*A brief television news report examines the state of the Jazz District.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
The Top Stories and Trends of 2025 in Kansas City Jazz
Original image of 18th Street in Kansas City’s Jazz District by There Stands the Glass.
1. Fucinaro and Scamurra
The Kansas City saxophonists Pete Fucinaro and Henry Scamurra released strong debut albums in 2025. The ongoing youth movement represented by Fucinaro’s Little Window and Scamurra’s Urban Forum is a compelling reason for optimism.
2. Festival Revival
The KC Blues and Jazz Festival brought Stanley Clarke, Karl Denson and Bill Frisell to a baseball stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, on October 4. The event was the area’s first large-scale jazz event featuring touring artists since 2017.
3. Musical Chairs
Dr. Dina Bennett resigned as the Executive Director of the American Jazz Museum. Turnover at the institution is concerning.
4. Detour Ahead
The planned transformation of a portion of 18th Street into a pedestrian walkway made access to Jazz District landmarks including the American Jazz Museum and the Gem Theater difficult for much of the year. (See above photo.)
5. Evergreen
Green Lady Lounge remains the focal point of live jazz in Kansas City. Green Lady Lounge hosts more than three times the combined number of jazz performances at the Blue Room, the Ship and Westport Coffee House, the second, third and fourth most significant presenters of jazz in Kansas City.
6. Nevermore
Corvino is the most prominent of several establishments to either completely close or cease featuring live jazz in 2025.
7. Alt Jazz
Sonic experiments that are largely unwelcome in conventional venues thrive in hidden recesses including house parties, a bookstore, an underground cinema and a repurposed church.
8. Best Year Ever
No Kansas City jazz musician had a bigger year than Jackie Myers. Her relentless performance schedule included tours and festival placements. Myers’ ambitious album What About the Butterfly was reviewed by DownBeat magazine, a distinction among Kansas City artists shared only by Carl Allen in 2025.
9. Disinformation Campaign
Visit KC continues to insist that Kansas City is home to “more than 40 jazz clubs” as it promotes next year’s World Cup matches. The convention bureau’s dissembling is outlandish.
10. Persistence
Plastic Sax published 32 album reviews, two book reviews, nine concert reviews, six editorials and 45 gig previews featuring Kansas City musicians in 2025.
Last year’s recap is here.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Joe Dimino interviewed Brian Baggett.
*A man laments the location of a new parking lot being built on the east side of Paseo Boulevard in the Jazz District in a television news report.
*Corvino, a restaurant that once regularly hosted live jazz performances, will close at the end of the year.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Legends Field is slated to host the KC Blues and Jazz Festival on October 3 and 4. The lineup: Stanley Clarke (misspelled on the official flyer), Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Shemekia Copeland, Bill Frisell (with Greg Tardy, Thomas Morgan and Rudy Royston), Roosevelt Collier, Harrell Davenport, Brody Buster, OJT, High Society and Jackie Myers (also misspelled on the flyer). Two-day passes are $71.50-$136.50. Single day passes are $25-$60.
*Chalis O’Neal is the subject of a feature story published by The Kansas City Star.
*The most recent episode of Kansas Public Radio’s Live at Green Lady Lounge program spotlights the new band led by guitarists Matt Hopper and Jeff Shirley.
*A television news outlet reports on an attempt to fill several empty storefronts in the Jazz District.
*From a press release: In a must-see concert to cap the month-long Spotlight: Charlie Parker celebration, renowned Kansas City trumpeter Lonnie McFadden will lead the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra in a vibrant tribute to Parker’s musical genius on Saturday, August 23 at 7 p.m. at… the Folly Theatre… Tickets, starting at $28, are available… here.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Julie Denesha created an audio feature about the late Erin Keller for KCUR.
*Hermon Mehari chatted with Joe Dimino.
*Startland reports on $19 million of new public funding on projects in and around the Jazz District.
*Guitar Elation was featured on Kansas Public Radio’s Live at Green Lady Lounge program last week.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Bobby Watson is among the commentators extolling Art Blakey in a The New York Times feature.
*Joe Dimino shares footage of the Lee’s Summit Jazz Festival.
*Eboni Fondren is named an “Innovator and Influencer” by In Kansas City magazine.
*A second victim of a June 22 shooting in the Jazz District has died.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Lawrence Journal-World commends Mia Rasmussen’s ten-minute student film "Kansas City Jazz: A Frontier for Black Success".
*A television news program reports on a shooting that killed one man and injured five others in the Jazz District last weekend.
*Joe Dimino shared footage of a performance featuring Stan Kessler and Doug Talley and interviewed John Stein.
