Gerald Dunn, American Jazz Museum entertainment director, discusses the need for arts education, Charlie Parker’s centennial and more

Name: Gerald Dunn

Occupation: Entertainment director, American Jazz Museum; general manager, the Blue Room; freelance musician

Hometown: Lindale, Texas

Current neighborhood: Grandview

What I do: As the GM of the Blue Room and director of entertainment for the American Jazz Museum for the past 17 years, I’ve had some humbling experiences helping me realize that we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us. I consider myself a steward of Kansas City jazz, a representative of what it meant, means now, and how it continues to create new meaning.

What’s your addiction? Music … I am addicted most to “applause.” Applause is so spontaneous and authentic and unscripted, stimulated by inspirational performance, usually artistic. Of all the sounds I hear in the Blue Room — and I have heard some of the most exciting sounds ever here — the sound I most crave is the sound of uncontrolled clapping and cheering, like an eruption of ecstasy. When I hear it, I know an artist has attained a certain level of expression, rare and wanted. When I hear applause, I know we are doing our job, I am hitting my note, we are making a connection at the level of the soul and the heart.

What’s your game? I love slapping dominoes down on hard tables and talking shit about it.

What’s your drink? Right now it is Skyfall Merlot and Stoneleigh Sauv Blanc.

Where’s dinner? Gates, Bonefish, Peachtree

What’s on your KC postcard? Kauffman Center or a shot of the Blue Room at night, glowing with crowds lined up, all dressed up, craning their necks to see and hear the action.

Finish this sentence: “Kansas City got it right when …” KC decided to invest in a new vision for 18th and Vine, which combined paying homage to the history of jazz while laying the foundation for the future of jazz. We got it right in recognizing the enormous cultural significance of jazz, the soundtrack of American history from the 20th century on.

“Kansas City screwed up when …” We stopped investing in arts education. For many years, even during segregation, the city was committed to teaching the arts to all residents, to great cultural and economic result. Many of the great jazz musicians of Kansas City got their training in public schools. For some reason, we decided to let the arts die on the vine, particularly for less-than-wealthy children whose parents can’t afford private lessons. The result is the slow strangling of the arts as a cultural resource, which resonates throughout our society and our economy. The arts pay!

“Kansas City needs …” To wake up and realize it is a major player in this world we live in. KC needs to see the enormous potential of leveraging our heritage of avant-garde music, both artistically and economically, as opposed to seeing jazz as a relic, dead and to be spoken of in whispered voices. Jazz lives, but not so much in Kansas City. We need to change that.

“In five years, I’ll be …” Looking at a thriving city realizing that we have a great opportunity to celebrate Charlie Parker’s centennial. Kansas City should be planning the biggest yearlong performance of Bird in 2020 and leading the way, claiming the mantle of Bird right here, where he sharpened his ax. There are only 60 months left, and we as a city should be planning this celebration, which in turn could redefine our relationship to jazz and the arts in general.

“I always laugh at …” People who think jazz is dead!

“I can’t stop listening to …” Bobby Watson’s “I Have a Dream” Project. Dominique Sanders’ new release. Logan Richardson’s next recording project with the following artists: Pat Metheny, Jason Moran, Nasheet Waits, Harish Raghavan. It will change the way we conceptualize improvisation.

“I just read …” Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff … and it’s all small stuff by Richard Carlson. Recently focusing on a couple of the Books of the Bible: Proverbs from the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible dealing with practical everyday living; Psalms, known as “the book of praises.”

The best advice I ever got: Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise.

Worst advice: There is no God.

My sidekick: My dog, Domino. Regardless of what type of day I am having, he is always happy to see me.

My dating triumph/tragedy: Meeting my wife.

My 140-character soapbox: Lets bumrush #Bird2020KC and own it. #jazzlivesKC #60monthstoBird2020. There is just too much opportunity waiting to be guzzled.

What was the last thing you had to apologize for? Having to cut a patron off who had too much to drink.

Who’s sorry now? They are, because they tossed their dinner all over their dashboard.

My recent triumph: Participating and sharing in the success of Mary Moore’s recent benefit for homeless women at the Blue Room last month, closing out the celebration of Women in Jazz. It’s amazing watching the level of confidence rise up in these women when they realized the evening was in honor of them.