Friends, family, and artists convene to remember the life and music of legendary pianist and bandleader, Jay “Hootie” McShann. Join us as we celebrate his  birthday on Friday January 12, 2024 in the Atrium of the American Jazz Museum. The event runs from 5:30pm until 8:30pm and will include live music, stories and more.

McShann was born in Muskogee Oklahoma, and was later nicknamed Hootie, as in “drunker than a hoot owl”. During his youth, Jay taught himself how to play the piano through observing his sister's piano lessons and trying to practice tunes he heard on the radio. He was also heavily influenced by late-night broadcasts of pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines from Chicago’s Grand Terrace. "When 'Fatha' (Hines) went off the air, I went to bed," said McShann. He began working as a professional musician in 1931 at the age of 15, performing around Tulsa, Oklahoma and towns across the NW corner of the neighboring state of Arkansas.

McShann told the Associated Press in 2003:

Jay McShann and his trio recorded a live album in Tokyo in 1990. Yoko Takemura, artist, and jazz writer for the web-jazz magazine, Jazz Tokyo http://jazztokyo.org co-produced the album for its 2019 release. She and her late husband had attended the concert, “Jay McShann Live in Tokyo, 1990,” more than 30 years ago. Yoko Takemura has been a long-time advocate of Kansas City jazz and has traveled to Kansas City many times.

When Fumimaro Kawashima translated of Chuck Haddix’ book, Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker, Yoko helped to promote the book’s Japanese  release. Not one to sit idle, Yoko has since taken up pencil drawing. She has created striking likenesses of Jay McShann, Ahmad Alladeen and many other prominent jazz artists. JAM’s printed February-March issue will focus on a story written for Jazz Tokyo, by Yoko Takemura.

Help celebrate Jay “Hootie” McShann’s birthday on Friday January 12, 2024, in the Atrium of the American Jazz Museum. The event runs from 5:30pm until 8:30pm and will include live music, stories and more.

Editor

Friday evening December 8, 2023 UMKC Jazz Studies Program presented a concert in collaboration with UMKC Orchestra in White Hall on campus.

The first two thirds of the program was UMKC Orchestra and the last one third was UMKC Jazz Studies.

What interested me was the sharp contrast between the conducting style of the classical versus the jazz.

The classical conducting style was constant, detailed, and elaborate movements. The conductors expended continuous energy. Body bobbing, arms animated. Lively, spirited, energetic.

The jazz conducting style, on the other hand, was spare, minimal, with understated movements. At some point the jazz conductor even walked off to the side, leaving the student musicians alone to carry on.

Marcus Lewis, Assistant Professor and Eric Hitt, Visiting Professor of String Bass shared the job of conducting the jazz students that night and their easy-going personalities were reflected in the way they led. Their style was less formal, less strict, and lighter.

When the classical maestros were finished conducting, they appeared out of breath, spent, drained.

The jazz conductors, who had eased through their musical numbers, looked relaxed, calm, and laid back.

The flexible jazz conducting style I observed that night mirrored what I like about jazz: bluesy melodies and improvisational solos can help to reduce anxiety and promote a sense of well-being.

Marilyn Carpenter

As we enter 2024, the Jazz Ambassadors would like to shed light on those who have shepherded this non-profit organization for the good of the community over the past several decades. We begin by honoring retiring president / treasurer, Mark Edelman.

Mark has enjoyed a long and successful career in show business. He played bass in some of the top soul bands in the area, while still attending Shawnee Mission High School. After high school, he attended college and continued his show business forays.

In the late 1970s Mark founded Theater League, Inc., a not-for-profit community-based performing arts organization that presented the best of Broadway to Kansas City audiences for 42 years. He built the Quality Hill Playhouse and produced 12th Street Jump; a syndicated public radio show launched by KCUR-FM and heard weekly on public radio stations around the country for over a decade.

As President of the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, Mark established some very popular programs. “Gig Grants” were handed out to hundreds of out-of-work musicians during the recent pandemic, this was funded through a “Virtual Tip Jam” on the KCJA site and through other donations.

Mark’s, “Jazz Futures” are made up of monthly live performances, throughout the school year, where area colleges jazz studies programs are encouraged to bring their best combos to local nightclubs to show off their talent. The Jazz Ambassadors then give the programs a significant donation to the institution’s jazz program.

In 2021, to stimulate excitement about “getting back out in the clubs,” Mark created The “JAM Awards”. Now beginning its fourth year, this program has grown steadily, and draws larger crowds each year.

We thank Mark Edelman for his leadership, his dedication to the arts, and for these continuing programs that raise awareness for our beloved organization and highlight talented area jazz artists.

Jazz Futures continues on January 18th, when Brett Jackson brings the popular KCKCC jazz band to The Uptown Lounge, 34th and Main Street in Kansas City. Nominations for the 2024 JAM Awards begin in June, of 2024.

Editor

It is an album of all originals, nine in total, penned by bandleader and saxophonist Matt Otto, KC staple, but also of LA and NYC. The album opens with “Little Things,” which is understated funk and contemporary—with a heavy, low, electric bass vamp (subtly propelling) beneath. Otto (sax) and Herman Mehari (trumpet) duet at first, calls in the dark.

But that’s not all there is to this song (or the other songs) on this album. “Little Things” has a number of styles and movements, much like a Mingus tune: from funk to double-time swing to 6/8, two against three.

Otto’s compositional skill and skill on sax is highlighted throughout the album, featuring Ott’s full, smoky golden tone and edgy, but groovin’, propulsive tunes.

It’s a joy to hear Mehari on a number of tracks, uniting the KC jazz family; Mehari with his piercing, bright, brassy tone and minimalist approach.

John Kizilarmut’s drumming is melodic and soulful, laid back and right in the pocket, with delicious, subtle, truly musical flourishes: hands on the drum (“Paw Paw”) and drums played like timbales (“Melisma”). Kizilarmut’s ultra-quiet, subtle, nuanced playing on (“Paw Paw”) contrasts with his driving playing with KCJO, spotlighting his range as a player.

The album includes dedications to golden age jazz luminaries, like in track 4, (“Prez,”) which features tasty duet-like work between Otto and Kizilarmut, and Jeff Harshbarger (bass) and Kizilarmut: understated, noir, moody, as in a mist-filled classic movie shot in black and white.In personnel, the album includes also includes Matt Villinger (piano) and Alex Frank (guitar). The tracks on the album are as follows “Little Things,” “Hawk,” “Mousai” “Prez,” “Paw Paw,” “Umbra,” “Wanjiku,” “Esthesis” and “Melisma.”

