COVID cancels Charlie Parker tribute, but KC’s jazz museum is finding its footing
The new delta variant of COVID-19 canceled Sunday’s planned celebration for Charlie “Bird” Parker. But momentum is on the side of Kansas City’s American Jazz Museum. And that is promising news. For years, the museum has struggled to gain traction as one of the city’s most treasured cultural institutions.
The “In the Yard” parade from the Crossroads to the historic 18th & Vine District and other festivities is off. In its place is a virtual saxophone salute to commemorate Parker’s 101st birthday, which is the same day. The tribute will be livestreamed Sunday on the museum’s Facebook page at 5 p.m.
The decision to cancel the event was a difficult but necessary one to keep employees and patrons safe from COVID-19, said Rashida Phillips, executive director of the American Jazz Museum. A yearlong tribute to Parker’s centennial year deserved a better ending. A quick pivot to a virtual format keeps newfound momentum going. “Bird at 100,” a concert featuring a trio of saxophonists, will be taped at the Gem Theater and air next month, Phillips said.
Programming at the museum has beefed up in recent months. Offerings now include live performances every Third Thursday and weekend concerts at the adjacent Blue Room. This week, a “Paint and Sip” party featuring local artist Michelle Beasley will be part of a First Friday at 18th & Vine.
Beasley’s work is featured in a collection at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art highlighting African American artists.
A temporary exhibit featuring Billie Holiday drew more than 6,000 visitors, according to Phillips. A Holiday-inspired fashion show followed. Other highlights from this year include a series of jazz-themed dog walks and a summer showcase for the museum’s Jazz Academy for middle- and high-school students.
Three years ago, the museum was on life support. Financial mismanagement and other issues led to a complete reorganization. After a yearlong national search, Phillips was hired in late 2019. She was senior director of community ventures at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago before the move. Then a pandemic stalled progress. The museum is almost back to full swing, COVID-19 concerns notwithstanding. And that should be welcome news to jazz fans from all over the world.
“We are still in the era of the pivot,” Phillips said. “But folks are excited and still on board.”
A Walt Disney World slight to Kansas City
How can you have a “Soul of Jazz” musical exhibit and not include Kansas City? Short answer: You can’t.
Walt Disney World’s Epcot theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, tried it. Phillips wouldn’t let the omission come to pass.
Last February, Phillips and some of her staff boarded a plane bound for Florida. Mayor Quinton Lucas and his security detail and staff were on the flight as well.
The group carried with them the museum’s most sacred possession: a rare cream-colored plastic alto saxophone that once belonged to Parker. Former Mayor Emanuel Cleaver paid $140,000 for the sax during an auction in the 1990s. Decades later, the invaluable piece of memorabilia is in its rightful place at the museum after a six-month stay in Florida.
When it comes to jazz, Kansas City’s storied past is well-chronicled. The American Jazz Museum is internationally recognized. This city’s history in the genre is as rich as New York, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Philly, New Orleans or any other major city that claims the musical genre as its own. Paris, France, too.
But Epcot’s “The Soul of Jazz: An American Adventure” debuted in February without one mention of Kansas City. That all changed the weekend of Super Bowl LV in Tampa, when the city’s contingent made a calculated gamble and showed up at Epcot without any guarantees the sax would be included in the exhibit.
“We called to let them know we were coming,” Phillps said. But that was the extent of the invite. With Lucas by her side, Phillips convinced the folks at Disney to accept the saxophone and add Kansas City to its narrative on jazz history. Mission accomplished.
“It’s important to spread the gospel of what Kansas City is about,” Lucas said.
A sax belonging to Harold Ashby, a Kansas City jazz legend who played with Duke Ellington, has now replaced Parker’s exhibit at Epcot, Phillips added.
“The partnership with Disney is going strong,” Phillips said. “They know who we are. “We’re staking our claim.”
Kansas City has long been regarded for jazz, baseball and barbecue. If Phillps and staff have it their way, the tradition will continue for generations to come.
