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Westport Center for the Arts’ invites you to our 2025-26 Brown Bag Concert Season.Friday, April 17, 2026 at 12 noon.
Jazz may have grown up in Kansas City in the 30s, but its origins are in New Orleans, Louisiana in the early 1900s. Come hear the infectious blues, stomps and ragtime of the true pioneers -- Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and others, performed by Kansas City's premier traditional jazz band since 1980, the New Red Onion Jazz Babies! Here are the individuals that are part of this performance:
Walter Bryant (Piano) is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri Kansas City. He has composed and produced music for many TV and radio commercials, so most likely you've heard some of his work without being aware of it. A versatile musician, he has accompanied numerous national artists in concert. He performs regularly with several local ensembles including Talya and her Boyfriends, The Beach Nuts, Vine Street Rumble and The New Red Onion Jazz Babies. Over the years he's provided music for Kansas City's major league sports teams, having played at Arrowhead Stadium, Royals Stadium, Municipal Auditorium and Kemper Arena. He has served as Musical Director for Worlds of Fun in Kansas City since 1976 with his musical adaptations having been heard in shows around the country as well as on national television. He also serves as music director at Platte Woods United Methodist Church.
Steve Dekker (Trombone) is a freelance trombonist, arranger and music adjudicator in Kansas City and throughout the Midwest. Steve holds Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Trombone Performance and Jazz Composition from Towson University, where he studied under Hank Levy who composed for the bands of Stan Kenton and Don Ellis. Steve has held positions as the Director of Instrumental Music at The Pembroke Hill School, Penn Valley Community College, Albion College, taught Jazz Trombone and jazz Arranging at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and was a trombonist/arranger in the First U.S. Army Band. In addition to the New Red Onion jazz Babies, Steve performs regularly with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, Bobby Watson's Jazz All Stars, Starlight Theater, Kansas City Music Hall, Brad Gregory Sextet, Boulevard Big Band and the Jim Lower Jazz Orchestra.
Cindy Egger (Guitar) has been the guitarist/music director at Saint Andrew Christian Church since 1991. She has taught private lessons since 1978. She has played for shows at Starlight Theatre, The Rep, MTH, New Theatre, The Lyric Opera, KC Symphony, Heartland Men's Chorus, and the PNC Broadway Series, along with many private gigs.
Kent Rausch (Percussion) - A founding member of the “New Red Onion Jazz Babies” in Kansas City (1980), Kent Rausch was the primary assistant director/drumline instructor at Blue Springs High School until his retirement, helping to build the program into one of the largest and most successful bands in the state. Currently, Kent teaches percussion at Missouri Western State University and is active as a professional musician/clinician in the Kansas City area. He is Musical Director and founder of Kansas City’s VINE STREET RUMBLE Jazz Orchestra, the only big band in the U.S. exclusively dedicated to honoring the legacy of the “golden era” of Kansas City Jazz and the incredible musicians who created it. Kent was arranger/drummer for the Kansas City Chiefs for 23 seasons and played drums for the NBA Kansas City Kings. Numerous local bands have performed his marching, concert and jazz band arrangements. His concert band composition “Flights Of Passage” was released by Wingert-Jones Publications in 2010.
Paul Rodabaugh (Tuba) is a graduate of Baylor University, Waco, TX, and the Kansas City Conservatory of Music, UMKC. Paul is the former band director of Shawnee Mission North High School. He has played with such groups as Henry Mancini, the Starlight Theater, the old Levee Band and many others.
Barry Springer (Cornet), was born in Maryland and graduated from the Indiana University School of Music. After college he toured for three years with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and moved to Kansas City in 1985, where he became active as a freelance musician, performing with many groups in the area for the past 40 plus years, and joined the New Red Onion Jazz Babies in 2002. Barry is also a private music instructor, with students ranging from beginners to adults
Lynn Zimmer (Clarinet) was formerly the bandleader at Dick Hawk's Gaslight Grill in Leawood, Kansas for eleven consecutive years. Currently clarinetist with the New Red Onion Jazz Babies, the Kansas City Little Big Band, and the Kansas City Dixieland Band, he was formerly clarinetist with the Turk Murphy's San Francisco Jazz Band, and also with Al Hirt's band in New Orleans.
The Brown Bag concerts are presented free (donations welcomed) and held in the sanctuary at Westport Presbyterian Church, 201 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO 64111.
Bring a Lunch, if you wish. Coffee and Cookies provided at a reception following the performance.
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Event Venue
201 Westport Rd, Kansas City, MO, United States, Missouri 64111
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
