Kansas City's 18th & Vine Jazz and Blues Festival filled the air behind the American Jazz Museum with music and barbecue smoke from early in the afternoon until late at night on Saturday, Oct. 11. The jams also went on all day inside the Gem Theater and the Blue Room.
Although the American Jazz Museum brought in national talent including Roy Hargrove, Meshell Ndegeocello, Lucky Peterson, Jessica Care Moore and Midnight Star, plenty of area acts had stage time as well.
Just after noon, the Elder Statesmen of Kansas City Jazz performed a variation on the city's official song, Wilbert Harrison's "Kansas City," adding some smoky twists to the familiar lyrics. The day's lineup of players: Horace Washington on saxophone; Don Cox on piano; Ram Swami Nathan on drums; Ricky Anderson on bass; Michael Oshiver on harp; Ronnie Reed on trumpet; and Patricia "Princess" Cox on vocals.
If the song is perhaps too obligatory for local as well as touring musicians, that wasn't evident at the Blue Room:
