Kansas City is home to world-champion sports teams and savory barbecue, but one of its greatest claims to fame is shaping American jazz. Those roots are still strong and make the city one of the best for jazz artists to perform and perfect their craft.
“What I like about studying in Kansas City is it has a great history of jazz music, and it's also just a great place to live because there's a lot of things to do outside of music as well,” said Matt Robertson, a student in the UMKC jazz studies program.
Knowing he would have regular work with talented musicians is part of why Robertson chose UMKC to pursue his master’s degree.
“I knew a few people in the program, and I also knew a few people that regularly gigged in Kansas City and knew that Kansas City was a great place to be a working musician,” Robertson said.
But that wasn’t the only appeal. Robertson learned UMKC faculty included legendary jazz drummer Carl Allen.
“He’s an amazing drummer that I look up to, so I thought it was a great opportunity to study with him,” Robertson said. “Professor Allen is very invested in students' growth and constantly trying to push me in different ways that are very specific to what I need to work on, which is very unexpected, honestly, for someone as with such a high profile as him.”
It's not just Allen. Robertson has also learned from faculty like Peter Schlamb and Roger Wilder, who have not only helped him craft his musical talent but invited him to play at gigs.
“The faculty at UMKC are all working musicians, which means they’ve done the thing we, as students, are all trying to do,” Robertson said. “It really helps because their teaching style is centered around us getting work like they did. Also, what comes with that is they’re also all really great players that just know how to play with people and how you can get work.”
Robertson has been able to work, playing in the city’s historic 18th and Vine district, and downtown at venues like the Majestic, the Blue Room, Westport Coffee House, Vine Street Brewing Co., Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and more. It’s an opportunity not just to make a living, but to do what he loves.
“Performing music is honestly a very therapeutic thing for me,” Robertson said. “It allows me to express a part of myself normally, and might not want to express, because sometimes it's fun to experience the full range of emotions when you play, even if you don't want to do that all the time.”
After graduate school, Robertson wants to stay in Kansas City to play before eventually playing in larger cities, like New York or Los Angeles.
“Just to have the really big city experience, but Kansas City has been a great jumping
off point for me to pursue things like that at some point.”