Jazz Fest History

Dr. Joel Vanderheyden is a versatile saxophonist, composer, and educator with tremendous passion for the unifying power of music. As a performer, he draws upon his study of jazz (M.M. with Chris Vadala) and classical saxophone (D.M.A. with Kenneth Tse), immersing himself in a variety of musical situations, ranging from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra to the cinematic electro-jazz groups, Koplant No and Vehachi. He is also a regular member of both the Jazz St. Louis Big Band and the Missouri Saxophone Quartet, and has performed on stages in the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Scotland, Croatia, and across the United States, spanning large festivals, intimate jazz clubs, rock venues, live radio performances, and some of the world’s finest concert halls. Vanderheyden is the recipient of a grant from the Iowa Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, and his debut album of original compositions, Complete Life, was selected as one of the top albums of 2009 by KCCK Jazz 88.3FM. He has both performed with and written music for Strings of Arda, a chamber group from the St. Louis Symphony, and was named a quarterfinalist for the 2018 GRAMMY Music Educator Award. Currently, Dr. Vanderheyden serves as Professor of Music and Director of Jazz at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, MO, and teaches Applied Saxophone at Washington University. He maintains an active schedule working with high school and college students across the country, and is a performing artist/clinician for D’Addario Woodwinds and Selmer Paris Saxophones.

2021 Guest Artist

Kasimu Taylor and the Kasimu-tet

Due to COVID-19 this year's FCJF was restricted to groups from the De Soto #73 School District.

Kasimu Taylor, trumpeter from St. Louis, Missouri, has played across the U.S. with various bands and covering varied styles of music. You can catch him regularly around the St. Louis Area with his jazz group The Kasimu-tet and his soul band Howard Street, playing many of the top venues in the city. He is also in demand as a sideman, playing with many of the blues, rock, and dance bands around town!

Taylor finds camaraderie with great trumpeters like Miles Davis and Lee Morgan. He remembers when he first started playing the trumpet, listening to early recordings of the two artists such as Miles Davis’ “Young Man With A Horn, released in the early 1950s and Morgan’s “The Sidewinder” (1964). “They made me want to sound like them, especially Miles. He didn’t compromise his style or vision. He was always evolving and trying something different. Plus, he had that cool look.” Taylor stuck with the trumpet through his school years at Humboldt Middle School (now Humboldt Academy of Higher Learning), Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and later at Webster University’s jazz studies program.

His first paying gig was at the age of 12 when he was paid $60 to join an ensemble group for an Easter performance at Gethsemane Lutheran Church on Hampton Ave. Other paying gigs came at the age of 19 starting with his “friend and mentor,” alto saxophonist, Chad Evans. He went on to play with a local salsa band, El Caribe before joining the Dr. Zhivegas band, at the age of 23, for about seven years. Taylor has gone on to establish his own ensembles; a jazz band called “Kasimu-tet” and “Howard Street,” a soul & R&B group.

2019 FCJF Guest Artist

Guest Artist- Steve Wiest

"On his debut album as a leader (Excalibur, The Steve Wiest Big Band), he demonstrates his mastery of his instrument as well as his virtuosity and expansive imagination as a composer and arranger. Although the writing is sophisticated, it's always tuneful and inviting."

-Jazz Times

Multiple Grammy-nominated jazz composer and trombonist Steve Wiest is known world-wide for his fresh cutting edge writing as well as his extroverted virtuoso trombone playing. With a zeal for finding fresh ingredients for his muse, Steve is a true multi-genre persona. As a recording artist, composer-arranger, science fiction author, cartoonist, and educator Wiest is at home with many different and diverse areas of creative endeavor.

His path to recognition began with a four-year stint as trombonist and composer with Maynard Ferguson. During this period Steve appeared on two Ferguson projects (Storm and Live from San Francisco) a video project (The Playboy Jazz Festival) and penned a number of works for Maynard including South 21st Shuffle. His YouTube solo on Denis DiBlasio's arrangement of Don't Stop from this era has been described as one of the most exciting of its kind on the Internet.

After leaving the Ferguson band in 1985, Wiest went on to complete a master's in jazz studies at The University of North Texas. During his time at UNT in the 1980s, Steve wrote for and performed on seven different recordings with Neil Slater's One O'Clock Lab Band.

Upon leaving UNT and spending two years as Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at The University of Texas at Arlington, Wiest began a 17-year tenure as Director of Jazz Studies and trombone at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. During these years Steve began a long and accomplished career as a clinician-guest artist while becoming a regular with The Doc Severinsen Big Band. Working with greats such as Eugene "Snooky" Young, Conte Candoli and Ernie Watts on Doc's band during this period while continuing to write music for Maynard Ferguson helped to shape Wiest's future endeavors.

In 2006, Steve released his first recording as a leader; Excalibur: The Steve Wiest Big Bandto critical acclaim. A unique modern jazz project for large ensemble, Excalibur was described by jazz great Bob Mintzer: "Steve's music is rich with color, textures, and lots of interesting twists and turns. Through utilizing his various influences on this project, Steve has really learned how to 'spin a tale' musically. I very much enjoyed listening to each piece to see where it would go next. He managed to truly develop each idea to the fullest, to the point where it would spill over to the next section out of necessity. As a result of Steve producing this fine body of work, he has emerged as an articulate arranger and composer with a developing distinct voice of his own."

Wiest followed Excalibur up with a 2007 Grammy nomination for his arrangement of Besame Mucho on Maynard Ferguson's final CD The One and Only . 2008 saw the release of another critically acclaimed project titled: Out of the New; The Steve Wiest Quintet which featured nine jazz re-imaginings of modern pop tunes.

Joining the faculty at The University of North Texas in 2007 first as professor of jazz composition, then as director of the six-time Grammy-nominated One O'Clock Lab Band®, Steve has firmly established himself as an important voice in jazz education as well. During his first year as director of The One O'Clock, their recording Lab 2009 was Grammy-nominated for Best Large Jazz Ensemble and Wiest's original Ice-Nine garnered a nomination for Best Instrumental Composition. After producing and directing six successful CDs for the band and touring the US, UK and Thailand with the group, Steve moved to Denver to join the Jazz Studies Faculty at The University of Denver's Lamont School of Music.

As Coordinator of the 21st Century Music Initiative at Lamont, Steve is thrilled to put his love for all things creative into a wonderfully fertile educational environment. Directing the new ensemble The Symposium which combines modern jazz sensibilities with an eclectic instrumentation as well as developing new courses that reflect the landscape of the arts in the 21st Century while also teaching classic jazz language classes, Wiest is enjoying all of the resources and opportunities that Lamont has to offer.

Steve Wiest's trombone (also called "Excalibur") was designed exclusively for him by Christan Griego of Edwards Instruments. Wiest also plays Griego Mouthpieces, specifically the Griego-Steve Wiest model. Steve's compositions are published via Walrus Music, UNC Jazz Press, and Kendor Music.

Wiest's new science fiction novel The Dover Stone is now available on Amazon.com. This is the book that is the programmatic fuel for his new project with ArtistShare: Concerto for Folded Space which consists of ten pieces featuring Wiest and The Eclectric Band with guest artists Jimmy Pankow,Keith Howland and Jason Scheff of the super group Chicago as well as The Maniacal 4 (plus Jon Gauer) Arlington Jones and Bob Mintzer.

Continuing a diverse career as a leader, guest artist, composer, cartoonist, author and educator, Steve Wiest makes his home with his family in Denver, CO.

Taken from the Lamont School of Music Website. 

​https://www.du.edu/ahss/lamont/faculty-staff/faculty/wiest-steve.html