The Bottleneck, like the Jazzhaus, plays local and national acts. While Free State Brewery helps keep history alive.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
See pages 3B and 4B
Kansan Entertainment
Thursday
September 16, 1999
Section:
B
WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Lawrence night life thrives
The Jazzhaus, 926
1/2 Massachusetts St,
st.began as an
empty warehouse and
evolved into a local
bar popular for its
music. The bar continues
to reflect its
owner's love for
diverse music and his
wife's passion for art.
Photo by Roger
blower/KANSAN
Jazzhaus owner places music ahead of money
(USPS 650-640)
Jen Brabac songs with the Majestics Rhythm Revue, while Jazzhaus owner Rick McNeely plays guitar and Tommy Johnson is on the keyboard. Photo by Roaer Nomer/KANSAN
By Sindy Greenfield Special to the Kansan
If one walks down Massachusetts Street, students will find an orange neon sign at 926 1/2 that reads Jazz. If students wander up the carpeted steps, they will find a different side to Lawrence and a different side of almost any college town.
This is the bar that produces passionate musicians.
Rick McNeely, 48, owns the Jazzhaus. The Jazzhaus began as an empty warehouse that was owned by several organizations including banks and the Internal Revenue Service. McNeely bought the warehouse in 1982, speculating that he would own a bar for the next three years while he took a break from being a performer, but not from being a musician. Somehow, three years turned into 17.
McNeely receives numerous phone calls and letters through out the course of a day, all of
The Jazzhaus is not the average college town bar. Long-lived celebrated artists such as the Legendary Blues Band, Barney Kessel and Bonnie Rait are just a handful of those who have illuminated the atmosphere of the Jazzhaus.
them trying to book a spot at his live music venue. While money is an essential element of our survival, McNeely said his prime concern is his happiness, and the happiness of those around him.
The Jazzzhaus was partially designed to be a venue that produced jazz, reggae, funk and blues. As time has gone on though, McNeely's decisions rest on how a band works into the calendar and whether the group will bring a crowd.
"I'm a musician first, then a business man." McNeeley said.
The Jazzzhaus was established so that McNeely could continue to express his love and passion for music while allowing others great performers to show their love as well. For 17 years he has used this passion and the bar has become the oldest club in Lawrence. That takes more than just wanting to sell good drinks. The establishment needs a special type of atmosphere. Those who perform at the Jazzzhaus help to structure this atmosphere.
However, McNeely's wife, Tanya, who is a graduate of fine arts from the University of Kansas, helps to keep the atmosphere fresh and radiant. Recently Tanya changed the
interior with the subtleness of leopard spots sporadically surrounding some of the walls. But Tanya's artful eye is shown by the art she approves to hang along the brick walls and booths. While the bar is primarily lit with candles covered by red lanters, the displays attract their own light with the aid of small light fixtures that help create a soft shadowing. The paintings vary from abstract to still-lives. While they are for sale they are only on display for two weeks to a month.
Rick McNeely has been involved in the music business for 30 years. He has played in various bands but the most recent is the Majestics Rhythm Revue. The Majestics is a configuration of six members ranging from the ages of 23 to 48. This diversity has helped the band to grow together.
"Every band needs a leader," said Jen Barbec, a 23-year-old and lead vocalist of the Majestics. "Rick is our leader. He gives us options. He is the supporter of this band when it comes to everything — time, money and energy."
That is exactly what the McNeelys have created with the Jazthaus-energy. It's a bar in a
college town with the feel of a blues club. The energy that is circulated from that is a product of Rick's love for music and Tanya's love for art.
While McNeely would leave the Jazzhaus to become the next Buddy Guy, he is not in the music business for money or fame.
"I'm not in this to be in the top 40, make a million dollars and
He said the Majestics and the Jazzhaus were built from the same philosophy: Anything that inspires you is good for you.
retire to my beach house," said McNelly.
"Playing music is my first and greatest love," said McNeely.
—Edited by Brad Hallier
Activities under $1
camp at Clinton Lake
read at a coffee house
attend a lounge concert
watch a movie
attend an SUA activity
have a picnic
play a board game
How to see Lawrence, and survive for under $10
By Howard Manns Special to the Kansan
Like a machine gun, the cash register reluctlessly fires off charges as the cashier methodically runs textbooks across a scanner. When the dust of this financial assault clears, all that remains is a plastic sack overloaded with books, a substantial portion of Oregonian timber in the form of a receipt and your weekend spending money in the form of $10 in change.
Fortunately, it is possible, even for the financially impaired, to have a good time in Lawrence. It's not a question of what can a person do for under $10 in Lawrence; it's a question of what does that person want to do? It's just a matter of finding the groove and digging in.
From taking advantage of the drink specials bars offer throughout town to camping at Clinton Lake, University of Kansas students all seem to have a $10 groove of their own.
"Take a really good book to a coffeehouse and read," said Camille Payne, Kearney, Neb., senior. She also recommended the cheesecake and the atmosphere at the Free State Brewing Company, 636 Massachusetts St., and the $2.13 milkshakes on Sonic, adding, "It has to be chocolate."
For Jay Holley, Topeka junior, happiness under the $10 financial constraint takes the shape of a movie at Liberty Hall or simply buving a CD.
Payne and Holley weren't alone in valuing simple pleasures. Three recurrent themes underlined budget-minded KU students' weekend agendas: food, window-shopping on Massachusetts Street and the great — and still either free or relatively inexpensive — outdoors.
Once again, it's simply a matter of listening to the suggestions of other students, taking into account personal interests and diving headfirst into Lawrence.
For night time entertainment it's easy enough to open any newspaper insert and figure out where the drink specials are on any given night.
Heading to Massachusetts Street during the daylight hours, however, hand-in-hand with Alexander Hamilton and the limited buying power his image has come to represent, one finds a range of eclectic and eccentric shops inside of which an afternoon can easily be spent.
See STUDENTS on page 4B
Reaching new heights
The University of Kansas rock climbing wall gives students an opportunity to scale new heights.
Lucky enough to find a date?
See page 7B
Restaurants and clubs in Lawrence offer a wide variety of entertaining and romantic spots to visit.
See page 2B
Role playing magic
Students looking for an escape from reality can join the role playing club.
See page 5B
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