Otto has performed on a number of studio recordings, including with luminaries like Peter Erskine and Roger Cairns as well as with KC staples Bobby Watson, Peter Schlamb, and Stephen Martin. This is Otto’s third Origin Records release, preceded by RED (2009) and IBERIA (2017).

Overall, it’s a solid, compelling, infinitely listenable album, and one that grooves hard, with Otto on display. Get it.

—Kevin Rabas

It all started four decades ago in the same town that gave birth to Pat Metheny. Veteran Kansas City bassist Rick Willoughby found his calling on the bass in his hometown of Lee’s Summit, Missouri.

The violin was his first foray into music at age 3, the string bass at 11, and It all culminated when Rick picked up the electric bass at the age of 13.

“I really don’t feel like I’m old enough to do anything for 40 years. I didn’t start reading music until I got into the school system. Ironically, when I got into the 4th grade and started school orchestra, my mom was my teacher,” Rick said. “She was in the Lee’s Summit School District at the elementary level for 30 years. She taught me in 4th through 6th grades. She is a fine cello player, still playing in the symphony all over town.”

His mother gave Rick private lessons at their house and he was able to actually see an upright someone brought to the house. Once in school, he was the only bass player and was immediately picked to play regularly. That gave Rick a prowess on the instrument to lead him to play in the high school bands while he was still in junior high. This was during a time when Lee’s Summit high school did not actually have a jazz program.

“At that age as an improviser, I felt like if I could wrap my head around the fact that I could play basically anything whether it was pop, folk, jazz .. really anything,” Rick noted. “I have always been interested in all kinds of music.”

Rick Willoughby attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. There, Rick learned from some of the legendary Kansas City musicians. Artists like bassist Gerald Spaits, pianist & bassist Bram Wijnands, and the program’s director at the time, Bobby Watson. 

Bobby Watson ultimately gave Rick the opportunity to perform all over the country. “Everyone knew and loved Bobby. For all that he has done here in Kansas City, I still don't think people realize what kind of celebrity he really is,” Rick said. “He is an International Superstar that just happens to live down the street. We are more than fortunate to have him here.”

His piano teacher was Bram Wijnands. Even though Rick hasn’t achieved proficiency at the instrument, there was a spark the teacher noted in Mrs. Willoughby’s son. 

“Bram was telling me all these amazing things, and I might as well have been wearing boxing gloves and punching the keys! He saw something in me that I don't even think I saw in myself,” said Rick. “I appreciated his nurturing. That has led to what I do now.” A relationship has grown and persisted until the current day. For the last 5 years, Rick and Bram have co-hosted a jam session the second Tuesday of each month at KC Bier Company, in Waldo. 

Back to Lee’s Summit, his very first live jazz show was attending a Pat Metheny Group concert at the Uptown Theater back in 1996.

“Pat had the full 10 piece outfit with Lyle Mays on keyboards, and it was unreal .. mind blowing,” Rick noted. “I had no idea how those humans were doing it.”

Over the years, Rick’s been quite active and prolific on the local scene. Doing quality time with Quixotic, Victor & Penny’s Loose Change Orchestra, being a founding member of The Snow Globes, being an integral part of the Grateful Dead acoustic tribute band Shakedown Strings, and playing bass with Hot Club KC.

With all of this activity, the pandemic was still a shock to Rick’s system. “I’m an ensemble player. I love performing with other people. That’s why the shutdown was so mind blowing. I didn’t know if live music was going to happen again,” said Rick, “then, it dawned on me how much of my identity is tied to being a musician. I have always considered myself a conservationist, loving the outdoors and as a political activist. I thought those things were my identity. When music was straight up not happening, it dawned on me that I’m a musician that really missed playing!”

Overall, Rick’s a huge fan of the Kansas City scene and fits well into the overall energy and vibe of the movement. 

“The evolution of the KC scene is incredible. It keeps evolving and I keep meeting new people. Growing up in the area, I never knew that this was possible,” Rick said.

Lately people are moving here to play music. “I never thought that was going to be a thing. You moved somewhere else to play music,” exclaimed Rick, “You didn’t move to Kansas City!”

“I think it's fascinating how big the jazz genre is, and how, so much of it was pop music. Then, it was improvised over. I love the pedagogy of it,” Rick noted. “The best players are saying something and stories are happening. They are not just ripping licks. They are truly saying something.”

Essentially, Rick loves the history and lineage of jazz. He’s fascinated by jazz and how the essence of that improvisational communication comes forth.

Now, Rick Willoughby travels quite a bit. He has found out exactly how Kansas City stacks up, in relationship to the larger cities, like New York, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Chicago.

“I tell foks when I travel that Kansas City has all of the scene and none of the industry. There are more commercial opportunities in KC. There is more session work,” Rick noted. “It’s all based on the internet. Where you are still matters, yet it doesn’t quite matter as much as it used to. If you put yourself out there, you are going to get found. It is that simple, now.”  

At the end of the day, Mrs. Willoughby’s son is simply a guy that loves music. He has designed this life specifically to play and celebrate an artform he has grown to love.

“I have many things that I do, but ultimately it's to protect my gift. My gift that I get to share, that is a blessing to me and hopefully for others,” Rick said. “I just like playing the bass.”

by Joe Dimino   

Everything Rick:https://www.instagram.com/rickwmusic/

Full Rick Willoughby Neon Jazz Interview Links:

https://youtu.be/acvY3h9vGTE

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/joe-dimino/episodes/Veteran-Kansas-City-Bassist-Rick-Willoughby-e2d1o3j

The third annual JAM Musician Awards kicked on off June 15th, when the nominations opened for the 2023 honors. The nominations and voting are now closed. Your favorite jazz musicians will be collecting their awards on Thursday, December 14th, 2023, at 8pm, in the Uptown Lounge, 34th & Main Street, KCMO.

Make plans now to join us for the finale of the JAM Awards third year!

The fun begins at 7 pm. On the agenda, this year, is the Jazz Ambassadors annual meeting, our December Jazz Futures concert, featuring Ryan Heinlein’s JCCC band. Doors open at 5pm for hob-knobbing with your jazz favorites while waiting patiently to hear the results and see the winners collect their awards.

“It’s a great way to recognize the Kansas City jazz musicians you enjoy all year long,” explained KCJA president David Basse. “If you like a particular trumpeter, bassist, or saxophone player, nominate them—it’s an honor!”

Nominations and awards were decided for nine different instruments, plus your favorite big band, jazz radio host, nightclub and concert venue. And there’s a new category this year:

“Jazz Vocalist/Instrumentalist” (think Oleta Adams, Kelley Hunt, Dan Sturdevant)

Only one nomination per category was accepted from each voter.

