He won a couple of Grammys for his arrangements on that. “‘Bird Lives’ was the name of the record he made with the SWR Band, a German radio band. “John is a renowned jazz pianist and bandleader and founder of the MONK’estra, which is one of the more critically acclaimed big bands which have come out in the last 10 or 20 years,” Ashlock said. Grammy-winning jazz pianist John Beasley will be the special guest March 9 on a program called “The Genius of Monk, Bird, and More.” That concert is going to be themed around her music and artistry.” She is just a phenomenal vocalist and historian and educator. She’s sung at the White House and was an international jazz ambassador to Africa. “She was a finalist in the Thelonious Monk (Institute of Jazz International ) vocals competition, which is the big young people’s jazz competition.
“Lisa is one of those contemporary Kansas City jazz figures that should have more acclaim than she does,” Ashlock said. By the time she was 17, she was singing in Kansas City nightclubs. Henry began singing in the Baptist church when she was only 6. 9 and 10, the conversation continues with Lisa Henry. On top of that, we’ve got Lee Langston signed up to be vocalist.” “If we can afford the rights to that show, and I think we will, we’re going to do the first licensed big band presentation of ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas,’ including the visuals to show behind the band as we play. “For the past couple of months, we have been in talks with the ‘Charlie Brown’ people and the Vince Guaraldi people to get the rights to all of that music,” Ashlock said. Lee Langston will be the vocalist in “The Music of Vince Guaraldi.” Ashlock says they’re planning to give a warm welcome to Charlie Brown and his friends on Dec.
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Jazz pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi made an immortal contribution to music to the holiday season when he composed the score for “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” First shown on TV in 1964, the show has been a holiday staple ever since. “Certainly we’ll do some older stuff, but I also wanted to think about Bobby Watson and Pat Metheny and Logan Richardson and some of those other figures from contemporary Kansas City.” “For that particular concert I’m planning on diving into music that represents the 100 or so years of Kansas City jazz,” Ashlock said. 27 to 28, the group has a program planned for the Folly that will almost certainly include more Julia Lee. In addition to their regular venue, the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the group will also perform in the Folly Theater. That puts her in that icon status.”Īshlock says this is the first year the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra will be performing in two locations. “She had hits like ‘Come on Over to My House’ and ‘Snatch and Grab It.’ Her songs told a lot of the story of Kansas City. “She was the queen of risqué lyrics and double-entendres,” Ashlock said. Lee said that she specialized in “the songs my mother taught me not to sing.” Lee, born and raised in Kansas City, was a pianist and vocalist in her brother George Lee’s band, which at one time included Charlie Parker. Eboni and I have also talked about doing some Julia Lee songs.” “We’re calling it ‘In the Key of KC,’ which is also the name of our new album,” Ashlock said. “The idea is we’re going to highlight how jazz music is a conversation, both musically and artistically, but also how it’s an ongoing dialogue that we have in Kansas City.”Ī concert featuring Fondren, a wonderful vocalist with quite a local following, will open the season on Sept. “The overarching theme of the season is conversations in jazz,” said Clint Ashlock, the orchestra’s artistic director.
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