SO, I wasn't sure where to put this....figured scene is most appropriate, but this is going in P&L where the Peachtree used to be.

From the Star:







this seems pretty big for P&L to get someone with a lot of KC creditability to help open a space.

Edit: heres the link http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/25/3676029/cityscape-rums-the-word-at-new.html

This is the first thing that has the potential to make me a P/L regular. (I've been 3 times, so far, if you include the ancillary retail and movie theatre.)

Freaking awesome. Tough draw on that 2nd level so something unique and a concept by a great guy in Ryan could be the recipe this space needs.

Great news. I'd be interested to hear if Cordish reached out to Ryan and Co., or if it was the other way around. Either way, it is nice to see Cordish filling some of the empty slots, regardless of if it was their doing or not. Perhaps this will lead to other efforts.

Article quote from Ryan said they reached out to him a few times...

Guess it helps if you read the article.

Won't this club sort of be in direct competition with the Chesterfield Club in the Mainstreet Theater--jazz club?

^Or could become a new jazz corner to hop around. The President Hotel needs to figure out the right kind of vibe for the Drum Room and then there will be a little jazz club stretch that would compliment each other.

Ryan M, with Jardine's now gone you should focus on taking over that kind of booking. But consider becoming a 'listening room' with no or few eats.

Story on the Chesterfield Club in the Mainstreet.

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/25/3675973/mainstreet-theater-lounge-takes.html

Fuck that. The last thing this scene needs is another "Shush Jazz" joint. Book some loud, horn-laden shit. Clinking glasses and brassy laughter is the best back-up man in all of jazz.

exactly. we need to bring back wild, raucous jazz, not "dinner music" jazz. KC is known for big band and bop, not post-Sade crooning.

Wasn't talking dinner music or Blue Room. Was thinking more like Tonic in NYC, which booked a wide range of jazz and experimental music that would often be raucous if not insane. It's not the old school listening room at all. Just a bar, music and no eats. A few small eats could work.

My bad. I guess that what I think of when I think of a listening room, which I avoid as a rule.

very much agree

I have long wanted a place in KC where you can go into a club environment and see a big band in full swing with small cocktail tables (ala Goodfellas), a dance space that does not expect too much but can be made to accomodate more, and a full band in suits or tuxes with the deluxe band podiums. I feel like if you are going to celebrate our jazz history, there should be at least one night a month or week where you can see this somewhere. I'm probably just not in the know, but it seems the big band offerings are often in larger auditoriums or kind of drab. I'd like to go to an upbeat, class joint, where you can feel like you are a part of history, yet not be totally surrounded by old folks who think it is too loud. Perhaps that has been too small of a segment, but I think many younger people have just never understood how or had great opportunities to embrace our jazz history other than through museums and districts with fake storefronts. I love a more casual jazz experience, but I think the casual experience is what turns many away from the genre.

It sounds like this place will be perfectly suited to put a more up-tempo vibe out. In my past experiences in the Blue Room or at Jardine's, the focus has been on providing a casual experience for hardcore jazz enthusiasts. As others mentioned, I want to go to a place where I feel like I'm setting the town on fire (or at least the band is setting the room on fire) and where people aren't just staring silently, which is why I think the Mutual Musician's Foundation has prospered. They do some more casual and low-key stuff, but the feeling of being somewhere unique and feeling energized certainly comes across. I think there are other aspects of the P&L that get certain people into this mentality already, so perhaps this will add to and diversify the dynamic already in the urban core. This is the type of place where you go when you are out for the evening, which I am most excited about. What to do downtown tonight? Well you can always catch a show at the Kill Devil Club (fantastic name by the way).

do the windows of the PeachTree open to the street? Would be pretty cool way to advertise that music is upstairs.

Yes, the best advertisement for Kansas City would be for hotel guests at conventions to walk down 14th Street and hear loud jazz music blaring from the clubs, and smell good BBQ in the air. I kind of wish the Kill Devil Club was at street-level though so people could look through doors or windows and see the artists playing.

That is how I discovered Jeff Buckley when I live in the East Village of New York City. I was walking past Cafe Sine' one night and the heard him singing through a window.

It would also be great if The New Century Follies burlesque troope could be scheduled at The Folly or Lyric Theater during big conventions.

I don't believe they used to but I agree, that would be great.

It would be great if a couple of raunchier clubs would open along Broadway in the old Tanner's space, Seiden's Fur, or that other building north of Majestic Steakhouse. Maybe one of them could be a permanent burlesque and vaudeville club. The rents in these buildings would be much cheaper probably than at P&L, and they would add some "color" to the downtown entertainment mix. Sometimes I think downtown is too sterile.

You discovered Jeff Buckley?& Seriously, though, that is an amazing story, and you have a good ear. I bet his live show was otherworldly with a voice and guitar chops like that.