Original image of Devin Gray by There Stands the Glass.
By the end of the month I’ll have gone to 17 performances at 13 venues spread across 14 days in September. My total ticket outlay is more than $150, not including tips for musicians at jazz gigs. Gasoline and beverages up the ante further.
A time will come when I no longer go out. My priorities may shift or I might lose my hearing, health or savings. Until then, I remain an (old) man about town. This diary entry is intended to provide solace when I become financially or physically infirm. Reading this entry will console my future shut-in self.
I whined about the lineup of a highly-publicized festival with a pal earlier in the week. Once I gave myself permission to forgo attendance at the event, I became open to a multitude of alternatives. I elected to devise a miniature Kansas City festival of my own making on Wednesday.
John McEuen, the venerable leading light of the original Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, was at Knuckleheads. The fabled rockers the Brian Jonestown Massacre were at recordBar. And my friend Aaron’s new band Unity Ticket was making its debut at a house concert.
I didn’t choose any of those shows. I’m currently obsessed with Prism Quartet’s new release El Eco de Un Tambor. I opted to open my evening with its outing at Helzberg Hall with the UMKC Conservatory Wind Symphony. The in-person opening remarks from the celebrity composer Viet Cuong were an unexpected bonus that came with my $15 ticket.
I headed to Black Dolphin following the one-hour and 45-minute concert to check out Stanley Sheldon’s Rhythm Republic. A scene that includes noodle dancers and avid devotees has already developed around the new Latin jazz band led by the man who played bass on Frampton Comes Alive. The $5 cover felt like a bargain.
My trek to the Ship to catch Devin Gray included passage through toxic smoke from a hobo-instigated fire. The peripatetic drummer’s 2023 appearance in Kansas City was my 21st favorite performance that year. Enraptured by his vigorous solo set at the free show, I handed Gray a twenty dollar bill before going home entirely sated.