Roger Wilder & Rob Scheps at the Blue Room

Two of the most widely credited players on the Blue Room stage pair up for a Saturday night of jazz at 18th & Vine.

*Roger Wilder is a Kansas City-based pianist whose career took him from the University of Miami into South Florida sideman gigs backing Stanley Turrentine, Randy Brecker, Adam Nussbaum, and Chris Potter — and eventually to Kansas City in 2000, where he's become a pillar of the KC jazz scene. He has served as adjunct jazz professor at the UMKC Conservatory* for over a decade, hosts "The Jazz Geek" radio show on 90.1 FM KKFI, and appears on albums by Angela Hagenbach, Mike Metheny, Sons of Brasil, and Stan Kessler.

*Rob Scheps is a tenor saxophonist and composer whose own entry in The Encyclopedia of Jazz captures the scope of a career that has taken him from the New England Conservatory to performances with Aretha Franklin, Buddy Rich, Gil Evans, and John Abercrombie. He served as Principal Saxophone with the Oregon Symphony for 13 years, has performed with the Gil Evans Orchestra and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and leads bands in New York, Seattle, Portland, Kansas City, and Honolulu. In 2023 he published Rob Scheps: 30 Original Compositions*.

Together on the Blue Room stage — two musicians with deep respect for the tradition, broad vocabularies, and a Kansas City connection that runs both ways. Two sets.

The Blue Room, 1600 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108. 8:30 pm & 10 pm.

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