If just a few of those young minds can make a career out of jazz in Kansas City, the art form might have a bright future in one of its original birthplaces.'THE DEFINITION OF JAZZ': THE BASIE BAND AT ITS BEST “They're just trying to help these kids get out there, get into college, and have a place that's safe, that they can use their minds.”

“They're not trying to create conservatory-level musicians, necessarily,” she says. “Putting these professionals on a more human level with these kids makes it easier to relate with them, and makes their dream seem like something that's more attainable.”īell admits not every student who goes through the nonprofit’s program will ultimately go into music, but she says that’s not the only goal. “I’m happy to have this relationship with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and be able to help provide this opportunity for kids,” Bell says. In the rear are Soundwave Academy's founders and instructors Alyssa Bell (left), and Ezgi Karakus (right). Soundwave Academy Soundwave students at the Immanuel Lutheran Church Spring Concert 2022. “We have 12 string players, two saxophone players and a piano player,” she says, some of whom are getting mentored by Orchestra members. Since 2019, they’ve built a teenage-led ensemble of classically trained and contemporary musicians who come from all around the city. “To be in the Kauffman Center, and get to perform with singers - which we don't get to do super often - it's just a lot of new and exciting things for the students.”īell’s nonprofit provides six-week sessions to teach ear training, music theory and chamber music. “It’s a really great experience,” says the co-founder of Soundwave Academy. This weekend, some of Alyssa Bell’s students will be part of the Orchestra’s opening act in one of the city’s glitziest venues.

“My goal - and I don't care if anybody knows it or if anybody imitates it - is to really focus on educating Kansas City's children about what jazz is in a fun way,” Petrie adds. The kids just enjoyed it and the teachers said that they really had a better afternoon after that,” she says. “We send a trio out, they play during the lunch period, and it's generally no cost to the schools. From Left: Jason Goudeau, trombone Charles Williams, piano James Albright, bass. The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra trio performs at Ewing Marion Kauffman High School. Thirty years later, Petrie updated that idea for a pilot program called Jazz Café. “I was probably 7, 8, I think, and I thought it was the coolest thing,” Petrie says. Her inspiration for one such program comes from a childhood memory at Boone Elementary, when Kansas City jazz legend Sonny Kenner came to play for an assembly.

Jazz Orchestra Executive Director Lea Petrie is one of the architects of the concert and many of the organization's education efforts.

“To say that you're out of Kansas City and even say the word ‘jazz,’ people get it immediately - and if they don't get it, they need to sit down and do a little bit of research.” Taking jazz to the cafeteria “Kansas City and jazz, you know what I mean?” says Langston. It will pair Langston with the orchestra’s 18-piece big band and give students from Kansas City Kansas Community College and Soundwave Academy a chance to perform alongside the professionals. In an effort to help raise the next generation of musicians, the ensemble hosts masterclass programs, quarterly workshops and other clinics.Ī concert on Friday called The Future is part of that effort. That pattern of leaving the area, or making it big elsewhere instead, is why Langston and others are now teaming up with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. “When they wrote some things about him a few years back, it brought me joy to see him say … there are people like Lee Langston who have paved the way.” “Eric Lynn who is (another) artist from here that has moved away,” Langston says. That includes luminaries like Hermon Mehari, Logan Richardson and Oleta Adams. But many others didn’t gain prominence until they left town, and some gained global fame faster than they could closer to home. Langston has reaped the benefits of being a jazz artist from, and in, Kansas City. KCUR 89.3 Jazz vocalist Lee Langston and the KCJO's Riff Generation pianist Desmond Mason performing live at The Phoenix Jazz Club in downtown Kansas City.

Kansas city jazz orchestra review