The Blue Room at the American Jazz Museum

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The Blue Room at the American Jazz Museum

The Blue Room is an operational jazz club as part of the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missour BLUE ROOM FAQs
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Are minors allowed in the Blue Room?
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Minors are encouraged to attend shows in the Blue Room! They are welcome at any performance as long as they are accompanied by an adult.
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Can I make a reservation for a table in the Blue Room? Reservations are not accepted at the Blue Room except as advertised for special events.
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Is food served in the Blue Room? The Blue Room does not serve food.
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How can I find out about who's performing in the Blue Room? You can always find an up-to-date performance calendar on the website. You may also call the Museum (816-474-8463), the Box Office (816-474-6262) or the Blue Room (816-474-2929). *Note: the Blue Room phone is only answered during the operating hours listed above.
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Where can I park when I come to the Blue Room? Parking is available anywhere on the street within the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District at no cost. Additional parking is available at the lot located just outside the District at 18th & Paseo as well as at the Myra Taylor lot, located at the Attucks School at 18th & Woodland.

09/07/2026

The first set belongs to Ernest Melton. Where the night goes after that is up to the room. 🎷

Ernest is one of Kansas City's rising saxophone voices — a composer and bandleader whose gospel roots meet the searching influence of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. His music carries aggressive energy, sophisticated harmony, and a real commitment to saying something.

Ernest opens tonight's Monday Night Jam with the featured set at 7. Then the bandstand opens: bring your horn, your sticks, or your voice and sign up at the door.

7 pm · $10 general public · FREE for AJM members, musicians & students

The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St

Tickets: https://dub.sh/Vc7LBSk

09/05/2026

Latin warmth. Bebop fire. Saturday night moves with Paganova. 🎹

Paganova is pianist and composer Michael Pagán's Kansas City project, built around crisp original writing, rhythmic lift, and the freedom to let each performance take its own shape. Its self-titled Capri Records album pairs five Pagán originals with inventive takes on Steve Swallow, Kenny Wheeler, and Clare Fischer.

Live, the writing opens up — neo-bop fire, Latin color, lyrical ballads, hard swing, and bold improvisation. Sophisticated enough to follow every turn. Warm enough to just settle in and let it move.

8:30 & 10 pm · $10 per show

The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/paganova-at-the-blue-room-tickets-1999267970318

09/04/2026

Friday starts with a party and ends with Pure Sweetness. 🎶

5:30 pm — INDIGO HOUR: DARRON J & GO HARD BAND
Darron “DaRockboi” Cobbins and the Go Hard Band have made more than 20 Indigo Hour appearances for a reason: powerhouse vocals, R&B, soul, funk, and enough energy to turn happy hour into a full-room celebration. $5; AJM members free.

8:30 & 10 pm — PURE SWEETNESS
Gayle Price grew up singing in her grandfather's Kansas City church, guided by her mother, Priscilla Bowman — the original “Rock and Roll Mama” whose “Hands Off” reached No. 1 in 1955. Gayle founded Pure Sweetness in 2018 and built a band that moves from sultry soul to gospel, pop, rock, and country without missing the groove. $10 per show.

The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St

Darron J tickets: https://dub.sh/6mvEdU7
Pure Sweetness tickets: https://dub.sh/nAy4hOG

09/01/2026

From noon to midnight, then into the jam. This Blue Room week starts early. 🎶

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
12 pm — Jazz @ Noon: Jass Duo (FREE)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
5:30 pm — Indigo Hour: Darron J & Go Hard Band ($5; AJM members free)
8:30 & 10 pm — Pure Sweetness ($10 per show)

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
8:30 & 10 pm — Paganova ($10 per show)

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
7 pm — Monday Night Jam featuring Ernest Melton ($10; AJM members, musicians & students free)

Jass opens the week with soul, poetry, and a free noon set. Darron J turns Friday happy hour into a party before Gayle Price and the full Pure Sweetness band take over the night. Paganova brings Latin warmth and bebop fire Saturday, and Ernest Melton opens Monday's bandstand before the room joins in.

Five shows. Four days. One room.

The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St

Full lineup and tickets: https://www.americanjazzmuseum.org/blue-room

08/31/2026

Tonight's featured artist is Eric Kaplan. 🎹

From piano to the Hammond B-3, Eric is one of the keyboard players keeping Kansas City's jazz scene in motion. He's served as a guest clinician for Kansas City Area Youth Jazz and held down the organ chair with the Clarence Smith Trio alongside Count Basie Orchestra guitarist Will Matthews.

Eric opens tonight's Monday Night Jam with the featured set at 7. Then the bandstand opens to the room — bring your horn, your sticks, or your voice and sign up at the door.

