Kansas City – Burnett Family

spring = rebirth + renewal

PROJECT #1 – STUFF: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

My professional recording debut was in 1979 as a soloist with the Hof Symphony Orchestra in Germany.

Our Army band jazz ensemble performed Concerto for Jazzband and Symphony Orchestra, the 12-tone serial work by Rolf Liebermann, and I played the alto solo. I was still just 22 years old.

Hof Symphony Orchestra Rehearsal – US Army Public Affairs Office Photograph (1979)

In 1984 the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command put together an audio sampler for recruiting musicians. Our young family of four had moved back nearer to my home and lived in Missouri by then. So, I was playing lead alto and touring 8-states in the midwest USA with the 399th Army Band jazz ensemble. It was a very good band. Two of our “live recorded concert” selections were chosen to be included in “An Army Bands Sampler.”

We are in the beginning stages of some major spring cleaning and I came across the latter cassette in relatively pristine condition.

Some of the these things were trashed …

#familymuseum #cassette #analog

PROJECT #2 – DINO MASSA 2020 KC TOUR

Italian Jazz Pianist and Composer, Dino Massa

I met Dino Massa during my tour of duty with the NATO Band based at Naples, Italy. Dino was a masters student at the Naples Conservatory at the time and we used to play jazz gigs during my off-duty hours when the NATO Band was not touring. We reconnected via social media several years ago and resumed our musical collaboration with Dino traveling to Kansas City to perform concerts, master classes and record.

We released “Echoes of Europe” worldwide on the ARC label in 2017 to great reviews. It’s a very nice recording and special in that me and Terri (flute) are performing together again on most of the selections with Dino and several of my closest musical friends and colleagues on the KC scene. This year Dino is coming to perform a concert in Kansas City, teach a couple of master classes at a high school and college, then we’ll record another album for the ARC label.

We are recording original music and the theme for this recording project is inspired by the work of various impressionist artists …

DINO MASSA 2020 KC TOUR GALLERY

The 2020 Dino Massa KC Tour was a wonderful success. Maestro Dino conducted two master classes. Thanks to the Music Departments of USD 453 and KCKCC for having him interact with your students. Dino performed at Westport Coffeehouse Theatre with a quintet of KC artists and thanks to everyone who made it. And the recording session at BRC Audio Productions in Kansas City was very nice as well. We have another very fine album of original compositions for release on the ARC recording label.

LHS MASTER CLASS

KCKCC MASTER CLASS

WESTPORT KC CONCERT

BRC AUDIO PRODUCTIONS RECORDING

“Castel Nuovo“

The featured photo is the Castel Nuovo, a.k.a. Maschio Angioino, a seat of medieval kings of Naples, Aragon and Spain

Jay McShann Tribute Big Band

Another True Story …

The main photographs in this post are various shots of the Jay McShann tribute big band with a really great saxophone section that included (left to right): Gerald Dunn, Christopher Burnett (yes, with the large Afro hairstyle), Dennis Winslett, Bobby Watson, Ahmed Alaadeen and Kerry Strayer (not shown).

The legendary altoist Bobby Watson soloing…

I had actually met the great Jay McShann and interacted with him several times. This tribute event was held in early 2007 at the historic Gem Theater in the jazz district of Kansas City. Alaadeen, who first introduced me to Jay, invited me to play in this tribute – but, I don’t think he was formerly authorized to do so because the cats initially acted somewhat surprised to see me there with my horn. Even though nobody said anything to me, I figured it out when there were three alto players during the first set. Awkward. Normally I would have left under such circumstances and not even played but I listened to my inner voice and stayed. And since I had actually met Jay and interacted with him several times enough to have gotten to know him somewhat, I wanted to simply add my musical voice to this tribute. It turned out to be a very nice event honoring a true master of jazz and blues .Jay McShann was also the first professional bandleader to hire Charlie Parker.

We played two sets. Bobby had to leave after the first and let me play lead the next set. All of the players were pretty nice to me since I could play the parts and was there unawares and sincerely by invitation of a KC jazz master. This was my introduction to the realities of life in the music outside of military bands. Sometimes you just have to make a place for yourself in life and the music industry because others won’t do it for you. What a great opportunity and honor this was.Those are the types of substantive lessons I learned from the late Ahmed Alaadeen along with the technical aspects of music we studied. He was my last great teacher.

I’m still going strong and have artistically established myself teaching music in addition to performing and composing. I began my career by serving 22-years with the professional military bands system. And 2018 marked another career milestone of being professionally active on the at-large music industry scene for 22-years after military service. That’s pretty cool. 2019 marks entry into new territory of sorts… As my late brother who was truly a world class musician once told me:

“Focus on your craft and refuse to be denied.”

~ Richie Pratt