No matter how many classic masterworks receive new packaging from great labels such as Blue Note and Impulse, and no matter how many times Wynton Marsalis fires up the Lincoln Center to pay homage to the 20th-century titans of this great American art form, interest in jazz is fading like the cinder of an abandoned cigarette. Thank the spirit of Bix Beiderbecke, then, for the Grand Marquis. From 150,000th street down south up to KCI, you won't find a more energetic or more faithful KC jazz act than this youthful five-piece. Having recently celebrated its 700th show, the Grand Marquis is still prompting unsuspecting bargoers every weekend to take drink and dame in hand and dance to the jump rhythm of the "Paseo Street Strut" or any of its many traditional-sounding originals. The Grand Marquis is a band out of time yet completely comfortable in its surroundings, as evidenced by the unflagging, sly smile of singer and saxophonist Bryan Redmond. The Count would be proud.
