Spring Fever

Spring is finally here. Just in time for summer.

Bram Wijnand's Majestic 7

Fresh from a week of gigging in Holland, Bram Wijnand joined his Majestic Seven recently at Jardines. If you like your jazz to have some swing and for it to be a little bit raucous this is the group for you. Definitely in the mold of Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Hot Sevens.


Of particular note from this group is the outstanding alto sax of Dan Thomas. Besides performing regularly, Thomas, along with Wijnands, is also involved with UMKC teaching a variety of jazz curricula.



Jurgen Welge ably holds down an impressive drumset with all the bells and whistles and horns and cymbals and wood blocks....

You can catch Bram Wijnand's trio at The Majestic Steakhouse every Friday and Saturday night. The Majestic Seven play Jardines every second Wednesday of the month.

Downtown Revival

On my weekly Saturday visit to Overland Park's Downtown Farmers Market I stopped to listen to Doug Talley's quartet play. The past few years have been tough for this commercial area. Two big fires in as many years. Too many vacant store fronts. But as you can see from the photo above, things seem to be looking up. In the background is the beginnings of an ambitious project of mixed use development. Promised are retail, office and condominium spaces in the property that once was the Gil Rumsey Art Gallery. Plus, I've heard rumors and noticed that the For Sale/For Lease sign is gone from the defunct eatery, Tonic. Still lots of space open.

Two In A Row

Last Thursday evening I had the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite Kansas City Jazz combos. Since 1995, the Doug Talley Quartet has remained a consistent bright spot upon the local scene.













For those of you new to the area or up to now have not been paying attention to jazz, The DTQ features Doug Talley on saxophone, Wayne Hawkins playing keyboards and Keith Kavanaugh on drumset. On this night, their usual bassist, Tim Brewer was replaced by the ever enjoyable, James Albright. Joining the group was trumpet/fluglehorn player, Joe Parisi.


This performance at The Blue Room was well attended. As I have noticed in the past, Doug and the group seem to attract a younger crowd than I experience with other groups. I have always attributed this to the fact that Talley is a music educator with the Shawnee Mission school district. I also suspect that Joe Parisi's position as assistant director of bands at UMKC brought in students as well. The crowd was also bolstered by an influx of listeners off of a tour bus from Topeka. Along with these fresh patrons came Todd Wilkerson and his alto sax sitting in on a tune or two.

Thanks to Plastic Sax for turning me on to this gig. Killer Strayhorn has shown to me that perhaps KC's Jazz scene still has a heartbeat.

In thier first foray onto the public scene, the "Killers" took no prisoners. Backed by longtime KC Jazz denizen David Basse, this group has legs and mighty chops.


Don't be confused by their name. Strayhorn's music is certainly not there main focus. A good mix of mainstream standards and originals. The leadership is split between keyboardist Chris Lewis and James Isaac on a variety of woodwinds. Bob Harvey plays trumpet and flugle with Dave Luvine on bass and Todd Crookston banging the drums. Basse came up to sing a tune during one set. Definitely worth a trip down to your local jazz club to hear.