Calvin Wilson

Calvin Wilson is an arts writer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He is also host and creator of the jazz program, “Somethin’ Else,” on 107.3 FM and 96.3 HD2 in St. Louis.

An American Classic Slated for Two KC Productions This Fall

Ntozake Shange, a playwright, poet and novelist who died last October, was only the second African-American woman to see her work produced on Broadway. That 1976 theater piece — which Shange described as a “choreopoem” — was “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf.”

September 9, 2019
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Fall Season Lookahead: Jazz

Jazz recordings have their merits, but the music is arguably best appreciated in live performance. And atmosphere — influenced by the size and nature of the venue — plays a significant role in that experience. There’s no shortage of places to hear jazz in the Kansas City area, but the following venues are particularly worth seeking out.

August 29, 2019
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Arts News: KC Chorale Brings Gravitas and Grace to New CD

Under conductor and artistic director Charles Bruffy, the Kansas City Chorale has established itself as an ensemble of international importance. “Artifacts: The Music of Michael McGlynn,” offers another example of its musical adventurousness. At close to seven minutes, “Jerusalem,” the seventh track on “Artifacts,” is the longest. The song, infused with Irish melody, casts a […]

July 15, 2019
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Honors: Marcus Lewis

Whether as a bandleader or as a sideman, jazz trombonist Marcus Lewis has embraced his artistry. And his approach to music has not gone unnoticed.Last year, the Charlotte Street Foundation selected the Kansas City musician as a 2018 Generative Performing Artist Fellow.

March 18, 2019
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Arts News: Kansas Music Hall of Fame Honors 2019 Inductees

Is induction into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame similar to being named to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Or is the honor — which recognizes the contributions of musicians and other individuals to the Kansas and metropolitan Kansas City music scenes — more closely comparable to the Kennedy Center Honors? “If you […]

March 15, 2019
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‘The Body as a Lens to Look at Everything’

In the biographical statement on the back of her new book, Wyatt Townley is described as living at “the curious intersection of poetry and poetry-in-motion.” And her rhythmic command of her chosen literary medium bears that out. “Rewriting the Body” is the fourth and latest poetry collection by Townley, a Shawnee Mission resident who was Kansas Poet Laureate from 2013 to 2015.

January 23, 2019
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