This Week at the Blue Room: Lady D, Chris Hazelton, Roger Wilder & Rob Scheps + Monday Jam
Thu noon: Mikole E. Kaar. Fri: Lady D + Chris Hazelton. Sat: Roger Wilder & Rob Scheps. Mon Jam: KCKCC Blue Devil Funk Band. May 14-18 at 18th & Vine.
This Week at the Blue Room
May 14–18, 2026 · The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St, Kansas City
This Week’s Lineup
Thursday, May 14 — Jazz @ Noon 12 PM — Mikole E. Kaar (free)
Friday, May 15 — Indigo Hour 5:30 PM — Lady D (free)
Friday, May 15 — Headliner 8:30 PM & 10 PM — Chris Hazelton
Saturday, May 16 — Headliner 8:30 PM & 10 PM — Roger Wilder & Rob Scheps
Monday, May 18 — Monday Night Jam 7 PM — KCKCC Blue Devil Funk Band (free)
Thursday: Jazz @ Noon with Mikole E. Kaar
Mikole E. Kaar started on clarinet at nine years old, mentored by the great Clifford “Scotty” Scott. He grew up watching Junior Walker and King Curtis blow horns the way he wanted to. Today he plays tenor and soprano saxophone, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, piano, and bassoon — and has spent decades touring the world with the music.
In 1985 he traveled to Europe and released Back to the Heart on Germany’s Heliocon Records. Back stateside, he’s played alongside The Temptations, The Drifters, The Coasters, The Platters, Joe Cocker, Bo Diddley, and Rita Moreno. His work has appeared on motion picture soundtracks.
Step away from the workday, get an hour of live music, head back into Thursday. Free admission.
Friday Indigo Hour: Lady D
Lady D is a Kansas City fixture with a voice rooted in gospel, old-school R&B, and blues. She recognized her gift at age 8 in church choirs and gospel groups, recorded a gospel album in her teens, and has spent the years since opening for an honor roll of Black American music: Roger Troutman & Zapp, Brian McKnight, Najee, Peabo Bryson, Kool & the Gang, Howard Hewitt.
Her crowd interaction is legendary — audiences don’t just watch a Lady D show, they’re part of it. Free admission, drink specials, the right way to start a Friday night at 18th & Vine.
Friday Headliner: Chris Hazelton
Chris Hazelton is one of today’s foremost Hammond B-3 organists, known for soulful groove, impeccable touch, and deep command of the soul-jazz tradition. A lifelong Kansas Citian, he studied under two giants of the instrument: local legend Everette DeVan and the iconic Dr. Lonnie Smith.
Beyond his own acclaimed groups — Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 chief among them — he’s a featured member of the soul collective The Freedom Affair and the British rhythm & blues outfit The James Hunter Six. His sound pulls from Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, and a century of gospel-inflected organ tradition, always with a personal sense of melody that keeps people leaning in.
Chris teaches applied organ at Kansas City Kansas Community College, where he plays Everette DeVan’s personal Hammond B-3. He is also the music director at St. James United Methodist Church at 55th & Paseo. Two sets at the Blue Room.
Saturday Headliner: Roger Wilder & Rob Scheps
Two of the most widely credited players to share a Blue Room stage pair up for a Saturday night at 18th & Vine.
Roger Wilder is a Kansas City-based pianist whose career took him from the University of Miami into South Florida sideman gigs backing Stanley Turrentine, Randy Brecker, Adam Nussbaum, and Chris Potter — and eventually to Kansas City, where he’s become a pillar of the KC jazz scene. He has served as adjunct jazz professor at the UMKC Conservatoryfor over a decade, hosts “The Jazz Geek” on 90.1 FM KKFI, and appears on albums by Angela Hagenbach, Mike Metheny, Sons of Brasil, and Stan Kessler.
Rob Scheps is a tenor saxophonist and composer whose own entry in The Encyclopedia of Jazz captures the scope of his work: from the New England Conservatory to stages with Aretha Franklin, Buddy Rich, Gil Evans, and John Abercrombie. He served as Principal Saxophone with the Oregon Symphony for 13 years, has performed with the Gil Evans Orchestra and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, leads bands in New York, Seattle, Portland, Kansas City, and Honolulu, and in 2023 published Rob Scheps: 30 Original Compositions.
Two veterans, deep credits both ways, one stage. Two sets.
Monday Night Jam: KCKCC Blue Devil Funk Band
The week closes with the Blue Room’s Monday Night Jam — and this week the featured set comes from the KCKCC Blue Devil Funk Band, one of the showcase ensembles from Kansas City Kansas Community College’s renowned Music Department.
The band has earned a DownBeat Student Music Award and has twice performed on the New Voices Stage at the Jazz Education Network Conference, with additional appearances at the Kansas Music Educators In-Service Workshop and festivals across the region.
The ensemble is directed by Dr. Justin Binek (Music Theory and Commercial Music), with Chris Hazelton — Friday’s headliner and KCKCC’s B-3 Organ and Jazz Improvisation faculty member — assisting. That depth of mentorship shows up in the music; these students aren’t just learning jazz, they’re playing it at a level that’s drawn national attention.
45-minute featured set at 7 PM, followed by the open jam. Bring your instrument, come listen, or both. FREE admission.
See You at 18th & Vine
The Blue Room 1600 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108
americanjazzmuseum.org/blue-room