Brenna Whitaker, a vocalist raised in Kansas City and based in Los Angeles, will be the guest of The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra at the Folly Theater on Saturday, May 31. The theme of the final concert of the big band’s 2024-25 season is “Glamour of Old Hollywood.”
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Justin Wilson, an accomplished producer of Kansas City jazz recordings, has died.
*An appearance by Anat Cohen is among the highlights of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s 2025-26 season.
*Dan White told Steve Kraske about his Jazz KC Portraits photo exhibit at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum.
*Michael Pagán chatted with Joe Dimino.
*Trent Austin is among the business owners concerned about the potential impact of tariffs on their musical instrument businesses in a KCUR feature.
*From a press release: Spotlight: Charlie Parker 2025 celebrates the jazz icon’s 105th birthday with jam sessions and musical tributes, tours, lectures, exhibits, panel discussions, workshops, and concerts... The month-long celebration will take place in August 2025 at various locations, including The Folly Theater, 18th & Vine Jazz District, including the American Jazz Museum and the Gem Theater, and Kansas City-area jazz clubs. Details are available here.
Concert Review: Bram and Lucy Wijnands with The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra at the Folly Theater
Original image by Plastic Sax.
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.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Brian Ward Trio is featured in the latest installment of Kansas Public Radio’s Live at Green Lady Lounge program.
*KCUR looked into one of Kansas City’s Fat Tuesday traditions.
*Joe Dimino interviewed Rob Scheps and Lucy Wijnands. He also shared footage of Bram and Lucy Wijnands’ collaboration with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra at the Folly Theater.
Now’s the Time: Bram and Lucy Wijnands with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra
The Folly Theater hosts the inspired pairing of the father-daughter tandem of Bram and Lucy Wijnands with The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra on Saturday, March 1. The Wijnands perform at the London cabaret Crazy Coqs in the embedded video.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Gene Hall, the co-founder of The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, has died.
*Crosby Kemper III moderated a discussion about Kansas City jazz.
*A reporter for The Kansas City Star ponders the fate of the American Jazz Museum’s sidelined film collection.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Tim Whitmer discussed his new album with Steve Kraske on KCUR’s Up To Date.
*Ken Lovern told Joe Dimino about OJT’s new album.
*The New York Times remembered the Missouri-born Nora Holt and KCUR recalled Kansas City native Dana Suesse.
*From a press release: Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Executive Director Alyssa Bell Jackson today announced the next concert for the 2024-2025 Signature Series, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. at Helzberg Hall… The annual Kansas City Jazz Orchestra holiday concert, set against visuals from the cherished television special, will feature swinging big band arrangements from KCJO Artistic Director Clint Ashlock.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Chuck Haddix told The Pitch’s Nick Spacek about the backstory of the new Charlie Parker album Bird in Kansas City.
*From a press release: Kansas City Jazz Orchestra continues the 2024-25 season with.. Bright Size Life, featuring guitarist Rod Fleeman, Saturday, November 16, at the Folly Theater. Rod Fleeman is a founding member of The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and has appreciated Pat Metheny’s virtuosity since he first saw the guitarist play in the early 1970s…
Now’s the Time: Sachal Vasandani
The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra will be joined by vocalist Sachal Vasandani at the Folly Theater on Friday, October 11. The slick crooner interprets the standard “Unforgettable” in the embedded video.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The prominent Kansas City jazz advocate Sharon Daugherty Valleau has died.
*From a press release: Kansas City Jazz Orchestra launches its 2024-25 Signature Series with Unforgettable featuring vocalist Sachal Vasandani, at 7pm on October 11, 2024 in Helzberg Hall of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Sachal Vasandani is a critically acclaimed and widely admired jazz vocalist who commands the stage, blending contemporary sensibilities with an old crooner’s soul.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Kansas City Star notes the schedule of a new dueling piano bar includes a weekly jazz matinee.
*Joe Dimino interviewed Cynthia van Roden and filmed portions of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s tribute to Charlie Parker.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Footage of the Lee’s Summit Jazz Festival was shared by Joe Dimino and a television news outlet.
*From a press release: Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Artistic Director Clint Ashlock today announced the 2024-2025 Signature Series: Experiences, alongside the newly appointed Executive Director Alyssa Bell Jackson, who assumed her position earlier this year. The season: Unforgettable featuring vocalist Sachal Vasandani, October 11, 2024 at 7 p.m. | Helzberg Hall; Bright Size Life featuring guitarist Rod Fleeman, November 16, 2024 at 7 p.m. Folly Theater; A Charlie Brown Christmas, December 10, 2024 at 7 p.m. | Helzberg Hall; Always and Forever featuring Bram and Lucy Wijnands, March 1, 2025 at 7 p.m. | Folly Theater; Level Up! April 5, 2025 at 7 p.m. | Helzberg Hall; Glamour of Old Hollywood featuring Brenna Whitaker May 31, 2025 at 7 p.m. | Folly Theater
*From a press release: Join us for a free community event with the KU Jazz Ensemble I before their European tour! (7:30 p.m. Monday, July 15 at Lied Center Auditorium.) KU Jazz Ensemble I, directed by Dan Gailey, is the flagship ensemble within the Jazz Studies program at the University of Kansas. The program has received 32 DownBeat Student Music Awards, including Jazz Ensemble I’s 2023, 2021, 2019 and 2015 awards in the Graduate Division for Best College Big Band in the United States or Canada, and their Outstanding Performance Awards in the same division in 2024, 2022 and 2017.
