Jazz Town: Walk of Fame events take stride forward with Al Jarreau, Ellis Marsalis

The American Jazz Walk of Fame project, which has placed those big bronze medallions in the sidewalk along 18th Street by the museums, gets more ambitious each year. And this year’s induction ceremony and concert, set for Saturday, June 4, is the biggest yet.

The ceremony is at 6:30 p.m. at 18th and Vine streets, followed by a gala concert at the Gem Theater featuring two inspirational figures in American music — singer Al Jarreau, who effortlessly bridges jazz and pop, and Ellis Marsalis, the New Orleans-based pianist, composer and teacher who deserves to be every bit as famous as some of his kids.

This year’s Walk of Fame honorees, a new batch of medallions, include:

▪ Ben Webster: A Kansas City tenor sax giant whose horn produced the most intimate whispers and the most urgent screams, sometimes in the course of a single solo. He was Duke Ellington’s favorite tenor player, and all the best tenor soloists who went through Ellington’s band after Webster displayed his influence openly.

▪ Melba Liston: Maybe she wasn’t a famous name, but the musicians knew. This Kansas City-bred trombonist kept pace with the guys on her horn, and also displayed a rare talent with the arranger’s pen. Her long collaboration with pianist Randy Weston showed it best — no one else ever translated Weston’s music into the language of horns so well.

▪ Luqman Hamza: He’s a Kansas City treasure, a singer with one of those velvet-edged voices, a tasty pianist and a good composer. He’s a walking encyclopedia of songs, thousands of them. And he’s been a mentor to countless Kansas City musicians, who know the correct chord changes to those songs and treat them with more respect because of Hamza’s enduring influence.

▪ Queen Bey: Nowadays, if you search the Internet for that name, you see pages of references to Beyoncé Knowles. But no one who’s heard the actual Queen Nethra Bey sing will mistake the identity. This exemplary modern-jazz stylist from Kansas City has left a big impression in clubs and concert halls around the world, and she’s also excelled in theater roles.

▪ Louis Armstrong: The Walk of Fame turns its focus outward from Kansas City by honoring the man who took the music from New Orleans to the world.

▪ George Benson: The first-rate singer and first-rate jazz guitarist has earned a popular success that’s regularly belittled by less successful people in jazz who wish they sounded as good as he does.

▪ Nina Simone: The singer-pianist has been gone since 2003, but right now she seems more influential and relevant than ever.

The Jazz District Renaissance Corp. started the Walk of Fame to add an amenity to 18th and Vine and created an event that would become an annual tradition. The idea seems to be working out nicely.

Saturday’s induction ceremony is open to the public; tickets to the concert are $25 and can be had at 816-474-6262 or AmericanJazzMuseum.org.

More star power

Jarreau and Marsalis aren’t the only international stars to visit 18th and Vine this week. The Blue Room, 1600 E. 18th St., has special shows involving two blue-chip musicians. Kansas City’s own Kevin Mahogany, one of the world’s reigning male jazz vocalists, comes home for two shows, at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday, June 2. And vibraphonist Roy Ayers, a founding father of soul-jazz whose influence is still growing, will appear at 8:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, June 3. Tickets for Mahogany and Ayers are $20 a show; call 816-474-6262 or check AmericanJazzMuseum.org.

Blues highlight

It’s time once again for one of the best events on the year’s blues calendar, the Gladstone Summertime Bluesfest. The event, at Oak Grove Park, Northeast 76th Street and North Troost Avenue, offers two nights and a day of music:

On Friday, June 3, starting at 6 p.m., it’s Jason Vivone and the Billy Bats, the Delgado Brothers Band and headliner Anthony Gomes. On Saturday, June 4, starting at 2 p.m., it’s Karla and Too Bad Jim, the Blues Notions, the Ghost Town Blues Band, Renee Austin, Hadden Sayers and headliner Bernard Allison.

Admission to the festival is free, but parking is $5. Bring a cooler, but it can’t be stocked with alcoholic beverages from outside. Don’t bring the dog. But bring your ears and a good attitude.

Noteworthy

▪ It’s a big week for pianist Tim Whitmer, who’s celebrating the 22nd anniversary of his Spirituality and All That Jazz concert series at the Unity Temple on the Plaza, 707 W. 47th St. The celebration concert, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, features singer Diane “Mama” Ray, who was the guest artist on the very first concert in the series in 1994.

Later in the week, Whitmer and friends hold a combination live performance-recording session for a radio show he’s developing. It’s at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Green Lady Lounge, 1809 Grand Blvd., and features organist Ken Lovern’s OJT.

▪ The Blue Room also has the Jazz Disciples leading the Monday jam at 7 p.m. Tenor saxophonist Doug Talley’s group is joined by singer Kathleen Holeman at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

▪ The Green Lady Lounge also has drummer Kevin Frazee’s trio at 5:30 p.m. Monday, followed by trumpeter Stan Kessler’s Force 5 at 9 p.m.; the Sequel Quartet at 9 p.m. Tuesday; organist Ken Lovern’s OJT at 9 p.m. Wednesday; percussionist John Kizilarmut’s trio at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, followed by saxophonist Brett Jackson’s quartet at 9 p.m.; pianist Tim Whitmer at 5:30 p.m. Friday, followed by organist Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 at 10 p.m.; and OJT again at 6 p.m. Saturday, followed by keyboardist Max Groove at 8:30 p.m. and Hazelton again at 9:30 p.m.

This story was originally published May 28, 2016 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Jazz Town: Walk of Fame events take stride forward with Al Jarreau, Ellis Marsalis."