*Bobby Watson promoted his appearance at Dazzle in Denver.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Alex Abramovitz’s band is featured in the latest episode of Kansas Public Radio’s Live at Green Lady Lounge program.
*A television news broadcast touts the construction of a parking garage in the Jazz District.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*A feel-good story about an elderly Count Basie fan is shared by a TV reporter. Joe Dimino offers his perspective and documents portions of the Count Basie Orchestra’s concert at the Music Hall.
*Bassist Chase McRoy is featured by In Kansas City magazine.
*A television news outlet reports on the latest Jazz District redevelopment project.
Urban Legend
Original image by Plastic Sax.
Cynical pundits in Kansas City have long insisted that suburbanites are too frightened to visit the Jazz District. The pernicious myth was busted on Wednesday, June 5, when more than 2,000 people from outlying communities were among the throng packing Parade Park to take in a free appearance by Yo-Yo Ma.
The cellist’s participation in the Kansas City Symphony’s Mobile Music Box event was announced the previous day. The short notice and simultaneous sold-out concerts by James Taylor at Starlight Theatre and Noah Kahan at Azura Amphitheater didn’t prevent people from suburbs such as Lee’s Summit, Gladstone and Lenexa from filling the space directly behind the American Jazz Museum.
Longtime observers are well aware of disappointing attendance for jazz events held in the same space and along the adjacent Paseo Boulevard. Conjecture about the reasons for the failures often include the accusation that suburbanites refuse to patronize the neighborhood. Yo-Yo Ma nullified that excuse on June 5.
Parallel Parking
(Original image of an entry line at a 2018 festival in the Jazz District by Plastic Sax.)
Not once in the past four decades have I had trouble finding a convenient parking spot in Kansas City’s Jazz District. Even amid the busiest festivals I’ve never been compelled to park more than a five-minute walk from the intersection of 18th Street and Paseo Boulevard.
Yet according to a television news report, Kansas City, Missouri, recently allocated $20 million to build a multi-level parking garage in the area.
The piece suggests the impetus for the construction is based on future projections rather than current need. I hope the optimism is warranted. It would be wonderful if the beleaguered neighborhood finally attained a liveliness resulting in parking hassles.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Jeff Shirley was interviewed by The Pitch.
*A homespun history of Kansas City jam sessions of the past four decades was published by Kansas City guitarist Jay EuDaly.
*The Jazz District Renaissance Corporation sponsored a television segment about events in the Jazz District.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Kansas City Business Journal reports that construction on a six-story apartment complex is underway at 19th and Vine in the Jazz District.
*Joe Dimino visited Green Lady Lounge.
*A blogger reviewed Branches Choke, an album of noisy improvisations recorded in Kansas City.
*Tweet of the Week: Raman Shah- In Kansas City right now for @TransformGov #tlg2020. It's lovely here: chilly, with hills, flowers, red brick, vintage signage, gentle people. Treated myself last night to cheesy corn+burnt ends @ Jack Stack and some jazz @ the Green Lady. Now to meet some #localgov friends
Book Review: Count Basie and Albert Murray’s Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie
Original image by Plastic Sax.
The timeless sounds produced by the band overseen by William Basie in the 1930s might be the most immediately enjoyable music ever produced in the New World. Take "Miss Thing". Everything about the brash 1939 recording is intelligent, sexy and yes, incredibly swinging.
Published a year after Basie’s 1984 death, Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie, contains the backstory of “Miss Thing”: “it was named for Rubberlegs (Williams) himself, who was… a female impersonator as well as a dancer and a very raunchy blues singer.”
Almost every page of the out-of-print book contains at least one similarly scintillating anecdote. The conversational tone of the “as told to” volume assembled by the notable jazz writer Albert Murray enhances the wildly entertaining if not entirely complete portrait of the essential American artist. As Basie liked to say, it’s a real killer-diller.
While Basie assiduously avoids revealing details about his personal predilections- “I just don’t see the point of going into things like that” he asserts in Good Morning Blues- Basie was admirably candid about musical and business matters.
For instance, he’s more than willing to confess his limitations as a keyboardist. One of the running bits of Good Morning Blues involves Basie’s fear of being shown up by technically superior pianists including Art Tatum and Mary Lou Williams.
Basie’s reverence for his peers can make Good Morning Blues slow going. A reader is obligated to put the book down in order to queue up not just the dozens of recording sessions Basie dutifully describes, but also music by a cast of characters ranging from the titanic Duke Ellington to the earthy comedian Pigmeat Markham.
