JAM: August/September 2000 Issue: Correspondence

Where Was the Jazz?
This (year) was my fifth Pub Crawl. I've always enjoyed the jazz and have had quite a bit of fun. The buses sometimes have been slow, but that is to be expected. It has never caused me to not want to go the next year.

This year was a different story. I usually end up in the same clubs -- Epicurean, Plaza III, the Blue Note, Club Mardi Gras -- and make my last stop the Mutual Musicians Foundation. This year my friends and I decided to try some other clubs. BIG MISTAKE!

We started at the 75th St. Brewery, which had what one of the women I was with called "jazz," but maybe it was just too modern for my taste. It wasn't what I would have called jazz.

We hopped on the first bus and decided to try the Levee. They had an excellent band. However, no jazz. The "Thong Song" doesn't qualify as anyone's version of jazz.

Club number three was the Grand Emporium. "______ got a big Ole Butt" and songs along that line were being played there. This band was also pretty good, but no jazz. We considered hopping the bus and going somewhere else, but since the buses were extremely slow this year, we were afraid that by the time we arrived at 18th and Vine, we would only have time to hop back on a bus to head to our starting point.

If this is going to be billed as a "Jazz Lover's Pub Crawl," the clubs should feature jazz or not be part of the crawl. I am a 40-plus jazz lover and the "body-to-body, half naked, drunk club scene" is not my thing. I go on the Pub Crawl because I can go to a club, not fight my way through a mob scene, and enjoy the music. Next year, if you have clubs that are not featuring jazz, that should be noted on the map and I will definitely avoid those clubs.

Also, we originally planned to go to BB's Lawnside BBQ because we've never made it there on previous crawls. It was on the list of clubs I printed out from one of the web sites advertising the crawl, yet it wasn't on the map the night of the Pub Crawl. What happened?

Stacia Carter
Olathe, KS

KCJA president Mike Fitzgerald responds:
Dear Stacia,
We do thank you for your well-written letter. Your comments are taken quite seriously by the KCJA Board and the Pub Crawl Committee.

The Jazz Ambassadors probably do not have as much control over the music as you might think. First of all, the participating clubs pay for and select the bands. Additionally, the clubs pay a fee for participating in the Crawl. I am sure they participate for business reasons, but also because they know we share profits with jazz related charities. We certainly try to influence the clubs. Our first letter to the clubs tells them in bold letters: REMEMBER -- THIS IS A JAZZ EVENT. We go on to request that they hire jazz groups and we offer assistance in finding jazz bands. This year one of our members, a booking agent, offered to help. Two of the 20 clubs took us up on her offer and hired well known jazz groups.

Then we get into what qualifies as "jazz." Clearly, several of the bands this year weren't jazz groups, but I would certainly classify the Dave Stephens Swing Band, that appeared at the 75th Street Brewery, as jazz. And Sonny Kenner, who was at the Grand Emporium, is considered to be one of the area's premier blues artists. It seems to me that in Kansas City we tend to blur the line between blues and jazz. By my count, over half of the clubs had bona fide jazz bands, five or six had blues bands, and then there were a couple of others less easy to categorize.

You asked about BB's Lawnside BBQ. If they were listed on one of the web sites that was a mistake. While BB's has always been a supporter of the Jazz Ambassadors, this year they declined to be on the Pub Crawl. Their Thursday night blues band apparently keeps the house full and they didn't feel the need for Pub Crawlers. I understand they did talk to a jazz band about doing the gig, but that group wasn't crazy about the party atmosphere.

One of the area's other jazz clubs had previously booked an act that also was not interested in the "Pub Crawl atmosphere." One of KC's strongest jazz supporters told me, "Well, it is a party. It's the people's night. If we can introduce a few more people to jazz, then that's good."

Next year will be the Pub Crawl's 20th year. I assure you that we will keep working with the clubs to get jazzier bands. (Hopefully, they will read your thought-provoking letter.)

As always, we will keep trying to make every Pub Crawl better. And I do hope you make it next year. As a matter of fact, the Pub Crawl Committee could use your help in the planning process for next year's event. Please call us.

And thanks again for your letter.

