that was spent to bring this to KC and the American public for consumption.

If we had not had the restrictions on the usage of the money dictated by the previous administration, we would have put the money into the building’s much needed repairs. There are stipulations put on many funded projects such as these (if you have never written a government grant or a foundation grant, this is your time to shut up!) and this one was to be used strictly for the project as outlined. It was used for that and nothing more. So much for what you would have done with the money. 

But back to why we are responding to KCJazzLark: the future. We are witnessing a renaissance in the 18th and Vine district in the renovation of the old Rochester Hotel and the homes across the street from the MMF. It is as if the neighborhood is reminding us that once again, we will strive to live amidst the music. We have spoken to the City Manager and those at JDRC and every attempt will be made to populate those apartments and homes with musicians and artists. Imagine a new village of people who respect what we are doing and participate in a whole new generation learning (and living around) the place that started it all internationally. 

We are planning on being the centerpiece of an international plan for educating the world on our part in the history of jazz, starting a 24 hour radio station and creating a synergistic, tourism program aimed at jobs, youth music education and the culture of the African American experience in Kansas City. More on this if you attend our workshop Monday, September 10, 2012. 

Last but not least, thank you KCJazzLark for equal time. So many of the so-called bloggers in the city (and in America period) are just interested in hearing themselves and there are few that qualify as journalists. You have taken the big leap from blogger to journalist and for this we of the MMF are grateful. 

There are always three sides to every story: yours, mine and the truth. Our plans for the MMF will certainly prove to be a truth that will benefit all concerned. 

— Anita J. Dixon, Vice President, Mutual Musicians Foundation

This 'n That 'n McKemy CD

Bass, drums, guitar and accordion. How’s that for a jazz quartet?

I wasn’t getting out for jazz when Malachy Papers was performing around town. So I didn’t know who Bill McKemy was until Ben Leifer left town (he’s since returned). That was when Mark Lowrey and Shay Estes chose Bill as Ben’s replacement on bass in their quartet. That’s when I discovered there’s at least one more terrific bassist in Kansas City than I had previously known.

Mark told me at the time that they had chosen Bill in part for his compositional prowess. That prowess is on full display on Duende, Bill’s 2002 CD which is being rereleased.

Duende, Google Translate tells me, is Spanish for elf. I’m not certain how that applies, except that a couple of of the spontaneous compositions (that’s what the liner notes call them) are elfin in size. But nothing on this CD is elfin in quality.

Jeffrey Ruckma’s accordion may seem on the surface an unusual choice, but the sound fits the Spanish flavor of this music perfectly. Brian Baggett’s electric guitar at times at times reaches for the musical edge and seems to leave apparent Spanish influences behind. But Bill’s bass and Ryan Bennett’s drums keep the proceedings grounded.

Duende will be rereleased at a special show at Take Five Coffee + Bar on September 22. You do not want to miss either the CD or the performance.

*****

But before then, this Saturday as a matter of fact, you do not want to miss the Prairie Village Jazz Festival.

I make no secret of the fact that I booked the talent for the fest this year. Nor do I make a secret of the fact that I’m pleased with how the schedule turned out.

This Saturday, September 8th, at Harmon Park at 77th and Mission Road (adjacent to Prairie Village City Hall and Shawnee Mission East High School), you can hear a sampling of some of the best jazz musicians in Kansas City today, plus some of the best jazz to spring from this town.

Music starts at 3 p.m. with Diverse. It continues with the Rich Wheeler Quartet at 4:20. At 5:40 you can hear the all-too-rarely heard Mike Metheny. 7:00 brings incomparable vocalist Megan Birdsall to the stage. At 8:20, hear not just the best saxophonist in KC, but arguably the best saxophonist anywhere: Bobby Watson. The festival wraps up with jazz star Karrin Allyson’s first performance in the area since last Thanksgiving, starting at 9:40.

I took photos at the first Prairie Village Jazz Festival two years ago. So, to whet your festive appetite further, let’s take a look at a few of those shots not previously posted.

Two years ago, David Basse's group was among the local acts. This year, David will emcee the fest.

Basse's 2010 horn section included Jason Goudeau on trombone, Hermon Mehari on trumpet and Kim Park on sax. This year, Hermon's group Diverse opens the festival.

Eldar Djangirov was one of the 2010 headliners...

...And the crowds danced (I predict dancing again this year).

Two years ago, Karrin Allyson performed a few songs with The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. This year, she headlines a full set with her own band.

This 'n That 'n All Jazz Radio Coming to KC?

On March 11, 1989, plans for The International Jazz Hall of Fame were announced. It would be located at 21st and Vine, incorporating renovated public works buildings facing Vine Street, a new plaza and a new 535 seat theater. Dizzy Gillespie spoke at the press event. A booklet handed out included a color rendering and architectural plans.

