The Wichita Jazz Collective will make its debut Thursday, March 28, at Walker’s Jazz Lounge.
The 17-piece big band was assembled by Jim Pisano, Wichita State University assistant professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies, and Joel Boettger, assistant professor of Music and director of bands at Bethel College.
Pisano says that he and his colleagues had discussed assembling such an ensemble for some time, but finding a venue to accommodate the idea presented a problem. How to take the music out of a concert hall and into a club?
“There was never really a space where we could do it,” Pisano says. “There are some wonderful venues in town, but there were always logistical concerns. How could we do this in one space on a consistent basis?”
Enter Walker’s, which opened in late 2023 in Old Town.
“When they opened, we thought, ‘Wow, we can possibly have a regular place for a big band to play.’”
The idea, Pisano says, allows area musicians who may not play together on a regular basis the chance to do so.
“We’ve been able to do that with quartets and quintets but now we have an opportunity to do that with the wonderful music that’s been written for big bands over the last century, maybe more.”
Pisano notes that he’d like to see the unit perform on a consistent basis and draw on the talents of area composers and arrangers in the process. Ideally, he adds, the group affords these composers the chance to hear their works performed.
Some of the inspiration, he says, is rooted in a tradition established by the Kanas Music Educators Association (KMEA). Members of the KMEA have assembled big bands to perform for students at the organization’s annual conference.
“It’s been a huge success,” Pisano says.
Having recently led that ensemble, he was inspired to take what had been percolating as an idea into reality.
The inaugural performance at Walker’s will run from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. It will feature players such as Matt Blauer of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra; Nick Schroeder, assistant professor of Music and program director of jazz at Friends University; bassist Mark Foley, WSU professor of Double Bass and Electric Bass, as well as Wichita jazz scene stalwart Steve Hatfield.
“It’s going to be a great, great representation of the musicians around town,” Pisano says.
