Missouri Classical Music News

A famed promoter who produces major jazz and general music events in more than a dozen cities around the world is considering launching a music event in Kansas City, possibly as early as next spring.

George Wein, 80, whose projects include launching the Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, has been talking about the event to City Manager Wayne Cauthen for more than a year. If details can be worked out, he said the first Kansas City Jazz & Heritage Festival could be launched next spring. . . .

[The promoter] envisions a multi-stage, multi-location outdoor production that will appeal to a variety of music fans.

"It would feature country music, hip-hop, gospel, funk, some rock, folk, and, of course, emphasis on the jazz heritage of Kansas City," Wein said from his New York office. "The festival would become an annual event and, hopefully, like New Orleans, draw tens of thousands of people who would like to make a trip to spend a weekend in Kansas City."