(And don't forget: our Kansas City Jazz Workshop features 100% jazz. The KCJW season begins in September, and the lineup can be found in this issue's "News & Notes.")

Thanks From Bob
Please thank John Leisenring (JAM, February/March '00) for his very kind words about my New Art Orchestra CD.

I wonder, ever think about inviting me to play in KC?

Bob Brookmeyer
brookmeyer@aol.com

No Smoke Blowing Allowed
With all due respect to Mickey Witt (Correspondence, June/July '00), the reality is that there are now three smoke-free rooms in town that serve up live jazz. They are: the Blue Room, 210 at Fedora, and Ivy's jazz dining room.

When it comes to commenting on a subject, I believe one should be informed.

Now, any more excuses?

See you there.

Stan Kessler
"In a Vacuum"
Kansas City, MO

For Mickey Witt to assert that the smoky environment is the reason people don't attend local jazz performances is simplistic and naive. In fact, my experience is in complete opposition. There are three smokeless jazz venues in town. Are they making a profit on local jazz performances? Nope. Also, smoking had little if anything to do with the demise of the Drum Room and Club 427.

To make unsupported charges regarding environment as the "reality" that keeps "fans" away is almost laughable. Witt ought to hoist up his britches and start a smoke-free jazz venue (or "ballroom"). And don't forget to include the warning label in your advertising: "Live local jazz can be hazardous to your health."

Give it a couple years if you can, and when you "wake up," write JAM another letter you can back up with your own "reality" ledgers.

Todd Wilkinson
Bankrupted-Ex-Smoky-Jazz-Club- Proprietor; Live Jazz Sympathizer
Shawnee, KS

Greetings From Spain...
My name is Oscar Font and I write you from Barcelona. I'm a traditional jazz trombone player, but in my free time I'm a webmaster.

My last site, jazzadictos.com, specializes in New Orleans Traditional Jazz but for Spanish speakers (350,000,000 people, more or less). Now you can see it and after that I wait for your opinions.

Thanks for everything, and congratulations on your great magazine.

Oscar Font
Barcelona, Spain
www. jazzadictos.com

...And From New Zealand
Thanks for your wonderful magazine. I have been passing on the good word about KC as a jazz destination to the jazz clubs down here.

I wish I could buy some of your CDs, but the New Zealand dollar is only worth 46 cents in your money.

There are only four million people living here at the edge of the Pacific. Next stop is the South Pole.

All the best,
Geoffrey Totton
Auckland City, New Zealand

A Misguided Review...
I have been occasionally bruised and bloodied by reviewers during my colorful 25 year music career, and chances are I'll get beat up again. Given my history, I would like to offer some advice to the "For the Record" review section of your magazine concerning the June/July issue.

This is in reference to the review of my CD called "The Gathering" (and other eclectic CDs like it): Put it in the hands and ears of a reviewer who understands the musical territory of the given project! While my reviewer may be an excellent writer, his references and comments left me feeling he knew very little or nothing about the style of improvisation and musical direction represented here.

As an artist who works in the trenches for an independent label, and depends a great deal (unfortunately) on press and airplay, a misguided review can trip up the flow of much needed momentum. I'm not saying that all projects have to be adored, but they should at least be given the respect of being understood.

And to all my good friends in KC who read the review: I haven't "sold out" and I don't just use the black keys.

The other 99.9% of JAM is great. Keep up the beautiful work!

Chuck Lamb
Eagle, CO

...And a Delightful CD
To the staff of JAM,
We in the jazz community can't thank you enough for a wonderful magazine that continues to improve with every issue. You have done a great job informing the Kansas City area and the world of the jazz happenings here. (It makes me wish I played better!)

I would also like to make a comment, not a complaint. Rod McBride's review of Chuck Lamb's CD was heartfelt and I will not argue with his opinion of the album. But I would like the fans of Chuck and Theano to know that, while it isn't a straightahead jazz album, it is a straightahead MUSIC album. I find it delightful. It is one side of what Chuck and Theano are all about and it is well worth purchasing.

I'll admit it: I'm a fan! And I have been since Chuck's KC Dryjack days twenty years ago. This young man does extraordinary things with the piano and keyboards. If you already know Chuck Lamb's work, I think you'll like this CD. If you aren't familiar with Chuck, check out "The Gathering." It is a nice introduction to a very talented musician.

