Jazz: 2009-2010 Season

Upcoming Events

• Melissa Walker Group featuring Christian McBride and Clarence Penn

  Sep 25, 2009 | Buy Now
  With her rich, multi-octave vocal textures and impeccable phrasing, Melissa Walker has been lauded by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for her "range and flexibility," rating her as "one of the best voices in jazz."

• Kenny Barron Trio

  Oct 2, 2009 | On Sale 8/12/09,
  Nine-time Grammy nominee Kenny Barron's unmatched ability to mesmerize audiences with his elegant playing, sensitive melodies, and infectious rhythms is what inspired the Los Angeles Times to name him "one of the top jazz pianists in the world."

• The Overtone Quartet featuring Dave Holland, Chris Potter, Jason Moran, & Eric Harland

  Oct 10, 2009 | On Sale 8/12/09,
  Multi-award–winning composer, arranger, and bandleader Dave Holland, "one of the finest jazz bassists of his generation" (BBC), plays with pianist Jason Moran, saxophonist Chris Potter, and drummer Eric Harland.

• Bill Frisell Trio featuring Tony Scherr & Kenny Wollesen

  Oct 16, 2009 | On Sale 8/12/09,
  Guitarist Bill Frisell is renowned for his compositions that interpret American music. "Mixing rock, country, jazz, and blues, he's found what connects them: improvisation and a sense of play" (The New York Times).

• Giacomo Gates and Trio

  Oct 23, 2009 | On Sale 8/12/09,
  Baritone Giacomo Gates is "a singer who combines the mellow conversational elegance of a crooner with the hipster outlook of a bebop scat and vocalese singer" (Newark Star-Ledger).

• Michael Wolff Trio with special guest Steve Wilson

  Oct 24, 2009 | On Sale 8/12/09,
  Pianist/composer Michael Wolff, "one of the most innovative and dynamic pianists of his generation" (JazzTimes), brings his trio--bassist Chip Jackson and drummer Victor Jones--and special guest saxophonist Steve Wilson to the KC Jazz Club.

• Jon Irabagon

  Oct 30, 2009 | On Sale 8/12/09,
  The winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, alto saxophonist Jon Irabagon has played with such musical luminaries as Billy Joel, Wynton Marsalis, Bright Eyes, Frank Wess, and Lou Reed.

• McCoy Tyner with the Howard University Jazz Ensemble

  Nov 6, 2009 | On Sale 8/12/09,
  McCoy Tyner's blues-based piano style, replete with sophisticated chords and an explosively percussive left hand, has transcended conventional styles to become one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music.

• An Evening with Christian Scott

  Nov 13, 2009 | On Sale 8/12/09,
  Considered one of the brightest new jazz stars, 22-year-old Grammy-nominated trumpeter Christian Scott was named one of the "Top Ten to Watch in 2006."

• Stefon Harris and Blackout

  Nov 14, 2009 | On Sale 8/12/09,
  Grammy Award-nominated vibraphonist-composer Stefon Harris is heralded as "one of the most important young artists in jazz" (Los Angeles Times). He brings his band Blackout back to the KC Jazz Club.

• Lee Konitz

  Nov 21, 2009 | On Sale 8/12/09,
  Considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, American jazz composer and alto saxophonist Lee Konitz is "able to erase context and preconceptions, and more or less blow your mind" (The New York Times).

• NPR's A Jazz Piano Christmas

  Dec 11, 2009 | On Sale 10/7/09,
  Join the Kennedy Center and National Public Radio for this annual treat when top jazz pianists and other artists perform their favorite holiday songs.

• Christmas Time Is Here: Dianne Reeves

  Dec 18, 2009 | On Sale 10/7/09,
  Four-time Grammy Award winner Dianne Reeves, "the only jazz singer with a voice big enough to rival Sarah Vaughan's" (The New York Times), returns to the Center for a special Christmas program.