*From a press release: ECM releases Pat Metheny's Bright Size Life as part of its Luminessence audiophile vinyl-reissue series… Available August 2, 2024, in Celebration of Metheny's 70th Birthday.
*From a press release: Craft Recordings is pleased to announce Ornithology: The Best of Bird, a brand-new Charlie “Bird” Parker collection that introduces the legendary saxophonist through 11 classic tracks. Spanning 1945–1953, the album compiles material from the influential jazz artist’s most prolific era… Arriving August 23 and available for pre-order today, Ornithology will be available on 1-LP, 1-CD and digital formats, while fans can find the album in two limited-edition pressings, including Canary Yellow vinyl (exclusively via Spotify Fans First) and Ruby (Barnes & Noble).
Now’s the Time: Deborah Brown
Deborah Brown and Bobby Watson are the preeminent musicians based in the Kansas City area. Each is an international treasure. Brown and Watson will be featured at the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s concert at the Folly Theater on Friday, May 17. Brown is accompanied by the Portland pianist George Colligan in the embedded video.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Queen Bey, once a prominent Kansas City based vocalist, has died.
*Green Lady Lounge recently initiated a series of lunchtime performances on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The venue’s May calendar lists offerings from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays prior to Rod Fleeman’s long-standing Saturday residency that begins at 2:30 p.m.
*Here’s a second way to listen to the KCUR audio feature about the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society.
*The American Jazz Museum is featured in a National Endowment of the Arts "grant spotlight".
*From a press release: Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Executive Director Alyssa Bell-Jackson today announced the final concert for the Conversations in Jazz 2023-2024 Season, This is Kansas City featuring two beloved Kansas City jazz greats Deborah Brown and Bobby Watson. This concert will be recorded live for an album to be released next season. This is Kansas City concert originally was to be held May 17 and 18 at the Folly Theatre. The concert will now be held on May 17 only.
Now's the Time: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Count Basie Orchestra’s Basie Swings the Blues won a Grammy Award in the category of Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album on Sunday.
*Nina Cherry commends Isaiah Petrie for Kansas City magazine.
*The Kansas City Star previewed concerts by The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra.
*Joe Dimino shared footage of a performance by UMKC student bands.
*The Kansas City Star notes the January 2 passing of “Groovy” Grant Hopkins.
*A satirical Super Bowl-inspired item in Riff magazine suggests “the Kansas City jazz scene fell out of popularity nearly 70 years ago”.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Results from The Pitch’s The Best of KC 2023 awards: Best Jazz Artist: Lonnie McFadden; Best Jazz Band: The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra; Best Jazz Venue: Green Lady Lounge.
*Plastic Sax has belatedly learned that the arts journalist Calvin Wilson died in August.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Pat Metheny’s 2013 album Tap: The Book of Angels, Vol. 20 is among the hundreds of albums released by Tzadik Records made available at streaming services last month.
*Performances of jazz at the Folly Theater and the Uptown Theater are among KCUR’s October concert recommendations.
*From a press release: Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Executive Director Lea Petrie today announced the next concert for the Conversations in Jazz 2023-2024 Season, She’s the Talk of the Town, featuring Marilyn Maye, Oct. 27 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. at the Folly Theater. At 7 p.m., Artistic Director Clint Ashlock will lead a pre-concert Jazz Chat.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*A writer for The Pitch insists a performance by the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra was “one of the best jazz concerts this city will ever see.”
*Gary Walker interviewed Scotty Barnhart of the Count Basie Orchestra for WBGO.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra headlines the 2023 edition of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival on September 9.
*Tia Fuller’s participation in the Spotlight: Charlie Parker initiative is among KCUR's concert recommendations for August.
*Bob Brookmeyer, Samantha Fish, Pat Metheny and Bobby Watson received votes in Downbeat magazine’s 71st Annual Critics Poll.
*St. Louis’ New Music Circle announced its 2023-24 season. Roscoe Mitchell, Elliott Sharp and William Parker are among the bookings.
Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes
Original image by Plastic Sax.
*Clint Ashlock considers the 2023-24 season of The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra for The Kansas City Star.
*Vanessa Thomas’ album release show at the Lied Center is among KCUR’s May concert recommendations.
*Joe Dimino attended a concert by The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and interviewed Alber.
*KCUR’s Greg Echlin reports on The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s intention to move from its current location adjacent to the American Jazz Museum.
*Tweet of the Week: KCMO Public Library- April 30 is #InternationalJazzDay! Check out books, music, and resources about some of the greatest names in jazz, including many with Kansas City connections: (link)