Jazz Town: Another look into KC’s jazz future, with Gem series and others

Time to make good on a promise.

A few weeks ago, we ran down the Folly Theater’s coming jazz series and the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s 2016-17 season, and you were promised a more complete listing of jazz concerts to come in the fall and beyond. Finally the contracts are signed, the dates are set — and here’s the rest of that list.

We’ll start with the Gem Theater’s series, formerly Jammin’ at the Gem, now renamed Jazz at the Gem:

▪ Jonathan Butler, Sept. 30: The South African singer/songwriter and guitarist is a favorite on this series, for very good reasons.

▪ Bobby Watson and big band with Ernie Andrews, Nov. 19: Watson, the chief of Kansas City’s jazz tribe, assembles his big band to back Andrews, a durable, no-nonsense singer who has been on the scene since the 1945 and has been heard on recordings with Cannonball Adderley and Jay McShann.

▪ Tim Warfield, Dec. 9: Tenor saxophonist Warfield, veteran of bands led by bassist Christian McBride and trumpeter Nicholas Payton, presents a holiday-themed program.

▪ Ramsey Lewis, Jan. 14, 2017: The keyboardist behind “The In Crowd” and “Sun Goddess” is another favorite on this series.

▪ Pieces of a Dream, Feb. 11: This smooth-jazz band started as a trio in 1976 and still has two original members. They’re back for a Valentine’s-themed show.

▪ Dianne Reeves, March 25: One of the best singers now working, and another fixture on the Gem series (this will be at least the fourth time).

▪ Jack DeJohnette, April 22: The series’ biggest surprise. DeJohnette is arguably the finest living jazz drummer, and he’s bringing a seasoned, flexible trio with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and bassist Matthew Garrison.

Tickets for the Gem series are at 816-474-6262 or americanjazzmuseum.org.

Meanwhile, the people at the Harriman-Jewell Series aren’t ignoring jazz. They have two strong offerings:

▪ Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Dec. 1, Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. We can’t go too long without a Marsalis coming to town. In this case, the trumpeter’s big band is joined by singer Catherine Russell for a holiday-themed program.

▪ Bill Frisell, April 22, Atkins Auditorium at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The guitar giant comes back on this series for the third consecutive year, this time with music keyed to a film by Bill Morrison on the Mississippi River flood of 1927.

Tickets for the series can be had at hjseries.org.

Farther south, Johnson County Community College is bringing back its Jazz Winterlude — but it’s in a very different form, on Sundays spanning October to March. The concerts begin with a series featuring local artists: guitarist Will Matthews (Oct. 16), singer David Basse and pianist Joe Cartwright (Dec. 18), the Sons of Brasil (Jan. 22) and Alaturka (Feb. 26).

That all leads up to a show on March 19 featuring a touring package of international jazz stars, under the name Jazz 100: pianist Danilo Perez, tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, bassist Ben Street, drummer Adam Cruz, percussionist Roman Diaz and singer Lizz Wright.

Single tickets and whole-series tickets are available at 913-469-4445.

Noteworthy

▪ The Ship, 1217 Union Ave. in the West Bottoms, has the People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, organist Dave Creighton’s group at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and organist Greg Meise’s group at 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

▪ The Blue Room, 1600 E. 18th St., has drummer Tyree Johnson running the Monday jam at 7 p.m. Guitarist Max Berry’s group appears at 7 p.m. Thursday. Hard bop is back in the sound of trumpeter Marcus Hampton’s sextet at 8:30 p.m. Friday. Bassist James Ward’s band plays at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

▪ The Green Lady Lounge, 1809 Grand Blvd., has trumpeter Stan Kessler’s trio at 6 p.m. Sunday, followed by saxophonist Ernest Melton’s trio at 9:30 p.m.; organist Everette DeVan with drummer Danny Rojas and guitarist Matt Hopper at 5:30 p.m. Monday, followed by keyboardist Max Groove’s trio at 9 p.m.; the group Dojo at 7 p.m. Tuesday, followed by bassist Karl McComas-Reichl’s trio at 10:30 p.m.; drummer Natalie Bates’ trio at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, followed by organist Ken Lovern’s OJT at 9 p.m.; Hopper’s trio at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, followed by drummer Kevin Frazee’s trio 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 Max Groove again at 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by singer Molly Hammer at 6 p.m. and keyboardist Mitch Towne’s trio at 8:30 p.m.

▪ The Westport Coffeehouse Theater, 4010 Pennsylvania Ave., has saxophonist Matt Cook’s Collective at 7 p.m. Tuesday and trumpeter Nate Nall’s quintet at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

This story was originally published August 6, 2016 at 8:05 AM with the headline "Jazz Town: Another look into KC’s jazz future, with Gem series and others."