2014v2Online

VENUES CONTINUED
Museum, the Marr Sound Archives, the Mutual
Musicians Foundation, and fine jazz clubs and
restaurants. On most nights a fan has tough
choices of who to hear.
But this municipal asset is hardly recognized locally.
What does not help is the lack of national recognition
that we receive. I tell friends in New York City about
the Kansas City scene and they seem surprised, even as
they acknowledge the nationally-recognized musicians
who came out of the area are making an impact, from
Pat Metheny and Steve Cardenas to Karrin Allyson and
Kevin Mahogany to Logan Richardson.
DownBeat has a single Kansas City jazz club in its
annual Best Jazz Clubs listing, the Blue Room. It is a
well-earned distinction. But does this leave the impression
that this is all there is to the Kansas City club scene
DownBeat readers need to know is that there should be
more of Kansas City on this list.
Three venues that have opened within the past few
years that should cause the jazz traveler to include Kansas
City in future plans. These venues are in addition to fine
venues such as the Majestic Restaurant and Jazz Club
(jazz seven nights a week), the Phoenix (jazz and blues
six nights a week), the Gaslight Grill (jazz five nights a
week), and many more with regular weekend schedules.
The Broadway Jazz Club
The Broadway is the latest entry to the local scene,
and it is among the best places to relax and listen to music
that I have been in anywhere.
Before opening in December, they sought the
advice of renowned sound engineer John Story. “John
recommended three systems to us, from simple to best,
depending on what we could invest,” owner Neil Pollock
is right there, too; these are among the best bar seats of
any club I have been to. And unless this large club gets
overstuffed, the views are just unobstructed.
On a recent trip to the club, my son said the room felt
much like the Kitano in New York, one of my favorites.
It is intimate and relaxed, and conducive to listening
with minimal distraction. It is appreciated that the club
The Broadway Jazz Club
3601 Broadway, Kansas City, phone 816-298-6316
Open Tuesday to Thursday, 4 to midnight, Friday 4 to 1 a.m., and Saturday 6 to 1 a.m.
Web site: www.thebroadwayjazzclub.com
told us. “We took the best, I wanted the sound to be the
best it could be.” The sound is indeed excellent. “There
are really no dead spots, the sound is good throughout
the room,” adds general manager Pat Hanrahan. Many
will remember Pat from his time at Jardine’s. I agree; the
club has a great sound.
The club boasts many seats close to the bandstand
that is in the front window, including some next to the
bandstand, the tables directly in front of the bandstand,
and those lining the south wall. The large U-shaped bar
has placed cards on each table to request respect for the
musicians and fellow customers by keeping conversations
low. On my visits, this request has generally been
obeyed. “Yes, it generally works,” Pat told us. “We have
had a couple of larger parties that have been talkative.
The good news is that the room seems to handle it well,
you can still hear the music.” They also have a small cover,
usually five dollars but it could be a few dollars higher
for some acts, like Ida McBeth. More on that later.
12
APRIL + MAY 2014 • JAZZ AMBASSADOR MAGAZINE