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ARTS & CULTURE
KANSAN.COM | THURSDAY, NOV.12, 2015
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WHAT'S YOUR SIGN?
John Brown's Underground is a 1920s-styled eatery and bar near 8th and Massachusetts Streets
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Work closely with your partner for about six weeks, with Mars in Libra. Collaboration gets more fun. The next two days are good for travel.
New opportunities present themselves. Expand your perspective by witnessing new views.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Handle financial matters today and tomorrow. Review your reserves and expenses.
Put away provisions. Pour your energy into your work for about six weeks, with Mars in Libra. Work faster and produce more results
(including money).
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
Partnership and collaboration are the name of the game today and tomorrow.
Sign contracts. Passions enflame, with Mars in Libra over the next six weeks. Immerse yourself in the most fun game you can find. Love and romance flower with
playfulness.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
Renovation demands physical effort for about six weeks, with Mars in Libra. Put your energy into improving your home situation. Balance work and home life today and tomorrow. Make your deadlines.
Clean up later.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) --
You're intent on getting the whole story for about six weeks, with Mars in Libra.
Education is key. Go to the sour. Explore uncharted frontiers. Take more time for play over the next two days. Invite someone interesting.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Energize your home base.
The next two days are good for domestic projects. Collaborate to grow joint accounts over the next six weeks, with Mars in Libra. Work out budgetary priorities. Watch family spending
closely.
FILE PHOTO/KANSAN
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Communication is kev today
and tomorrow. Cleverly word your message. Express your authentic feelings. For about six weeks, with Mars in your sign, focus on personal development. You're energized and empowered contribute to a bigger
... contribute to a bigger cause.
and attics. File away the past to clear space for new adventures. Enjoy private tranquility
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Cash flow improves today and tomorrow. Over the next six weeks, with Mars in Libra, go through old papers, photos and possessions. Clean closets, garages
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) You're strong and creative for the next few days. Team projects and community efforts get farther than solo work over the next six weaks, with Mars in Libra. Push together and share resources. Get involved with kindred spirits.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Advance professionally over the next six weeks, with Mars in Libra. Move forward boldly. Pour energy into your career. Consider options over the next few days. Make plans and consider logistics. Rest and recuperate after physical activity.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Venture farther over the next six weeks, with Mars in Libra. Travels, education and exploration occupy you. Get out and discover new frontiers. Your team comes to your rescue today
new frontiers. Your team comes to your rescue today and tomorrow. Your friends support you.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Over the next six weeks,
with Mars in Libra, make
financial plans for the future.
Revise your budget. Be
more aggressive about
saving. Collaborate to grow
family funds. Prepare for a
test or challenge today and
tomorrow.
RYAN MILLER
@Ryanmiller_UDK
Tucked away off the beaten path at 7 E. 7th Street in Lawrence lies the entrance to a hidden gem that opened about a year ago in Lawrence — John Brown's Underground.
Walking into the speakeasy is a blast from the past. A green light is turned on when it's open, and photos from the early 1920s line the walls throughout, mostly lit by flickering candelight." Near the bar, a mural shows the iconic image of John Brown — an abolitionist in pre-civil war Kansas — in a suit with a microphone in one hand and an instrument in the other with a backlit 1920s Massachusetts Street setting, even with the 1920s Jayhawk tucked away into the crowd of partying folk.
In the upstairs space, where The Waffle Iron resides on weekends, are several side rooms adorned with early century styled furniture, paintings, and photos; and in the darkly lit poker room behind the bar lies two actual 1919 photos of owner Scott Elliott's great-grandparents.
"The biggest compliment I've gotten since opening is when I've had people walk in, they go 'I feel like I just walked into a different time, or a different city'" Elliott said.
After a year of successful
business, John Brown's Underground has been able to acquire new space upstairs and will move their kitchen to the new space in three months and expand their food menu.
"Once we hit that number, as we do every Friday [and] Saturday, we turn the red light from green and lock the door with a doorman standing guard," he said.
The original underground space can seat up to 90 people, which Elliot said reaches capacity every Friday and Saturday. In that case, customers are let in on a first come first serve basis.
The current kitchen will be turned into a side lounge that will seat up to 10 people. Elliott said he's also looking forward to using the recently acquired space upstairs for different events.
The Waffle Iron is open during the weekends, and the space is also being used to host birthday parties, rehearsal dinners, receptions and more.
["We're] really getting into utilizing that space; it's so versatile." Elliott said.
John Brown's Underground also features a rotating menu, and they recently began serving their uniquely designed fall menu, with many of the herbs and spices being homegrown in Elliott's garden.
Several new cocktails and drinks are included in the
menu, like 'The Poker Room' which is made with King Ginger, Leopold Apple Whiskey, fresh lemon and freshly ground cinnamon on top. In addition to the new drinks are classic drinks and cocktails for people with a different preference.
Some food items on the new menu include Cheese Dip and Waffles, the Speakeasy Sandwich, and one of Elliott's favorites, the Root Vegetable Chips.
"We do our own house-made vegetable chips with shaved sweet potatoes and shaved beets. We flash fry them, and they are incredible," Elliott said.
