blues/jazz

This month may signal the end of summer, but Kansas City's selection of musical offerings will stay hot. To make sense of all the options, we pared the list down to simply the best.

Women gained the right to vote in 1920. But Black women didn't get the full right until 1965, even though they'd been involved in the fight since the 1800s. That's the topic of an event in Kansas City this Sunday honoring local Black suffragists.

Cassie Taylor is set to debut her new record, "Desire," this fall. The release comes after taking a break from music and finding her true identity in different professions such as songwriting, photography and now modeling for Playboy.

Kansas City's summer concert offerings include artists from the West Coast, down south and across the pond. KCUR has curated this list of concerts to help maximize your musical enjoyment this month.

Theoretical physicist Stephon Alexander and NEA Jazz Master Donald Harrison are exploring their theory of quantum improvisation. The two will bring their collaborations to a Kansas City stage for the first time next week.

This week thousands of travelers will fly into the new Kansas City International Airport terminal for the NFL Draft. On peak days, visitors will be welcomed to the metro by live, local music.

Celebrating the life and legacy of Kansas City singer Ida McBeth, who died last week at age 70. Plus: Missouri voters legalized recreational marijuana last November. Will Oklahoma be next, and what can they learn from Missouri's successful ballot measure?

Ida McBeth started her career as a teenager singing at the Playboy Club in downtown Kansas City. She went on to earn mayoral proclamations and a lifetime achievement award from the American Jazz Museum.

With small towns on the decline, some residents in western Kansas are trying to brainstorm ways to keep their rural lifestyles alive. Their answer? Youth rodeos. Plus: One Kansas City orchestra wants to inspire the next generation of jazz artists.

"Winter Soulstice" includes an almost all-Kansas City cast of musicians, including saxophonist Todd Wilkinson, singers Allena Ross and Wanda Jae, and trumpeter Chris Van Leeuwen.

Kansas City has long held a reputation as a center of blues music and culture. But as elder musicians pass away, one Kansas blues festival appears to have reached its conclusion. Plus, Kansas City's first bicycle collective has transformed junk into reliable rides for 15 years.

The Kansas City, Kansas Street Blues Festival was created as a place for a small group of influential blues artists from northeast Kansas City, Kansas, to share their music with their community. Now, however, so many of these artists have died that the event organizer doesn’t believe he’ll be able to continue the festival.