This page is a digest of our news! It’s based upon a concept devised by Derek Sivers called 🔗a now page, he says if you have your own site, 🔗you should make one, too. Last updated August 8, 2025 from our home in the KC area.
UNCOMMON LEADER IMPACT AWARD NOMINEE 2025 Inaugural class of nominees + our statement
Musings In Cb:
“About Awards and Recognition”
This past June I was nominated for the Kauffman Uncommon Leader Impact Award and I am “an esteemed member of the inaugural class” of nominees. I was not selected as a semifinalist.
Several mentor colleagues wrote humbling letters of support for the work that I have been part of within the Kansas City community.
My field is music and applied music education from a teaching artist and entrepreneur perspective.
I am reminded by an esteemed mentor of “what a great honor” for me and YouthJazz.us “to be nominated and considered for the Kauffman award”.
“That by itself is a recognition of the terrific impact” me, Terri, and the rest of “our team have had on so many young people in our community”.
He concluded: “Brag about that. And say to yourself every day, ‘Ain’t we something special’. Perhaps your musicians can create a new jazz improvisation with that title. Continue to create impact.”
Awards and recognition are important. I’m not minimizing the tangible impact that an award like this will have on the organizations that receive it.
And I am truly honored by the esteem of others who took the time out of their lives to nominate me.
We, at YouthJazz.us appreciate that our work has been formally recognized outside of our arts community circle and is front of mind among some of the greater Kansas City community at large who may not have otherwise known about us.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! 🙏🏽
It’s just that getting an award is not why we do this. We do this to legitimately perpetuate the art form.
“Jazz, the music itself, has proven to be both progressive as an art form and resilient as an economic engine for over a century. It’s so much bigger than our individual persons. As also its educators and entrepreneurs, we artists are also essentially responsible for maintaining its economic viability. In addition to passing along the art as musical craftsmanship, the successful artists must perpetuate the art form by teaching music business industry infrastructure skills that are vital for sustainability from era to era to the next generations in the jazz continuum. All phases, stages and places in a jazz artist career are necessary to the art.”
– MR. + MRS. BURNETT
Kansas City Area Youth Jazz
👨🏽💻👩🏼💻🔗🎧 https://linktr.ee/Burnett
The Color Purple (Kansas City Repertory Theatre) + more
I’m playing the Reed 1 book of The Color Purple for the KC Rep productions in the early fall. I’m also beginning the orchestration of DEFRANZO LOOP, a work for wind ensemble and embedded jazz quartet featuring the great alto saxophonist BOBBY WATSON and several other musical colleagues and friends.
I was asked to perform with a Jazz Ensemble Directors Reading Band that’s part of this year’s Charlie Parker spotlight celebration. I’m also beginning to organize the large jazz ensemble that I have wanted to assemble and develop since finishing my professional music career with military bands nearly thirty years ago. I am assembling interested musicians and already have a good deal of interest from colleagues here in KC.
DEFRANZO LOOP (University of Saint Mary Band +Guests)
DEFRANZO LOOP is an original composition that is being orchestrated for the University of Saint Mary wind ensemble under the direction of Dr. David N. Vance, with embedded jazz quartet featuring noted Jazz Master and Kansas native, Bobby Watson. The work was written by the American composer and Kansas native, Christopher Burnett (BMI).
UPDATE: We’re genuinely excited about this premiere of “DEFRANZO LOOP” and the collaboration with so many great artists and our musical friends. I’m taking my compositional draft and orchestrating it on 11″x17″ portrait score to include all of the instrumentation. Another treat is that this performance and work will include an original percussion ensemble composition by our nephew, Madison Cj Burnett. Madison plays saxophone like his Uncle Christopher Burnett and drums like his late great Uncle Richie Pratt. It’s cool to be able to collaborate with him on this project.
writing new music, bass clarinet is here
UPDATES: The newest member of our musical instrument family is this Backun Alpha model bass clarinet. She’s a beauty and plays like a beast. I’m writing new music for a woodwind ensemble of piccolo, flute, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, and my quartet rhythm section.
new vinyl LP numbered limited edition is discontinued
UPDATES: Our new “The Standards, Vol. 1” recording campaign has been discontinued because we didn’t get to our goal of 100 preorders. However, we had enough preorders to consider manufacturing 100 LPs through another provider and offering the music as a numbered limited edition audiophile quality vinyl (140g) LP priced at $24.99 each. Only 100 will be made of this collectors edition album featuring the artwork of Professor David Terrill (Kansas City Art Institute) and the critically acclaimed performances of masterworks by Hancock, Jobim, Henry, Corea, Kern, and a Burnett original composition. Thanks! More soon…
Spotify Editors curated mix and radio
🔗Christopher Burnett at Spotify
youth jazz season 7
The 2025 🔗Kansas City Area Youth Jazz Fellowship was a resounding success. 2026 Fellowship Auditions are Feb 15!
Our spring and summer program completed it’s 7th season in 2025, has released 6 commercial albums of music worldwide on a professional record label, and it continues to attract the best of the best from among the top talent from our region’s youngest generation of jazz musicians.
Youth Jazz is a professional music industry experience that is based upon being a no-cost and merit-based scholarship opportunity, take a look and listen 🔗here.
“ORIGINALS” is here
We finished recording and producing our next album titled “ORIGINALS” in December 2023 and 🔗we released it worldwide on our 45th anniversary in March 2024.
“ORIGINALS” is out 🔗worldwide and is our 5th professionally published album. It turned out great!
“ORIGINALS” complete PDF sheet 🔗music scores are also available through Hal Leonard’s Sheet Music Plus and Sheet Music Direct!
he was the president
Christopher Burnett finished serving as the volunteer board president of the nonprofit jazz catalyst organization here in the Kansas City area named, 🔗Kansas City Jazz ALIVE, Inc. Get involved with the new team. Lots of cool things coming!
OUR 2025 KMEA JAZZ CLINIC
Christopher Burnett presented a very well received clinic with Dr. Jared Prost at the 2025 Kansas Music Educators Association’s In-Service-Workshop. 🔗DOWNLOAD OUR CLINIC PDF. The follow up inquiries from directors who find the clinic materials and information useful is encouraging!
PHOTO: OUR 2025 KMEA JAZZ CLINIC AFTER EVENT SELFIE WITH SOME ATTENDEES.
(SPONSORED BY KMEA + CONN SELMER)
lifetime achievement
Christopher Burnett said, “Paola was a very special place to grow up and embark upon adulthood during our era. I am both humbled and honored by the sentiment of 🔗this award representing the people who have known me from the beginning.”
musicians never retire
We still practice every day, teach music students, perform with our ensembles and in several community groups, as well as write and publish music.
Every musical mentor we’ve had over the years has told us that musicians actually never retire at 65 years old, at least in the sense that people with 9-5 jobs generally do.
As long as our health allows us to continue professionally performing, composing, teaching… and our artistic inspiration is there, we will continue on this path until we leave this realm. We both think that’s cool.
Updated October 25, 2025, from our home in the Kansas City metro area.
