Section A·
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, January 28, 1998
Pulse of jazz beating strongly in Kansas City
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Continued from page 14 exciting, the popular music of the time.
Wright said that although they weren't abundant today, a few clubs still featured the music from the great jazz era.
Still swingin'
Noori Jones runs the Boulevard Cafe, 703 Southwest Blvd., and she hires the restaurant's live entertainment.
"From the first day we opened the place, jazz was as important to us as the food," Jones said. "I know that there are not a lot of places in KC that house jazz today, and I don't understand why. We have sincerely good musicians."
Jones said she could see how some clubs might lose money to audiences that just sat and listened without buying much. However, she said she felt that her cafe had found a niche.
"We are successful because we consistently have the music here," she said. "And that is what clubs and restaurants need. People need to know where to find the music at all times."
The Boulevard Cafe features a Brazilian jazz group called the "Sons of Brazil," every Tuesday night, and it also features jazz trios and quartets on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The Phoenix Bar and Grill, at 8th and Central streets in downtown Kansas City, Mo., is another of the city's hottest jazz venues.
Hugh Chandler, restaurant manager, hires jazz bands to play at the Phoenix. He said that the club booked live jazz successfully every night of the week except Sunday.
"I think there are quite a few jazz clubs coming up," he said. "There are a lot of little clubs popping' up north."
Chandler said that although his club had been successful and had profited from booking jazz performers, he understood how some clubs or restaurants might avoid jazz because it could be expensive. He said that some clubs actually might chase business away by booking seven or eight-piece bands that were too big for the venue.
"Some places hire bigger bands and people can't stand to listen to them in a small, closed-in environment," he said. "Not only does it result in a smaller crowd and less people coming to listen, but it can kill the club because a band that big can be expensive."
Milt Abel, one of Kansas City's most-loved jazz bass players, said club owners who initially frowned on jazz had started to loosen up.
"More clubs are playin' jazz," Abel said. "And the clubs are where the people can come listen to the music."
Abel said that there still was only a select group of people in Kansas City that understood and enjoyed jazz.
"People are blinded by the fact that KC jazz was great in the '30s and '40s. They don't realize that it's building back up again."
- Dick Wright, University of Kansas music historian
"They called it crazy music back then, during the beebop era," Abel said. "But they're still playin' it, and it will always be big in KC."
Captivating a grand audience
The problem in Kansas City right now, musicians and club owners say, is that without an audience, clubs will not give jazz musicians exposure. Ironically, without exposure, audiences won't learn to appreciate jazz, and there won't be the critical mass necessary to support the clubs.
Rod Fleeman, one of Kansas City's hottest jazz-guitar players, said that jazz would be difficult to bring to the public unless a lot of clubs consistently hired jazz bands and people knew where to look.
"Radio is so controlled today," he said. "So people are not exposed to jazz on a large scale. You have to present it to them."
Wright said that a constant battle among jazz institutions within Kansas City was not helping the scene.
The opening of the Kansas City Jazz Museum and the newly renovated Gem theater in the 18th and Vine district did not succeed entirely in getting Kansas City involved in jazz again, he said.
"The theater is a wonderful thing, and a lot of people made it down for the grand opening, but I'm not sure if people will continue to go down there and experience it," Fleeman said. "I think it will be good for drawing tourists, but I just wish it would draw Kansas Citians as well."
The museum, Wright said, lost some of its appeal when certain Kansas City jazz legends were played down.
"Count Basis was a huge part of Kansas City jazz, and for some reason, from what I hear, he wasn't very well represented in the museum," Wright said. "When people go down to the museum, they want to see everything about Kansas City jazz. They need to see everything."
Wright said that opening the museum and the theater was just a beginning step in increasing public awareness of Kansas City jazz.
Well-known Kansas City jazz-piano player Pete Eye said that more clubs needed to act as a consistent forum for jazz, but that musicians had to do their part and try to sell the music to the crowd.
Preserving the tradition
"If you're just playing a lot of complicated lines and notes, people won't stick around," he said. "You've got to get people excited and you've got to get them involved."
Herman Bell came to Kansas City in the 1940s to play tenor saxophone.
Bell said that most of the music back then came out of jam sessions, but that today, the musicians union frowned on jamming.
"Back then they just hired a rhythm section, and by the end of the night, the place was full of players who just came in to play and showcase their stuff," he said. "People would come in to listen and spend the night and most of their money in the club."
"People were involved in it back then," Bell said. "It was free jazz all night. People came in and bought drinks and stuff and just had a good time."
Bell said other forms of popular music, as well as football and baseball, had pushed jazz as a form of entertainment into the back seat.
"Back then (the 1930s and '40s), jazz was it," he said.
Wright said Kansas City tried to expose jazz through the International Jazz Festival in September, but ticket sales were so poor that he had to hand out a couple hundred tickets for free just so the seats were filled.
"It was somewhat embarrassing and disappointing," he said. "Here you have KC, the home of blues and jazz, and not many people came to listen."
Wright said that although there were not as many jazz places today as there were in the '30s and '40s, they did exist.
"People are blinded by the fact that KC jazz was great in the '30s and '40s," Wright said. "They don't realize that it's building back unagain."
Abel said he didn't understand why Kansas City jazz was popular in Europe but not in Kansas City.
When a Kansas City jazz musician plays in Europe and tells the people over there that he is from Kansas City, they are excited and immediately want to talk to him, Abel said.
"They recognize the greatness of Kansas City jazz," he said. "It is starting to be fun again, and it would be great if we could make it feel good all over in KC again." he said.
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