COVID-19 finally cancels Harriman-Jewell’s DiDonato concert, but jazz comes to town

For a while now, we’ve known that every classical concert in the remaining 2020 season has been canceled due to the pandemic. But one was not immediately canceled and it was a concert many of us dearly hoped would happen.

Alas, the Harriman-Jewell Series has announced that the Joyce DiDonato concert with the early music group Il Pomo D’Oro originally scheduled for May 29 has finally been canceled. The series was hoping some sort of accommodation could be made for the mezzo-soprano’s appearance in her hometown, but COVID-19 proved too much of a challenge.

“The restrictions for Kansas City went through May 15, so we and Joyce’s management thought there was a chance we could do this, even in some altered form or with some additional restrictions,” said Clark Morris, executive and artistic director of the Harriman-Jewell Series.

“But recently it’s become clear that even with the city reopening, we’re not close to getting a very large crowd on May 29 and follow good health guidelines.”

The Joyce DiDonato cancellation is extraordinary because it takes a lot to stop the Harriman-Jewell Series. The acclaimed performing arts presenter has been there for Kansas City through some of the nation’s most profound traumas. In 1968, for example, at the height of the tumultuous civil rights movement, the series brought the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to Kansas City for the first time.

The Harriman-Jewell Series received a bomb threat the day of the performance, and Richard Harriman, the founder and namesake of the series, had to call in Kansas City’s bomb squad to sweep the theater. After being assured by the police that there weren’t any bombs in the theater, Harriman decided to go ahead with the performance. But a few minutes before the show started, Harriman got another call from the would-be terrorist saying there was a bomb in the theater and they needed to evacuate.

“Richard said, ‘No, there’s not!’ and slammed the phone down,” Morris said. “He was mad. He was so upset that because of someone’s hate and racism we couldn’t celebrate the great artistry, athleticism and grace of this primarily African American company.”

The Harriman-Jewell Series faced one of its biggest dilemmas the night of Sept. 11, 2001. The American Ballet Theatre was scheduled to perform after the nation had been rocked by the worst terrorist attack in its history. Members of the New York-based ballet company had been scrambling all day to reach loved ones by phone, and Harriman and Clark were in continual discussions with the Kansas City police department and the FBI about whether it was safe for the performance to go on.

“All the normal things you do to prepare for a performance on the performance day, all your concern for your visiting artists, all the preparations, all of that was magnified a thousand times,” Morris said.

After an in-depth discussion with Kevin McKenzie, the artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre, and getting the OK from the FBI and police and, most importantly, with enthusiastic agreement from the dancers, Harriman decided the show must go on. About 60% of the ticket holders came to the performance.

“I was surprised how many people showed up,” Morris said. “It was so affirming that people came up to me and wrote to us thanking us for the performance. One of the works had a backdrop of the New York skyline with the Twin Towers in it. It was such an artistic moment. Art is not frivolous. Sometimes art speaks to what we’re experiencing in an almost magical way. You don’t know how you can align all those things, but it happens.”

But the new coronavirus is a challenge like no other. Morris and his staff of creative and critical thinkers are working to make sure that the Harriman-Jewell Series survives and thrives and will be a source of comfort and inspiration for years to come.

“This is the most challenging period in our history, but we are very well-prepared to weather it because we have such great donors,” Morris said. “And it gives me a lot of comfort to have the quality of staff that we do.”

For more information about the Harriman-Jewell Series, visit www.hjseries.org.

Folly Theater’s 2020-2021 season

Louis Armstrong once said, “What we play is life.” Well, “life” goes on for the Folly Theater. Kansas City’s venerable concert hall recently announced its 2020-2021 season featuring a stellar group of jazz artists, but notes that it will only move forward as long as it is safe for its patrons, artists, staff and volunteers.

Let’s hope that safety can be assured because the Folly has lined up an amazing season.

Five-time Grammy Award-nominee Karrin Allyson will kick off the season on Oct. 17. Originally from Kansas, Allyson is now based in New York and renowned around the world for her smooth vocal stylings. Her visits to Kansas City are always much-anticipated by her many local fans, and this one should be no different,

Pianist David Benoit will bring his “Christmas Tribute to Charlie Brown” to the Folly on Dec. 12. Benoit says that he became a jazz fan after watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special on TV in 1965. “When I heard that jazz piano trio, that was the defining moment when I decided that I wanted to play like Vince Guaraldi.” Benoit will be joined by vocalist James Tormé, son of the legendary Mel Tormé.

James Tormé is becoming something of a legend himself. He’s been acclaimed for his “clean-toned vibrato, jazz sensibilities, and charismatic stage presence” by London Jazz News.

Things get funky on Jan. 16, 2021, when Grammy-winning keyboardist Jeff Lorber takes the Folly stage. Lorber’s layered grooves on piano, synthesizer, and his Fender Rhodes electric piano should be a perfect musical hot toddy for a cold winter’s night.

Clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen and her Quartetinho will present their unique blend of jazz, classical, Brazilian choro, Argentine tango and Afro-Cuban music on Feb. 12, 2021. Cohen is making waves with her eclectic approach to jazz. The Wall Street Journal says, “What’s not to love about a young clarinetist and saxophonist who plays everything we love – modern jazz, world music, ‘hot’ New Orleans style jazz – and does it all brilliantly?”

Cuban-born saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera has been blowing his Latin jazz since he was a young boy in Havana. He and his outstanding Paquito D’Rivera Quintet will perform March 20, 2021. After defecting to the U.S. in 1980, D’Rivera was able to bring his Cuban-flavored jazz to the world, and, in the process, won 14 Grammy Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Carnegie Hall.

Eliane Elias, another multi-Grammy winner, will conclude the season on April 29. “An Evening with Eliane Elias” will feature the pianist and vocalist along with March Johnson on bass, drums and guitar performing romantic, Brazilian jazz.

Folly Theater, 300 W. 12th St. For tickets and more information, 816-474-4444 or www.follytheater.org.

You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.