Green on Grand

A quick glance at the September bookings on the Kansas City Jazz Calendar confirms something that’s well known to every working jazz musician and hotel concierge in town: the Green Lady Lounge is Kansas City’s jazz hub.

Sixteen jazz performances are taking place at the Green Lady Lounge this week.  The Blue Room at the American Jazz Museum- Kansas City’s second most prominent jazz venue- presents about sixteen jazz shows in an entire month.

Not only does the Green Lady Lounge feature swing-based jazz by prominent locally based musicians seven nights a week, there’s never a cover charge or an expectation that patrons will order food.  The venue at 1809 Grand Boulevard also gets all the little things right.  The service is excellent and the decor is elegant.

This post isn’t a starry-eyed love letter to the venue.  For starters, I’m allergic to many strains of organ jazz and “happy” jazz tends to make me sad.  Furthermore, oblivious chatterboxes occasionally disrupt sublime performances on both the upstairs and downstairs stages.  

The people who oversee other jazz venues have meekly acquiesced to the dominance of the Green Lady Lounge.  I’d prefer that they rise to the challenge by making improvements inspired by the success of their upstart competitor.

(Original image by Plastic Sax.)