The plans show that a smaller existing building behind the structures fronting Vine, connected directly to the theater and to the renovated public works buildings through new corridors, would house administrative offices. And, on the first floor, a jazz radio station.

None of that happened. The Hall of Fame was downsized and combined with the Negro Leagues Museum to fit the available funds. Its name  changed and today it stands as part of the complex at 18th and Vine.

Other than a short-lived soft jazz commercial station, to my knowledge, Kansas City has heard no serious talk about all-jazz radio in the 23 years since those 1989 plans were unveiled.

Until, apparently, now.

Last week, the Mutual Musicians Foundation staged a press event to unveil the new interpretive panels, which I wrote about last week. Among the announcements was news that the Foundation has been granted, by the FCC, a license for a low power radio station.

The Foundation has forged a partnership with Brand USA, established by the 2010 Travel Promotion Act. It began operations in May of last year to “spearhead the nation’s first global marketing effort to promote the United States as a premier travel destination” (from their web site, here). Michael Bennett, a representative of Brand USA, attended the press conference.

When I asked for more details about this radio venture, I was told Mr. Bennett will return to Kansas City for another press event on September 10 and more will be revealed then.

*****

I didn’t know the man sitting next to me at the press conference, upstairs at the Mutual Musicians Foundation. He asked me what I thought about the new panels on the first floor. I told him, as I wrote last week, I found them a mistake, changing the experience of stepping into the Foundation and the character of the downstairs space in a negative way. That was his reaction, too, he responded.

So it’s not just me.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver attended to accept a plaque in his honor. During his remarks, Rep. Cleaver noted that he had helped secure a $163,000 federal grant which made the new interpretive panels possible.

Wait a minute. One hundred and sixty three thousand dollars?

Let’s be clear upfront: I don’t know that the money went only to the panels. A cursory internet search uncovered no further details about the grant. Hopefully, it paid for far, far more than three interpretive panels.

Because I managed art and print production for a large ad agency in the KC area for 14 years. I estimated projects like this every week. And I know three panels like these can be designed, written, assembled, proofed, printed and hung – all three of them – for less than a third of that amount.

I suspect the grant was targeted at a specific cause. Nonetheless, I’m aware of far more pressing needs at the Foundation than fumbled redecorating (I’ve been told the floors contain asbestos, for instance).

So I sure hope that grant covered substantially more than three interpretive panels. Maybe it’s helping to establish the radio station, too.

After all, the only thing worse than calling those panels a mistake would be to call them a $163,000 mistake.

*****

The highlight of the press event, though, was the screening of a new documentary on Kansas City jazz in general and the Mutual Musicians Foundation in particular, titled Still Jammin’.

Stinson McClendon and Rodney Thompson, in the 1980s, produced outstanding documentaries on Jay McShann and Claude “Fiddler” Williams, each released on video tape. Their third documentary was to be on Andy Kirk, but the Kansas City Jazz Commission mistakenly declined to help them secure funding for it (I say that as the Commission Chairman who, after consulting the board, stupidly told them we couldn’t help).

At the time, they filmed interviews with legends of Kansas City jazz when the musicians visited, and with those who lived here. Their archives include unseen footage of Big Joe Turner (shot, they said, at a club on 63rd Street), Andy Kirk, Jay McShann, “Fiddler” Williams, Step-Buddy Anderson, “Piggy” Minor and more.

They started with portions of those interviews. They added new interviews with Chuck Haddix and other historians, and with current KC jazz prodigies (such as Harold O’Neal). Then they included archival photos of Kansas City, 18th and Vine, and our long-gone jazz clubs. The result is a fascinating, well-written and exceptionally well-produced history of the Kansas City the rest of the world knows and wants to know about more.

The documentary will be available soon on DVD at the Mutual Musicians Foundation.

(Would it be petty to add that in all of the documentary’s interviews filmed at the Foundation, the subjects are seated before the glorious photos now removed and replaced with interpretive panels?)

They Changed the Mutual Musicians Foundation

When you stepped into the Mutual Musicians Foundation, history embraced you.

You first see, looming over the lobby, larger than you ever imagined it really was, the 1930 portrait of members of Musicians Local 627 lined up before this building. There’s Bennie Moten. There’s Bill Basie. There’s little Jimmy Rushing. This is our version of the more widely known A Great Day in Harlem. But ours came first.

You stepped into the first floor’s main room, and you were engulfed by photos, clustering all walls, of the musicians who made this building unique. You saw their faces and felt decades of their presence. You understood that you were standing, exactly, where Count Basie stood, where Lester Young played, where Mary Lou Williams socialized, where Ben Webster enjoyed a drink. You’d be surprised if the ghost of Bennie Moten tapped your shoulder here, but it wouldn’t be unexpected.

