KCRag Forum

Perhaps these photos are overedited, I'm willing to concede. Sorry if it's distracting. I had been looking at hyper-tone mapped HDR images on Flickr, and I may have gotten carried away. I know I have a reputation for manipulating my photos, but compared to a lot of other people, my editing is fairly mild -- well, except for this set anyway.

Hey!  Some working photos would be nice! 

Yeah, I know ... my site is offline right now for some reason.

Tosspot wrote: Yeah, I know ... my site is offline right now for some reason.

Ok.  I just thought that these photos were really, really overedited. 

Photos should load again now.

I love the contrast in this one:









  WOW!

Fantastic job, Toss. Glad you could make it down.

Fantastic! I especially like the ones that you edited to look like pencil or pen and ink drawings. Pretty much captured the mood of the event I;d say.
Very enjoyable - enen the guy on the bench w/ the double-deucer in a "bus bag".

Sportster
...b'lieve i'll git dis ta go!

This article had me wishing we could make an 18th & Vine Jazz & Blues festival a big thing.

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... ering.html

Get some headliners like Janelle Monáe, Gary Clark Jr, Trombone Shorty, Masego or even Robert Glasper and have them play downtown. 2 stages for the acts : One at Grinders, the other at the Gem Theater. Make 18th street a pedestrian/golf cart only street with vendors and food trucks along the way.

Could even tie into the Keystone Innovation District and play into the Tech startup scene the city markets.

Wow after reading into it the 2017 KC Jazz Fest was a mess. I don't remember it at all.

The last time Kansas City hosted a metrowide jazz festival was in 2017, when the American Jazz Museum led the Kansas City Jazz and Heritage Festival. It brought a crowd of 4,500 and resulted in a loss of nearly $500,000.

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... ering.html
https://archive.ph/2023.01.06-184834/ht ... 90605.html

in 2017, organizers of the jazz festival initially announced that Monáe would be their headliner. The star then took to Twitter to declare that announcement false. She wasn’t coming after all. “It’s untrue information,” she said. “An alternative fact.”

How popular is Jazz on a national level? Is not even popular locally I would say?


Recognizing our history is fun but jazz's golden era is long gone.

normalthings wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 3:11 pm How popular is Jazz on a national level? Is not even popular locally I would say?


Recognizing our history is fun but jazz's golden era is long gone.

I don't think a roster of straight swing jazz artists would be popular. The route would be approaching it like building out any other festival. Maybe with a loose focus on jazz influenced artists. For instance, Jazzfest in NoLA which actually just announced their 2023 lineup - shoutout to KC native Samantha Fish. The idea is more about the continued importance and celebration of music in the city

I like this more "universal" music approach to the festival that NOLA does. Honestly I think we could call it the " Kansas City Jazz & Arts Festival" and look to make it the signature cultural event within the Crossroads Districts that easily loops in 18th & Vine, & Kauffman Center areas. We have a world class performing arts center, lets use it. We have an national reputation for an arts scene that was developed grass roots style in the Crossroads. Plus there is better infrastructure there now and putting together a festival like this say in 2025 could help spur development between now in then in the areas effected, not to mention time to complete projects already underway. And we could piggy back on any great press and marketing from the NFL draft year, new airport, and world cup coming in 2026. Why not shot our shot, but do it right. We have leaders in town with experience putting on things of this nature, connections to the entertainment industry, music insiders, etc. that could definitely do something like this. Put the egos aside and realize this amount of good this could do and be something to happen on the regular.

normalthings wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 3:11 pm How popular is Jazz on a national level? Is not even popular locally I would say?


Recognizing our history is fun but jazz's golden era is long gone.

I think this applies to anything historical though. WWI has been over for 100+ years, but that doesn’t mean we get to shut down the WWI Museum does it?

That said, I think a more effective way of celebrating jazz would be to demonstrate its influence and promoting modern jazz composers. Basically every single piece of popular music can be traced back to jazz in some way, so it shouldn’t be too hard

I think it would be cool to have a smaller event focused on keeping Kansas City jazz alive -- the kind that was actually played here during the heyday we all romanticize. When they're done renovating the Boone Theater, there will be three performance venues right in the middle of the district (including Gem and Blue Room).

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Sat Jan 14, 2023 2:09 pm I think it would be cool to have a smaller event focused on keeping Kansas City jazz alive -- the kind that was actually played here during the heyday we all romanticize. When they're done renovating the Boone Theater, there will be three performance venues right in the middle of the district (including Gem and Blue Room).

Green Lady and Black Dolphin do a great job of keeping this spirit going. A spot like that on 18th and Vine would be really cool. Maybe it exists and I haven’t found it yet?

What would be really neat though is if it could be more open. Open windows/doors in the summer with music spilling out into the street.

Somewhat maybe related, what is the Music Economic Development Strategy being pursued by Creative City KC?

What is Creative City KC Inc.?

Creative City KC Inc. is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization that was created to sustain its designation in the UCCN. The Creative City KC Inc. team includes Anita Dixon-Brown, Executive Director; Kathryn Persley, President of the Heart of the City Neighborhood Association; Bukeka Blakemore, Recording Artist and Entrepreneur; Dr. Jacob Wagner; and Anna Marie Tutera, Executive Director of the Kansas City Museum.

What’s Ahead in 2023?

Creative City KC is building an economic development plan in the city’s urban core, which will include a strong global component and connect countries with similar genres.

In December 2022, KCMO’s City Council, sponsored by Councilwoman Melissa Robinson, directed the City Manager to develop a funding plan to designate approximately $425,000, subject to appropriation, to support the city’s membership in the UCCN, and to implement Creative City KC’s Music Economic Development Strategy.

What is a Music Strategy?

Music is an industry and economic activity that lacks a coherent system of support in KC. While the city is blessed with a great musical heritage, music venues and festivals, these assets are rarely coordinated and engaged as an economic development strategy. KC needs a strategy.

https://kcstudio.org/kansas-city-as-a-u ... -of-music/

Same old story in KC. UMKC gets short shrift in this effort. I'm guessing the Dr. Jacob Wagner on the board is the guy on UMKC faculty in Urban Planning and Design, but UMKC gets no mention. Also missing is any indication of participation by the Conservatory. Obviously, a sore spot for me.

normalthings wrote: ↑Fri Jan 13, 2023 3:11 pm How popular is Jazz on a national level? Is not even popular locally I would say?


Recognizing our history is fun but jazz's golden era is long gone.

This would be another great, modern line up. Doing this in KC makes a hell of a lot more sense historically than Napa.

Which of those artists is Jazz?