Paul Smith
Independence, MO

Casual Feedback
In the wake of the April/May cover story about "casuals" ("Adventures of a Jobbing Jazzman/Adventures in GB Hell"), there was the usual trickle of feedback: some nice, most neutral.

There was also some unexpected criticism from, of all places, the upper echelon of hipness in the local jazz community. Apparently this satirical rant rubbed some people the wrong way. (I won't name names; these folks are good friends. Plus, there's no need for JAM readers to know that some of KC's best and brightest are becoming a little "backed up" in middle age.)

One important thing I did learn from this revelation is that there's a line between acceptable sarcasm and overt curmudgeonry, a line I need to be careful not to cross if I want to stay out of the doghouse with my peers. So, I promise to behave myself from now on... or at least until the end of the current millennium.

And speaking of curmudgeons, the following might help shed some light on what kind of twisted psyche would produce such a cathartic spew in the first place. Thing is, it may not explain how a moldy tux and its 33 year old cummerbund have gradually turned into a balled up, fermenting science experiment. I'm thinking it probably has something to do with mud, sweat and beers.

-- MM

"A curmudgeon's reputation for malevolence is undeserved. They're neither warped nor evil at heart. They don't hate mankind, just mankind's excesses. They're just as sensitive and soft-hearted as the next guy, but they hide their vulnerability beneath a crust of misanthropy. They ease the pain by turning hurt into humor. They snarl at pretense and bite at hypocrisy out of a healthy sense of outrage. They attack maudlinism because it devalues genuine sentiment. They hurl polemical thunderbolts at middle-class values and pop culture in order to preserve their sanity. Nature, having failed to equip them with a serviceable denial mechanism, has endowed them with astute perception and sly wit. Offense is their only defense. Their weapons are irony, satire, sarcasm, ridicule. Their targets are pretense, pomposity, conformity, incompetence. And they'll tell you that their targets are everywhere and multiplying like Smurfs."
-- Jon Winokur, 1987
(from The Portable Curmudgeon)

Send email correspondence to: info@jazzkc.org.






