Die Blue Room

Kansas City Parks billed The Musicology Band's April show as a "masterclass" in funk, R&B, pop, rock, Motown, and blues.

Sound on Sound KC, the Kansas City jazz ensemble Chris Lewis leads from the piano, recorded the CD Spirits High.

Wichita trumpeter Josué Estrada toured with Carrie Nation & The Speakeasy before forming his own band in 2022.

The Truman Foundation named drummer Levi Birks a 2026 scholarship recipient in UMKC's jazz program.

Big Luke & The Soul Disciples won the Kansas City Blues Society's 2023 Road to Memphis band contest.

Saxophonist Adam Larson's With Love, From Chicago drew 4.5 stars from DownBeat.

Bassist Charlie Harris founded Sonderluss Soul, a band that calls its sound "genre-less."

Plastic Sax says French horn player Loren Broaddus "proves he's a top-tier talent" on his June album, Blackout!!

TJ Hooker-Taylor, the son of soul-blues singer Johnnie Taylor, sings at Indigo Hour.

Trumpeter Stan Kessler, a 2021 Kansas Music Hall of Fame inductee, co-leads a new group with trombonist Brian Scarborough.

Mo Betta closes out October with two sets at the Blue Room on Halloween night.

Plastic Sax ranked tenor saxophonist Ernest Melton's 2018 trio album fourth among that year's Kansas City records.

Trombonist Brian Scarborough won the National Solo Jazz Competition at the 2015 American Trombone Workshop.

Soul singer Joey Gallant wrote "Ex Factor Pt. II," the single he released on Infinite Soul in October 2023.

Encore headlines Friday night at the Blue Room.

Singer JaySol, who toured with American Idol runner-up La'Porsha Renae in 2017, headlines the Blue Room on Saturday.

Tenor saxophonist Brad Gregory, a long-time featured artist with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, hosts Monday's jam.

Homage, a Friday-night headliner at the Blue Room on June 26, plays a free Thursday noon set.

Singer and drummer Kevin "Church" Johnson says he's been the musical director for Ginuwine.

Stacy & The Band headlined the Blue Room on July 3.

Singer David Watson cut Big Town in 2007 with Bob Cranshaw, best known for his 40 years with Sonny Rollins.

Soul and R&B singer Lauren-Ashley has performed with her band on Fox 4's Great Day KC.

Alex Abramovitz and His Swing'n Kansas City Jazz Band was a finalist in The Pitch's Best of KC 2024.

Jazz Ambassador Magazine readers voted Stan Kessler their Favorite Trumpet Player in 2022 and 2023.

Vocalist Lori Tucker was a founding member of the Wild Women of Kansas City, the group Myra Taylor started in 1994.

O's Place Jazz heard "a strong sense of swing" on Mikole Kaar's 2003 CD Six Horn Strut.

Flutist Jazzy Jazz Miyagi went to the New England Conservatory of Music on a full scholarship.

The Blue Room's Monday Night Jam Session opens with a featured set at 7 pm; this week's host will be announced here.

The KCKCC Blue Devil Funk Band won a 2022 DownBeat Student Music Award in the Blues/Pop/Rock Group category.

Gayle Price of Pure Sweetness is the daughter of Priscilla Bowman, whose "Hands Off" went to number one on the Billboard R&B chart.

Eboni Fondren sang with Kansas City Ballet this May as the vocalist in The Great Gatsby at the Kauffman Center.

Trumpeter Darryl White is an associate professor of trumpet and jazz studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Plastic Sax called organist Chris Hazelton one of Everette DeVan's most accomplished apprentices.

Sir James Atwood sang a Gregory Porter tribute with his band, The Collective, at the Blue Room on August 29.

Organist Chris Hazelton produced The Freedom Affair's 2020 debut, Freedom Is Love, and plays bass guitar on it.

The Slide SyndiKCate released its self-titled debut, with a Herbie Hancock tune among its three tracks, in March 2026.

The Blue Room's Monday Night Jam Session opens with a featured set at 7 pm; this week's host will be announced here.

Singer and tap dancer Chloe McFadden has played the Kauffman Center with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra.

Saxophonist Joe Wakefield, who leads The R&J Playerz Band, met Art Porter at Chicago's Cotton Club.

Pianist Angela Ward played keyboards and did the arranging on The James Ward Band's 2010 album, Groove Axis.

The Tetsuya Nishiyama Trio won Outstanding Jazz at the 20th Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards in February 2026.

NoMad plays the featured set at the Blue Room's Monday Night Jam Session for the second time.