• A Jazz New Year's Eve featuring John Pizzarelli: Dear Mr. Sinatra

  Dec 31, 2009 | On Sale 10/7/09,
  Ring in the New Year in style with a sizzling late-night jazz performance by John Pizzarelli as he salutes Ol' Blue Eyes in Dear Mr. Sinatra.

• Grappelli & Reinhardt: Hot Jazz
  Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing & Dorado Schmitt's Django 100

  Jan 16, 2010 | On Sale 10/7/09,
  Inspired by the 1930s pairing of Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt, Hot Jazz finds fiddler extraordinaire Mark O'Connor and his band Hot Swing joining with popular Washington guitarist Dorado Schmitt of the Django Reinhardt Festival.

• Ella! featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater, Janis Siegel & The Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, Slide Hampton, Music Director

  Jan 24, 2010 at 7:00 PM | On Sale 10/7/09,
  Grammy-winning vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Janis Siegel are featured in this all-star celebration of the music of Ella Fitzgerald, with the Dizzy Gillespie™ All-Star Big Band, Slide Hampton, music director.

• Jonathan Batiste Quintet

  Feb 26, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  With his unique voice on piano and dapper sense of style, Jonathan Batiste "has already been turning heads as an up-and-coming pianist with an ebullient style" (The New York Times).

• Carl Allen–Rodney Whitaker Project

  Feb 27, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  Drummer Carl Allen and bassist Rodney Whitaker "present straightahead jazz with a great deal of composure…sharp, snappy, and expressive jazz" (DownBeat).

• An Evening with Delfeayo Marsalis

  Mar 12, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  A multiple Grammy Award winner as a producer, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis "solos with authority, inserting musical quotes spontaneously as the mood takes him in different directions" (All About Jazz).

• Alison Brown

  Mar 13, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  A musical pioneer, banjo player Alison Brown has pushed beyond bluegrass. "Like James Taylor's voice or B.B. King's guitar, Alison Brown's banjo is an instrument possessed of a unique sonic signature and an inescapable beauty" (Billboard).

• Maurice Brown Effect

  Mar 19, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  When Maurice Brown, the first place winner in the 2001 National Miles Davis Trumpet Competition, "blows his trumpet, folks notice. His irrefutable energy, talent, and focus continually surprise audiences" (JazzTimes).

• Shelly Berg

  Mar 20, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  The Los Angeles Times says pianist Shelly Berg "burns hard, his fingers flying over the keyboard while his body nearly levitates off the bench, [leaving the] crowd breathless!"

• Toshiko Akiyoshi Trio

  Mar 27, 2010 | On Sale 12/9/09,
  Renowned for her bebop mastery and for infusing traditional Japanese music into bold, original arrangements, Toshiko Akiyoshi is a pianist, composer, and bandleader with "unmistakable lyrical gifts" (The New Yorker).

• George Benson

  Apr 11, 2010 at 7:00 PM | On Sale 2/10/10,
  Ten-time Grammy Award–winning guitarist and vocalist George Benson is "an extraordinary musician by any standard" (JazzTimes).

• Mavis Staples

  Apr 23, 2010 at 7:30 PM | On Sale 2/10/10,
  Soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples is one of the most recognizable and treasured voices in contemporary music. Part of Gospel Across America.

• Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival - 15th Anniversary

  May 20 - 22, 2010 | On Sale 2/10/10,
  The 15th Annual Women in Jazz Festival marks the 100th anniversary year of Williams's birth with three evenings of star-studded performances featuring the world's top female jazz artists.

• Matt Savage Trio

  Jun 8, 2010 at 7:30 PM | On Sale 4/7/10,
  Seventeen-year-old jazz pianist Matt Savage has been heralded by Dave Brubeck as "amazing" and "another Mozart," and by Chick Corea as "delightful and inspiring."

• Diane Schuur

  Jun 11, 2010 | On Sale 4/7/10,
  Last seen at the Center in 2006, two-time Grammy Award winner Diane Schuur brandishes the power to amaze with her supreme vocal versatility and sensational 3-1/2 octave range. Part of the 2010 VSA arts International Festival.