4C THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS RELAYS
THURSDAY, APRIL 21. 2005
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Kansas City, Mo., who introduces himself as the "first original master bartender" of The Blue Room, adding that he's been at the The Blue Room since "day one." Day one, he explains, came six years ago when it was resurrected from the decrepit remains of the once-famous 1390s and 40s jazz hot spot, the El Capitan Club. Anderson tells me that the building of The Blue Room came through the efforts of former Kansas City mayor and jazz enthusiast Emanuel Cleaver to breathe life back into this once-hopping district in downtown Kansas City. Anderson says the various clubs that once surrounded where The Blue Room now sits had a worldwide notoriety in the '20s and '30s. Famed jazz musicians, such as Charlie Parker, Fats Waller and Count Basie, came from all over to play in this area.
A quick history lesson and one gin and tonic down, I leave The Blue Room and head up the street to the Red Vine Cajon Restaurant and Jazz House, 1700 E 18th St. The Red Vine's illuminated street sign bears the slogan, "a bland of Bourbon Street with a touch of Vine." I walk in and immediately see the connection: red and orange tapestries adorning the walls are interspersed with ornate candelabras and large impressionistic paintings of jazz trumpeters, piano players and drummers, making me feel as though I've been transported to a back alley jazz hole on Bourbon Street. Sebrina McCrainage, owner of the club and KU alumnae, tells me that the Red Vine.
which is only a year old, is a "destination" restaurant because of its location in the historical $18^{\mathrm{th}}$ and Vine area. "People enjoy the history here, the culture and being on Vine," McCrainey says.
After an hour and a half spent absorbing the ornate scenery at the Red Vine, he back head down to The Blue Room to catch the end of the Luqman Hamza Quateret's set, Hamza, a piano player with an incredibly smooth, yet powerful voice that falls somewhere in between Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra, finishes his set with an upbeat swing number. After the show, I strike up a quick conversation with Hamza while the rest of the band packs up their gear. A native of the Kansas City area, Hamza has been active on the KC jazz scene since the 1930s when he was a teenager. "This place has
been a living room for me." he savs
Cocktail of the week
courtesy of www.toneis.cib.net
Americans had made the drink with tonic water, limee and Brazilian chichona bark but the mixture was awful. The natives substituted the bitter tasting bark with their national alcohol, cachaque, and the drink became a legend. Because the Brazilian alcohol is hard to find, most people substitute either wine or brandy in its place.
As Brazilian as soccer and bikini waxes, the caipirinha will transport its drinkers into a sunny state of mind. Henry Ford had an automobile production plant in Brazil during the 1920s and '30s. While in the South American country, Ford banned his workers from drinking an earlier form of the drink, but the Brazilians mixed up a new recipe and the caipirinha (pronounced kuy-per-REEN-yah) was born.
2 ounces cachape
(or vodka or brandy)
1 teaapoon simple syrup
1 lime
Caipirinha
Hamza names Charlie Parker and Miles Davis as some of the greats he's sat in with in his decades of playing in Kansas City.
Wash and quarter a lime. Place the lime wedges pulp-side up in bottom of glass. Pour simple syrup mixture over limes and wash a few minutes for limes to soak up syrup. Pour alcohol over the mixture and drop in ice cubes and stir.
Source: www.hotwired.com
Mandy Hendrix
At 12:30, the crowd is all but completely cleared out, save a few finishing their drinks, the band still packing up their gear and a man intently fiddling with the club's soundboard. I walk over to him and strike up what is to be my last conversation of the night.
Nearing 1 a.m., The Blue Room closes and I make my way out the door. I reflect back on the night, the people, the sights and the sounds I've encountered, and I can't help but feel as though I'm taking a piece of the jazz culture and history with me.
The man is Kansas City, Mo., native Karle Robinson, 47, a regular attendee at The Blue Room who works the soundboard on weekend nights. Robinson is a jazz enthusiast and has a week-day blues and jazz show called "Afternoon Jazz with KC" on the Kansas City community-run radio station 90.1 KKFI. Robinson says that the Kansas City city district has been neglected at the hands of politicians who "don't care about music culture."
"They haven't finished what they started," he says, referring to the revitalization process that began six years ago. "It's made headway by building shops, restaurants and other attractions downtown, but it needs to continue along those lines."
Contact writer at:
cbrown@kansan.com
Limerance
1520 Wakarusa Dr. Suite D,
15th and Wakarusa ___
Most of you have probably never even heard of Limerac, a bar located on Wakaraus next to Tanner's. It is somewhat out of the way, but worth it if you are looking for a diverse crowd and an atmosphere unlike any other in Lawrence. Low-lit and sophisticated, it looks like a lounge from the movies. More often than not, you can catch an
AMC featured movie on the TV above the bar, Matt Baum, owner. Limerance is great no matter what your drink of choice. It offers beer, cocktails, coffee and wine. Each week a different local artist is featured on the walls inside Limerance. Pool, darts and wireless internet are free, and on Saturday nights you can catch Balagan, a local DJ. On Thursday evenings, Limerance hosts "Family Night" for the alternative lifestyle. On Friday nights at 8 p.m., owner Matt Baum offers $10 wine tasting. Tasters sample five different wines, and when the wines have been tasted, a glass of your top choice is poured.
Cover: Free
Cover: Free
Age: 18 + to get in; 21 to drink
Drink specials:
Monday: $3 premium cocktails
Tuesday: $2 draft beer
Wednesday: $1 off bottled beer
Thursday: $3 premium cocktails
Friday: $10 wine tasting
Saturday: $3 union whiskes/$3 Skyy
Sunday: 2 Mimosa/25% off all wine
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Source: en.miMl.mu/sxexuality/lirenance.htm
Jayplay 04.21.05
Bar stat-card
-Ashley Michaels