The Edgar Snow Memorial Foundation (ESMF) sent four Kansas City jazz musicians to China as a part of their bi-annual symposium in October. Saxophonist Bobby Watson, pianist Charles Williams, bassist James Ward and drummer Jaylan Ward performed in three Chinese cities and held a jazz masterclass.
“They love jazz, and we were over there to share our knowledge and have fun. It was just fantastic. We actually had a jam session, I think we were in Xinjiang,” Williams said. “A lady played [on] the piano, ‘Don't Mean A Thing, If It Ain't Got That Swing.’ We had another Chinese lady come up and sing and scat. ”
Watson said the jazz musicians in China showed an appreciation for the genre’s history and understood the meaning it has for Kansas City. During the masterclass, Williams said their group emphasized jazz’s self-expression and soul.
The quartet also joined Children’s Mercy Hospital staff to visit Chinese hospitals and play for their patients.
ESMF maintains Kansas City’s connection to China, which began with Edgar Snow, the local journalist that the foundation is named after. After studying journalism at Mizzou, Snow reported in China for the "China Weekly Review," interviewed Mao Zedong, and wrote the famous 1937 book "Red Star Over China."
Allan Gray, an ESMF board member, helped organize and fundraise the trip.
“Edgar Snow was the only Western journalist that was allowed to report freely, the good, the bad and the ugly on the [Chinese] cultural revolution,” Gray said. “To this day, he is endeared by the people of China and recognized for his efforts.”
- Bobby Watson, saxophonist and composer
- Charles Williams, pianist for the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra
- Allan Gray, board member of the Edgar Snow Memorial Foundation
