Drummer Matt Wilson to teach, play at Friends University’s Jazz Festival

Young jazz musicians in the Wichita area would have a hard time finding a better role model than Matt Wilson, who studied here before fashioning a heralded career on the east coast.

Wilson, considered one of the top jazz drummers in the world, will be in town this weekend as part of the 22nd annual Jazz Festival at Friends University. During the day, he’ll teach high school and middle school students about jazz. Friday and Saturday, he’ll headline the festival as part of the Dena DeRose Trio.

Despite battling a cold, Wilson’s enjoyment of both roles came through loud and clear during a recent telephone interview from his home on Long Island.

“What I try to do in these settings is open them up, take the tarp off and let their imaginations fly,” Wilson said of working with students. “And also instill in them a sense of history. Wichita and that region was very important to the history of this music. It’s not all just big cities. The development of this music was something that took place on the very soil that they’re living on.”

Wilson is sure to tell the students that iconic saxophonist Charlie Parker made his first recording in Wichita, and the city was a regular haunt for Kansas City-based jazz players.

As for DeRose, Wilson said anybody who hasn’t seen the pianist-singer perform should.

“She’s an amazing artist,” said Wilson, who recently recorded a CD of songs made famous by Shirley Horn with DeRose. “She just really gives it up. Many singers – their shows are really rehearsed, there’s very little unexpected that can happen. But with her, she likes to take a lot of chances and really go for it.”

A New York native now based in Graz, Austria, DeRose will also work with members of jazz choirs from Friends and Cowley County Junior College while here. Wilson said DeRose’s repertoire ranges across the Great American Songbook and beyond, to John Lennon’s “Imagine,” for instance.

Wilson has played at the White House and performed with everybody from Wynton Marsalis to Elvis Costello. He’s appeared on some 250 CDs, including nine of his own. He’s been on the cover of Downbeat and JazzTimes magazines.

Lisa Hittle, Friends jazz professor and the festival’s organizer, said she invited DeRose and Wilson to Wichita after being “completely blown away by them” during a performance in Dallas last year.

Then again, Wilson is no stranger. An Illinois native, he came to Wichita State University in 1982 to study under percussionist J.C. Combs. “I have a lot of people I consider family in Wichita,” Wilson said.

“I also have a lot of respect for musicians in Wichita like Lisa, Steve Hatfield, Bill Harshbarger, Michael Unruh, Craig Owen, Susan Mayo,” Wilson said before stopping himself. “I don’t want to leave anybody out.”

The public is invited to attend free rehearsals and performances throughout Friday and Saturday in the Riney Fine Arts Building at Friends. “We take over the whole building,” Hittle said. Jazz groups from more than 30 high school and middle schools will participate.

Wilson also appeared at the festival as an instructor and performer in 2012.

“He really instilled a lot of good values,” said A.J. Reyes, a senior at Friends majoring in jazz piano performance. “The idea to be yourself and make music happen where you are, make music relevant where you are.”

Reyes does just that, performing at Hotel Old Town and Larkspur in addition to his studies.

Hittle said Wilson conveys another important message to young jazz musicians.

“I think that one of the reasons that people love Matt so much, both as a player and educator, is that he is just so full of joy for the music. Unfortunately, a lot of jazz musicians, they’re just really concerned with technique and being on the cutting edge. They forget that what we want to hear and experience is the joy of that music.”

For Wilson, the joy seems not to have dimmed despite playing through a huge loss: his wife, Felicia, a violinist and music teacher he met as a freshman at WSU, died last summer of leukemia. He’s now the single father of a 17-year-old daughter and 13-year-old boy triplets. Wilson said they’ll stay with their long-time nanny while he makes his first trip here since his wife’s death.

“I love Wichita, it’s always inspiring to play there,” he said. “It’s one of the places – it’s like family. You know what I mean?”

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 11:29 PM with the headline "Drummer Matt Wilson to teach, play at Friends University’s Jazz Festival."