This Weekend at the Blue Room
September 25–28, 2026
Kansas City is home to all three of this weekend’s bandleaders, by three different routes. Houston Smith grew up on its bandstands: by thirteen he was working around the city, mentored by Bobby Watson, Gerald Dunn, and Chris Burnett, and after Berklee he came home. Last year he shared this stage with Watson, and Friday he plays two sets. Rob Trib III came from Chicago’s South Side, where he started in church as a small child and taught himself by ear; last year the Kansas City People’s Choice Awards named him Best Musician, and in June he hosted this room’s Monday jam. Friday he opens the night at Indigo Hour. Alan Voss went to Berklee at 25, spent a stretch in New York State, and moved back to raise a family; thirty years of Kansas City gigs later he made his first record as a leader, at 51, and Saturday he brings his quartet. Monday, NoMad plays the featured set at 7, and then the bandstand opens to whoever signed up at the door.
This Weekend’s Lineup
Friday, September 25
Indigo Hour: A Jazz Set with Rob Trib III — 5:30 pm ($5; AJM members free)
Houston Smith — 8:30 pm & 10 pm ($10 per show)
Saturday, September 26
Alan Voss Quartet — 8:30 pm & 10 pm ($10 per show)
Monday, September 28
Monday Night Jam Session: NoMad — 7 pm ($10; AJM members, musicians & students free)
Indigo Hour: A Jazz Set with Rob Trib III — Friday, 5:30 pm
Last year the Kansas City People’s Choice Awards named Rob Trib III Best Musician. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago, started playing in church as a small child, and taught himself by ear. He lives in Kansas City now, and this is his fourth Blue Room date of the year: an Indigo Hour in February, a Saturday night in April, the Monday jam in June, which he hosted, and Friday at 5:30, when he’s at the piano for a jazz set. $5; AJM members free.
Houston Smith — Friday, 8:30 pm & 10 pm
Houston Smith first played this room ten years ago, as a Berklee student on a Blue Room sax showcase where Plastic Sax said his Ellington “transcended cliché.” He started formal lessons at three, spent ten years on drums with Leon Brady, took up the alto at ten, and by thirteen was working around the city with mentors Bobby Watson, Gerald Dunn, and Chris Burnett. At Berklee he studied with Terence Blanchard, Walter Beasley, and Tia Fuller, and last year he shared this bandstand with Bobby Watson. Friday he plays two sets. $10 per show.
Alan Voss Quartet — Saturday, 8:30 pm & 10 pm
Alan Voss started on drums and didn’t take up the guitar until Berklee, where he arrived at 25. After a stretch in New York State he came home to Kansas City to raise a family, and thirty years of reggae, rock, blues, and jazz gigs later he made his first record as a leader: Baobab, six originals cut in a single day in 2023, when he was 51. Plastic Sax opened its review with “Alan Voss recognizes that louder isn’t better.” Saturday the quartet plays his own writing plus the modern book he draws on, Wayne Shorter to Chick Corea. $10 per show.
Monday Night Jam Session: NoMad — Monday, 7 pm
NoMad’s featured set starts at 7; after it, the bandstand opens to whoever signed up at the door. $10; AJM members, musicians, and students free.
Rob Trib III at the piano, Houston Smith on the alto he picked up at ten, Alan Voss on the guitar he found at 25, and NoMad opening Monday’s jam: four shows on three nights. See you at the Blue Room.
The Blue Room · 1600 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108 Full calendar and tickets: americanjazzmuseum.org/blue-room
Nice detail about Watson mentoring Houston Smith. Watson was Art Blakey's musical director from 1977 to 1981 and later spent twenty years running the jazz program at UMKC, so Smith came up in a pretty direct line from the Messengers.