ENTERTAINMENT
The University Daily KANSAN
August 29,1983 Page 6
KC remembers jazz heritage with week-long festival
KANSAS CITY, MO. — The Gem Theater stands boarded up in the middle of the block. The green paint on its doors is peeling. Across the street another old brick building stands deserted. Bars cover the broken windows. The door it is also deserted. So is the one on the corner.
The neighborhood isn't dying, though. It is still alive and full of energy. Jazz is the heartbeat, the pulse of 18th and Vine streets. Jazz was born here.
Bill Reisler, president of the Kansas City Jazz Festival Committee, said that the festival was not new to Kansas City.
Kansas City is remembering its jazz heritage this week with the rebirth of the Kansas City Jazz Festival, which began Saturday with a jazz concert and art show in the streets around 18th and Oline Vine.
Seven years ago, the yearly festivals stopped because people did not seem interested, he said. This year, however, the committee decided to try again.
THE FESTIVAL WILL RUN all week but the climax will be this weekend when Count Basie celebrates his 79th birthday on stage at the Crown Center Square, he said. George Benson will perform there on Saturday and Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald will perform there Sunday evening.
the festival opened at 18th and Vine streets because that is where jazz started, Reisler said. That is also why the Committee decided to feature jazz instead of classical music or opera.
"It is a tradition," he said. "Jazz put Kansas City on the map in the 20th and 38th. We couldn't be the center for classical music or ballet as it was already are. But we have good start on jazz."
Up on stage on 18th Street, a piano player beat out the nine-bar blues, and trumpets screamed along. But the sax was the heart of the music.
Saturday was a day full of jazz, full of the culture that inspired jazz.
NEARBY, LOCAL ARTISTS displayed their work along the sidewalls. The sights, the tastes, and of course, the sounds all reflected the time in the 1920s when 18th and F父 fathered jazz.
The doorjambs full of people. They
teamed against the buildings and sat on the curbs
and on the stoops.
Many old-timers there
Many old-timers were there. They sat on the bench in front of the old theater keeping time with the music by tapping their canes on the sidewalk. These men who grew up listening to jazz on Vine Street are gray and stooped and they remember Vine Street as it used to be.
"There were little buildings all the way up to Troost and three picture shows to it," said Alfonso Simpson, 61, a Kansas City artist who was displaying his biography of Benny and Count and all their others. Back then, Count Basie was already playing at 12th and Cherry at the Reno
Club. But, that was white back then so we never could go down and see him no more.
"BUT, ALL THE GREATS," they started here. Yeah, they all started here," said Simpson, who has lived in Kansas City for 55 years.
People played jazz in the streets back then, he said. They used to play all through the night and till noon the next day.
"But, you know," said William Lester, who was also listening to the music, "I hope that this isn't the end of an era because this is where it is. This is it."
Lester grew up on Vine Street.
"Kansas City is me," he said. "I was born here. And not in no hospital either. And, I was raised here and I never left. Oh, I guess I went to Utah once. But, this music is Kansas City."
His old blue eyes sparkled. His gray hair and missing teeth showed that he had been around for a long time. He had aged, but jazz had not. His feet could not stay still. He swayed to the music, and as he talked, he directed the band with his left hand.
"JAZZ IS MY MAIN MAN," he said. "I can listen to it and can make me cry because ... well, just because," he said. "I was here when it started. We were kids growing up together. Then, jazz was jazz. Now, they call it jazz but it ain't. Rock 'n' roll ain't jazz."
The sax hit a high G and slid back down as Lester said, "Don't you hear it? Don't you hear that beat? Now, that is jazz." And he smiled.
"That is Herman up there," he said. "He's 12 years older than me. And he's still playing jazz and he's playing with the same boys he played on with those steps there."
Lester pointed to the elderly man playing on the stage.
The band had finished its set, except for one number. They came down from the stage and marched among the crowd playing "When the Saints Go Marching In." When the band members got down among them, passed their instruments around. Most of the old band held part of the band or some other band when they were younger. They all knew how to play. They all knew the song.
PEOPLE DANCED IN THE street, singing along and clapping their hands. Some of the old people couldn't dance anymore. They just sat, watching and nodding to the music.
