Finding Their Rhythm

by Kara Petrovic

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They never expected to win the recording contract or to see their self-titled CD “Diverse” reach No. 49 on the JazzWeek charts in early September. Members of the jazz quintet, Diverse, knew they had talent, but their dreams were modest. Four of the five members – Hermon Mehari, 22, trumpet; Ben Leifer, 23, bass; and cousins William Sanders, 23, tenor saxophone; and Ryan Lee, 21, drums – are studying at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance with jazz musician and composer Bobby Watson.

The students officially formed the group in 2007 after playing their first gig together in Mehari’s hometown of Jefferson City, Mo. During the fall semester, the group approached Watson for help. The group members no longer wanted to perform separately at the Conservatory; instead the students wanted the band to become an independent quartet. “I knew they had talent,” says Watson, UMKC’s William D. and Mary Grant/Missouri Distinguished Professor in Jazz Studies and Director of Jazz Studies, “so I wanted to help them not only perform together, but also to get credits for performing.”

The judges at the 2008 Gene Harris Jazz Competition held in Boise, Idaho, saw something they liked in Diverse, too – a uniqueness that set the group apart from 11 other seasoned bands competing from around the country. Mehari began researching the Idaho jazz competition in January 2008 and immediately took the competition details to Sanders, Leifer and Lee, as well as pianist John Brewer, 29, friend and teacher, who occasionally played with the group. Brewer even offered up his van to transport the group to Idaho.

“When I heard them play the day before they went to Idaho, they had really developed a repertoire,” says Waston, who has performed with jazz greats Max Roach, Louis Hayes and George Coleman. “I had a good feeling about them. I didn’t know they were going to win, but I had a good feeling that they could win.”