Music Stories

This weekend, the Bach Aria Soloists present a premiere, which combines classical music with modern dance.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – The Bach Aria Soloists is dedicated to presenting the arias from Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata collection, as well as his solo and chamber music. This weekend, they'll branch out into new territory with a collaboration that combines classical music with modern dance.

A campaign is underway to induct Rockabilly Queen Wanda Jackson into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here, Jackson shares her thoughts about it.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – A campaign is underway to induct Rockabilly Queen Wanda Jackson into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here, Jackson shares her thoughts about it.

Kansas City filmmaker Glenn Stewart talks about her work, Riffs: A Kansas City Jazz Coda. The film was screened as part of this year's 10th annual Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City based musician Shane Borth plays a number of instruments, but his primary ones are violin and viola (he's a violist for the Des Moines Symphony). This weekend, Borth will collaborate with the ensemble of artists called Quixotic Performance Fusion in an improvisational piece, and here, gives a sample.

Dan White has documented the jazz scene in Kansas City for more than two decades. A new exhibit in the Changing Gallery at the American Jazz Museum displays 50 of White's black and white photographs, along with anecdotes from interviews.

By Laura Spencer

Vocalist Myra Taylor is a veteran of the original Kansas City swing sound and started out singing and dancing in the early 1930s on 18th and Vine. Throughout her long career, she's shared the stage with Jay McShann, Sarah Vaughan, Nat "King" Cole, and many others. Taylor continues to perform in her hometown often as part of the quartet known as the Wild Women of Kansas City. Myra Taylor turns 89 on Friday, February 24.

By Chuck Haddix (host of KCUR's The Fish Fry), edited by Laura Spencer

Jazz bassist and vocalist Milt Abel - part of Kansas City's jazz scene for five decades - died on February 3, 2006 after a long illness. Abel grew up in Philadelphia, where he learned to play the stand-up bass, baritone horn, and trombone as a teenager.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – KCUR?s Laura Spencer talked to some of the musicans he played with over the years in Kansas City and others who say his musicial talent will not be forgotten.