Past Events › Music Jazz

There’s a quiet storm in Kansas City. And it swirls around the captivating, elegant, mystifying and delightful music of singer Ida McBeth. Ida’s musical style is so unique that it is hard to classify. Over the years, her repertoire has included pop-style ballads, jazz and blues, show tunes, funk, R&B, gospel and well known standards.

Dr. Darryl White has played trumpet since the age of 9. Since he released three of his own solo recordings, played on several national recordings, and served on the International Association for Jazz Education and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

The MGDs are a high-energy band, built with soul and a natural funk. Ranging with extremes from all genres, this Kansas City band is ready to make you shake it all night! Guaranteed.

A La Mode performs with their full quartet, joined by the KC Canaries to dance the night away.

Famed guitarist Bill Frisell’s HARMONY features new compositions, imaginatively reworked music from Frisell’s catalog and a typically sharp selection of jazz and Americana staples. Throughout, Petra Haden’s dreamlike, often wordless lead vocals and the trio’s quietly powerful harmonies grant Frisell’s music dimensions it’s never known before. Remarkably, the thoughtful beauty and evocative patience that mark his guitar playing are both smartly accented and greatly magnified.

Grammy winner Luciana Souza is one of Jazz’s leading singers and interpreters. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, in the late sixties, she grew up in a family of Bossa Nova innovators – her father, a singer, and songwriter, her mother, a poet, and lyricist. Luciana’s work as a performer transcends traditional boundaries around musical styles, offering solid roots in jazz, sophisticated lineage in world music, and an enlightened approach to new music.

Singing since age 3, LeShea Wright cultivated her gift in church, school, and in her community. She garnered her professional start at Quality Hill Playhouse in Christmas in Song in 2006 and continues to be a regular with the Playhouse and is booked up until the 2021 Season. Sam Rivers is a member of Da Truth Band, a Kansas-City based music group, which has been performing together in the Greater Metropolitan area for 10 years.

With a powerful sound, Kansas City-produced jazz singer Deborah Brown will mesmerize you with the musical compositions of Dexter Gordon and the standard compositions of his day. The show was put together with the endorsement of Maxine Gordon, Dexter’s widow and author of his biography, Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon.