University Daily Kansan, August 18, 1983
Page 7
Jazz still tradition in K.C.
By JUDITH HINDMAN Staff Reporter
During the Pendergast reign of sin,
corruption and booze, jazz wailed
nightly from the doorways around 12th
and 13th Street, whose unlit
moralization by the song "Kansas City."
That was in the 1930s when Kansas City, Mo, was in its heyday as one of the leading cities.
JAZZ HAD ORIGINATED in New Orleans in the latter part of the 19th century and later moved north to Chicago, Kansas City and New York.
Because it is an art form that is spontaneous, emotional and improvisational, distinctive styles developed in many cities.
Jazz, which was first spelled jass or jaz, developed from the black work songs, field shouts, sorrow songs, hymns and American Negro spirituals whose musical elements were predominantly African.
According to Dick Wright, KU associate professor of music history who is teaching three jazz history courses this semester, the world eventually came to recognize Kansas City's style of jazz, which was a way of swinging the blues and combining it with boogie-woogie.
The blues is a 12-bar form of specific chord progression on which musicians improvise. Flattened notes create the "blue" sound. Wright said if it wasn't played in the proper 12-bar form, it wasn't blues.
THE BLUES FORM provides a framework within which the melody, harmony and rhythm can become upon the performer's sophistication.
Boggie-woogie is blues played at eight beats to the bar instead of the usual four. This accompaniment gives an exciting, relentless quality to the music.
Wright said that besides a distinctive jazz style. Kansas City jazz musicians also contributed the idea of the jam session and the riff.
The riff is repeated rhythmic figures played as background by the other band members while a soloist improvises.
This rhythmic manner of playing as a unit crew enhances the emotion that engenders your name's "Rhythm."
DURING THE SWINGING years in Kansas City, Bennie Moten, Count Basie, Big Joe Turner, Jay McShannon, Charlie Parker, Harlan Leonard and Andy Kirk and his pianist and arranger, Mary Lou Williams, all poured out their brand of jazz for the nightly revelers in booze and blues.
"That was a time of opportunity for jazz." Wright said.
It was a time when Tom Pendergast's free-wheeling method of government allowed authorities to look the other way and let the clubs stay open.
Pendergast and his corrupt political machine controlled Kansas City government for almost 25 years.
During many years, gamblers, pimps
and con men flourished and music was in constant demand. Opportunities to play were unlimited and friendly rivalry among musicians led to the jam sessions becoming almost a way of life. The new experimentation and new developments.
AFTER THE PENDERGAST reign collapsed in the late 1940s and the town was cleaned up, jazz languished from lack of local support and many Kansas City jazz players went elsewhere to play their music.
"Jazz has had some tough sledding in the last few years," Wright said. "But the commission is trying to restore the fact that Kansas City is famous throughout the world for steaks and jazz."
Wright was referring to the Kansas City Jazz Commission created last year by Mayor Richard Berkley of Kansas City, Mo.
The 13-member commission was created to provide a clearing-house for ideas to promote and revive jazz and to restore some of the older areas where jazz was played. Wright is a member of that commission.
Wright said Kansas City jazz had become a tourist attraction for visitors.
THE COMMISSION ESTABLISHED a jazz打琴 (816- 333-2227) for performance information about bands playing in local nightspots.
The commission also sponsors a popular event in March, the Jazz Lovers' PUB Crawl. For a $5 ticket, the 1,500 participants can ride on of the shuttle buses that stop every half hour and attend events that feature local jazz musicians.
Bill Irving, president of Irving Advertising and coordinator for the event, said another Pub Crawl was planned for Sentember.
Wright said that starting in 1984 the commission hoped to sponsor a national organization.
Jazz is also being revived in other ways.
THE KANSAS CITY MO. PARKS and Recreation Department sponsors a summer Music in the Parks series that brings in some of today's great jazz musicians for free Sunday evening concerts in the city's parks.
This past July, 14,000 people jammed a Dave Brubeck concert at Brush Creek
"This is one of the finest summer concert series, especially for jazz lovers, in the country," Wright said.
The series will feature Gary Burton's jazz ensemble at 7 p.m. Aug. 28, also at
This will be the last jazz concert of the regular season for the parks department, but jazz lovers have many more hours of music to look at in Los Angeles. LA City.
A JAZZ FESTIVAL, Kansas City
City will take place on Labor Day
Weekend.
