movies
Making movie history
Kansas City plays a very important role in jazz history. Sean Saffold, Cleveland graduate student, is doing his part to make sure we don't forget that.
Sean Saffold, Cleveland graduate student, and jazz vocalist Queen Bey discuss Bey's role in Saffold's jazz history movie in front of a Charlie Parker mural in the 18th and Vine district of Kansas City, Mo. The district was the most prominent influence in the jazz world in the early 1930s. Saffold's movie will document Kansas City's role in jazz history.
Daron J. Bennett / KANSAN
By J.R. Clairborne Kansan staff writer
n Sept. 18, Sean Saffold gathered more than 130 people into Liberty Hall to enjoy the sounds of Birdland jazz and raise funds for his film on Kansas City jazz. In February, the Cleveland graduate student will begin Florida's
about the only music form created in the United States — jazz
Although Saffold is currently helping another Lawrence resident, Kevin Wilmont, shoot his movie about the fast
Daron J. Bennett / KANSAN
Kansas City's 18th and Vine district is the birthplace of one of the most significant eras in jazz history. Kansas City is nicknamed 'Birdland' because of the great sax player Charlie Bird, Parker who began his musical career in the city.
life of the 1960s in Junction City, he has never lost sight of his own goal: a motion-picture-length film that focuses on the Kansas City jazz era of the early 1930s.
Saffold said that working with Wilmont had provided him with a source of inspiration.
"We're both brothers in film and we can relate," he said. "That has helped me tremendously."
he had gained contacts or leads for his film with people like Ellis Marsalis, the father of Branford and Wynton; the Hudlin Brothers, African-American film producers; and "Big Nick" Nicholas, the sax legend who would be featured in Wilmont's movie.
Through his contact with Wilmont, Saffold said that
Originally, Saffold planned for his movie to document
only the Kansas City jazz era, which lasted from 1930 to 1935. But since meeting Wilmont, who is a New York University graduate student in film, Saffold has expanded his film to encompass the evolution of jazz into mainstream America and out of the hands of the creators of the form—African Americans.
"It is the only true American art form," he said. "It has been appreciated more in Europe and Japan than in the place where it was created."
Despite the fact that Saffold sank his own personal funds into the film in its first year, he has remained optimistic about the future of his project and looks forward to the actual filming of his work in February.
Saffold credits campus contacts Chuck Berg, professor of theatre and film, and Dick Wright, associate professor of music history, for introducing him to jazz greats such as Marilyn May, a famous white jazz singer, and also the parents of Pat and Mike Metheney.
As an extension of his film, Saffold has also enlisted the aid of Daniel Williams, Langston Hughes Visiting Professor, in creating a book documenting the creation of "Birdland."
"I'm interested in jazz music as a part of the African-American heritage," Williams said. "I'm interested in approaching from the angle of dealing with their total lives, which music is a part of."
Queen Bey, a Kansas City jazz legend who recently returned from playing in a jazz festival that toured Europe, will also be in Saffold's "Birdland Jam," a second benefit concert in April which he will include in his movie. She said that she was glad to see a young person take an interest in the revival of traditional jazz.
"To see a young man in his era wanting to keep jazz alive is very impressive," she said. "You never know how the trends may go, but jazz will always be here."
books
Journalist brews up book about Kansas beer
By Sara Bennett
Special to the Kansan
Kansas may have been dry during the days of Prohibition, but "Kansas Breweries and Beer, 1854-1911," is not.
Eudora freelance journalist Cindy Higgins' colorful history chronicles Kansas brewers through pictures, stories and original records. The book has sold well since its release in November, selling 700 books in 30 days.
"Reception of the book has been amazing," she said. "Books about Kansas sell really well, and a lot of people never knew Lawrence was a big brewing town."
People are buying it because they are excited about Kansas beer and they want it.
The book began as an article on a Eudora brewery for a Kansas history magazine, Higgins said. When she began researching,
Higgins traveled from town to town, tracing brewing licenses, census records and old newspaper articles. To fund her research, she received an Alfred Landon grant from the Kansas Historical Society, which will publish an article version of the book in the summer issue of "Kansas History Magazine."
she found little or none organized information about Kansas breweries. This sparked her curiosity, and she decided to write a book on the subject.
Chuck Magerl, proprietor of the Free State Brewing Co. 636 Massachusetts St., who read the book when it was in manuscript form, provided details on the actual brewing process and clarified historical descriptions. Magerl, who also contributed financially to project, put a display honoring Higgins' book in his brewery.
"The history of brewing is what got me involved in brewing," he said. "It was a spot
"Kansas has been seen as a stunman prohibition state," he said. "A lot don't know that wasn't really the way it was going. There were 90 to 115 breweries in Kansas before Prohibition. People had no idea Kansas was such a large breeding state. It's exciting to know something associated with good times has history in Kansas."
Magerl said he hoped Higgins' books would educate Kansas about the state's education.
of inspiration for me, we was glad to see someone cover it as well as (candy) to see
Higgins said she included colorful facts and stories about Prohibition-era Kansas and the state's strong German heritage in her book.
"It's not just about beer, it is an ethnic history," she said. "I tried to write about the people behind the brewers. A lot of German and Slavic people settled in Kansas
William Keel, associate professor of Germanic languages and literature, said German Kausans were active in the fight against racism because they owned most of the breweries.
and those people brought their love of beer with them."
"Most of the brewing concerns were in German hands, and (Prohibition) meant their livelihoods," he said.
Keel said people of German descent made up the largest single element of Kansas' population, representing 35 percent or 45 percent of the state's population.
"Home brewing is on the rise," Higgins said. "People like to serve hometown beer and a lot of them have German backgrounds."
"Kansas Breweries and Beer, 1854-1911" is available at all Lawrence book stores for $9.95.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Real KU Life begins on the weekend.
calendar
Nightlife
Benchwarmer's Sports Bar & Grill
Benchwarner's Sports Bar & Grill
1601 W. 23rd St.
Tonight - Fuzz Box
Friday - Baghdad Jones
Saturday - Shaker
The Bottleneck
The Bottleneck
737 New Hampshire St.
Tonight - Reever Brothers
Friday - Punkin Head
Saturday - Blue Dixie
Monday - Open Mike
Wednesday - Mud Honey
Congo Bar
Brass Apple Sports Bar & Restaurant 3300 W.15th St.
Features 10 TV's with satellite dish and Monday Night Football
Congo Bar
520 N. Third St.
Friday - Billy Spears
Saturday - Patty Van Zant
Dos Hombres
Dos Hombres
815 New Hampshire St.
Wednesday - Karaoke
925 Iowa St.
Tonight - Witch Hunt
Friday - Hey Ruth and Easy Reader
Saturday - Loud Sounding Dream and Cactus
Nene Thing
Gusto's
Down & Under
801 New Hampshire St.
Henry T's 3520 W. Sixth St.
Karaoke every Thursday night
Hockenbury Tavern
Hockenbury Tavern
101.6 Massachusetts St.
Tonight - Soul Shaker
Friday - Common Ground
Saturday - Lonsome Houndog
Sunday - Acoustic Open Mike
International Club 21
106 N. Park St.
Friday - Which Doctors?
Saturday - Stop Day Party
Jayhawk Cafe
1340 Ohio St.
Friday - River Rock
Saturday - Modern Saints
Continued on Page 10.