Now's the Time: Adam Nussbaum's Lead Belly Project

Jazz renditions of songs associated with the blues icon Lead Belly doesn’t seem like a promising proposition.  Yet Adam Nussbaum validates the unusual concept with his Lead Belly Project.  The drummer will be joined by guitarist Steve Cardenas (his third Kansas City appearance in four months!), guitarist Nate Radley and saxophonist Ohad Talmor in the intimate Gospel Lounge at Knuckleheads on Thursday, March 21.  The performance is one of the date’s 19 shows listed on The Kansas City Jazz Calendar.

Now's the Time: Sammy Miller and the Congregation

Jazz musicians who embrace zany showmanship tend to be older men and women.  Young artists are likely to dismiss clowning as passé.  Sammy Miller and the Congregation defy the trend.  The members of the New York based band insist that “we play joyful jazz- music that feels good.”  The group will entertain at Knuckleheads on Saturday, February 16.  The show is one of the innumerable gigs listed at The Kansas City Jazz Calendar.

Now's the Time: Izabel Crane

Izabel Crane, a band from Springfield, Missouri, references Billie Holiday and Django Reinhardt as it characterizes its sound as Ozark jazz.  While I hear a lot more Bill Monroe than Charlie Parker, I’m inclined to like the ostensible hybrid.  Izabel Crane performs in the Gospel Lounge at Knuckleheads on Thursday, February 22.  Dozens of more conventional jazz bookings are posted at the Kansas City Jazz Calendar.

Now's the Time: The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra

Worlds will collide on Saturday, August 16, when The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra performs at Knuckleheads.  Most of the refined big band's concerts are held at Helzberg Hall in the elegant Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.  The region's primary destination for blues and roots rock, Knuckleheads is festooned with neon.  The juxtaposition should be memorable. 

Now's the Time: Catherine Russell

Jazz shows are infrequent at Knuckleheads.  The last jazz-oriented vocalist I heard at the venue was Myra Taylor.  Like the late Kansas City legend, the New York-based Catherine Russell possesses a bluesy style that should win over the audience at the East Bottoms roadhouse on Wednesday, April 16.  Joe Klopus previewed Russell's performance in his column for The Kansas City Star.

Myra Taylor: Our Greatest Treasure

Myra Taylor is perhaps our greatest living musical treasure. Few performers have the 90-year-old fireball's charisma and spontaneous sense of fun. She tells a cute story about her time with Harlan Leonard in this charming video. It's downright hysterical. Unfortunately, the uncouth audience captured here is not an anomaly in Kansas City.