aU es eh | JAZZ FI: VaeL yO] sy MAGAZINE GEORGE SALIS PIANO MASTMonday thru Friday 6 & KCUR 89.3 MONDAY thru FRIDAY "The Jazz Place" 8:30 pm - 1:00 am TUESDAY “Le Jazz Club from Paris" 8:30 - 9:30 pm WEDNESDAY foaai *American Radio Jazz Festival" 8:30-10:30 pm FRIDAY Marian McPartland's Plano Jazz 8:30 - 9:30 pm SATURDAY “Just Jazz" noon - 2 pm "Saturday Afternoon Swing Club“ 2 - 4pm “Saturday Night Fish Fry" 8:30 pm - midnight SUNDAY “Night Tides" 10 pm - 1 amKANSAS CITY AMBASSADORS February/March 1991 Volume 6 « Number 1 Ambassador Accents President's Corner News’n Notes.... Center Stage Storyville. Platter Chatter... Club Profile Baxter's Club Scene ..... MUSIC Mart... cceeseeessesseseeeeeeeseee On the Air........ The KC Jazz Ambassador is published bi-monthly by the Kansas City Jazz Am- bassadors, a non-profit organization. All rights are reserved. Reproduction of any materials is prohibited without consent of the publisher. For advertising informa- tion, call 631-1089. Letters should be addressed to: KC Jazz Ambassador, P.O. Box 36181, Kansas City, MO 64111-6181 or phone (816) 631-1089, All article contributions must be sub- mitted no later than the 10th of each odd-number month. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ‘SENIOR EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dean Hampton Marilyn Wimp Dauphine Sowell vohn Trozzolo Kathy Feist J.P. Makus. Chuck Haddix February/March 1997 ADVERTISING Mike Rollf TYPESETTING/LAYOUT Matt Quinn PRINTING Almar Printing PRODUCTLON MANAGER Tohnl ARCHES The Jazz Ambassadors is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting jazz and developing a jazz audience. PRESIDENT Todd Wilkinson VICE-PRESIDENT Gary Becker SECRETARY Karen McWay TREASURER Mack Kuhn SOCIAL COMMITTEE Nelson Farney EDUCATION COMMITTEE Todd Wilkinson MEMBERSHIP Esther Gonzales Dorothy Edwards Kathy Feist Mary Ellen Farney Mike Rollf Vicki Rolf PUBLICITY VOLUNTEERS SPECIAL PROJECTSassador Accents / Dean Hampto. WHAT A YEAR THIS HAS BEEN! bout a year ago, on a cold Av night, I decided that I had to take a break from the daily grind and go hear some good jazz. I went to Milton’s and was soon in the listening groove that let me es- cape the world around me. Having been a jazz bassist in times past, I felt that I was a pretty good judge of jazz talent. Even if I wasn’t, the sounds I was enjoying were much more than I had expected. I was listening to the Kansas City Jazz Quartet, Kim Park’s group that consisted of Kim, Bob Bowman, Todd. Strait, and Rod Fleeman. At break time, I pondered how lucky was tobe able to listen to such world class jazz without paying a cover ora minimum, and not being bothered by a large, noisy crowd that would dilute my in- tense concentration on the music that loved most. Although this was a fairly new location for Milton’s, there were only about fifteen of us in the audience. As JAZZ GUITAR INSTRUCTION IMPROVISATION, MUSIC THEORY, EAR TRAINING, & CHORD MELODY PRIVATE INSTRUCTION NOVICE THROUGH ADVANCED COLLEGE CREDIT ALSO AVAILABLE ‘THOUAS PENDER 765-0640 or 942-2114 asecond thought, I realized that if the crowds were not bigger than this, I may not have this superior quality jazz available to me very long. Later that evening, I went to the 18th and Vine area. By chance, that night happened to be a KC Jazz Ambassador's Pub Stroll of Eblon’s, Birdland’s and the Mutual Musician’s Foundation. I made a brief stop at Eblon’s, then, the Foundation, and finally Birdland’s. Ineach case, [heard more great Kansas City jazz. I felt that the musicians were playing just forme because there were few others in the audiences. began to develop a sense of urgen- cy. This jazz had to stay in Kansas City and there was no way it would with such a low population in the audien- ces. I visited with the lady at the door at Birdland’s about this organization called Jazz Ambassadors. We dis- cussed the jazz support nature of the organization. I soon found myself writing a check for a year’s member- ship and volunteering to help with their magazine. Kathy Feist Honored Whata year it has been! Thank you, Kathy Feist, for the introduction to the KC Jazz Ambassadors and for the op- portunity to help make jazz grow in Kansas City. You surely deserved the award you were recently presented by the Mayor’s Office and the Kansas City Jazz