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 KANSAS CITY JAZZ INTERNATIONAL © 1999 Mike Metheny JAM talks with KCJI's John Jessup, Steve Irwin and Jo Boehr about putting together one of KC's most star-studded summertime jazz events.
JB: Well, on Friday evening, June 25th, we'll kick things off with Norman Hedman and his "Tropique." Norman is an excellent Latin percussionist and he just finished a successful stand at the Blue Note in New York. Next is Karrin Allyson, and then we'll end the evening with Chick Corea and Origin. On Saturday at 2:00, the Paseo Academy Jazz Ensemble begins the day followed by Gerald Spaits. Then there's a gal named Dena DeRose from New York who is a very good vocalist and piano player. Next is David Sanchez, a wonderful tenor saxophonist. And Chucho Valdes, a knock-out Cuban piano player. Kenny Garrett... well, I don't need to say much more about him! Then Bobby McFerrin will appear with Astral Project, a group from New Orleans Bobby worked with eons ago. They've hooked up again and it's a perfect fit. On Sunday, Don Knaack "The Junk Man," who was recently featured on "CBS Sunday Morning," will be doing his "Junk Jam '99" -- music sound sculpture -- with five or six other percussionists. They will go out into the audience, hand out actual "junk," and for the next 15 or 20 minutes people will be able go all over the grounds, build things, and have a "junk jam"! That should be a lot of fun. Next is the Dunn/Freeman Mix; and then, also out of New York, is a great vocalist named Vanessa Rubin. Trombonist Steve Turre made a CD recently with strings and is bringing that (music) to the festival. It'll be something pretty different from what he usually does with the (conch) shells. Maynard Ferguson is coming in with his Big Bop Nouveau Band. And closing out the festival will be Kevin Mahogany. JAM: As long as we're dropping names here, how about a partial list of some of the artists who appeared at the first three events. SI: We've had a pretty eclectic mix of people so far. The first year at Starlight (Theater) -- before we moved to Crown Center -- one of the highlights, at least for me, was Arturo Sandoval. He did a tremendous set. That year we also featured KC's Trilogy Big Band; they were great. And Karrin Allyson and Kevin Mahogany made appearances. As did Diva and Cyrus Chestnut. The Lionel Hampton Band also came in with Milt Jackson; Lionel was sick that weekend. Then, the second year, one of our favorites was Joey DeFrancesco, who played a great set on B-3. Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter did music from their "1+1" album. We featured (KC pianist) Pete Eye and his trio for their 40th anniversary. And when Shirley Horn performed, it was one of the truly great moments of the '97 festival. Then last year we had the opportunity to bring in Brad Mehldau, Take Six, Pete Fountain and his group from New Orleans, Kol Simcha, Brian Blade's Fellowship, Joe Lovano, Dee Dee Bridgewater and some really outstanding Kansas City-based groups. JAM: Speaking of which... There have always been plenty of Kansas City musicians appearing on the festival. Any particular reason for that? JB: Because we have some great people here! JJ: That's true. When we list the performers in the festival, we try not to say "there are these people and then there are Kansas City players." We try to book all top-notch musicians, some of whom just happen to live in Kansas City! And that's really the truth of it. In the last 10 or 15 years, Kansas City -- after being rather moribund in terms of both its jazz population and the amount of jazz being played -- has begun to call many people home, so to speak, as well as attracting musicians literally from all around the world. (Pianist) Bram Wijnands is a perfect example of that. He came here (from Holland) just for the music. As did the likes of Kim Park and Karrin Allyson. And that just goes to reinforce one of our premises which is that Kansas City has a real legitimate claim as one of the birthplaces of what has become the American Music. JAM: KCJI recently brought Andre Previn to town for a festival fundraiser. How did you go about recruiting him, not only on behalf of the cause, but to actually perform in a rare piano jazz setting? SI: Well, we've always felt Andre Previn was one of the few musicians who had bridged the gap between jazz and classical. And I tend to think there are a lot of people who like both. Or for that matter, people who like classical music and maybe haven't listened to that much jazz, but, through someone like Previn, would like jazz if they just gave it a chance. So, we started contacting him back in August about doing a benefit. As you can imagine, he is quite wrapped up in his conducting career; he told us he still loves to play jazz, but his conducting schedule in Vienna, Pittsburgh and London would make it difficult -- even a year or two down the line -- to make a commitment. We kept after him, though, and kept calling and kept explaining how important this would be. And we would give him dates, but, none of them worked in his schedule. Finally we just said, "Give us a date that will work for you and we'll find a hall and just do it!" (laughter) A few weeks later we had him booked for April 21 at Yardley Hall. JAM: Was the event a success? SI: It was a major success for us in many ways, one of which was how so many of the good people in the funding and philanthropic community got behind us; which in turn gave our