About this Event
In middle school, Matea Jerković's band director came in before school to teach her the saxophone so she could join jazz band. She'd started on violin, then flute.
She's originally from Lincoln and graduated from the Jazz Studies program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where she played tenor in Jazz I. With that band she performed with Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo O'Farrill, Karrin Allyson, and Bria Skonberg. In January 2025 she toured Uruguay with the UNO Jazz Ensemble, playing the Atchugarry Museum of Contemporary Art and Mingus Bar alongside José Valentino.
She also studied at the Latvian Academy of Music in Riga. A professor there challenged her to write a tune a week, and playing those originals in basement venues was the first time she led her own band. At home she teaches at the Omaha Performing Arts Jazz Academy and runs the second jazz band at Elkhorn North High School.
At Omaha's Red Lion Lounge she's led a trio with no piano or guitar, just saxophone, bass, and drums, a lineup she was drawn to after seeing Walter Smith III play in New York. Without a chord instrument, she told UNO's student paper, The Gateway, "there's more harmonic freedom." Her return to Trio Jazz Club in Sioux Falls sold out both shows in March 2026, and that May she headlined the Groove Room at Vine Street Brewing.
The Blue Room, 1600 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108. Friday, October 9, 2026. Shows at 8:30 pm & 10 pm. $10 per show.
Event venue & nearby stays
Blue Room, 1600 East 18th Street, Kansas City, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.