Everette DeVan, Kansas City jazz legend who ‘enthralled’ listeners, dies at 71

Editor’s note: This feature is part of a weekly focus from The Star meant to highlight and remember the lives of Black Kansas Citians who have died.

Everette DeVan has been described as a musical genius, a legend in the Kansas City jazz community who poured his heart and soul into the piano and the Hammond B-3 organ. His legacy as a jazz artist inspired many others to pursue musical careers, creating an entire generation of musicians and vocalists.

“He was so good about coaching and bringing on new people,” Eboni Fondren, a jazz vocalist and on of Devan’s mentees, said. “I didn’t go to school for music. He was my music education.”

Chris Hazelton, another mentee of DeVan, said he was first introduced to the “local legend” at Kansas City Kansas Community College when he expressed interest in playing the organ, he said.

“I was enthralled by the sound and performance he gave on it,” Hazelton said.

DeVan always gave musicians an opportunity, Hazelton said, whether it was cultivating a spark he saw in a young musician or hosting jam sessions where aspiring players could learn from the pros.

DeVan died on July 3 from health complications. He was 71 years old.

Born on Feb. 5, 1950, in Pueblo, Colorado, DeVan was introduced to music at a young age.

When he was five years old, he began taking piano lessons. He grew up in a musical family — both his mother and grandmother played multiple instruments. His uncle, Carl Carter, influenced him to pursue jazz.

DeVan attended the Conservatory of Music in Pueblo, Colorado, where he was encouraged to learn many instruments. He played everything from drums to tuba.

Family said while working in Pueblo, DeVan played at a club when a group, who was on tour, heard him play and invited him to join them. The group, family said, was the Del-Rays. DeVan wound up playing for them for two years.

He moved to Kansas City at the age of 18 and in 1980 formed the group ssSlick. The group recorded its first album “This is ssSlick” shortly after. Other releases included “The REAL THING” with Bill Caldwell, “East of the Sun” and “For the Love of You”.

“He would make the hair on the back of your neck stand up,” Mary “Gaye” DeVan said. “He could play that organ like no one else. He would talk to it and it would talk back.”

“He has left a key print in the sand for others to follow,” she added.

Music is how Gaye and DeVan met. Gaye says one night, she decided to listen to music at a local spot in Kansas City — DeVan was playing the organ.

“He saw me in the crowd and after he finished playing, he came over to speak to me,” she said.

The two married in the 1980’s.

Gaye has witnessed her husband’s compassion for music help introduce the world to jazz. DeVan’s career provided him opportunities to promote the genre in other countries such as Japan, Madagascar and Mexico. He has opened for the likes of B.B. King, Count Basie, and Nancy Wilson.

“I know he loved to share his craft with the world and that was his way of giving back,” Fondren said. “It was always just about the music and doing what you loved.”

DeVan was awarded many accolades over the course of his jazz career. He was inducted as an Elder Statesman of Kansas City Jazz in 2000, he won the Frank Smith Spirit Award, and in 2006 he was named “Missouri Jazz Treasure” by Governor Matt Blount. In 2016, he was inducted into the American Jazz Walk of Fame. He is immortalized with a 30-inch bronze medallion installed on the sidewalks of 18th & Vine alongside the names of the same musicians he admired as a youngster.

“Nobody plays the organ like him,” Fondren said. “The way he would make that organ sound was beautiful.”

DeVan is survived by his wife, Mary “Gaye” DeVan and son, Donnie Light and countless cousins and other family members in

Other remembrances

Everett Colbert

Everett Lee Colbert, III, a mentor in youth ministry, died on July 31. He was 43.

Colbert was born on Oct. 14, 1977, to Everett Lee Colbert, Jr. and Marjorie Grant Norris in Kansas City.

He was a graduate of Van Horn High School, class of 1996. After high school, he attended the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Engineering.

Colbert began work for Estes Express Lines as a driver and later started his own construction company. He served numerous clients across Missouri, including the Housing Authority of Kansas City for more than eight years.

He was a member of Victorious Life Church where he mentored youth. He was involved in the BOSS Security Team, youth ministry and choir.

He married his wife, Kimberly Colbert in 2008. They were happily married for fourteen years.

Family said Colbert enjoyed spending time with family, traveling, ministering, mentoring, playing basketball, building and fixing everything he could.

Colbert is survived by his wife, Kimberly; daughters, Chavalla Colbert and Kiersten Colbert; siblings, Lisa McKinzy, Traci Davis, Larry Colbert, Fallon Colbert, Erica Colbert, Marcus Colbert, Tyria Heard, Mark Heard, Brandy Thomas, Mel Thomas, Kenneth Thomas, Celeste Tucker, Harold Chaney, III, Shannon Chaney; grandchildren; nieces; nephews and a host of other family and friends.

Matilda Hopkins Hartsfield

First Lady Matilda Hopkins Hartsfield, a local ministry leader, died on July 28. She was 81.

Hartsfield was born Dec. 7, 1939, in Brunswick, Georgia, to Zynover and William Hopkins.

She graduated from Risley High School in 1957.

She married Wallace Hartsfield, on Aug. 28, 1957. The two were married for 63 years and had three children together.

Hartsfield was in ministry alongside her husband, serving in many churches across the country.

As a survivor of breast cancer survivor, family said Hartsfield supported many women in the community who were battling with breast cancer.

In her spare time, Hartsfield enjoyed to bowl. In 2009, she was inducted into the Missouri ABC/WIBC Bowling Hall of Fame.

She was a sports enthusiast who enjoyed watching football and basketball. She was a “Forever Royal” fan and loyal follower of professional tennis and golf.

Hartsfield is survived by her children; Pamela Harvard, Danise Hartsfield and Wallace Hartsfield; seven grandchildren; nephew, Mance Mullino, niece; Angela Brown and a host of great grandchildren, great nephews and nieces.