One of the last vestiges of Kansas City’s glorious jazz past has passed…
John Edward Albertson – a bartender and jazz historian of the first order – died Sept. 19th and a remembrance of him will go down at 3 p.m. tomorrow (Oct.2) at the McGilley Midtown Chapel.
Albertson bartended at a number of local establishments, including the Grand Emporium, but is best remembered as being the go to guy at the old Milton’s Tap Room near Linwood and Main.
“I met him when he was bartending at Milton’s,”
smartman
Too bad the guys at Cordouche couldn’t figure out a way to resurrect a Milton’s in the P&L. Or maybe a Max’s Kansas City.
Bill McGlaughlin
I’m sorry to hear about Dr. John. I met him when I first came to Kansas City and always found him a most appealing character
midtown miscreant
I lived on Warner Plaza right behind Miltons in the 70’s. I’ll always remember the checks papering one wall as you walked in. Bounced checks from the 40’s and 50’s. I’d say Johns death is the final chapter of that little area, now covered over by home depot, Mcdonalds, and a bunch of improvements that really don’t make the place any better.
Becky de Wit
Wow, this brings back some old memories. So long, Dr. John. I used to hang at Milton’s Tap Room when I was in my twenties – it was the place to go when you wanted a dark, intimate atomosphere with cheap drinks (and free, if you took up Milton’s invitation to sit at his roost with him right there by the famous smoke machine). The wall behind the bar lined floor to ceiling with vinyl jazz. And when you walked out, you were blind because the sun was shining out there.
RIP John and Milton Morris (not Morris Milton, BTW).