What natural disaster do former Democratic Book President Harry Truman* and conservative radio talk show host Melanie Morgan* have in common? What catastrophic weather event broke open the lives of both business tycoon Sam Walton* and Byrds guitarist Gene Clark*?Īnyone who’s kept an anxious eye on a churning sky or felt the power of the wind against their house knows the fear the possibility of tornadoes generates. Read an interview with Carolyn from the Nonfiction Authors Association. They fought for equality not with speeches but with swing, without protest signs but with bebop.Ĭhanging the Tune will be published by University of North Texas Press and available in spring 2017. Undaunted, Comer, Gregg, and WJF’s ensemble of supporters continued the cause. The egos of established, seasoned players unexpectedly clashed with those of newcomers. The inclusion of male sidemen brought on protests. Anxious to satisfy fans of all jazz styles, WJF alienated some purists. Playing on a WJF stage always meant a female musician no longer felt she had to “play like a man,” but could proudly play as a woman.īut with success came controversy. Jam sessions, clinics, student band performances, and Top New Talent concerts all complimented the Sunday night Main Concerts. Performers as diverse and Carla Bley, Cleo Laine, Jane Ira Bloom, and Joanne Brackeen shared their music with fans from all over the country. The International Sweethearts of Rhythm reunited after forty years at WJF. Melba Liston came out of retirement to play at WJF. With the support of jazz luminaries Marian McPartland and Leonard Feather, inaugural performances by Betty Carter, Mary Lou Williams, an unprecedented All-Star band of women, Toshiko Akiyoshi’s band, plus dozens of Kansas City musicians and volunteers, a casual conversation between two friends evolved into an annual event. In 1978 they emphatically proved jazz genderless by creating the Kansas City Women’s Jazz Festival (WJF) thereby changing the course of jazz history. Two Kansas City women, Carol Comer and Dianne Gregg, challenged that inequitable standard. Drawn from news accounts, archival material, interviews, and remembrances, to which the author had unique access, Beneath Missouri Skies portrays a place and time from which Metheny still draws inspiration and strength.Įven though ripples caused by the potential passage of the Equal Right Amendment had cracked glass ceilings across the country, jazz remained a boys’ club. Yet this time of cultural change was characterized by an outstanding level of musicianship.Īuthor Carolyn Glenn Brewer shows how his keen sense of ensemble had its genesis in his school band under the guidance of a beloved band director. Beneath Missouri Skies also reveals important details about jazz in Kansas City during the sixties and early seventies, often overlooked in histories of Kansas City jazz. Despite five decades of interviews, none have conveyed in detail his stories about his teenage years. Metheny’s twenty Grammys in ten categories speak to his versatility and popularity. Now 66, he attributes his early success to the local musical environment he was brought up in and the players and teachers who nurtured his talent and welcomed him into the jazz community. By the time he graduated from high school he was the first-call guitarist for Kansas City jazz clubs, private clubs, and jazz festivals.

The New Yorker recently referred to Pat Metheny as “possibly the most influential jazz guitarist of the past five decades.” A native of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, just southeast of Kansas City, Metheny started playing in pizza parlors at age fourteen. University of North Texas Press announces the May 2021 publication of Beneath Missouri Skies: Pat Metheny in Kansas City 1964-1972 by Carolyn Glenn Brewer.

Kansas city jazz festival