PRINTSee This: Jazz Under the Stars
Summer rooftop jazz concerts bring new meaning to "no cover"
PHOTO COURTESY OF BARRY CAMERON
June 13, 2012 | 9:54 a.m. CST
There’s a hidden door at Disneyland that opens up to Club 33, a private lounge with a $10,000 initiation fee and a 14-year waitlist for new members.
The closest thing to a Columbia equivalent is a staircase that leads to the rooftop patio of the Missouri Theatre. It’s one of the city’s best secret views, although it’s much easier to access and afford than Club 33. And soon it can be enjoyed with a live soundtrack.
Where: Missouri Theatre rooftop patio
When: June 14, July 19 and Aug. 16, 7 p.m.
Cost: $25 reserved seating, $20 general admission
Call: 882-3781
Online: motheatre.org
Overlooking Ninth Street and typically empty, the patio will welcome jazz lovers for three nights of music al fresco as part of its first Jazz Under the Stars series. A smaller, jazzier response to the 9th Street Summerfest, the series will host three ensembles on separate nights this summer.
Scheduled to perform in June is the Eric Slaughter Trio from St. Louis. It consists of a string bass player, drummer and Slaughter on guitar. Diverse, a jazz group from Kansas City with a bassist, drummer and trumpeter, will play in July. Rounding out the summer in August will be a collection of four “Faculty All-Stars” from the MU music department who play saxophone, piano, trumpet and drums.
Passersby on the sidewalk below are guaranteed to catch an earful. Columbians got a taste of the patio’s open-air acoustics earlier this year when indie darlings Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin belted out their songs from the same rooftop.
Although traditional jazz bands might have played in the basements of clubs, even jazz purists will likely agree there’s no better way to welcome the start of summer than with a sunset from two stories up and the brassy wail of a sax. It’s also a limited opportunity exclusive to 112 fortunate ticket holders per show, so act fast. Patrons can either purchase tickets for reserved seating or for standing room, and each ticket comes with cocktail table access and bar service.
In case the stars don’t come out to shine and rain appears in its place, the events will move to the theater’s lobby.
