thing #12

Alright... so I'm off to the races with my 101 things. This post is re thing #12: listen to live jazz somewhere in Kansas City. My cousin Chris (aka Malibu) has been in town since Friday evening. We've had a great time out and about... Saturday evening, we hit some great live jazz in Kansas City. We started out at The Majestic downtown and cozied into the basement to hear The Scamps... a combo with Kansas City roots dating back to the 1940s.
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The photo below is of Chris and Lucky, the stand-up bassist of The Scamps. Oddly enough, Chris is on his knees so that I could get them both into the photo...
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Next up was Bram Wijnands... a guy who is originally from the Netherlands who has made Kansas City his musical home. Bram is known as one of the best stride piano players in the world (NOT a simple technique!) and is currently the headliner at The Majestic.
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Last stop was 12 Baltimore to hear our friend Stan Kessler. The kicker? Stan was on drums instead of trumpet playing with Rick Bacus and Kelly Schell in the club of the Hotel Phillips downtown. Lucky for us... it was almost like a private show as there were only a handful of folks in the house.
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The last bit of incriminating evidence is a photo (below) taken earlier in the evening during a walk downtown... the pic is of Chris by an art piece in the Garment District... note the button he is standing in and the large needle by which he is standing. A bit of Kansas City trivia/history (the knowledge nugget from the visit to this monument!)... the Garment District was in its heyday in the 1930s when several large clothing manufacturers clustered in the area. At the time, it was second only to New York City in size.
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Today... I've got a day of PTO and will be hanging out with my cuz before he heads back to Texas tomorrow. Despite the rain, we're planning to take in stage one of the Tour of Missouri bicycle race which will be ending on the Plaza in the mid afternoon. This first stage is 90 miles from St. Joe to Kansas City... but unlike the beautiful sunny afternoon of last year's plaza finish, I'll have umbrella in hand this year!