Details about Basie’s interactions with other legendary figures such as John Hammond, Jimmy Rushing, Fats Waller, Lester Young are dazzling. Basie was a lifelong music obsessive. Although his sound evolved through the vaudeville, big band, bop and rock and roll eras, his enthusiasm never waned.
Kansas City’s civic boosters will cringe at some of Basie’s perspectives, beginning with his characterization of the town as “the sticks.” Yet locally based readers will lap up Basie’s descriptions of boarding houses and clubs in the Jazz District, the “lily-white” Fairyland Park and area landmarks such as Jenkins Music and Municipal Auditorium.
Basie recalls “(t)hey always did like farewells and homecomings in Kansas City.” The ongoing vibrancy of his music and the genial tone of Good Morning Blues makes the prospect of closing the door on Basie’s legacy in his one-time stomping grounds absolutely unthinkable.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image of Judith Shea’s “Storage” by Plastic Sax.
*Rod Fleeman discussed his new album with Steve Kraske on KCUR’s Up to Date program.
*Nina Cherry caught up with Marilyn Maye.
*A television station reports on concerns related to the latest round of development plans for the Jazz District.
*Snippets of a Jackie Myers performance at Ophelia’s were captured by Joe Dimino.
*More than 500 albums received votes in the 17th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll. Kansas City is represented by Bobby Watson’s Back Home in Kansas City (#106), Steve Cardenas’ Healing Power: The Music of Carla Bley (#125), Pat Metheny’s Side-Eye NYC (#347) and Hermon Mehari’s Asmara (#414). My ballot is here.
*No Kansas City establishments are among the 106 venues listed in Downbeat’s 2023 International Jazz Venue Guide.
*Tweet of the Week: StrayhornProject- Congratulations to Caden Bradshaw from Kansas City, winner of our ‘Strayhorn; An Illustrated Life’ book raffle. Caden is an up and coming jazz pianist himself. We will continue to wish him well on his musical journey! (photo)
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*KCUR’s Steve Kraske interviewed Terell Stafford ahead of the trumpeter’s scheduled appearance at the Prairie Village Jazz Festival.
*Libby Hanssen surveyed Kansas City’s experimental music scene for Classical KC.
*Brant Jester and Alex Frank chatted with Joe Dimino. Dimino also captured footage of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival.
*The Kansas City Star published a guide to the Jazz District.
*Tweet of the Week: MarmaDukeNuke'Em3D- I am the youngest person here by a wide margin
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Kevin Frazee, a prominent Kansas City drummer, has reportedly died. Here’s a representative performance with OJT.
*KCUR offered a musically ambiguous survey of Kansas City’s jazz venues.
*Pat Metheny appeared on Questlove’s podcast.
*A resident of the Jazz District told The Kansas City Star “we’re afraid” in the wake of a deadly shooting last week. A television station also took note of the crime.
*Tweet of the Week: MCC Kansas City- The public is invited to enjoy a FREE evening of jazz 6-9 p.m. this Friday (9/17) Saxophone at MCC-Penn Valley. Featuring: * Gospel vocalist Lisa Henry * Trumpeter Chalis O'Neal * Charles D. Williams, pianist for the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra (link)
*From a press release: The American Jazz Museum is proud to present Lights, Camera, Vine!, a three-day film series that explores jazz music’s impact on film in America. This series has been created in partnership with local film makers Rodney Thompson and Diallo French. Stretching from Thursday, September 30 to Saturday, October 2nd, features include two iconic jazz films - "Lady Sings the Blues" starring Diana Ross as Billie Holiday, and Spike Lee's "Mo' Better Blues" - as well as selections from the American Jazz Museum's John H. Baker Film Collection. Screenings will each include a reception with live music, and a Q&A session and discussion with local film experts after the film.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*A television station reports on a proposed spending plan that would close traffic on two blocks of 18th Street in the Jazz District.
*Tweet of the Week: Aaron Rhodes- Pick up @RollingStone issue 1352 (June 2021) to see my first national byline. It’s a sponsored content piece from @VisitMO that highlights a few Kansas City venues worth visiting (@Knuckleheadskc, @ajazzmuseumKC, and Lemonade Park).
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*A television news broadcast reports that streets in the Jazz District will be blocked on weekends this summer.
*Downbeat published a review of Tony Tixier’s I Am Human. The French pianist’s album features duets with Ben Leifer, Hermon Mehari and Logan Richardson.
*Tweet of the Week: Dr. K Goldschmitt- Something I think about every time I teach History of Jazz is Altman’s Kansas City. He got a group of ridiculously talented musicians in the mid-1990s to meticulously re-enact a style from 60 years prior. Can you imagine this happening in any other genre?