“This is about your favorite musicians, as nominated and selected by the Kansas City jazz community,” explained KCJA board member Herschel McWilliams. “The judges counted more than 700 ballots, so even more folks participated in 2023.”

Go ahead, tell your jazz friends, next year, we want to hear from each and every jazz fan in the area!

Join us! Ambassadors will on hand to accept your Premium Membership for just $89.00 a year, or $8.95 and month at the event.

Come hungry! Please drop by Kansas City’s Uptown Lounge December 14th and enjoy a delicious buffet, a celebrity jazz event, and great live music. A cash bar will be offered by Alan & Jean Stribling in their fantastic new nightclub. Be 21.

—Editor

Songstress Eboni Fondren

I have watched audiences fall in love with vocalist Eboni Fondren. And, I must admit, I fell for her the first time I met her. For several years, Everette DeVan hosted a sort of annual late-night loft party jam session.

If you remember Everette, you may remember a cavalcade of sweet voiced young vocalists that he mentored. Many of those vocalists have become fixtures of the Kansas City music scene, and Eboni was a stand-out from day one.

She has a way of taking the lowest of low down blues and singing it in a way that makes you think:

“That’s so nice,” you may think, “she mustn’t have any idea what that song really means.”

It’s a certain sort of naivete. It seems to be Pure Eboni. A striking woman, delivering the melody and lyric in a straight-forward and aloof manner that says to us:

“This is not about me, it’s about you, so leave me out of it, long enough for you to catch my drift.”

There have been successful international music exchanges emanating from Kansas City.

Some of them are improvisational, like the world travel of KC trumpeter Hermon Mehari, or the life on the road in the Schnebelen clan, or the travels of Parsons, Kansas trumpeter, Buck Clayton, who is said to have turned 24 years old in Shanghai, while leading his own orchestra in residence.

Pat Metheny carries on his own unique brand of international music exchange. By writing songs like, Unity Village, Country Poem, (Cross The) Heartland, Missouri Uncompromised, and Omaha Celebration, then—performing them live for millions of people through the decades, during grueling year-long world tours.

Even Everette DeVan, pianists Frank Smith, and Rich Hill, did long self-booked stints in Southeast Asia, and The United States State Department sent Joe Cartwright, Angela Hagenbach, and bassist Steve Rigazzi on a worldwide tour around the turn of the century.

The list goes on as the support gets broader.

This past January, Aryana Nemati, Amber Underwood, Paula Saunders and Angela Ward traveled to Fruillar, Chile, to be featured in the Semanas Musicales. The trip was organized with the support of the US Embassy. As a reciprocal engagement, fusion guitarist Italo Aguilera will be traveling to Kansas City from Chile on October 13th. He'll performing for us at Corvino that evening with The James Ward Band. Mr. Aguilera will conduct a workshop for students at Kansas City Kansas Community College on October 17th, and he'll participate in the Show and Shed workshop on October 21st at the Gem Theater at 18th and Vine.

Eboni Fondren – jazz vocalist extraordinaire – has recently returned from participating in an amazing choir and concert. It was a part of the Culture Working Group of the recent G20 Summit – in Varanasi, India.

The Culture Ministers’ Meeting in Varanasi aimed to catalyze collective actions for accelerating progress on the four priority areas articulated by the Indian Presidency- Protection and Restitution of Cultural Property, Harnessing Living Heritage for a Sustainable Future, Promotion of Cultural and Creative Industries and Creative Economy, and Leveraging Digital Technologies for the Protection and Promotion of Culture.

In 2020, under the Saudi Arabian Presidency, the Culture Ministers’ met for the first time on the side-lines of the G20.

In 2021, Culture was formalized as a Working Group during the Italian Presidency, leading to the inaugural G20 Culture Ministers’ Meeting and the consequential 'Rome Culture Ministers' Declaration’.

The 'Bali Declaration' of 2022 under the Indonesian presidency further stressed the role of culture in sustainable development. In Varanasi, this would be the fourth time that the Culture Ministers of the G20 members and invitee countries would be meeting.

Eboni is a 21st century songstress. She goes for what she wants. It is fun to see a film at an AMC Theater and hear your friend giving the particulars. Eboni has built her career into a multi-faceted industry. She considers herself an entrepreneur. On a recent Sunday morning we spoke about her wedding and event band, Lost Wax, her work onstage and in the studio with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. We touched on her voiceover and film work and her desire to be and do so much more.

Eboni Fondren has recently recorded a high-quality LP with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, available at www.kcjo.org and she is now collecting material to record a live recording of jazz standards at Uptown Lounge, where Eboni hold a regularly scheduled jazz jam session on Tuesday evening.

The sky is the limit for Eboni Fondren.

Editor

www.ebonifondrenmusic.com

The Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign of Weston, Missouri, was pleased to announce the third annual Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee on Saturday, June 17, 2023.

This event would not have happened without the tenacious attitude of a savvy Kansas City jazz musician. Over the past decade, things have changed for Angela Hagenbach. She started a vocal trio with Pamela Baskin Watson, and Nedra Goodson Dixon, the ensemble known as Book of Gaia.

The powerful trio soon several successes to celebrate. Then, their collective busy schedules put the band on hiatus.

All three women have an interest in musical theater. Nedra was in the original cast of Hair, on Broadway and Pamela has a list of successes from an active career in New York and concerts around the world. She is celebrated as a songwriter. Living for the past couple decades in her childhood home of Kansas City, Pamela has plenty of opportunities to serve as Musical Director local productions and tend to her far reaching projects. Nedra and Pamela have been collaborating on a jazz opera that continues to gather steam.

In an effort to make it through the pandemic, vocalist, Angela Hagenbach became a cultural activist. This began while she was researching a book project about her great, great, great grandmother, a property owner in Weston, Missouri in the 1830s.

Her reception was so welcoming in Weston, that she has been able to uncover significant information about the lives of the Black residents of Weston over the past 200 years.

The book, still a dream, has taken a backseat to sharing of the information with the citizens of the small NW Missouri river town, in re-enactments, talks, musical events, and 3 consecutive annual Juneteenth celebrations.

With song, poetry, storytelling, and spoken word, the 3rd Annual Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee explored Weston’s Black history deeply. In long hidden revelations, the program entertained a mesmerized mixed audience with African drumming, traditional dancing, and musical performances.

It was designed to engage your mind and taste buds with an ancestral Juneteenth beverage that has made its way from Africa. The setting, Bee Creek Shelter, added to the down-home atmosphere. The slatted wooden structure resembled a 19th century tobacco barn, or corn crib, where cash crops are stored to dry and be ready, when the river boat pulls in to take the crop to the world.

