Kansas City Jazz Orchestra announces 2022-23 season of past, present and future music
The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra has been preaching the gospel of Kansas City jazz for two decades.
Through its concerts and educational programs, they’ve been championing our hometown art form, when often it only seems to be given lip service. But most of all, the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra knows how to put on a great show.
The group has just announced its 20th anniversary season, and it’s an appropriate celebration of Kansas City jazz past, present and future. Trumpeter Sean Jones, vocalist Deborah Brown, the amazingly talented Lonnie McFadden and his daughter, vocalist Chloe McFadden, will all make appearances.
And, of course, there’s the band itself. I’ve never attended a Kansas City Jazz Orchestra concert that wasn’t totally exciting and didn’t leave me wanting more.
The orchestra has had three artistic directors in its 20-year history: Jim Mair, who is now professor of jazz studies at Kansas City, Kansas Community College, the late Kerry Strayer, and its current artistic director, Clint Ashlock.
“Kerry Strayer was a great bandleader and saxophonist and arranger and he was a good friend of mine and my mentor,” Ashlock said. “We got to be good friends after we played in a band that met up weekly at Harling’s in midtown. When he got sick with cancer around 2012, he thought the only one fool enough to do his job with the jazz orchestra would be me. So he invited me to shadow him for a few months.”
After Strayer died in 2013, Ashlock took the reins and has been guiding the orchestra ever since.
For the 20th anniversary season, Ashlock says he wanted to do “something elevated.”
“Something indicative that this organization has been around for two decades, celebrating Kansas City jazz music and the big band tradition, but also with an eye on the next 20 years and the things that are important to us, things we want to cultivate,” Ashlock said.
The first concert on Sept. 30, “The Horn,” will showcase trumpeter Sean Jones. Featured on Nancy Wilson’s 2006 Grammy-winning album “Turned to Blue,” Jones has released seven albums of his own and is a mainstay on the jazz festival circuit, playing the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival, among others.
“Sean is on the short list of my favorite trumpet players, as far as being an influence on my playing,” Ashlock said. “In a big band, you have 13 horns, and on this concert we’re going to highlight them and the different sections while making it mostly about Sean’s artistry.”
Kansas City native Deborah Brown will come home for the Nov. 10 concert, “The Voice.”
“Deborah Brown represents so much of what Kansas City jazz is,” Ashlock said. “What it was, what it is now and what it’s going to be. We played with her in Poland in 2018. We’ve played with her a bunch. To bring her back was a goal of mine for this season because she’s a phenomenal vocalist and has great arrangements.”
The orchestra always puts on a rollicking holiday show. This year’s concert on Dec. 6 will focus on “The Family.”
“What’s more holiday than family?” Ashlock asked. “Jazz is all about relationships and family. We thought it would be awesome to bring in not only another legend, Lonnie McFadden, but also his daughter, who is a great vocalist, Chloe McFadden.”
McFadden, another Kansas City native, is a trumpet player, tap dancer and singer. Ashlock said all of McFadden’s talents will be on display.
“We think of virtuosos as being these great instrumentalists or vocalists, but Lonnie’s a virtuoso entertainer,” Ashlock said. “I’ve never seen anybody capture an audience in the palm of his hand like Lonnie.”
On Feb. 24, the orchestra will peer into “The Future.”
“Elon Musk is going to be the guest, and he’s going to bring his rocket,” Ashlock joked.
Actually, the featured performer is vocalist Lee Langston, who took over McFadden’s weekly gig at The Phoenix after McFadden started his own club at the Ambassador Hotel. The concert will also shine a light on students.
“For us, the future is about education,” Ashlock said. “As an education-focused concert, we’re going to bring in a slew of students to play. I don’t know exactly who all the students will be, but I do know there will be some from Harmony (Project) KC and Soundwave Academy. We’ll have a large string section with us to do some more orchestral, crossover stuff.”
Wrapping up this milestone season on April 29 is a concert with the intriguing title “The Root.” It was timed to take place during the NFL draft, which is happening in Kansas City April 27-29. Ashlock says the concert will be a blend of Kansas City jazz and blues.
“Blues and jazz are so intertwined, especially in Kansas City,” Ashlock said. “We’re imagining how would a big band play some hard core blues, how would a blues musician fit in with a big band. There will be a lot of people who come to Kansas City for the NFL draft, and we’re doing what we can to capture some of these folks. We’re trying to tell the story of Kansas City in a way that can be appealing to a lot of different people.”
Telling the story of Kansas City jazz has always been central to the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra’s mission. They’ve been doing this not only through their concerts but also through their many worthy educational efforts. For example, guest artists give master classes to interested students, and then there’s their Jazz Café program, which provides live jazz music in school lunchrooms at no cost to the schools.
“When you walk off the plane in New Orleans or Memphis, you’re surrounded by jazz or the Memphis blues,” Ashlock said. “In Kansas City, we have some work to do with that. Our organization is really trying to bring Kansas City jazz to the people.”
All concerts are at Helzberg Hall, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. For tickets and more information, 816-225-4949 or kcjo.org.
8 p.m. Sept. 30: “The Horn” featuring Sean Jones, trumpet
7 p.m. Nov. 10: “The Voice” featuring Deborah Brown, vocals
7 p.m. Dec. 6: “The Family” featuring Lonnie and Chloe McFadden
8 p.m. Feb. 24: “The Future” featuring Lee Langston
8 p.m. April 29: “The Root”
Friends of Chamber Music
In the past few years, Ensemble Correspondances has emerged as one of the finest groups dedicated to music of the French baroque. On May 15 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the Friends of Chamber Music will present the ensemble conducted by harpsichordist and organist Sébastien Daucé in a program dedicated to the music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, one of the greatest composers of the 17th century.
3:30 p.m. May 15. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 416 W. 12th St. $20-$40. 816-561-9999 or chambermusic.org.
Dorrance Dance
The Harriman-Jewell Series will bring its 57th season to a toe-tapping conclusion with Dorrance Dance, May 27 at the Muriel Kauffman Theatre. Founded in 2011 by MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Michelle Dorrance, Dorrance Dance is committed to the traditions of the uniquely American art form of tap dance. Although deeply rooted in tradition, Dorrance Dance is always exploring the possibilities of tap as well. This should be a fun, festive and invigorating evening.
7:30 p.m. May 27. Muriel Kauffman Theatre, Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. $10-$55. 816-415-5025 or hjseries.org.
You can reach Patrick Neas at patrickneas@kcartsbeat.com and follow his Facebook page, KC Arts Beat, at www.facebook.com/kcartsbeat.