Results for "Kansas City"

Count Basie

Born: August 21, 1904

Bill Basie studied music with his mother as a child and played piano in early childhood. He picked up the basics of early ragtime from some of the great Harlem pianists and studied organ informally with Fats Waller. He made his professional debut as an accompanist for vaudeville acts and replaced Waller in an act called Katie Crippen and her Kids. He also worked with June Clark and Sonny Greer who was later to become Duke Ellington’s drummer. It was while traveling with the Gonzel White vaudeville show that Basie became stranded in Kansas City when the outfit suddenly broke up. He played at a silent movie house for a while and then became a member of the Walter Page Blue Devils in 1928 and ’29

Karrin Allyson

"If there's a choir in heaven, someday the exquisite vocalist Karrin Allyson will lead it. She's such an otherworldly talent that the creator probably already has her on heavy rotation." —The Houston Press Well, no worries, mate, Karrin Allyson will be part of this earthly choir for a very long time. But she is moving on, after a jam-packed career with Concord Jazz—thirteen albums, four Grammy nominations, and a recent self-produced holiday album, Yuletide Hideaway that won four stars from Downbeat. In May of 2015, as part of a new agreement with Motéma Music, Karrin headed back into the recording studio for a very intimate look at the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, accompanied only by a rare and distinctive pairing of Kenny Barron on piano and John Patitucci on bass

Mike Metheny

Born: August 28, 1949

Trumpet/flugelhorn soloist Mike Metheny is a native of Lee's Summit, Missouri and has degrees from the University of Missouri/Columbia (B.S. in Music Education) and Northeast Missouri State University (Masters in Music Education). His teachers included Keith House and John Alexander. From 1971 to 1974, he was a trumpeter in the U.S. Army Field Band in Washington D.C., and in 1976 he became a faculty member at Boston's Berklee College of Music, a position he held for six years. At Berklee, Mike taught private trumpet, music theory and jazz improvisation and, while in Boston from 1976 to 1989, led his own Boston- based jazz quartet, appearing in numerous club, concert and festival settings across New England and the U.S. Mike is a recipient of the "Outstanding Brass Player" award at the annual Boston Music Awards. He has also appeared on numerous jazz recordings as a sideman and has released twelve albums as a leader/producer. Today, Mike is a freelance performer, educator and music journalist in the Kansas City area and has written liner notes for such notables as jazz vocalist Marilyn Maye (Supersinger: A Tribute to Johnny Carson). He has also contributed to KC Magazine, Jazziz, and The DaCapo Jazz & Blues Lover's Guide to the U.S. and is the former editor of Kansas City's Jazz Ambassador Magazine (JAM), a position he held from 1994 to 2003.

John Yao, Chris Potter, Clark Terry and More

by Joe Dimino
February 2, 2020

This week we open with John Yao, one of the best kept secrets in the world of jazz, featuring his group Triceratops with a cut off his latest album How We Do. And best kept jazz secrets is one of the themes of this episode. We also look into the world of accomplished jazz cats Chris ...

Roberto Fonseca, Christian McBride, King Oliver and More

by Joe Dimino
January 26, 2020

This week's show is book-ended by Latin jazz, as we take off with the talented Roberto Fonseca and we land with the multi platinum-selling Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass. In between, we focus on new releases by Christian McBride and Kansas City's own Todd Wilkinson as well as on the music of forward looking artists ...

Logan Richardson’s Blues People Present: Searching For Charlie Parker In Partnership With Jazz Sister Cities To Celebrate Charlie Parker’s Centennial

January 24, 2020

Searching for Charlie Parker is a year-long international performance to honor Kansas City’s most celebrated Jazz artist during the year of his centennial. More than any other figure, Charlie Parker changed the sound of Jazz, and one hundred years later he continues to impact Jazz artists and the art-form today. Throughout 2020, in Searching for Charlie ...

Miles Davis & Chet Baker

by Joe Dimino
January 19, 2020

As we kick off our first show of 2020, we give you the talented trumpeter Jaimie Branch as she infuses her modern blend of jazz into the lexicon. From there, we dig into new releases from Robert Walter, Mike Clark and Doug Stone. We also look into the past with legends Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Maynard ...

Vic Juris & Dizzy Reece

by Joe Dimino
January 15, 2020

We keep our traction here in 2020 as we begin the 629th Episode of Neon Jazz with talented modern day drummer Tyshawn Sorey. We talked about his roots and influneces in jazz and he noted Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie. From there, we get into new tunes for the new year with Canadian cat ...

James Carter, Milt Jackson, Logan Richardson and More

by Joe Dimino
January 5, 2020

This week we open with a live cut from Newport Jazz recorded by James Carter and his Organ Trio. From there, we do what Neon Jazz is known for .. doing interviews and probing into the life of today's jazz musician, as we profile Kit Downes and hear new music from Kansas City-native Logan Richardson. Then, ...

Nicholas Payton, The Bad Plus and More

by Joe Dimino
December 29, 2019

This week we open with the great Drummer Jerome Jennings, a musician who has a keen eye on the social issues and political environment of today, and a cut off his new album Solidarity. We also visit the world of The Bad Plus with a song off their newest and highly anticipated album called Activate Infinity. ...