This year, The Black Ancestors Awareness Campaign of Weston, Missouri, explored two of the myriad labor industries passed down through the generations. With grace, grit, and ingenuity, these forebears’ skillsets enabled them to earn a living, live their lives, and plan for a brighter future. Then, honoring Sankofa, to retrieve value from knowledge of the past, the troop to the audience back in time to fetch the story of a Black Weston family whose free Black roots began there before 1860.

Hosted by the vivacious recording artist and activist Angela Hagenbach, the festivities were free and open to the public. The celebration, featuring prominent local artists began at 10 am on a warm Saturday and ran until high noon, when there was a free BBQ luncheon, sponsored by the Weston Rotary Club, immediately following the morning program.

Jazz concert began around 12:30pm, when Ms. Hagenbach, her family, friends, and gathering of volunteers were able to let their collective hair down and celebrate the ongoing love and togetherness radiating from the crowd that sat rapt through their 2 hour program.

The annual celebration concluded around 2pm.

Many people from across the metropolitan area volunteered. They gave their time to bring to the forefront significant moments in Black Weston history. Greg Holler parked cars at the State Park and said,

“He was honored to do his part, making sure those that needed to park close had a way to get in and be seated for the show.”

Greg made sure that the large parking lot was as orderly and straight as the intricate design of an ancient hand-made quilt.

Chef Chris Donnelly, of Feed Northland Kids, prepared and donated BBQ. The pulled pork had simmered all morning long, and the smell wafted through the shelter as the performance proceeded. Pulled Pork is a specialty of Chris’s along with his benevolent attitude about food and it’s preparation.

“We have been eliminating food insecurity in the northland since 2009,’ said Chris proudly, “by bringing the food programs in the South (Kansas City) to the hungry kids that live in the Northland.”

Many hands make the hard work lighter. This outpouring of cooperation was visible at every turn that Saturday, and with a little good fortune and a very large crew, Juneteenth in Weston will live on for generations to come.

Guest presenters included poet Phyllis Becker, actors Gena Bardwell, Brother John Anderson, Trooper (Buffalo Soldier) Lloyd Stevens, Rebecca Ehrich, pianist Roger Wilder, bassist James Ward, drummer Mike Warren, and 7th generation Black Weston descendant Tevin Johnson on saxophone.

The performance included Art In Motion, the Weston Heritage Jubilee Singers, and the Bethel AME Church Choir of Leavenworth, KS.

Overall, the 2023 Juneteenth Celebration was awesome, an excellent location, good sharing of ideas and a heaping helping on brother and sisterhood prevailed.

The 2023 Juneteenth Heritage Jubilee was made possible in part by a grant from the Missouri Arts Council, and generous support from the Dible Foundation, Weston’s Chamber of Commerce & Rotary Club, and several local businesses and individuals.

For information about furthering this joyous event please contact: Angela Hagenbach directly at 816-519-7970 or baac1837@gmail.com

Kansas City Jazz Orchestra (KCJO) has a new album. And on it they swing hard, are hip and precise—and, in the tradition, they’ll make you want to take someone’s hand and dance.

Although cut of the same cloth style-wise, “In the Key of KC” includes all new tunes, originals, like “Banana Slug,” “Blue Cheese,” and “Sir Charles,” alongside the KC classic (and album opener) “Moten Swing.” As the album’s liner notes reveal, “KCJO's fourth studio presents, for the first time, an album of arrangements by current members of the ensemble, with all but one track an original composition. This approach allows the band to pay homage to the architects of the Kansas City sound from years past, while concurrently introducing new sonorities informed by the evolution of big band jazz in the 21st century…As we move beyond the first twenty years of KCJO’s existence and into the next, the future is bright with possibilities of how Kansas City’s jazz tradition will continue to grow…KCJO’s family of artists penned tunes that are steeped in the riffy, bluesy regional language and also reflective of the creative energy of today.”

“I’ve been with them (KCJO) since the beginning,” said saxophonist Doug Talley, “and there are several of us in there that have been there that long…When people get a position, they hold on to it…because we feel like family. We take great pains to get the music to sound the best that we can…There is not much turn-over in personnel. We know…how it will sound.”

“I think that…there are differences between KCJO and all groups,” said Talley. “For instance, we know we are going to be playing for a large audience, and people are coming there, and we are going to be the focus of that. It’s not like you’re playing in a restaurant…background music…or people are having drink somewhere, at a bar. It’s a difference. We are the focus. And it’s always been that way….The idea is that KCJO is not going to try to compete with other dance bands. It (KCJO) was it’s own thing….We know each other, so I think it adds an urgency or importance that we do a really good job of presentation. It’s not that we wouldn’t anyway. It’s just we know that the audience is…putting and importance on it, an importance to the musician.”

Among the many originals on this album, “Blue Cheese” is playful and zany, but still stately; its horn lines are amusingly and reservedly austere. Although of a piece, the album has range in mood and approach. Eboni Fondren’s velvety voice on “Ain’t Nobody Like My Baby” is engaging and compelling. Mellow and thoughtful, she smartly and cleverly voices this new tune, bringing it to zestful, playful life.

Trent Austin’s trumpet solo on “One Million Five,” full of deft swift runs, fingers pumping, followed by stand-out shouts, is a bright delight, warm and brassy—and full of levity and hopeful held notes. “One Million Five” also features Fondren on convincing, conversational vocals. Fondren’s brief scat solo on this tune is also a standout; it deftly echoes Austin and the band.

“Sometimes bands will record a section at a time,” said Talley, “and what they end up with is kind of artificial…a bunch of overdubbing. That isn’t what this was,” Talley said of the KCJO recording session. “I’m not saying this was all first takes…But it was extremely rewarding…It was somewhat tedious. We wanted to get it right and did not settle for so-so.” And they did get it right.

Always classy, and always a show, go see KCJO live—and hear these tunes in the concert hall room. Or, next best, get this album and take the band with you. Get it.

kcjo.org

—Kevin Rabas

Life tends to be a full circle event and for Amsterdam-based jazz vocalist, composer, and bandleader Gabriela Martina, nothing could be truer with the release of her new album “Homage to Grämlis” as she re-assembles the pieces of her music career that were scattered into disarray by COVID-19.

“COVID was horrible. I lost my business, gigs, & tour. My existence. That's why I’m partially based in Amsterdam and Boston. Trying to figure things out. It takes a while to heal. It’s a matter of time,” Gabriela said. “Yet, I feel positive that the music gives something that you have to see in person. I just had a few duo shows and it is incredible what it can do, how the people react.”

