Jazz Town: Come swing dance with KC Jazz Orchestra at Union Station

The development of jazz is intertwined with dance, the historians say. But jazz and dance don’t seem to talk to each other very often nowadays.

The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and friends are doing something about it. The big band, featuring many of our town’s best players and directed by Clint Ashlock, plays an unapologetically retro event on Friday, Nov. 4: “Gatsby Swing at the Station,” a dance at Union Station.

Yes, it’s a throwback to the time when big bands were on the ascent and dance was growing wilder. And it’s good to be reminded that popular jazz and popular dance once worked together — and that a principal motivation for this music was to get people moving.

And sometimes, jazz still works to get them moving, especially if they’re dancing to a band as good as the KCJO. The connection of jazz and dance never really went away, and ideally, it never will.

The Gatsby Swing event takes place from 8 to 10 p.m. in Union Station’s Sprint Festival Plaza. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Check unionstation.org.

Noteworthy

▪ The Blue Room, 1600 E. 18th St., has the People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City, directed by Brad Cox, for Halloween, at 7 p.m. Oct. 31. Singer and multi-instrumentalist Lester “Duck” Warner performs at 7 p.m. Nov. 3. French pianist Tony Tixier, a close associate of some of Kansas City’s best young players, brings a trio at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4. The Sons of Brasil are on at 8:30 p.m. Nov. 5.

▪ The Green Lady Lounge, 1809 Grand Blvd., has singer Molly Hammer at 6 p.m. Oct. 30, followed by tenor saxophonist Matt Otto’s sextet at 9:30 p.m.; drummer Todd Strait’s trio at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 31, followed by guitarist Will Matthews and his organ trio at 9 p.m.; organist Chris Hazelton’s trio at 6 p.m. Nov. 1, followed by bassist Gerald Spaits’ trio at 9:30 p.m.; drummer Natalie Bates’ trio at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 2, followed by organist Ken Lovern’s OJT at 9 p.m.; pianist Michael Pagán’s trio at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 3, followed by Hazelton with a quartet at 9 p.m. and a late show by reed man Charles Perkins, Spaits and Strait at 12:30 a.m.; pianist Tim Whitmer’s quartet at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 4, followed by Guitar Elation at 9 p.m. and Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 at 10 p.m.; and OJT again at 6 p.m. Nov. 5, until 1:30 a.m., with Hazelton’s quartet downstairs at 9 p.m.

▪ One more thing at the Green Lady. Club boss John Scott is planning a radio show hosted by Whitmer, and they’ll be recording another one at 3 p.m. Nov. 5. This one features pianist Roger Wilder’s quartet.

▪ And one more thing involving Tim Whitmer. The November edition of his Spirituality and All That Jazz concert series is always his birthday bash. This year singer and trombonist Kathleen Holeman will join the usual crew, drummer Jurgen Welge, bassist James Albright and saxophonist Jim Mair. The show is at 7 p.m. Nov. 2, at Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 W. 47th St.

▪ Guitarist Danny Embrey plays the next show on the Johnson County Community College jazz series, at noon Nov. 1 at the Recital Hall in Carlsen Center.

▪ The American Jazz Museum’s most sizable contribution to the November First Friday celebration is the unveiling of a nine-panel mural measuring 36 feet wide and 8 feet high. The work, called “Harmony on the Vine: Spill Paint Not Blood,” was designed by Michael Toombs and painted by hundreds of people. It will be unveiled at 6 p.m. Nov. 4 in the museum’s atrium.

This story was originally published October 29, 2016 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Jazz Town: Come swing dance with KC Jazz Orchestra at Union Station."