Jazz has been a longtime passion of mine. Outside of design, I think playing jazz is one of the most satisfying things I do. I’ve played in a variety of jazz groups, but I’ve always really loved playing in big bands. When I was in college, I played in the KU Jazz Ensemble every semester I was there and some of my best musical moments were in that band. We played a lot of different modern jazz music composed by the likes of Maria Schneider, Vince Mendoza, Jim McNeely, Bob Brookmeyer, the director Dan Gailey and many others. This music has become some of my favorite of all time and I love any chance I get to perform it.

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Congratuations to the 2007 Phoenix Award winners! The Phoenix Award is given by the Lawrence Arts Commission to recognize outstanding achievements in the arts in the Lawrence community. This town is really lucky to have such amazing support for all art forms and there are so many world class artists living in the area who’s talents help make it a great place to live. This year’s winners were:

Kathy Pryor, Arts Administrator
Ted Johnson, Arts Advocate
Janeal Krehbiel, Musical Arts
Vince Gnojek, Performing Arts
KT Walsh, Visual Arts
Joyce Schild, Arts Volunteer
Linda Frost, Arts Volunteer
Barb Wasson, Exceptional Artistic Achievement

I’d especially like to congratulate my dad, Vince Gnojek for winning in the performing arts category! I could tell at the awards reception that he was deeply touched and honored to be on stage with everyone. He is truly one of the finest musicians I know and I’m extremely happy that all of his hard work has been recognized! Also, thanks to Kip Haaheim for his kind introduction.

A memorable moment at the awards ceremony was KT Walsh’s speech who asked everyone to take a pledge to the arts which was a humorous way remind people that there is an instinctual need for creativity in our lives and we need to recongnize it on a daily basis. She also gave out several bags of found items that the audience will take and create street art with for display downtown on Nov. 24th.

You can read more about each of the winners here online.

The Kansas City Symphony performed an Italian-themed concert at the University of Kansas Lied Center Tuesday evening to benefit Music Works!, an organization formed to promote music in the Lawrence public schools. The concert was aimed at a very general audience, so the pieces were all fairly brief and very accessible, but the orchestra played beautifully. There are a few new members of the orchestra this year, including a few key wind players which I found particularly interesting. They all played very well and it was an enjoyable performance!

It reminded me of a very strong memory I have of the first (and only) time I’ve played in an orchestra. In 2006, I played tenor saxophone in the Kansas City symphony for their annual pops concert under the direction of Erich Kunzel. Since saxophonists rarely ever play in symphonies, I jumped at the chance and I was really glad that I did.

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This past summer, I was approached by my friend Greg about a project that was right down my alley. He works for the “We Always Swing” Jazz Series in Columbia, MO and they were looking for someone to help do some design work for their upcoming 2007-2008 season. I love to jump on any chance to mix my interests and this was a perfect opportunity. If you happen to be in Columbia or within driving distance, you should definitely look at this season’s schedule. If I only had one concert to choose, I’d definitely go see the Brad Mehldau Trio. Hands down.

I shot some new photos of the chamber music trio, Allégresse this past weekend. The morning of the shoot there was a wind advisory and the forecast called for rain. Somehow, as soon as everyone showed up, the wind calmed down and the sun came out. Go figure . . . They are the most fun people to shoot and I hope we can do it again soon.

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