Her latest recording, “Homage to Grämlis” is the story of her idyllic upbringing on a Swiss dairy farm. The music harkens back to the sounds that made her fall in love with music; Swiss yodeling, cow bells, accordion, and alphorn.

"This album means everything to me. My parents have been farmers for the last 45 years and that's where I grew up the first 24 years of my life,” Gabriela noted. “Growing up in such an environment with vegetables that come from the ground and milk from cows was incredible. I am conscious of what I purchase and I always support local farmers.”

The family farm was also a haven of education for the public audit that came to an end in 2018. Thus, the ending of a familial chapter in her life became a homage in this new artistic creation.

“I have siblings and none of us could take it (the farm) over. It turned out that a new family moved in years later and the whole house was renovated. This album started in my mind in 2016. It was because I started to yodel,” Gabriela said. “In a way it's a gift to my family. It's a lifetime of work memorializing keeping that farm up. There was so much love, dedication, and education passed onto the younger generations. They (my family & the farm) are local legends there.”

Her journey into music and more specifically jazz was literally a part of the family way of life. Her mom played the piano and her dad still yodels to this very day. All of her siblings also sing and play instruments.

“It never occurred to me. It just happened. Part of daily life. Sometimes on Sundays family came over and we would play and sing. Always making noise,” Gabriela said. “I had a solo at school when I was young where I sang "The Girl from Ipanema." It was the tune that made me realize how people reacted to my voice. They wanted to hear it one more time. After that, I took music more seriously and started studying it.``

Around this time, her options in Switzerland to study music were limited to mainly classical. Yet, she didn’t want that and jazz didn’t (yet) make sense to her. She was into the rock, pop, and funk groups.

“At the same time, I heard about Berklee College of Music. I invested my time to get fundraising to get there to do a semester,” Gabriela said. “With all the work that I did with day jobs, I got to Berklee and graduated.”

That began the jazz journey, but she has always been staunch about loving all genres of music and pushing the proverbial envelope.

“There's always something about trying new musicians and new sounds,” Gabriela said. “Like the Miles thing. Nothing wrong with that.”

At the end of her proverbial day, she loves the idea of trying out new things and doing it live. The reverberating inventiveness of it all.

“With my compositions you see the black and white, but let's see what we can do. You need something to go from, but see what happens,” Gabriela noted. “If it serves the music and makes it better, then let's do it. There is a combination of being in the studio and being like a kid to see what happens like in a kitchen. Same way as the live stage.”

For the last two years, she has been doing the back and forth between her new home of Amsterdam and the familiarity of Boston. She arrived during the pandemic, and it was quite hard. Like starting over.

“There is so much you have to do as an independent artist that is not fun. The magic happens when people are in a room together. Can't happen with a Zoom call,” Gabriela said. “The voice is a personal instrument and it makes a difference compared to an instrument on the outside. You feel the vibration everywhere. We are 80 percent water so you feel it.”

Gabriela has found inroads each time in her life to begin anew and thrive. This new post-pandemic phase of her life is no different. The live music element is what makes her grow and reinvigorate into her best self.

“I'm just learning a new culture and I'm at the beginning. The moments of live music are special,” Gabriela said. “It's a circle. The musicians give and the audience receives and gives it back. That is extremely fulfilling or even spiritual.”

by Joe Dimino

All Things Gabriela: https://www.gabrielamartina.com/

Full Gabriela Martina Neon Jazz Interview Links:

https://youtu.be/-0FEpNKKzr4

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/joe-dimino/episodes/Amsterdam-based-Vocalist--Composer--Bandleader-Gabriela-Martina-e29pv50

A trifecta of Kansas City Jazz is scheduled for Thursday, December 14th at the Uptown Lounge, located at the corner of 34th and Main Streets. Trombonist and educator Ryan Heinlein brings students from the Johnson County Community College Jazz Program to perform from 7pm to 9pm as part of the Jazz Ambassadors’ Future of Jazz program.

Current members of the Jazz Ambassadors are invited to arrive at 6pm for the Annual Meeting of the Association. The Third annual Kansas City JAM Awards will begin at 8pm, as the City’s favorite jazz musicians, clubs and venues will be honored.

Make sure to go online now at http://www.kcjazzambassadors.org/jam-jazz-awards-finalist-voting-2023 to cast your vote for your favorite KC jazz musicians. Without your support, these wonderful artists would have a tough time practicing their craft in Kansas City. We can all be thankful and celebrate the city’s rich jazz heritage on December 14th, at the newly refurbished Uptown Lounge.

—Editor

Penn Valley’s third annual jazz event will feature:

“We’re excited about this lineup and for the opportunity to welcome the community to campus for a wonderful night of jazz music,” says Larry Rideaux Jr., president of MCC-Penn Valley.

Jazz in the Valley will take place outdoors near the Carter Art Center on the Penn Valley campus, 3201 Southwest Trafficway, Kansas City. Free parking will be available in the MCC garage on Pennsylvania Avenue between 32nd and 33rd streets. In the event of rain, the festival will move inside the Campus Center.

The first 100 people at Jazz in the Valley will receive a free burger from Whataburger. The company is a partner in Penn Valley’s campus food pantry, known as the Wolf Pack Resource Room Powered by Whataburger. A variety of food trucks will also be on site, including Hungry Alligator, Jadabay’s and Taste of Brazil.

Attendees are welcome to bring lawn chairs, blankets, water bottles or coolers. Alcohol, pets, firearms, tobacco and drugs are not allowed on campus.

Visit mcckc.edu/jazzfest for more information.

What to call us: Metropolitan Community College is one college with five campuses. When referring to an individual campus, we say Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods, Metropolitan Community College-Blue River etc., not “Maple Woods Community College” or “Blue River Community College.” On second reference: MCC-Maple Woods, MCC-Blue River, MCC-Online etc. Thanks for getting our name right!

A century of service: Metropolitan Community College is Kansas City’s oldest public institution of higher education; 2023-24 marks our 109th academic year. We were founded in 1915 as the Kansas City Polytechnic Institute, changed our name to the Junior College of Kansas City in 1919, and became “Metropolitan” in 1964. Our campuses — MCC-Blue River, MCC-Longview, MCC-Maple Woods, MCC-Online and MCC-Penn Valley — educate about 20,000 students annually through credit and noncredit courses and business services.

