Jazz musicians jam at Roxy’s Downtown

For William Flynn, being a successful jazz musician in Wichita means more than just playing a mean guitar.

He’s organizer, promoter, teacher and cheerleader, too.

“That’s part of what helps a scene thrive,” Flynn said. “It really takes a lot of collective effort on the part of the musicians.”

Flynn is one of several musicians nurturing just such a scene at Roxy’s Downtown, alternating jam sessions featuring local talent with concerts showcasing performers from elsewhere.

“It’s really brought together the local jazz community,” said Geoff Deibel, a jazz saxophonist who’s also involved in the effort.

On Saturday, the Lone Star Jazz Quintet, a group of faculty from Flynn’s alma mater, the University of North Texas, will perform as part of the Jazz on the Rox series. On Wednesday, Flynn and saxophonist Joel Linscheid will lead a jam session at Roxy’s that’s free to the public.

Flynn and his collaborators are young but come with impressive credentials. Flynn is just three years out of North Texas University, which has housed a powerhouse jazz program for decades. Deibel attended Northwestern University, known for its saxophone program, then earned a doctorate from Michigan State University. Both came here to teach in Wichita State University’s School of Music. Linscheid is an instructor at Bethel.

WSU and Bethel both have active jazz curriculums, as does Friends University, and the instructors often find a way to involve the schools and their students in the music at Roxy’s. Last Tuesday night, for instance, Flynn, Jim Pisano, and percussionist Kim Garey-Trujillo, who also teaches at Bethel, backed up pianist Mark Shilansky in a show at Roxy’s. Pisano, director of jazz studies at Bethel, had brought Shilansky in from Boston’s Berklee College of Music to lead a class at Bethel earlier in the day.

The foursome, who have never played together, set aside an hour for rehearsal before the show, figuring that would be long enough to brush up on any standards and unfamiliar tunes Shilansky might throw at them.

“Apparently he also sings,” Flynn said of Shilansky as he thought over what the evening ahead might bring.

Such collaborations on the fly have always been a part of jazz – some would say they are the essence of jazz – and exposing students to them is the idea behind the jam sessions.

“That’s really what we wanted to do it for, the students in town,” Flynn said. “We know how valuable the jam session environment is to learning, and there really hasn’t been a steady jam session like this for a while.”

The sessions have been held every Wednesday when there’s not a stage production underway at Roxy’s. A schedule of upcoming sessions can be found at roxysdowntown.com. Other well-known local players who’ve participated include Mark Foley, Andrew Bowers, Steve Hatfield, Brandon Blackburn, Dave Consigilo and Jason Whitmore.

“I’m hoping word gets around in Wichita that this is a place where you can play,” Flynn said.

Attendance at the shows and jam sessions has varied from a couple dozen up to 100 people. Deibel, who’s also president of the annual Wichita Jazz Festival, says it’s hard to get people to come out to hear performers they haven’t heard of, no matter how talented.

Roxy’s offers a good middle ground between the concert halls where the colleges stage their jazz concerts and the restaurants and bars that hire musicians to play, Flynn said.

“It’s a listening room,” Flynn said. “It’s not like a loud bar. It’s (open to) all ages, which is great. And there’s a bar there. It kind of meets all these nice criteria.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Jazz musicians jam at Roxy’s Downtown."