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Home to a host of jazz greats: Bennie Moten, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Big Joe Turner, Mary Lou Williams, Hot Lips Page (criminally underrated to this day!), Jay McShann, and others who played the city's raucous clubs, Kansas City became a smorgasbord for music lovers. Jazz first came to the city from the Deep South through traveling shows, and was nurtured in the city's African American neighborhoods. The vibrant District is now an overpolished relic of what was. In fact, a pattern of sabotage has seemed to threaten cradles of Black music wherever they spring up. Most musicians who amounted to anything, they would flock to Kansas City because that's the place where jobs were plentiful."īut the destruction of the storied blues scene in Southern cities like Memphis also happened to jazz in Kansas City. Rhythm and blues musician Jesse Stone, a Kansas City, Missouri native, once said "Kansas City… did more for jazz music, Black music, than any other influence at all." He told the Orlando Sentinel in 1993, "Almost all their joints that they had there, they used Black bands. Kansas City local Clint Ashlock - artistic director and conductor of the esteemed Kansas City Jazz Orchestra - also helms a jazz quintet.Īnd another must-see act is Jazz Disciples, a quartet featuring saxophonist Gerald Dunn, pianist Everett Freeman, drummer Michael Warren and bassist DeAndre Manning.Read next: The Mutual Musicians Foundation is fighting the gentrification of Jazz in Kansas City
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You’ll find fresh faces like Delynia Jannell at early evening Indigo Hour sessions. Take time to explore the museum, grab a bite to eat at a local restaurant in the district and slip into the club for evening entertainment.Ĭheck the Blue Room's calendar for current listings.
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The club is named after a famed 1930s hotel club that once held court in the district. The Blue Room, part of the American Jazz Museum in the historic 18th and Vine Jazz District, brings Kansas City’s storied jazz past to the present. Here you’ll find luminaries such as pianist Tim Whitmer’s Quartet with Jim Mair, the Matt Villinger Trio and the Leslie McLean Trio. Trios of artists abound here, led by Danny Embry, Rod Fleeman, Ken Lovern, Jeff Shirley, Tyrone Clark and more.īlack Dolphin - a club with the same owner-operator located next to Green Lady Lounge - also packs in guests for evening and late-night sessions.
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Stylish attire isn't required, but musicians and staff are dressed to the nines - making guests feel snazzier as they sip on cocktails and sit mere feet away from the action on stage.ĭon't miss the Orion Room, a downstairs hideaway with a grand piano and drum kit, where other musicians perform on a second stage. The dark, cozy lounge provides an intimate space to see, hear and experience jazz from both established and up-and-coming artists.Īrrive early to secure a seat, especially on weekends, as many late sessions attract a standing-room-only crowd. If you're looking for a hip, happening spot to catch evening and late-night jazz sessions, head to Green Lady Lounge in the Crossroads. Twitter Green Lady Lounge in the Crossroads District provides an intimate space to see, hear and experience late-night jazz sessions.