Jazz Beat: Shay Estes and Mark Lowrey at the American Restaurant

A year ago this month, the American Restaurant began hosting a regular jazz series in its lounge called “Jazz at the American.” It wasn’t really official until November, when the series expanded to Tuesday through Saturday. Singer Shay Estes books the groups, with an emphasis on contemporary arrangements and original compositions. Wednesday, Estes herself takes the mic with her longtime musical partner, pianist Mark Lowrey. Though the two have performed together for more than a decade, the sight of them together in recent years has been less frequent. If you needed further persuasion to get you to the lauded Kansas City restaurant, that should do it.