	Search our site:		Where Was the Jazz? This (year) was my fifth Pub Crawl. I've always enjoyed the jazz and have had quite a bit of fun. The buses sometimes have been slow, but that is to be expected. It has never caused me to not want to go the next year. This year was a different story. I usually end up in the same clubs -- Epicurean, Plaza III, the Blue Note, Club Mardi Gras -- and make my last stop the Mutual Musicians Foundation. This year my friends and I decided to try some other clubs. BIG MISTAKE! We started at the 75th St. Brewery, which had what one of the women I was with called "jazz," but maybe it was just too modern for my taste. It wasn't what I would have called jazz. We hopped on the first bus and decided to try the Levee. They had an excellent band. However, no jazz. The "Thong Song" doesn't qualify as anyone's version of jazz. Club number three was the Grand Emporium. "______ got a big Ole Butt" and songs along that line were being played there. This band was also pretty good, but no jazz. We considered hopping the bus and going somewhere else, but since the buses were extremely slow this year, we were afraid that by the time we arrived at 18th and Vine, we would only have time to hop back on a bus to head to our starting point. If this is going to be billed as a "Jazz Lover's Pub Crawl," the clubs should feature jazz or not be part of the crawl. I am a 40-plus jazz lover and the "body-to-body, half naked, drunk club scene" is not my thing. I go on the Pub Crawl because I can go to a club, not fight my way through a mob scene, and enjoy the music. Next year, if you have clubs that are not featuring jazz, that should be noted on the map and I will definitely avoid those clubs. Also, we originally planned to go to BB's Lawnside BBQ because we've never made it there on previous crawls. It was on the list of clubs I printed out from one of the web sites advertising the crawl, yet it wasn't on the map the night of the Pub Crawl. What happened? Stacia Carter Olathe, KS KCJA president Mike Fitzgerald responds: Dear Stacia, We do thank you for your well-written letter. Your comments are taken quite seriously by the KCJA Board and the Pub Crawl Committee. The Jazz Ambassadors probably do not have as much control over the music as you might think. First of all, the participating clubs pay for and select the bands. Additionally, the clubs pay a fee for participating in the Crawl. I am sure they participate for business reasons, but also because they know we share profits with jazz related charities. We certainly try to influence the clubs. Our first letter to the clubs tells them in bold letters: REMEMBER -- THIS IS A JAZZ EVENT. We go on to request that they hire jazz groups and we offer assistance in finding jazz bands. This year one of our members, a booking agent, offered to help. Two of the 20 clubs took us up on her offer and hired well known jazz groups. Then we get into what qualifies as "jazz." Clearly, several of the bands this year weren't jazz groups, but I would certainly classify the Dave Stephens Swing Band, that appeared at the 75th Street Brewery, as jazz. And Sonny Kenner, who was at the Grand Emporium, is considered to be one of the area's premier blues artists. It seems to me that in Kansas City we tend to blur the line between blues and jazz. By my count, over half of the clubs had bona fide jazz bands, five or six had blues bands, and then there were a couple of others less easy to categorize. You asked about BB's Lawnside BBQ. If they were listed on one of the web sites that was a mistake. While BB's has always been a supporter of the Jazz Ambassadors, this year they declined to be on the Pub Crawl. Their Thursday night blues band apparently keeps the house full and they didn't feel the need for Pub Crawlers. I understand they did talk to a jazz band about doing the gig, but that group wasn't crazy about the party atmosphere. One of the area's other jazz clubs had previously booked an act that also was not interested in the "Pub Crawl atmosphere." One of KC's strongest jazz supporters told me, "Well, it is a party. It's the people's night. If we can introduce a few more people to jazz, then that's good." Next year will be the Pub Crawl's 20th year. I assure you that we will keep working with the clubs to get jazzier bands. (Hopefully, they will read your thought-provoking letter.) As always, we will keep trying to make every Pub Crawl better. And I do hope you make it next year. As a matter of fact, the Pub Crawl Committee could use your help in the planning process for next year's event. Please call us. And thanks again for your letter. (And don't forget: our Kansas City Jazz Workshop features 100% jazz. The KCJW season begins in September, and the lineup can be found in this issue's "News & Notes.") Thanks From Bob Please thank John Leisenring (JAM, February/March '00) for his very kind words about my New Art Orchestra CD. I wonder, ever think about inviting me to play in KC? Bob Brookmeyer brookmeyer@aol.com No Smoke Blowing Allowed With all due respect to Mickey Witt (Correspondence, June/July '00), the reality is that there are now three smoke-free rooms in town that serve up live jazz. They are: the Blue Room, 210 at Fedora, and Ivy's jazz dining room. When it comes to commenting on a subject, I believe one should be informed. Now, any more excuses? See you there. Stan Kessler "In a Vacuum" Kansas City, MO For Mickey Witt to assert that the smoky environment is the reason people don't attend local jazz performances is simplistic and naive. In fact, my experience is in complete opposition. There are three smokeless jazz venues in town. Are they making a profit on local jazz performances? Nope. Also, smoking had little if anything to do with the demise of the Drum Room and Club 427. To make unsupported charges regarding environment as the "reality" that keeps "fans" away is almost laughable. Witt ought to hoist up his britches and start a