Our mission: Preparing students, serving communities, creating opportunities for all

“Basie Swings the Blues” (2023) unites modern living legend and contemporary blues singers with the long-standing Basie Band in a tribute to the blues. You’ll hear Keb’ Mo’ and Shemeka Copeland belting the blues on top a river of Basie Band “tight horn voicings,” as jazz scholar Wayne Winbourne rightly puts it. Beyond the heart-pumping, foot-tapping groove, the words are the thing for many blues listeners, and this album delivers, including Copeland’s brickhouse performance of Koko Taylor’s I’m a Woman, a nod to the Bo Didley tune. In the Taylor version, we even get the line “I’m a woman. Make love to a crocodile.”

For those into the groove as much as the lyrics, luminary guitarist Charlton Johnson stokes the “burner” tune The Patton Basie Shuffle. A Count Basie Orchestra (CBO) all-star, Johnson is right at home blazing a three-chorus solo with more than just a touch of distortion to fuel the fire and burn blue-white bright.

The album also features all-star elderstatesmen, like Carmen Bradford, who Count Basie hired while Bradford was still in college. Bradford sings with grace and verve on the standard Just for a Thrill. She still has it: power and control—and soul.

The CBO is tight, always melodic. Like the wind that lofts the bird, they hold and support. They help these fine singers soar.

Blue? Try this album out. It’s the cure.

—Kevin Rabas

In these modern Kansas City jazz times, Chris Hazelton holds a special place on the local music landscape. Hazelton is a bona-fide veteran of the Hammond B-3 Organ, and there’s not a more talented cat at the instrument, anywhere. He was tutored by 2 legends, Dr. Lonnie Smith when Hazelton lived in NYC, and by Everette DeVan in KC. That has made Hazelton a rarified gem at the Hammond, with some serious mileage on his music-biz-odometer to boot.

Like many other artists, the pandemic threw Hazelton into a mental funk that made him question his standing as a musician. His last straight-ahead jazz album, Peregrination, was released in 2012. He’s spent the better part of the last dozen-years leading two larger aggregations: directing soul-jazz phenoms, Boogaloo Seven, and spearheading the very popular straight-ahead-soul group Freedom Affair.

“After Dark really came out of my need to feel like I was still a musician! Especially after Everette passed away. It dawned on me—in Kansas City there are really only a few of us, carrying the torch of jazz organ,” said Chris. “I just had to get into the studio and do a straight-ahead jazz record. It had been more than 10 years, and the guys really delivered.”

His sonic approach was paying homage to another flavor-rich time of jazz harvesting. That magic combination of the B3 organ, drums, guitar, and baritone sax.

“The baritone up front is a niche format, said Chris, the first two George Benson records were in that format with Ronnie Cuber up front, drums, and Lonnie Smith on the B3 organ. I’ve always loved that sound. Because you have that deep rich honk of the baritone saxophone,” added Chris. “Then you have the guitar that can play an octave above that and then you have the organ that can (make it) stream. It’s just a really funky, gritty, texture to have in a quartet.”

The obvious backdrop to the construction of this album was the isolation of covid, and Hazelton’s yearning from the absence of his two mentors, lost during the isolation.

“I often talked with Dr. Lonnie about his wish to leaving something behind. That definitely started weighing heavy on me when those two guys passed,” Chris said. “Then I started to think to myself, what am I leaving behind? You get to a point in life where you start wondering what your legacy is going to be.”

This album is definitely a part of that. The legacy and echo of those visionary voices will never leave his heart. It’s a constant—whether he is on stage or in the studio, It provides a backbone, keeping the music alive and the sound fresh. Hazelton studied longest with Everette DeVan, known as a mentor to many popular musicians in Kansas City.

“I always hear Everett’s voice in my head,” muses Chris, “whether I’m playing or otherwise. Especially hearing him always saying, ‘Get on It!” Particularly when I’m noodling around or playing a solo, I hear him saying, ‘Get on It!’ That’s when I really gotta turn it on.”

On this new album, Hazelton gave up control of self-releasing the project and turned to esteemed Canadian music business veteran, Cory Weeds, a saxophonist with one of the most iconic labels in jazz, Cellar Music Group.

“Cory is one of my favorite saxophone players and he’s a great friend,” said Chris. “I’m a big control freak. So, this record has been a big exercise for me to relinquish control. Cory put it out and he knocked it out of the park. The whole process has been great!”

The backdrop to this album is a robust Kansas City jazz scene that has roared back, ushering in new clubs, and a flush schedule for all.

“I think the scene has come back quite ferociously. I don’t think it came back the way it was, for better or for worse, the landscape is just different,” said Chris. “To a large degree, there is a lot of work and it’s still a great place to make a living as a musician. I have been doing this now for 19 years and I have seen it go in waves.”

That Chris Hazelton wave is cresting again, and the sonic boom is something everyone ought to hear.

Get the CD:

https://chrishazelton.bandcamp.com/album/after-dark

Upcoming Shows & More: https://www.chrishazelton.com/

Full Chris Hazelton Neon Jazz Interview Links: https://youtu.be/wq5dxcyeHn8

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/joe-dimino/episodes/Kansas-City-Jazz-Organist--Bandleader-Chris-Hazelton-on-the-2023-CD-After-Dark-e27scc1

Kansas City doesn’t often have a chance to see a Grammy-winning “Best New Artist,” especially during their Grammy-winning year. If that artist is an upcoming jazz vocalist, appearing as part of one of the city’s longest-running jazz series, landing that show is practically a miracle. Samara Joy, appearing at the Folly Theater on October 14, is a jazz lover’s dream come true

At 23 years old, Samara Joy seamlessly blends the old-school jazz sounds of artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday with R&B artists she grew up with like Stevie Wonder and Kim Burrell. That talent earned her not just “Best New Artist”, but also a GRAMMY for “Best Vocal Jazz Album,” her debut Linger Awhile.

Joy started singing jazz at her high school in the Bronx and earned her record deal after going viral, covering Ella Fitzgerald’s “Take Love Easy” with one of her SUNY Purchase professors as a “thank you” video for the benefactors who funded her scholarship for the jazz program. She has since earned not only a record deal but over 600,000 TikTok followers and over 5 million likes.

Her music swings open the door to jazz for a much younger audience; in the United States, TikTok has 80 million monthly active users and 80% are between the ages of 16-34 years old. According to a Statista.com survey conducted in June 2023, only 14% of radio listeners aged 18-29 listen to jazz or blues, but with Joy on the scene, that may soon change.

Samara Joy challenges the preconceptions that jazz has become a niche genre by infusing a contemporary flair that resonates with a broader audience. She refuses to be confined by the conventional boundaries of jazz, fearlessly incorporating elements from various musical styles. Whether she is infusing jazz with traces of R&B, soul, or even hip-hop, she pushes the limits of what jazz can encompass. This fusion not only broadens her artistic horizons but also draws in a diverse fanbase, spanning from die-hard jazz enthusiasts to emerging young music aficionados eagerly seeking novel and innovative sounds.