The idea for John Brown's Underground came to be after Elliott and his friends visited a 1920s and '30s themed place hidden off the beaten path in Austin Texas. He said it got him and his friend talking about how they could bring that concept to Lawrence.
"Myself and a friend got to talking about that concept done in Lawrence, and how it could be done, and who it could attract, and where could it be, and kind of taking that same concept of off the beaten path but really close to the action." Elliott said.
Elliott said he decided on the "Roaring Twenties" era because hed always been fascinated by it, and he wanted to bring that experience to the diverse community in Lawrence.
verse community in Lawrence. "That was America as we knew it, and it was growing; everything was real. The food was real, the drinks were real, everything was real," he said.
The next step for Elliott was a name, and he decided on John Brown's Underground after talking with his friend Chris Kennedy. Kennedy and his brother had always wanted to open an underground place similar to the idea of Elliott's, and Kennedy offered to let Elliott take the name John Brown's Underground.
Despite the gap between the pre-civil war with John Brown and the 1920s, Elliott said the concept fit in perfectly with the era, and Lawrence specifically.
"Without what John Brown did for Lawrence in particular, all of these times that we've had from the 1900s through today wouldn't exist," Elliott said. "So we really try to pay homage to it and blend the two together."
Elliott said that's also what inspired the mural they made on the wall, which also drew inspiration from the Massachusetts streetscene in 1922 and Massachusetts Street when the University won the national championship in 2008.
"We changed [the mural] into turning him into a really celebrated figure and hero, if you will, with a party going on
CONTRIBUTED/KANSAN
Alipus san juan mezcal,
muddled pineapple and
jalapeño, topped with
ginger beer.
around him," Elliott said.
Emily Overland, a bartender that works at the speakeasy said she hopes they draw in a unique crowd that is looking for something out of the ordinary.
"There's that saying that you have to find your third place. You have your home, work, and then that third place, [and] I really hope that this could be that for a lot of people," she said.
The biggest thing Elliott said he hopes people take away from visiting the speakeasy is a positive vintage experience.
"When you come in, you should have experienced a vibe and an energy that's real and that's unlike anything else," Elliott said.
Edited by Jackson Vickery
KU Jazz Ensemble works with a star trumpeter
SAMANTHA SEXTON
@Sambiscuit
The University of Kansas Jazz Ensemble I played with Sean Jones, trumpeter and chair of the Brass Department at the Berklee School of Music, on Nov. 11.
The KU Jazz Ensemble is no stranger to famous guest performances, collaborating with saxophonist Steve Wilson, and wife and husband duo Kerry Marsh and Julia Dollson Holding with this tradition, the ensemble welcomed and played with Ohio native Sean Jones, best known for his improvised trumpet pieces, on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
Jones practiced with the students on Wednesday. However, the ensemble prepared for the last month by going over Jones's music, which several students said they enjoyed.
CONTRIBUTED/KANSAN
"His music is so different," said Peter Martin, a senior and guitarist with the ensemble. "It's still jazz, but he uses some unconventional chord changes and he definitely likes to break the pattern, which almost breaks the mold of what is jazz."
Jones's style comes from his early days in the choir at his local church, where he became deeply entrenched in gospel music. That, mixed with his classical training, he received while at Youngstown State University, led to a tone that jazz critic R.J. DeLuke calls "complex and still bright."
"Jones does a lot of fusion in his work," said Zachary Pischnotte, a saxophonist, doctoral student and jazz studiess major. "There's elements
But because it stands out, the ensemble has had to work hard to keep up with Jones's blend of styles.
"It's been challenging to learn and get down right," Martin said. "But looking at the music from a different view point is what I love."
of funk and soul in his jazz, which makes it really stand out."
He added: "Jones is super melodic, and he makes it seem so easy despite the fact that it really isn't, but we've been practicing a lot, and I think we've all learned a great deal along the way."
Pischnotte agreed. He said that while some students will have solos and have had to learn the parts perfectly themselves, the ensemble as a whole has improved as well.
While some students have found the music itself an educational experience, others can't wait to see the musician himself.
"He's definitely a big name in the jazz world," said Erik Mahon, a trumpeter, doctoral student and jazz studies GTA. "We like to say he's 'jazz famous.' If you know jazz, you know this guy."
While playing a concert with famous artists is an experience, Pischnotte said hearing
"Honestly, just hearing these guys play in their element is the best part about being in the ensemble," Pischnotte said. "They never have a bad night when they're here, and neither do we. I'm so grateful that we get this experience because I'd rarely be able to see the greatest artists."
the artists play teaches him the most.
The feeling a musician expresses during the music gives jazz its meaning. The music is written, but there are no rules
about how it should sound. Being able to see and hear an artist up close can be an integral part of developing as an musician, Pischotte said.
"What I really like about jazz is that you get to be creative within the set confines of the structure," Martin said. "A tune has a set chord progression, but each individual player gets to interpret that in a solo in his or her own way. We can voice what we want to say and have a personal investment in music written by someone else. You
know, on a much deeper level,
what the artist is trying to say"
Before the concert,
Pischnote, Martin and Mahon all agreed that hearing
Jones would be the highlight of the night.
"Out here in Lawrence there are not many opportunities to hear the top jazz musicians, and Jones is one of the best improvisers," Pischnotte said. "This is an opportunity that doesn't come by every month."