13 minute read
Backbeat
LOST COUNTESS
Margaret ‘Countess’ Johnson—a pianist and bandleader—is a forgotten pioneer of Kansas City jazz.
BY NINA CHERRY
FOR EIGHTY YEARS, a story has remained buried under the tales of the great men of Kansas City jazz, from Count Basie to Charlie Parker. Living and playing alongside them was another legend, pianist Margaret “Countess” Johnson, one of the first women to lead a career as a jazz musician in Kansas City.
Unfortunately, Johnson’s life was very short—she died at just twenty years old. Very little survives of Johnson today: only two identified photos; a handful of recordings from a 1938 session with Billie Holiday, including “The Very Thought of You,” that display her effortless phrasing; a few article clippings; and a couple of anecdotes passed down through the Johnson family tree.
So what do we know about Countess?
Margaret Johnson, who later earned the nicknames “Countess” and “Queenie,” was born in 1919 in Chanute, a small Kansas town roughly one hundred and twenty miles southwest of KC. Her family eventually relocated to KCK, and she graduated from Sumner High School in 1935. Upon graduation, her career took off at a full sprint at just sixteen years old.
Johnson immediately formed her own big band in addition to playing piano for some of the most popular groups in the area. She quickly worked her way up the ladder, even subbing for Count Basie himself in the Count Basie Orchestra. For the next couple of years, Johnson strengthened her chops, steadily playing with a variety of groups, including her own.
In 1938, Johnson was given a bigger opportunity—to play with Andy Kirk’s Clouds of Joy, subbing in for her musical hero who had fallen ill, Mary Lou Williams. At the last minute, Johnson stepped in for a single gig, a fraternity party at MU. She had studied every recording by the Clouds of Joy, examining and memorizing the intricacies of Williams’s highly stylized playing. Andy Kirk was more than impressed. For the next four months, Johnson toured with the Clouds of Joy all across the country.
Jazz artists of the era lived notoriously hard and fast lives. Somewhere along the way, Johnson herself fell ill among all of the excitement and fatigue from road life. She continued to tour, even spending some time in New York City to record with Billie Holiday, the only commercial recording Johnson appears on.
After several months of declining health, Johnson died in KCK in July 1939 at the age of twenty. While the loss of this young star was devastating to the community, with her funeral drawing hundreds of musicians to Westlawn Cemetery, her name and legacy quickly became forgotten.
Countess was just months older than a young Charlie Parker and was on a very similar trajectory. We’ll never know what she could have become—but we can at least remember what she was.
GO: To learn about more underrepresented figures in Kansas City jazz, as well as listen to Johnson’s recordings with Billie Holiday, visit countessdatabase.com.
Vera Net Socks, $18, Available in black, ivory and wine, finefolk.com CURATING A BEAUTIFUL LIFE
NOT YOUR GRANDMA’S HOSIERY The latest footwear trend has nothing to do with shoes and everything to do with what’s underneath them: sheer socks. You might also call them hosiery that stops just above the ankle. New models of the timeless garment can be found at most stores now in varying patterns, designs and colors. Finefolk (finefolk.com) carries a few designs of sheer socks from the brand Swedish Stockings—the Vera Net Socks ($18) are a classic micro-net pattern and come in black, ivory and wine. But you can find more affordable alternatives at places like Target—I picked up a pair for under $5 while grocery shopping. Be warned: I managed to puncture one with my nail before getting them onto my feet, creating a run from one end to the other. Still, I’d give stylish sheer socks another try with a pair of kitten heels or booties. —MARY HENN
DETOX DUO
A wellness studio wants to change the treatment of chronic stress through five-point acupuncture and nutrition support.
BY SUSAN CANNON
EARLIER THIS YEAR, mother-daughter duo Stacy and Kylie Tucker opened a holistic health care studio on the Westside. The studio is called Taochemy, after Taoist philosophies of bodily harmony.
Stacy is a former trauma nurse, and the practice blends those philosophies with Western clinical practices. Her goal is to create an inviting and nonjudgmental space for effective stress relief treatment.
