D ..read more

The International Sounds of Songstress Eboni Fondren I have watched audiences fall in love with vocalist Eboni Fondren. And, I must admit, I fell for her the first time I met her. For several years, Everette DeVan hosted a sort of annual late-night loft party jam session. If you remember Everette, you may remember a cavalcade of sweet voiced young vocalists that he mentored. Many of those vocalists have become fixtures of the Kansas City music scene, and Eboni was a stand-out from day one. She has a way of taking the lowest of low down blues and singing it in a way that makes you think: “That ..read more

Kansas City Jazz Orchestra (KCJO) has a new album. And on it they swing hard, are hip and precise—and, in the tradition, they’ll make you want to take someone’s hand and dance. Although cut of the same cloth style-wise, “In the Key of KC” includes all new tunes, originals, like “Banana Slug,” “Blue Cheese,” and “Sir Charles,” alongside the KC classic (and album opener) “Moten Swing.” As the album’s liner notes reveal, “KCJO's fourth studio presents, for the first time, an album of arrangements by current members of the ensemble, with all but one track an original composition. This approach al ..read more

Life tends to be a full circle event and for Amsterdam-based jazz vocalist, composer, and bandleader Gabriela Martina, nothing could be truer with the release of her new album “Homage to Grämlis” as she re-assembles the pieces of her music career that were scattered into disarray by COVID-19. “COVID was horrible. I lost my business, gigs, & tour. My existence. That's why I’m partially based in Amsterdam and Boston. Trying to figure things out. It takes a while to heal. It’s a matter of time,” Gabriela said. “Yet, I feel positive that the music gives something that you have to see in perso ..read more

A trifecta of Kansas City Jazz is scheduled for Thursday, December 14th at the Uptown Lounge, located at the corner of 34th and Main Streets. Trombonist and educator Ryan Heinlein brings students from the Johnson County Community College Jazz Program to perform from 7pm to 9pm as part of the Jazz Ambassadors’ Future of Jazz program. Current members of the Jazz Ambassadors are invited to arrive at 6pm for the Annual Meeting of the Association. The Third annual Kansas City JAM Awards will begin at 8pm, as the City’s favorite jazz musicians, clubs and venues will be honored. Make sure to go onlin ..read more

The International Sounds of Songstress Eboni Fondren have watched audiences fall in love with vocalist Eboni Fondren. And, I must admit, I fell for her the first time I met her. For several years, Everette DeVan hosted a sort of annual late-night loft party jam session. If you remember Everette, you may remember a cavalcade of sweet voiced young vocalists that he mentored. Many of those vocalists have become fixtures of the Kansas City music scene, and Eboni was a stand-out from day one. She has a way of taking the lowest of low down blues and singing it in a way that makes you think: “That’s ..read more

Jazz in the Valley, a free music festival on the Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley campus, will be held 6-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29. The public is invited. Penn Valley’s third annual jazz event will feature: • The Jim Lower Jazz Orchestra (6 p.m.) – Lower is a Kansas City-based traditional jazz drummer and bandleader who attended MCC-Penn Valley and played in a big band on campus. Lower enjoys an active performing schedule all over Kansas City, with his 16-piece big band, the same group he is bringing to Jazz in the Valley. • MCC’s own Millie Edwards Nottingham, Clarence Smith and Frien ..read more

The Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign of Weston, Missouri, was pleased to announce the third annual Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee on Saturday, June 17, 2023. This event would not have happened without the tenacious attitude of a savvy Kansas City jazz musician. Over the past decade, things have changed for Angela Hagenbach. She started a vocal trio with Pamela Baskin Watson, and Nedra Goodson Dixon, the ensemble known as Book of Gaia. The powerful trio soon several successes to celebrate. Then, their collective busy schedules put the band on hiatus. All three women have an interest in musical ..read more

Happy Hour at Upcycle Piano Craft 3945 Main Street, KCMO As I walk in late, to Upcycle Piano Craft’s monthly jazz event, I feel at home immediately. Thirty-some jazz folks sit around casually, on piano benches and chairs, moving their bodies to the irresistible rhythm of Paganova. led by the prolific pianist, composer, and arranger Mike Pagan, Paganova includes Mike’s son Louie on bass, Ray DeMarchi on drums, and saxophonists Brett Jackson (filling in for David Chael) and Mike Herrera. “It’s impressive Pagan has the professionalism and charisma to get these guys to hang with him.” remarks Stev ..read more

Review “Basie Swings the Blues” (2023) unites modern living legend and contemporary blues singers with the long-standing Basie Band in a tribute to the blues. You’ll hear Keb’ Mo’ and Shemeka Copeland belting the blues on top a river of Basie Band “tight horn voicings,” as jazz scholar Wayne Winbourne rightly puts it. Beyond the heart-pumping, foot-tapping groove, the words are the thing for many blues listeners, and this album delivers, including Copeland’s brickhouse performance of Koko Taylor’s I’m a Woman, a nod to the Bo Didley tune. In the Taylor version, we even get the line “I’m a wom ..read more