Jazzkill

Yesterday, John Kreicbergs, proprietor of Patchchord.com, sent me a letter in response to this week’s Wayward Son that presents the KC jazz problem better than I ever could have. With his permission, I reprint it here:

RE: Haddix’s response

I too respect Chuck — who doesn’t — but it’s hard to respect a scene that doesn’t respect itself.

I’ve been hitting the jazz clubs in KC since I was wee high school lad, humbled by the fact that places like the Phoenix and the Plaza III at the time would look me over with a suspicious eye, take my cover money, and shoot me a “try to order liquor and you’ll be out of here faster than Bird looking for his next fix” look. This arrangement allowed me to catch live jazz on a regular basis as an aspiring high school jazz hack that needed more than dusty records and reissues to get a better appreciation and understanding of the art.

But I digress…