About this Event
Many of the KCKCC Blue Devil Funk Band's arrangements are written by the students in it. The book mixes jazz, funk, R&B, rock, and pop, and when the college described it in 2022, it ran from classic Motown and Stax hits to Beyonce and Vulfpeck.
The band has been part of Kansas City Kansas Community College's music program since fall 2018, and the college calls it one of its showcase ensembles. Since that 2022 win, DownBeat has given it Outstanding Performance awards in the Small Vocal Jazz Group category in 2025 and in the Blues/Pop/Rock Group category in 2026, and individual members have won Student Music Awards of their own as soloists and audio engineers. The band has performed at the Jazz Education Network Conference and the Kansas Music Educators In-Service Workshop, and it was on the Kansas City Jazz Summit's vocal jazz concert in 2024 and 2025. Here, it played Jazz @ Noon in November 2024 and again in April, and it led the Monday jam in May.
Dr. Justin Binek directs it. He's an associate professor of music at KCKCC, and he co-wrote the third edition of Richard J. Lawn's textbook Experiencing Jazz.
The Blue Room, 1600 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108. Thursday, December 3, 2026, at 12 pm. Free admission.
Event venue & nearby stays
Blue Room, 1600 East 18th Street, Kansas City, United States
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