organization a chance to not only raise money, but to raise awareness of what we're trying to do with the festival. Our festival lives and dies on corporate underwriting, and we've had some great support that way. Now we just need to get people down there for the event. JAM: How did KCJI come about? JJ: We've had various ideas over the years -- say, the last decade or two (laughter) -- about doing things... like taking Kansas City-based jazz musicians and touring them overseas, and presenting them internationally in syndicated radio programming out of Kansas City, and doing what we're doing now with the festival. Somehow it all came together in the form of a not-for-profit company called Kansas City Jazz International. JAM: So, prior to the first festival in '96, there was a long gestation period where Kansas City Jazz International was focusing in on these things? JJ: Yes. SI: And it was kind of in fits and starts. When Jo and I met in 1990, John and I had already talked about trying to get people interested in a live jazz radio show that would emanate out of Kansas City. We kept seeing how places like San Antonio (Texas) had "Riverwalk," for example. Now, San Antonio isn't really known as a jazz town, but somebody there came in and said: "This is a pretty good idea!" And it got San Antonio's music out there! So John and I, being the cockeyed optimists that we are -- Jo is the bottom-line pragmatist, which is a good balance for us -- John and I would sit around back there in the late '80s and say: "This is a natural! We know how to produce things, and we know about all the good music in this town..." But, trying to find support for the concept was more of a challenge than we thought it would be. We thought a jazz radio show emanating from Kansas City would be a logical thing and that private support for it would just fall in our laps (laughter). But it didn't happen, and it hasn't yet. But what has happened is that we decided to start a worldclass jazz festival based on the models of Newport and Monterey, where we bring in the great jazz players and put the best of the best in Kansas City on stage with them. What we've tried to do with this is start to develop a new audience and a new interest in jazz. And in the last three years we've had to come to the realization that, as much as Kansas City touts itself as a jazz town, there are probably only about 1,000 people who are true jazz fans and may show up for something (laughter). We've found that there's a real disconnect there because of other forms of entertainment as well as a lack of exposure for jazz. Part of our goal with the festival, then, is to develop a regional audience. I don't think many people realize how sophisticated the audiences are out there -- 500, 600 miles from the metro -- in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Oklahoma. As our budget grows, we're going to try to do more regional advertising to draw those people in; because if there's a good event in Kansas City, those people will come into town for it. JAM: So you're also looking at the tourist angle... SI: Definitely. You know, I don't think Kansas City, to this day, has ever realized the potential economic value jazz has to the city. Just look at what Nashville did with country music! When it comes to jazz, Kansas City, like I said, is a natural. We have great musicians here -- Anytime/anyplace players -- and jazz remains an untapped resource. "I don't think Kansas City has ever realized the potential economic value jazz has to the city. Just look what Nashville did with country music! When it comes to jazz, Kansas City... is a natural." -- Steve Irwin, President, Kansas City Jazz International JAM: Organizing an event like the International Jazz Festival obviously requires a lot of behind-the-scenes maneuvering and hard work. Would any of you like to offer a synopsis of what goes into putting one of these things together? JB: Basically, once you have your venue picked, it's just a matter of setting the show. And when it comes to booking the acts, I don't pretend to be an expert; I either like what I hear or I don't. It's pretty much an instinctual thing. We start out by picking the "headliners" and then we build the show around them. And again, I just trust my instincts. And I try to be fair. There are a lot of qualified Kansas City musicians, for example, who haven't been on yet, but they will. If somebody sends me a CD, I definitely listen to it. As far as headliners, I probably picked up 50 or 60 CDs at the Jazz Times convention last year and I listened to every one of them. And again, it always boils down to a gut reaction -- do I like it or not? It's probably not the right way to book a show, but that's how I do it. Also, we are very lucky to have a wonderful group of core people who are volunteers; we have great sound people, great production people, great backline people, and great backstage people who take good care of our artists. The Jazz Ambassadors have been very good about helping, too. There's just no way to put on an event like this without some really strong, hard-working people! If you had a bajillion dollars you couldn't hire people to do as good a job as these people who love jazz and want to be part of this. We know that and really appreciate it. So, yes, there are a lot of fits and starts, and a lot of late nights and all that. But, like I've said before, if something like this was easy, everyone would do it! SI: The really crippling thing we've