Confirmation: Weekly News and Notes

*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

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.

Now’s the Time: Trent Austin

The Kansas City trumpeter Trent Austin is featured in the Jazz Winterlude series at Polsky Theatre on Sunday, February 19.

Confirmation: Weekly New and Notes

*The 2021 edition of the Prairie Village Jazz Festival has been canceled.  The lineup consisted of a band led by Adam Larson with Fabian Almazan and Jaleel Shaw, We the People, Back Alley Brass Band and the Shawnee Mission East Blue Knights.

*Carolyn Glenn Brewer attempted to promote her book Beneath Missouri Skies: Pat Metheny in Kansas City 1964-1972 on The Pitch’s Streetwise podcast.

*Pat Metheny was interviewed by the popular YouTube personality Rick Beato.

*Eboni Fondren chatted with Steve Kraske about Everette DeVan on KCUR’s Up To Date program.

*Joe Dimino added Trent Austin and Desmond Mason to his catalog of interviews.

*The Spotlight 2021: Charlie Parker initiative is featured in a brief television news segment.

*Tweet of the Week: The Twittah Sh*ttah- Green Lady Lounge, Kansas City. Cool jazz club. To be honest, I was pretty drunk at this place. I think the bathroom was a good one. All I got was two blurry photos and a video of this awesome sink that lights up when you turn it on. (video and photos)