KC Jazz Orchestra Announces 2022 - 2023 20th Anniversary Season

Kansas City Jazz Orchestra Executive Director Lea Petrie and Artistic Director Clint Ashlock today announced the 2022-2023 20th Anniversary Season which includes the much-anticipated performances of The Horn featuring Sean Jones and The Family featuring Lonnie and Chloe McFadden. All performances will be held at the Helzberg Hall of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (1601 Broadway, KCMO 64108).

Petrie stated, "We are thrilled that the world has reopened in time for the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra's marvelous celebration of 20 years! Please join us during this special 20th Anniversary season featuring the best of our Big Band and unforgettable guest artists such as Sean Jones and Deborah Brown. This season, we will also honor several individuals including founders Eugene Hall, Jim and Mary Mair, the legacy of the late Artistic Director Kerry Strayer, and the artistic vision of Clint Ashlock. Original band members Doug Talley, Jeff Hamer, Steve Molloy, Bob Harvey, Charles Williams, Guest artists Lonnie McFadden, Deborah Brown and Lee Langston, have also performed with the Orchestra, making our organization's history as artistically rich as it is.

In addition to our five concert anniversary season, you can expect exciting new jazz compositions from Riff Generation throughout the year, special concerts around Kansas City and education programs to engage Kansas City's youth and adults. However you choose to be a part of this special season, we look forward to having you back as we celebrate the past and embrace the future."

Thank you to the following funders for underwriting our 2021-2022 season: Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund, Geraldine, and R.A. Barrows Trust, UMB Bank, Trustee

The season at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts will include:

The Horn featuring Sean Jones

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022 @ 8 p.m.

From the moments Buddy Bolden and Louis Armstrong released their golden, burnished tones into the world, jazz music has in large part developed through the clarion call of wind instruments. In modern music, there is no more essential practitioner of the brass arts than trumpeter Sean Jones, our guest for this concert. From intimate whispers to spirited shouts, Mr. Jones will evoke the previous masters of the craft through his own inimitable voice. in Jazz Month with the music of Mary Lou!

The Voice featuring Deborah Brown

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022 @ 7 p.m.

One of the hallmarks of jazz through the ages has been great artists sharing their stories, emotions, and perspective through music. Of all the rhythm, harmony, and melody in jazz, it is the human voice that consistently resonates in our ears and heart. Deborah Brown is one of the treasures in the music world, a pure master of her craft, and a consummate artist and storyteller. Her voice invites all of us to share in the human experience.

The Family featuring Lonnie and Chloe McFadden

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022 @ 7 p.m.

Jazz is often portrayed as a family tree, with branches running from folks like Bessie Smith to Charlie Parker to Herbie Hancock, intertwining here and there throughout the history of the music. Sometimes, though, we are blessed with generations of artists, talent and love for the music passed down from season to season. In Kansas City, one such legacy of royalty exists in the phenomenal McFaddens. Sharing their story are Lonnie and Chloe, inviting us all to a veritable holiday dinner where everyone is welcome.

The Future featuring Lee Langston

Friday, Feb. 24, 2023 @ 8 p.m.

Jazz is a conversation best shared warmly: from those who have spent a lifetime working and developing their craft shared with those who hunger for the knowledge to take the music forward. Since Mary Lou Williams sat down at the piano with a young Dizzy Gillespie, jazz education has endured and matured to one of the most enriching opportunities for young people, whether they play or just want to listen. The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra embraces the future of the music through performance and education, and this concert is wholly built upon that tenet as we fill the Kauffman Center with learners of all ages. congregation.

The Root

Saturday, April 29, 2023 @ 8 p.m.

The root of jazz lies in another great Black American art form: the blues. But the relationship that Kansas City jazz has with the blues is unique, maintaining a strong association throughout the past century. From Julia Lee to Charlie Parker (who developed his own bebop variation of the standard twelve-bar blues) to Bobby Watson and beyond, Kansas City jazz musicians have embodied this tradition in a holistic, yet continually contemporary style. For this concert, we will be exploring these deep ties to celebrate and honor the root of the genre.

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