The Tuckers aim to help patients manage their emotions and behaviors in a healthy way through acupuncture. “The five points in the ear correspond to the primary detox organs and are related to different fears, stressors, griefs and hardships humans deal with,” Stacy says. “By activating and manipulating those points, we are able to help patients find balance. It brings them to an open, meditative place where it’s easier for the body and soul to heal.”
In 2016, Kylie, who is currently a nursing student, joined Stacy to create Almeda Labs (almedalabs. com), a nutraceutical line consisting of supplements, superfoods and adaptogens. The two see the treatment of stress as directly connected to holistic nutrition, and the mind-body relationship is central to their practice.
ABSTRACT ACCIDENT
Sarah White’s mission to decorate her dining room has turned her into a sought-after artist.
BY MARY HENN
A FEW YEARS AGO, Sarah White was looking for a reasonably priced, large-scale piece of art for her dining room. When she couldn’t find what she wanted, she decided to pick up a paintbrush and make her own.
As her collection grew, White, a Hallmark creative by day, wanted a space to document her work. She turned to Instagram. At first, she was quiet about putting her artwork online. But now she has a few thousand followers on Instagram (@whitewoodcanvas), and her abstract paintings are being commissioned by people around the city and sold at stores like Golden & Pine. We chatted about her abstract collection, her process, the pandemic and a few of her favorite spots around the city.
Blackhole Bakery
“Anything from them is to die for, but I was introduced to their Mochi Donut last year and it is my favorite breakfast indulgence.”
The Lobby at Hotel
Kansas City “I love sipping cocktails at Hotel Kansas City because I feel like I’ve been transported to a different era when I’m there. The rich architecture and history there is worth the visit alone.”
Urban Mining Vintage
“My love for designing and composing goes beyond my paintings and bleeds into the way I style my environment. I’m constantly rearranging and styling the objects around me. I like to wander the curations at Urban Mining. In my opinion, they have the best selection in the city.”
FAVORITE SPOTS
Tell me about your abstract collection. My pieces blur the lines between structured and organic. I create with design-minded geographic shapes and patterns, purposeful color combinations and subtle texture. I work from both intuition and emotion. I compose as I go, which involves a lot of me successfully covering up a bunch of mistakes.
Where do you find inspiration? I’m inspired by nature—specifically the ocean—a sad day, a happy day. I’m a huge fan of Cy Twombly and his combination of painting and drawing technique, repetitive lines and scribbles. I also love Helen Frankenthaler. Her large formats of fluid shapes and simplified compositions are breathtaking.
What is the creative and physical process like for making your designs? When starting a collection, I usually work in a series, around ten to fifteen pieces at a time. I also set a release date even before I have any idea of what I’m doing. I work better when I have an end goal.
Above all else, I need solitude when creating. I need silence and time alone to process. At night, when the house is still and everyone is asleep, that’s when I paint. I listen to the same music over and over again and start.
Did the onset of the pandemic affect your art at all? The pandemic shifted all our lives so dramatically, but my painting has remained the same. It was the thing that kept me moored as we navigated the chaos of our family figuring out totally new patterns of school, work and play.
Also, the requests just kept coming in. I think people got bored with their walls and wanted to brighten their homes with new art, and I was happy to bring some joy during that time.
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HALLBROOK RETREAT
Kobel & Co. revamps a Leawood home from the late eighties with rubbed brass hardware and deep woods while drawing inspiration from Charleston and Santa Barbara.
BY DAWNYA BARTSCH | PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATE SHEETS
1 THE KITCHEN Winblad and McGeeney like to cook and entertain, so the Kobel team expanded the footprint of the original kitchen, creating a larger island where food prep and entertaining can happen simultaneously. Innovative cabinets were added to conveniently store kitchen appliances and keep other gadgets out of sight.
The kitchen’s light and airy cabinetry is grounded by the deepbrown-stained wood floors and punctuated with rubbed brass hardware and lighting fixtures. The Burchi quartzite countertops, marked with golden and dark gray veins that tie the space in with the rest of the house, were a crucial early find for the renovation, says Bennett.
