From ragtime to rap, from the early phonograph to today's digital recordings, the AFM has been there for its members.

Watson also composed a song for the soundtrack to the movie A Bronx Tale (1993).Now is the right time to become an American Federation of Musicians member. Watson led a group known as the High Court of Swing (a tribute to the music of Johnny Hodges), the sixteen-piece Tailor-Made Big Band, and is a founding member of the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet, an all-horn, four-piece group with alto saxophonist Ed Jackson, tenor saxophonist Rich Rothenberg, and baritone saxophonist Jim Hartog. He formed the band Bobby Watson & Horizon with bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Victor Lewis, with whom he played throughout the 1980s and ’90s. After leaving the band, he was productive as a session musician, recording with Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Max Roach, Joe Williams, Dianne Reeves, Lou Rawls, Betty Carter, and Carmen Lundy. He graduated in 1975, moved to New York City, and became music director for the Jazz Messengers from 1977 to 1981. He attended the University of Miami at the same time as Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, and Bruce Hornsby. Watson was born in Lawrence, Kansas, and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. Robert Michael Watson Jr., known professionally as Bobby Watson, is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator. As a professional woodwind player, Bill performed with famous acts including the Glenn Miller Orchestra, The Temptations, and Gladys Knight, led his own small Jazz ensembles, and served as musical director of Kansas City’s prestigious Trilogy Big Band.Ģ023 FELLOWS ALBUM SELECTIONS CLINICIANS: Gregory Carroll and David Cunningham Bill also proved to be an influential and innovative educator, having written and instituted the jazz studies program at UCM as well as IAEA’s Audio Engineering Arts certificate program – both producing highly successful graduates. Bill engineered countless music albums and recorded and produced dozens of musical compositions and arrangements for radio, TV, and film. Crain was the founder/ owner/ operator of BRC Audio Productions and the founder of IAEA, and his distinguished career included recording engineering, music performance, education, and composition. * Weekly rehearsals at BRC Audio Productionsīill R.

Today Leon instructs percussion students, both privately and in groups at the Brady Percussion Academy, where he has developed a unique program for drum lines and drum set students as young as four-years-old.Ģ023 FELLOWS ALBUM SELECTIONS CLINICIANS: Christopher Burnett and Houston Smith In 2000, he founded Kansas City Youth Jazz and was its Musical Director until 2011. From 1976 to 2000, he owned and operated Brady & Sons Music Company & Studio. He started his career in Kansas City in 1959, at Northeast Junior High and later moved to Sumner High School where he taught marching band, orchestra and jazz band and earned many awards for excellence. Leon Brady is an educator and professional percussionist who earned both his Bachelor and Master of Music Education degrees from Tennessee State University. * Weekly rehearsals at The Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts BradyĢ023 FELLOWS ALBUM SELECTIONS CLINICIAN: REV WM Thornton Named for the iconic Kansas City music educator, Leon A.

NOTE: Ensemble tribute names are used with expressed permission. Kansas City Area Youth Jazz Ensembles are named for several of our contemporary music icons whose significant and enduring contributions to the field of Jazz music have encompassed the artistic and technical areas of performance, recording, composition, and music education.

Kansas city jazz festival