This Weekend at the Blue Room — C Note, JaySol, Joey Gallant & Paganova
Juneteenth weekend at 18th & Vine — Chris C Note Nickens opens Indigo Hour Friday, JaySol comes home to headline, Joey Gallant's soul Saturday, and Paganova leads Monday's jam.
This Weekend at the Blue Room
June 19–22, 2026
It’s Juneteenth weekend at 18th & Vine, and the Blue Room has a homecoming on the bill. Three nights, four acts: thirty years of Kansas City saxophone, a daughter of this district coming home to headline, blue-eyed soul on Saturday, and an acclaimed quintet leading Monday’s jam.
This Weekend’s Lineup
Friday, June 19 Indigo Hour: Chris “C Note” Nickens — 5:30 pm (free) JaySol & Sol Movement — 8:30 pm & 10 pm
Saturday, June 20 Joey Gallant — 8:30 pm & 10 pm
Monday, June 22 Monday Night Jam Session: Paganova — 7 pm ($10 cover)
Indigo Hour: Chris “C Note” Nickens — Friday, 5:30 pm
Some musicians chase the spotlight; others just become the sound of a city. For three decades, saxophonist Chris “C Note” Nickens has been one of Kansas City’s working horns — smooth, warm, and funk-forward, the kind of sound built for the slow exhale at the end of a long week. He opens the weekend at Indigo Hour, our Friday happy-hour set. Pour something cold and let the saxophone carry you in.
Free admission, drink specials. Doors at 5 pm.
JaySol & Sol Movement — Friday, 8:30 pm & 10 pm
This one’s a homecoming. JaySol — born Janay Wilson — grew up in the shadow of 18th & Vine. She sang her first solo at five in her mother’s church choir, trained at Paseo Academy through its Thelonious Monk Institute program under the great Lisa Henry, and got her first taste of the studio and stage right here in the district. From there: background vocals for R&B great Howard Hewett, a national tour on Charlie Wilson’s “In It to Win It” revue, and Kansas City’s People’s Choice Award for Best Female Vocalist. A rich contralto that won’t sit in one lane — gospel, soul, funk, and R&B in a single set — she brings her band Sol Movement home to the room that raised her. On Juneteenth, no less.
Two sets. $10 for one show, $15 for both.
Joey Gallant — Saturday, 8:30 pm & 10 pm
Joey Gallant came up in working-class Boston and brought his voice to Kansas City in 2013, where he’s been turning rooms into congregations ever since. Call it blue-eyed soul: a sound steeped in ‘60s and ‘70s R&B with melodies that go straight to the chest. He describes it as “George Michael meets Marvin Gaye” — and when his 2017 original “Obama Tribute” went viral with more than 13 million views, the world heard what KC already knew. Saturday he headlines two sets of warm, vintage soul.
$10 for one show, $15 for both.
Monday Night Jam Session: Paganova — Monday, 7 pm
Some Monday nights you get a jam. This one, the house band made a record. Paganova is the quintet led by pianist, composer, and arranger Michael Pagán — a Kansas City fixture who once served as the American Jazz Museum’s own director of marketing. In 2024 the group released its self-titled album on Capri Records: five originals and three sharp arrangements, all neo-bop heat and Latin warmth. With his son Louie on bass, Ray DeMarchi on drums, and the twin-saxophone front line of David Chael and Michael Herrera, Pagán’s quintet plays a featured set — then the bandstand opens to the city’s players.
$10 cover. The featured set starts at 7 pm; sign up at the door to sit in.
Come See Us
The Blue Room is the American Jazz Museum’s living jazz club — the music never stopped at 18th & Vine.
The Blue Room 1600 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108
Full calendar and tickets: americanjazzmuseum.org/blue-room