Show reviewed:  Rhythm, Blues & All That Jazz
Date saw the show:  April 27, 2008
Place saw the show:  Kansas City, Missouri
Event:  The Plaza Rotary Seventh Annual Jazz Cabaret
Vocalists:  Monique Daniells, Jerome Johnson, Bukeka Shoals
Musicians:  Thim Whitmer, piano; James Albright, upright bass; Rod Fleeman, guitar; Ken Lovern, Hammond B-3 organ; Al Pearson, trumpet; Nick Rowland, saxophone; Jurgen Welge, drums

4 Stars 

Reviewed by:  Deborah Ground Buckner (Kansas City Correspondent - USA)

Jazz is alive and well in Kansas City's historic 18^th and Vine district.  Musicians gathered to jam at The Gem and raise funds to benefit The Bridge Home for Children, a home for disadvantaged boys and girls ages eight to eighteen, and Safehome, a shelter for victims of domestic violence. 

Kansas City's 18^th and Vine district was the stomping grounds of some of the greatest jazz legends of the 1920s and 1930s.  It was home to Charlie "Yardbird" Parker and familiar territory for Miles Davis and Count Basie.  Now, the district is the site of the Jazz Museum, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the Blue Room,  a club featuring today's jazz artists, and The Gem Theater.  The Gem was built in 1912, originally called the Star Theater.  It served as a silent movie palace for Kansas City's African-American community and continued as a venue for "the talkies" until 1960 when it fell into disrepair.  Now, completely restored and seating 500, the Gem is the scene of the annual "Jammin' at the Gem" jazz masters' concert series.  

The joint was jumpin' with this year's offerings.  With Tim Whitmer acting as master of ceremonies, the show opened with just the musicians onstage, their selections including a spirited version of Duke Ellington's "Take the A Train."  There were ample opportunities for each musician to render a solo, and while each gave a great performance, Rod Fleeman's guitar work is a definite standout.

Bukeka Shoals took the stage with vocal selections, bringing down the house with "I Am Changing" from Dreamgirls.  Cole Porter's "Night and Day," complete with the introductory verse, with the drums simulating the "tick, tick, tock of the clock," received a gorgeous treatment.  Miss Shoals has recorded "Night and Day" with organist Ken Lovern on the cd OJT+B, and it is evident the two enjoy working together.  "Heart's Desire," an original song, features her voice beautifully.

Monique Danielle's renditions of Gershwin's "Summertime" and Billie Holliday's "God Bless the Child" were show stoppers.  When she sang Ella Fitzgerald's "At Last," there was a moment at the end with a slight pause before the final "at last."  The audience could feel that high note coming, and we knew it was going to be perfect, and it was.  An immediate standing ovation followed. 

Jerome Johnson's rich, mellow voice rounded out the evening, and when the three vocalists joined for a show closing "Kansas City," it was as if the ghosts of Kansas City jazz past were all joining in the festivities.