"This music was only for the blanks in those days," Lester said. "It was reserved for them. They called it 'colored music,'" he laughed. "Can you imagine? Music that has a color?" The music is still cursors but now it is for all of us. It isn't just mine or yours but it's for everyone.
wearing the band finally marched back up on stage and finished off the song with the loud blast and dying finish that is characteristic of jazz.
The band had finished and other musicians were standing on the steps of the stage, waiting.
"Jazz never left here," Lester said. "She never left. And she never will. Kansas City will always have a jazz heritage, always."
As part of the first annual 18th and Vine Arts Festival, Hermann Walder, Kansas City, Mo., playing with the Mutual Musicians' Foundation Big Band, leads a crowd of people through the street to the tune of "When the Saints Come Marching In." The Mutual Musicians' Foundation Big Band, bottom, was one of many bands to perform at the festival Saturday. The trumpet player on the right is Booker Samuel, also of Kansas City, Mo.
"Laugh-In" to return
Bv United Press International
So far the hour-long show, edited to a half-hour, has been sold in 66 cities. It will be televised five times a week. Gary Owens, original announcer of the series, is cutting new serial
The original "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," which revolutionized television comedy in the 1960s, will go into syndication Sept. 26 in New York and Los Angeles, a week before general release.
Union honors Chaney
Asner to be candidate
Angeles. The presentation will honor the senior Chaney, known as "the Man of a Thousand Faces," for such makeup classes as the "Hunchback of Notre Dame" and the "Phantom of the Opera." The ceremony will take place exactly 53 years after the elder Chaney's death.
Lon Chaney II will accept an honorary plaque from the Hollywood makeup artists and hair stylists in uniform of his late grandfather Aug. 26 at the University of California-Los
Ed Adner, controversial first-term president of the Screen Actors Guild, has elected to run for governor.
The former star of the "Lou Grant" TV series will head a list of 12 candidates for the union's three national offices, four Hollywood vice presidents and 12 Hollywood board seats.
Asner will be seeking a second two-year term
series, "Mr. Smith." Smith, who played with Clint Eastwood in "Any Which Way You Can," and with Bob Deerk in "Tarzan," is an orangutan. In "Mr. Smith" he talks and has an IQ of 196. NBC quotes him as saying, "I have always been reluctant to get involved with TV. But I'm on the daily rushes and the scripts I've seen. I feel I've really made the right decision."
Series stars orangutan
Mr. Smith went to Washington and now has returned to Hollywood to work on his new NBC
Beauties inspire boxer
Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, World Boxing Association lightweight champion, has a pair of Penthouse Pets — Sheila Kennedy and Cody Carmack — watching him train at Grossinger, N.Y. Asked why he had the girls around, Mancini said, "They get my adrenalin up before I start to train and I find it very good." Mancini defends his title Sept. 15 against Peru's Orlando Romero at Madison Square Garden. The pair of Pets will be ringed.
SPARE TIME
ON CAMPUS
WOMEN IN COMMUNICATION will have its first meeting at the semester at 7 p.m. today in Room 100 Flint Hull Sue Parcelc, co-anchor of WADF.-Ana Schroeder, will discuss the WADF-Court case court.
UNIVERSITY DANCE Company auditions will be at 6 p.m. today in Studio 242 of Robinson Center. No solo material is required. Bring KID to enter the building after 5 p.m.
ANYONE INTERESTED IN JOINing the Colegium Muscat chair should call 864-3391
Renewals is at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
SUA FILMS WILL show the movie "Dr. X" at
7:30 p.m. tomorrow in Woodruff Auditorium of
the Kansas Union.
WORKS BY KU FACULTY Richard Branham and David Hill will be on exhibit in the Art and Design Gallery through Sept. 9.
THE ECUMENICAL CHRISTIAN Ministries will have a contemplative prayer time from 7:45:8:15 a.m. Wednesday. Everyone is welcome.
THE SPENCER MUSEUM OF Art will present the exhibit "Eldred and Nevelson: Another Dimension" in the White Gallery, "Influences: Antique and Contemporary Quilts", and "Early Modern Art from the Guggenheim Museum."
DESIGN
AN EXHIBIT TITLED "America's Architectural Heritage" will be displayed from 8 a.m. to p.m. Mondays through Fridays through Sept. 9.
