Ben Leifer composition “Sam” which will be on the upcoming Diverse album.

Diverse’s pianist Tony Tixier will be in Kansas City from Paris, France this weekend. There will be a surprise house concert in Brookside this Sunday at 8:30 PM featuring Tony and newer material by Diverse. E-mail diversejazz(insert “@”)gmail.com for the address.

Trumpeter Hermon Mehari and drummer Ryan Lee of Diverse will perform with Bobby Watson and the Kansas City Symphony tonight and tomorrow night (8 PM shows) at the Kauffman Center. They are part of an all star big band that Watson has put together and will be performing some of Watson’s original music, a Kansas City tribute suite, and Ellington’s take on Peer Gynt. Bobby Watson appeared as a guest artist on Diverse’s debut album and was also the executive producer of it as well. For more info or to buy tickets for the shows this weekend, click here.

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Click on the image to listen (right-click or ctrl+click to download) to a recording of “Remember The Time” from this weekends show at the Bottleneck in Lawrence. We had a successful mini-tour in Lincoln and Lawrence to some great audiences and are looking forward to going back. Thanks to all who came out! And a special thank you to Jeremy for sending this recording.

Diverse Plays Michael Jackson is back in 2013 and excited to take the show out of Kansas City. This special project will be at the Bourbon Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska on Friday, January 25th (Doors at 8:30 PM) and The Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kansas on Saturday, January 26 (Doors at 10 PM). Click HERE for the Lawrence FB event page.

Once again, these shows will feature the great Kansas City singers Lee Langston, Julia Haile and Anthony Saunders. Don’t miss it!!

Trumpeter Hermon Mehari was featured in an episode of MSN’s re:discover about Kansas City. The episode, one of four on Kansas City, goes through some of Mehari’s favorite places in the city. Watch it by clicking here!

The third edition of “Diverse Plays Michael Jackson” will be coming back to Kansas City at the recordBar on Friday, August 24th. Once again it will feature the greatest vocalists in the area: Anthony Saunders, Julia Haile from the Good Foot, and Lee Langston. The band will consist of Ben Leifer from Diverse (bass), Hermon Mehari from Diverse (trumpet), Kinyon Price (keys), Tim Braun from the Good Foot (guitar), Brad Williams from the Hearts of Darkness (drums), and Andres Chaurand (percussion). Emcee Reach will be a guest performer. Below is the trailer from the last show. Doors at 9 PM, $12 entry.