Tue, Feb 09, 2010
Johnson County Community College will present first-class local musicians in its spring free Jazz Series at noon each Tuesday, February 23 through March 30, in the Recital Hall of the Carlsen Center at JCCC.
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Mon, Feb 01, 2010
Jammin at the Gem 2010, and other upcoming events at the American Jazz Museum.
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Tue, Jan 26, 2010
"Hot Swing" at the Folly Theatre coincided with the 100th birthday celebration of Django Reinhardt, who before passing away in 1953, helped shape the "gypsy jazz" sound.
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Tue, Jan 12, 2010
Jazz Winterlude at Johnson County Community College last weekend was like a three-day reunion of some of the most experienced Jazz talent in Kansas City. Performed in concert venues, as opposed to bars, audiences were able to focus on the soul-filled melodies and intricate improvisations without any distractions.
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Tue, Dec 29, 2009
Johnson County Community College will banish the winter blues with a new three-day jazz festival - Jazz Winterlude: Kansas City Style running Friday-Sunday, January 8-10, in several venues at the Carlsen Center.
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Tue, Dec 15, 2009
"Jam Session: America's Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World" is an exceptional collection of photographs and documents, now showing at the American Jazz Museum, drawn from important archives around the country that chronicles the tours of American jazz legends as they traveled the globe on behalf of the U.S. State Department.
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Tue, Nov 10, 2009
Kansas City is major center of electronic music composition with many area composers frequently winning international competitions. Most of these composers are members of the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance (KcEMA) which was founded in 2007 to develop a community of understanding, appreciation and collaboration of electronic artists, and to support the creation of electronic music and arts.
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Tue, Nov 03, 2009
The mid-1980's spawned a Kansas City Renaissance of sorts for Ida McBeth, who reached a new level of productivity as a performer. There was a mutual admiration between city and singer that hasn't subsided since that time. You only need to look at a list of the numerous accolades and awards that McBeth has received to get the full gist.
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Tue, Oct 27, 2009
As part of its permanent collection, the American Jazz Museum is home to one of the world's largest and most comprehensive collections of early and rare jazz film. Originally amassed by John H. Baker, an Ohio attorney and collector, the collection is comprised of over 5,000 titles
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Mon, Oct 26, 2009
Angela Hagenbach sits alone at the bar and leisurely sips her cocktail as her band warms up the audience. There is only a modest crowd in the club but she's unperturbed. It's early. She knows they'll show. It's this quiet confidence-and her velvet voice-that has made her a Kansas City favorite for nearly two decades.
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Tue, Oct 06, 2009
Nestled at the intersection of those streets is The Phoenix, Kansas City's historic jazz club that has acted as a home away from home to The Scamps. As one the oldest jazz and swing bands still actively playing in the metro area, The Scamps don't rely on quirky costumes, forced dialogue, or some newly conceived hybrid of their preferred musical genre. Rather, the latest incarnation of the band is still staying true to the roots that the pioneer members planted during the Great Depression.
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Tue, Oct 06, 2009
A short list of local talent 'giggin' around the metropolis through most of October.
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Mon, Sep 28, 2009
"It originally had a real violent, revolutionary meaning," Mark Southerland confesses. "Kill the old guard so the free jazz freaks could fly their flag." The evocative, sinister name suits the would-be musical hitmen who make up Snuff Jazz.
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Tue, Sep 22, 2009
Arriving at a Lonnie McFadden show is to enter into a veritable feast of smiles - and if the singer/dancer/trumpeter has his own way - plenty of mingling with the dance floor. His infectious personality is only matched by his obvious passion for his music.
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Mon, Sep 21, 2009
With glimpses of brilliance, the Dave Stephens Band's rendition of "If I Had You" proved to be the tightest song of the evening, featuring solid stride-piano work from Bryant, tight vocals, and a nuanced, unmuted trumpet solo from Springer. The best song of the evening, this was an aptly subtle, subdued arrangement.
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Mon, Jun 29, 2009
Little jazz bird sings a new song: I drove through a raging thunderstorm, a torrent of hail and the threat of flood to hear Megan Birdsall sing. But she herself went through much worse just to find her voice again.
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Mon, Apr 27, 2009
The Turtle Island Quartet and the KU Performing Arts department premierrd a large-scale performance at the Lied Center as the culminating event of a campus-wide multi-disciplinary program.
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Wed, Apr 15, 2009
The Philip Glass Ensemble showcased a collection of music spanning the composer's career at the Lied Center of KansasUniversity.
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Wed, Feb 25, 2009
It sounds like the start of a really bad joke, but Wu Man and her friends James Makubuya and Lee Knight presented a mind blowing concert that ultimately left audiences feeling good about the prospect of world peace.
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Wed, Jan 21, 2009
Watching a jazz combo on a large stage, in a theater, is still a novel approach and although experiencing jazz in its natural habitat, bars, clubs and dives, offers the listener the chance to have a drink, tap toes and dance, it isn’t an appropriate venue for children.
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