A key factor in Samara’s rise to prominence is her remarkable vocal abilities. Her voice stands out as a true marvel, effortlessly navigating a wide range of octaves. What sets her apart is her exceptional capacity to convey a broad spectrum of emotions through her singing, transforming each of her performances into a deeply personal and relatable experience for her listeners.

Samara Joy is a beacon of hope for jazz enthusiasts and a catalyst for creating younger jazz fans. Through her extraordinary talent, willingness to innovate, and commitment to preserving jazz’s heritage, she’s paving the way for a jazz resurgence in the 21st century.

See Samara Joy, Saturday, October 14th, in the historic, intimate Folly Theater. Joy kicks off the 42nd season of the longest-running Jazz series in Kansas City. The Folly stage has welcomed greats like Oleta Adams, Tia Fuller, Bobby Watson, David Benoit, and many more during its rich 123-year history. Secure your tickets now at FollyTheater.org.

Experience the energy and excitement of original Kansas City jazz from some of the area’s

best-known musicians at the city’s premier jazz club, Green Lady Lounge, in a new way.

With in-house recordings right off the venue’s stage, Kansas Public Radio’s newest program

Live at Green Lady Lounge allows listeners to experience KC’s rich jazz tradition and listen to their favorite local artists, such as Danny Embrey, Rod Fleeman, Tyrone Clark, Ken Lovern, Brian Baggett, and more.

Hosted by Kansas City jazz’s own David Basse, Live at Green Lady Lounge allows listeners a front row seat to the music being created in Kansas City, here and now. All radio recordings feature original works, written and played by the musicians that call the city home. And it’s not just Green Lady; the program also highlights performances from owner John Scott’s other venues, The Black Dolphin and the Orion Room, for a full experience of just how much talent the area has to offer.

KPR Program Director and Retro Cocktail Hour host Darrell Brogdon invites listeners to join in on this one-of-a-kind experience. “Live at Green Lady Lounge harkens back to a time when Kansas City had countless night clubs, bars and dance halls where KC jazz musicians played, and often broadcast on the radio,” Brogdon says. “We’re thrilled at the opportunity to do a callback to those days with this show, featuring some of the city’s best jazz musicians.”

Listeners can tune in each Saturday at 6 p.m. for Live at Green Lady Lounge, and Sundays at 9 p.m. for an encore presentation of the previous evening’s show. Episodes are broadcast on-air at 91.5 FM, and are available to stream at kansaspublicradio.org and on the KPR app.

—Emily Fisher

www.kansaspublicradio.org

Beginning on Thursday, October 12th, 2023, The KC Jazz Ambassadors will present their third annual Future of Jazz Scholarship Program concerts at the Uptown Lounge, 34th and Main Streets, in the midst of Kansas City’s exciting new Main Street Corridor renovation.

Dan Thomas, who worked side by side with Bobby Watson at UMKC brings his #1 band from Ottawa University, at 7pm, for the maiden voyage.

The Uptown Lounge is rapidly shaping up to be an important place to see and be seen. This richly appointed lounge features a younger group of musicians catering to a vibrant neighborhood crowd.

In fact, Recent Jazz Futures participants, bassist Jordan Faught and pianist & vocalist Parker Woolworth, are drawing record crowds on Tuesday nights at The Uptown with veteran vocalist Eboni Fondren. Act now to plan to come experience Kansas City’s future jazz greats and make an evening of it at the Uptown.

We’re confirming dates now and we’ll offer the complete line-up as it unfolds. We’ve moved from Downtown, to Uptown and we’ll present the same exciting show with a comfortable and intimate atmosphere, excellent sound, piano and backline equipment. And each college band earns a generous donation to their school’s jazz program. You’re invited too, to ‘feed the kitty’ with all of the Thursday concert tips going directly to the educational program.

Special thanks go to Jean and Alan Stribling, of the Uptown Lounge for offering the Lounge for jazz education. Patrons must be 21, or accompanied by their guardians. The Uptown is open Tuesday through Saturday evening at 5 and offers live performance and cocktails each evening.

www.uptownloungekc.com

Ottawa University, Dan Thomas, Director—October 12, 2023

TBA—November 9, 2023

TBA—December 14, 2023 – JAM annual meeting and JAM Awards

Merry Christmas—Happy New Year!

TBA—January 18, 2024

KC Jazz Academy, Clarence Smith, Director—February 22, 2024

University Of Missouri, KC, Carl Allen, Director—March 21, 2024

TBA—April 18, 2024

The groove is so compelling. As I enter the front door, I automatically move to the beat.

It’s jazz pianist Joe Cartwright and the band. Cartwright is known around the city as Jazz Royalty. So’s the drummer, Doug Auwarter, and young bassist, Ben Leifer is well on his way.

The curly-gray-haired Mikole Kaar was on tenor sax and flute, just in from California. We’re about to find out how lucky we are to have him. He’s here to stay.

There’s excitement and energy in the room. Audience members, bowing down to greatness but also having a good time. The music is rolling and there’s no holding back this piano player. He spills it out on the keys, head shaking, head nodding, riffing to Ojos Rojo or Eyes of Red by pianist Cedar Walton. The drummer and bassist quiet down to let Joe soar. Then drummer peels his skins, and lets it rip, cymbals crashing to crescendo. The steady bass holdin’ down the ceiling. These guys know the ropes. Flute brings it up a notch. A skinny little instrument that has tons of power. Bass croaks out a response the way frogs signal across a pond.

Next: The slow, thoughtful Rapture by tenor saxophonist Harold Land. Beginning with Leifer doing an extended solo, well thought out, with Cartwright filling the holes before taking over with his own solo that includes a haunting Something’s Coming quote from Westside Story.

Before the next number we hear Kaar telling Cartwright, “We’re in Kansas City and it’s his birthday month, says Karr, “We gotta do a Parker song.

So, it’s Scrapple from the Apple.”

The tenor sax confidently leads. No need for charts. They all simply go to it. Pull it out of thin air the way the man himself did or maybe they’re pulling it out of some place inside themselves?

Joe solos, cool as always. But, surprising us with punctuation marks. Then Ben gives us a steady walking bass solo. The four of them trade fours and come to a powerful and abrupt end.

Cartwright, sensitive to hard work, announces,

“Because you all paid a cover charge, there’s no tip jar tonight. But please, tip your drink servers; they deserve it.”

