Deborah Brown tops the bill at the Winterlude Jazz Festival at Johnson County Community College on Saturday, February 15. The Kansas City vocalist also performs with pianist George Colligan at the Blue Room on Friday, February 14, and at Upcycle Piano Craft on Sunday, February 16.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Pat Metheny’s new 29-city American tour doesn’t stop in Kansas City.
*KCUR’s February concert recommendations include Delfeayo Marsalis’s forthcoming appearance at Winterlude Jazz Festival at Johnson County Community College.
*The Kansas City Star and KCUR published items about potential and certain business displacements should plans for the Kansas City Royals’ new stadium move forward.
Say It Isn't So
Original image by Plastic Sax.
I intend to purchase a $35 ticket to the Bessie, Billie and Nina: Pioneering Women in Jazz concert at Polsky Theatre. Performances by Tahira Clayton, Vanisha Gould and Charanée Wade in the Midwest Trust Center’s Jazz Winterlude series on March 6 will almost certainly be enjoyable.
Even though Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone merit the utmost respect, the booking is part of a pervasively discouraging trend. Honoring past heroes is commendable. Neglecting present innovators is detrimental. Angel Bat Dawid, Cécile McLorin Salvant and Esperanza Spalding are among the many artistically vibrant artists currently embodying the rebellious legacies of Holiday, Simone and Smith.
The conservatism of Jazz Winterlude is understandable. Past bookings by forward-thinking artists including Terri Lyne Carrington and Julian Lage received tepid public support. Curating a sanitized past is safer than presenting a divisive present.