Diversejazz

Ryan Lee recently participated in the “12 O’Clock Jump”, which is a radio broadcast from the Mutual Musicians Foundation every Saturday night (Sunday morning). In this particular show, they payed tribute to Elvin Jones with Kansas City drummer Mike Warren. The show is a little cheesy, but its fun to hear Ryan and Mike go at it in the “Cutting” Contest. Check it out here (Mac users should use iTunes and not Quick Time).

*The site should look fine in Firefox now, thanks to Justin.*

The We Always Swing Series has a page about our show at Murry’s in Columbia on November 1st. Check it out here and also check out the rest of the shows they have this year. It’s a great season!

Tonight, two of the members of Diverse (John and Ben) will be performing at Jardines in KC with Mike Moreno, a great guitarist from NYC. This will be the third time they have performed with him, and certainly not the last– they already have a couple more shows in the area book a few months from now.

*Also, apologies to all Firefox users. The site looks wrong in that browser and we are working on getting it fixed.*

-Hermon

Here is our interview on KKFI with Barry Jackson from August 25

Here is our interview on Up to Date with Steve Kraske on KCUR from August 28

Our press kit is now available on the site by clicking the link on the upper right part of the page.

-Hermon

We just heard from Origin Records that we are #49 on the JazzWeek Chart! Many thanks again to all the DJs who are spinning our CD!!

Diverse will be performing in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 22nd at Catalina Bar and Grill at 8 PM!! This is the top jazz club in LA, and is located in Hollywood. If you know someone in LA, please them know about this show! We’re trying to get the word out there to the best of our ability.

We are also pleased to announce that we will be doing a show in Kansas City at Jardine’s featuring the great alto saxophonist Logan Richardson on Monday, December 14th from 6-10 PM. Logan is really pushing music forward in the jazz tradition with his own unique sound and concept. He is originally from right here in Kansas City, and currently resides in New York City where is becoming very well known and succesful. The Jardine’s show will consist of a mix of our music and Logan’s.  Logan will be playing at the Blue Room the Friday and Saturday right before our show,  so be sure to check out his band!

-Hermon

From our show in February of 2009 wth Jaleel Shaw.

Also, check out our review at Plastic Sax.

The turnout at the CD Release Party was terrific!!!

There was a great energy from the audience, and we received a lot of positive feedback. One of our goals is to play music that a lot of people can get into, and we also try to make people feel great through our music. It was wonderful to hear people say that the music made them feel good and/or happy!

Thanks to everyone who came! The Blue Room was sold out, standing room only, and apparently people waited around 45 minutes to get in. This is the second time we were able to do this (the other being our show at the Blue Room in February featuring Jaleel Shaw).  We also had many CD sales. Jazz is alive in Kansas City, and there’s an audience for it!!!!!

Anyone who was there at the end of the second set got to see a rare treat– Kenny Loggins came and sat in with our group. He sang “Time After Time” and “When Sunny Gets Blue”.  This picture was taken by Kenny.

We will have more photos up, as well as some audio and video of the show.

-Hermon

Hello everyone! This is the day of our CD Release Party in Kansas City at the Blue Room!

Here is a version of B-Day Song we did in July at the Blue Room Jam Session we hosted (right click and choose to “save” if you wish to download it):

B-Day Song @ Blue Room Monday Jam

A huge thank you goes out to Larry Wright for recording our set. He has been all over Kansas City recording many musicians and is creating a great archive of KC jazz.

We hope to see you all tonight (8:30-12:30) !

-Hermon

Diverse were formed while the bandmembers were studying in saxophonist Bobby Watson‘s jazz program at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Four of the students formed a band while in school, wrote originals, sought gigs, and subsequently entered the 2008 Gene Harris Jazz Festival/Origin Records Jazz Competition, which they won, with this record date being the prize. Having done his own post-graduate work in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers(where he later became music director before going out on his own), Watson recognized the uniqueness of Diverse, as they created a variety of original material that defies predictable paths while also leaving a lasting impression. Check out the lighthearted interplay between trumpeter Hermon Mehari and tenor saxophonist William Sanders in the upbeat “Sojourner,” the intense post-bop cooker “Where It Lives” (adding Watson on alto sax), or the adventurous opener, “Busy Sunday,” which journeys through many different styles like a pedestrian walking through many different ethnic neighborhoods in a metropolis. PianistJohn Brewer, bassist Ben Leifer, and drummer Ryan Lee make up the superb rhythm section. On this strong debut, the musicians in Diverse live up to their band’s name.

-Ken Dryden

You can also check it out here.

-Hermon

Select Diverse members will be on the radio this week, leading up to the CD Release Party on Friday.  Tune in!

Monday, August 24 – Sam Wiseman on KKFI (90.1 FM) from 1-3 PM

Tuesday, August 25- Barry Jackson on KKFI (90.1 FM) from 10 AM to Noon

Friday, August 28- Steve Kraske’s Up To Date on KCUR (89.3 FM) from 11:30 AM to Noon

Friday, August 28- Roger Wilder on KKFI (90.1 FM) from 1-3 PM

-Hermon

We have a CD Release Party coming up at the Blue Room on August 28th! Bobby Watson will sit in on some tunes throughout the night.

We also have a CD Release Party in Columbia, MO at Murry’s on November 1st! Please buy these tickets in advance! There are two shows, one at 7:00 and the other at 9:30. You can buy the tickets here: http://www.ticketmaster.com/Diverse-tickets/artist/929614 or call 573-449-3001. $12 for public, $7 for students. We are a special “spotlight” addition to the We Always Swing Series.

Thanks to everyone who came to our Private CD Release Party! We had a great time! The event was held at the residence of Dr. Judy Moore and Mr. George Czaplinski, and it couldn’t have happened without them and Bill and Lindy Eddy.

-Hermon