7 pm · $10 general public · FREE for AJM members, musicians & students

The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St

Tickets: https://dub.sh/MJnfjYr

08/29/2026

Some debuts you don't forget. Tonight, the follow-up. 🎤

When Sir James Atwood made his first Blue Room appearance at Indigo Hour this June, the room knew before the second song that a happy-hour set wasn't going to be enough. Tonight he returns for the full treatment: two headline sets on the Saturday main stage.

This is a singer who leaves everything up there — jazz standards, soul grooves, and the kind of energy that turns a show into an event. His voice opened the gala night of ArtFusion KC at the Convention Center. Tonight it fills the room where Kansas City jazz lives.

Come for the first set. Stay for the second.

8:30 & 10 pm · $10 per show

The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sir-james-atwood-at-the-blue-room-tickets-1996533226626

08/28/2026

Tonight starts in the church pews and ends in a groove with no words at all. 🎶

5:30 pm — Indigo Hour: Delynia Jannell
Singing since she was two, starting at Bethel Church of God in Christ in KCK. The stages since tell the story: Carnegie Hall soloist, background vocals for Shania Twain, Tech N9ne, Krizz Kaliko, and E-40, residencies all over Kansas City. Church-rooted soul with a range that runs gospel to opera. $5; AJM members free.

8:30 & 10 pm — The Tribe
No singer. No problem. Kansas City's premier all-instrumental fusion band bends jazz, funk, R&B, and soul into one continuous groove — and about two songs in, you'll understand why they don't need a vocalist. When they headlined here in February, the room asked them back before the second set was over. $10 per show.

Come for the voice. Stay for the conversation without one.

The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St

Indigo Hour tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/indigo-hour-delynia-jannell-at-the-blue-room-tickets-1996533224620
The Tribe tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-tribe-at-the-blue-room-tickets-1996533225623

08/27/2026

Friday night he headlined our stage. Saturday morning he's playing Bird's birthday. 🎹

Roger Wilder closed out last Friday at the Blue Room — and this Saturday at 10 am he's at the piano again for the Saxophone Salute: a free-wheeling half hour of Charlie Parker's tunes at the Bird Lives statue, kicking off Charlie Parker Day at the American Jazz Museum. With Steven Martin, Ben Tervort, Kenny Watson & friends.

Bird turns 106 on Saturday. The whole museum celebrates, 10 am–3:30 pm, free and open to the public — then Sir James Atwood takes the Blue Room stage that night at 8:30 & 10. Make a full day of it at 18th & Vine.

Charlie Parker Day schedule: https://dub.sh/IwQzB8a
Atwood tickets: https://dub.sh/rqQpdeS

08/26/2026

A voice that's sung Carnegie Hall. A band that doesn't need one. And a Saturday homecoming. 🎤

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28
5:30 pm — Indigo Hour: Delynia Jannell ($5; AJM members free)
8:30 & 10 pm — The Tribe ($10 per show)

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29
8:30 & 10 pm — Sir James Atwood ($10 per show)

MONDAY, AUGUST 31
7 pm — Monday Night Jam Session ($10; AJM members, musicians & students free)

Friday opens with a voice raised in the church pews of KCK — Delynia Jannell has sung at Carnegie Hall and backed everyone from Shania Twain to Tech N9ne. Then The Tribe takes over and proves you don't need a singer at all: all-instrumental fusion so complete, people swear there's a vocalist hiding backstage. Saturday, the voice comes roaring back — Sir James Atwood turned a June happy hour into an event, and now he gets the Saturday night stage.

Voice. No voice. Voice again. Come hear the whole conversation.

The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St

Full lineup and tickets: https://dub.sh/v7Z3gyI

08/24/2026

Tonight's featured artist is Levi Birks — and this is exactly what Monday nights are for. 🥁

Levi is an Olathe drummer who came through the 2023 Kansas City Area Youth Jazz fellowship and is now studying Jazz at the UMKC Conservatory. He is already teaching the next wave of young musicians around Kansas City, too. Last summer, the music took him to Metz, France, for a student exchange and a performance at the Marly Jazz Festival.

Tonight it brings him to the Blue Room bandstand.

Come hear a young Kansas City drummer turning opportunity into momentum — then stick around as the jam opens up and the room's pros, students, and rising players meet in the music.

7 pm · $10 general public · FREE for AJM members, musicians & students

The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/monday-night-jam-session-at-the-blue-room-tickets-1996533223617

Address

1600 E 18th Street
Kansas City, MO
64108

Telephone

+18164748463

Website

https://americanjazzmuseum.org/the-blue-room

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