by Larry Kopitnik
Molly Hammer
Our town lost a treasure the day before Thanksgiving, when Molly Hammer finally succumbed in her long struggle with breast cancer. We all remember Molly in different ways. Here's longtime KC jazz writer Larry Kopitnick's recherche de temps perdu, from May of 2014:
With a gentle sultriness and long, powerful notes, singer Molly Hammer commands the stage and quiets a noisy room. You might not expect someone who started in musical theater by playing Patsy Cline to find her way to jazz, but when Hammer starts to sing, under her signature shock of vibrant red hair, she owns jazz standards and the music of the American songbook like few other singers. The room is hers. On Friday night, when this voice meets the living-room intimacy of Take Five Coffee + Bar, Leawood may not survive.
None of us will survive the same without you, Molly. You and your voice are missed.