Kansas City Blues Rhythm And Ribs

Big show in Kansas City coming up on June 15th and 16th. It is the Rhythm and Ribs Jazz and Blues festival. The fest takes place on hallowed blues ground in Kansas City located at 18th and Vine. The historic Vine Street was the legendary area that KC Blues and Jazz was born. I was lucky back in the 80s, that I taught at Attucks Elementary school, which at that time was located just a block east of 18th and vine. ( I assume it is gone now) Of course, most of the buildings that were down on Vine are long gone. Here is the line up courtesy of the Kansas City Star:

rhythm & ribs lineup
A few weeks ago we noted that the Rhythm & Ribs festival was going to announce its full lineup. Here it is now. Tickets are on sale through ticketmaster.com.

Friday, June 15

•Blue Cross Stage: 3 p.m., John Brewer Group; 4 p.m., John Paul Drum & the Hatchlings; 5:20 p.m., James Ward Band; 6:40 p.m., Millage Gilbert Blues Band; 8 p.m., Kansas City Jazz Orchestra; 9:20 p.m., Double Exposure.

•Main Stage: 5 p.m., Queen Bey & Friends; 6:30 p.m., Steady Rollin’ Bob Margolin & James Cotton; 8:30 p.m., Pat Metheny Trio.

Saturday, June 16

•Blue Cross Stage: 11:30 a.m., Everette DeVan & Friends; 1 p.m., Wild Women of KC; 2:30 p.m., Heat Index featuring Al Pearson; 4 p.m., Charles Williams Quartet with Ron Gutierrez; 5:30 p.m., Bob Bowman and Bow Dog; 7 p.m., DC Bellamy; 8:30 p.m., Makusa; 10 p.m., Son Venezuela.

•Main Stage: Noon, Jazz Disciples with Deborah Brown; 2 p.m., Maurice Brown Quintet; 4:30 p.m., Javon Jackson Band with special guests Les McCann and Lonnie Smith; 7 p.m., George Benson and Al Jarreau; 10 p.m., Bobby “Blue” Bland.

Hopefully I can make this fest. John Paul Drum who I played with years ago is playing the Blue Cross stage on Friday night. It is also good to see Miliage Gilbert is still playing. Miliage is an institution in KC. He and Hatch ran legendary jams down at the Grand Emporium for years. It was always fun to play those jams but you needed to know someone. Usually John Paul would be my ticket to the stage, because I was never good enough to get up there on my own:-)