Kansas City jazz legend, ‘song stylist’ Ida McBeth has died

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Famous Kansas Metropolis jazz icon Ida McBeth has died.

Her web site confirmed that McBeth has handed away Wednesday “after an prolonged sickness.”

“We shall be releasing particulars relating to any companies as they develop into accessible,” a message that greets guests to IdaMcBeth.com stated.

Followers and well-wishers are requested to depart messages on McBeth’s Fb web page.

McBeth, 70, a self-proclaimed “track stylist,” was finest identified for her soulful jazz voice, however her repertoire additionally included blues, R&B, gospel, funk, present tunes and pop ballads.

“She put her soul into her singing,” stated musician Charles Williams, who performed with McBeth for a number of many years. “She was certainly one of Kansas Metropolis’s finest blues singer. We misplaced a terrific icon.”

Her vary was spectacular, however she was an exquisite particular person off the stage as properly.

“Ida was a really enjoyable particular person to be round,” William stated. “Once we did issues collectively, she simply made the job a lot enjoyable. She liked to sing. She liked to carry out.”

Williams stated McBeth liked to sing and carry out, relishing the prospect to make a crowd completely happy.

“It was mesmerizing,” Williams stated. “… I might watch her expressions. She would throw her head again. She had this factor the place she would cock her head again and shake her head.”

McBeth additionally famously generally cooked for the musicians she labored with earlier than rehearsals.

“Enjoying together with her was plenty of enjoyable,” Williams stated. “… Quite a lot of instances, we didn’t get an opportunity to rehearse as a band collectively, so we simply did issues proper off (the cuff).”

The American Jazz Museum within the 18th & Vine Jazz District in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, opened a gallery area that honors McBeth in 2020. Williams stated he’ll fondly bear in mind the birthday bashes that used to happen on the Blue Room round Thanksgiving yearly.

“She was a Kansas Metropolis musical pressure and light-weight, unmatched in melody and soul,” the museum stated through Fb after her passing. “Could the heat of her smile and tone carry us by way of. We love you Ida, your loved ones on the American Jazz Museum.”

McBeth was born in Kansas Metropolis, Kansas, and honed her musical present starting at age 5 singing at church.

“I at all times gave the impression of a grown lady, even once I was just a little lady,” McBeth, who began her skilled profession at age 16, informed NPR in 2016.

She carried out the nationwide anthem on the 2000 Democratic Nationwide Conference in Los Angeles, the place she relocated after highschool to pursue his singing profession.

McBeth later returned to Kansas Metropolis, which she known as her “house base.”

“She was a really massive deal,” Williams stated. “I used to name her the Koko Taylor of Kansas Metropolis, which Koko Taylor was a really massive blues singer. Simply from seeing the issues on my Fb put up this morning, tons of of individuals actually had been saddened to find out about her (demise). If she was on the Blue Room or wherever she was, she packed it out on a regular basis. She at all times would pack out the gang, as a result of she was that well-known in Kansas Metropolis.”

McBeth was offered a Lifetime Achievement Award together with the McFadden Brothers by the American Jazz Museum in 2016.

“I am unhappy, however I am completely happy that she was in a position to share her present right here on this metropolis and that the town acquired her very properly,” Williams stated.

The Kansas Metropolis Latin Jazz Orchestra was amongst these providing condolences for McBeth, “a KC jazz and blues legend.”

“Individuals know Kansas Metropolis for its jazz, however I believe the historical past must be stored alive,” McBeth informed The Pitch in a 2014 interview. “I hope that, 50 years from immediately, anyone shall be taking part in my albums or some new singer shall be on the market singing my stuff. I don’t need to go die and be forgotten. And that’s why I plan on protecting it alive.”

McBeth’s demise comes on the heels of the deaths of Ronnie McFadden — half of the famend McFadden Brothers, a Kansas Metropolis-based jazz and faucet duo — on Feb. 27 and Geneva Value, one of many founding members of the Wild Ladies of Kansas Metropolis, on Feb. 7.

—