This Weekend at the Blue Room — Gayle Price, Jazzy Jazz Miyagi & The Sons of Brasil
Three Kansas City acts bring soul, global jazz, and Brazilian rhythm to 18th & Vine July 17–18.
This Weekend at the Blue Room
July 17–18, 2026
This weekend moves from Kansas City soul to globe-spanning jazz to the rhythms of Brazil — all in two nights at the Blue Room. Gayle Price opens Friday with the Pure Sweetness Band, Jazzy Jazz Miyagi follows with two headlining sets, and The Sons of Brasil turn Saturday night into a passport to Rio.
This Weekend’s Lineup
Friday, July 17
Indigo Hour: Pure Sweetness Band featuring Gayle Price — 5:30 pm (5; AJM members free)
Jazzy Jazz Miyagi — 8:30 pm & 10 pm (10 per show)
Saturday, July 18
The Sons of Brasil — 8:30 pm & 10 pm ($10 per show)
Indigo Hour: Pure Sweetness Band featuring Gayle Price — Friday, 5:30 pm
Gayle Price was born into Kansas City music. Her mother, Priscilla Bowman, scored a number-one record in 1955 and became known as “the original Rock and Roll Mama,” while Gayle found her own voice singing in her grandfather’s church. She founded the Pure Sweetness Band in 2018 and built a show that moves freely through soul, R&B, gospel, pop, rock, and country — all powered by a voice that can be sultry one moment and roof-raising the next.
Her motto is simple: you’re never too old to live your dream. Come watch her live it on the Blue Room bandstand. Admission is $5; AJM members are free.
Jazzy Jazz Miyagi — Friday, 8:30 pm & 10 pm
Born in Okinawa, Japan, Jazzy Jazz Miyagi came to the United States on a full scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music before continuing at Berklee. That classical foundation became the launch point for a remarkable musical life spanning flute, classical guitar, alternative flutes, and the Japanese koto.
Miyagi has worked on motion-picture soundtracks, shared stages with Chaka Khan, Herbie Mann, Joe Sample, Miroslav Vitous, and Mannheim Steamroller, and performed as a soloist for the grand opening of Kansas City’s Kauffman Center. Friday she brings that whole world of sound home to 18th & Vine for two sets.
$10 per show.
The Sons of Brasil — Saturday, 8:30 pm & 10 pm
Since 1991, The Sons of Brasil have been Kansas City’s passport to Rio. Led by trumpeter and flugelhornist Stan Kessler, the band plays nothing but Brazilian music — bossa nova, samba, and choro delivered with the warmth, precision, and rhythmic pull of a group that has lived inside this music for more than three decades.
Kessler is joined by Danny Embrey on guitar, Roger Wilder on piano, Greg Whitfield on bass, Doug Auwater on drums, and Gary Helm on percussion. Come ready for sun-warmed bossa, churning samba, and a Saturday night built to move.
$10 per show.
Come See Us
The Blue Room is the American Jazz Museum’s living jazz club — where Kansas City’s history meets the music being made right now.
The Blue Room 1600 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108
Full calendar and tickets: americanjazzmuseum.org/blue-room