I miss Beena‘s place as much as the next jazz fan…
But a quick perusal of our town’s weekly Jazz Calendar (devotedly compiled, I might add with a hefty thank you, by piano whiz Roger Wilder) reminds that, Phoenix-like (the bird, not the club on 9th Street), jazz establishments do rise out of the ashes.
***Tonight, for instance, you can catch that master of the B-3 Everette DeVan with Dionne Jeroue at the Green Lady Lounge, 18th and Grand, from 8 to 11. I don’t know the room– comment back if you’ve been there– but anything on 18th Street would seem to have deep jazz roots.
***Thursday from 9 to midnight, the Kill Devil Club in the Power & Light District offers up a slick ensemble grounded in drummer Brandon Draper‘s study beat. Kill Devil is above the now departed Fran’s, where the much-missed Peachtree used to be (why they moved those tasty bread baskets from 18th and Vine to P&L remains a mystery).
The Intercontinental on the Plaza is back with a music policy– Lonnie McFadden rules that roost from 7 to 10. And you can catch Max
Groove at Piropos in Briarcliff– so jazz is alive and well in the Northland!
Thursday is also the date pianist Amina Figarova and her Septet hold court at the Blue Room in the 18th and Vine District. Did you know jazz was alive and well in Azerbaijan? Ms Figarova, a gifted (and fetching)
pianist/composer, offers up living proof. Check her out on her first US tour.
***Friday we’re back to one of the usual haunts.
The winsome Angela Hagenbach graces Chaz at the Raphael from 7 to 11. And the Green Lady keeps it going with Mark Lowrey from 9 to midnight.
***Saturday, Bassist Matthew Rybicki plays the Folly Jazz Series at 8, with an onstage interview opening the show at 7; local faves Matt Otto and Stan Kessler will be sharing the stage with the nationally-renowned Rybicki. Shay Estes brings her soulful songstress stylings to the Kill Devil, while way out South, another relative newcomer– the Take 5 Coffee Bar at 151st and Nall– presents bass master (the instrument, not the fish) Gerald Spaits fronting a combo from 8 to 10. Piropos offers up Michael Pagan from 2 to 5 and Mike Ning and Sherri Brummet 7 to 11.
That ain’t so bad.
I sure miss Jardine’s– a great place to listen to music– but there’s still plenty of jazz to go round this week and pretty much every week in our neck of the woods.
What is Beena doing now?
Did she land on her feet?
🙂
Yea, everyone is on the edge of their seat for Jardine’s news.
Beena always lands on her feet.
Where those feet currently reside and what they are doing is another matter. Unfortunately landing on what’s left of her feet after losing a huge investment like Jardine’s is not a happy thing to have happen.
Well, I hope she does ok.
🙂
Thanks for putting it out there that Jazz is still alive & kickin’ here in KC. Musicians and music lovers alike were adrift for a while after Jardine’s closed its doors. However, Mr. DeVan has a saying that he quotes from a Big Maybelle tune that fits this situation perfectly… “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show”.
I’ve had the opportunity twice now to perform at the Green Lady Lounge with the Everette DeVan Trio and I am, officially and certifiably, in love with this place. It has the feel of an old school speak easy with a taste for upscale decor, stiff drinks and fantastic service. And, no, I don’t work there and I am not a paid spokesperson, lol.
This place is definitely for “grown folks” and music lovers. It is by no means, stuffy or formal but there isn’t a drunken JCCC coed or an Ed Hardy t-shirt in sight and, I dig that. Most people there are either sharing some drinks and kickin’ back with friends (in pimptastic red velvet booths) or just listening to the music in a place you can actually hear it over the conversations being had at other tables.
Speaking of the music, it’s impressive. John Scott has definitely thrown his hat in the ring to be one of KC’s top Jazz venues, the dude is serious about his Jazz and he didn’t bother making the mistake that most “here today, gone tomorrow” places do around here. He didn’t wait until the bar was making a ton of money to bring in good musicians that you have to pay more than a few drinks and tip jar and…here’s the kicker, if you play there, you play Jazz….period. There is no ambiguity, and their identity is clear, this is a Jazz only zone.
You will not walk in this place on a week-day to check out the music and accidentally stumble upon some weird poetry jam featuring a chick wearing half a thrift store who, clearly, has not showered and smoked waaaaay too much of whatever she bought from the homeless prophet on Prospect who’s grunting and squeaking aloud her thoughts on the cruelties of tampons and paper clips while some dude, who looks like he doesn’t even know where he is, plays an unidentifiable instrument that he made himself in his grandma’s basement with duct tape, popsicle sticks and human hair. It’s happened to me, it’s happened to you and you end up drinking too much just to make your soul stop screaming in your head.
This place is just frick’n cool, no BS, just good people, drinks, snacks & Jazz.