The hand-scrawled sign at the entrance of KC Winter Jazzfest is an accurate representation of the event that took place in the West Bottoms on Sunday, February 22. Organic, DIY and sincere, the purity of the miniature festival was endearing.
I took in three-and-a-half hours of the scheduled thirteen-hour event in the space best known at Cap Gun Studios. Marcus Lewis, the festival’s gregarious organizer, told attendees that his intention was for “all the musicians (to) come together and play music for each other.”
In fact, the upbeat atmosphere resembled a clubhouse for Kansas City’s jazz musicians. About fifty musicians and approximately two dozen curious civilians shuffled between two stopgap stages during my time in the loft. I paid a $35 admission fee at the door.
Separate sets by saxophonists Pete Fucinaro and Matt Otto were incendiary. Trumpeter Nate Nall and saxophonist Matt Baldwin paid homage to the early work of Donald Byrd. Amber Underwood (aka Flutienastiness) and the Deshtet (led by rapper and trombonist Kadesh Flow) played crossover forms of jazz.
Lewis spoke between sets about ambitious plans for the future of the festival. While the prospect for expansion is exciting, I’ll harbor fond memories of the slapdash tone and uncommon innocence of the inaugural edition of KC Winter Jazzfest.