The bar space mimics the kitchen tones and adds another place to entertain. a T HE DESIGN DUO AT KOBEL & CO. starts new project by asking lots of questions. “We spend time up front,” says Elizabeth Bennett, who co-owns the firm with Mallory Robins. Before grabbing samples, sourcing furniture or developing a strategy, Bennett and Robins want to really understand how their clients live—and how they want to live. “How do you want this house to feel? How do you want your guests to feel? What are some of your favorite places that you have been to that you love?” Bennett asks.
Then, armed with a bounty of intimate details, they christen each of their projects with a moniker, hoping it will help capture each project’s essence and guide them along in the design process.
It’s those questions that led the team to nickname their latest renovation project, a late-1980s home in the Hallbrook development of Leawood, “Charlebarbara,” after the homeowners’ two favorite places, Charleston in South Carolina and California’s Santa Barbara.
Although on opposite coasts, these destinations both have an elegant ease, a relaxed yet civilized take on living.
Robins says, “and Santa Barbara, also about entertainment and food, is more casual. This home is a mix.”
This was the “vibe” that Bennett and Robins, who first met in college and then reconnected several years ago through their children’s school, were looking to create for homeowners Onalisa
Winblad and Curt McGeeney.
With two young children and busy careers as physicians, the couple wanted their home to be a place where they could relax and enjoy the company of family and friends.
“We come home and we feel like we are on vacation,” says McGeeney, who adds that he and Winblad could not be happier with the renovation.
The family moved into the home in 2016, and McGeeney says that while the forty-four hundred-square-foot home was functional, it was a “hodgepodge” of furniture collected over the years and set against a dated background. They wanted something that was more pulled together and truly felt like a retreat—something that reflected who they are as a family.
Designers Bennett and Robins came in and completely revamped the home’s main floor.
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FORMAL DINING A more formal yet still fun approach was taken in the dining room. The designers infused color into the space with an ocean blue grasscloth wall covering and pale blue buffet, setting the space apart from the more neutral palette of the rest of the home.
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CASUAL DINING In the “hearth space” adjacent to the kitchen, the Kobel team set the scene with a vintage rug. They found an antique table just a smidge lower than a normal dining table and used modern gray linen swivel chairs for seating, creating a relaxed space to not just eat but also visit, do homework or maybe play a board game.
4 ART WALL The Kobel team commissioned Josh Young, a Washington D.C.-based artist, to create a modern installation of sixteen small, neutral pieces for a specifically modern touch and to keep the space from becoming “too fussy.”
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THE MASTER BEDROOM A simple monochromatic space make for peaceful nights of sleep. The room mixes more refined pieces, such as the burl wood nightstands, with organic shapes, like the large woven basket chandelier punctuating the ceiling. 6 LIVING ROOM A bold blue and white flat-weave vintage rug adds color to the otherwise neutral palette in the living room. A massive mirror leans against the wall, reflecting the Josh Young art installation and adding depth to the space. The design team used performance fabrics throughout the house, including on the white sofas in the living room, to make them entertaining ready.
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The 62,000-square-foot B.E. Smith Family Center opened on AdventHealth Shawnee Mission’s campus in April 2019. The new facility greatly expanded educational and therapeutic offerings for children through two programs: Britain Development, which provides therapy and education for children with special needs, and Early Learning, which provides faithbased child care for children of AdventHealth team members and physicians.
The B.E. Smith Family Center provides a modern learning environment for children of all ability levels. The building features indoor and outdoor inclusive playgrounds, two aquatic therapy pools, the new Kyla Y. Hartong Memorial Sensory Garden and spacious classrooms and therapy rooms filled with natural light. Multiple classrooms in the Britain Development wing feature the Variety KC Compass system, which allows children with mobility difficulties the opportunity to interact with peers while standing and walking with support from a harness.
The B.E. Smith Family Center fosters collaboration and connection between children, families and staff and promotes understanding and inclusion of children with special needs. Children needing Britain Development’s services are cared for regardless of their ability to pay, which is only possible through the generosity of our community in supporting AdventHealth Foundation Shawnee Mission. Visit AdventHealthKCFoundation.com today to learn more about how you can support children in our community.
