Coda Jazz OKs funds for Newton

Date: 04/25/03
Column: STEVE PENN
Credit: The Kansas City Star
Byline: STEVE PENN

Lonnie V. Newton was a jazz musician who could be counted on.

Whenever a pianist was needed at the Mutual Musicians Foundation, Newton was there. If the foundation needed cleaning up, Newton would roll up his sleeves.

This week, the Coda Jazz Fund was there for Newton.

Newton was a jazz pianist by night, a printer by day. He didn't make a lot of money, but playing jazz was something he truly enjoyed.
On March 30, Newton was walking to the bus stop near 68th Street and Prospect Avenue when he collapsed. He was pronounced dead of an aneurysm at an area hospital.

A funeral for Newton was held at Watkins Bros. Funeral Home. He was buried in Brooking Cemetery.

But Newton didn't have an insurance policy or a pre-arranged funeral plan. When his family heard about the Coda Jazz Fund , they applied for funding assistance.

On Wednesday, the committee that guides the fund agreed to pay $2,000 toward the cost of Newton's funeral and burial.

"That just blows me away," said Connie Woodson, Newton's daughter. "The fund is really comforting. It just amazes me how Coda came together."

The fund , which now stands at $45,000, started about a year ago.

The fund helps pay the funeral, burial or cremation expenses for jazz musicians.

Newton worked at the former Cook Book Publishers Co. for 30 years before retiring.

"He just didn't have anything when he died," said Woodson, who works at an area day spa. "If there's any money, we haven't found it."
During the 1960s, Newton was very active in the jazz community, serving on the board of the Musicians Protection Local Union. He was present when the Mutual Musicians Foundation merged with other area music unions in 1970.

Newton's group was known as The Lonnie Newton Trio. They played all around the region in the 1970s and 1980s.

Through the years, Newton performed and collaborated with many noted jazz musicians, such as Sonny Kenner and Rudy Dennis.

In 1999, Newton finally received the recognition due when he was inducted into the Elder Statesmen of Jazz .

"He'll always be known as the man who took his own money to help keep the foundation going," said Pam Heider-Johnson, the coordinator of the Elder Statesmen. "He even did repairs to the roof."

Woodson and her father weren't close - Newton left the family when Woodson was 13. Even so, Woodson gained an appreciation for jazz from him.

"In a way he made me a jazz enthusiast," Woodson said. "As a father, he was different. Yet, I can respect his dedication to music.

He was talented."

Gerald Dunn, music coordinator for the American Jazz Museum, said Newton was the first person he met when he walked into the foundation for the first time.

"Lonnie wanted the young cats to learn the tunes," Dunn said.

"If you didn't know them, he would help you. That's what I dug about him."

Newton's musical career illustrates the need for a thriving Coda Jazz Fund .

The public can help out by attending the 2nd annual Coda Jazz Fund benefit concert on May 17 at the Gem Theater. Performers will include trumpeter Clark Terry, singer Karrin Allyson, pianist Jay McShann, saxophonist Bobby Watson and violinist Claude "Fiddler" Williams.

Tickets may be purchased at the American Jazz Museum or by calling the museum at (816) 474-6262 or by calling Ticketmaster at (816) 931-3330. Contributions can be sent to: The Coda Jazz Fund , P.O. Box 412116, Kansas City, 64141-2116.

- To reach Steve Penn, call (816) 234-4417 or send e-mail to spenn@kcstar.com
 

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE KANSAS CITY STAR