Commission for the out- standing job you did as president of KC Jazz AmbassadorKANSAS CITY JAZZ AMBASSADORS PRESENT PRICE: $5.95 ($4.75 for Jazz Ambassadors & KC Blues Society members) plus $1.50 for postage NEW!! cos KC JAZZ AMBASSADORS vedere by "“ ONG-SLEEVE SWEAT SHIRT & SHORT-SLEEVE T-SHIRT SIZE: L XL XXL CONTENT: 50-50 COLOR: WHITE WITH 7 MULTI-COLOR aN PRICE: SWEATSHIRT-$18 ($15 FOR AMBASSADORS) ~ T-SHIRT - $12 ($10 FOR AMBASSADORS) ADD $2.50 FOR POSTAGE Ordering info: Include check or money order for amount of purchase Name Address Send to: KC Jazz Ambassadors, Box 36181, Kansas City, MO 64111. For more information, call (816) 942-3349.Kathy Feist receives award from Mayor's office, Alvin Nash. the Jazz Ambassadors for two-and-a- half years and for efforts as my predecessor as Editor-in-Chief of this magazine. Today, most jazz spots are not over run with audience but it’s much better than it was a year ago. KC Jazz Experiencing Growth There are more jazz spots now than there were a year ago. To mention a few spots that are thriving: Phoenix, the new City Lights Jazz Club with expanded seating, Baxter’s and the Overland Park Marriott, the newly remodeled Tuba, Uptown Down and Dirty, and English’s. There are more top notch jazz musicians in Kansas City than there were a year ago. For example, what a treat to have Danny Embrey playing in KC practically every night. Thank 4 you, Danny! Karrin Allyson, thanks for moving from Minneapolis and making Kansas City your base of operations. Karrin is rapidly becom- ing a major jazz vocal draw because of her exceptional talent and inventive- ness combined with a warm profes- sional personality. Mike Metheny’s return to KC is an addition that can’t go unmentioned. Although you have to watch closely to find Mike with horn in hand, when you do, youarein for an unforgettably wonderful ex- perience. Many of the ‘old timers’ to KC jazz are making KC jazz popular around the world. Claude “Fiddler” Williams recently played Carnegie Hall. Queen Bey just returned from a successful New York City engagement. Richard Ross is currently doing the European scene. The KC Jazztet just returned from their ambassadorship at the IAJE conference in Washington D.C. Ron- nell Bright recently returned from Japan and Kim Park is there now. There are more quality jam sessions now. They draw higher quality musicians and a larger out-of-town crowd than they did a year ago. There are more jazz events now than there were in the recent past. The 1st Annual Jazz Cruise in 1990 was a sell out. In 1991, special events will include the Last Tuesday Night Jazz series featuring different clubs, styles of jazz, and local musicians. The KC metro area still has ap- proximately 170 hours of weekly radio jazz. It’s hard to find that asset in another city in the United States. Kansas City is still the only city in the United States that has a City Jazz KC Jazz AmbassadorCommission. The commission plays an active role in jazz activities and funding. I have heard a few complaints about the length of the Jazz Hotline. Compared to numerous cities across the United States, the Jazz Hotline is just another indicator that jazz in Kan- sas City is ina growth pattern. A recent Associated Press article claimed in it’s title, “Kansas City Jazz Climate Growing Chillier.” It may be ‘chillier’ in the minds of those who chose to bury their cultural heads and ignore what is really going on! One recent evening, I checked the pulse of GRAND EMPORIUM THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE CITY - 3832 MAIN : 531-1504 FEB. 12 KANSAS CITY “SWINGS MARDI GRAS” > WITH EDDIE BAKER'S NEW BREED 18-PIECE ORCHESTRA FEATURING RAYNOLA ROBINSON AN EVENING WITH... THE CHRISTOPHER HOLLYDAY FEB. 26 1991 GRAMMY NOMINEE s STANLEY JORDAN February/March 1991 KC jazz. I heard the Joe Cartwright Trio, the Milt Able Quartet, Stan Kessler and Pyramid, Rich Hill and the Riffs, the Danny Embrey Duo, Fiermon and the Kings of Jazz, the KC Bottoms Band, Tim Whitmer and Friends, and a David Basse foursome. To catch all that was going on in jazz would have taken several more nights. Ifyou really believe that the KC jazz scene is chilly, you either don’t like jazz or you just haven't tried to find that hot fiery jazz spot to help warm your blood back to a temperature of the living! * FEB. 21 QUARTET