You understood you were welcome in the space some of history’s greatest jazz musicians created. It was a feeling unlike any other, at least in Kansas City.  You knew otherwise, yet every sense suggested you had stepped out of the 21st century.

Not anymore.

The lobby photo remains. But the photos filling the downstairs walls are gone. They have been moved upstairs, where they’ve lost the cluster, accessibility and overwhelming intimacy they enjoyed for decades downstairs.

They have been replaced by interpretive panels.

Each of the three new panels reproduces select photos from the Foundation’s collection, with more significant musicians pictured individually. A few paragraphs of well-written history expand on the time period the panel covers. Photos and copy connect through swirls of names.

Why the change? Mutual Musicians Foundation (MMF) Vice President Anita Dixon explained:

The MMF is facing new times, new directions and was questioning whether the status quo was serving us. We came to the conclusion that it was not. We then consulted on several levels (both local and national) as to what would tell the story of the MMF through the eyes of the community from which it organically grew.

Local 627 was not just the place to play. It was a gathering place for children studying music, church groups with their box lunches and socials and many other things that Basie, Mary Lou and those we revere and love had much to do with. We wanted the story of the MMF to come through and the panels represent the entire picture of what happened.

Anita is a dear friend who I respect tremendously. And I understand when she further explains that the Board wanted panels to relate the history to the visitors who still crowd the Foundation for Friday and Saturday night jam sessions. And they did not just want to tell the history, but to portray it in the context of the African American community where the Foundation grew.

But these interpretive panels are the wrong solution.

They change the basic character of the Foundation. You’re no longer stepping into a cacophony of photos. You no longer feel like you’re experiencing a space as Prez and Ben and Mary Lou knew it. The feeling, the magic, of stepping out of the 21st century is gone. Now, you’re standing among three big, modern interpretive panels.

They were not necessary to achieve the Board’s goals. Just three of the photos which were already hanging, one per wall, could have been moved to accommodate the new historic copy. Tags identifying faces in the photos would have always been welcome. Those simple updates would have conveyed as much information as the interpretive panels reveal, but in a way that would have made you look for it a little bit, a way where it would have stuck with you more.

More than that, just walk outside. Look at the houses and hotel surrounding the Foundation. They’re being rebuilt. As soon as the construction is complete, stepping into the neighborhood will provide context to the kind of life which surrounded this landmark. Details and elaboration on the Foundation’s walls, done right, are fine. Experiencing the restored neighborhood will be better.

Part of the Foundation’s magic is that it is not a museum (“We are still not a museum,” Anita declares). It is living, thriving history. If interpretive panels providing historic context for 18th and Vine are needed, someone should be taking that up with the museum down the block and around the corner.

The Foundation’s new panels have been up for several weeks. But they will be officially unveiled at a ceremony this Friday, August 24th, at 2 p.m. at the Mutual Musicians Foundation at 1823 Highland.

In Lieu of 1000 Words: Gerald Spaits Quartet

I ran into Gerald the night before. I told him I’d be at Take Five the next evening to hear his group, and I’d bring my camera. I’ve featured plenty of the terrific young jazz musicians in Kansas City today, but not so many of the guys who….

“Are old?” Gerald interjected.

No, not old. I haven’t showcased nearly enough of the guys who were playing jazz in Kansas City when I first discovered the music in the 1980s. Because these musicians are still performing at their magnificent peak.

Take Gerald Spaits, for instance. This in-demand bassist will support both Karrin Allyson and Mike Metheny in this year’s Prairie Village Jazz Festival. You only command those gigs when you’re acknowledged as one of the best.

There’s far too few opportunities to hear Charles Perkins these days. I first learned his name as the star alto soloist with Eddie Baker’s New Breed Jazz Orchestra. Charles stood out as a saxophonist I couldn’t hear enough. He still is. Meanwhile, Jack Lightfoot dominated as one of this city’s premiere trumpeters. Arny Young on drums fits right in.

Last Friday night at Take Five Coffee + Bar, the Gerald Spaits Quartet proved why Kansas City has been known as home to jazz masters continuously from Basie to today.

These four you can call outstanding. You can call them incredible. You can apply nearly any adjective of praise.

Just don’t call them old.

(As always, clicking on a photo should open a larger version of it.)

The Gerald Spaits Quartet. Left to right: Gerald Spaits on bass, Arny Young on drums, Charles Perkins on alto saxophone, Jack Lightfoot on trumpet.

Gerald Spaits

Charles Perkins on alto

Jack Lightfoot

Arny Young

Charles on bass clarinet

Charles, Arny and Jack

Enjoying Gerald's bass

Charles on flute

The Gerald Spaits Quartet at Take Five Coffee + Bar

Three Years of kcjazzlark

In the Blue Room: Matt Otto on tenor sax, Gerald Dunn on alto, and Shay Estes, vocalizing, harmonize into a single instrument, a unique sound on Matt’s unique composition. It’s a sound like none I’ve heard before, not live, anyway. Instinctively, I lean closer to the stage. I don’t want to risk missing any of it. I want to hear more.