THE TAU SIGA STUDENT dance club will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Studio 24 of Robinson.
THE FIRST MEETING of the Public Relations Student Society of America will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, 2014, at the University of Florida.
LAWRENCE
INTERNATIONAL FOLK dancing for beginners is from 7:30 to p.m., and request dancing is from 9:10 to 3 p.m. Fridays outside Wesco Hall during the summer. At other times the dancing takes place at St. John's Gym. Everyone is partners are not needed and admission is free.
ENROLLMENT FOR CLASSES at the Lawrence Arts Center started Saturday and will continue through Sept. 12. The center will be held from 9 a.m. to p.m. Tuesday through Fridays for enrollment.
THE PERMANENT COLLECTION of the Elizabeth M. Watkins Community Museum includes Old Watkins Bank ornate teller cages, a 1920 electric car and a 19th century surrey — with the fringe on top. Museum hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Saturday and 1:30-4 p.m.
recital at 7:30 p.m. today in the University of Missouri at Kansas City Conservatory.
THE CLINTON LAKE MUSEUM will feature the first 20 years of the Clinton Lake communities.
REGION
MARIE ELFORD will give a guest accordion
HANK WILLIAMS JR., will play at 8 p.m. today at the Starlight Theater; the proceed will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
THE KANSAS CITY MUSEUM will show "Marijana's World: Strawberry Hill" and "Preservation Movement in Kansas City." KANSAS CITY JAZZ artists will be featured in lunch-time and evening performances throughout Kansas City. The following groups will play today: The Pete Eye Trio at the Alameda Plaza; Roy Searcy & the Jazz All-Stars at Phillips House; the Carmel Jones Quartet at the City Light; New Red Onion Babies at the Bristol Bar; Gary Barr Trio featuring Val Rizer at the Sni-Blue Lounge; and Oleta Adams at the Signboard Bar. For more information call the Kansas City Jazz Hotline: 333-227-
DEADLINE FOR "Doll Up Westport," a doll-making and doll-dress contest in celebration of Westport's 150th Birthday, is Wednesday.
Stephen Phillips/Kansar
"THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY Brown" will be presented at the Waldo Astoria Dinner Playhouse. Tuesday-Sunday until Sept. 16. Doors: 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and at noon Sunday.
MOVIE REVIEWS
--such is the case with a film now playing at the Varsity Theater. The film is "Risky Business" and the previews and commercials shown on television make the film look like another schoolteacher's film. But "Risky Business" is not another of those dogs. It is actually very good.
It seems that more and more often Hollywood films are advertised to the American public with previews that are misleading and actually deter certain people from going to the movie.
Although the plot is the same as many recent films in that it takes an innocent, inexperienced male and throws him into temptation — in this case, a bad movie film — he is beautifully designed and photographed.
Cinematographers Reynaldo Villalobos and Bruce Surce combine their talents to throw a film about the life of a girl.
Written and directed by Paul Brickman,
"Risky Business" dares to buck the star system.
The lead role is played by Tom Cruise (sever
longer) than in "Titanic," the movie are
known by name or even by sight.
Cruise plays a high school senior who lives along the lakefront in Chicago. He and his affluent friends are jockeying for position in whatever prestigious university that will accept them.
This is, of course, secondary to their attempts to seduce every willing female they meet. These become the major plot structures of the movie
Cruise eventually winds up turning his parents' house into a bordello for an evening after a complicated series of mishaps. During the wild party that night, Cruise is visited by the representative of Princeton University who has given him permission for admission. Guess what happens.
Predictable as the plot may be, the film is well made and beautiful to look at on the screen. The opening shot is of downtown Chicago, taken from a subway station. The camera is vibrating slightly and the effect is startling.
Tangerine Dream provides the musical score, while the work of several other artists is featured, including Muddy Waters, Bob Seger and The Police. At times the score by Tangerine Dream gives the film an almost surreal mood, with its beautiful production design by William Cassidy.
The scenes of sex in this film may be among the most tastful, yet erotic, ever filmed. In one scene, Brickman accomplishes this without baring either actor.
Brickman has made an interesting film and it's comforting to find that it is not just another "Private School."
-Mike Cuenca
BLOOM COUNTY
BY BERKE BREATHED