had to contend with every year so far is simply: how do we fund it? Especially the first year. We've had good support from Sprint, the Hall Foundation and the Kauffman Foundation and a lot of people out there... but those people want to see results. And if you do a good job in Kansas City, the philanthropic community is terrific; they will stay by your side and help you along. Each year our support base has gotten better. But every year after we've done a festival it's been two or three months before we could ask, "Are we really in a position to continue?" After three years, we've yet to break even. But we're getting better; we didn't lose as much the second year as the first, we didn't lose as much last year, but this year we really have to get people to come out to support this, because it will give us the momentum to get the corporate underwriting and foundation support for the following year. We're hoping we can come out in the black this year so we can have proposals and fund raising out there immediately afterward. The Andre Previn benefit put us exponentially ahead of where we have ever been before at this point when it comes to getting people in the philanthropic community and corporations generally aware of KCJI; but even with that support, we still need people to show up and buy a ticket. And, you know what? $10 is a pretty good deal for this kind of talent. JAM: There are those who think there might be too many summertime jazz events in Kansas City. True? Not true? JB: For the actual number of real jazz fans in Kansas City, that could very well be true. Even one festival could be too many for the amount of real jazz fans here. But the real deal is this: we don't have too many events if we all get together and get the city and everyone in the community -- whether they're jazz fans or not -- to get behind good music and behind one of the main things that represents Kansas City. It's about community-driven activities and regional marketing as much as anything else. And about being proud of our jazz heritage! It's about getting people out of their loungers and away from their computers, being active in their community and being proud of these festivals and the city's jazz heritage. In Milwaukee there are festivals all summer long -- one after another after another -- and each of them are well attended. Why? Because it's fun! People take their kids, they listen to the music, they buy things and they have a great time. But the way Kansas City is set up now, any event is practically too much if it has anything to do with jazz. Our hope, and our goal is that, eventually -- and hopefully very soon for our sake (laughs) -- people from both Kansas City and from out of town will say: "You know what? We need to treat this the same way we treat the Royals and the Chiefs. This is good for Kansas City! I don't need to own a Miles Davis CD to enjoy jazz! I can go to this event, tap my feet, have a Coke, let the kids dance in the fountains and listen to someone I've never heard of and say, hey, this is pretty good. I like this!" It's about becoming involved in your own community. And taking pride in its heritage. SI: You know, people in Kansas City have frequently supported arts organizations and cultural events even though they may not be true fans of what they've supported. For instance, I'm sure the Lyric Opera, the Kansas City Symphony and the Missouri Rep get a lot of support from people who perceive those things as being important to the life breath of the city. Which they are! I just don't think jazz has made that transition yet. And I think KCJI needs to do a very good job of pointing out how that affects the city by producing quality events that people are proud to talk about. Jo once said that if jazz is to really get up and going here, we need not only a vibrant club scene, but multiple festivals and events that are marketable through the Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Visitors Bureau. I mean, a good example is Broadway in New York. Broadway works, not because there's only one play that's sold out all the time, but because there are multiple shows that encompass all kind of tastes. We need to do that here when it comes to jazz. And if we do, people will come to Kansas City to seek it out -- just like those tourists seek out Broadway shows and theater in New York. JB: It's like having two or three great restaurants in a two-block radius -- they're usually all full! But if you put a restaurant 50 miles out of town and nobody knows about it, it can have the best food in the world but nobody's going to come. It's important to have that feeling that this is the place to be! JAM: So, the more the merrier. SI: Exactly. JAM: Jo, we know that you are a singer; and Steve, you've confided in us that you are a "retired" clarinet player... Two questions: John, what is your instrument of choice? And two, is there chance of an appearance by the KCJI Jazz Trio at an upcoming festival? SI: John is a closet string bass player! (laughter) JJ: Wash-tub bass. I play a good wash-tub bass. JB: It's true! I've heard him! SI: Well, as far as a live performance of that group is concerned, let's just put it like this: we respect the music so much, you will never hear us do that. (laughter) The 1999 Kansas City International Jazz Festival will be held June 25-27 at Crown Center. RETURN TO JUNE 1999 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved. |
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