The Plastic Sax Jazz Event Calendar

Welcome to my nightmare. People have been asking for a jazz calendar since the inception of Plastic Sax.

"But that's work!" I'd exclaim. "Besides, the Jazz Ambassadors produce a fine weekly jazz calendar."

Knowing that I had a free hour that might allow me to catch a bit of live music early Friday evening, I turned to their calendar only to discover that it hadn't been updated. And the Mutual Musicians Foundation event calendar has been dormant for weeks; I hope their Friday "Rush Hour" shows haven't been discontinued.

I remembered that Tim Whitmer has a Friday matinee at Jardine's and that smooth jazz was on tap at the Blue Room's Indigo Hour. But I wasn't in the mood for those offerings. Frustrated and disappointed, I furiously compiled this Kansas City jazz calendar in my office.

My calendar is obviously incomplete and highly selective. Only a fraction of live jazz events are listed here. Use the links on the right to see everything that's happening at clubs including Jardine's, the Blue Room, the Drum Room and the Majestic. It's safe to assume that musicians like Chris Burnett, Rod Fleeman and Angela Hagenbach are playing somewhere in Kansas City this week. Please click on their links.

Instead, my list focuses on special events, concerts and festivals. Please leave a comment if you spot a particularly egregious omission, demand to know why Junior Brown is on the calendar or merely want to tell me I'm an idiot. (I suppose I'll update this monster monthly; I may slap it on a separate site.)

4/15 People's Liberation Big Band w/ Pattern Is Movement- Record Bar

4/18 Benny Green/Christian McBride/Gregory Hutchinson- Gem Theater

4/18-19 MCC- Penn Valley 18th & Vine Jazz Festival

4/19 Logan Richardson with Billy Hart- Blue Room

4/19 Glenn Miller Orchestra- Carlsen Center

4/19 Junior Brown- Knuckleheads

4/19 Grand Marquis- Blues Society house party

4/24 Erin Bode- Blue Room

4/25-26 The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, "Herd Again"- Unity On the Plaza

4/26 George Clinton- Crossroads KC

4/26 David Basse w/ OJT- Jardine's

4/29 Mike Metheny- Lee's Summit Library

4/30 Megan Birdsall- Jardine's

5/03 Leo Kottke and Leon Redbone- Uptown Theater

5/03 Bill Edwards, "Ragtime Revelry"- Community Christian Church

5/04 Clark Terry w/ KC Youth Jazz Orchestra

5/05 Son Venezuela- Crossroads KC

5/10 Monty Alexander- Folly Theater

5/16 Alto Madness w/ Richie Cole- Blue Room

5/16 Mike Dillon's Go Go Jungle w/ Hairy Apes BMX- Davey's Uptown

5/18 Brad Cox Ensemble- All Soul's Unitarian

5/19 Mark Southerland/Mike Dillon- Blue Room

5/22-24 Owen/Cox Dance Group- City Stage at Union Station

5/28 Dresden Dolls- Beaumont Club

5/30-31 Winard Harper- Blue Room

6/05-8 Wakarusa

6/06-8 Hawkfest w/ Sam Rivers, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Flora Purim and Airto

6/06 Roy Bookbinder- Mountain Music Shoppe

6/14-15 Rhythm & Ribs Festival w/ Oleta Adams, Fourplay, George Duke

6/12 Chicago w/ the Doobie Brothers- Starlight

6/19-20 Jazz In the Woods- Erin Bode, Grady Nichols, Greg Adams

7/18 Matt Haimovitz- The Brick

9/17-21 Walnut Valley Festival, aka "Winfield"

9/26 Branford Marsalis w/ the Alexander String Quartet and- Lied Center

9/27 George Winston- Folly Theater

10/19 Marsalis Brasilianos- Carlsen Center

10/26 The Harlem Quartet- Lied Center

10/31 Spaghetti Western Orchestra- Carlsen Center

11/04 Savion Glover- Carlsen Center

12/13- The Boston Brass- "A Stan Kenton Christmas"- Lied Center

1/16/09 Metta Quintet, "Stolen Moments: 100 Years of Jazz"- Lied Center

2/11/09 Imani Winds, "Josephine Baker: A Life of Le Jazz Hot"- Lied Center

(Original image by Plastic Sax. Please bail me out!)