smoke-free jazz venue (or "ballroom"). And don't forget to include the warning label in your advertising: "Live local jazz can be hazardous to your health." Give it a couple years if you can, and when you "wake up," write JAM another letter you can back up with your own "reality" ledgers. Todd Wilkinson Bankrupted-Ex-Smoky-Jazz-Club- Proprietor; Live Jazz Sympathizer Shawnee, KS Greetings From Spain... My name is Oscar Font and I write you from Barcelona. I'm a traditional jazz trombone player, but in my free time I'm a webmaster. My last site, jazzadictos.com, specializes in New Orleans Traditional Jazz but for Spanish speakers (350,000,000 people, more or less). Now you can see it and after that I wait for your opinions. Thanks for everything, and congratulations on your great magazine. Oscar Font Barcelona, Spain www. jazzadictos.com ...And From New Zealand Thanks for your wonderful magazine. I have been passing on the good word about KC as a jazz destination to the jazz clubs down here. I wish I could buy some of your CDs, but the New Zealand dollar is only worth 46 cents in your money. There are only four million people living here at the edge of the Pacific. Next stop is the South Pole. All the best, Geoffrey Totton Auckland City, New Zealand A Misguided Review... I have been occasionally bruised and bloodied by reviewers during my colorful 25 year music career, and chances are I'll get beat up again. Given my history, I would like to offer some advice to the "For the Record" review section of your magazine concerning the June/July issue. This is in reference to the review of my CD called "The Gathering" (and other eclectic CDs like it): Put it in the hands and ears of a reviewer who understands the musical territory of the given project! While my reviewer may be an excellent writer, his references and comments left me feeling he knew very little or nothing about the style of improvisation and musical direction represented here. As an artist who works in the trenches for an independent label, and depends a great deal (unfortunately) on press and airplay, a misguided review can trip up the flow of much needed momentum. I'm not saying that all projects have to be adored, but they should at least be given the respect of being understood. And to all my good friends in KC who read the review: I haven't "sold out" and I don't just use the black keys. The other 99.9% of JAM is great. Keep up the beautiful work! Chuck Lamb Eagle, CO ...And a Delightful CD To the staff of JAM, We in the jazz community can't thank you enough for a wonderful magazine that continues to improve with every issue. You have done a great job informing the Kansas City area and the world of the jazz happenings here. (It makes me wish I played better!) I would also like to make a comment, not a complaint. Rod McBride's review of Chuck Lamb's CD was heartfelt and I will not argue with his opinion of the album. But I would like the fans of Chuck and Theano to know that, while it isn't a straightahead jazz album, it is a straightahead MUSIC album. I find it delightful. It is one side of what Chuck and Theano are all about and it is well worth purchasing. I'll admit it: I'm a fan! And I have been since Chuck's KC Dryjack days twenty years ago. This young man does extraordinary things with the piano and keyboards. If you already know Chuck Lamb's work, I think you'll like this CD. If you aren't familiar with Chuck, check out "The Gathering." It is a nice introduction to a very talented musician. Paul Smith Independence, MO Casual Feedback In the wake of the April/May cover story about "casuals" ("Adventures of a Jobbing Jazzman/Adventures in GB Hell"), there was the usual trickle of feedback: some nice, most neutral. There was also some unexpected criticism from, of all places, the upper echelon of hipness in the local jazz community. Apparently this satirical rant rubbed some people the wrong way. (I won't name names; these folks are good friends. Plus, there's no need for JAM readers to know that some of KC's best and brightest are becoming a little "backed up" in middle age.) One important thing I did learn from this revelation is that there's a line between acceptable sarcasm and overt curmudgeonry, a line I need to be careful not to cross if I want to stay out of the doghouse with my peers. So, I promise to behave myself from now on... or at least until the end of the current millennium. And speaking of curmudgeons, the following might help shed some light on what kind of twisted psyche would produce such a cathartic spew in the first place. Thing is, it may not explain how a moldy tux and its 33 year old cummerbund have gradually turned into a balled up, fermenting science experiment. I'm thinking it probably has something to do with mud, sweat and beers. -- MM "A curmudgeon's reputation for malevolence is undeserved. They're neither warped nor evil at heart. They don't hate mankind, just mankind's excesses. They're just as sensitive and soft-hearted as the next guy, but they hide their vulnerability beneath a crust of misanthropy. They ease the pain by turning hurt into humor. They snarl at pretense and bite at hypocrisy out of a healthy sense of outrage. They attack maudlinism because it devalues genuine sentiment. They hurl polemical thunderbolts at middle-class values and pop culture in order to preserve their sanity. Nature, having failed to equip them with a serviceable denial mechanism, has endowed them with astute perception and sly wit. Offense is their only defense. Their weapons are irony, satire, sarcasm, ridicule. Their targets are pretense, pomposity, conformity, incompetence. And they'll tell you that their targets are everywhere and multiplying like Smurfs." -- Jon Winokur, 1987 (from The Portable Curmudgeon) Send email correspondence to: info@jazzkc.org. RETURN TO AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2000 MAIN INDEX © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved.