Mikole Kaar & the Kaar Club at the Blue Room

Mikole Kaar plays jazz on the bassoon, and on tenor and soprano sax, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, and piano besides. His All About Jazz bio says he plays six of those horns on Six Horn Strut, bassoon included.

The same bio says he was born in New York City and started on clarinet at 9, then studied at Cal State Northridge and the Dick Grove School of Music, with private lessons from Don Menza and Charlie Shoemake, among others. In the '70s, it says, he stepped away from his jazz roots to play with the Drifters, the Coasters, the Platters, and the Temptations, and did a date or two with Joe Cocker; he also worked the blues with Bo Diddley and Otis Rush. He went to Europe to play jazz in 1985, and his album of originals, Back to the Heart, came out in Germany the next year.

He's headlined two Saturdays here with the Kaar Club, in June and September. Marmoset, the agency that licenses his music for advertising and video games, says he's considered one of the most versatile woodwind artists in jazz. When O's Place Jazz reviewed Six Horn Strut, a CD of standards with guitarist Pat Danna, the writer said his swing "helps him keep pace with the best in class" and singled out the arrangements of "I Love Paris" and "Gentle Rain."

The Blue Room, 1600 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108. Friday, November 27, 2026. Shows at 8:30 pm & 10 pm. $10 per show.