At the Mutual Musicians Foundation: The trumpet is as big as his torso. But even at age five, Charles can hold his own in this band. Every Saturday morning, kids from Charles’s age through high school benefit from free music lessons at the Foundation. The morning I visit, they’re preparing for a competition at The Gem. But right now, I see young students rehearsing, surrounded by photos of the jazz royalty who preceded them in this room. I shoot a photo of Charles. He shoots back a dirty look.

At Take Five Coffee + Bar: Hermon Mehari on trumpet, Andy McGhie on sax, Andrew Ouellette on piano, Ben Leifer on bass, Ryan Lee on drums. This is a collection, a subset, really, of some of the outstanding young talent dominating Kansas City’s jazz scene today. They have captured the crowd. Hermon and Andy blend perfectly, then fly off into wonderful solos. This, I realize, must be the 21st century equivalent of what it was like to hear “Sweets” Edison and Jimmy Forrest perform together fifty years ago.

In this blog: The commentator passionately disagrees. He doesn’t like what he perceives the message of a post to be and defends what he feels I’ve attacked. Others respond and the first commentator posts again. I don’t participate in the exchange because, after all, I’ve already offered 800 to 1000 words on what I think. But I appreciate the disagreements. I welcome the counter opinions. I respect their passion. I enjoy the flow of thoughts.

At the Westport Coffee House: Ryan solos first. His drumming has always been impressive, since I first heard him with Diverse, but there’s more subtlety, more maturity evident now. Brian responds, building on Ryan’s lead and delivering an equally masterful solo back to him. Ryan takes that fastball and returns it. Then Brian. Then again. Stan Kessler promoted this new group heavily, through his newsletter, through Facebook posts, through personal emails. He knew this group would be special, featuring two of Kansas City’s best young drummers, Ryan Lee and Brain Steever. I have a confession: I generally don’t enjoy drum solos. Too many come across as so much banging without the intricacy of a good trumpet or sax or piano solo. I have another confession: I love listening to the drums, to the back-and-forth of two young masters, this night.

At Lake Winnebago: Mike and Pat Metheny, Tommy Ruskin, Paul Smith, Bob Bowman, Gerald Spaits and Marilyn Maye unforgettably swing a celebration of the the life of Lois Metheny. Gary Sivils tells stories about Pat that Pat’s children, sitting up front, probably shouldn’t hear. After the music concludes, as the sun sets behind the waters, Mike and Pat, and Pat’s wife and children, spread Lois’s ashes across the lake. I’m honored to have been invited, to have been asked to bring my camera, and to have the opportunity to share photos of a magic afternoon.

At the Plaza Library: Seeing the film Battleship Potemkin to the score of the People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City played live, you understand what home theaters can’t do. They are not a large screen in an auditorium.They don’t accommodate a big band. They can’t replicate the experience of being mesmerized by what’s in front of you, accompanied by live music, a communal experience shared by hundreds of fans. At the time, I described this show as spectacular. Looking back, yes, that was the right word.

In this blog: A post, one of my blog posts, is linked to by NPR’s web site. I get a big head. Later, NPR’s jazz blog challenges both Plastic Sax and me to respond to an Atlantic Cities article, focused on 18th and Vine, on the sustainability of jazz branding. NPR links to my response. I get a bigger head.

At Take Five Coffee + Bar: Rich Wheeler and Matt Otto, both on tenor sax, own the crowd. This is contemporary jazz, mostly Matt’s compositions, not something easy to swing or swing with. Folding chairs have been set up, but those filled, too, so some of the audience is leaning against counters or walls. Nobody is talking. We’re in the suburbs, in Leawood, Kansas. On a Friday night, a packed coffee house is where to find jazz. While Jardine’s withered, Take Five quietly grew into an engaging jazz venue. The KC area hosts the same number of jazz sites as we did when this blog began. Only the neighborhoods and atmosphere have changed.

At The Blue Room: I'd had a bad day, and a friend offered to buy me a drink at The Blue Room. A big band and vocalist were performing and, my friend assured me, they should be good together. A young, red-haired waif strutted onto the stage and belted an up-tempo version of Miss Otis Regrets. I was astounded. Here was a jazz vocalist as outstanding as anyone, anywhere. Hearing Megan Birdsall that night inspired me to go out and discover other young performers capturing Kansas City’s jazz scene. And finding them inspired me to start this blog.

These are some of the reasons you’ll find a new post on Kansas City and jazz here most Mondays.

This week marks the third anniversary of this blog, kcjazzlark.

Thank you, everyone, for coming back and taking another look.