A Kansas City jazz guitarist releases his first album after decades of performing

Rod Fleeman, a mainstay of the Kansas City jazz scene and a longtime sideman, is out with his first album under his own name: "Saturday Afternoon Live at Green Lady Lounge."
Longtime listeners know Rod Fleeman not as a flashy guitarist, but as someone whose playing is tasteful and imaginative.

Fleeman has been a rock of the Kansas City jazz scene for more than 40 years, but always as a sort of a sideman. It wasn't until later in his career when he found more time to write and do original music.

"Well, the pandemic for sure, because I had a lot of time," Fleeman said. "They want live music and original music at the Green Lady Lounge, and John Scott always encouraged that, and now it's been a great thing for me to write more."