The three-day festival is the first of a planned annual event produced by the Kansas City Jazz Festival Committee, a new non-profit organization.
"The festival was developed to help
revitalize Kansas City as a national center for jazz." Bob Rohlf, Starlight Theater general manager and festival spokesman, said.
the rest inaugural begins at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2 at Crown Center Square with a celebration to honor Count Basie's 79th birthday. Bassie and his band will perform in a tree concert, which will also include many of Kansas City's older jazz artists.
On Saturday, Sept. 3, in conjunction with the Nelson-Akins Museum of Art's 50th anniversary celebration, the festival moves to the museum's lawn.
The parks department will sponsor a twilight jazz concert from 5 to 9 n.m.
jazz concert to 8 p.m.
ALSO SATURDAY NIGHT, George Benson, internationally recognized jazz guitarist, will perform at 8 p.m. at Starlight Theater in Swote Park.
Ticket prices range from $5 to $20.
On Sunday, Sept. 4, the festival moves back to Crown Center with a free showcase of Kansas City jazz artists from 1 to 5 p.m. in the square.
rine festival will end Sunday on a high note with a performance by Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson at 8 PM. Ticket prices range from $5 to $20.
Jazz lovers also will be able to hear jazz during the fall and winter.
The Folly Theater and the Friends of Jazz in Kansas City are producing six concerts to be highlighted by jazz music director Toni Thomas and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
The Friends of Jazz is moving its series from the group's current location at the Jewish Community Center to the downtown location at 300 W. 12th St.
THE FRIENDS OF JAZZ series begins Sept. 18, with the Great Guitars concert featuring Charlie Byrd, Herb Ellis and Barrard Kessel.
The Folly-produced series, called the
Both Street Series, begins on Oct. 2.
It will be Ms. Mykell's
Tickets are available for the entire season as well as for the individual shows. For information call (816) 842-5500.
Here's the complete schedule:
*The Great Guitars; Charlie Byrd*
*Hals and Barney Kesler; 7.30*
*m. Sept.*
*Jay McShannon and Eddie "Lock-jaun" Davis, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2.
- Preservation Hall Jazz Band, 8
p.m. Oct. 25.
- Red Holloway and Jack Sheldon,
7:30 p.m. Jan. 15.
- Bucky Pizzarelli and Eddie Daniels, 7:30 p.m. Feb.19.
The seventh annual Women's Jazz Festival is scheduled for the last week of March. The festival is one of the city's well-known events and includes jazz and jam sessions. Information is available through the jazz hotline number.
JAZZ LOVERS CAN still hear jam sessions at the Mutual Musicians Foundation, 1823 Highland Ave., on Fridays and Saturday.
Students help neighborhoods
By DAVID E. SHAY Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
The seven Lawrence neighborhood associations offer KU students an opportunity to get to know their neighbors and get involved in the community, according to several association presidents.
Terry Summers, president of the Pinckney Neighborhood Association, said getting to know the neighbors was helpful in watching crime. By identifying neighbors, residents have an easier time spotting intruders.
ALAN JOHNSON, president of the East Lawrence Improvement Association, said that neighborhood associations presented students a chance to participate in conservation programs, which include tree planting and a biennial cleanup.
The Oread Neighborhood Association offers assistance programs too. Residents of the area may borrow tools from the tool pool, as well as a lawnmower and snow removal equipment. The president of the Oread association.
Oread also offers a program that informs residents of their rights as tenants. The association has even hired an investigator in tenant-landlord disputes.
University students, who are often energetic and concerned, serve as officers and board members in some of the organizations.
Johnson said that students with expertise in a particular field have helped the neighborhood. For example, the East Lawrence Association had architecture students who helped design many of its projects.
JOHNSON SAID THAT many pro-
fessors along because of
student enthusiasm.
"Students tend to be the first to jump
the bandwagon for projects," he said.
Some KU students are involved in North Lawrence with tutoring at the Ballard Community Center, 708 Elm St., according to Jack Todd, president of the North Lawrence Improvement Association. They teach math and reading to students of Woodlawn Elementary School.
Johnson said college students were important to his organization because they had more free time to devote to school. Another person who works a full-time job
The presidents of the East Central Lawrence Neighborhood Association, the Brook Creek Improvement Association and the Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Association also said that few students lived in their neighborhoods, but those who did were welcome to join.
Many of the areas served by the neighborhood associations have a very small student population, so there is little student involvement.
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