Summer Guide: For jazz and blues this season, it’s symbols over cymbals

Next year, Kansas City’s summer jazz season is slated to begin with what is already being touted as a major new festival. The American Jazz Museum has begun planning a free event for Memorial Day weekend 2017. The goal: to put KC on the country’s summer jazz-festival map.

We could use the push: Summer 2016 is more notable for the area jazz festivals not happening.

After 27 years, Jazz in the Woods, in Overland Park, has morphed into the ludicrously named SoJo Summerfest, which announced itself with a press release divorcing the music staple from its jazz roots. And after 20 years, Parkville River Jam is taking 2016 off.

Given those signs of the times, it’s appropriate that what is happening this summer kicks off with symbols. June 4, the sidewalk along 18th Street, in the Jazz District, is being lined with the latest medallions in the ongoing American Jazz Walk of Fame project. (Two years ago, a set was embedded in front of the entrance to the museums there; last year, another set was laid in front of the Gem Theater.) The seven new 30-inch bronze medallions, in the sidewalk by the Blue Room, honor Kansas City jazz greats Ben Webster, Queen Bey and Luqman Hamza, alongside international legends Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, George Benson and Melba Liston. Following the reveal, singer Al Jarreau and pianist and Marsalis family patriarch Ellis Marsalis are scheduled to perform at the Gem. Tickets to that concert are $30.

That same weekend, and throughout the summer, museums and businesses in the district continue to pull together as a new eastern anchor for First Fridays, blocking off 18th Street between Vine and Woodland as artists set up tables along the road, food trucks pull up, and a jazz ensemble plays. Dancing — salsa , two-step, even line dancing — fills the museum atrium. There’s no charge to join the party.

On June 10 and 11, the Coleman Hawkins Jazz Festival returns to Landmark Park in St. Joseph — the esteemed saxophonist’s home town — with the David Basse/Joe Cartwright Septet, Max Groove, and the Matt Hopper Trio among the billed talent. Entering its 18th year, the free festival is this year the closest destination for Kansas Citians who want to savor a real jazz festival before Labor Day.

August 18-29 brings the city’s third annual Charlie Parker Celebration, again blending club dates, workshops, a historical tour, and a 21-sax salute at Parker’s grave site in Lincoln Cemetary on Saturday, August 27. Tenor saxophonist Tivon Pennicott joins the celebration as artist-in-residence, performing at venues (including that grave site) throughout town. Pennicott has won two Grammy Awards and has toured and recorded with Kenny Burrell, Esperanza Spaulding and Roy Hargrove.

When you add blues to the picture — after all, most of the music that both Count Basie and Charlie Parker built upon was the blues — the summer’s music options brigthen a bit.

The ninth-annual Kearney Blues Festival features the Amanda Fish Band, the Lauren Anderson Band, the Rev. Jimmie Bratcher, and Nobody’s Bidness on May 28, in the Keanery Amphitheater at Jesse James Park, a half-hour north of downtown KC. Tickets cost $15.

On June 3 and 4, the Gladstone Summertime Bluesfest celebrates its 20th year at Oak Grove Park (7600 North Troost), with Jason Vivone and the Billy Bats, Karla and Too Bad Jim, the Blues Notions, and others. Organizers say they expect as many as 15,000 people. Admission is free; parking costs $5.

The lineup has yet to be announced for this year’s Paola Roots Festival (August 26-27), but last summer’s event set a remarkable standard with headliners Delbert McClinton and Shemekia Copeland, who played to 6,000 guests over the two days. It’s in the Paola Town Square. Tickets cost $15 for each day.

The Spirit of Kansas Blues Festival offers a reason to head to Topeka come Independence Day. Staged by the Topeka Blues Society, this year’s event, at Lake Shawnee, features the Cate Brothers and Divas on Fire. Admission is free.

If you’re willing to travel a little for your jazz, there are some worthwhile dates to remember. One of the country’s best jazz festivals is in the unlikely location of Elkhart, Indiana. Boasting 100 performers over three days, its headliners include musicians Kansas City had the chance to hear just this last month: Joshua Redman and Trombone Shorty. If you missed them, or just happen to be near downtown Elkhart June 24-26, tickets start at $30.

Meanwile, the Chicago Jazz Festival is the juggernaut that other festivals strive to emulate. It has filled that city’s downtown over Labor Day weekend for more than four decades. This year’s lineup includes saxophonists Benny Golson and Anat Cohen, the Bad Plus playing music by Ornette Coleman, guitarist John McLean, and the John Scofield/Joe Lovano Quartet. It’s September 1-4 in Millennium Park, and admission is free.