Then: Herbie Mann’s Comin’ Home, Baby. They open with Kaar on the flute. A flute that fits the melody like a kid glove. Cartwright solos, two-finger jabs at the keys before Leifer takes over and then everyone gets quiet—with the drum whisperer—tapping to the beat. The flute back in to take it out, with a raucous ending from Joe.

Lastly we’re treated to a Cartwright Quartet original, Samba Feliz (Happy Samba).

Kaar establishes the Latin groove with his flute. Even before the other 3 come in. Ben solos. Doug rocks the house, with a bright red shaker and a rollicking drum. Joe takes the solo and plays as if he’s talking to an old familiar friend. Then swipes down the entire keyboard! This signals the end. The flute, bass, and drum hit it strong. A light twittering flute concludes.

With the set over the crowd exhales, giving thanks to the Jazz Gods for this Special Feast, A Feast of Manna from Heaven.

—Marilyn Carpenter

As an adult, changing careers and opening a new business is one of the hardest things a person can do. When I first met Steve Wilson and Anne Trinkl, they had both recently done just that to move to midtown Kansas City and open Upcycle Piano Craft.

Anne invited me to drop by Upcycle in depths of the pandemic and I instantly fell into a deep dream. What a magical place they had created!

I had sung with Anne years ago, when I was the Musical Director of the New Pointe Grille and had hired her and her band for the nightclub. Many years had passed, she had gotten into the medical field, Steve came from aeronautics.

That night, walking into a 3,200 square foot room with some 100 expertly maintained instruments of high-quality, literally blew my mind.

I sat in awe. Then, got up, walked around and noticed how expertly everything in the room (including the room, itself) were crafted.

I was asking, “who built that?” and “who did this?” The answer was always, “She did that.” Or ‘He built that.”

Then it started to sink in. He is a craftsman and they are here to fill a need. Kansas City once again has someone who cares about pianos, that is really serious about the musicality of each and every instrument, and each and every detail of each and every instrument.

Maybe you, as I, lived through the Pete Eye period in Kansas City. People still talk about Pete, a pianist, who played the nightclubs by night and maintained the pianos (himself) by day. Back then, if you dropped by the club in the afternoon and Pete had his head in the piano, you knew the gig was going to go a heck of a lot smoother that evening.

Every musician stayed on the ‘good side’ of Pete Eye. They always let Pete sit in. If he was drinking, they’d offer to buy him a drink.

I texted Joe and asked, “How do you feel about Steve Wilson?” Cartwright responded, “Oh, Steve’s the Shift!” (or something like that) “On second thought,” added Joe, “maybe you shouldn’t print that.” Continuing—Joe got down to it, “Steve Wilson is invaluable as a craftsman and Upcycle has given Kansas City a venue where pianists

and other musicians can be heard and appreciated.”

Heard and appreciated.

When a musician is “heard and appreciated” they feel that they have done their job. They can sleep at night. They can get up in the afternoon and anticipate going to the gig (we invented gig-workers) and enjoying themselves. And furthermore, why become a professional musician if you are not there to have a good time?

I spoke with pianist Roger Wilder. Roger is a master of pianistic detail. I would venture to say that there are a lot of details in Roger’s elegant style that many people miss.

Roger said of Upcycle Piano: “Steve and Anne have created a beautiful haven for musicians and music lovers.” When Mr. Wilder is hired to play less than an excellent piano, you can miss the detail in his beautiful sound. Roger is quoting everything from nursery rhymes to Beethoven—while effortlessly executing the music of Monk and Bird all at a lightning pace. This depth of subtlety requires an instrument that is responsive to the artist’s every whim.

Kansas City’s favorite pianists can’t get enough of Upcycle Piano Craft.

As large as the Upcycle showroom is, the basement (obviously) is equally as large! Downstairs is where the ‘rubber meets the road,’ so to speak, where Wilson works his magic. If you are lucky enough to make friends with Steve’s assistant, Zynzee, a brilliant German Shepard I do not want to be left alone with, (yet) then you’ll begin to get a handle on what it takes to create an excellent piano.

On the first Tuesday of each month, Upcycles’ Happy Hour features a masterful pianist and band. They’ve already featured each of the pianists mentioned in this article. The rules? The drinks are on the house and NEVER on the pianos.

Upcycle videotapes all the events, and scores of serious music fans and musicians drop by to socialize and listen to beautiful music from fine pianos.

The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s long-time pianist, Charles Williams, has spent some time in the lower-level learning how fine pianos are created:

“Steve Wilson has been a great asset to the Kansas City area. He’s a great entrepreneur and teacher of the piano tuning & repair craft,” said Charles. “’Thanks for bringing some of the local pianists together to play.’ I am very fortunate to have met Steve Wilson and call him my friend.”

It is almost like there is something for everyone at Upcycle Piano Craft. If you like music, and it is hard to imagine that there is anyone who doesn’t like music—then there’s first Tuesday at 4:30 pm. That’s the time to remember. Upcycle is holding their monthly piano Happy Hour.

Perhaps you are a pianist who is looking to up your game?

This summer, Upcycle added their very first piano Master Class. The course is taught by Brant Jester, who recently received his master’s in jazz performance from UMKC. He began the series by offering, Piano Workshop-Jazz Harmony, the 2-5-1 Chord Progression.

I recently spoke with a jazz lover who is an amateur pianist. Her husband says she often plays the Upcycle piano they purchased, in the middle of the night and he loves it. She said, “Even though I don’t really know what I’m doing, I loved attending Brant’s class, perhaps someday I will suddenly realize how to actually do it.”

Brant is a very talented pianist from Ozark, Missouri, who’s found a home in Kansas City. After arriving here to hone his skills at UMKC, Brant has become a top-notch pianist. He improves every time you see him, because music was his life, long before he arrived here. And now, being in Kansas City gives Brant a great reason to play the piano practically every waking hour of the day.

“Masterful, Exquisite, and Professional . . .,” said pianist Brant Jester, “are words that come to mind when thinking about Steve Wilson and what he is cultivating at Upcycle Piano Craft.”

While still in school, Jester became a regular feature at the Majestic Steak House, a fine-dining experience that featured both Bram Wijnands & Joe Cartwright at the piano for decades. Brant’s former professor, drummer Carl Allen often joins him at the drums when available.

Find more about Upcycle Piano Craft with the 2022 KCUR story about the store or visit the Upcycle website. www.upcyclepianocraft.com

Upcycle Piano Craft on KCUR FM

https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2022-02-18/a-kansas-city-couple-restores-old-pianos-and-hosts-a-happy-hour-concert-to-show-them-off