Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*A concert headlined by smooth jazz artist Jackiem Joyner and a performance by Dan Thomas are among the events listed on the schedule of next month’s Spotlight Charlie Parker endeavor.

*The Kansas City Star’s feature about Fairyland Park notes that bands led by Bennie Moten and Count Basie frequently performed at the amusement park.

*A review of a Minneapolis concert by the Count Basie Orchestra was published by the Jazz Police blog.

*Tweet of the Week: Helbing Jazz Initiative- Day 1 of the 2022 Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy Jazz camp! We spent the day focused on the music and legend of Charlie Parker: Kansas City Lightning.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Coal and Diamonds, an album by Kansas City Kansas Community College’s The Standard Vocal Jazz Ensemble, was released last week.

*Stan Kessler and Bennie Moten were recently inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame

*The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a feature about Robert Boone, the current drummer of The Count Basie Orchestra.

*Tweet of the Week: Tom Jackman- Also in KC, the Green Lady Lounge is an all time great jazz joint. #opentil230

Now's the Time: Bennie Moten

Sometimes you have to go back to move forward. Black to the Future, the latest album by Sons of Kemet, resonates with me partly because the British band’s attack gratefully cites the foundational sound of jazz. "Throughout the Madness, Stay Strong" and Bennie Moten and the Kansas City Orchestra’s 1928 track “Tough Breaks” are clearly part of the same continuum.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reviews Pittsburgh Opera’s production of “Charlie Parker’s Yardbird.”

*The Kansas City Star reports on art installations in the new airport dedicated to Bennie Moten and Charlie Parker.

*Aarik Danielsen previews a Bobby Watson concert for The Columbia Daily Tribune.

*Tweet of the Week: WQED- Tune in tonight at 7 for a preview of @PittsburghOpera's production of Charlie Parker's Yardbird. You'll hear musical excerpts and interviews with cast members, conductor Antony Walker and stage director Tome Cousin. Listen at 89.3 or stream it online via our website or app.

Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*Gerald Dunn, the Senior Manager of Entertainment at the American Jazz Museum, was named a 2021 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association.

*The Standards, Vol. 1, the 2021 release from the Christopher Burnett Quartet, was reviewed at All About Jazz.

*Tweet of the Week: popsike.com- archived! $ 358 | 78 Rpm -- Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, Okeh 8277, E-v+ Jazz #vinyl (link)