Lucy Wijnands introduced a rendition of “I’m Old Fashioned” with disarming candor at the Folly Theater on Saturday, March 1. She admitted “we thought this would be appropriate for tonight.” The presentation of period music would have been excruciatingly corny in lesser hands. Instead, the evening of retro-jazz was an artistic triumph.
The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra featured keyboardist Bram Wijnands and his daughter Lucy in a generous acknowledgement of an area mainstay that demonstrates the organization’s ongoing commitment to the Kansas City community. The concert was a capstone in Bram’s career. For the New York based Lucy, the night was a memorable coming out party.
Bram Wijnands, a noted stride piano specialist prone to madcap antics, arranged all the material aside from the opening selections of the first and second sets. The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra may never have sounded better than on Wijnands’ chart for the Count Basie Orchestra’s 1937 classic “Topsy”.
Turns in the spotlight by trumpeter Trent Austin and saxophonist Brad Gregory stood out amid dozens of impeccable solos. Wijnands’ statements on piano and celesta were similarly thrilling. Kansas City audiences have come to expect excellence from Wijnands and the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. Wijnands’ daughter Lucy is a relative newcomer.
Lucy Wijnand’s fully realized talent stunned unsuspecting members of the audience of approximately 350. (I was comped.) She shone most brightly while focusing on material Ella Fitzgerald recorded from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Just as her father didn’t attempt to copy Basie’s signature piano style, Lucy didn’t ape Fitzgerald. Instead, her rich vocals resembled Judy Garland as much as Fitzgerald. Stale moments were few and far between. The vim and vigor of the Wijnands and the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra made old-fashioned sounds seem brand new.
